RunningWithBulls.com - The curse of Sanfermin

From The Economist this week, about the dangers of mixing reality TV shows with politics:

Last week saw the final of “Vote for Meâ€?, a reality-TV programme in which viewers were invited to choose an independent parliamentary candidate from a selection of political novices. The eventual winner (who saw off competition from a Druid and a porn star, among others) was Rodney Hylton-Potts, a 59-year-old lawyer and ex-convict. Mr Hylton-Potts’s platform included the forcible castration of paedophiles, the repeal of the Human Rights Act, an end to immigration (except for the very rich) and, bizarrely, the legalisation of most drugs. Flushed with success, he announced his intention to stand against Michael Howard, the Conservative leader, in the general election. (…) Nor was the result a one-off. Last year the BBC’s “Todayâ€? programme—supposedly the breakfast entertainment of choice for Britain’s urban sophisticates—asked its listeners to choose a law that they’d like to see the government pass. Stephen Pound, a Labour MP, volunteered to put their choice to Parliament. They plumped for the decidedly illiberal idea of allowing homeowners to defend their property “by any meansâ€?—up to and including shooting intruders. On hearing the result, Mr Pound quoted Mark Twain: “The people have spoken,â€? he said. “The bastards.â€?