Sean’s Political Platform: The Real Issues

With the Presidential election less than a week away, there are some significant issues not mentioned by either President Obama or Governor Romney. In my opinion, if either candidate backed my initiatives, he would win the election. Therefore, let me introduce you to my 7-point plan.

1. Tax credits for owning pets adopted from animal shelters. Pets are wonderful companions and people should be encouraged to adopt animals from shelters. Plus, shelters usually require and ensure that the pets are spayed and neutered. Bob Barker is all for this!

2. Eliminate daylight savings time. I wrote about this earlier this year, and still don’t understand why most of the country follows daylight savings. What do we really save? Try getting a young child to follow the time change. Painful.

3. Change the non-profit status of the National Football League. I’ll admit that I don’t fully understand the tax status and how this works, but it seems inconceivable to me that an organization that generates billions of dollars is non-profit. All I know is that I have Sunday Ticket, but not the Red Zone Channel since it is an extra fee this year. The NFL has to be making big money from this.

4. Initiate paid leave for new mothers. The Family Medical Leave Act gives new mothers 12 weeks of unpaid leave. Canada allows for an entire year of leave for new mothers with 50 weeks of paid leave. The Scandinavian countries are even better. Wouldn’t it be great if new parents could get help supporting their infants in this country without needing to get back to work immediately?

5. You’re wondering how we’re going to pay for items #1 and especially #4, aren’t you? The solution: legalize marijuana and tax sales of marijuana. Is marijuana really worse than alcohol or tobacco? Legalize marijuana and let the states figure out how to sell it. Set a minimum age as well as penalties for driving under the influence. The opening of marijuana stores and licensed marijuana growers could also help create jobs. Wiz Khalifa is all for this!

6. End the NHL lockout. There’s no good reason why hockey isn’t playing right now. Actually, President Obama weighed in on this during his visit to Jay Leno, but that’s hardly getting the owners and players together. Has Governor Romney said anything about this? He was born in Michigan and was Governor of Massachusetts, two big hockey states, so you’d think he’d want the NHL to settle the lockout.

7. Get Joanna Garcia a successful television show. I liked Animal Practice, but not enough other people did. She seems to have had a string of unsuccessful television shows, but I admit that I like watching her. That sounds creepy, so maybe I should rephrase it before her husband, Nick Swisher, reads this. Um, just kidding, Nick.

I’m Sean of Sean’s Ramblings, and I approve this blog post.

The War on Halloween

You probably notice all the candy on display at supermarkets. You also may have received invitations for Halloween parties and/or thought about what you or your kids will wear this year. Although the temperatures are falling (although the high is supposed to be around 80 in DC today) and we’re now a month into Fall, there is clearly a War on Halloween in this country. Look around your neighborhoods and especially at intersections for proof. Sure, there might be some places with Halloween decorations, but they are no match for political signs. That’s right; Halloween is under attack from political parties, political action committees and the media.

What do you see when you turn on the television? Political advertisements. In the DC area, not only are there ads for or against Obama and Romney, but we see countless commercials for Virginia’s Senatorial candidates and several Maryland propositions. You can’t enter or exit a Metro station without people asking about voter registration or handing out flyers (or newspapers in the morning). Even restaurants such as California Tortilla have contests based on the Presidential candidates (yes, the Obama burrito vs. the Romney burrito). If you want further proof that there is a War Against Halloween, look at The Simpsons. The long-running show features the “Treehouse of Horror” Halloween-themed episode each year. This year, Fox aired Treehouse of Horror XXIII on October 7th. October 7th! That’s more than three weeks before Halloween. Rupert Murdoch, also the head of Fox News, is surely to blame.

It’s time to fight back! We cannot lose this war. Halloween is too important to kids, candy companies, guys who like seeing women in scantily-clad costumes, dentists, women who like wearing scantily-clad costumes, and pagans (including San Francisco Giants OF Angel Pagan) among others. Sure you can vote on November 6th, but don’t let them take away October 31st!

Do Any Presidential Candidates Play Fantasy Football?

Fantasy football is a $1 billion industry with nearly 27 million participants according to The Hollywood Reporter. (I’m sure that there are more detailed statistics available from Forbes, The Wall Street Journal or even ESPN out there, but this is where Google directed me.) While the growth of fantasy sports over the past decade has impacted people at most businesses, I wonder if it has reached the White House. Sure, President Obama completes NCAA tournament brackets for men’s and women’s college basketball, but I don’t think he worried about choosing between Adrian Peterson, Arian Foster or even Aaron Rodgers with the first pick of a fantasy football league draft earlier this fall (though he may have drafted Rodgers based on their meeting).



