Torture worse than Abu Ghraib...

is what the New York Times does to logic, NYT: American Idol Popular because of the 2000 Election:

The high viewer turnout for “Idol,” which is on tonight, cannot solely be explained by technological advances or a regression in human nature. It cannot be a coincidence that television voting rights arose so soon after the 2000 election left slightly more than half the voting population feeling cheated. Those who didn’t go to the polls and fear that their abstention inadvertently made possible the invasion of Iraq may feel even worse. “Idol” could be a displacement ritual: a psychological release that allows people to vote — and even vote often — in a contest that has no dangerous or even lasting consequences. (Even losers win out in the end: both Mr. Gore and Jennifer Hudson ended up on the Oscar stage.)

Full Times article here.

UPDATE: A little bit of internet pecking brought me to this gem about the article's author and pseudo psychologist, Alessandra Stanley, The Wrongest Critic. Be sure and scroll down to view The Collected Corrections of Alessandra Stanley.