Category Archives: Politics

PETA Opens Its Mouth, and a Few More Independents Take a Small Step to the Right…

Posted by Andy Boyer in Human Behavior, Personal, Politics

You have to wonder what the people at PETA are thinking when they have “brainstorming” sessions.  It’s like they purposely come up with ways to alienate anyone in the middle 98% of mainstream thought.   From WNBC in New York:

VERMONT — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, cofounders of Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc., urging them to replace cow’s milk they use in their ice cream products with human breast milk, according to a statement recently released by a PETA spokeswoman.

“PETA’s request comes in the wake of news reports that a Swiss restaurant owner will begin purchasing breast milk from nursing mothers and substituting breast milk for 75 percent of the cow’s milk in the food he serves,” the statement says.

PETA officials say a move to human breast milk would lessen the suffering of dairy cows and their babies on factory farms and benefit human health.

You may now insert your own jokes and analysis.

This Negative Election Has Finally Defeated Me

Posted by Andy Boyer in Politics

Well, it’s happened.  What started as a fantastic 17 person Presidential race, with people sharing new ideas for how to run the country, has turned into a giant mud-slinging session that has left me dis-spirited and ready to move to Croatia to open a coffee stand.

What happnened to this race? We had Bill Richardson’s immigration ideas, Obama’s unifying rallies and Hillary’s messages energizing women.  Giulani and Thompson added star power, Romney was the clean cut businessman with the ability to run the Olympics and a state, while McCain the Maverick was driving the Straight Talk Express.  Even Ron Paul, who people labeled as crazy, at least had an interesting Flat Tax Plan.  Real candidates with real ideas.  

But now, I can’t watch TV or listen to the radio without hearing barking, shrieking, sarcasm and disdain.  No one has any ideas, and everyone has a criticism.  Olberman and Chris Matthews take turns firing shots at Republicans in hopes Obama will dance with them first at the inauguration.  Conservative journalists rail on Obama’s 143 days in US Senate as being unfit to lead.  Media members sitting on the left side of the bench use big words and smarmy sarcasm to imply that anyone who doesn’t agree with them 100% is stupid.  Those on the right  scoff at people and make it clear that anyone who doesn’t know how to climb into the middle class is just useless.

Our whole country is attacking each other and every campaign message is about hate – McCain is too old., Obama too green.  McCain lies, Obama exagerates.  Biden is mean, Palin is crazy.  Then everything that happens must be assigned to someone.  The Financial situation is Bush’s fault, no McCain signed a bill in 1999 that caused this, no Obama’s liberal policies would make it worse, etc…Gas is expensive because we’re in Iraq, no because Democrats won’t let us drill, no because Republicans are beholden to lobbyists in the oil industry….

I’ve been beaten.  The candidates’, pundits’, advisors’ and supporters’  combined message has finally sunk in.  According to what I am hearing from everyone, “Collectively we’re screwed, it’s someone else’s fault, and we’re really going to be screwed worse if you vote for the other guy.”  That’s the message I am getting – please tell me I’m hearing it wrong.  Plus, none of them are explaining to me that they can fix it, they are just explaining to me that the other group can’t.  So I guess that’s the message. Take my money out of the stock market and run.

Oops – too late for that too….Now what?

Meanwhile, we think the athletes are real

Posted by Andy Boyer in Marketing, Media, Politics, Sports

So what have we learned about China so far thanks to year’s Olympics.  Well, let’s start with some nuggets from a British paper, The Times of London, in this article.

Let’s set aside all the pre-Olympics Tom Foolery of throwing out journalists, censoring Internet sites, jailing a Japanese television crew in West China, shutting down factories, and trying to magically make the pollution go away.

But in the first week of this Games, we have:

  • Fake fireworks so the TV audience thinks they are seeing something spectacular
  • Lip-syncing of the opening song by a cute 7-year old Chinese girl, because the 7 year old girl who really sang it wans’t “cute” enough.
  • Oscar-style “seat fillers” who sit and watch the preliminary rounds of events, then leave when the ticket holders show up, so it doesn’t look like there are any no-shows.

I’m not exactly sure this is what drove the spirit of the games more than 100 years ago.  So if the games themselves can be fake and manufactured, tell me again why the athletes aren’t allowed to use drugs that enhance their own performance?  Don’t sterioids seem to fit perfectly into this charade?

Rossi vs Gregoire Radio Ad War Begins

Posted by Andy Boyer in Media, Politics, Seattle

I love political season.  Nothing better than a good old fashion radio ad war being waged by people who don’t normally write radio ads.  Today on KJR, I heard what may have been the funniest 20 minutes of political radio the all-sports station has ever run. 

