Winston Churchill is often quoted as as observing that democracy is “the worst form of government except for all others.” In truth he was not so cynical: what he really said in a speech to the House of Commons in 1947 was that “it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time; but there is the broad feeling in our country that the people should rule, and that public opinion expressed by all constitutional means, should shape, guide, and control the actions of Ministers who are their servants and not their masters.”

If he were around today and watching recent developments in our depressing Presidential race, however, I think Winston might go with the misquoted version.

Item: MoveOn, a progressive public policy advocacy group that has been much-derided on Ethics Alarms over the years, is partnering with Ben & Jerry’s radical Left co-founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield to release a special Kamala Harris-inspired ice cream flavor. (Send in related joke suggestions, by all means.) Limited edition pints of “Kamala’s Coconut Jubilee”are being released in a limited edition; it is a coconut flavored ice cream layered with caramel and topped with red, white and blue star sprinkles. Why coconut? This, apparently. (Winston is starting to roll already.)

The new flavor will be the center of the “Scoop the Vote” free ice cream truck tour that kicks off next week. Cohen and Greenfield will be on board while the truck makes 20 stops in the so-called battleground states as part of a push to register voters. Rahna Epting, executive director of MoveOn, told USA TODAY that the tour aims to inspire voters to register and cast their votes for Harris in the 2024 presidential election, noting that even non-political activities like getting free ice cream have an impact on the election.

I’m sure George, Tom, John, Alexander, James and Ben are now rolling in their graves right along with Winston. What a silly country this is.

But wait! There’s more!

NBC reports that pop queen Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris on Instagram following the debate prompted at least 337,826 fans to visitVote.gov, a government website that directs users to state-specific voting information. In her Instagram endorsement, the recording superstar pointed her followers to the Vote.gov website, encouraging them to do their own research.

Pardon my contempt, but I strongly doubt that anyone whose civic responsibility is dependent on what a pop star whose sole interest has been music since she was a 11-years old says, thinks or endorses is going to be much good at researching anything. No one who is sufficiently informed, educated and capable of critical thought to be the kind of responsible citizen Mr. Madison, Mr. Hamilton and the rest had in mind when they conceived this audacious experiment in democracy would ever let anyone’s endorsement of a candidate determine their vote in a Presidential election. But to allow a singer to exercise that kind of influence over one’s judgment is signature significance for…you know.