Sympathy Vote
by Gary GrahamI was going to let this one go. I like the story, I was a fan, and it made me smile and yeah, (sniff) warmed my heart, too. But after a week-long worldwide hoopla, and finally this morning hearing Mike Gallagher gush about this story on his radio show, (plus the fact that I’ve been mysteriously stricken this year with a terminal case of Can’t-Shut-Up Syndrome)…
…I must weigh in.
(Hey you think living with me is fun? Ask my family – I’m insufferable.)
Susan Boyle became an overnight sensation with her rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” on Britain’s Got Talent. A rather frumpy and homely middle-aged woman by today’s beauty standards, she presented an unlikely candidate for singing stardom last week in front of the Celebrity judges, Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, and Piers Morgan. But as she began to sing, everyone was snapped into shock, so unanticipated was her fine singing voice. The ovation and accolades that followed went straight to YouTube and set Boyle on the road to viral cyberspace superstardom.
And…reduced to its simple basics…it was a sympathy vote.
Don’t get me wrong; I cop to an emotional upsurge at the whole story. I applauded her and thought “Good for you, girl!” when I first saw it, as I do at any ugly-duckling success story. And then I thought about it – and settled down to reality.
Her performance was nice – certainly unexpected – but it wasn’t all that great. She sang very well (one of my favorite songs from Les Miz)….but if you had heard her on the radio, with no idea of what she looked like, you would say, “Hm. Nice voice. That’s pretty.” And that would be it — certainly not deserving of an ovation, an ecstatic eruption of celebration and awe. The reaction was colored in a very large way by our preconception of her homeliness. The proverbial face made for radio.
Yes, we prejudge; and often to our own detriment. Yes, it blew everyone’s mind…but I also think… it shouldn’t have. Why should physical beauty portend vocal excellence; and conversely, why would the lack thereof mean, what, that she couldn’t possibly sing well? It would be more logical to prejudge a very skinny man as weak…and then be awed when he exhibited great, overpowering strength.
I saw Susan Boyle’s video performance with someone who visibly recoiled when she first saw her. “Oh! What is that!?” she exclaimed. Like a villager beholding Shrek for the first time. Then she heard her sing… and swooned at her voice; and felt very guilty for her prejudgment; stating that she’d ‘learned such a lesson’.
Me? Yeah, I did all those things as well. I was touched and moved etc. But… my reaction was somewhat of a sympathy vote…as, I think, was everyone’s. We were collectively pulling for her, so seemingly disadvantaged was she by her appearance.
It was the very large chasm between expectation and execution that elicited the huge response. Not to take anything away from the woman, she was great — funny, humble, delightfully overwhelmed, cute. And yes, a very nice singer.
For some it was empathy. For others, sympathy.
A sympathy vote.
The blind guy on American Idol lasted as long as he did, over singers, I think, of superior talent, due to the fact that he was blind…and could sing well. Sympathy vote.
Okay, you say – So what?? What’s wrong with that? Where’s you sympathy, where’s your compassion, Gary? To that I answer that my sympathy and compassion are firmly in place, thank you very much; sympathing and compassing with the best of them.
But shouldn’t excellence be judged solely on merit?
Things aren’t always so black and white. Take our newly elected president. I was one who, though I did not vote for the man, felt a twinge of satisfaction that we’d finally elected a Black man as President. (Or at least, half-Black. Close enough.) No one around the globe can now legitimately point a finger at the U.S. and squeal, “Racist!” That sad chapter in our history is over and done. And look at the spectacle of the inauguration, look at that nice Black family, so sweet and proud, and humble and noble, they’ve suffered so much for so long (?), and now four million years of oppression is undone and repaired, and the balance of justice is finally set right.
Sympathy vote.
Our current president was elected largely due to his color. American’s effusive eagerness to show the world our newly evolved post-Bush compassion and tolerance and understanding resulted in completely overlooking any sort of excellence or actual qualifications to hold the most important public office in the world; and electing instead, based on style, appearance and feel-good ‘compassion’…an inexperienced, grossly under-qualified, naively adolescent socialist as President of the United States.
The French have a saying for that one special occasion that is so inexplicably bizarre and completely unfathomable to the point of a frustrated, head-in-hands incredulity and disbelief…
‘Je reve.’
I’m dreaming.
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191 Comments
Right on the money Gary. Sympathy vote indeed.
