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Elect Steve Jobs President of the United States

Will Foster writes "There is a groundswell of support for electing Steve Jobs President of the United States." I'll vote for him if I can write in my vote -- with a Newton stylus!

106 of 720 comments (clear)

  1. Stupid. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This is a stupid idea. Why not form some of your own political views and act on them?

  2. Eat up martha by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Well, that would give you reasonable odds of voting in Albert Gore.

    1. Re:Eat up martha by cioxx · · Score: 2, Funny

      it's not what he has done. It's what he will do.

      I can see it now: Fiscal iBudget, Cute (but slow) Warplanes, State of the Union adress will attract more geeks and will spring rumor sites discussing possible announcements about lowering crime, spending more money on education, etc.

  3. Wrong Steve by Servo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I wouldn't vote for Steve Jobs for president, but I would definately vote for the "Woz". Something tells me that Jobs would actually make a better figurehead president than Woz though.

    --
    A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over. -Benjamin Franklin
    1. Re:Wrong Steve by Forgotten · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Only if you quaintly assume that being president has something to do with having a bountiful clue, or being a kind reasonable person.

      Woz would make a great technical or education advisor, but probably a lousy president.

    2. Re:Wrong Steve by dublisk · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Remind me again - what's the difference between a figurehead and a president?

    3. Re:Wrong Steve by nomadic · · Score: 4, Informative

      A large one. Anyone who thinks the President doens't have real power hasn't been reading the news lately. Or ever.

    4. Re:Wrong Steve by YourMissionForToday · · Score: 2, Interesting
      What about Jimmy Carter? Presidents can be nice, too, you know...

    5. Re:Wrong Steve by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      How would watching the news inform one as to whether the president was in charge, or acting as a puppet to other interests?

    6. Re:Wrong Steve by Earlybird · · Score: 5, Funny

      Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. (Douglas Adams)

    7. Re:Wrong Steve by syukton · · Score: 2, Interesting

      it probably won't, because the media is probably being puppeted to the same "other interests" as the "figurehead" is.

      --
      Reinvent the wheel only at either a lower cost, greater effectiveness, or your own personal enrichment and satisfaction.
    8. Re:Wrong Steve by Un+pobre+guey · · Score: 5, Interesting
      Score:5, Insightful

      You guys must be kidding! Insightful? The guy thinks Dubya is up there doing "leadership"?

      No doubt we're going to invade Iraq to free their people and bring them democracy, right? And clamping the international price of petroleum forever has nothing to do with it, right? And funneling several hundred billion dollars through the defense industry while ignoring the growing crowds of unemployed has nothing to do with it, right? And giving the top 5% income bracket lots of new tax breaks and only giving the rest of us a few hundred bucks has nothing to do with it, right? And imposing the Christian version of the Taliban on us has nothing to do with it, right? And suspending our rights to privacy and due process so we don't get in their way has nothing to do with it, right? And, and...

      Dude, pass me the fucking pipe!

    9. Re:Wrong Steve by Stonent1 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. (Douglas Adams)

      And then there's

      I would never be a member of a club that would have me as a member - Groucho Marx

    10. Re:Wrong Steve by dreamchaser · · Score: 2, Informative

      The sad thing is I think you really believe what you are saying here. The government's primary job is defense, not to give jobs to people, and those 5% that you cite pay 90% of the taxes already, so they SHOULD get a break. Sadly, you are the product of too many years of badly run public education.

      Russia has far more oil and is more than willing to sell it. Iraq's oil reserves are not the largest in the world, and oil has little to do with the current situation. Or are you suggesting that we let a crazed dictator who is more than willing to gas his own people give the same capability to the various terrorist groups he's supported over the years?

      I'm not a huge fan of the current administration, but it's a lot better than the last one. Bush might not be as pristine in character as his PR folks try to make him look, but he's lightyears ahead of his predecessor in the departments of ethics and moral character.

    11. Re:Wrong Steve by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      No doubt we're going to invade Iraq to free their people and bring them democracy, right?

      Bush let the congress decide, and they decided to let Bush decide.

      And clamping the international price of petroleum forever has nothing to do with it, right? And funneling several hundred billion dollars through the defense industry while ignoring the growing crowds of unemployed has nothing to do with it, right?

      Lowering Oil price will help the war on terror by hurting Saudi arabia (our real, not-so-secret enemy). It will also help the unemployed by helping the economy.

      And giving the top 5% income bracket lots of new tax breaks and only giving the rest of us a few hundred bucks has nothing to do with it, right?

      It was the same % across the board, it was a proportional tax break at worst, and therefore didn't "favor" the rich. Also note that this was approved by the democrats in the senate.

      And imposing the Christian version of the Taliban on us has nothing to do with it, right?

      where has the bush administration abused its power (show me reputable news articles, not hair-brained conspiracy theory)?

      And suspending our rights to privacy and due process so we don't get in their way has nothing to do with it, right? And, and...

      The largest violation of our civil liberties in the past 2 years was the patriot act. The patriot act was approved by 320+ congressmen and opposed by 42. In the democrat-controlled senate, it was voted 99-0 (I think Jeffords abstained). Please note this important fact about the patriot act: Some of the language of the act was written under the clinton administration. Biding their time, I suppose, for reason to instate it, or sneak it into another "crime bill".

      The 2nd largest violation of our personal privacy was this new-fangled homeland security bill. This doesn't take that many more civil liberties away, it simply provides facilities to process the unconstitutionally-collected information about you and me. I'm amazed this bill got more press than the patriot act, being as how it pales in comparison.. Then again I'm not really amazed, the patriot act was shortly after 9/11/01. Your bi-partisan, legally-elected, deceitful, and lying representatives used this tragedy to blind you while they stole your freedom out from under you. Kind of makes you wonder what those poor people really died for...


      I'm no republican, but I still don't see where Bush has done anything legally wrong. Morally, I think his signing of the Patriot Act was wrong, but no moreso than the overwelming bi-partisan support it obtained. It makes me sad to think that ousting 1 man wouldn't solve the problem with power-hunger and corruption in the US government. Not even the removal his whole administration or his whole party would fix it. Both parties must go.

