Politics – Regular Guy

The 2016 Campaign Begins Here

brian — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 17:50:03 +0000

I think all of us breathed a collective sigh of relief last Wednesday when the barrage of political ads and telephone calls ended. I don’t know about you, but I felt like certain people were stalking me with the number of times they left a message on our answering machine.

But another election always lurks around the corner. That’s why I don’t want to wait too long to announce the Shea for President in 2016 platform.

I have done this before, but I didn’t throw my hat in the ring in 2012. I can say all kinds of things about not wanting to run against an incumbent or wanting to spend time with my family, but I can only come up with one real excuse. I forgot.

So I don’t want to make that mistake again when the big job comes open four years from now. I don’t really want to declare at this point which party I will let choose me to lead their slate of candidates. That would ruin all the fun of the next four years.

Once again, I have a few key elements to my vision for America that have not changed since I first started this quest in 2004. I will outlaw basic cable, the national anthem will change to Neil Diamond’s “America,” and the day after the Super Bowl will turn into our newest national holiday.

I find those truths self evident. I also think that should easily vault me above the rest of the field, but I don’t want to rest on my laurels. So let’s examine some of the other issues I feel other candidates have failed to address:

People will need a special license to drive in rain or snow.
The term boneless wings will be declared unconstitutional because wings have bones.
All political discussion and debate will take adopt the formula of ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption” where the host details at the end all of the factual errors the participants have made.
The primetime lineups for network television will require approval from a special commission which will include Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, Jon Hamm, Tina Fey and Adam Scott. However, I get the final say.
Citizens will get the right to deface any business sign which misuses punctuation.
No more Bluetooth earpieces in public. If you’re that important, they can wait to talk to you.
Bigger bags of peanuts and the whole can of soda without asking on airplanes.
People working at movie theatres will have to use air quotes when they ask if you want “butter” on your popcorn.

I will probably come up with more over time, but I can’t see how someone else can get a jump on me in the polls up against that slate of ideas. I also still support free lollipops at all times and think we should all have the right to a free ice cream cone when we’re having a bad day.

So you now have the power to start the momentum behind this campaign. Do you want to talk about fiscal policy and environmental regulations or do you want some ice cream? The choice is yours.

Hooray Beer!

brian — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 18:35:14 +0000

Congress does its best to avoid every chance it has to show us that the two sides can work together. Thankfully, we have found an example of bi-partisanship on an issue which truly can transform our country.

Move over, Sam Adams: Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) want to make it easier for craft breweries to produce more beer.

On Wednesday afternoon Kerry and Crapo introduced the Brewer’s Employment and Excise Relief (BEER) Act, which would cut taxes for microbreweries and on the production of smaller quantities of beer barrels.

What’s more American than supporting our beer entrepreneurs? I’ll drink to this if the two sides can put their differences apart and actually support small American businesses and the people who like to patronize them,

Olbermann’s Schtick is Old

brian — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 16:07:11 +0000

We have heard many people talk about Keith Olbermann lately. Many, many people. Too many people.

In case you have been hiding under a rock or are smart enough to avoid people talking about Keith Olbermann, here’s the upshot. The MSNBC “journalist” was suspended for a couple of days because he made political contributions without alerting his bosses at NBA NBC (he can’t pundit or dunk) as is apparently the policy at the company.

Olbermann returned from his brief suspension last night as pompous and arrogant as ever. He claims he didn’t know of the rule and acts as if it’s kosher for a TV commentator to interview a candidate then mail the guy a donation immediately after the interview. We can debate whether preventing these guys from giving donations is right and whether his actions merited a suspension, but while they are railing at Fox for their actions and holding themselves up as a moral alternative, they couldn’t ignore what Olbermann did.

Unfortunately, some of us have come to expect this kind of self-absorbed thinking from Olbermann. This does not come from any political territory I occupy. I have as much disdain for Keith as I do for people like Glenn Beck. I harbor no love for those who take the airwaves to demonize those who disagree with them and scare those who might agree with them into doing so.

