# Ashton & Demi "I Pledge" video--Creepy **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 4, 2009, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashton-demi-i-pledge-video-creepy/508820 "2009-09-04T03:09:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashton-demi-i-pledge-video-creepy/508820/61 "2009-09-04T16:44:02Z")
> [@Carol\_Stream](#): > > I’m not going to look up links for the likes of you. See Nancy Pelosi for calling detractors un-American. You’re full of shit. Stop spouting RNC talking points. Pelosi said that the _actions_ of the detractors, in trying to shut down debate by yelling, were unAmerican. Not the protesters themselves, but the specific tactics they were using. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashton-demi-i-pledge-video-creepy/508820/62 "2009-09-04T17:00:08Z")
2:51: “…to sell a culture of intelligence instead of ignorance”. No chance the OP will be going along with _that_ particular idea any time soon. > [@Gyrate](#): > > But I agree that pledging to serve the President is creepy unless you actually work for the federal government in some relevant capacity (and/or are a member of the Armed Forces, I suppose). Don’t worry – our troll-of-the-month made sure to leave off enough of the statement to completely change the meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashton-demi-i-pledge-video-creepy/508820/63 "2009-09-04T17:02:28Z")
Obama got Punk’d? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashton-demi-i-pledge-video-creepy/508820/64 "2009-09-04T17:06:49Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > I could be wrong, but I don’t recall any of them saying, “I pledge to balance the federal budget!” or “I pledge to support Cash for Clunkers and other stimulus spending!” or “I pledge to jam universal healthcare down the throat of teabaggers!” Isn’t that what I said? They all allegedly want to help Obama. The video started with some stuff about how lonely the President’s job is. Then a bunch of overpriced celebrities chimed in volunteering to help Obama, just with things that didn’t cost them anything. OK, so some starlet with anorexia and implants volunteers for the noble cause of [being a Pepper](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8DWf-rSHn0). This helps Obama enacts his agenda how exactly? We are in a recession, Social Security and Medicare are about to crash, we have the largest deficit in human history, government spending is out of control and about to get worse, and we have a chief executive with no experience. But by golly, if we just let a smile be our umbrella, all will be sunshine and roses! Because [del]Tinkerbelle[/del] Obama will be just fine if we all clap our hands and believe. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashton-demi-i-pledge-video-creepy/508820/65 "2009-09-04T17:07:16Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I find the sentiment a bit amusing coming from a guy who reveled in placing people into uncomfortable staged situations so he could capture it all on film and play it for millions of people. Good point. My dislike of Kutcher stems largely from that abomination of a TV show. > [@Bricker](#): > > But I don’t see any particular problem apart from that. They like the President, they think he’s on the right track, and they’re sharing that view. What’s the problem? Well, nothing, i guess. But even though i’m a big fan of Obama, and some of the sentiments in the video are quite appealing, i did find the whole thing pretty nauseating. I don’t need moral exhortation from a bunch of self-important multimillionaires, and the day i take advice from Cameron Diaz, you should check whether i’ve had a lobotomy. > [@Shodan](#): > > I only got as far as the one pledging to raise awareness of mental illness. This video certainly does that. > > Regards, > Shodan That made me laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashton-demi-i-pledge-video-creepy/508820/66 "2009-09-04T17:08:02Z")
“no experience”? **Shodan** , would you mind terribly not lying about Obama? Oh, you would? Never mind, then. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Joe\_Meager](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Joe\_Meager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Joe_Meager)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashton-demi-i-pledge-video-creepy/508820/67 "2009-09-04T17:15:09Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > “no experience”? **Shodan** , would you mind terribly not lying about Obama? Oh, you would? Never mind, then. And, predictably, let the Obama worshiping begin. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashton-demi-i-pledge-video-creepy/508820/68 "2009-09-04T17:21:19Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Joe\_Meager](#): > > And, predictably, let the Obama worshiping begin. Jesus Christ, there’s just no talking to you people, is there? ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashton-demi-i-pledge-video-creepy/508820/69 "2009-09-04T17:54:18Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Joe\_Meager](#): > > And, predictably, let the Obama worshiping begin. Failing to tell insulting lies = worship. Hell, in that case, I’m a servant of Obama. I mean, I don’t want to _kill_ the guy, and since there are no middle grounds anymore… ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashton-demi-i-pledge-video-creepy/508820/70 "2009-09-04T17:57:13Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Failing to tell insulting lies = worship. > > Hell, in that case, I’m a servant of Obama. I mean, I don’t want to _kill_ the guy, and since there are no middle grounds anymore… Wait, WHAT? Tell me at least you want to post mean spirited comments on what a trashy whore his eldest is or what an overbearing shrew his wife is. You must have some sanity left. