JCC What is the silliest American political/cultural tradition and/or practice?

Tomorrow night is the President's annual State of the Union address, which never amounts to much of anything, but gets covered in such serious tones by much of the media. It got me thinking about all the other silly stuff that occurs in our political & cultural landscape.

 

this is a terrible poll idea. the answer is "all of it"

 

I am surprised you did not list the "Secret Ballot" as an option, given your apparent opposition to it.

 

taking a hat half for any reason is just the worst thing ever.

 

Switching our forks and knifes in between cutting the meat and eating it. Seriously, screw that.

 

i grew up in europe so luckily i never learned to handle my utensils in this dumb fashion. the thing that sucks is i frequently get perplexed stares from people here, but when i do, i always stab the left eye of the person with my fork in my left hand, and stab the right eye of the person with my knife in my right.

 

Watching men scramble their brains to get a ball from one end of a field to another under the auspices of a billion-dollar "non-profit" organization and its advertisers is a cherished tradition and a fitting, if a bit convoluted, metaphor.

 

a billion-dollar "non-profit" organization and its advertisers

i still cant believe thats a real thing

 

Indeed, but there are far worse things to take umbrage over.

 

Lavishing heaps of praise on overrated celebrities at awards ceremonies that don't mean jack squat.

 

There's a bit of a push to revoke the NFL's non-profit status, though the IRS wouldn't dare go through with it.

 

If only I could vote more than once.

The insistence that God, if he was real (lol) would give a rat's bottom about America and to ensure he doesn't get all vengeful on you, you have to keep namechecking him is idiotic, but it happens in other countries. Not in so overbearing a fashion, but it's still there.

No, I go with gun culture. What's worse than idiots owning 30 firearms and school shooting? Idiots pretending there's no issue with guns and people are safer with them.

You're mad. Barking, trouser-burning mad. And stupid. And wrong. You have guns, you have problems. People without the same sexual fetish for firearms don't have these same wide-scale problems. But let's blame video games and insufficient prayer in schools!

 

Yellow Fever

 

Also, the way you rape and pillage the English language is intolerable. Stop boosting "z" (pronounced "zed")'s self-esteem by using it in place of "s" in words like "analyse" or "realise". Do the honourable thing and restore "u" to words. Use the past tense when appropriate. An idiot says "I just spit my drink out, I was laughing so hard." It's spat.

The irony is so delicious whenever an American yells "speak English!" at an NESB migrant or tourist.

 

the right wing talking points would be amazing

 

Um....no.

 

How about the culture of hate that right wingers preach. Or is it left wingers, after a comment like that it is hard to tell who preaches hate more.

 

Wait. . . you're not implying that Ender is left-wing, are you?

 

As a Canadian, I always thought GOP stood for something a bit more erudite or technical.

Grand Old Party.

I was wrong.

 

I don't consider the theory behind the State of the Union address to be something silly. It is after all, one of the duties of the President as outlined in the Constitution. Article II, Section III states, "He shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient." The idea behind this is a good one, and that is the whole reason for it being included in the Constitution. Now the execution of this is what I have the problem with. The extra long build up before it, and the 10 minute false standing ovations when the President enters, and while he leaves are unnecessary. Most Presidents before the modern era gave this report in a written form, but I think in today's world with technology being what it is, it is actually a good thing for the President to deliver it in person for everyone to see. He is the executive of our country, and leaders should be seen by their people. I think the problem is it has gone away from it's original purpose, and has now become a platform to further launch attacks at the Congress for not getting things done the way he thinks they should. One line I remember from last year's was, "so send me a bill...I'll sign it." It's like he's trying to convince the people that Congress is holding things up (very true for the most part, but not the way to handle it). Putting Congress on blast in front of the whole country isn't going to make them want to agree to compromise so we can get legislation passed that's actually in the best interest of the people for once. I just think it could be handled better.
As far as "God bless America" and removing our hats for the National Anthem, I don't consider those silly either. These are national pride kind of things and I don't have a problem with that. One should remove their hats as a sign of respect to the symbol of our country and out of respect to those who died to make that country possible and to preserve it. Maybe it's because I was in the military for ten years, but I think it's really important for the same reasons they should bring back the Pledge of Allegiance every morning in school. Honor, respect, devotion to one's country are fundementals that every citizen should be instilled with.
Super Bowl Sunday is the bomb and not silly either. It gives us an excuse to party, and come on, who doesn't love a good party? It brings people together, and we still all watch even when our team isn't in it because it's football and there is nothing more important then football!
The rest of the stuff, yeah I could see some silliness in. But it's hard to narrow down to just one, so I'm voting "other."

 

nascar

 

Dark Lord Of The Empire Taking one's hat off a sign of respect is indeed silly... one can be respectful with a hat on. I know there's a reasoning behind it, but I don't care.

 

Also, convert to the bloody metric system of measurement like the all the other civilised portions of the planet.