Day: August 28, 2012

A winner’s ad

Now this is a good political advertisement. It’s not overly negative, but promotes a message that we have the chance to correct our mistakes. Cede no ground, baby!

“I believe in America. I believe those successes are right around the corner.” Now that’s a true friend talking.

I look at the whole situation this way. For too long, people have written off Republicans in Maryland because it’s such a hopelessly Democratic state. But political pundits and the so-called conventional wisdom fail to ask the key question: aren’t people tired of the same old thing?

Don’t people get worn out having to deal with the same problems year after year: higher and higher taxes, more cronyism and corruption in government, and a worse quality of life as things fall apart? Why are our children not being as well educated, anyway? Isn’t the American Dream that of your kids having a better life? What happened to it?

Listen, I tend to blame one political party for many of our faults, but in countless ways it’s really the fault of all of us. Shame on us for  just simply going with the lesser of two evils, or the guy whose name they know but one for whom they couldn’t name a single accomplishment, or the one who looks like such a great guy on TV as opposed to the guy they’ve never heard of because they don’t do their political homework. If ignorance is bliss, then we must be the most politically happy people in the world.

We may get the government we deserve, but it’s not the government I want. This shouldn’t be the government you want, either. We can do better; we’ve tried it their way for eighty (almost) uninterrupted years and one has to agree this experiment in liberty created by our Founding Fathers has been botched, with the only question now remaining (and the one to be answered in this election) being whether the decline is reversible or, indeed, whether the experiment is even redeemable at all.

This Dan Bongino guy deserves a chance, and while some may rightfully argue he’s untested in the ways of politics, I would have a lot more faith in someone who made an honest living putting his life on the line for another man than one who has lived off the good graces of the electorate via a familiar surname for over 4 1/2 decades. What have we really received from career politicians anyway?

It’s time for average people to truly have a voice, and this video should have a helluva lot more views than the 150 or so it had when I embedded it. So let’s get to work.

 

Radio days volume 17

Well, I hope this is the beginning of a renewed trend.

There was a time when I was on the radio a lot more than I have been recently, which led me to see just what volume number I was on because my last radio interview was in April, 2011, when I was featured on the liberal gabfest Thom Hartmann Show.

As it turns out, yesterday’s radio appearance on Blaine Young’s WFMD-AM show wasn’t all that much different in that I was promoting something I wrote, but it was the first of what I hope are many radio appearances to promote my book So We May Breathe Free: Avoiding Ineptocracy.

And perhaps I’m my own harshest critic, but I thought I left a lot to be desired. In my defense, I have to say there were two strikes working against me: my shot was delayed an hour because of unrelated events in Frederick (which made me a little bit more nervous) and I didn’t really get a transition – it was just boom! I’m on. That definitely threw me; I’m more used to having a bit of an introduction but I guess Blaine’s show doesn’t work that way – I just have to be more prepared for that. Obviously I know why I wrote the book, and I honestly think I’m as qualified as any other so-called political pundit to be an analyst. But I sort of staggered through that part of the interview because I was a little off my game. I need to work on that portion.

I did enjoy the conversation about Maryland politics, though. No, it really didn’t relate to my book but I suppose it does enhance my political bonafides by having a relatively detailed discussion of a political subject. There’s nothing wrong with promoting my website as well as my book.

Overall, I’d give myself a C-minus for the effort, but the real test is whether my book sales will ratchet upward. Obviously I do these radio interviews to help sell books because if I don’t sell So We May Breathe Free my ideas don’t make it into the marketplace and I happen to think I have pretty valid ideas. Some of my more fervent backers swear I have plenty of writing talent, but that has to translate into sales and hopefully I didn’t miss an opportunity today.

Still, I want to thank Blaine Young for extending that chance. Maybe this Delmarva player wasn’t quite ready for Frederick yet, but once I knock the rust off I’m sure I’ll get better – remember, it’s been about 16 months since I did a radio show and I thought I did pretty fair on the last one. So if you have a radio show or know someone with one – even if it’s just a little internet station – I’m happy to come on and promote my book. You need content and I need sales, so let’s see if we can strike a deal.

There’s one thing I thought about during the hour delay and wish I had said in the actual interview, though. You have to love a system where someone like me – who has no pedigree and was basically ignored by the literary world – still has the opportunity to express a message. I can live with putting myself out there and being a total flop based on the weakness of my argument, but what I can’t abide is never getting the chance at all. Yesterday I got my chance, and I’m confident I’ll get more because I’m going to keep knocking on the door.