Six Degrees to President Obama

When dealing with six degrees of separation it is hard to think of yourself as connected to someone you have never met. This idea though fascinating also sounds like a person’s boredom getting the better of them. So six degrees of separation, is it legit or is it not? Could it be less than six degrees or is it just the luck of the draw and whom you know? If you know people who are famous it is easier to make connections because celebrities have a wide network of relationships. Or is it that the people celebrities know are in the public eye and more people know about them so it easier to connect to them? I can connect myself to more than a couple of sixties and seventies famous musicians such as The Beatles, Aretha Franklin, The Doors, The Turtles, even Elvis. But that is all through one person that I know making my connections much smaller in degree than others.
When my brother moved to Berkeley to attend college, I had an idea of the eclectic characters he would meet over the years. Though it never struck me that I would be able to connect myself to President Obama through one of his acquaintances he met while living in the dorms. Most people know who William Hung is if they are familiar with the show American Idol. He is an upbeat student from Berkeley that auditioned for the show a few years back, and though he did not make it to the finals, he touched the hearts of millions of Americans with his wacky singing style, and his loveable personality. He got to know the judges on the show Paula Abdule, Randy Jackson, and Simon Cowell. These three famous musical personnel have hundreds of connections to famous actors, musicians, and even politician.
Paula Abdule—a singer and dancer from the eighties and nineties—spend much of her time in the spotlight rubbing elbows with all sorts of famous people. Madonna, perhaps the most famous of all women singers knew Paula, which in terms of six degrees of separation connects William Hung to Madonna through Paula Abdule.
Madonna toured the world forming relationships with people in every country. She preformed countless times, and made guest appearance on many television shows. One connection she has is Oprah. Oprah the talk show host, and one of the riches people in the world had Madonna on her talk show in September of this year. Their ideas on politics were discussed and through now through the idea of six degrees of separation Oprah knows Madonna, who has knows Paula Abdule for years, who knows William Hung from his audition on American Idol making William connected to Oprah.
Oprah is a major supporter of Barack Obama, and made her voice heard though out the race for presidency. She introduced herself to Senator Obama and quickly became a large help in his campaign. And yes once again through six degrees of separation Obama knows Oprah through her help on his campaign trail, who knows Madonna when she was on her talk show in September, who knows Paula Abdule from their careers as musicians in the eighties and nineties, who knows William Hung from his audition for American Idol in 2003.
Now how is this all connected to me? Well my brother lived in the dorms at Berkeley. There he met a girl who invited him over to a party at her house. There she introduced my brother to one of her friends a Mr. William Hung. They both hung out and became acquaintances of one another socializing at their friend’s house and singing karaoke. So in the end I know my brother from being siblings, who knows William Hung from school, who knows Paula Abdule from his audition on American Idol, who knows Madonna though their music careers in the eighties and nineties, who knows Oprah and being a guest on her talk show, who knows President Obama from her support of his race for the presidency making me connected to our new and first African American President!
The idea that this could work for everyone makes it mind-boggling. Once one connection is made it is hard to stop. There are connections everywhere. The people you know might just know more than you think or know they know. And with a little bit of conversation and time taken out to make a connection with someone, the connections will soon become endless.