1) At about 8:20am, Steve Sandmeyer interviews Dino Rossi.  In the 10 minute interview, Rossi addresses the issue KJR listeners care about most, mainly the Legislature’s inability to make any kind of decision on the Sonics situation.  Rossi restated his previous positions, that all Gregoire and the Legislature had to do was AUTHORIZE King County to extend the current tax that tourists pay on rental cars, hotels, etc…past 2011 when it currently expires.  They didn’t have to vote to extend the tax, they had to vote to authorize King County to vote for the tax.  Rossi continued by saying that he knew it was a political hot potato, so to make sure Gregoire wouldn’t take a fall, he publicly endorsed it before her. That way she could endorse it without him being able to use it against her.  Then he got a nice jab in by calling Frank Chopp the “pseudo-governor” and that Gregoire is too afraid to do anything without his approval.  Score multiple points for Rossi.

2) Interview ends at 8:30 or so, and in the next commercial break, you get a response ad from Team Gregoire.  Basic text of the ad – “Rossi is like George Bush because he cut back on child protection services, is anti-abortion, votes against gay marriage and cut transportation funding.  See, he’s just like George Bush.  And did we mention he is like George Bush?  So, you obviously don’t want George Bush.  Paid for by friends of Gregoire.”  Gay marriage and abortion rights?  The Sonics have just been ripped from the city, fans blame you for this, and 8 days later you run an ad telling sports fans that Rossi is against abortion rights?  Really?  That’s the most compelling argument you have to make to sports fans feeling pain?

3) 10 minutes later, you hear a Rossi ad that has been playing a while. The ad quotes the Seattle Times, “Gregoire showed the leadership skills of a rookie Point Guard.” The ads also says that when Gregoire had a chance to do something extraordinary, she chose to sit on the bench.  Ouch.  Ouch again.  Score more points for Rossi.

4) As if this wasn’t enough, the Gregoire campaign found it necessary to run the same ineffective ad a second time 10 minutes later.  I guess they really wanted Sonics fans to know that Dino Rossi is anti-abortion.  It’s like walking into Capitol Hill and talking about policy on shipping tariffs.  Or going to the Apple farmers to discuss H1B visas.

The KJR vote is going to Rossi.  So I’m not sure Gregoire’s play here.  She either has to be loud and vocal about pushing through the new stadium legislation this session, or just ignore those voters and spend money somewhere else.  But if I won ana election by 2,000 votes, and an entire segment of people who never vote just learned how to register, I’d be nervous.  

Limiting Congress’ Right To Speak Online? This Can’t Possibly be True

Posted by Andy Boyer in Politics, Social Media

Ok, this link comes from Slashdot.  Reputable source, but one of those things that you read, then read aloud, then re-read to make sure you really understand it, and then finally mutter to yourself, and think about how much money you have in the bank and which island you could survive in with that amount of money. 

This report can’t possibly be true.  It must be some sort of misinterpretation.  But here’s a synopsis, along with the full report:

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi….. is scheming to impose rules barring any member of Congress from posting opinions on any internet site without first obtaining prior approval from the Democratic leadership of Congress. No blogs, twitter, online forums – nothing.

Someone tell me this is all a mistake.

5 (or so) Reasons Everyone Should Attend Monday’s Sonics Rally

Posted by Andy Boyer in Politics, Seattle, Sports

This Monday at 4:30pm, the Save Our Sonics Organization is hosting a rally on the courthouse steps  (700 Stewart St., Seattle). Sonics legends Gary Payton and Xavier McDaniel are confirmed to attend and speak at 4:30 pm. Other Sonics Legends have been invited and are expected to appear.

Now whether you are a die-hard fan, casual observer or don’t even care and just live and work in Seattle, here are 5 (or 7) reasons you should show support.

  1. For the first time ever, a city and state did not bow down to a league that demanded a new tax-payer funded stadium.  You should show that a league should not punish a city for this appropriate action.
  2. Over 41 years, more than 20,000,000 people have watched Sonics games in person.  That’s a piece of history that should stay – and I bet it’s more than have watched the symphony, opera and ballet combined.
  3. You cannot idly sit by and watch an Oklahoma Oil Baron (who is also a Republican) come rob the eco-friendly Pacific Northwest of one of its assets.
  4. At least some of your friends care about this, so you should support them.  They contribute to your Sierra Club, Humane Society and kid’s school’s auctions.  This doesn’t even cost you anything.
  5. It’s happy hour in Seattle – what an excuse to kill an hour off your work day on a Monday?  
  6. David Stern is proving to be an arrogant, very bad man.  Don’t let him get away with this without Seattle making some noise.
  7. There’s about a 1% chance the team survives.  If that miracle occurs, 34 years from now on the Sonics 75th anniversary, don’t you want to tell your grand-kids, "I was at the rally that proved to be the turning point."

 Get there – do your part.  Make it a huge rally that gets on the national news. 

Should We Revisit the Seattle Monorail

Posted by Andy Boyer in Politics, Seattle

A few years ago, we had this crazy idea to build a monorail, that would start in downtown and brtanch out to two of Seattle’s far flung neighborhoods, Ballard and Seattle.

