Facebook... stop telling me to vote for Colbert

Stephen Colbert of "The Colbert Report" recently announced that he will indeed run for president... but only in his home state of South Carolina. What does this mean? It means that he's not really running for president. He is, however, appeasing his fans. I have gotten at least 12 invites from Facebook asking me to join events or groups based on this new fake Colbert campaign. I think the main issue here is that most people don't realize that it's fake.

I saw Stephen Colbert at Cornell Friday, and it brought to mind... Why are so many people obsessed with his fake campaign? I wrote about this briefly before, but it really struck me Friday that even he thinks it's a joke. He began the night by declaring that he is a fake. He is a fake politician, and he is a fake newsman. He is, however, an intelligent comedian. Even Colbert admits to this and tells the audience that they are ridiculous for spending so much time and effort on his campaign.

The real question, then, is why do we care so much about a celebrity running for president and not nearly as much about the actual candidates?

First of all, I'm no politics genius. My other political blogs are clearly about Law and Order and Oprah, not about Fred Thompson and Barack Obama. I care about politics, because it affects me. I do not, however, care to write about it. I am not a writer. I am an observer. I observe things and they make me laugh and I may jot them down in this blog from time to time. I have no claim to be an expert and no delusions of grandeur. I do observe, though, that this fake campaign is taking over the vote from his target audience and it's a sad sad thing for our country the day that a character on cable can beat out actual politicians.
The Associated Press covered Colbert's announcement to run as a hard news story. To me, this is not a news story. This is a hilarious story that the entertainment section should take care of and should be a funny feature in Entertainment Weekly. To the AP, Colbert "tossing his satirical hat into the ring of an already crowded race." To crowds of Colbert fans around the world, he gave them something to make Facebook groups of and petitions. To me, he gave me something to observe and laugh at. Colbert is running for president... in one state. Therefore he is not running. He has no campaign and no platform. He has no experience and no plan for our country. Mostly because Stephen Colbert is a comedian and a character.
What people do not realize is, he is mocking them. Out of character, he told the audience at Cornell that his fake campaign merely reflects our generation's downfall. Years ago, people rioted in the streets to bring an end to war. Today, we write about it. This generation is softening, Colbert said. And the mere fact that we care more about a candidate for president that will never be says something about us.
It says that we want celebrities, not real people. We want to watch people make us laugh and screw up, not fix our country. Politics are hard, but celebrity is hilarious.
Most people in my age group will never learn what Hillary's health care plan is or what Obama wants to do to get us out of Iraq. They will, however, memorize Colbert's editions of "The Word" and repeat them daily.
My problem with this idea is that then we complain about health care and Iraq. We have right to complain if we never look into what we're whining about. And yes, I do say "we" because I include myself in this generation and therefore take responsibility as a member of it.

So, what I call for is a strive for intelligence about this upcoming election, because it is important. And not because a celebrity is running for fake president, but because the leaders that we bring into power will affect our lives directly.