“I think politics is a valid concept, but what we have today is not really politics. It’s the equivalent of the high school election. It’s a popularity contest. It’s got nothing to do with politics. What it is is mass merchandising … Television has come into such prominence as a tool for the political machine … Anybody who [has] money to spend on television time and … money to spend on advertising agencies has got to be suspect to begin with. He’s just got too many friends with money. He’s not a real person. When they start showing an image on television that many times, you know it’s millions of dollars. And it’s not coming from the people who want him elected out there in the streets, it’s coming from somebody in large businesses that is gonna want some favors as soon as he gets into office.” - Frank Zappa