      One thing Republicans and Democrats will always agree on: Third parties are their worst enemy.

      Vote Libertarian

      (posted anonymously to avoid possible investigation)

    12. Re:Wrong Steve by deranged+unix+nut · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Why is this funny?

      Just because Douglas Adams wrote it? I see a lot of wisdom in that. Don't give power to those hungry for it, give it to someone who will treat it with the appropriate level of respect.

      If they are capable of getting themselves made President, they already have too much power. They need to have the trust of the people, if they have control of the people then it is a dictatorship.

    13. Re:Wrong Steve by kevinank · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Hmmm. I still think I'd take odd-even days and stag-flation over imperialism. (Then again, I drive an NGV for commuting so gasoline lines wouldn't really effect me anyway.)

      Somehow though I find it easier to blame GW for his foreign policy, than to blame Jimmy Carter for his national policy. Maybe if I were more hawkish I would rationalize the other way though -- we could have started bombing OPEC members for example, until they agreed to lower their oil prices.

      --
      LibBT: BitTorrent for C - small - fast - clean (Now Versio
    14. Re:Wrong Steve by Hugonz · · Score: 3, Funny
      >but he's lightyears ahead of his predecessor in the departments of ethics and moral character.

      Should I assume you're saying this because Clinton got a blowjob while Dubya has to ask Bush Sr. for permission first?

    15. Re:Wrong Steve by Hugonz · · Score: 3, Insightful

      War on terror? Saudi Arabia? Save yourself some billion dollars and solve the War on Terror by not spending billions helping Israel fuck Palestinians, most of the muslim hatred towards the USA will be gone.

    16. Re:Wrong Steve by sql*kitten · · Score: 3, Insightful

      No doubt we're going to invade Iraq to free their people and bring them democracy, right?

      Actually, I think so. Sure, it may only be a side effect, but I think it will happen, and I think that it is actually in the West's long-term strategic interest to do so. The whole Middle East is full of disenfranchised people held in line by a combination of propaganda blaming infidels (the carrot) and secret police (the stick). It's a powder keg waiting to go off. A truly democratic regime in the region will bleed off a lot of the pressure.

      And clamping the international price of petroleum forever has nothing to do with it, right?

      I got news for you: jacking up the price of oil is the economic equivalent of sending the Navy to blockade a port. Both are forms of economic warfare, and both are a threat.

      And funneling several hundred billion dollars through the defense industry while ignoring the growing crowds of unemployed has nothing to do with it, right?

      So, let's see what you're saying here, Dubya is bad because he's ignoring the economy, and Dubya is bad because he's trying to see off a far worse economic threat. Which is it to be? Or have you made up your mind that anything he does is wrong by definition?

      Personally, I'd rather see the money spent on a way to make the West independent of the Middle East for energy (like fusion research), but even you cannot deny that defense spending creates jobs. That's a historical fact.

      And giving the top 5% income bracket lots of new tax breaks and only giving the rest of us a few hundred bucks has nothing to do with it, right?

      I read in the Washington Post that the top 5% of earners pay 41% of the total Federal tax collected annually. That's an awful lot. I think those folks have been carrying more than their fair share of the tax burden for a long time. BTW, those on $30k/year or less effectively pay no Federal tax at all.

      And imposing the Christian version of the Taliban on us has nothing to do with it, right? And suspending our rights to privacy and due process so we don't get in their way has nothing to do with it, right?

      Yeah, I agree with you here. The moral of the story: if you want to be critical of someone, and be taken seriously yourself, criticise them for what they actually have done, don't go off on an unsubstantiated rant about irrelevant issues.

    17. Re:Wrong Steve by kevinank · · Score: 2, Insightful
      What imperialism? You surely don't mean the US, I hope. We do not have an empire, or even imperialistic ambitions. In fact, throughout our history, we've been instrumental in the downfall and destruction of every remaining empire.

      Feel free to substitute neo-imperialism for imperialism if that makes you feel better. Quibbling over semantics is boring, so I won't stand on the word.

      Conceptually the US holds most of the world's nations in thrall. US law supercedes the laws of Guam and the US Virgin Islands even though those nations have no vote in the US. US law reaches into most of the world's countries -- from countries that would fail without being propped up by US military support, to indictment of foreign citizens who have no business interactions with the US over violations of US law, to coercion through fear and threats of force to stances on foreign policy, the US interferes with other countries sovereignty. In the sense that empires remove from their occupied countries the right to self determination, there are very few countries in the world that aren't subjugated to US neo-imperialism.

      If I call that imperialism, rather than neo-imperialism, then it is only because the latter is more difficult to write.

      --
      LibBT: BitTorrent for C - small - fast - clean (Now Versio
    18. Re:Wrong Steve by The+AtomicPunk · · Score: 2, Informative

      Yeah, I exaggerated. So I looked up the actual data:

      The top 25% paid 84% in 2000.

      http://www.taxfoundation.org/prtopincome.html

      Real fair. Nothing like punishing the successful.

      Leave it to the left wingers to come up with asinine plans like "tax credits" to people who don't even pay taxes.

  4. well. . . by Rojo^ · · Score: 5, Funny

    Elect Steve Jobs President of the United States

    well, the mac community is probably larger than the perot community. ;)

    --
    <:
    1. Re:well. . . by bluethundr · · Score: 5, Interesting

      well, the mac community is probably larger than the perot community. ;)

      If Jobs got to be the president of the USA, that would not be the first time that Perot got burned by Jobs. Perot was one of the largest investors in a little venture which was at one time known as NeXT.

      --
      Quod scripsi, scripsi.
  5. website by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Thats one of the ugliest websites i've ever seen. I thought Apple-monkies were supposed to be kings of visual stuff.

  6. Why? by genka · · Score: 2, Funny

    Why should I vote for him? Did he invented Internet?

    1. Re:Why? by BWJones · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Why should I vote for him? Did he invented Internet?

