The Center Strikes Back

Larry Bradley's Weekly Ezine #205 Hateful Politics

2012-02-10T16:06:17Z

1. New Book: Coming Apart by Charles Murray

2. Hateful Politics

1. New Book: Coming Apart by Charles Murray

A new book called Coming Apart: The State of White America 1960-2010 by Charles Murray has come to my attention over the last week. I’ve seen two articles about it in the NY Times and it’s been featured in the (also relatively new) web site/Blog Rise of the Center (links below).

From what I’ve read about the book so far, what makes the book interesting is its discussion of how white America has become “increasingly polarized into two culturally and geographically isolated demographics,” to quote the article at link one.

In fact, David Brooks’ article (link #2) talks about the need, based on the book, for there to be a national service program that would cause the two demographics to have to live together. Sorry, David, we’ve been way ahead of you on that one for quite a while now. Bring on the Lottery Draft with selection for three levels of service: military, para-military and social service. The Greatest Generation who fought and won World War II and came home to establish great prosperity for this nation had that very experience. On a very large scale under highly stressful conditions, they lived among people who were not like them and came to appreciate other people and places as a result. We do not have this today and we need it back.

The third article talks about the divide and explores the question of whether the upper 20% are the upper 20% because of genetics or because of better opportunity. If those who occupy the upper 20% think it’s because of genetics, then doesn’t that present us with something of a “master race” complex contributing to a feeling of superiority and/or entitlement?

Overall, what I think this discussion points up is the old adage about the blind man and the elephant. How the blind man describes the elephant depends on what part of the elephant the man is touching. Further, if the blind man is never given the opportunity to touch the entire elephant, then the description is going to be very limited.

The value of this book and others like it (such as Our Patchwork Nation), therefore, is to show us how enormously diverse we are as a nation. In other words, politically, what this means to us is if we have policies being generated based on assumptions which do not reflect the reality of our societal diversity, then those policies have a very low chance of success. Voters who assume everyone else thinks and believes as they do (and those who do not are somehow evil) in choosing candidates and policies to support are actually hampering our ability to find solutions to our problems.

I intend to add Mr. Murray’s book to my reading list. You might want to do so, also.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/06/books/charles-murrays-coming-apart-the-state-of-white-america.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha28

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/31/opinion/brooks-the-great-divorce.html?scp=1&sq=David%20Brooks%20Charles%20Murray&st=cse

http://riseofthecenter.com/2012/02/08/main-reason-upper-middle-class-sending-more-kids-to-elite-colleges-theyre-producing-smarter-children/7999?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=main-reason-upper-middle-class-sending-more-kids-to-elite-colleges-theyre-producing-smarter-children

P.S. Rob Ritchie of FairVote.org is going to be on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal this Sunday morning, Feb 12, 2012 at 9:15 a.m. EST (8:15 a.m. CST). Ritchie is an advocate of Instant Runoff Voting and similar modifications to voting to improve our Republic. I recommend watching.

2. Hateful Politics

Passion has always been part of politics and will always be. Anger has always been a prime motivator. But when voters allow anger to cross over into hatred, aren’t they violating the counsel to, “Don’t get mad. Get even.”?

Yet think of these recent events in the news. One is the finger wagging incident with Arizona Governor Jan Brewer towards President Obama. Another is the declaration by Florida Representative Allen West that President Obama, former Speaker Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid could “go to Hell.”

What these incidents illustrate is crossing the line from anger over policy disagreement to hatred of the person because of their policy.

Those who manage people know a key management task is to separate the personality of an individual from their performance. The more difficult and creative the nature of the task the individual performs, the more difficult the task for the manager to make the distinction. For example, finding salespeople who can sell and will sell can be extremely difficult. When businesses find such an individual, the propensity is usually to overlook personality foibles in order to retain productivity.

One of the most famous public examples of this phenomenon came from the American Civil War with President Abraham Lincoln and General Ulysses S. Grant. Figures jealous of Grant wanted to have him replaced with others they found more favorable. Those figures approached Lincoln with . . .

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Larry Bradley's Weekly Ezine #204 Preparing Children to Be Voters

2012-02-03T22:18:52Z

1. What Would the Founders Do?

2. Preparing Children to Be Voters

1. What Would the Founders Do?

Since paragraph two today is about training young minds in the form of government our Founders conceived, one is reminded how often today we hear from voters (particularly Ron Paul supporters) that we need to get back to the basics of what the Founders envisioned.

I’m in the process of readying a new Preface to go with the coming re-release of my book as an eBook. Concerning the abuses of our political system, one of my reviewers asked the specific question, “What would our forefathers think?”

