Are Men Al Bundy or John McClain

June and Ward Cleaver (Barbara Billingsley and...

June and Ward Cleaver (Barbara Billingsley and Hugh Beaumont). 

 

A trend begun in the 1980s in this country is to portray men as either clowns or unimaginable macho freaks. No where do you see images of strong and wise men worthy of respect. We’ve come a long way from Ward Cleaver of the Leave it to Beaver 1950s TV show. The end result is a diminishment of men and their roles in society. More women occupy jobs in our country for the first time in history. More women earn college degrees now, than do men. And it’s time to examine if this is a good thing; and if not what to do about it.

 

I want to head-off-at-the pass any hyper-sensitive types who will polish their indignation hormones by claiming I’m longing for society to revert to the times of Leave it to Beaver. This silly claim was heard about Republicans throughout the 2012 political season as Democrats repeatedly claimed a false “War on Women” that does not exist. And, by the way, if it does exist its a battle its advocates are losing terribly as evidenced by the facts already sited in this blog.

 

Popular cultures examples of men who portrayed characters of a “real life” world 40-50 years ago include Ward Cleaver,

 

TV Guide #203

 

Robert Young in Father Knows Best,

 

Cropped screenshot of Fred MacMurray from the ...

Fred MacMurray 

 

Fred MacMurray in My Three Sons,

 

The Andy Griffith Show

The Andy Griffith Show

 

 

 

Publicity photo of Andy Griffith and Don Knott...

 

Andy Griffith in the Andy Griffith Show. My childhood television example of manliness and being a good, wise, strong father was Mike Brady on the Brady Bunch.

 

The Brady Bunch opening grid, season one

 

It wasn’t until decades later we all learned that Robert Reed, the actor portraying Mike Brady was gay. And while not significant toward my point; it is an interesting, quirky twist in the examples I sight.

 

Al Bundy

Al Bundy 

 

The clownish, oafish Al Bundy of Married with Children fame became the standard example of an American Dad through the 1990s. Another example of a “man” and a husband and father in popular culture was John McClain, played by Bruce Willis in the Die hard movie series. He was wise cracking, and tough and leaping from sky scrapers and crashing trucks and cars and shooting dealy, evil villains. The problem with this is neither of the examples are worth exemplifying as what a man and/or father ought to be. Bundy was completely dorkish and without many positive qualities, and

 

Bruce Willis as Hartigan.

 

McClain was totally unrealistic, not to mention too violent.

 

I don’t pine for the days of the little woman being bound to the kitchen, cooking, cleaning, and being nearly completely subservient to the man. And I certainly don’t wistfully wish for the days of racism and segregation imposed on the racial minorities of this country back in the “good ‘ol days”.

 

But I do wish I could see in pop culture more examples of honorable men. Clowns are fine as are heroic macho gun toting crime stoppers. But what’s wrong with having positive male role models being displayed in our tv and movie entertainment? What’s wrong with Leave it to Beaver? Or Mike Brady for that matter?

 

Fear the Mob Mentality and Vigilante Justice

English: Anonymous Español: Anonymous

The internet hacking group Anonymous has posted a video showing members of the Steubenville (OH) High School football team laughing and joking about the rape of a sixteen year old girl by members of their team, and apparently individuals appearing in the video. And Anonymous has posted a threat to “those responsible” and school officials who supposedly protected some of the suspected culprits. Let me be clear Anonymous is threatening people who were not present and had nothing to do with the rape. 

The rape occurred August 22, 2012. The girl was drugged, sexually assaulted and transported by the group of football players from party to party where she was photographed and raped repeatedly. Two members of the football team were charged with rape of a minor. But rumors persisted that many more teen boys were involved.

We post the video here with the warning: This video contains extremely crude language. And you are advised that if you have a problem with the efforts by Anonymous to promote this vigilante justice, then you shouldn’t watch this video.

The problem with Anonymous is their efforts indict, at least in public opinion, almost every kid on the Steubenville High School football team whether they were involved in the rape or not. Anonymous and others who engage in vigilantism have made themselves Judge, Jury, and possibly Executioner. They are fomenting a mob-mentality that in the end can only be bad.

4_7_12 March for Justice for Trayvon Martin-12

4-7-12 March for Justice for Trayvon Martin

One need look no further than the Trayvon Martin case to see the ill effects of what a mob frenzy will do. I wrote a blog called “Trayvon Martin’s Killer Should be Punished, Right?” on March 28, 2012; a tongue-in-cheek effort to point out how the mob mentality drove police and local prosecuting attorneys to reverse their initial, and seemingly correct, decision not to bring murder charges to the teen’s killer George Zimmerman. As I wrote in my blog “Trayvon Martin beat his Killer” and as has become apparent through released photographs and doctor’s testimony since the frenzy that caused the arrest there is more than a little evidence to verify Zimmerman’s claim that he shot Martin in order to protect his own life.

George Zimmerman

George Zimmerman

I don’t know if Zimmerman is guilty or not, but I think NOT is far more likely. And since I took the heat for my earlier blogs questioning the mob indictment of this poor little man, Zimmerman, I won’t feel the least bit of problem proclaiming “I told you so” when his trial results in his acquittal.