      No, but the internet browser was invented on one of his machines (NeXT workstation)

      --
      Visit Jonesblog and say hello.
    2. Re:Why? by cheezedawg · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You are missing the whole point. Nobody thinks that Gore is delusional enough to actually believe that he invented the Internet, but his comments were so self-serving and clumsy that he deserves every bit of ridicule that he gets.

      --
      "The defense of freedom requires the advance of freedom" - George W Bush
    3. Re:Why? by SageLikeFool · · Score: 2, Funny

      You're right. The last thing America needs is a President who talks clumsily and is self serving. The country sure dodged a bullet there by electing Bush Jr.

  7. Sounds like a great idea... by DasBub · · Score: 5, Funny

    He'll run the country without having any idea of how it actually works, fire anyone who doesn't follow his vision, steal ideas from other countries...

    By God, he might be the best president yet!

    1. Re:Sounds like a great idea... by onosendai · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yeh, and every year the State of the Union address will be held at MacWorld where he'll announce budget figures and employment levels pacing up and down a stage with one of those boom-mics on his face, and in between announcing a speed-bump for the Powerbooks and a new version of iTunes.

      --
      <? include ('signature.inc'); ?>
  8. And in related news by AuMatar · · Score: 5, Funny

    Microsoft offers their market leading CEO Steve Balmer. When asked about the news, Balmer replied by leaping around screaming "Voters! Voters! Voters!".

    Rumors that Bill Gates will be a Cheyney style puppetmas^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H vice-president have not been confirmed.

    --
    I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
  9. First Presidential Order by Reality+Master+101 · · Score: 5, Funny

    "I hereby declare that The White House will no longer be boring "beige", it shall be painted "Lickable Blueberry".

    The Apple hoardes debate among themselves whether the country is now just "insanely" better, or "miraculously" better.

    --
    Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
  10. http://www.jobsforpresident.org/ by SlightlyMadman · · Score: 5, Funny

    Not to be confused with http://www.jobsforTHEpresident.org/, as I'd really like to see him get a new one.

    <rimshot />

    --

    Money I owe, money-iy-ay
    1. Re:http://www.jobsforpresident.org/ by happyclam · · Score: 2, Funny
      Not to be confused with http://www.jobsforTHEpresident.org/....

      That site had a TOTALLY different meaning during the last president's term. I don't care who we vote for as president, so long as we get Monica as vice president.

      --
      He looked at me and said, "Kid, we don't like your kind, and we're gonna send your fingerprints off to Washington."
  11. Wow! Great idea! by mikerich · · Score: 2, Funny
    Then he can run America just like he ran the Macintosh group at Apple!

    Best wishes,
    Mike.

  12. The state of the nation... by MrLint · · Score: 4, Funny

    With Steve as president we might be some insanely great leadership, as opposed to the normal insane leadership we have now.

  13. iHouse by Big+Mark · · Score: 4, Funny

    If he gets in, won't his first act be to demolish all the important buildings and replace them with curvy, translucent, pastel-coloured plastic contraptions?

    Carrying handles would be useful though. Threat of Al-Qaeda? Just move Washington to the praries, they'll never find them there!

    -Mark

  14. Why bother? by SuperMario666 · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's not like anyone will be able to beat Sharpton anyway.

  15. Slogans: by yunfat · · Score: 5, Funny

    An Apple a day keeps the IRS away.

    Jobs for everyone.

    iAmerica.

    Lets all take acid.

    --
    "Smokey, this isn't Nam, there are rules." -Walter
  16. What would he wear? by Offwhite98 · · Score: 2, Funny

    I am not sure it would be possible for him to change out of that blank turtlneck and bluejeans... but I can already see the slogans.

    When you vote for Steve, you vote for Jobs.

    Steve Jobs, the iPresident!

    --
    Brennan Stehling - http://brennan.offwhite.net/blog/
    1. Re:What would he wear? by DasBooties · · Score: 3, Funny

      Well, he'd at least be better than the iDiot that's in the White House now...

      --

      "Flag on the Moon, how did it get there?"
  17. Isn't he a deadbeat dad? by glrotate · · Score: 2, Informative

    That's the impression given by the Pirates of Silicon Valley movie. Not to mention the fact he's an all around asshole to his employees.

    1. Re:Isn't he a deadbeat dad? by SoupIsGoodFood_42 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Well, Bush was a drunken, crackhead jock. Surely this must be an imporvemnt even if you do believe everything you read or see in a movie about Jobs?

    2. Re:Isn't he a deadbeat dad? by green+pizza · · Score: 4, Informative

      Supposedly he began supporting Lisa and her mother after he left Apple (and started NeXT and Pixar). I also belive he's currently paying for her Stanford tuition. There was a blurb about this in an article awhile back, I think it was either Forbes or WSJ.

  18. It'd build interest in the military! by Chester+K · · Score: 4, Funny

    After all, who could resist attacking another country to show off our nice Blueberry bombers, using our new Raspberry radar technology, and firing off our arsenal of iNuke X 10.2 ICBMs (with leopard print warheads). Military tech has been stuck in the same putrid earthy shades of green and brown for far too long!

    Just gotta wonder how well those translucent plastic helmets will protect the heads of our soldiers....

    --

    NO CARRIER
  19. This is illegal... by asparagus · · Score: 5, Funny

    Due to the seperation of church and state.

    Steve cannot be both God and President without violating some part of the constitution.

    Of course, given recent events, that 'problem' can probably be remiedied.

  20. Two years into the presidency by stefanlasiewski · · Score: 5, Funny

    Two years after becoming President, Steve Jobs becomes fed up with the bueracracy and leaves suddenly to start up his own country in his Palo Alto Garage.

    --
    "Can of worms? The can is open... the worms are everywhere."
  21. Oh that's just what we need... by NanoGator · · Score: 4, Funny

    ..a government official who'll break down the tough choices so that the American public will vote on which color they like better.

