Since Democrats took control of all three bodies of government, they’ve accomplished…well, not much. Despite lofty ambitions, they’ve ran into a number of obstacles, most prominently the filibuster and the mere two (2) intransigent Democrats who refuse to help them kill it so their party can get stuff done. One of the Democrats’ wishes is to enact the Freedom to Vote Act, which gives the nation’s election system a badly needed overhaul. But they can’t get that passed either. So the buck has been passed to celebrities, who did the best thing they could do drum up support for the bill: They made a parody ad.
It’s called “Electile Dysfunction,” and it stars a handful of famous faces making wink-winky sex jokes about our tragically broken system. The most prominent is MCU star and proud activist Mark Ruffalo, who joins Jake Johnson and Property Brothers’ Jonathan Scott as “regular people” hoping that voting was easier and better represented the people.
“Trouble maintaining a strong coalition? Tired of the parade of disappointing performances? Then you might be one of the 330 million Americans suffering from electile dysfunction,” the narrator crows.
“I get all excited about a new bill, a debate gets all hot and heated, we’ll move things to the floor, and right when we’re about to achieve a joint resolution — bam! A total government shutdown, premature capitulation,” one actor bemoans.
“Filibusting just doesn’t feel good anymore,” Ruffalo mourns.
There’s a lot of erectile dysfunction jokes to be had here, but it also makes a strong case for why people should care that the bill passes — which will almost certainly require axing that pesky filibuster. Should the Freedom to Vote Act pass, it promises, as per the fake ad, to end “your tired, sagging, floppy relationship with politics by making Election Day a holiday across the country, banning gerrymandering, expanding voter access and increasing integrity, blocking foreign interference, empowering everyday citizens and healing our democracy.”
Then again, the rapid-fire boilerplate warning at ad’s end claims the bill is “only for democracies healthy enough for electoral activity.” And that might not be America much longer…or it might not even be America right now.
You can watch the joke ad in the video above.
(Via The Hill)