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashton-demi-i-pledge-video-creepy/508820/71 "2009-09-04T18:04:34Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Wait, WHAT? Tell me at least you want to post mean spirited comments on what a trashy whore his eldest is or what an overbearing shrew his wife is. You must have some sanity left. Nope - I’m afraid I really have no strong feelings one way or the other about the guy or his various relations one way or the other - besides having a perhaps irrational aversion to killing the guy. And in the new world order where there are no middle grounds, not wanting to kill him means that I have no other choice but to be his bootlick. It’s a sad, sad world we now live in, the land of no middle grounds. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashton-demi-i-pledge-video-creepy/508820/72 "2009-09-04T18:12:27Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Nope - I’m afraid I really have no strong feelings one way or the other about the guy or his various relations one way or the other - besides having a perhaps irrational aversion to killing the guy. And in the new world order where there are no middle grounds, not wanting to kill him means that I have no other choice but to be his bootlick. > > It’s a sad, sad world we now live in, the land of no middle grounds. ☹ BOOTLICK? In the land of no middle ground? I don’t think so. _hands you the KY_ You’re going to need this. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashton-demi-i-pledge-video-creepy/508820/73 "2009-09-04T18:16:30Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Isn’t that what I said? > > They all allegedly want to help Obama. The video started with some stuff about how lonely the President’s job is. Then a bunch of overpriced celebrities chimed in volunteering to help Obama, just with things that didn’t cost them anything. > > OK, so some starlet with anorexia and implants volunteers for the noble cause of [being a Pepper](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8DWf-rSHn0). This helps Obama enacts his agenda how exactly? > > We are in a recession, Social Security and Medicare are about to crash, we have the largest deficit in human history, government spending is out of control and about to get worse, and we have a chief executive with no experience. > > But by golly, if we just let a smile be our umbrella, all will be sunshine and roses! Because [del]Tinkerbelle[/del] Obama will be just fine if we all clap our hands and believe. > > Regards, > Shodan The point remains, they pledge to do little stuff, and you think they ought to volunteer to pay more in taxes. This is as stupid a point as Michael Moore telling people that if they support the war in Iraq, then they are morally obliged to serve in the military. Wait a minute, Michael Moore’s point, although stupid, is at least on the same topic. Do you get pissed off at Boy Scouts for helping li’l old ladies cross the street, instead of finding a job so they can be more productive members of society? How dare they not think about the terrible position our country is in! ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashton-demi-i-pledge-video-creepy/508820/74 "2009-09-04T18:27:19Z")
Has anybody noticed that political debate has devolved into mainly just saying random words in no particular order? As long as “taxes”, “experience”, “unamerican”, “socialist”, and “government” are thrown in, everybody wins as long as nobody actually says anything. Personally, I don’t like the linked video because 9/11. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashton-demi-i-pledge-video-creepy/508820/75 "2009-09-04T18:34:41Z")
Everything you mentioned is, to some extent, a Republican buzzword. It’s gotten so that I can write the RNC’s press releases for them. ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashton-demi-i-pledge-video-creepy/508820/76 "2009-09-04T18:40:39Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > Everything you mentioned is, to some extent, a Republican buzzword. It’s gotten so that I can write the RNC’s press releases for them. Oh yeah? Well I bet your taxes government PROPAGANDA indoctrination socialist unexperienced true patriots don’t my country support the troops! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashton-demi-i-pledge-video-creepy/508820/77 "2009-09-04T18:42:12Z")
> [@Carol\_Stream](#): > > And I hate when “citizens” think they are subservient to the government. > > I Pledge to be a servant of the President? Get up OFF me. The President (whomever it is) works for us. Yeah, I can’t believe I’m saying this _checks outside for airborne swine_, but I somewhat agree with **Carol Stream**. Pledging to be a servant of Obama, in those words, is creepy. The president is the ultimate _public_ servant. Pledging to make America a better place and working with the president or one another for this outcome is a more palatable phrasing. I hope it doesn’t sound like semantic hairsplitting, but the phrasing in the video does sound off and weird to me, as an Obama supporter and someone with a tempered collectivist streak. Then again, I hate this sort of shallow, shiny-happy-do-goody optimistic style of media, so that aspect of the video also colors my interpretation of it. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashton-demi-i-pledge-video-creepy/508820/78 "2009-09-04T18:46:00Z")
> [@wierdaaron](#): > > Oh yeah? Well I bet your taxes government PROPAGANDA indoctrination socialist unexperienced true patriots don’t my country support the troops! I didn’t know Sarah Palin was a Doper. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashton-demi-i-pledge-video-creepy/508820/79 "2009-09-04T19:00:11Z")
You betcha! ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Joe\_Meager](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Joe\_Meager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Joe_Meager)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashton-demi-i-pledge-video-creepy/508820/80 "2009-09-04T19:02:30Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Failing to tell insulting lies = worship. No, getting your panties all bunched up at the slightest, er… slight = worship. [This is what you sound like](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHmvkRoEowc). Really. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashton-demi-i-pledge-video-creepy/508820.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ashton-demi-i-pledge-video-creepy/508820.md?page=5)