# Stop being the expert \[famous people and political views\] **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 20, 2016, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543 "2016-11-20T16:21:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/1 "2016-11-20T16:21:21Z")
This has bothered me for sometime and I guess the Hamilton/Mike Pence thing has me thinking about it. I am so tired of actors, musicians, fiction writers, etc mouthing off about their political views and how that’s supposed to influence the public. Just stop, please. I know why you do it because so many people follow you. The thing is, people follow you for your action movies or whatever your genre may be. On the other hand, I don’t need my politicians rapping on tv or singing pop songs, etc. Stick to what you know. Any other dopers tired of this? ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/2 "2016-11-20T16:48:11Z")
Who made you the expert on what celebrities should be allowed to say? And consider that maybe you shouldn’t be mouthing off about it. Why are you trying to influence other Dopers with your opinions? Just stop, please. Actually, don’t stop. You have the right of free speech. mmm ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/3 "2016-11-20T16:49:26Z")
Agreed! A Hamilton show is no place for fighting with the Vice President of the United States! ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/4 "2016-11-20T16:50:53Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Who made you the expert on what celebrities should be allowed to say? And consider that maybe you shouldn’t be mouthing off about it. Why are you trying to influence other Dopers with your opinions? Just stop, please. > > Actually, don’t stop. You have the right of free speech. > mmm Are you a Constitutional lawyer now? What makes you an expert on Patx2’s rights? Stick to what you know! ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/5 "2016-11-20T17:05:57Z")
Every place is an appropriate place to diss Pence. He still believes in conversion therapy. We should try it on him: try to convert him to a human. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/6 "2016-11-20T17:11:49Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Every place is an appropriate place to diss Pence. He still believes in conversion therapy. We should try it on him: try to convert him to a human. What makes you an expert on converting Pence to Human? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/7 "2016-11-20T17:34:59Z")
Leave politics to the professionals? So, essentially, OP favors pumping more mud into the swamp? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/8 "2016-11-20T17:37:49Z")
I agree. The idea that somebody who’s just famous for being a television personality, for example, is qualified to function in the world of politics is ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/9 "2016-11-20T18:09:09Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Who made you the expert on what celebrities should be allowed to say? And consider that maybe you shouldn’t be mouthing off about it. Why are you trying to influence other Dopers with your opinions? Just stop, please. > > Actually, don’t stop. You have the right of free speech. > mmm This is not a first amendment issue. ---
**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:** [November 20, 2016, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/10 "2016-11-20T18:13:57Z")
There are entertainers who are idiots, like Sean Penn. There are entertainers who delude themselves into thinking that because they played a role, they are an expert on something, like Kevin Spacey. There are entertainers who are ten times smarter than most politicians, like Stephen Colbert. And there are entertainers who have actually become experts on things, like Bono. If you’re bothered by the second group, I think the problem is with you. Those types improve our national discourse. And I tend to think that Lin-Manuel Miranda probably knows what he’s talking about when it comes to diversity in America. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/11 "2016-11-20T18:15:55Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Agreed! A Hamilton show is no place for fighting with the Vice President of the United States! Brilliant! OP, insofar as celebrities/entertainers, et al are also private citizens living in a democratic society, isn’t it entirely their prerogative to have and express political opinions? The problem you seem to have is that others listen to them. Is this problem because you are forced to be one of the listeners, or because you are jealous that someone else attracts more listeners than you? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/12 "2016-11-20T18:16:44Z")
> [@Patx2](#): > > This has bothered me for sometime and I guess the Hamilton/Mike Pence thing has me thinking about it. I am so tired of actors, musicians, fiction writers, etc mouthing off about their political views and how that’s supposed to influence the public. Just stop, please. I know why you do it because so many people follow you. The thing is, people follow you for your action movies or whatever your genre may be. On the other hand, I don’t need my politicians rapping on tv or singing pop songs, etc. Stick to what you know. Any other dopers tired of this? With media personality Donald Trump having been elected to office largely on the strength of his bloviating opinions _this_ is the position you stake out with respect to other media personalities critiquing _him_? There is not enough iron ore in the existing deposits on the face of the Earth to satisfy the irony in that stance. ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/13 "2016-11-20T18:17:21Z")