I replied as follows: Your comment about what our forefathers would think reminds me of a story about the Disney companies from many years ago. It was the 1970’s, Walt Disney himself had died and the kind of movie Disney made in the 50’s and 60’s wasn’t selling anymore. There was a meeting of the corporate executives and one of them asked, “If Walt were alive today, what would he say for us to do?” As a result of that meeting, the group decided to form Touchstone Pictures to make films with a more contemporary feel. The decision, as we know now, was a good one.

So, expanding on that answer a bit, what the Disney executives did was acknowledge the times and the tastes of the viewing public had changed. If they really considered the question about what Walt would say, then they had to know Walt was someone who not only wanted to be with the public’s times and tastes. Walt was someone who wanted to help determine what the times and tastes were. The executives therefore made a decision they needed to modify their product to satisfy those changing times and tastes. They implemented their decision in a very smart way. The general public was unaware Touchstone equaled Disney, so if something went awry the Disney Brand would not be tarnished.

So, yes, going back to the original thought, what would our forefathers tell us to do if they were alive today? Would they tell us to adapt to the current times using the knowledge and opportunities science and technology gives us today?

Or would the Founders tell us we need to bring back Slavery and rescind Women’s right to vote?

Probably some of the Founders would argue for both things. The question is who would we listen to?

2. Preparing Children to Be Voters

Retaining a healthy democracy means training its citizens in how their government works. Reading a recent newspaper article* about the knowledge displayed by American students regarding America’s history and government spoke to how poorly the task is being accomplished. The testing results quoted were jaw droppingly abysmal. Here are some of the statistics quoted.

Among 30,000 students tested in a prestigious national sample:

Fewer than one in four students scored proficient and student performance got worse with age.
Half of fourth-graders could not identify Abraham Lincoln from a photograph and give two reasons why he was important in history.
Only 22 percent of the nation’s 12^th-graders were able to identify China as North Korea’s ally during the Korean War.

The article went on to describe efforts to revise the curriculum for better results and the difficulty in the age of the Internet to sort out what to teach. Be sympathetic for the challenge to educators. Some time ago (at least ten years) a lecturer said the body of knowledge is now doubling every five years. Yet educators have children in their charge for the same fixed hours from ages 6 to 18 they have had children for the last century. If the time availability is fixed, but the potential knowledge for teaching is expanding exponentially, then something has to give. What is that something?

Apparently, one of the things “giving” is knowledge of history and government. Bellevue University, headquartered in Bellevue, Nebraska has commendably counter-acted the trend by establishing a Center for American Vision and Values. The University requires all its students to . . .

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Comment about Weekly Ezine #203 from JR Cassady

2012-01-28T20:51:17Z

Here's a comment I received by email from JR Cassady.

Good comments. Don’t forget the “fear factor” in protracted wars. I remember patrolling into a friendly yard village in II corps where the villagers were keen on helping us with info about the NVA. We followed the info up and had a couple of short fire fights then circled the wagons and headed back to the SF camp. Later when going back through the same village they were very cool to us. We had no way or force to secure them. After we left the AO the NVA came back, tortured the chief in front of the people and abducted some young people as porters. We did try to rescue their kidnapped, but never could track them down. So, as you indicated, if you can’t secure the population from the cancer of the insurgents (radical Islamists) you are probably pissing in the wind.

I say we need a draft system. and the National will to fight a war to WIN it.

Keep up the good work.

Cass

Larry Bradley's Weekly Ezine #203 Which Business Are We Talking About?

2012-01-27T23:17:25Z

1. Discussing Some Military Matters

2. Which Business Are We Talking About?

1. Discussing Some Military Matters

Here are some thoughts for you about recent military topics in the news.

First there is the sad business of the Marines urinating on the bodies of dead Taliban fighters. Some have defended the Marines on the premise of “Look what they do to us that’s even worse!” That argument misses the point.

When nations engage in what as known as symmetric or conventional warfare, the means to victory is destroying the other nation state’s ability to wage war. This means destroying both their military and their ability to produce and provide equipment and supplies to wage war. In conventional war, once one nation state is no longer able to conduct military operations, the war is basically over.

In unconventional (also known as asymmetric or guerilla) warfare the means to victory is to secure the population from an insurgent force and to do things which will keep the general population from joining the insurgent movement. If these things can be achieved, then the insurgency can be defeated. As I’ve written here before, defeating an insurgency takes a lot of troops and America and its allies have not ever come close to providing the required number of boots on the ground.

