Monday, June 18, 2012
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Monday, June 18, 2012
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
15
Usual brouhaha back in 'Blood'
SCOTT GUMBINER |
PAC power
ALICIA KOVALCHECK
E-MAIL ALICIA AT ALIMARKO(@(UMICH.EDU.
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e Blood' sinks its smartly allegorical look at bigotry
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s into new season terfuck of tangled plot twists and
boring character additions. But.
vith little zest there are still enough one-liner
quips, sweet doses of southern-
By KELLY ETZ tinged charm and excessive bouts
Senior Arts Editor of nudity to make "True Blood"
worth a tune-in.
if you fancy yourself over Season five has already risen
ole "vam- above the previous season's witch-
ing, there *** tastic melodrama. The hideously
anything drawn-out, will-they/won't-they
delicious- True Blood Bill-Sookie-Eric love triangle fuss
y than a is finally over. The second Sookie
eason of Sundays at (Anna Paquin) made her non-choice
Blood." 9 p.m" at the end of last season, Bill (Ste-
ries has HBO phen Moyer) and Eric (Alexander
d from a Skarsgard) immediately became 10
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- O,
HBO
"The fact is that the system is
broken. I predict to you there will
be scandals," Sen. John McCain
lamented on CNN this month
when asked about the current state
of campaign finance.
Sen. McCain was referring to a
2010 Supreme Court Decision in
which Citizens United sued the
U.S. government for not allowing
them to run an anti-Hillary Clin-
ton ad during the democratic pri-
mary, arguing that the restriction
violated their freedom of speech as
a corporation. The Supreme Court,
in a monumental decision, over-
turned the law, allowing unlim-
ited influence by corporations and
unions in national elections for the
first time since 1947.
Chief Justice John Roberts,
writing the opinion of the court,
argued that corporations have the
same protection of free speech
under the First Amendment as
individuals, so their influence on
campaigns should be limitless.
Justice John Paul Stevens,
however, adamantly objected to
the court's decision, arguing that
wealthy Americans will essentially
have more political influence than
poor and middle-class Americans
who can't afford to make political
donations. Unfortunately, Justice
Stevens was right, and the disas-
trous effects of the court's ruling
are emergingas the election season
heats up.
Ultra-rich Americans now
donate millions to what are known
as Super PACs, political action
committees that typically run
attack campaigns on behalf of their
preferred candidate. Super PACs
drown out the voices of those who
do not have the luxury to spend
millions of dollars on political
campaigns.
For example, Sheldon Adel-
son, a casino owner in Las Vegas,
just donated $10 million to a Mitt
Romney Super PAC. In a Forbes
magazine interview, he said his
political donations could be "limit-
less" to prevent President Obama's
"socialization" of America. Adel-
son is worth an estimated $20 to
$25 billion and could finance Mitt
Romney's presidential campaign
single-handedly if he so chooses.
Adelson acknowledges that his
personal wealth gives him greater
political influence than others.
"I'm against very wealthy people
attempting to or influencing elec-
tions," Adelson explained. "But as
long as it's doable I'm going to do
it. Because I know that guys like
Soros have been doing it for years,
if not decades. And they stay below
the radar by creating a network
of corporations to funnel their
money. I have my own philosophy
and I'm not ashamed of it." Adelson
justifies his donations by the exam-
ple of George Soros, a left-leaning
activist who has funded Democrat-
ic campaigns for years. This allows
for continuous funding, as blame is
always placed on others.
Consequently, even when
wealthy Americans are aware that
they're literally buying extra polit-
ical influence, they continue to do
it anyway since that's simply how
politics is played these days.
The issue of wealthy Americans
buying political influence will
only worsen as our government
expands and has a greater influ-
ence in daily life. In the past five
years, the government has expand-
ed its influence by deciding which
startup companies receive loans
and which banks receive $1 billion
in bailout money. Corporations not
only have an ideological stake in
election results, but they increas-
ingly have financial stakes as well.
The new ruling thus far has
helped the Republican party more
than Democrats. But the Citizens
United decision has the potential
to be disastrous for the future of
free elections in the U.S. While
there ought to be concern for keep-
ing free speech in elections, ulti-
mately the lower- and middle-class
political opinions must be protect-
ed from those with the money to
buy influence.
Scott Gumbiner is a LSA junior.
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JAMES BRENNAN
Encouragi~ngapathy
A threesome is not out of the question.
times more exciting without the
love-sick puppy dog auras hang-
ing over their heads every waking
moment. The premiere has their
new bromance fully on display,
with Moyer and Skarsgard each
complementing the other to per-
fection. They never needed Sookie
anyway.
Moving on to Sookie: she
really is the worst character in
the premiere, and, undoubtedly,
the entire series. Her self-cen-
teredness knows no bounds and
her calm demeanor while clean-
ing tattered bits of Debbie's (Brit
Morgan) blown-off head from
the kitchen floor just comes off
way creepier than was probably
intended. At least there aren't any
pining lovers hanging around,
besides poor Alcide (Joe Mangan-
iello), who's truly having some bad
luck in the romance department
lately.
Besides Sookie and Lafayette's
(Nelsan Ellis) poorly played grief
(did we really need the scene of
Lafayette lying in the tub star-
ing at the razor while the sad
music mourns heavily in the
background?), the rest of the pre-
miere promises plenty of twisty
plots to keep the next 11 episodes
juicy. Especially compelling is
the imminent return of suppos-
edly dead, badass ex-Vampire-
King Russell Edgington (Denis
O'Hare), who breathed new life
- so to speak - into season three
and is the best villain the series has
conjured up so far.