    *hoping that comment's poke at the iMac isn't too obscure.*

    --
    "Derp de derp."
  22. slashdotted already by SlightlyMadman · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's mostly images, no wonder it went so fast. Here's the text on the front page:

    Draft Committee to the 'Elect Steve Jobs President of the United States
    We all want a world that is prosperous and sustainable. We have the technology and resources to create such a world. What is lacking are leaders with vision and will. I encourage you to be such a leader and welcome your participation in our campaign.

    It is time that we base our decision-making on the time tested native American idea that all decisions should be made with our seventh generation of descendants in mind and in consultation with our elders. It is time to acknowledge that the earth is our mother and that we must take care of her. It is time to eliminate all weapons of mass destruction from the earth. It is time to insure that all people have access to affordable health care and education.

    It is time for American leaders to work with the Moslem world, China, India, Africa, Russia, Latin America, the European Union and all people's around the world to create the world we want. It is our destiny to play a leadership role in creating a new world.

    We believe Steve Jobs is the man to help us achieve these goals. If you agree, join us, and together we can get it done!

    A Biography of Steve Jobs
    Editorials: 01/19/03 at 17:59:27 PST by aztc

    Editorials Steve Paul Jobs
    Born 1955 Los Altos CA; Evangelic bad boy who, with Steve Wozniak, co-founded Apple Computer Corporation and became a multimillionaire before the age of ...

    Printerfriendly version - A Biography of Steve Jobs Send an e-mail to (26 reads) [ More ] [ 0 comments ]

    Newsletters are archived under News
    News: 01/18/03 at 18:24:03 PST by Admin

    News Newsletters can only be sent by the top level admin. Please submit your plain text newsletter to webmaster@jobsforpresident.org

    --

    Money I owe, money-iy-ay
  23. Foreign policy by BitwizeGHC · · Score: 4, Funny

    Jobs probably is probably miles ahead of the other candidates when it comes to foreign policy, particularly the Iraq issue. The Jobs solution? Simple: Oust Saddam, set up a puppet government, rename the country "iRaq", and insist that cartographers color it "lickable raspberry" on all their maps. Not to mention replacing militant Islam with a hip, edgy new "switch" campaign.

    The iRaqis would find themselves embraced by the developed world!

    --
    N4st0r, trixx0r h0bb1tz0rz! Th3y st0l3 0ur pr3c10uzz!
  24. Plutocracy has one advantage by Sloppy · · Score: 3, Insightful
    The interesting thing about electing someone who is already insanely rich, is that maybe it can keep the money out of politics! Err...

    What I mean is.. Suppose Bill Gates really did buy an election. Would he need to pay anyone back for the campaign expense? Or would he be free to act on his own will?

    He could theoretically run on issues and voters could predict his behavior by what he says, rather than who is funding him.

    --
    As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
    1. Re:Plutocracy has one advantage by Archfeld · · Score: 4, Funny

      Did this help Perot or kill him ? :) If Bill Gates ran that would ensure that Larry Ellison did as well, if for no other reason than to keep up with BG...

      --
      errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
    2. Re:Plutocracy has one advantage by Drakonian · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Actually, if Steve Jobs ran Ellison would definitely run. Apparently SJ is his idol, not BG. He's got a movie star appeal whereas BG is ultra-rich turbo nerd. Ellison has the money, he wants the fame. I believe I read this in Insanely Great...

      --
      Random is the New Order.
    3. Re:Plutocracy has one advantage by bigfatlamer · · Score: 2, Interesting

      What I mean is.. Suppose Bill Gates really did buy an election. Would he need to pay anyone back for the campaign expense? Or would he be free to act on his own will?

      In NYC we sort of have that situation with "Mayor Mike" Bloomberg. Paid for his campign out of his own pocket, won in a relative landslide (after outspending his opponent somthing like 2:1) and is now bascially doing whatever he thinks is the right thing to do.

      As a f'rinstance, since he didn't get any help in his election from the NYC Teacher's Union (the UFT), he can just announce (as he did the other day) that he's implementing a crackpot new, across the board, elementary education curriculum that he and his school superintendent (who's not an educator by training or avocation) dreamed up, without running it by the actual teachers first.

      He actually said the other day that he's not trying to get re-elected, he's just trying to do what he thinks is right.

      Make of this what you will but I think it does sort of answer the question. No, he wouldn't be beholden to anyone and could do whatever he thought was right. Be careful though...he wouldn't have to do what you (or "the voters") thought was right, just what HE thought was right.

      Caveat votor.

      BFL

      --
      There's one thing computing teaches you, and that's that there's no point to remembering everything.
      --Doug Copland
  25. Hrm... by zod1025 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You know, he might not be a bad president...

    a) he's someone who made something of himself, and wasn't just from a wealthy, powerful family

    b) he's someone that has Vision and can seek it out (even if we might not agree with his Vision, he's definitely got it!)

    c) he's arguably of above-average intelligence... try and say THAT of any of the other candidates!

    If Nader wasn't running, I'd vote for Jobs just because I know that if Jobs won, he would make a decent go of it and maybe even get something real done.

    --

    -ZOD-
  26. Please DELETE This Topic by wahay · · Score: 4, Funny

    We've gotta shush this now before it's too late. If Bill Gates hears about it he'll spend billions to run just so he can keep up.

  27. Re:I don't know by AT · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Apple is a monopolist? What do they have a monopoly on? Translucent plastic cases? Selling a system with a closed architecture is different than being a monopolist. A monopoly exists when you control all of (or almost all of) a particular market, not just a product.