That said, when the other side commits atrocities we are galvanized to pursue victory. The same thing is true for the other side when we commit atrocities. The general population becomes sympathetic to the insurgency and the time required for victory is lengthened. The actions of the Marines, therefore is inexcusable not only because it is an atrocity beneath them, but also because those actions are a detriment to achieving victory.

Second topic: the reduction in the size of the military due to personnel costs was announced as part of the budget this week. The reduction is deemed necessary because personnel costs are up. Personnel costs are especially up in medical care. Medical care costs are up because we recruit married people, often with children, and the military supports them, as well as the service member. Were we to go back to the lottery draft I have advocated for some time, then we would be better afford to maintain the size force we really need. 18 and 19 year olds are much less likely to have families and we could afford to be much more selective about which ones that do we take in the military. There was once a saying in the Army that, “If the Army wanted you to have a wife, they would have issued you one.” Perhaps we need to return to that philosophy.

Third: Kudos once again to the Navy Seals who rescued the hostages in Somalia. Two thoughts about this event are worthy of your consideration. The event illustrates again the fact Special Operations success depends on good intelligence. The results we’re getting now against Al Qaeda and other ne’er do wells like Somali Pirates indicates we’ve broken the code on getting the intelligence we need. That’s good news. The other thought is how once again Somalia illustrates how a nation free of organized, effective government is scarcely the utopia some in this country think it would be and want to convert this country to. Those of you who think these thoughts are welcome to go to Somalia and try it out for yourself. Hope you’ve got lots of cash for ransoms. We know you wouldn’t want any government money being spent on rescuing you.

2. Which Business Are We Talking About?

So many arguments about national issues seem to lack clarity because of a lack of general factual data and appreciation for proportions. This certainly applies to discussions about how to get the American economy moving again. The argument now over the worth of Venture Capitalism vs. Vulture Capitalism is a case in point. As a man in the street commentator said recently in a newscast, “I’m not as concerned about Capitalism vs. Socialism or Fascism as I am about a return to Feudalism.”

Consider what you find when you Google, “How many businesses are there in the US?” A Census Bureau report from 2008* gives these numbers.

There were 27, 756,676 firms, or to use a shorthand there are over 27.7 M (for million) firms.

Of those firms, there are over 21.7M firms without a payroll, leaving a little over 6M with a payroll.

Of those firms with a payroll, 3.6M had 1-4 employees.

Of the entire payroll paying firms only 18, 469 (That’s eighteen thousand) had over 500 employees. Of those 18,469, only 981 (Nine Hundred Eighty One) had over 10,000 employees.

This is what these numbers mean to you. The . . .

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Larry Bradley's Weekly Ezine #202 Republicans Reveal a New Internal Conflict

2012-01-20T22:54:57Z

1. Matt Taibbi: Everything You Need to Know about Wall Street in One Brief Tale

2. Republicans Reveal a New Internal Conflict

1. Matt Taibbi: Everything You Need to Know about Wall Street in One Brief Tale

Today’s paragraph two is about the conflict between Main Street and Wall Street. Serendipity struck as I finished it when I found this Rolling Stone article by Matt Taibbi. Matt’s article is a perfect complement to paragraph two today. I recommend the commentary, too.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-wall-street-in-one-brief-tale-20120113

2. Republicans Reveal a New Internal Conflict

When the history of the 2012 Presidential Election is written, two potential themes are already presenting themselves for inclusion. One is the impact of Super-PAC advertisements on voters. The second is how damaging the revelations of the discord within the Republican Party were to voters in the general election. While that history is now being developed, there is a new development in the discordant themes.

The new development is the challenge by Republicans Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry of the business record of Mitt Romney. The pair says Romney indulged not in “Venture Capitalism”, but rather in “Vulture Capitalism”.* Further they say Romney’s record is not one of job creation, but of job destruction.

Amazingly, this means there is now a debate about what kind of capitalism the Republican Party supports. Romney’s response is the criticism of his record is the “politics of envy”. Is that the case? Do we have the politics of envy or the politics of voters realizing they have allowed Main Street to be screwed by Wall Street?

So, for the first time we have on display an internal conflict among Republicans—one between Main Street Business Republicans and Wall Street Business Republicans. The conflict is illustrated by a favorite Zig Ziglar saying, “You can have anything you want from life if you will just help enough other people get what they want.” Those who acquire wealth with Zig’s approach are the ones people admire. They are the ones from Main Street who generate the goods and services making lives better and easier. For the first time, American voters may become truly aware of the difference between the Wall Street ways of making money contrasted with the Main Street ways.

The essential difference is this. Main Street makes money through the creation and selling of goods and services. Wall Street makes money . . .