What's more, we finally come
close to the illustrious vampire
"Authority," a constant teaser pres-
ence.in previous seasons. At the
same time, we meet Eric's sister,
allowing "True Blood" to violate
yet another social dictate. But the
incestuous sex comes off asa cheap
rip-off of HBO's golden child,
"Game of Thrones," rather than a
shocking moment. The series has
to work a lot harder than that to
shock it's audience with mere sex.
Though the premiere did have its
upsides - not the least of which is a
newly gay, newly fanged Rev. Steve
Newlin (Michael McMillian) and
Pam (Kristin Bauer van Straten) in
a sweat suit - there are still way too
many plot lines to make sense of.
And why does "True Blood" feel the
need to constantly pull in a bunch
of unnecessary new characters,
who don't matter and no one cares
about? We're looking at you Terry
(Todd Lowe) and all the brouhaha
with your former Marine buddy
(Scott Foley) about the weird and
pointless fires.
But truly, the worst moment of
the premiere has to be when Tara
awakens as a vampire. "True Blood"
just can't find the courage to kill off
any big characters, which is unfor-
tunate as there are way too many to
begin with. And Tara has been use-
less for a while now. What a perfect
way to rid the show of yet another
boring loose end. Instead, now we
have to deal with Tara's whole baby
vamp drama, when we've already
gone through that mess with Jes-
sica (Deborah Ann Woll) ages ago.
"True Blood" really needs to stop
taking itself so seriously. It's at it's
best when the quips are flying and
the cheese factor is high, as long as
the series remains self-aware. The
premiere makes the mistake of fall-
ing into soap opera territory, with-
out having any fun along the way.
Still, the show somehow manages
to be as addictive as V and equally
unpredictable. It has its faults, but
none so great as to make us tear our
eyes away from the screen and, god
forbid, miss whathappens next.
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Some pundits are calling this November's presi-
dential election one of the most important in recent
history, a showdown that will determine the direc-
tion of our country. They're right - there hasn't been
a greater debate over America's political ideology in
more than three decades, when Ronald Reagan took
office and changed the face of conservatism, the
Republican Party and America. With the soul of our
country atstake this November, voting - and for that
matter, illegal voting - is as important an issue as
ever. However, a chink in the armor of our democ-
racy still lurks: voter fraud laws.
Voter fraud is a huge problem inAmerica. In 2000,
the Gore campaign was accused of racking up thou-
sands of votes from dead people. And currently, non-
citizens are voting in threatening numbers, while
other individuals are voting twice. Any American in
favor of the principles of our democracy should see
these issues as a great threat to the makeup of our
government. But - and yes, there is always a but -
there's just one problem: voter fraud is nothing more
than a red herring to promote laws that will discour-
age and deny legal voters.
Though these laws may seem nonthreatening at
first, they are far from it. They range from simply
requiring a photo ID for voting to complex systems
that confuse and push people away from register-
ing, especially in low-income and minority areas.
Requiring a voter to have an ID may seem innocent,
but according to New York University's School of
Law Brennan Center for Justice, some one in 10 vot-
ers possess no photo ID. Getting a driver's license is
a simple task for some of us, especially those with
access to cars, but low-income people without vehi-
cles or reliable public transportation have a more dif-
ficult time.
Obtaining a photo ID can be especially difficult,
and in some states impossible, if one does not have
a copy of their birth certificate, an issue faced by
many older African-Americans. In fact, a 93-year-
old woman has brought suit against Pennsylvania for
its new voter laws, as she does not possess a driver's
license or a birth certificate. According to the Center
on Budget and Policy Priorities, requiring a passport
or birth certificate to get an ID to vote would mean
that almost one in every 11black adults would be dis-
qualified from voting. In Florida, anti-voter fraud
acts have predominantly targeted the Latino com-
munity, as dozens of letters have been sent to eligible
citizens telling them they can't vote.
Further- measures influencing the process of
voter registration greatly affect minorities living in
poorer areas, where voter registration groups can
have a huge impact. In Florida and Michigan, legisla-
tion has passed putting unnecessary restrictions on
such groups while creating short windows of time
between when a voter can fill out his or her registra-
tion and when it can legally be turned in. In Florida,
the time is set at 48 hours and in Michigan at only 24
hours. These restrictions are hurting organizations
trying to register citizens to vote, creating major
roadblocks and little time to navigate through them.
There are plenty of other laws on the books in
Iowa, Texas, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Kansas and
South Carolina - all of which are quite alike and
defended in very similar ways. Voter fraud, for the
most part, is not what people say it is. When fraud
does occur, it happens at rates of about a hundred-
millionth of a percent, as in 20 to 100 people will
actually have illegally voted. On the other hand,
voting will become "significantly harder" for some
5 million eligible voters. In Florida in 2000, some
20,000 people were barred from voting due to
errors in voter restriction systems. Pair these issues
with traditionally poor voter turnout, and the result
is an ineffective law discouraging an already apa-
thetic electorate.
Regardless of whether this is a partisan plot to dis-
courage traditionally Democratic voters from vot-
ing in the upcoming election, or just another poorly
developed anti-fraud policy, these laws are unac-
ceptable. It shouldn't matter whether or not liberals
or conservatives will benefit - what should matter
is that the country formerly known as the "arsenal
of democracy" is subverting the very philosophy we
champion. If we want to end voter fraud, there are
ways to do so. But those ways should not prevent
thousands of eligible citizens from participating in
our country's greatest tradition.
James Brennan is a LSA sophomore.
"I'm flattered you're all so
concerned about my vagina.
But no-means no'
-Rep. Lisa Brown (D-West Bloomfield) addressing the Michigan House
of Representatives, according to the Detroit Free Press. She was banned the
next day from speaking in the House.