  28. CowboyNeal for president. by I+am+Jack's+username · · Score: 5, Interesting
    "It comes from a very ancient democracy, you see..."
    "You mean, it comes from a world of lizards?"
    "No", said Ford, who by this time was a little more rational and coherent than he had been, having finally had the coffee forced down him, "nothing so simple. Nothing anything like so straightforward. On its world, the people are people. The leaders are lizards. The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people."
    "Odd", said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy."
    "I did", said Ford. "It is."
    "So", said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't the people get rid of the lizards?"
    "It honestly doesn't occur to them", said Ford. "They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates to the government they want."
    "You mean they actually vote for the lizards?"
    "Oh yes", said Ford with a shrug, "of course".
    "But", said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?"
    "Because if they didn't vote for a lizard," said Ford, "the wrong lizard might get in. Got any gin?"
    "What?"
    "I said", said Ford, with an increasing air of urgency creeping into his voice, "have you got any gin?"
    "I'll look. Tell me about the lizards."
    Ford shrugged again.
    "Some people say that the lizards are the best thing that ever happened to them." he said. "They're completely wrong of course, completely and utterly wrong, but someone's got to say it." - Douglas Adams, So long, and thanks for all the fish, chapter 36, 1984

    Kent: Senator Dole, why should people vote for you instead of President Clinton?
    Kang: It makes no difference which one of us you vote for. Either way, your planet is doomed. DOOMED!
    Kent: Well, a refreshingly frank response there from senator Bob Dole.
    ...
    Kodos: It's true, we are aliens. But what are you going to do about it? It's a two-party system; you have to vote for one of us. [murmurs]
    Man1: He's right, this is a two-party system.
    Man2: Well, I believe I'll vote for a third-party candidate.
    Kang: Go ahead, throw your vote away. [Kang and Kodos laugh out loud] - The Simpsons, 4F02

    "It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it." - Eugene Debs

  29. Bugger that by houseofmore · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Vote Linus!

    1. Re:Bugger that by PingXao · · Score: 2, Informative

      Linus can't run. You've got to be born in the U.S. to be eligible for the office of President. I think if you're born on foreign soil to parents who are both naturally born U.S. citizens you are also eligible.

    2. Re:Bugger that by houseofmore · · Score: 4, Funny

      "Linus can't run. You've got to be born in the U.S. to be eligible for the office of President"

      Oh please. Bush was raised by monkeys... I can't see them rejecting a Finn.

  30. The problem in living in the post-ironic era... by benwaggoner · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...is that it's getting harder and harder to tell what's a put-on. More and more things I thought were parody at first turn out to be real.

    Anyway, say what you will about Jobs, but he certainly got a LOT more done in his 20's and 30's than our current President, and by all accounts wasn't that much more of a jerk.

    And Jobs's rescue of Apple certainly shows that he has an extraordinary ability to balance short and long term needs. Given what they've had to work with, technically, from Motorola for the last few years, can you believe that Apple is not only extant, but profitable?

    Anyway, I'd probably vote for him over a fair number of other politicians. While we know a lot of his youthful indiscretions, I think that's just because he's been famous for so long. I imagine our previous two presidents were just as wild in their youth. The real question is how good a job who he is now could do, and I'd say the evidence is promising, or at least intriguing.

    For all the "Jobs is a visionary" rhetoric, running a company on a knifes-edge like Apple has been for the last half decade implies a good ability to roll with the punches, and be flexible when appropriate.

  31. Just what we need.... by sammy.lost-angel.com · · Score: 2, Informative

    I would say I probably agree with Jobs moral and political views more than our current leader's (he's liberal, and he's a vegetarian (which speaks highly of morality issues)). But let's think about this for one little second... he has absolutely NO EXPERIANCE in politics. None. Don't throw your votes away on this, find a real canidate and support he/she when they run.

    He would probably tell other countries that they would have to wait until the next Presidential Expo to get all of his foreign policy regulations, and not disclose to the public any information until said expos. Bah!

  32. I'd vote him if he would be willing to... by mccormick · · Score: 3, Funny

    I would vote for him if he would be willing to accept a yearly sallery of $1; infact, he'd have to demand it. It's not like he doesn't already have enough going on, with Apple and Pixar as it is.

    --
    Pete
  33. Sure, why not... by Jaysyn · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... the US is already run by big companies as it is, lets just go ahead & finish the job....

    Jaysyn

    --
    There is a war going on for your mind.
  34. Re:I don't know by aafiske · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Apple has a monopoly on Apple computers. Just like those bastards at Ford who have a monopoly on Ford brand cars.

    Weren't you around when monopoly was downgraded from 'Near complete control of a market' to 'Makes a product that isn't free'?

  35. Re:I don't know by Andy_R · · Score: 4, Informative

    Do we really have to keep going over this? I seem to write this post about one a month, but I guess it's not redundant until everyone gets it...

    Monopolies are NOT illegal.

    Abusing the power that a monopoly position gives you IS illegal.

    Microsoft illegally abused their monopoly, Apple didn't.

    Got it now?

    --
    A pizza of radius z and thickness a has a volume of pi z z a
  36. Oh, blueberry is so four years ago! by protein+folder · · Score: 4, Funny

    The White House will remain white, but all the plaster will be replaced with translucent white plastic.

    The capitol dome will be redone in anodized aluminum. It will also have firewire.

    --
    Your mind is squeezed by a blast of pain!
  37. Re:Bill Gates for President by klez23 · · Score: 2, Funny
    Get him out of Microsoft!

    I correspond with a prisoner in Texas. Right after W "won" for president, my friend wrote me, "Sorry about the Bush thing, but we HAD to get him out of here. He wanted to kill ALL of us!"

  38. Re:I don't know by DarkVein · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The PowerPC platform is very open. Apple, however, doesn't let people use their "Apple" trademark to sell "Apple-compatible" computers. It's a harsh marketing tactic, and well within the intent of Trademark law. It's difficult to sell PowerPC computers when you can't claim that they're Apple-compatible.

    The platform, however, is beautifully open. IBM makes a PowerPC proccessor call the Power4, and (today) has revealed a reference model PDA based on the PowerPC architecture.

    Apple is extremely strict with their trademark rights, but they rarely overstep the intent, let alone the letter, of the law.

    Jobs has my vote just for his insight that DRM will fail, and his strong resolution to never integrate it into MacOS.

    --

    I'm as mimsy as the next borogove but your mome raths are completely outgrabe.

  39. New military power by peg0cjs · · Score: 2, Funny

    Coming soon to the US Army: iTanks in blueberry!