Seth Godin: Learning Leadership from Congress

2012-01-19T03:17:06Z

Another great bit of commentary from Seth Godin

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2012/01/learningleadership.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2Fsethsmainblog+%28Seth%27s+Blog%29 ...

Charles M. Blow: Bitter Politics of Envy?

2012-01-14T16:06:41Z

Do we have the politics of envy or the politics of realizing we have allowed ourselves to be screwed? Charles Blow examines the question.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/14/opinion/blow-bitter-politics-of-envy.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha212 ...

Joe Nocera: More NCAA 'Justice'

2012-01-14T15:52:26Z

A sports article about a situation sure to offend your sense of fairness. The comments are worth your time.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/14/opinion/nocera-more-ncaa-justice.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha212
...

Larry Bradley's Weekly Ezine #201

2012-01-14T03:20:29Z

1. Registration Advice for Primary Voters

2. Early Primaries Results’ Meaning for Independent Voters

1. Registration Advice for Primary Voters

A conversation I was having with a lady earlier this week offered some insights worth sharing. I discovered she thought since she was registered with one of the two major parties, she was required to always be registered with that party. This is not true.

If you are registered as an independent voter, there is nothing to stop you from registering as a member of another Party. Further, if you are registered as a member of one party, there is still nothing to stop you from registering as a member of another party.

Some of you might tell me things are done differently in your state, but as far as I know there are no blood oaths to be taken or penalties for perjury associated with voter registration. You can register for whatever party you want, but you can only have one affiliation. The reason for the requirement is so during elections where the parties are trying to settle some internal matter (such as selection of candidates for the general election) voters are only able to have a ballot with one party’s candidates on it. Either that, or some sort of mechanism with the ballot is used (especially where independent voters are allowed to vote in primaries) to ensure only one party is voted for.

In other words, if you are registered with Party X and during a primary election you want to vote for a candidate from Party Y, then you can change your registration to Party Y. By the same token, once that election is over, there is nothing to stop you from switching back to your original status or register another way still.

Of course, that won’t make the dyed in the wool party members happy, but that’s too bad. It’s an election year and the circus of choosing candidates is coming to your state. Be ready when it does. Register and vote.

2. Early Primaries Results’ Meaning for Independent Voters

The two major manufacturers of Presidential political candidates had the first meetings of their shareholders in Iowa and New Hampshire to determine what model candidate voters will be offered in November 2012. The Democrats’ model is, of course, set. As a practical matter, your voting choice in November will be between incumbent President Barack Obama and whoever the Republican Party nominates.

You already don’t like either choice? Too bad. This is the reality of the choice the American electoral system gives independent voters. Until independent voters decide to rally together to demand change to the system, this either-or choice will continue to be the choice they have.

Iowa’s results confirm once again the baffling behavior of voters who claim to be dissatisfied with their choices, but are too lazy to make their choices better.

In a state with an overall population of just over 3 million, some 640,000 adults are registered Republican voters. Of those voters, just over 122,000 (less than 20%) showed up to vote.* Primary elections are where the candidates are chosen for the general election. Voters who fail to participate in primaries should not complain when the choices in the general election seem unsatisfactory. Why independent voters do not at least temporarily register with one party or the other to affect the outcome is a mystery.

Still, the Republican turnout in Iowa was a new record high. Why the turnout wasn’t higher still was yet more puzzling given the relatively mild winter weather during the Caucus. Perhaps the blame could be placed . . .

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Larry Bradley's Weekly Ezine #200 Never Again

2012-01-07T03:15:23Z

1. Radio and Ebook Announcements

2. Never Again

1. Radio and Ebook Announcements

I’ll be on PressPause in Atlanta again on Saturday, January 7, 2012 at 6:15 p.m. EST (5:15 p.m. CST). We’ll be talking about the Iowa Caucus results and the upcoming primaries. The link to enable you to listen to the show follows.

http://www.presspauseonline.com/listen.asp

For those of you with those brand new Nooks or Kindles you got for Christmas, allow me to announce I’m going to release an Ebook version of Neither Liberal Nor Conservative Be in February. I’m writing a revised introduction to go with the book and there will be new offers for you on my web site for both the print and electronic versions. I also have plans to move the web site from www.KindredMindsEnt.com to www.TheCenterStrikesBack.org. The CenterStrikesBack.org will also be a Facebook page shortly. Obviously, just like the candidates and political parties, we’re gearing up to offer you our very best for the 2012 election.

2. Never Again

Wishing someone well during the holiday season is a common, yet sincere act. Each person can have a different vision for what being well means. Hopefully, your vision came true over the last week or so.

