Lobbying Against Lobbyists.

Okay, so I was driving home from school today, and wound up listening to the umpteenth radio ad urging me to vote NO on Amendment 58 this election year in Colorado. WTF?

First, these ads are unbelievably smarmy and condescending--so much so that I actually wrote the people behind them a strongly worded e-mail to ask them to knock it off, and to let them know that no matter how intelligent their ideas may be, talking to me like you're my best buddy and I'm special are no way to garner my favor. At any rate, I went through the amendments myself this morning, in order to get a grasp on what I will actually be voting for a week from tomorrow. While I was doing this, these advertisements failed to enter my head. I made my decisions based on what I thought was best for me (first) and the state (second). So, as I happened to hear these two upper-class twits blathering on on the radio this afternoon I had my newly created cheat sheet in my pocket. It turns out that I [as a wildly opinionated and misanthropic individual] had decided that I was, in fact, in favor of the Amendment that they so maligned. Whaddya know?!

At any rate, I thought it was worth a second glance, since they seemed so intent on stopping this measure. Sure enough, when I got home and re-read the proposed amendment I knew exactly why it was opposed and by whom. (For those unfamiliar: this amendment proposes to cut tax credits to companies that are removing non-renewable resources from Colorado--imagine the gall of the government for making companies pay FULL taxes--and directing any new tax revenue from this change into schools and infrastructure.) So, the first light that went off in my head this afternoon whilst I was grumping about having to hear this ad again was, I suppose that if they are trying this hard, and using good ol' folksy talkin', that they must be fighting against something that makes a decent amount of sense for the common man. And sure enough, the only people who would truly suffer would be the energy people who are making a killing right now anyway. Boo-hoo for them.

Of course, these ads make sure to frame the argument that those increased taxes would be passed back through to the consumer in the form of higher prices.

Which is probably so.

However, and this is my favorite part--and coincidentally one of my platforms for my upcoming campaign, consumers have the right to choose who they buy things from. This, ultimately, is the beauty of a free market. Am I going to keep buying a product from a company who keeps raising their prices to maintain record profits? I sure don't plan on it. I hope you don't either. The long and the short of it is, if we are to maintain a self-regulated economy we have to stop supporting businesses that keep sticking it to us. If you know a company is sending all of its money overseas to pay someone less than they would pay an American to do the job, while still making a hefty profit for their executives, don't give them any more of your American Dollars. One of two things will happen:

1. They will man up and bring back jobs and help the economy of the country where they are based, or;
2. They will become a Mexican [or Vietnamese, Chilean, Korean] company that is going to have a lot of trouble getting back their U.S. market-share.

The choice will be theirs, and I hope that they will make the right one by 'Merica. Which reminds me, I would also label those companies, and the people in charge of them, as extremely un-patriotic. They don't give a crap about you. So make them pay for it. There is nothing more American than sticking it to the man purely for revenge. Hell, there is an entire movie genre based on it. (Here I would be referring to the screwball/underdog comedy; e.g. Revenge of the Nerds, Meatballs, etc.)

I guess the general thrust [which, by the way, would be an awesome name for a character in a space-themed adult film] of my argument here is that you should consider what motives someone might have for trying to get you to vote one way or the other. As far as I'm concerned, the more someone has to try and convince you that something is the right way to think, the less likely it is to be the right way to think. Trust your gut to cut through the B.S. before you even have a chance to mull something over. The trick is to know when you are through the B.S. and down to what you truly believe, not what you think you should think, or have been told to think.

-A.R. Leith

Suggested reading to accompany this blog entry: Civil Disobedience by Thoreau, Self Reliance by Emerson, The Colorado 2008 Ballot Information Packet (for those of you who live here), and Naked Pictures of Famous People by Jon Stewart (Not because it has anything to do with this, just because it's incredibly funny.)

Quote: "Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son." - Dean Wormer

My Autobiography

Okay, so I've decided to write the story of my life. I'm not sure if I should just do it in installments, or if it would be better to just time it's publication with my death. The limits of that are obviously many and varied. It would be hard for me to estimate properly when I might die...which would lead to procrastination. Then, when death is almost certain, what if I don't feel up to remembering and writing a bunch of rubbish about my life. Surely that would be a loss for society as a whole--what, with the presidency in there and all.

At any rate, I'm going to get writing, and I will also try to publish serially, like they did in the old days. So, if anyone has any connections out there as to where I might publish such a story in chapters, or as a whole, please let me know. I think this is going to be fun. And difficult. My forearms are already starting to cramp.

-A.R. Leith

Quote: "There's nothing quite like knowing exactly what's inside your heart."- MxPx

Hey, Chicago, Whaddya Say?

So, as of last night the hopes and dreams of an El series are still alive and well. Both of Chicago's baseball squadrons are into the post-season. This is awesome. It's going to be tough. I will have absolutely nothing to do with it other than television ratings and accelerating my "number of Old Styles in a sitting" record into the stratosphere. Which, also will be tough.

On that note, anyone who is interested, and a Cubs fan, and in Durango, should go to Falconburg's to watch the game tonight. It'll be wicked pissa.

-A.R. Leith

"I'd love my job if it weren't for the customers."- Clerks

On My Impending Election as President (U.S., 2016)

Look, I've got some views. Some people may agree with them, some may not. That, I suppose, is the nature of free will in the modern era.

At any rate, I will be putting my hat in the ring as a presidential candidate for the first election after I have reached the minimum age requirement. So...you should vote for me. I have some very interesting requests for cabinet position appointments, and I am considering each of them carefully. More importantly, however, I have two candidates for the position of public relations and marketing director for my campaign. On that subject, I can say only this...One of these people will get my campaign, and the other will be responsible for the presidency. I will not tell you which yet. I will tell you the two slogans they have proposed, though:

"Unleith the Fury!"

and

"Leith it to Me!"

If you can guess which will get me elected, and which I will use as an officiate, kudos to you. You should pat yourself on the back, get a warm cookie, and drink some milk. If you can't figure it out--vote for me anyway. I promise you things will be the most fun ever if I am elected. I will get vending machines for the cafeteria, and longer lunch brea...wait, that's the wrong campaign. I'm still new at this.

In only moderately un-related news, you might be able to tell that I have started posting here again after a nearly two-year hiatus. This is because I was--let's face it--lazy. Partially too lazy to type up new entries (partially too busy as well), but mostly since this thingy was taken over by Google I was concerned that I would have to sign up for a gmail account just to access my blog, and I definitely already have too many e-mail accounts, so I did not want to do that. However, with further investigation, I found that I just needed to verify my old information so that the G men would let me back on to this site to babble, complain, gripe, type, and hopefully otherwise entertain people. So, here I am, tell your friends. If you like reading it, I'll type more. If you do not, don't read it (But tell other people you read it and loved it, so they can decide for themselves. They may no longer trust your taste, but theirs will be an informed hatred.)

Okay, I think that's all for now, and it feels good. Sorry, if you liked these entries and had been cut off I hope it wasn't too big a deal. I can't imagine that it was. Also, I'm going to try to make this site more entertaining and colorful, if I can ever figure out how to include stuff, or what to include. But I'm working on it.

-A.R. Leith

"I know what I wanna say, but I can't get it out..."- The Lawrence Arms