    --
    Karma: Excellent (Mainly due to Bill & Ted's Karma Adventure)
  40. Re:Elect Linus Torvalds as president! by Grenade+of+Antioch · · Score: 4, Funny

    We could elect Richard Stallman provided that we decided to rename the country GNUnited States of America.

  41. Re:Bill Gates for President by yintercept · · Score: 2, Funny

    It would be a interesting twist. In most cases, being elected president increases one's power and influence in the world. In Mr. Gate's case, it would be a demotion.

  42. Campaign slogans.... by brocktune · · Score: 3, Funny

    Steve Jobs. Insanely Great.

    Steve Jobs. Vote Different.

  43. Here's What He'll Say In The Interview by saudadelinux · · Score: 5, Funny

    Barbara Walters: So, Mr. Jobs, why do you want to be President?

    Steve Jobs: I don't want to sell sugared computers for the rest of my life. I want to change the world!

    --
    I didn't think the house band in Hell would play this badly.
  44. Re:$1 a year salary by scotch · · Score: 2, Funny
    $199,999 a year? $799,996 for a four year term? $1,599,992 if re-elected? He already has his own jet, so we could scrap Air Force One. When Steve innovates himeelf as king: priceless.

    PS: profit

    --
    XML causes global warming.
  45. Reagan Without a Cause by goombah99 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Heck this has been going on longer than post-irony set in. I remember my amusement when I first heard ronald reagan was a presidential candidate. Well he'll never win I thought, what a joke. After he won I was in disbelief, and realized I was not the only one when I saw a bathroom grafitii "reagan...without a cause", an obvious riff on the james dean movie title.

    Later after watching "back to the future" there is a scene where marty tries to prove he's fromt he future. The professor asks "okay future boy, whos president." MArty answeres "ronald reagan" thus assuring the professor he's a lunatic: "Oh and who's the treasury secratary 'jack benny?'.

    Later in the same movie, the professor is amazed by the video camera "a portable movie production studio....Great scott! no wonder your politicians have to be actors!". A banal observation unless you think of in the context of it dawning on a person from the 1950's.

    So will we all be thinkng "great scott, no wonder all your presidents have to be CEO's of consumer products" when a visitor from the future comes back and tells us about president Jobs?

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
  46. Don't discount this type of thing... by philovivero · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It turns out that the best leaders are those who do not want it. Steve Jobs probably doesn't fall into this category, being the grab-asstic wannabe he is, but Linus Torvalds, for example, would probably be the best president we've had for half a century. This goes for any number of do-good low-key individuals not only in the Open Source movement, but in human rights movements, etc.

    I think that at this point, our government is so corrupt and broken, that appointing government officials by lottery would yield something better.

    1. Re:Don't discount this type of thing... by Simon+Brooke · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Let's have a little relativism here. I didn't vote for Bush, nor do I care for him as a president. But before you start with the whole "so corrupt and broken" could you give a comparaison? Perhaps a past US government? The current one is certainly much less corrupt than any one of the 19th century. Compared to other modern countries?

      Look, I'm not an American, but...

      Bush's election was, seen from here, curious. It was 'won' in a state where the election officials were appointed by his own brother, and some very odd decisions were made about eligible voters and how votes should be counted. It doesn't, to an ignorant foreigner, look like a proper democratic procedure.

      The Enron business was, to put it mildly, also interesting. From a foreign perspective, the fact that Bush was obiously quite close to the Enron people is troubling, particularly seeing how much the former senior people of Enrond have been allowed to get away with.

      The relationship between Iraq's oil fields and the business interests of the Bush family also looks a bit odd.

      You may say you had more corrupt governments in the 19th Century. I can't say, because I'm not that familiar with US history. But a situation in which a family can put a member into power by other members manipulating the electoral process, and then lead the whole nation into a war in order to bolster that family's commercial interests while simultaneously allowing friends and supporters to get away with the largest single theft in human history, seems to this foreigner to be corruption on a truly epic scale.

      --
      I'm old enough to remember when discussions on Slashdot were well informed.
  47. *cough cough* Vested interests? by Chymaera · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I thought this was a troll at first, but it appears not to be.

    Is it right to elect the CEO of a major corporation as president? Corporations have more than enough political power in America as it is. Something like this blatantly caters to vested interests. I suppose this isn't much worse wrt vested interests than electing Bush as president in light of his interests in the oil business, but that doesn't legitimize doing it again. I would regard a major industry leader running for president with deep suspicion. Even if he/she ostensibly broke off all ties with his/her company and the industry, I am doubtful they would be able to eliminate any and all bias.

    Now, Stallman, on the other hand...;p

  48. Re:campaign by FireBook · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Vote Different (to who you thought you voted for)" (c) Bushco

    --
    My other OS is also FreeBSD
  49. Steve wouldn't want the job unless... by WIAKywbfatw · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Steve wouldn't want the job unless he could be president number 0.

    For those of you that don't know, when Apple got round to issuing employee numbers, Steve Jobs was pretty peeved that he couldn't be employee number 1 as Steve Wozniak had already nabbed that priviledge for himself. Unable to convince Wozniak to change, Jobs took employee number 0 rather than be stuck behind Wozniak with the employee number 2 tag.

    --

    "Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
    1. Re:Steve wouldn't want the job unless... by firewood · · Score: 2, Informative

      Neither of the Steve's were employee #1 at Apple. Dan Kottke got employee number 1 because he was the first person to draw a paycheck...

  50. Re:Joke? by usr122122121 · · Score: 2, Informative
    I certainly wouldn't vote for jobs, even though he's cool, hes way to schitzephrenic (spelling?), one minute you think he's going to release OSX for x86, the next he puts out another stupid line of macs and says they're pentium toasters. Ick
    Two things I had to reply to:
    1. Jobs never promiseed OS X for x86. That was the rumor sites... so to claim that he is schizophrenic over that is crazy.
    2. The whole "pentium toaster" thing came from about the time when Macs were faster than PCs. (Ah, what a glorious time that was). As far as I know, Jobs hasn't made any assertions like that in a while.
    --

    -braxton
  51. Re:I don't know by Toraz+Chryx · · Score: 2, Informative

    "i cant go out and buy [insert computer part] for a mac that isn't made by mac."

    odd then that Macs contain

    1) processors made by IBM or Motorola (which you could probably source if you knew where to look.)
    2) standard 184 or 168 (or 144) pin DDR/SDR/SO- dimms containing the ram
    3) standard ATA harddisks
    etc.

