Accusations are flying this morning that conservatives have found a way to cheat the Dancing With the Stars voting system in order to keep Bristol Palin on the show. (You only have to click over to coverage of last night's results show to see just how worked up commenters are about the alleged rigging.)
Now, I'll be the first to point out that there seems to be some sort of Operation Shady Business with respect to last night's voting (more on that later), but what I'm not buying about the situation is that the Tea Party is behind it: What is there to possibly gain from having the daughter of a Tea Party hero win some crappy reality show?
(Now, before DWTS fans call for my head on a stick, I'd just like to say that while I think the show is sub-par, I do not think people who watch the show are sub-par. I'm simply reacting to the fact that whenever I've watched the competition, I've wanted to spoon my eyes out from sheer boredom; I'm not making any judgements beyond that. Oh, but I should also reveal that I actually do like Bristol Palin. Moving along ...)
As far as voting fraud is concerned, there seems to be hard evidence on conservative sites that Bristol supporters found a way to trick the system and cast an infinite number of e-mail votes for their woman. They then encouraged fellow conservatives to do the same with rallying words such as this:
You may not be a fan of the show or even Bristol but I firmly believe her continued success on the show demonstrates the power of the tea party.
The only thing this demonstrates to me is that Tea Partiers have a little too much time on their hands, are more tech-savy than I, and have questionable taste in TV. But as far as demonstrating the "power of the Tea Party"? I think the mid-term elections were a little more successful in said demonstration than whether or not Bristol stays on the show.
People, can we please stop confusing politics with mindless entertainment, especially when the Palins are concerned? Frankly, it's ruining the whole TV viewing experience.
What do you make of the Bristol Palin/Tea Party conspiracy theories?
Written by Kim Conte for CafeMom's blog, The Stir.
More from The Stir:
Oops, Bristol Did It Again -- What Will Mom Think?
Argentina Dancing With the Stars Has Dirtiest Dancing Ever!
Bristol Palin Controls 'Teen Moms' & Other Shocking Powers
Why Does Katherine Heigl Bug Me?
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every where.
Here's a hint: They don't have to be VALID email addresses to register them with ABC.com, there is apparently no validation process. The just have to be formatted like a valid email address, and you must use a valid zip code and a birthdate that makes you old enough to vote. I'm voting like a democrat, all night long…
No, it doesn't have to be a valid email address – I had one of my anonymous ones XXX@yahoo.com that I used, and then just did the sign-up process all over again with XXX1@yahoo.com and it worked
Don't know if it is true, I don't watch and don't vote for DWTS, but if it interests you try it. Maybe if they are inundated with votes for say Jennifer Grey as well as Palin it will cause them to try to fix it.
On the other hand, it is very probable that Palin will win if this runs true to form as far as the voting has gone. In my mind that will be very sad and show DWTS that it needs to change the show desperately. They will not need to have judges and certainly will not need to waste 9 weeks of tv if they continue to let their show be a popularity contest.
It is also sad that Bristol, if she wins, will be "brough and paid for", a great lesson to teach your children, right?
I can see her in a few years showing her little one/ones her trophy and saying "see what your gramma brought for me"
When it comes to the Palin's, confusing politics and mindless entertainment go hand in hand. Of course the conservative veiwers are rigging the vote. They don't know the difference between confusing politics and mindless entertainment.