All seventeen year olds love Boris

Aren’t digests great? You get exposed to the most odious and ill-informed of opinions without having to hand over money to the Daily Fail or give them advertising revenue through your precious mouse clicks. Marvellous. Also if it makes it into a digest (in this case The Week) the assumption is that it definitely is not a joke article and the fool with their head stuffed up their arse writing it actually SERIOUSLY BELIEVES THIS SHIT. Although I can never quite bring myself to let go of that last little pinch of salt when dealing with the Fail.

So the most recent thing to waft under my discerning nose is the crap spewed forth by Viv Groskop concerning giving the vote to sixteen and seventeen year olds. Apparently Groskop used to think they should because if you have the right to marry and join the Armed Forces you should be able to vote. I agree with that previous sentence. Except now Groskop has changed her mind. Why? Because of the X Factor.

Yeah, because of a sub-par talent show that exists only to make Simon Cowell money and act as a showcase for a load of whiny, self-obsessed, fame hungry morons the debate on whether or not sixteen and seventeen year olds should have the vote should be over.

You see the way under-eighteens behave on the X Factor is so immature that they shouldn’t be allowed to vote. Seriously. This is the argument Groskop is making in the Fail on Sunday. I’m going to start with the obvious point that everyone acts like a twatbag on the X Factor. I’m fairly sure that’s one of the big reasons why people watch it. That’s EVERYONE Viv, not just under eighteens. Do you think everyone should therefore be banned from voting, or only the exact ages represented in the current series of X Factor?

But apparently even someone who writes for the Daily Fail doesn’t think that the behaviour of a group of ill adjusted and fame hungry teenagers should be the sole reason sixteen and seventeen year olds shouldn’t vote. Groskop's other concern is they might vote for Boris Johnson. She actually said that as well.

‘They love him because he is the funny man with the funny hair.’

^Genuine astute observation from our Viv there. I don’t think I need to spell out how insulting that is to anyone born between 1992 and 1994.

Because no one over the age of eighteen voted for Boris Johnson. Oh wait, everyone who voted for Boris Johnson was over eighteen. How the fuck does that work, Viv?

If we’re being generous I suppose we could say that there’s something to the ‘voting for a personality’ thing, but again that’s been going on for centuries and sixteen and seventeen year olds can hardly be blamed for it. It’s also a pretty sweeping assumption that Boris’ particular brand of baffoonary is what the average sixteen or seventeen year old is looking for.

Perhaps they’re concerned with, oh I don’t know, tuition fees and bus fares? Not in Groskop’s world. No suggestion that they might actually be politically aware, socially conscious and give the same amount of thought to the democratic process as older voters. No consideration of the possibility that being a vacuous dick magically stops when you turn eighteen.

Effectively Groskop Has looked at a current and interesting debate and thought I’m going to say something so bafflingly insulting and yet clearly bullshit it will confuse everyone and stop the debate. Fortunately they also write for the Daily Fail so no one who has ever had a logical thought will give a puffin’s chuff what they say.

NB. I’m not linking to the article because I don’t want to be responsible for people clicking on it. I’m sure if you really want to read it you can find it.