    There's plenty of third party parts for apple machines.

  52. Re:before y'all laugh too much by bluethundr · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...Instead, he got kindof serious, and said, "Well, no, he (Al Gore) didn't create the internet, and I think he's been quoted out of context, but he was absolutely responsible for creating the legislative environment that allowed that type of research to be done, and lead to the creation of the internet."

    Yes, I would agree that Gore's supposed statement that he "Invented the Internet" was taken out of context. Despite being so seemingly uncomfortable in his own skin in public speaches, I would tend to credit the man with enough intelligence to *NOT* have made that claim.

    What I supposed that Gore could have been referring to was his support of the Boucher Bill which was solely (AFAIK) responsible for opening up the internet to general use by the public. Up until the point of this bill being signed, the internet was supposed to be used solely for "official" government use. Of course, by this time many private citizens were already using it to buy and sell things to one another, proposition one another, display ASCII Art and whatnot. But this bill was the official nod that the internet wasn't just for breakfast anymore and was ripe for the picking to anyone interested. Of course, this was roughly contemperaneous with Tim Berners Lee's development of the WWW so both factors probably worked together towards making the 'net what it is in this day and age.

    So, while Gore of course was not "responsible for the invention of the internet", he can with a straight face lay claim to being a key supporter of the bill that brought it to the masses.

    --
    Quod scripsi, scripsi.
  53. Re:Just because... by tbone1 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Uh, that's his Trim Jeans jogging sweats. (Too many moon pies, methinks.)

    --

    The Independent: Reverend Spooner Arrested in Friar Tuck Incident - ISIHAC, Historical Headlines
  54. keynote... by burns210 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    With Jobs as President, can you imagine the State of the Union? :)

  55. Re:I don't know by matt_maggard · · Score: 2, Informative

    Have you ever opened up a mac? You may not be able to swap a whole motherboard but it you can absolutlely use third party parts. In mine I have a sumsung cd burner, random ass ram, seagate ide drives, ati pci graphics cards (upgraded from a voodoo), a scsi card, and any number of firewire and usb add-ons.

    Why do people think that Apple welds its machines shut before it ships them?

    And I'm sorry but you can't say that a minor player in a large market has a monopoly just because it is slightly different than the rest of the market. What force could Apple exert over the rest of the players in the pc industry? MS could destroy a company as large as intel if it wanted to. That is a monopoly.

    -m

  56. If Steve Jobs becomes president... by DarkHelmet · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... does that automatically make Ellen Feiss the drug czar?

    --
    /^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
  57. Re:Stupid - only the moderation by Bruce+Losis · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Jobs as President is a stupid idea. WTF is the parent offtopic?

    Wozniak might be a good idea, but I guess form over substance is the American Way.

    --
    Don't believe the nonsense, unless you hear it from me directly.
  58. Lawrence Lessig by eluusive · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Frankly, I'd rather see him take the position of president.

  59. Jobs over Nader by benwaggoner · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Speaking as a respectibly left wing Democrat, I'd vote for Jobs over Nader in a heartbeat. Nader has simply shown zero ability for that kind of a job. When he says there is no difference between Democrats and Republicans, he's either lying, or an idiot. Who is president MATTERS, no matter what he says.

    Leadership requires the right mix of idealism and pragmatism, and Nader badly fails that test. If he actually WON the presidency, he'd be disasterous at it. And since even he knows that he isn't going to win, running mainly makes him just the Perot-of-the-left, working as a spoiler to get Bush reelected.

  60. Jobs TV Spot by mdechene · · Score: 4, Funny

    So, I was having these negotiations with North Korea over their Nukes, and then all of a sudden, they were like boom boom boom boom boom and then South Korea was gone. North Korea, ate South Korea.

    It was kinda.....a bummer.

    --

    Karma: Not Particularly Funny.
  61. Apple users continue to amaze me. by rtphokie · · Score: 2, Insightful

    They make really good computers, cant we just stop there? Isn't that good enough? Do we need to build a tranluscent plastic alter?

  62. Re:before y'all laugh too much by banzai51 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    So what you are saying is that Gore supported a bill on the back end that gave the nod to what was completely obvious.

  63. About voter turnout.... by MacAndrew · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Hovering around 50% for many years actually -- for the Presidential elections only -- and there are several factors in the way the statistic is calculated that tend to make it underestimate voter participation. The percentage is based on the number of votes cast for the principal office on the ballot divided by the VAP (Voting Age Population). The first number may be a bit low because, according to the FEC, about 2% of voters "fail" to vote for the highest office (I know of a couple of people who did this in the last election because they were disgusted with the choices, but did vote in other races), and the VAP is concededly larger than the number of people truly eligible to vote (millions of noncitizens, illegal aliens, ex-felons, and so on, are indeed "voting age"). Of that number, a somewhat smaller percentage is registered. So, if a 50% turnout is reported based on VAP, the turnout of registered voters may be more like 70%.

    Turnout for primaries and local elections can fall *really* low.

    I'm describing this because election theory is a personal interest, and because election stats are often misused to try to prove political arguments. The VAP problem shows how little the press knows what they're talking about. But I suppose Election 2000 cleared up the press's competence clearly enough. (Have you heard of VNS? Another wellspring of disaster. Groan.)