I come from a print news background so have a natural distaste for much of the television news industry. I have seen good people fight against the medium’s vapid and soulless predilections. I have watched bad people rise into positions simply because they love themselves more than they respect the news process. Not everyone in TV is hopeless, but the ones who are do hopeless so, so, so well.

That’s why I have never been able to stomach Keith Olbermann, even before he appeared on MSNBC. I hated him when he was on ESPN alongside Dan Patrick when “The Big Show,” as Keith often called SportsCenter to the dismay of his bosses, dominated the sensibilities of 20-something sports fans like me.

So I loved the highlights and Patrick’s catch phrases, but even then could not get over the smugness of Olbermann. I think Patrick knew the whole “Big Show” thing was tongue in cheek, but Keith really did think he was the Big Show. Then they made him the focus of ESPN2 and he put on that abominable leather jacket and tried to play too cool for school, which just seemed forced. Dan was the guy you wanted to watch a game at a bar with to make jokes about the players and appreciate the action. Keith was the the guy you wanted to tell to shut up because he was preventing you from enjoying the game.

Olbermann has tried to make himself out to be some sort of voice of reason in the political spectrum, but he’s still coming off as the guy trying too hard to show that you need to follow him simply because he’s Keith Olbermann. Sadly, it’s always been that way, but the base instincts of television keep him on TV. Even after he breaks the rules and thumbs his nose at his bosses.

The Doctor is In

brian — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:06:40 +0000

I generally don’t get political here, but I ran a cross a great story about a program at the University of Washington’s medical school. A friend works there and passed the link on to me.

In short, students have the opportunity to intern for a month in a rural or underserved area between their first and second year of med school. They go to Idaho, Montana, Alaska and Wyoming because UW helps educate students from those states, none of which have a medical school.

As you can imagine, these students see a ton of stuff. They see overworked doctors and a messed up system of payment vs. care. They learn just how precarious things can be for people out there. Personally, I think these kinds of programs should be more prevalent in many fields, even though I’m a wuss and couldn’t handle it.

All of this becomes more clear, however, because of the national debate on health care. One piece of the article bothered me a little bit and kind of underscored why things need to change.

Other students, like Kylie G. Boggess, 24, witnessed how integral a federally qualified health center could be to a community like Nampa, Idaho, and became all the more committed. “This just sold it to me,” Ms. Boggess said. “You get to have a very personal relationship with your patients. You get to know them.”

(snip)

There were differing opinions among the students about critical components of the plans being discussed by President Obama nd Congress, like whether health coverage should be mandated and whether the government should create a public insurance option. But even those favoring the Democratic approach said they felt momentum had stalled.“I really like Obama, but I’m a little bummed,” Ms. Boggess said. “He has yet to really strongly make the moral argument for providing health care to our citizens.”

My dear Kylie, he has tried to do that, but the other side has ACCUSED HIM OF TRYING TO KILL BABIES AND OLD PEOPLE! I’m not saying the Dems are perfect, but it’s kind of hard to complain that the President hasn’t made the moral argument for health care when the other side is literally making stuff up to demonize him.

That’s why we need you to try and make the case, Kylie. Sadly, they might listen to you. Or they might accuse you of being a Nazi. Or call you a liar on national television.

Do the Math, Rush

brian — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:32:12 +0000

So apparently, Rush Limbaugh has opened his big mouth again and said he wants President Obama to fail.

I don’t get into politics here too often because I think most people have their minds made up, and the level of political discourse in this country often resembles your average argument over a toy by a pair of 4-year-olds. I will make an exception this time because of one nugget in that story.

Limbaugh is heard on some 600 radio stations across the country, and more than 14 million people listen to him at least once a week.

Since Rush didn’t complete college, I’ll do a little math for him. More than four times the number of people that listen to you voted for our president.

4 x Rush = Obama

So please stop acting like you are the voice of the people. You have had problems accepting people of color in strong positions on their merit so please just stop acting like you care about the people.