Now Appearing in an Extended Engagement! Join David Robison as he takes you into his world and his daily life of reviving a stand-up comedy career. Prepare for side trips exploring the "art" of salesmanship and business ethics and his experience with Multi-level Marketing. Enjoy some frequent detours describing his observations on life. Read the exploits of this self-proclaimed Renaissance-man and blooming blogger as you go
On The Road With Dave.
Presidential Election Memories: Part 3 / "Getting Political"
During Ronald Reagan's first term as President of the United States, I got married and had my first child. My wife and I were broke. Due to my extreme immaturity, I was unemployed for a while, my wife was our sole support and we even made use of the Food Stamp program for about 6 months. (Shame forced me to withdraw from that assistance)
Oddly enough, it was at that time that I made my first attempt as an Amway distributor...which led to the writing of "On The Road With Dave".
Being an Amway distributor gave me an insight into being a business owner, but while the "leaders" of my Amway Motivational Organization espoused entrepreneurial ideals and Republican ideology; I was cold toward the ideology. I was in favor of entrepreneurship and making money, but I seemed to want to do business in a different way. I thought more about how "business"--both large and small--affected people. I remembered how I felt and was feeling about "being poor".
Reagan's ideal economy was falling short of pleasing me on a personal level. I was in favor of "Government" being fiscally responsible, but I felt "Reaganomics" was not working where it mattered. I suppose History proves me wrong on certain levels.
But, my ideals of how politics should work were taking form. I was ready for a change. In 1984, I followed the primaries of both the Republican Party and the Democratic party. After Walter Mondale was confirmed as the Democrat nominee and his running mate, Geraldine Ferraro was chosen, I went into the voting booth and cast my ballot for Mondale-Ferraro.
Presidential Election Memories: Part 2 / "Getting Political"
In November of 1980 I was attending the University of Mississippi, majoring in Theatre. I spent most of my time learning to act like a tree blowing in the wind, lifting imaginary rocks and once starred in an adult version of Jack and the Beanstalk. (That's adult, not porn)
Besides those academic activities--I was consuming large amounts of alcohol and going to movies(that's porn). But, an election was coming up; my first Presidential election.
President Jimmy Carter and Vice-President Walter Mondale were running against former actor and California Governor Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. Third Party candidates included:
John B. Anderson – Patrick J. Lucey (Independent) Ed Clark – David H. Koch (Libertarian) Barry Commoner – LaDonna Harris (Citizens) Gus Hall – Angela Davis (Communist)
My memory of those November days were of high gas prices and my parents talking about high interest rates and inflation. Dad was working a second job. People were disappointed in Carter's handling of the Iran Hostage crisis and a failed rescue attempt and slow diplomatic manipulation for the hostages' release.
On the campus of Ole Miss, students were talking about Ronald Reagan running against Jimmy Carter and there were fears Reagan was a "war hawk".
I stumbled upon a "Students for John Anderson" booth. I had no clue who Independent, John B. Anderson was, but I was attracted to the female telling me the merits of Anderson. On a more intellectual note, I was intrigued by the possibility of a Third Party candidate winning a Presidential Election.
Based on the experience of an 18 year old, I voted for John B. Anderson.
Anderson garnered 6% of the US vote and Ronald Reagan won easily in 44 of the 50 states.
"Getting Political" is a semi-regular feature of "On The Road With Dave". While Dave is no political pundit by any stretch of the imagination; "Getting Political" allows him to stretch that imagination.
Presidential Election Memories: Part 1/ "Getting Political"
American youth attributes much more importance to arriving at driver's-license age than at voting age.
--Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, 1964
As Election Day 2008 approaches, I've been thinking back to my childhood and the events I remember surrounding the Presidential Elections that make up my history.
Around 1968, thanks to living in the South, I remember George Wallace being shot while campaigning as a Third Party Candidate against Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey.
I know my parents voted for Nixon.
By the time I turned 10 years old, and thanks to Mad Magazine and television, I was fairly aware of the 1972 Election and Nixon's landslide re-election against Democrat George McGovern.
I have vivid memories of Nixon's resignation later on in that term, and his second Vice-President Gerald Ford taking over the office of the Presidency.
By that time, the "news" that colored my perception of the events were Cheech and Chong and Firesign Theater and the Watergate Comedy Hour albums I listened to, courtesy of an older brother.
By 1976, I was reading the hometown daily newspaper sporadically and saw the editorial cartoons parodying Gerald Ford's "Whip Inflation Now" program and the infamous WIN buttons. I was watching "Saturday Night Live" and seeing Chevy Chase portraying the "clumsy" Jerry Ford, falling down in the White House.
Our house was decorated in Bicentennial regalia as our country celebrated a year-long 200th birthday. I remember everyone gathering around the TV each evening for the Bicentennial Minute series shown every night on CBS. (After about 3 months, watching this "minute" of television seemed like too much time)
I remember an unknown peanut farmer and Governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter, running for President and capturing the hearts of the American people and spurring curiosity about what this young Democrat from the South would do to change the previous policies of 8 years of a Republican White House. I knew that he had "committed adultery in his heart", thanks to late night TV comedians.