Personally, I’d find it fascinating seeing the President scan the waiver wire on Tuesday afternoon deciding whether to put in a claim to pick up Darrius Heyward-Bey or Jabar Gaffney. Would the President call Matthew Berry directly each Sunday morning asking if he/she should start Beanie Wells or C.J. Spiller? Would the President delay the start of a meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff in order to finalize a trade to acquire Mike Wallace? White House press conferences could end with correspondents asking the President’s thoughts on Jamaal Charles’ torn ACL. While I may be taking this question a little too far here (though I don’t think any of this would be completely unrealistic), I wonder who will be the first U.S. President to embrace fantasy sports.

While I don’t believe that any of the current Presidential candidates are active fantasy owners, I thought it would be fun to pretend that the candidates are in a league together. Please note that the candidates are in no particular order:

Mitt Romney – This is a high stakes league where Romney put up $10,000 on him winning.

Newt Gingrich – The former Speaker of the House also serves as the league’s historian.

Michele Bachmann – Selected Atlanta running back Michael Turner with her first pick so that she could name her team Bachmann Turner Overdrive. (Sorry if this sounds like a bad Chris Berman joke.)

Rick Perry – He focused his draft plan on three positions. Running back, quarterback, and the um, what’s the third one there? Oops!

Ron Paul – He could have early season success, but don’t look for Paul winning the fantasy league championship.

Jon Huntsman – Since his daughter went on a date with Kris Humphries, well before he was the former Mr. Kim Kardashian, Huntsman prefers fantasy basketball to fantasy football.

Rick Santorum – The draft must be on-line and not in person since Santorum doesn’t actually live where he claims his residency.

Herman Cain – Sure, Cain’s not a candidate anymore, but he was when the league formed in August. Cain drafted ninth and only selected players wearing the number 9. Sure, Drew Brees was a great pick, but starting #99 Brett Keisel at running back hasn’t worked very well.

Since you can’t have a league with just eight participants, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who many Republican leaders hoped would enter the Presidential race, will serve as the 9th member. I don’t have anything to write about Chris Christie, so the league also included Kris Kristofferson as the 10th member simply because it’s fun to say Chris Christie and Kris Kristofferson in the same sentence.


After I finished typing this post, I found a brief article about Obama drafting a fantasy football team in 2008 with Rick Reilly. I'm still not willing to credit Obama as the first fantasy football playing President.

Herman Cain Goes to Costco

Let’s say that you’re a U.S. Presidential candidate. You are surging in the polls and gaining a higher profile from numerous appearances on television including a recent stop on The View. What’s your next move?

More campaign appearances in New Hampshire and Iowa? Fundraising dinners and meeting with donors? How about more television appearances?

If you’re Republican Presidential candidate and former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain, the perfect move is to, um, sell copies of your book by appearing at the Arlington Costco tomorrow from noon to 1:00. I wonder if Mitt Romney and Rick Perry will follow this shrewd political move.

Of course, this is only open to Costco members, so BJ's Wholesale Club members are out of luck.

Really Random Thoughts

This is going to be all over the place so bear with me and enjoy:

* The starting line-up for Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl IV has been announced. I hope Harry Kalas does not get Jack, Jack and Jackson confused. The always entertaining Puppy Bowl airs at 3 on Super Bowl Sunday and then replays at 6, 9 and midnight.

* I am getting very excited about the season debut of Lost tonight. Unfortunately, there’s a decent chance I may miss the episode since I’m flying to Dallas.

* Speaking of Dallas, I’m going to be there for five days and neither the Mavericks nor Stars have a home game. Since they share an arena, how is this possible?

* I hate admitting this but I have started watching Rock of Love 2 on VH1 (see the note below before clicking on the link). My favorite two “contestants” are Ambre and Kristy Jo. They seem the most real and the least “slutty” if either of these is possible on this ridiculous show. By the way, if you click on the show’s link above, which is PG-13 and may not be suitable for work, Bret Michaels looks almost as feminine as some of the cast members at least in the hair and face.

* Is it just me or does it seem that all of the current and former Republican presidential candidates have a strong dislike of Mitt Romney.

* After the New Hampshire primary, I wrote, “I am really intrigued by Rudy Giuliani’s strategy. He punted Iowa and New Hampshire and is hoping to win in the bigger states like Florida. It doesn’t seem like a very good strategy, but what do I know?” Apparently, I did know something! You can’t essentially sit out six states (well five if you don’t include Wyoming) and then show up part-way through. I’m guessing that no candidate will attempt Giuliani’s strategy in the near future. There may be candidates that enter the race late, but not those who enter but do minimal campaigning in the first few states.

* Interesting post and comments in The Washington Post about Bill Richardson and whether he’ll endorse Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. I really like Richardson and if a Democrat wins the White House, he should be the Vice President or a member of the Cabinet.