THE DAILY BS: HOW MUCH CAN YOU HANDLE?

SPARE ME THE BS (I’ve got things to do)

• Bruce Springsteen posted an Election Day video reminding election officials that they took an oath to uphold the Constitution and must count votes securely.
• The flannel-clad rocker appeared to be delivering prepared remarks, complete with a Thomas Jefferson reference and instructions for people already responsible for administering elections.
• Michael Douglas delivered a strikingly similar message as part of a broader celebrity-backed effort promoting constitutional oaths. Apparently, Washington’s election officials now have a celebrity instruction manual.

LAY IT ON ME (I’ve got time)

There was a time when Bruce Springsteen could command an entire stadium with a guitar, a microphone and a few chords from Born to Run. These days, apparently, The Boss has decided his talents are urgently needed in the field of election administration.

On Tuesday morning, Springsteen posted a video addressing election officials and government representatives, reminding them that they have a constitutional obligation to conduct a fair election.

Yes, really. A rock star explaining to professional election officials that they’re supposed to count votes.

And the presentation was something to behold. Wearing a flannel shirt and looking into the camera, Springsteen delivered what appeared to be carefully prepared remarks. This wasn’t some impassioned, off-the-cuff speech from the concert stage. It had all the spontaneity of a corporate compliance training video, only with better name recognition.

“I’m speaking to Election officials and representatives of our government on Election Day,” Springsteen began.

He continued: “You have sworn an oath to preserve, protect, and defend our Constitution. That means you have a solemn duty to ensure our votes are securely counted.”

Well, thank goodness Bruce cleared that up. Somewhere in America, an election worker who had been planning to spend the afternoon counting ballots with a dartboard has presumably reconsidered.

Springsteen then reached for Thomas Jefferson, invoking the Founder’s observation about government requiring the consent of the governed. He warned officials against following directives that would undermine the constitutional right to a fair election and reminded them that the public’s voice must be heard.

He finished by wishing them a good Election Day and thanking them for their service.

Now, there’s nothing particularly controversial about saying elections should be conducted fairly. It’s the sort of statement that usually receives unanimous agreement right up until somebody starts arguing about the actual rules.

But that raises the obvious question: What exactly was this video supposed to accomplish?

Were election workers across America waiting for Bruce Springsteen to explain that their jobs involve counting ballots? Was there an official somewhere who had completely forgotten about the Constitution until the man who recorded Dancing in the Dark came along to remind him?

If the message is simply that public officials should obey their oaths, wonderful. We agree. Somebody should probably send that memo to Congress, too.

The more interesting part is that Springsteen wasn’t the only famous face delivering this particular Election Day sermon.

Actor Michael Douglas also released a video addressing election officials, reminding them of their oath to defend the Constitution, urging accurate vote counting and warning against directives that might compromise a free election.

The wording was remarkably similar. Both celebrities invoked the constitutional oath, emphasized securely counted votes and appealed to officials to resist improper interference.

That makes the whole exercise feel considerably less like a spontaneous moment of national concern and more like a coordinated public-service campaign with an impressive Hollywood contact list.

And, in fact, it is connected to a broader effort.

Springsteen’s message directed viewers toward the Oath Project, an initiative launched by the American Constitution Society in September to encourage public commitments to defending the Constitution. The project has attracted celebrities including Robert De Niro, Barbra Streisand, Jamie Lee Curtis, Noah Wyle, John Lithgow and Martin Sheen.

Apparently, every actor and musician in America now has an opportunity to demonstrate that he can recite a constitutional principle in front of a camera.

Nothing wrong with that, of course. The Constitution is worth defending. But there’s a difference between encouraging civic responsibility and imagining that a celebrity video delivers some previously unavailable insight into how elections are supposed to work.

This one mostly tells election officials to do the jobs they were already hired, trained and sworn to perform.

And coming from Springsteen, the political lecture is hardly a surprise.

The singer has spent years publicly opposing Donald Trump, criticizing his administration and supporting Democratic candidates. Just one day before this video, Springsteen endorsed Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed.

His endorsement described El-Sayed as a defender of the Constitution and American democracy while condemning the Trump White House in unmistakably partisan terms.

That makes the timing particularly interesting.

On Monday, Springsteen was openly endorsing a Democrat in a bitter Senate contest. On Tuesday, he was delivering an ostensibly civic-minded message about constitutional duty to the people responsible for overseeing the election.

He has every right to do both. But let’s not pretend the public has suddenly discovered an unexpected, politically detached constitutional scholar who wandered into the national debate carrying nothing but a guitar and a pocket edition of the Bill of Rights.

This is Bruce Springsteen. His political opinions haven’t exactly been classified information.

And there’s something almost comical about the determination to make every celebrity political statement sound like a historic intervention.

Mediaite described the video as a lecture to election officials. Other coverage presented it as a stark warning.

A stark warning?

The substance was that officials should count votes properly, respect constitutional obligations and refuse improper instructions.

That’s not exactly a revolutionary discovery.

You know what would be news? If Springsteen announced that election officials should ignore the Constitution, throw away ballots and decide the Senate races with a guitar solo.

Instead, we got an earnest reminder of things almost everybody already agrees should happen.

And because no modern celebrity political campaign is complete without an accompanying website, viewers were encouraged to visit the Oath Project and make their own constitutional commitment.

Perhaps there’s a commemorative tote bag somewhere in the process. At the very least, somebody has surely considered one.

The central problem with all this celebrity instruction is that saying something obvious doesn’t make it profound simply because a famous person says it.

Springsteen is a gifted songwriter and legendary performer. His music has meant a great deal to millions of Americans. None of that automatically makes a prepared Election Day monologue more insightful than the instructions an election worker received during training.

And if there are genuine concerns about election administration, the useful discussion involves actual procedures, documented incidents, applicable laws and the officials responsible for enforcing them.

A famous singer reading general principles into a camera doesn’t answer any of those questions.

It doesn’t resolve a disputed ballot. It doesn’t repair a malfunctioning voting machine. It doesn’t explain the rules governing observers, identification or ballot handling.

It does, however, give another celebrity the opportunity to demonstrate his concern for democracy in a format perfectly suited for social-media sharing.

Maybe that’s the real assignment.

We’ve reached a point in American politics where every election apparently requires an accompanying cast of Hollywood celebrities reminding the rest of us that voting matters, democracy matters and the Constitution matters.

Fine. They do.

But perhaps the most useful contribution the entertainment industry could make to Election Day would be to recognize that Americans are perfectly capable of understanding those principles without another celebrity reading them aloud.

DBS WIRE SOURCES (I have all day)

• Mediaite — Bruce Springsteen lectures election officials: ‘You have sworn an oath…’
• Parade — Bruce Springsteen issues Election Day warning to government officials
• The Independent — Michael Douglas urges officials to fight attempts to undermine a free and fair election
• Breitbart — Celebrities including Robert De Niro and Jamie Lee Curtis join Constitution oath campaign
• Bruce Springsteen’s official website — His November 2 endorsement of Abdul El-Sayed