>>One reason I really like 'The Simpsons' is that it does show that Americans have a capacity to laugh at themselves.
>
>Of course. Did you think we were all stuffed shirts?
Not all of course, but as a whole you do tend to take yourselves a bit too seriously.
>>You do tend to be a bit sensitive about others making fun of you sometimes though.
>
>And there is another country that isn't?
Try me.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas ----
At 12:34 PM -0700 12/6/03, Ian Murray wrote:
>Homer Simpson comes in as the favourite with 20.7% ahead of Founding
>Father Benjamin Franklin (6.2%) and the country's first president, George
>Washington (7.9%).
News update: with over 36,000 votes cast, Homer has now streaked far ahead of the pack, reaping 47% of the votes cast. Virtually an absolute majority. Abe Lincoln is running a distant second, on 9.8% and Martin Luther King Jnr appears set to get a place on 8.59%.
Do the results have any political implications? Almost certainly, given that practically all the other runners are past and/or present political figures. When one considers that the last three American presidents have all been cartoon characters in their own right, a future for Homer Simpson in US politics seems a distinct possibility.
The trend for 'toons to seek high political office in the US began with Mickey Mouse (alias Ronald Reagan) in the 1980s. US voters went for a change of pace 8 years later, electing the more irresponsible, but lovable, Donald Duck (Bill Clinton). The Lone Ranger is currently President, but faces an uphill battle for re-election if the popular Homer Simpson chooses to enter the race.
The foreign policy implications of a Homer administration are unknown, nothing new there. But what have we got to lose?
VOTE RESULTS Who is the greatest American? Bill Clinton
3.54% Bob Dylan
4.90% Benjamin Franklin
4.14% Thomas Jefferson
5.74% Martin Luther King Jnr
8.59% Abraham Lincoln
9.80% Franklin D Roosevelt
3.69% Homer Simpson
47.03% Mr T
7.81% George Washington
4.76% 36045 Votes Cast Results are indicative and may not reflect public opinion