By most accounts, the whole plan was run by the guys who drive clown cars, and the money guys needed an abacus to count sea shells on the beach.  It was the little engine that couldn’t even though all of us have spent about $1500 in taxes for the train that never ran.

But is it time to dust off the powerpoint, and re-run the Excel spreadsheet with new numbers?  Interest rates have never been lower, so the money would be cheaper.  Gas prices have never been hire, but will be tomorrow (and the day after, and the day after that, etc…), so you can assume ridership will skyrocket.   And now we have a real crisis, and you see how civic leaders (i.e. Steve Ballmer) suddenly appear in times of crisis.

Sometimes great ideas have terrible execution, or poor timing, and all it takes is a different team on a diferent day to turn a dud into nirvana.  Think the Smarte Car, which 25 years ago was a dog called the Yugo.  Or the iPod, which in 1997 was a dorky thing called Diamond Rio.  The Newton never made it, but pieces of it came back into every PDA sold from 2003-2007. 

So, what do you think?  Why not revisit this whole monorail thing, with a new team driving the project? 

 

The Story of An Underperforming Campaign

Posted by Andy Boyer in Big Businesses, Politics

(And now we get back to this being a marketing and business blog…) 

This article from the New Republic chronicles mistakes the Clinton campiagn made over the last 15-16 months.  Note: I’m not saying that her campaign is over, but I think if you start as the overwhelming front runner, and then become a candidate struggling for survival, it’s fair to say your candidacy has underperformed.

While the article is interesting on a political level, it’s also a perfect example of simple business mistakes that can make you lose consumer confidence and fall behind in the marketplace.  A couple of themes that transfer include the following: failure to recognize competitive threats, total lack of long-term focus, not taking care of the people who can give you free publicity, what happens when you choose the wrong message, and how the public turns on you if they think you are dishonest.

Check out the article here. 

“My Next Request, All Oklahomans Born in 2009 are to be Named Clay”

Posted by Andy Boyer in Big Businesses, Politics, Sports

No matter how scummy Clay Bennett has been to Seattle, there was a tiny sliver of me that thought, "He’s just an Oklahoma guy who wants to bring the NBA to his hometown.  At least he’s a liar who has a constituency in mind."

Well check out this article from NewsOk.com.  Apparently, Bennett is now holding Oklahoma hostage as well, demanding tax refunds on payroll taxes, or he isn’t bringing the team. 

" Lobbyists schmoozed lawmakers at the state Capitol and some received telephone calls and e-mails from Sonics owner Clay Bennett and other representatives of the ownership team a day before the state House is scheduled to consider final passage of legislation that will give the team a rebate on a portion of payroll taxes it will pay if it relocates.

Rep. Charlie Joyner, R-Midwest City, who also voted against the bill, said he received an e-mail from Bennett that said the team might not come to Oklahoma City unless the House passes the tax incentive. "I just don’t think this thing has been handled right. That’s kind of holding legislators hostage," Joyner said."

Read the whole article.  Amazing nerve. 

If We Bought Cars the Way We Choose a Presidential Candidate

Posted by Andy Boyer in Creative Writing, Politics

(Before anyone gets upset, most of this is tongue in cheek…)

So, the latest ABC debate was such a debacle, for just a second, I want to think about what would happen if we tried to decide which car to buy in the same way we think about who to vote for.

Let’s say the most important 3 issues in a car are cost, safety and style.  And let’s say the 3 most important issues in leading the country are the economy, national security and education. (You can argue this later, just go with it for now.)

Now let’s say I’m choosing between 3 particular cars.  And I know what the most important issues are.  But maybe I don’t really understand numbers so well.  And safety reports are really confusing.  The point is that I KNOW what the key issues should be.  But since I’m doing this the same way I pick a candidate, I’ll ignore them.  So what might I think and ask about?

  • Well, I will probably want to ask how much money each company is making.  I mean, I can’t support a company that is more successful financially than the others.
  • Next, I need to ask where the people who built my car go to church.  Who knows what kind of propaganda the employees might plant.
  • Which Hollywood stars think my car is the right choice?  They have nothing in common wth me, but if they would buy it, I should too.
  • Plus, I have to thnk about a bunch of minor details that really don’t affect the core issues of the car.  I need to look at what material the seats are made of, how big the steering wheel is, whether or not the parts were manufactured in the U.S. and how big the gas tank is.

So maybe this is gratuitous.  But think about these ridiculous arguments.  Is Obama’s preacher a crazy nut job?  Is McCain’s wife a gajillionaire?  Is Clinton more of a liar than every other politician? Who cares how we deal with China and Russia, will my gay friends be able to get married?  And border security is not nearly as interesting as whether Obama *really* thinks unemployed people who lost their homes are bitter.

The point is, why aren’t we focusing on making candidates come up with extremely well-thought out plans for Healtcare, Iraq, schools and  staving off the recession?  Who cares about the stupid stuff?