The reality is, of course, not everyone’s dream for how the holidays should go (or other events) happens the way they would like. Even what might be considered an amazing holiday for some might seem disappointing for others if expectations are too high.

If you are human, then circumstances change. People die, children grow up and career opportunities cause relatives and friends to live apart. Thank goodness for the ease of telephone communications. In fact, today we even have Skype so we can see the person we’re talking with.

Nevertheless, sooner or later some planned event is a disappointment. Maybe there was a high school reunion you wanted to go to, but you didn’t. You didn’t because you thought your car wasn’t good enough or you disliked the way you looked or some other reason. Maybe you just found yourself caught in some circumstance causing you to be in some undesirable situation and you vowed never again to be caught like that.

Here is one of my own experiences, offered as a lesson others might learn from, followed by a lesson for you as a voter.

Before my first wife and I had children I was in the Army . . .

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NY Times: Whose Tea Party Is It?

2012-01-02T02:10:18Z

This article by the authors of a new book about who and what makes up the Tea Party and its issues speaks to many of the myths I've been telling you drive conservatism as practiced today.

http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/26/whose-tea-party-is-it/?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=thab1

Seth Godin: The Chance of a Lifetime

2012-01-01T21:33:05Z

Seth Godin has a great message for the new year for the woe is me and my circumstances crowd.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/12/the-chance-of-a-lifetime.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2Fsethsmainblog+%28Seth%27s+Blog%29

...

Larry Bradley's Weekly Ezine #199 Part Two: Hiring and Firing Applied to Politics

2011-12-30T16:21:20Z

1. Senator Ben Nelson’s Decision Not to Seek Reelection

2. Part Two: Hiring and Firing Applied to Politics

1. Senator Ben Nelson’s Decision Not to Seek Reelection

Commenting on US Senator Ben Nelson’s decision this week not to seek re-election, I told a friend on a scale of 1 to ten, with ten being most surprised by the decision, I am about an 8.

On the one hand, Nelson had to know there were few people of his stature in Nebraska capable of stepping up on short notice to compete for a job having the magnitude of his own. I had mused he might run with the thought of winning and then resigning in a couple of years when a more capable replacement emerged. Still, Nelson is the type of man who sees through a job to completion. One of Nelson’s criticisms for Mike Johanns, Nebraska’s other US Senator, was Johanns had quit one elected office in order to seek another mid-term. Accordingly, if Nelson considered that option he probably concluded he couldn’t allow himself to do something he openly criticized others for.

On the other hand, Nelson is 70 years old. If he had won reelection, he would have been 71 and facing a 6 year term taking him to age 77. When someone is 18 waiting to be 21, those three years can seem like an eternity. Similarly, when someone has worked as long and hard in demanding positions as Ben Nelson has, the lure of retirement, even semi-retirement, out from under the constant stress and abuse of an elected position can be appealing, indeed. Think of yourself at age 70 plus and ask yourself what you want your life to be like then.

Couple those factors with the ever more brutal nature of politics today and the probable motivations driving Nelson’s decision become further apparent.

I have always found Senator Nelson and his staff to be very open, professional and willing to listen. His tenure shows the difficulty of trying to perform in elected office as a pragmatist among partisans. I wish him well in whatever endeavor he decides to undertake, as well as his final year in office.

In fact, his final year might yield a number of singular moments. While he is highly likely to be cognizant of the impact of his actions on the electability of whoever tries to replace him from his party, the freedom from being concerned about the impact of a vote or statement on his own electability could very well lead to a number of astonishing “What the hell” votes, statements and other actions on his part.

Oh, and by the way, Happy New Year to Everyone.

2. Part Two: Hiring and Firing Applied to Politics

Today continues the offering of some alternative perspectives voters should consider in evaluating candidates for the coming 2012 election.

Last week comparisons were made between the issues involved in firing of a football coach and the issues voters are going to confront in 2012. Voters are going to be confronted by very similar issues with the 2012 election.

Voters must evaluate the performance of the society they live in and its economy (the players). They are the CEOs who are going to have to determine if that performance is sufficient to warrant the rehiring of the head coach (President Obama) and/or the General Manager (the Congress).

Was the starting point 4 years ago too low to expect much more than they’ve gotten so far? Did the replacement GMs brought in from the 2010 election help or hinder the process? Do those replacements themselves need to be replaced?

Finding the true answers to those questions will likely require more effort than voters planned, but make them more likely to vote the way they should for the best value.

Did the GMs voters hired in 2010 help the process or sabotage it? Further, was this a willful decision on voters’ part to make this 2010 hire? Or was the decision brought about because many didn’t vote in 2010, not realizing what would happen?