He had a great smile, a soft voice and he loved his Momma. I liked Carter.
My parents voted for Carter.
As I headed toward high school graduation, Carter faced a foreign policy nightmare when on November 4, 1979, Iranian militants stormed the United States Embassy in Tehran and took approximately seventy Americans captive. This terrorist act triggered the most profound crisis of the Carter presidency and began a diplomatic ordeal for Jimmy Carter. News reports aired nightly on the hostage crisis and the American people endured the crisis and empathize with the hostages' families for 444 days.
The beginning of the crisis and the American peoples' reaction reminds me today of our similar thoughts regarding the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center.
In May of 1980, I turned 18 years of age. I reluctantly registered for Selective Service at my local post office and went next door to City Hall and registered to vote.
I graduated High School a week later and began a "last summer" before college. I could drink alcohol legally, I could smoke legally, I could drive, and plans of stardom filled my head. There were girls to date, parties to attend, and the summer was for squeezing in as much fun as possible. An upcoming Presidential election seemed years away.
How would I vote?
PART 2 CONTINUES TOMORROW, OCTOBER 31, 2008 "Getting Political" is a semi-regular feature of "On The Road With Dave". While Dave is no political pundit by any stretch of the imagination; "Getting Political" allows him to stretch that imagination.
Orson Scott Card is a science fiction writer, critic, columnist, memebr of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and a confessed Democrat.
My scant research on the man revealed to me that along with his Democrat Party views, he holds many views of the conservative, Republican Party. He has been quoted as being a follower of Tony Blair and Daniel Patrick Moynihan. I suppose one could say Orson Card is a Liberal, but not too Liberal.
The reason I write all this is because of a recent article by Card criticizing the state of Journalism and its coverage of the Housing crisis and the upcoming Presidential Election.
"Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights?" is an open letter to all of the nation's local newspapers and in effect, the national media machine and its seemingly orchestrated agenda of electing Barack Obama as our next President of the United States.
Quoting bits and pieces of the article doesn't do the author's rant any justice. So, I'm asking my readers to read the article and come back here and give me your opinion. Agree? Disagree? Attack the writer?
"Getting Political" is a semi-regular feature of "On The Road With Dave". While Dave is no political pundit by any stretch of the imagination; "Getting Political" allows him to stretch that imagination.
For Wil, it was seeing the old CBS Special Presentation logo that signaled to all kids that maybe, a prime time cartoon was coming on the air. (Think, "A Charlie Brown Christmas)
But, after watching Wil's provided video; I stumbled upon my own "chill bumps" TV station logo identification.
When I was a teenager, I lived in a town that for a long time had no cable TV. Imagine that? No Cable; only Broadcast channels. And...AND..only 3, count them, THREE of those stations; CBS, NBC and PBS. Sometimes, on a clear day or a freaky cloudy day, our ChannelMaster Antennae would pick up a fuzzy ABC channel.
So, whenever we went to my brother's house in Columbus, MS--I was in heaven, because I could watch WTBS Superstation(It used to only show old movies and sports), WGN Chicago, and one great station that showed Hollywood movies on TV before anyone else, great music videos, and little short films. They called it Home Box Office(HBO).
Today, over 16000 bloggers Worldwide will discuss in unison the problem of Poverty in the World. Many will discuss the problem as an overview with education points on the problem. Many will offer solutions and opinions about solutions.
I did a little research and found out that the Worldwide standard for absolute poverty is based on a household earning $1 dollar a day. One US dollar. 30 dollars a month. $365.00 a year. Roughly, 25% of the World's population live in this state of poverty.
It's hard to fathom as an American that 25% of the World's population live in a condition of having insufficient resources or income to provide themselves and their family basic human needs, such as adequate and nutritious food, clothing, housing, clean water, and health services.
Back in September of 2005 I re-published an article by John Scalzi from the Chicago Tribune about being poor.
Being poor can be living in poverty or being on the brink of poverty. In the United States, our idea of poverty doesn't come close to the idea of Poverty in some Third World Country. We may consider our inability to purchase a new iPhone as being poor or underpaid; the idea of not being able to afford a bag of rice to feed our family for a week is unimaginable.
In recent weeks, our current economic crisis has come to the forefront of every news cycle. People can not get a loan for a new car. Stocks are tumbling. Real Estate investors who were "flipping" houses for profit, now face foreclosures on their investments. We worry about our retirement funds. But still, we fail to even think about a family in Africa who can not afford clean water or an adequate shelter to protect their newborn from the summer heat.
Today, I want us, as Americans, to at least change our thought process from how our economic crisis is affecting us, personally; and to give thought to our neighbors.
If you find it difficult to think about some obscure country halfway around the globe--then give thought to the poor in the United States.
For that, I reprint the article "Being Poor" from September 22, 2005.
Being poor is knowing exactly how much everything costs.
Being poor is getting angry at your kids for asking for all the crap they see on TV.
Being poor is having to keep buying $800 cars because they're what you can afford, and then having the cars break down on you, because there's not an $800 car in America that's worth a damn.
Being poor is hoping the toothache goes away.
