ELECTION ADVICE FROM SOMEONE RELATIVELY NORMAL

ELECTION ADVICE FROM SOMEONE RELATIVELY NORMAL

Arlo Guthrie did Artist Confidential. What a storyteller! From a young Bob Dylan knocking on his door to meet his dad, to well…you gotta listen. Arlo is what Artist Confidential is all about. The stories! Then two days later we did Diamond Rio. Sweet harmonies and great guys. A joy. Did a Christmas Edition. Jon Anthony subbed for George Taylor Morris and pulled it off great. It’s interesting to see the traction the Artist Confidential series is getting lately, since the introduction of XMX—Channel 2. A day doesn’t go by when I Don’t get:

LISTENER: Say—that Artist Confidential thing is cool
ME: Yeah. How long have you been listening to XM?
LISTENER: 4 Years
ME: And you never heard of Artist Confidential?
LISTENER: Nope.

Sorta says it all about OTT (Over-the-top). Gotta be OTT or it doesn’t cut through. Not in the age of subtle in terms of these kinds of things.

Still a year away from the Presidential Elections and the circus is in full force. No wonder John Edwards got booed at a Mellencamp concert. It’s their way of commenting on the dumbing down/junk culture/idiot culture presentation of candidates. The dysfunctionality of the process that underscores today’s junk culture environment.

In a highly personal, extremely arguable, and admittedly naïve (but maybe not THAT naïve) evaluation of what would win…what would resonate—I think the following characteristics would be effective:

*A Zero Dirt approach. Make the other candidate look asinine by taking a “that’s your opinion, here’s mine” non combative approach. Refreshing. Praise the competition when worthy.

*Keep religion out of it. Spirituality and beliefs, great. Using them as a tactic sucks.

*Build the Military to its highest technological form. STRENGTH is a deterrent…and our strength is technology.

*Stop invading and meddling in Countries where the public hates us. It ALWAYS backfires.

*If someone does DIRECTLY & CLEARLY hassle us or our RELIABLE allies---kick the shit out of them…but selectively...and with an exit plan. War for oil ain’t working last time I checked oil prices.

*Talking to the enemy. At least give talk a shot. Get in the talk ring and spar there instead of in the media.

*Homeland Security is pretty dammed important. Always has been. Seems too radical now because it’s been so lax pre 9/11.

*Education rules! It’s one of the few things that can be a tool toward the masses rejecting empty consumerism and junk culture. Weaning people off electronic junk food. Rejecting idiocy and embracing personal growth.

*Better fix our cities. It’s a shame how, here in DC after a storm, the “nice streets” are cleaned up WAY before the ‘poor streets’.

*Stay out of religious wars. In fact, send all the fanatics (from all sides) to Greenland and let ‘em fight it out there.

*Facilitating a change in thinking. Not preaching it…facilitating it.

*Let Iran have nuclear power. It’s inevitable that every nation will. A pre-emptive strike will be very effective in creating a very bad situation…then again if they used those weapons, it would be VERY bad for them. Stop meddling...but if they DO create a problem, THEN bomb the hell out of them.

*AIR POWER. Stay off the ground.

*Aggressively export our art. Music, popular (non junk) culture, literature, etc…It’s our most endearing product.

*Get back in the technology game instead of living in the 1950’s when it was correctly assumed that ours is the best. Some of our once great products stink.

*Stay away from technological denial. We don’t “own” technical advances.

*A GREAT inspirational speaker is critical to the job’s success. PARTICULARLY in today's visual world. Too pretty hurts too. We want REAL not cute.

*Be wary of “Star Power”. It may sell perfume, but it doesn’t sell leaders. Most "stars" are SO far from mainstream thinking and the mainstream KNOWS that. They may create mainstream movies and songs, but they usually create more of an eye roll than traction.

*Listen to Old Time Radio shows. In those shows, foreigners are always portrayed as evil or dumb. And the USA is always tough and macho. Gotta lose that 1948 thinking.

*Gun Control. CONTROL is the key word. Guns ain’t going away…just make sure cops have bigger ones.

*Abortion. Let the Woman decide. If their religion prohibits it…fine. Keep religion out of things. Again, religion is fine…just keep it personal.