Whatever the reason, voters now have a clear demonstration of the impact of hiring GMs opposed to working with the current coach so they can hire their own coach.

The Republican Congressional GMs and those they represent are opposed to President Obama for several reasons. This discussion is about two of them. First, . . .

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Larry Bradley's Weekly Ezine #198 Hiring and Firing Applied to Politics

2011-12-21T18:05:42Z

1. An Early Christmas Present

2. Hiring and Firing Applied to Politics

1. An Early Christmas Present

Today’s paragraph two focuses on drawing some parallels between the hiring and firing of pro football head coaches (specifically the firing of Kansas City Chiefs head coach Todd Haley) and the hiring and firing of elected officials.

Obviously, in the time between I wrote paragraph 2 and today new information is available. Haley’s firing worked out for the Chiefs—at least in the first game after the firing. The Chiefs spoiled the aspirations of the defending Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers for an undefeated season. The Chiefs led almost throughout the game and won 19-14.

I was at the game in Kansas City and I have to say it was an early Christmas present. I had toyed with the idea of selling my tickets. I’m glad I didn’t, although judging by the number of Packers fans in the stands many others were unable to resist the temptation. When my wife and I got to our hotel Saturday night there were already three tour bus loads of Packers fans in the hotel. Hotel personnel told us they had made repeated shuttle trips to the airport to pick up groups of Packers fans wearing team colors.

As a result, one of the delights of the Chiefs fans as the game went on was to see the angst of the Packers fans in person. Chiefs’ fans ached for a touchdown, not only to build the lead but to have the opportunity to do their irreverently defiant touchdown cheer. The moment finally came with about 4 minutes left in the fourth quarter and the cheer was done with gusto.

My wife said it was one of the most exciting games she had ever been to. The crowd stood the entire game. It was certainly a delightful reminder of why I continue to pay the money to attend in person.

By the way, the outcome of the game was not only notable for the change in a head coach. The game was also notable for the full game debut of Kyle Orton as Chiefs quarterback. What a showdown the final regular season game will be when Orton and the Chiefs take on Tebow and the Broncos, especially since the Broncos released Orton in favor of Tebow. Can you say payback?

Hope you and yours have delightful holidays, whatever and whichever holiday you celebrate.

2. Hiring and Firing Applied to Politics

If in some way you are someone who works for a manufacturer of a certain brand of automobile, then you are expected to buy and drive your manufacturer’s products. Clearly, the same expectation exists for just about any other product or service out there. That’s why a Pepsi Super Bowl commercial showing a Coke delivery driver drinking a Pepsi product was funny.

For everyone else not affiliated with actually manufacturing a product making a choice is a personal matter. Making a choice is driven by the desire to get the best value possible. Or at least such should be the desire; given the knowledge lowest price does not always equal the best value. One of Zig Ziglar’s best known sayings is, “I’ve always found its better to spend a little more than I planned instead of not enough as I should.”

Similarly, those affiliated with political parties know who they’re going to vote for. The unaffiliated voters, therefore, are the ones who are going to decide an election. These comments are intended for the unaffiliated in making the best value voting choices.

Voting decisions are hiring and firing decisions. If an incumbent is running for re-election, then do you re-hire the incumbent for a new term or replace them? What are the proper criteria for making the decision?

The most common criterion is performance. In the worlds of sport or business, performance is relatively easy to measure and blame, one would think, easy to assign. There are, after all, measurements like . . .

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Larry Bradley's Weekly Ezine #197 Examples of Political Prejudices Applied to Campaigning

2011-12-17T03:45:35Z

1. Sioux City Debate and Matt Miller’s Critique of Obama

2. Examples of Political Prejudices Applied to Campaigning

1. Sioux City Debate and Matt Miller’s Critique of Obama

Two quick points before today’s paragraph 2.

First, hearkening back to what we’ve been writing about (how campaigning is like auditioning) I was struck watching the December 15, 2011 Republican debate with the following thoughts. If this were a singing competition like American idol, then one might be able to make the following analogy.

A strong component of the Iowa Republican Party is made up by evangelical social conservatives. They form a type of politics just like soul music is a type of popular music. Three of those candidates (Bachmann, Perry and Santorum) base their appeal on a type of argument of, “Not only do I like the kind of music you like, but I am a singer of the music you like.” The others take more the approach of, “I may not be able to sing the song you like exactly as you like it, but I support your kind of music.”

I was also impressed with both Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman (Paul, especially) for a real politik view of foreign relations. Paul made a point I like to make. Turn things around and look at circumstances from the viewpoint of the other country first. This is in keeping with Covey’s dictum of “Seek first to understand, before seeking to be understood.”

