Sept 16/10 - Pt 2: Bieber Politics

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PART TWO

Bieber Politics - Panel

We started this segment with an ad from a Washington-based group called Campus Progress. And yes, you heard correctly... it's calling on young Americans everywhere to help make the world a better place and to get their parents to act for Justin Bieber. Yes, that Justin Bieber, the successful, impeccably coifed, 16-year-old heart throb from Stratford, Ontario.

Now we would never want to suggest that the world couldn't be even kinder to Justin Bieber. But this looks as if it may be a clever ploy to hitch a political campaign to a very bright -- and possibly politically agnostic -- star.

So before we go any further, we thought we should suss out whether Justin Bieber has any politics of his own. We called up Eldon Gammon, the manager of the Avon Theatre in Stratford. He used to cross paths with the young... okay he's still young... Justin Bieber, back in the day.

Okay, so we're not sure he's much of a political animal. But that doesn't mean Justin Bieber can't be a useful political tool for Americans who are. Even if he is Canadian. So now, the question is whether the Do It for Bieber campaign is smart strategy or politics gone wrong.

Sara Haile-Mariam thinks it's the former. She's with Campus Progress. She's also the woman behind the Do It For Bieber video. She was in our Washington studio. But Oliver Sherouse thinks it smacks of desperation more than political savvy. He's a blogger at Polattack.com. He was also in our Washington studio.

Articles: Why does Campus Progress want Justin Bieber fans to vote? / Midterm Bieber fever / New Democrat Voter Recruitment Tactic: Bieber Fever! / This Is What Democrat Desperation Looks Like

Bieber Politics - Cintra Wilson

Still on the hunt to find out if there's any kind of political message in Justin Bieber's music... we asked a very deep and very world famous musico-politicologist to analyze Bieber's work. We heard from Doctor Duncan Fern. Okay fine. We made him up. Still... we haven't heard the last of our musico-politicologist... more from him later.

For some perspective on what - if anything - this Do It For Bieber campaign really says about the state of politics down south, we were joined by Cintra Wilson. She's a real culture analyst who writes for The New York Times. She is also the author of A Massive Swelling: Celebrity Re-examined As A Grotesque Crippling Disease And Other Cultural Revelations. She was in New York City.

And as promised, we aired once again is The Current's very own... and very famous... musico-politicologist... Dr. Duncan Fern on the poetical politics of Justin Bieber.

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