  As the race for president heats up, I have noticed that the majority of people are not very wise when deciding on who they vote for. This is not necessarily because I disagree with their politics, it is because I disagree with the way in which they decide their views.
I think far too many Americans rely on unreliable sources to inform them vital political information. Many young people erroneously rely on a song or musician's statement when making their decision on who to vote for. Do musicians and entertainers know more about politics because they are famous? In most cases, the answer is no. Most entertainers are famous because they are good at one thing, and that is entertaining. This does not mean that they are intelligent and wise when it comes to politics.
I will take the Rolling Stones for example. They had a song called "Street Fighting Man" that encouraged you to go out and violently protest your government. It's a rocking song, I will admit, but it does not make me want to go out and violently protest my government. Let's face it, the Rolling Stones wrote some kick ass songs, but otherwise they were messed up people.
Keith Richards was/is a drunken drug addict, Bill Wyman dated a 13 year old, and Mick Jagger was just an all around womanizer. So, ultimately, these aren't the type of people that you want to be taking advice from. A modern example of performers that make political statements that lack substance are the Beastie Boys. Their new album, "To the Five Boroughs", has a great deal of anti-Bush sentiment on it. It's a great CD, but like most Beastie lyrics, they don't make sense. Well actually, they make sense, but they don't really lead us to any conclusions. They don't like George Bush, this is clear, but do they have a solution to the problem, no?
"We got a president we didn't elect / Kyoto treaty he did neglect" So what? I guess the rest of that particular song says a lot of other stuff, but I'm failing to get the message as to what the Beasties Boys suggest we do about these problems. I'm not saying that it is wrong for them to make political statements. The problem is uninformed young people are going to listen to this CD, and say to themselves, "If the Beastie Boys don't like George Bush, then neither should I. I am going to vote against him, for any candidate that is not George Bush.
" Nobody even cares what Kerry's platform is, they're just glad he's not Bush. That is retarded reasoning. These are the same people that go to see "Fahrenheit 9/11" and then decide that they aren't voting for George Bush. That movie was a piece of bias propaganda, but a large amount of people are making their decision based on this garbage. It's not just liberals, it's conservatives too. People who religiously watch Fox News and believe everything the network states are not using their brains, they are allowing Fox News to think for them. So anyway, my point is this, don't let other people make decisions for you. Make them for yourself.
Also, don't vote for John Kerry simply because he's not George Bush. Vote for John Kerry because you think he is the best man for the job. In the spirit of my message, don't read this post and then base all of your political philosophies on what I say. I am only a chemist. Finally, I would like to state that I have not decided who I am voting for. 