Susan Boyle has the substance and depth that Mr Obama lacks. Talent and integrity.
I grew up in the 1970s, back when you could be ugly as heck and still be a star — back before video killed the radiostar. I'm happy to see Boyle's success and I hope this opens the door for more Susan Boyles and slams the door on more prettyboys – bye bye bye.
To Susan Boyle – I read somewhere – here? Drudge? That Susan's talent wasn't the complete surprise to Simon et al that one would at first glance believe. After all they all go though preliminaries and her voice had to have been known. So there has been a bit of slick marketing too. That being said she was as much of a surprise to me as the cell phone salesman, Paul Potts. You never know.
As to the sympathy vote, undoubtedly there is that component but the same could have been said for Hillary or – if Palin had the "right" politics – Sarah. If Obama had been a Michael Steele, watch how much of the "sympathy" would have gone out the window, as it did for Palin.
A lot of liberal women were for Hillary too – one could say she got a sympathy vote – how much the sympathy vote played in the outcome – while some – is anyone's guess.
Yeah yeah – sympathy vote — that's why even REGISTERED Republicans voted for Obama…right?
The world really cannot wait for your comparisons to McCain as a guy on 'Survivor' – oh that's right ,he did not survive did he?
Listen you GOP martyrrs…since it is clear you're gonna whine and make comparisons to very single pop culture reference you can pull out of you arses about this and that – read today's story from (yet another) person you guys have a problem with :
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-maher24...
This article really is true – and since it is not written by Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh, we all know you will have
a big problem with the topic above !!!
Sorry to interrupt your Mutual Admiraton Society meeting – so carry on…
Gary, I love ya' man. You may have seen this although you didn't reference it. Go listen to her in this recording. There may be a sympathy vote and she may lay an egg the next time out, but she really can sing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI2DxkrgpgQ
Are you just angry that McCain hasn't returned your phone calls?
Besides if anyone's whining it definately ain't us.
What's that smell?
"Listen you GOP martyrrs…"
ooo.. I like that. I am so going to put that on all my busniness cards.
Position: Engineer and GOP Martyr (formerly "the devil").
Hey…the little kid sang better than her….
"Alice Jardine. I mean, picture a girl who just took a nosedive from the ugly tree and hit every branch coming down."
(Apologies to Saving Private Ryan) except Tom Hanks…he can go pound sand !!!!!!
We ran into the same thing with Clay Aiken when he was trying in the AI prelims. He was judged on his goofy looks but then he opened his mouth to sing and people were amazed. "How can that voice come out of that face?" Its really pretty sad. Goes along with the various tattoo discussions we've had lately about judging people on their looks rather than on their merits (or lack thereof in GaROFLo's case).
I would agree, except that we all know that only evil people get tatoos.
Gary,
You are wrong, it was not sympathy vote. Ms. Boyle overcame quite a bit of rejection and anticipated scorn and instead of hiding her talent because to get through the door she would have to be repeatedly beaten, she went through the door anyone to give a gift to an ungrateful crowd. The vote was more than a sympathy vote and Ms. Boyle hasn't claimed to be anything other that what she is. It is a vote of admiration, support and genuine talent. Give Tim Russ regards from an Izmir Sultan…he'll know what it means.
Gary,
You are wrong, it was not sympathy vote. Ms. Boyle overcame quite a bit of rejection and anticipated scorn and instead of hiding her talent because to get through the door she would have to be repeatedly beaten, she went through the door anyone to give a gift to an ungrateful crowd. The vote was more than a sympathy vote and Ms. Boyle hasn't claimed to be anything other that what she is. It is a vote of admiration, support and genuine talent. Give Tim Russ regards from an Izmir Sultan…he'll know what it means.
in such a short time we have gone from the incredible success of foreigner (arguably the ugliest band in history) to the surprise success of this lady
has the world been spoiled by the britney spearses of the world? britney isn't even as good of a singer
Having heard her sing Cry Me A River which is where she sang with a pretty good studio production I would have to differ. She was and is absolutely GREAT. Not fine, not just good, but GREAT. One of the top female vocalists EVER.
This is funny coming from the same people whose whole argument to vote for McCain was "he was a POW!"
