Even GW was a Washington Outsider

We are now in a constant election cycle, similar to the constant sports cycle. Football, for example, is predominately played from August to January, but the hype surrounding football is constant with drafts, scouts, and assorted other nonsense. There are many causes for this, 24 hour cable sports channels, the Internet, the idea that everyone has to have an opinion on everything. And that same mentality crosses over into politics. With CNN, Fox News going twenty four hours a day, with hundreds of Internet sites updated daily and with constant water cooler talk, we have entered the non-ending political cycle. And so we debate the Presidential primary candidates over a year before the actual primaries.

What is the problem with this? Its clearly quantity over quality. I've never been around anyone who thought CNN or ESPN have provided thoughtful insight to their respective fields. Instead they show clips, make a couple of comments, and show more clips. This dumbs down the conversation, and leads to a barrage of cliches from both the politicians and the commentators.

There is little substance any more. Maybe that's an American thing. Maybe we just want everything to be easily digestible. Even our religion is getting watered down. Don't worry about reading the Bible, just listen to the catch phrases. That's the main premise for mega churches. Is that a bad thing? I think so. Maybe most people want something that's easy to digest, but I want something to chew on for a while.

And politics is the worst place for catch phrases. Very few people actually question them. For example, take one of the phrases I hate the most, "Washington insider" or its variant, "Washington Outsider". For some reason, being a Washington insider is bad, but being an outsider is good. Which is idiotic. Sorry, but I'd like my President to understand how government works and to be familiar with how to run the country. Could you imagine this happening in business? Can you imagine Starbucks bringing in someone who doesn't know how to run the company? "Well Frank here doesn't know anything about coffee. In fact, he doesn't know anything about running a business. Which is great. He's an outsider!"

George W Bush ran his 2000 campaign as a "Washington outsider". His DAD WAS PRESIDENT! Am I missing something? The fact that his dad was president isn't a bad thing, I would argue its a good thing. But if your dad is the president, you're not an outsider. You're the insider. Either words mean something or they don't.

The current Washington Outsider that is going to save the Capital City from all the professionals is Barack Obama. I like Barack. He's intelligent, a great speaker, yada yada yada. But he's not a Washington Outsider. First, he's a senator, so he works in Washington. Second, he's not an Outsider, he's just inexperienced. Its not like he's been the governor of Nebraska for 30 years, learning how to be self sufficient while he farms corn. I'm going to go out on a limb and say he's more familiar with those inside Washington then those outside it.

To sum up, "Washington Outsider" is a code word to the "Heartland" people. And why are they in the "Heartland", because that's not where the brain is.

The next cliche that I hate is flip flopper. This is the one that sank John Kerry. Well John Kerry being a moron sunk John Kerry, but anyway. Flip flopper is the negative phrase used against thinking people. Thinking people change their minds. Which is reasonable. And acceptable. And necessary. But you can't let common sense get in the way of a good catch phrase.

Who are they crucifying for being a "flip flopper" now? Hilary Clinton. Now most people that hate Hilary hate her because she's an intelligent woman. God forbid we have a female senator! Or worse, a female president! Gasp! She should be in the kitchen, fixing Bill a sandwich. She shouldn't be.........ambitious!

So where's her flip flop? The Iraq War. In 2002, she voted for authorizing the Iraq War. Now, she's said she wants the war to end. What could possibly make her flip flop? Um, maybe the fact that the war was a complete disaster. I think that might be it. Now if I have someone house sit for me, and then they burn down the house, that's not my fault. And it doesn't mean that having someone house sit was a bad idea. It means the person doing the house sitting is a moron who should be publicly flogged.

Changing your mind when the situation changes is not called flip flopping. Its called being thoughtful, or adapting, or being receptive to change. Its called evolving. You know what I call never changing your mind? I call it being stubborn, unwilling, and unhelpful. But then, in this country, that's often called "Leadership".