The tap contest is like the US election because, as you argue, they both have no bearing on outcomes in the middle east. Therefore, they’re irrelevant. If a tap contest won’t change the situation in the middle east, don’t make comics complaining about the tap contest’s effect on the middle east. If an election won’t change the situation in the middle east, don’t make comics complaining about the election’s effect on the middle east. It’s not relevant to the discussion. It should be relevant, I agree with you there, but as you point out, this election it simply isn’t. If we want to improve the situation in the middle east, we need to do more direct action ourselves, not vote for it. So stop bringing voting into the conversation about the middle east.