I hate to say it Gary, because I love you, but I'm going to disagree on this one. Sure Boyle got the sympathy vote and maybe was received with a lot more hoopla than she would have been had she looked differently. But is that any different than the beautiful people being treated as demigods? Does anyone here think Pamela Anderson has any talent other than her ability to balance her severely unbalanced body? Would Paris Hilton be given any attention if she were not physically attractive? (We're so not talking about personality here). Hollywood is littered with marginally talented people who get jobs based primarily on looks (Ashton Kutcher comes to mind for some reason. Britney Spears anyone?). I say it's high time the homely were given a chance. How awful would it be if my kids were to grow up seeing people succeed regardless of their physical attributes? Not awful at all.
Ahem, please dont post links to that god damned idiot Bill Maher, you twit. It is as useless as you are.
Interesing, my original response keeps disappearing. . . like magic.
So true – I have always felt that MTV was the beginning of the end for talented rock stars – big hair and photogenic features became more important than actual musical ability…
"Yeah yeah – sympathy vote — that's why even REGISTERED Republicans voted for Obama…right?"
Yup, sure did, 3 or 4 times and I never had to leave the house, this nice group of community organizers took care of everything for me. Too bad I could counter only one of those votes.
"Yeah yeah – sympathy vote — that's why even REGISTERED Republicans voted for Obama…right?"
Yup, sure did, 3 or 4 times and I never had to leave the house, this nice group of community organizers took care of everything for me. Too bad I could counter only one of those votes.
Opposed to the argument for Obama, "He's black."
Opposed to the argument for Obama, "He's black."
I've been saying this for some time. I liked the movies better when the actors weren't all young hardbodies. The films had a more realistic feel to them.
I've been saying this for some time. I liked the movies better when the actors weren't all young hardbodies. The films had a more realistic feel to them.
Are you still here. How sad. How pathetic do you need to be to decide, "Gee, I think I'll go troll on some internet board with people I don't like. That will make me feel better." Pathetic dude.
By the way, you're out of your league here. Go try the My Little Pony Board — that's more your speed.
Are you still here. How sad. How pathetic do you need to be to decide, "Gee, I think I'll go troll on some internet board with people I don't like. That will make me feel better." Pathetic dude.
By the way, you're out of your league here. Go try the My Little Pony Board — that's more your speed.
Dude, did you even READ the article above?
I mean come on, talk about looking like a clueless ass, at least read what you're commenting on.
Sheesh, the quality of trolls around here is really in the toilet.
Dude, did you even READ the article above?
I mean come on, talk about looking like a clueless ass, at least read what you're commenting on.
Sheesh, the quality of trolls around here is really in the toilet.
I'm looking forward to the election in four years when I can proudly proclaim "I voted against Obama because the clown is half-white." At long last, my first chance to strike half a blow at racism since Mississippi and Alabama in '64.
I'm looking forward to the election in four years when I can proudly proclaim "I voted against Obama because the clown is half-white." At long last, my first chance to strike half a blow at racism since Mississippi and Alabama in '64.
Sympathy vote or not, if she wins an MTV Music Award we won't have to endure footage of Madonna kissing her on the lips.
Let's be thankful for the little things.
Sympathy vote or not, if she wins an MTV Music Award we won't have to endure footage of Madonna kissing her on the lips.
Let's be thankful for the little things.
Growing up in Chicago, the dominant crime family (calling all Daleys!) has a motto; Vote early and often- and bring your cats & dogs too. Unless you're a Rethuglican- then voting day is next week.
Imagine how this will play out after this years' Census when we find out that there are 150 million more citizens living in DemoRat comntrolled districts.
Growing up in Chicago, the dominant crime family (calling all Daleys!) has a motto; Vote early and often- and bring your cats & dogs too. Unless you're a Rethuglican- then voting day is next week.
Imagine how this will play out after this years' Census when we find out that there are 150 million more citizens living in DemoRat comntrolled districts.
Sorry, guys, but I really don't want to watch Susan Boyle sing no matter how amazing her voice is. I guess that makes me a bad person, or at least a heterosexual…
Maybe I could compromise and listen to Susan Boyle while watching a Britney Spears video with the sound off.
As to the kind of strained segue to Obama…has anyone but me noticed that since his father came from an East African muslim tribe, he has absolutely no connection either culturally or genetically to American blacks, almost all of whom are descended from the animist tribes of west central Africa? If his ancestors had any connection at all to the American slave trade, which is doubtful, it would have been in the sales department.
Why does that fact not matter to anyone?
