note from franksolich: during the past several weeks, lots and lots of lurking primitives have been reading this thread from January 1, 2011, shortly after the top primitive of 2010, the Die alte Sau, was revealed.
Probably the primitives are trying to learn the rules, so as to manipulate the rules to their own personal advantages.
As of now, there have been no official rule changes for the top primitives of 2011, but it's reasonable to assume there will be some, as the awards have gotten rather complicated lately. August 8, 2011
There aren't any yet, and won't be until my distinguished partner Mr. Wiggum gets back from the Rose Bowl, but I'm soliciting suggested changes for nominations and votes for the top primitives of this current new year.
The only rule change that had been made for 2010 was that the Willie Award was decided by the common wisdom of the people, rather than by Mr. Wiggum and franksolich. Otherwise, 2010 was pretty much the same rules as in 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, and 2005.
It's been suggested that some primitives become stale after x many years, and so perhaps after a particular primitive's been on the ballot for so long, the primitive shouldn't be eligible any more.
This is already the rule for the Willie and the Annie, which are one-time awards; the "TomInTib" primitive, the Bostonian Drunkard, Alan Grayson, the bobbling primitive, and the bouncing primitive will no longer be eligible for selection for those awards they won in 2009 and 2010.
I dunno if limiting the number of times a primitive can be nominated for the top twenty primitives, though, is a good idea. After all, some primitives, such as Doug's stupid ex-wife, are timeless.
I think that popular choice naturally weeds out the old, stale, boring primitives--look for example, at the Bostonian Drunkard, who wasn't even nominated in 2009 for anything, and not nominated for a top primitive in 2010. To me, it seems best to just let things happen naturally, interest in the old, stale, boring primitives just naturally withering away.
But I'm not the final arbiter of the rules; that's done by the common wisdom of the people.
There's also been a suggestion that the list of primitives is too long (although for 2010, it was actually shorter than for 2009), with too many PonP with whom voters are unfamiliar.
I myself am sort of "for" limiting the nominations, but have no idea how to limit them, what criteria to use.
There has been a suggestion that members of the general public also members of left-wing message boards (such as Pitcairn Island) not be allowed to nominate and vote, because that might, or might not, bias the results.
These sorts of voters overwhelmingly voted, of course, for the Barack 0bama zombies, but an analysis shows that even if they had been excluded from voting, the Barack 0bama zombies would've ended up in the top ten anyway. (And as of today, January 1, 2011, it looks highly likely the Barack 0bama zombies are going to end up in this year's top primitives again, perhaps even higher.)
As far as franksolich is concerned, he'd like to have, if possible, the whole general American public vote on the top primitives, and it does say something when both the left and the middle agree.
But again, I'm not the final arbiter of the rules; the collective common wisdom of the people advise and counsel Mr. Wiggum and franksolich, who of course are sensitive to public opinion.
However, and this is not meant unkindly, since Mr. Wiggum and franksolich run the show, they have the royal veto, the last word. (The royal veto, by the way, has been used only three times since 1707, and so in this case, it's not likely Mr. Wiggum and franksolich are going to go counter to the wishes of the people.) The royal veto is absolute, and final.
So.....advise and counsel.
Are there any rules for the top primitives, that should be changed for 2011?