Being poor is knowing your kid goes to friends' houses but never has friends over to yours.
Being poor is going to the restroom before you get in the school lunch line so your friends will be ahead of you and won't hear you say "I get free lunch" when you get to the cashier.
Being poor is living next to the freeway.
Being poor is wondering whether your well-off sibling is lying when he says he doesn't mind when you ask for help.
Being poor is off-brand toys.
Being poor is a heater in only one room of the house.
Being poor is hoping your kids don't have a growth spurt.
Being poor is stealing meat from the store, frying it up before your mom gets home and then telling her she doesn't have to make dinner tonight because you're not hungry anyway.
Being poor is not enough space for everyone who lives with you.
Being poor is feeling the glued soles tear off your supermarket shoes when you run around the playground.
Being poor is your kid's school being the one with the 15-year-old textbooks and no air conditioning.
Being poor is thinking $8 an hour is a really good deal.
Being poor is relying on people who don't give a damn about you.
Being poor is finding the letter your mom wrote to your dad begging him for the child support.
Being poor is a bathtub you have to empty into the toilet.
Being poor is stopping the car to take a lamp from a stranger's trash.
Being poor is making lunch for your kid when a cockroach skitters over the bread, and you looking over to see whether your kid saw.
Being poor is believing a GED actually makes a difference.
Being poor is people angry at you just for walking around in the mall.
Being poor is not taking the job because you can't find someone you trust to watch your kids.
Being poor is the police busting into the apartment right next to yours.
Being poor is not talking to that girl because she'll probably just laugh at your clothes.
Being poor is hoping you'll be invited for dinner.
Being poor is a sidewalk with lots of brown glass on it.
Being poor is people thinking they know something about you by the way you talk.
Being poor is needing that 35-cent raise.
Being poor is your kid's teacher assuming you don't have any books in your home.
Being poor is $6 short on the utility bill and no way to close the gap.
Being poor is crying when you drop the mac and cheese on the floor.
Being poor is knowing you work as hard as anyone, anywhere.
Being poor is people surprised to discover you're not actually stupid.
Being poor is people surprised to discover you're not actually lazy.
Being poor is never buying anything someone else hasn't bought first.
Being poor is picking the 10-cent ramen noodles instead of the 12-cent ramen noodles because that's two extra packages for every dollar.
Being poor is getting tired of people wanting you to be grateful.
Being poor is knowing you're being judged.
Being poor is a box of crayons and a $1 coloring book from a community center Santa.
Being poor is checking the coin return slot of every soda machine you go by.
Being poor is deciding that it's all right to base a relationship on shelter.
Being poor is hoping the register lady will spot you the dime.
Being poor is feeling helpless when your children make the same mistakes you did and won't listen to you beg them against doing so.
Being poor is a cough that doesn't go away.
Being poor is making sure you don't spill on the couch, just in case you have to give it back before the lease is up.
Being poor is a $200 paycheck advance from a company that takes $250 when the paycheck comes in.
Being poor is four years of night classes for an associate of arts degree.
Being poor is a lumpy futon bed.
Being poor is knowing where the shelter is.
Being poor is people who have never been poor wondering why you choose to be so.
Being poor is knowing how hard it is to stop being poor.
Being poor is seeing how few options you have.
Being poor is running in place.
Being poor is people wondering why you didn't leave.
Finally, believe me when I say, Being Poor in the United States pales in comparison to absolute Poverty in some un-named country...but if we refuse to care, refuse to act, refuse to even think about the possibility of where we are headed; then "Being Poor" becomes "living in poverty" for our neighbors and ourselves.
"What you've done becomes the judge of what you're going to do - especially in other people's minds. When you're traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don't have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road."
The much anticipated Vice-Presidential Debate is less than hour away and I'll be watching.
Will Sarah Palin be able to answer questions with specific answers and not ramble? Will she remember the names of Heads of States of Third Party Countries?
Will Joe Biden be tough? Will he put his foot in his mouth? Will he ask paralyzed people to stand up and take a bow?
I'll be tuning in. Will You?
Comment and tell me who you thought won when it's over.
UPDATE
10:09 PM
I just finished watching the Vice-Presidential Debate between Sen. Joe Biden and Governor Sarah Palin.
In my opinion, both candidates exceeded expectations.
Sarah Palin spoke with humor, grace and showed a knowledge that she has seldom been credited with in the past few weeks.
Joe Biden defended his ticket with force and yet appeared friendly.
I would say that Sarah Palin proved that if she were not on the winning ticket in November that her political career would still be promising after her stint as Governor of Alaska was finished. She would make a powerful and effective Senator or Congressman for her home state and would likely rise in the Congress to effectively lead on committees and write good policy.
Joe Biden proved his career as a Senator would continue pass November 2008 if the Obama/Biden ticket were unsuccessful.
But on the whole, Joe Biden defended his ticket, his running mate and their proposed policies much more effectively than did Sarah Palin. I thought that I would come away from the debate saying Palin won. I still like Palin. But the point goes to Biden.
In my opinion, the debate was a close call, but the victory goes to Joe Biden.