Sorry, guys, but I really don't want to watch Susan Boyle sing no matter how amazing her voice is. I guess that makes me a bad person, or at least a heterosexual…
Maybe I could compromise and listen to Susan Boyle while watching a Britney Spears video with the sound off.
As to the kind of strained segue to Obama…has anyone but me noticed that since his father came from an East African muslim tribe, he has absolutely no connection either culturally or genetically to American blacks, almost all of whom are descended from the animist tribes of west central Africa? If his ancestors had any connection at all to the American slave trade, which is doubtful, it would have been in the sales department.
Why does that fact not matter to anyone?
Now that's change I can believe in!
Well, I wouldn't have to endure that anyway…don't watch MTV and quickly move away from any media involving Madonna….so I'm good.
Well, I wouldn't have to endure that anyway…don't watch MTV and quickly move away from any media involving Madonna….so I'm good.
Ha! +500
First, John McCain lived through and endured more than your tiny little mind could ever imagine. 2nd, it wasn't why I voted for him. He wasn't my first choice (and you would be VERY unhappy with who was) but I voted for him because between the two choices…..even DEAD he would be more qualified than President Doofus.
Hey, stop picking on my friend Gary Graham!
See, there was this guy last year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k08yxu57NA
He was such a spectacular sensation that they tied to manufacture a second-run of the same phenomena.
Does anybody really believe they don't listen to the auditions of these people ahead of time and work out what response form each judge makes the best theater?
They wanted this chick to be Paul 2.0, they studied what made Paul the phenomena he was and duplicated it. Her intense ugliness is WHY they picked her to make a big deal out of.
And she's not 1/10th as good a singer as the guy above and that should be obvious to anyone listening to it. And while I'm sure the reactions in the above video are completely rehearsed, at least the talent is real. This chick is just sad.
Another excellent read, Gary. I'm hooked!
And yet another excuse to proudly proclaim you voted against him would be because "the clown is half Christian".
Or would the "Rev." Jeremiah Wright's denomination be more accurately described as a kind of uber bigoted Satanism in disguise?
talking out your hoo-ha is never recommended….
Perhaps a lucky break, Gary? So what if there were some sympathy votes? Isn't that how some mediocre actors or singers got their roles or record deals? Some of them don't have nearly the talent that this frumpy old farm girl has. I say good for her, sympathy votes or not.
Hey buddy. Where have you and your stupid screen ID been the last couple of days?
Naw. If we start adding things to his hyphenation he starts to look multicultural, multiethnic and mulitsexual, and that works against us.
And we still haven't gotten our !@#$% pie.
They haven't found anywhere else to go, that's certain.
Yet another example of why cynicism is both necessary and f__king annoying.
Even the NY Times thinks the LA Times has gone off to la-la land. You just linked us to a loony website with a loonier writer.
Hmm. I think that Ms. Boyle sang better than the actress who had the role of Fantine in the fabled 10th anniversary dream cast of Les Miserables. There was sympathy applause AND cheering for the underdog, in my opinion.
Opinions are like other things that everybody has. Susan Boyle delivers. Obama just talks about delivering and how great it will be, when we get it. Sympathy vote? Hardly.
I see your point- good call.
Would that perchance also apply to "half-douchebag"…?
[...] News Sources wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptI was going to let this one go. I like the story, I was a fan, and it made me smile and yeah, (sniff) warmed my heart, too. But after a week-long worldwide hoopla, and finally this morning hearing Mike Gallagher gush about this story on his radio show, (plus the fact that I’ve been mysteriously stricken this year with a terminal case of Cant-Shut-Up Syndrome)… …I must weigh in. (Hey you think living with me is fun? Ask my family – I’m insufferable.) Susan Boyle became an overnig [...]
There was another advantage to being a little older than you. We got all our hits from radio Top 40. We had no idea that most of our favorite rock stars were black. When they finally showed up on TV a few years later on the dance and music shows, we didn't care what color they were, we just loved the music. I have often wondered how much that may have influenced the white kids in the early civil rights movement.
I would be kind of nice to watch a movie and not play let's spot the plastic surgery…
Apologies to True Romance (1993) you mean, not Saving Private Ryan (1998).
Ya know, I've written two responses to your post and both have vanished — and I assure you, they were brilliant responses!
Let's see if this works. . . testing. . . testing. . . echo. . . echo. . .