*Lose the America Love it or Leave It. Doesn’t resonate—sort of like “Home of the Best Rock”. Try America Fix it or Leave it. Recognition of problems instead of blind patriotism will actually increase the love instead of the denial that there are problems angle….

*If you don’t want to be here and contribute to our melting pot...don't come. Drives me nuts when Middle Easterners go to, say, The Netherlands, and "demand" that the Dutch conform to their wishes.

*Put bureaucracy buzzers in every Government office. I had to fill out some forms to fly into Canada. The US form required was completely unbelievable. Page after page of complexity. The Canadian form was one page…and they even said “Thank you” at the end of it. And that’s just a form---

*Place a high value on intellect. Potatoe was a dead giveaway

*Be very suspicious of old money rich guys running. A lot of baggage there. “Hey…I’m LOADED…I think I’ll run for President!” Same thing with the “cute” factor.

*The last thing we need is a “whiny” politician.

*Israel—Hey, they’re an staunch ally that lives a pretty similar lifestyle…

*The USA is a wonderful and crazy place…not shortage of problems, but still pretty cool. SELLING that ain’t gonna happen with parades and bumper stickers though…there’s new ways to sell this idea to the mainstream. Starts by admitting and addressing weaknesses.

*Bask in our freedom but don’t slam it down throats of Countries that don’t want it...or in no-win situations. We have enough problems HERE to focus on.

*Deport any candidate using “This message is approved by” slogan.

*Speak in plain talk. In the 70’s, every other word from politicians was “detente”. 90% had no idea what that meant. Ever listen to candidates talk economics? It’s ancient Greek to the average citizen.

*The Patriot Act and similar reasonable intelligence acts are GOOD. If you are a normal citizen, the last thing anyone will want to do is spy on YOU. It's a reality of the era that bad guys are infiltrating.

*Don’t use a goofy campaign song.

*Attack unpopular idiocy. Guy burns flag and city commends him for speaking his mind type stuff.

*People don’t like MEAN candidates. Pat Buchanan was MEAN. Somewhere between the ultra liberal paranoid liberate the spotted moose crowd and the ultra conservative Jesus will kill you if you are Gay crowd lives a very reasonable mainstream.

*Illegal aliens. That’s a tricky one.

...another tricky one is that many Middle Eastern countries are run by billionaires (Bin Laden's half brother just bought the first Business SST Jet). With that kind of oil wealth floating around--why are the people so repressed? I certainly don't have an answer.

*Be in sync with 2008--warts and all.

On to a few lighter thoughts---

Boy bands re forming. I guess they’re now “Man Bands”…and then there’s the Spice Girls. Should be sickly funny to watch all the drama that unfolds around those tours.
Should be pretty amusing.

Holiday Music channels are on XM. Sure seems early to me—but I’m the last person you want to ask about the Holidays. One channel that I can’t wait for is SPECIAL X-MAS. Completely whacked Christmas songs. Dan Turner has been hiding away for weeks plowing through the sickest Holiday songs ever recorded.

* HOLLY - XM 103 (Began 11/1)
Contemporary Holiday Hits mixed with selected traditional favorites. (Mannheim Steamroller, Bruce Springsteen, Amy Grant, Carpenters)

BEGIN Mon. (11/19):
* HOLIDAY TRADITIONS - XM 104
Traditional Holiday recordings from the 40s through the 60s. (Bing Crosby, Andy Williams, Ray Conniff, Nat “King” Cole)

* MUSIC CITY HOLIDAY - XM 105
Contemporary and traditional Holiday hits from Country's biggest superstars. (Faith Hill, Alabama, George Strait, Kenny Rogers)

* A CLASSICAL CHRISTMAS - XM 106
Carols you know sung by the greatest classical musicians of all-time. (Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Luciano Pavarotti, Boston Pops, Leontyne Price)

* SPECIAL X-MAS - XM 107
The soundtrack to your dysfunctional family holiday with comedy, parodies and seasonal insanity

*RADIO HANUKKAH - XM 108
Dec. 4th - 12th
An eight day channel focusing on Hanukkah music and Jewish culture

…and DEFINITELY check out “Baseball Confidential”---Amazing shows. Like Artist Confidential