Many people are more passionate about politics, in either direction, than I am, but I think they are mistaken to believe the trend I perceive toward politicizing _everything_ is good for society. And to me that’s the key issue. I have a problem with expressions of politics to captive audiences at entertainment and sports events where that’s not what people came to see, in fact in today’s world increasingly might have come to get away from politics. Otherwise if actors or athletes express political views in tweets, blog posts, interviews etc. that is to say outside the venues in which they perform, it’s harder to directly criticize. It will naturally make some fans happy and alienate others, and most of the expressions, IME, will be poorly informed and unoriginal. But not all will be. Needless to say it’s not about anyone’s Constitutional rights. An adjunct to Godwin’s Law says someone in any internet discussion will _immediately_ invoke the 1st Amendment in debates about political expression that have nothing to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/14 "2016-11-20T18:24:29Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > This is not a first amendment issue. What makes you a constitutional scholar? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/15 "2016-11-20T18:27:47Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > This is not a first amendment issue. And if we’re going to be pedantic, free speech and natural rights are not just narrow US constitutional issues. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/16 "2016-11-20T18:43:14Z")
> [@astro](#): > > With media personality Donald Trump having been elected to office largely on the strength of his bloviating opinions _this_ is the position you stake out with respect to other media personalities critiquing _him_? There is not enough iron ore in the existing deposits on the face of the Earth to satisfy the irony in that stance. I wasn’t even thinking specifically about Trump. I was just making a blanket statement about how people in some professions have a habit of coming across as though they are experts in other fields. I mean, if I take my car to my mechanic , I don’t expect him to lecture me about his political views. I also agree with the poster who wrote some actors are more qualified to speak out than others. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/17 "2016-11-20T18:48:16Z")
> [@Patx2](#): > > I wasn’t even thinking specifically about Trump. I was just making a blanket statement about how people in some professions have a habit of coming across as though they are experts in other fields. I mean, if I take my car to my mechanic , I don’t expect him to lecture me about his political views. I also agree with the poster who wrote some actors are more qualified to speak out than others. Having seen how accurate the experts prognostications and opinions were about the 2016 election I would be more than willing to listen attentively to my car mechanic’s opinions about the political landscape. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/18 "2016-11-20T18:51:34Z")
> [@Patx2](#): > > I wasn’t even thinking specifically about Trump. I was just making a blanket statement about how people in some professions have a habit of coming across as though they are experts in other fields. I mean, if I take my car to my mechanic , I don’t expect him to lecture me about his political views. I also agree with the poster who wrote some actors are more qualified to speak out than others. Surely it should be up to the listener to weigh somebody’s expertise. If somebody chooses to give weight to Jenny McCarthy’s opinions on vaccines, when they are in opposition to the entire expert scientific community, then there is little to be done. Perhaps your beef is more with people using their celebrity in an unrelated field to give them a platform to promote their political opinions? But, then, why should Trump be allowed to use the fact that he has a lot of money to publicize his political opinions? A high-profile platform derived from wealth is ok, but a platform derived from celebrity is not? ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/19 "2016-11-20T18:53:01Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Brilliant! > > OP, insofar as celebrities/entertainers, et al are also private citizens living in a democratic society, isn’t it entirely their prerogative to have and express political opinions? The problem you seem to have is that others listen to them. Is this problem because you are forced to be one of the listeners, or because you are jealous that someone else attracts more listeners than you? I assure you, I’m not jealous that some celebrity is getting on a soapbox and getting more attention than me. I am, however very amused that you read that into my post 😊. In fact I’m floored by some of the responses. I never said these people don’t have a right to express their opinions, I just said I for one am tired of it, they should stick to what they know. And, before anyone starts screaming what does Trump know? He won didn’t he? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/20 "2016-11-20T18:59:02Z")
> [@Patx2](#): > > …And, before anyone starts screaming what does Trump know? He won didn’t he? It’s good to hear that your concern about Pence being pwned derived from your principled concern about the general level of political debate in this country, and was entirely unrelated to your partisan views. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543.md?page=2)