    ANYWAY, the relevant point is that there's no obvious reason to assume that Mac users vary from the population at large. Many are too young or have other disabilities preventing voting. Some don't show up to vote. Also, I have no idea what Apple's 5% of computer sales translates into as a percentage of individuals. Nor are we users complete slaves: only some of us would vote for Jobs. It's thus a very long shot that Mac users would come anywhere near the 19% of turnout that went for Perot. Perhaps, joined by enough others, they could form the nucleus of a significant bloc. (I wonder what kind of candidate Jobs would make? I'm sure it would be interesting, but I'd rather he stay with Apple.)

  64. no no no you heard it wrong. by r00tarded · · Score: 4, Funny

    The economy is in the shitter and techies have spoken, what they said was "We want more *jobs*!"

  65. Re:before y'all laugh too much by bluethundr · · Score: 2, Insightful

    So what you are saying is that Gore supported a bill on the back end that gave the nod to what was completely obvious.

    Yes, it was completely obvious as you have so perspicaciously pointed out. However, it is useful to note how small the technology community was in the early 90's vs. the size it is today. Did you read Slashdot back in '93? Why, of course not! It didn't bloody well exist yet, genius!

    Add to that how technologically clueless most politicians are even in this day and age, let alone way back then, I believe that Gore does indeed deserve credit for his vote on this issue.By the way, how have your elected officials voted on the DMCA?

    To reiterate, it was completely obvious at that point, but only to a select few. It was a day when the internet (nee, arpanet!) was in use only by UNIX die-hards and nary a Windows user (unless she was already a Unix user).

    --
    Quod scripsi, scripsi.
  66. Behold the new White House! by Wireless+Joe · · Score: 2, Funny
  67. Bush and Jobs: The point-by-point comparison by Zhe+Mappel · · Score: 2, Funny
    Bush: Built an oil company that his daddy bought.
    Jobs: Required no help building computers that nobody bought.

    Bush: Who needs books!
    Jobs: Who needs gigahertz!

    Bush: Thinks that, somewhere up there, John Wayne is smiling down on him.
    Jobs: Feels pretty sure that Einstein, Amelia Earhardt, Gandhi and Lennon all want to come back from the dead to buy Macs from him.

    Bush: Proved that it's possible to be a drunken slacker, then marry Laura Ingalls Wilder, and suddenly be considered "presidential material."
    Jobs: Proved that it's possible to make blueberry computers and not be considered gay.

    Bush: Thanks his lucky stars every day that the "war on terrorism" saved his ass.
    Jobs: Thanks his lucky stars every time Apple issues its quarterly report knowing that, somewhere out there, Steve Ballmer is working on a new dance routine.

  68. Re:Reasons Jobs for Pres. isn't a sound idea.... by Saint+Fnordius · · Score: 2, Insightful

    OK, just for the sake of rebuttal:

    Re 1: Actually, this shows an ability to say "I was wrong" and closing the chapter. And the Lisa wasn't entirely landfilled, as it came back as the deluxe "big brother" to the Macintosh (Macintosh XL, IIRC).

    Re 2: You make is sound as if the Lisa was the reason Jobs left Apple, instead of the failed coup against John Sculley. That incident has left him with a lot of experience. As for NeXT, it let him develop the technologies that would let him "reconquor" Apple. His more recent history shows that he does learn from mistakes, despite what people say.

    Re 3: This is different from the current administration how? Fleischer, Rove, Ashcroft and Rumsfeld are all great lovers of secret dealings. I think a President Jobs would deliver his State of the Union address in a black mock turtleneck with "Just one more thing"...

    Re 4: No matter what you call it, it's effective marketing, and no different than what goes on in Washington almost every day. That, and your example is easily rebutted: how fast was the connection? How many bottlenects did you experience? Did you test loading loacal files to check the rendering engine speeds? You get my drift.

    Still, I don't think Jobs is right for the job--at least not yet. I don't subscribe to the PHB philosophy that a good manager can manage everything. Managing a public office is a lot different from managing a company. If Steve really were interested, he'd run for a governor's post first.

  69. The Only Chance Of Getting Jobs Elected . . . by Wotdabny · · Score: 2, Insightful

    . . . is to give the voting system a much-needed tweak. I think most people would agree that if Nader hadn't run, Gore would be president. There was a similar problematic election in France recently. The problem arises from the system of plurality voting, which can easily lead to the paradoxical result of a lesser desired candidate winning. While there are no perfect voting systems, there are much less imperfect ones, such as the Borda count, that would allow a candidate like Jobs to run without voters having to fear that their votes for him would have no chance of counting, or would only skew the election results insofar as they had any effect. Voting can be much more democratic than it currently is.

    Here's a quote from an article I came across not too long ago on voting theory:

    In some elections, any candidate can win, depending on which voting system is used, says Donald Saari of the University of California, Irvine. Consider 15 people deciding what beverage to serve at a party. Six prefer milk first, wine second, and beer third; five prefer beer first, wine second, and milk third; and four prefer wine first, beer second, and milk third. In a plurality vote, milk is the clear winner. But if the group decides instead to hold a runoff election between the two top contenders--milk and beer--then beer wins, since nine people prefer it over milk. And if the group awards two points to a drink each time a voter ranks it first and one point each time a voter ranks it second, suddenly wine is the winner. Although this is a concocted example, it's not an anomaly, Saari insists.

    You can get the whole article, which gives a fair overview of various voting systems, at Science News, or if you prefer: http://www.sciencenews.org/20021102/bob8.asp

    Vote as an individual; lemmings end up falling off cliffs. Camaraderie is no substitute for common sense, and being your own man will make you sleep better.
    --Pierre S. du Pont

  70. Why Jobs will get my vote: by zootread · · Score: 2, Funny

    Legalize it maaaaannnn.

    Marijuana that is.. You know Jobs will try..

    --
    Zoot!
  71. State of the Union Address by schiefaw · · Score: 2, Funny

    I can't wait to hear the "Oh, and one more thing". What could it be? iVote? Cuba has been "aquired"? The justice department is suddenly a lot more interested in putting the screws to Microsoft? That last one is my guess.

    --
    Angleyne: You can't bend that girder - it's unbendable! Bender: Well I don't know anything about lifting, so that ju