My argument was "Vote for McCain because he's old and maybe he'll 'move on' before he screws up the country too much for President Palin."
Hey, they both showed up. . . What? Ok, I admit, I MAY have overstated their brilliance. . . a bit.
That's what the Rock is cookin'!!
I agree. MTV ruined the careers of anyone who didn't fit the visual image, because looks began to drive record sales. That sucks if you ask me.
Evil, sick and twisted. That about sums it up.
You kids and your roll and rock. Get off my lawn!
I don't know if that helped the civil rights movement or not. I'd hate to think we are that shallow as people, but then that does sound a lot like us.
I noticed. But that comes from the same sort of thing I went through during the 60s. Suddenly it was a big thing to identify with the African pre-slavery past by learning to speak Swahili and take on Swahili names (Kweisi Mfume, anyone? "Conquering son of kings," modestly enough. Former head of the black caucus in Congress and former head of the NAACP). The only problem is that Swahili is an east African dialect, and the few who spoke it in the west where the slaves were taken from were the slave-traders who came from such areas as current Kenya and Tanzania. Do we know of any prominent politicians with roots in Kenya?
Good thing Eleanor Roosevelt isn't still around. Nevertheless, I think she sang beautifully (Boyle, not Roosevelt).
Again a broad generalization. I'm evil, sick and twisted too but have no tattoos.
Don't be inkist people.
While I agree that other factors entered into her reception besides, strictly speaking, her musical talent, I wouldn't call a vote for Boyle a "sympathy vote." That's demeaning and inaccurate. In my case at least, my "attagirl" vote for Susan was a vote for good in the face of the almost constant evil and mediocrity paraded before us–those other characters who go along with the smutty status quo in order to get along, who screech and gyrate and ululate ridiculously to monotonous beats while everybody pretends that that is somehow the apex of musical achievement to date.
My vote was a vote for virtue and a good heart, purity and just plain wholesomeness. These are important qualities for a singer to bring to a song, quite apart from the raw, technical question of her singing (which cannot be measured with the precision being implied anyway). Boyle's performance reminded me of nothing so much as Whitney Houston's singing of the Star Spangled Banner–not in every respect, but in its obvious specialness. It held meaning for me far beyond the simple act. I refuse to apologize for, or be embarrassed by, that.
Sorry, can't be evil, sick and twisted without tattoos. You're just a wannabe. :p
Alright, somebody has to say this: EVERYBODY LAY-OFF SUSAN BOYLE!
Heh, sorry. But nice summation in the last paragraph. Ok, 'penultimate' paragraph. There. I've been waiting my whole life to use that word in a sentence. Fragment.
"Sympathy vote" is a very apt analogy for ┼h€ Ӫῃع though. Sympathy sells. This morning on the Today Show (my wife put it on, ok?) there was some mother with her 8-year-old daughter who had been 'diagnosed' as autistic when she was two (yes, I know, but that's a whole different subject) was touting how music 'cured' her little girl and she'd been singing the anthem at big football stadiums, etc ever since.
Then the little snowflake proceeded to, ahem, sing. I should mention that she looked like a perfectly normal child, but her 'singing' was horrible. Awful. Seizure-inducing. Dustin Hoffman in a Rain Man suit could not have done worse. Sympathy vote, indeed.
It's not as cynical as it sounds. Where I grew up, there were very few black people to give us any idea about them. So we got it from our parents. Mine, like most of those I grew up around, were traditional soft bigots. I never heard any of them say anything directly racist, but I always got the impression that black people were some sort of oddity that I would probably never encounter in real life. So when I discovered that my favorite singers were black, it meant my first introduction to real, living, breathing black people was positive. That had to have at least a subliminal effect on my later civil rights activities. Regardless of color, people have a tendency to be suspicious of anything and anyone they are not familiar with.
It would have been nice if the black man we elected was qualified. I can think of 3 black gentlemen I work with who are more qualified than Obama.
I was talking to a friend who was annoyed by the assumptions that lead to the sympathy vote. It's insulting. There is an assumption that Ms Boyle has been unhappy in life, that she perhaps regrets missed opportunities. That being rather plain she must have been downtrodden and sad… And all of that is belied by her spunky attitude even before she sang. She never is and never was a shrinking violet. It seems far more likely that she's done with her life just what she wanted to do with it.
At some point the condescension is condescending, and no getting away from that.