Matt Miller had an excellent critique of President Obama’s speech in Osawatomie, KS. The perspective is unique and worth your time.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/president-obamas-roosevelt-speech/2011/12/07/gIQAUkCccO_story.html?hpid=z3

2. Examples of Political Prejudices Applied to Campaigning

Current political news offers two clear examples of the underlying political prejudices motivating our two main political parties. These examples illustrate the underlying beliefs, myths or prejudices (choose the term you prefer) the two parties present to the public and their true believers in an attempt to get support.

The two examples are Presidential Candidate Newt Gingrich’s remarks regarding how children are raised in the homes of poor families and President Obama’s recent speech in Osawatomie, KS.

In recent remarks, Mr. Gingrich stated children in poor families do not have examples of working adults. Specifically, Mr. Gingrich said, “Really poor children in really poor neighborhoods have no habits of working and have nobody around them who works. So, literally they have no habit of showing up on Monday. They have no habit of staying all day. They have no habit of I do this and you give me cash—unless it’s illegal.”*

Mr. Gingrich’s remarks were undoubtedly intended to appeal to the core beliefs and/or assumptions of conservatives/Republicans. Many of those members believe a significant portion of our society does not work at all, but rather subsists totally on money provided by the government. In the mind of a conservative, the reason liberals/Democrats win elections is because those liberals/Democrats promise to take more money from those who work and give the money to the shiftless non-working.

This attitude is in keeping with the perspective of being conflict oriented and enemy centered. Those with this mindset have the orientation of, “If you are not my friend, then you must be my enemy.”

Turning to the second example, President Obama’s recent speech in Osawatomie** was an appeal for the continuation of a reduction of the rate paid by individuals in the so-called payroll tax. The belief, myth and/or prejudice in this case (again, take your pick) is . . .

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Comment on Weekly Ezine #196

2011-12-12T22:51:02Z

You heard it first on my Blog, folks!

"Ad war likely if Nelson runs again"

http://www.omaha.com/article/20111212/NEWS01/712129943 ...

Larry Bradley's Weekly Ezine #196 Another F-Word

2011-12-10T16:05:10Z

1. ‘Tis the Season

2. Another F-Word

1. ‘Tis the Season

The last few years the first week in December has been marked by a snow fall and (where I live) we seem to keep snow on the ground until March. I am the kind of person who would much rather sweat than shiver, so this is not good news. Still, I can be philosophical about it. We will soon arrive at the winter solstice. Over the next 75 days, the days will get longer, the temperatures will begin to moderate and spring will present the promise of a new year.

Similarly, the next 75 days will be significant politically. With the electoral selection events in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada (among others) leading up to the Super Tuesday set of primaries in February, the Republican field will narrow. The extensive number of contenders you have today will shrink to the final two and the die will then soon be cast for November’s general election.

Should you expect a respite from March to September? Probably not, for two reasons:

First, we have had an intensive civics lesson over the last 3 years regarding the importance of the members of the Congress. Electing a President with the policies you endorse without electing the members of Congress who support similar policies is like conducting an attack as pure infantry without the support of armor and artillery. You might succeed, but your chances of success are much smaller.

Second, the Citizens United Supreme Court decision has opened the flood gates of money being used to generate ads by organizations other than the political parties. Expect a constant drumbeat of negative ads keeping you agitated about the candidates on both sides.

I am not an investment adviser, and this is not investment advice, but the thought does occur to me now might be the time to invest in radio and television networks. They’re going to make a boat load of money from all the ads they’re going to sell in 2012.

2. Another F-Word

Occasionally, the process of offering you something insightful and educational about American politics reminds me of what Lewis Grizzard once said. Lewis said of writing a daily column for The Atlanta Constitution that the obligation was, “like being married to a nymphomaniac. The first week is fun.”

Instead of fun, I have another f-word is mind this week—frustrating. Frustrating is a word used when you don’t see progress towards a goal. Instead what you see are false starts and continuation towards gridlock. Nor am I alone in this feeling.

David Brooks wrote recently about political parties and how in politics, just as in the solar system, the sun rises as the day begins and the moon rises during the night. Political parties are like the sun and moon. Usually one is in ascendency while the other is in decline. Now we seem to be stuck in a situation where neither of the two major parties are either ascending or descending and so we are stuck with two moons. Further, no impetus seems to exist to force the system to move. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/22/opinion/brooks-the-two-moons.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha212

One of the keys to military success is to be able to make decisions faster than your adversary. This is called getting inside your opponents’ decision cycle. By making and implementing your decision first, you force your enemy to react to you. Meanwhile your enemy is still trying to decide what to do about the existing set of circumstances. Imagine what happens to your enemy when you confront them with a second decision, and then a third while the enemy is still trying to react to the first decision.

