Well, not me. That would be Tony Stark. I’m not rich enough or smart enough to make such a badass suit. I’m just Wesley Donehue, an overactive political operative who likes to drink beer and play with any gadget that gets him closer to the USS Enterprise.
You’ve seen Iron Man, right? Don’t you love at the end when Tony Stark is like “screw it, I’m going to tell the world who I am?”
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about politics and I figured I’d share right here on my blog. Being in politics is a lot like being a celebrity. Yeah, that’s a cocky thing to say, but its true. Well, except for the money and fame parts. Basically, it’s just all the bad stuff.
Brad Pitt can’t do anything without being critiqued. Every move, every outfit, every word, its all published on the web or in one of those grocery store trash magazines. The same is true in politics. This is nothing new, as our public officials have always been, and always should be, under the microscope. But the Internet has created a new level where every operative and activist has been put under that same microscope.
I’m called a RINO because I like working for a few moderate Republicans who have great hearts and truly want to see South Carolina families succeed. I’m called a Tea Party right wing freak because I share Jim DeMint’s view on the issues. I’m called a lot of things, but right now I’m not even really thinking about me. I’m thinking about the profession as a whole. It’s always been mean spirited, but with all the amazing things that come with being connected over the Internet, a platform has been created that throws gasoline on the anger fires.
You don’t have to look far past Justin Evan’s little “South Carolina Republican Party Discussion Group” on Facebook to see what I’m talking about.
Here’s another example. I actually had a guy call one of my clients recently and demand that I be fired because I curse too much. Yeah, seriously? Well guess what dude, that’s me. As Spock said in The Voyage Home I use “colorful language.” And yeah Fogle, I do have a Star Trek costume. I like to ball out and have fun. I don’t make fun of you for getting drunk and draping yourself in a confederate flag. Props to you for doing your thing. I’ll be me. You be you.
I don’t have to do LSD and pretend I’m some other band to rock my work. You don’t either. You can be you. Don’t hide in a closet. Come on out. And when people criticize you just be like Tony Stark. Man up and tell everyone who you are. Because they’re someone too and they’re too scared to show you. Life’s way too short to hide.
And for the critics who blast you on the Internet when you’re working your butt off to do great things? Well, they’re already showing you who they are…lazy clowns. They lack the ability and/or drive to rock faces off so they’re going to do everything they can to tear you down. Do what you’re supposed to do to clowns. Laugh at them.
Sorry folks…no Happy Hour today. In leaving Under The Power Lines, I lost most of my equipment. However, I’ve ordered a whole bunch of new toys and they’re slowing trickling in.
Luckily I heard about this scam a few weeks back or I would have seriously sent my old friend some jack. This conversation occurred this morning on Facebook chat:
It was a busy day. Got up at 5:30. Worked from home for 2 hours. Worked in the office for 3 hours. SC Senate GOP Caucus meeting. State Senate Session. Web chat with Congressman Joe Wilson. York County legislative forum. Fundraiser for State Senator Shane Martin. York County Day reception. SCGOP fundraiser with NRSC Chairman Senator John Cornyn. Ruth’s Chris / Hilton legislative reception. Dinner with friends. About 3 more hours of work. Then bed time. Gotta wake up early to pack for CPAC.
That’s what a normal Tuesday looks like. Above is the 30 minute Ustream web chat we shot with Congressman Joe Wilson. Enjoy!
People say the political mood is anger. I don’t believe that. I think most people are scared. They’re scared because they see the status of our economy. They’re scared because they see no answers and no leadership. And they’re scared because so many people are angry.
I believe that most people are scared, but that doesn’t mean that a lot of people aren’t angry. People think the mood is anger because the angry people are loud. They’re real loud. They’re spewing anger all of the television and all over the Internet, but they’re doing very little to help matters. They’re offering no solutions. They’re just talking about how much they hate everyone and everything.
That’s making the larger majority more scared. Can you blame them?
The world would be a better place if the angry people would offer ideas, but it seems they’d rather concentrate on emotion than solutions.
“I can’t believe I can’t get on Twitter today.” I actually just said that out loud. “Life ain’t right without Twitter,” my father-in-law responded. He’s right. Or at least that’s the way it feels.
I’m in the middle of the woods at my in-laws home. Ridgeville, South Carolina to be precise. They left Daniel Island recently, a home in the middle of everything cool, for a secluded home 30 minutes from anything. Their French style home now sits surrounded by the most beautiful snow many of us has ever seen in these here parts. It’s been 21 years since the South Carolina lowcountry has seen anything like this.
We haven’t had electricity in 12 hours. We can’t leave because trees now hang over the long driveway and we can’t get the neighborhood gate open. I’m not sure our little BMW could make it through the snow covering the driveway even if that wasn’t the case.
We have no water because the pump runs off electricity. We have a gas fireplace but the blower also runs off electricity. It’s getting cold. I have no Internet and as I write this word, I have 18 minutes of juice left in my macbook pro. I didn’t bring any magazines or books, but I do have a healthy stack of my mother-in-law’s Coastal Living and Southern Living magazines I could read.
You could say that I’m in paradise. We can cook with our gas-powered stove. We have a full supply of wine and beer. We don’t have a coffee maker, but we were able to heat water on the stove and make coffee the old fashion way. I have my wife, my dog, and some cool in-laws to hang out with. And we are so secluded that all we can see are white trees.