I've used a sharpie before to put my serial number and blood type on opposite side ankle and wrist though, that's kind of like a temporary tattoo. So can I be quasi-evil at least? Throw me a frickin' bone here.
Other than sympathy… some people might find her inspiring without feeling the least bit sorry for her.
Yeah yeah – sympathy vote — that's why even REGISTERED Republicans voted for Obama…right?
However, the massive success for last week's tea parties indicates that those "Obamacans" are regretting their support for "The One." Heck, there were some BLACK Democrats who were at the parties.
This isn't shocking because polls indicate that Obama's bad policy decisions could soon bite him in the rear:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_pl311
"One of the top female vocalists EVER. "
Right. Forget Montserrat Caballé or Sarah Vaughan or any of a thousand other far superior female vocalists of the past 60 years.
Enshrine mediocrity and all shrines are razed.
Sounds like a tough McDonalds. Did you get your meal without having to whip out the old artillery?
Nope, sorry, that doesn't qualify. If it did, everyone who ever went into surgery after a doctor Sharpied them up would. We must maintain our elitism. Get inked or go home!
Actually we did call in artillery, got called evil for that one too. Just can't win.
Maybe we can get some Ho-Hos off this one though.
I used to write the answers to exam questions on my wrists and arms, in black and red ink. Does that count? Not that I would ever be evil.
Sigh & sniffle, gonna have to go home then since actual tattoos are verboten for me.
Hi, I'm Gerard. I p*ss in all Koolaid equally.
Just kidding? LOL
Isn't that the truth! Plus, frankly, it just makes the movie more natural when the actors look like people rather than models.
Yeah, that's the ticket.
Especially if they're people that look the part, I have a hard time watching anything about the military sometimes because they do not look the part at all. "Generation Kill" and "Band of Brothers" were the last two I can think of where they actually looked like the real deal and not models in uniform. At least across the board.
Although Rudy Reyes -did- look like a model in uniform in GK, but since he played himself, that's fine.
Keep him away from the Cabal's punch and pie!
Hey Lawhawk, I've got proof that I am indeed not soft on torture — go check out the Wolverine article.
Sorry, Gary, I gotta disagree. I heard her sing and didn't see her. My husband cued up the YouTube vid from across the room. She sounded awesome. I asked him what he ws watching, and when he told me that this was Britain's American Idol, I just had to see who was singing so well because she was putting most of the American Idol contestants to shame. They only approach that good on a few, rare occasions I can think of.
She definitely earned her acclaim because she is definitely that good.
Great now it started happening to me now too…
Sorry Gary. From Day 1 I've loved reading your stuff because you say exactly what is on your mind without checking the direction the wind is blowing first. It was bound to happen at some point. You need to recognize that you're not a normal human being. You're a recovering Pod Person. You are recovering admirably from your life within the pod structure and your willingness to spit the seeds out for all of us is great. But you still come from them. You are still of them. It is not sympathy at all. It's an 'up yours' to all those who have advantages heaped upon them because the genes lined up right. How many household names have no real attributes other than the physical? I've enjoyed your acting on TV and in movies Gary, but I went to school with a fat guy who was bald at 21 who had pretty much the same acting chops that you do. You figure it was your overwhelming talent that made your career and his lack that has him selling real estate today? Your whole industry (and their wannabe lemmings in the audience) got ready to have a good laugh at the expense of one of the lesser peoples who dared walk on their hallowed turf and she kicked them in their behinds. It wasn't sympathy. It was sheer satisfaction. She's at least as good and better than most who had an engraved invitation because of their appearance. Don't worry dude. You're a good guy. And when you finally get it, it doesn't mean that you aren't good at what you do. It does mean that you really weren't that much better than the fat, bald guy, just better looking.
I don't think Susan Boyle got any sympathy votes. Heck her voice alone would knock anyone's socks off, especially that recording of her singing "Cry Me a River." The lady has a tremendous voice and she knows how to use it. People love pleasant surprises, and she delivered that in spades.
I'm getting a LITTLE put off by all the coverage of her wardrobe though. Geeze, I wonder if people think she lives in that gold dress she wore to the competition!
Did some people vote for Obama because he's black? I have no doubt whatsoever that they did. I'm excited to have a black president but NOT THAT ONE!!! Why couldn't it have been Alan Keyes? He is my first choice for president, no matter what color he is. I would have loved Keyes running against Obama – the outcome would have been much different.
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