Like it or not, we are in a global economy. While we are in political gridlock, we are not making decisions, but our competitors can and will. How can this be good for our nation?

Adding to the frustration is . . .

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Gingrich Was for the Individual Mandate Before He Was Against It

2011-12-08T22:53:30Z

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4NrECZ9a2U&feature=related

...

Larry Bradley's Weekly Ezine #195 Parallels between Auditioning, Interviewing and Campaigning

2011-12-02T22:40:28Z

1. On the Radio in Atlanta, Plus More on Auditioning

2. Parallels between Auditioning, Interviewing and Campaigning

1. On the Radio in Atlanta, Plus More on Auditioning

I will be appearing on the Atlanta, GA radio show Press Pause on Saturday, Dec 3, 2011 at 6:15 p.m. EST (5:15 CST). The program is hosted by Patricia Wilson-Smith and is broadcast on WAEC 860 AM. The station web site has a button to let you listen live at http://love860.com/.

Paragraph Two today is about comparing auditioning and interviewing to campaigning. All are a form of sales. I wanted to share a couple of auditioning stories I hope you’ll find amusing. There are a lot of unemployed folks out there. Maybe someone you know in that situation might find something useful from these stories.

First, my good friend and high school buddy Tina Stillwell has a position at Missouri State University where she gets to interview notable alumni from our alma mater. One of those interviews was with the actress Kathleen Turner of Body Heat and Romancing the Stone fame. Turner told Tina about how she got the part in Body Heat. She was auditioning in the producer’s office, which had a beautiful white shag carpet and a glass coffee table with an ash tray filled to overflowing. Turner was asked how she saw her character. Turner replied she must be a drunk. How else could she do the things she was doing unless she was drunk? The producers said, OK, let’s see you play drunk. Turner did. As part of her improvisation, she deliberately overturned the ashtray onto the rug. The producers said, “We love it!” and, of course, she got the part.

Second, I read recently the comments of a very popular actor who counseled people not to be discouraged by temporary set backs. He told a story of auditioning for a part in a movie he was absolutely sure he was the best suited to play, but was not selected. He continued to believe no one else could do a better job until the movie was made and he went to see it. He saw then why he lost out to the other actor. The actor who lost was George Clooney, the actor who got the part was Brad Pitt, and the movie was Thelma and Louise. (One thought I had from reading Clooney’s story was how actors like him get to know about a film well before the general public does. Clooney went to see the movie already knowing the dialogue and how the movie would end.) Clooney, of course, went on to a very successful career in his own right.

By the way, I’m always amused by people who rail against “the Hollywood Elite” with the implication they do not share the values of everyday people or know what its like to work hard. When you think about it, there is scarcely an activity in the world more entrepreneurial than making a movie and having the personal skill to make people voluntarily spend their money to sit in a darkened room and watch you perform.

Third, and lastly, Glen Shepard had an article in his newsletter this week about job hunting entitled, If You’re Going to Strike Out, Go Down Swinging with some very audacious job hunting advice. I strongly recommend it. Read it here. http://www.glennshepardnewsletter.com/2011/339.htm

2. Parallels between Auditioning, Interviewing and Campaigning

Imagine a job interview process as follows. Instead of a private interview with you as the only candidate present, your competitors (at least six) are lined up next to you at podiums. Each of you is asked the most “gotcha” type questions imaginable. The time limit imposed on your answer leaves you vulnerable to failing to cover potential unintended consequences. Your opponents, as part of the follow up to the original questions, get to sharp shoot your answers. Those answers give the competitors the opportunity to use words like “naïve” or “short sighted” in their evaluation of you.

Further, despite extensive research you may have done regarding the preferences of the hiring authority, you may encounter real dilemmas regarding the best answer for a question. The reason for the dilemma is because one answer you have in mind is the one the hiring entity wants/expects and the other answer is the one you feel is right. More on that subject shortly.

Contrast that with the normal interview process where only you are present. You might be one on one with the person you would work for or with. You might be in front of a panel of interviewers, with each interviewer representing a component part of the organization you’re hoping to be employed by. In either case, the only feedback you get is from your questioners, not from your competitors. This is the usual way the business world works, especially for managerial and professional positions.

Last week, running for office was compared with auditioning for a part in a play or movie. The dynamics described above represent another aspect for voters to keep in mind as they make their voting selections. Only in entertainment or sport do you see . . .

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