I don’t know if more kids were involved in the Steubenville rape. I don’t know if the primary trash talkers in the video aren’t the two individuals who were charged in the case. I don’t like the laughing being done in the video by several other KIDS. I can’t emphasize enough I’m disgusted by the behavior of those in the video and I believe anyone who was present, eye witness to and cheering on the rape of the girl needs to face criminal prosecution. But regarding those in the video I know laughing is not against the law. Nor is being stupid. At least, it’s not currently against the law. The wave of ugly political correctness that covered this country like a blanket in the 1990s never fully went away. So laws forbidding laughing at crude humor may be just around the corner.

I’m sure Anonymous feels fully justified and righteous in trying to expose the guilty in this horrible crime perpetrated against a young girl. And I sincerely hope those responsible face justice. But I also pray innocents are not swept up in the wave Anonymous is trying to generate. I fear they will be. Just like before.

Thanks for visiting. Comments are welcome.

Banish these in 2013! Words and Phrases that Don’t Apply

The following words and phrases should no longer be uttered, printed or even thought about. If they ever applied they no longer do. Being that we’re starting a new year now is as good a time as any to rid ourselves of the bullshit. These words and phrases constitute just that.

“The rich need to pay their fair-share”                                                                                              I wanted to vomit every time I heard President Obama or Senator Patty Murray or any other divisive Democrat utter such words. Never in all the time these BS words were being uttered did I ever hear them answer the follow-up question which naturally is, “If the highest 53% of income earner pay 100% of all federal income tax how are they NOT paying their fair share?”. English: President George W. Bush and Presiden...

Well Congress finally passed into law a “permanent” change in Federal income tax rates raising to 39% the rate paid by those earning over $400,000 per year. So the President essentially got what he wanted. He stuck it to the rich. Now, lets not hear any more of the claims they aren’t paying their fair-share. They’re paying more than Republicans wanted them to, and exactly what Democrats say they should.

“Obama is a Muslim and a Communist.”                                                                                           I didn’t vote for Barack Obama in either 2008 or 2012 and I think there is abundant evidence that he’s a lousy President and will continue to be so in the coming four years.

But claims by his haters that he’s 1. Muslim or 2. Communist are ridiculous and do absolutely nothing to better this country or this government. Worst of all they poorly taint all Conservatives and Republicans as hateful and racist further driving away moderate votes. There is a reason Republicans have lost 5 of the past 6 Presidential election popular votes. What I would ask those who make such claims is, where is your evidence? And, what difference would it make if you were correct? The fact is Obama is Christian because he says so. His father was Muslim. But so what? Jesus was a Jew. But all his followers aren’t. And Obama is not a Marxist/Communist. He may be a Socialist, which is different. But at best he’s the most Liberal President since Roosevelt.

“Obama was born in Kenya”                                                                                                         Again, like above, those who continue to make these silly claims are idiots and hurting the Conservative cause by looking like idiots and through association making us look so. Like above I would ask, “Even if you’re right, what difference would it make?” Obama is President, twice elected. And he’ll be our President for the next four years. Besides even if you’re right it makes no difference. Obama’s mother was an American citizen. So Obama could have been born on Mars and he’d still be an American citizen.

“The Mariners are Rebuilding”                                                                                                           I never want to hear this phrase again because…1. No they’re not. And….2. You have to have been “Built” in order to be “RE-built”. The Mariners haven’t been built, a contender, for more than 10 years. That’s half a generation. They’ve been to the playoffs only four times in their history and join the Washington Nationals as the only remaining teams in Major League Baseball to have never been to the World Series.

Seattle Mariners

Watching them whiff on Josh Hamilton one year, Prince Fielder the next, and every big name free agent who comes on the market every winter is no longer hard to stomach. It’s not hard to stomach, because it’s too easy to ignore. The Mariner’s President is Chuck Armstrong. He’s been at the helm continuously since 1992 and for 2 more years before than in 1987-89. And Howard Lincoln has been the team’s Chief Executive Officer since  Hiroshi Yamauchi bought the team in 1992.

“The Seahawks are Rebuilding”

QB Russell Wilson in the Pocket

QB Russell Wilson in the Pocket

The Seahawks are no longer rebuilding. They are rebuilt. They have a good coach. A franchise quarterback and young-enough Pro Bowl running back, and basically one of the youngest rosters in the NFL. And yet, they led the league in fewest points allowed, they’re 11-5 and they are unquestionably this year’s winner of the title “The team no-one wants to face in the playoffs” award. No more excuses. We expect this team to win and we will be disappointed if they lose. They can beat anyone at home or on the road.You may say…”Next year…not this year”. But that’s the typical Seattle way. And I’m rejecting that way. Sure winning three road playoff games might be hard. But can they beat Washington? Yes. Can they beat San Francisco? They just did 42-13. Their third playoff game (if they get that far) would be in either Green Bay or Atlanta. Both would be tough. But we already beat the Packers.

“This economy is in recession”                                                                                                        No it’s not and hasn’t been for a couple of years. Will it be in the near future? I think that’s definitely possible. But they are not in recession now. Continuing to act like we are in recession I believe is part of what keeps us in recession. Why go back to work when Congress just extended the two-year unemployment comp plan for another year. It’s embarrassing. Were unemployment benefits cut off in 3-6 months as they normally are I assure you our unemployment rate would be lower, more people would be working, tax revenues would be higher and we could talk about taxes and the deficit in serious ways instead of as a necessary evil while “the economy recovers”.

Kim Kardashian

OK…ya…she’s beautiful. But beautiful women are a dime a dozen. She has never done anything in her life to justify her news exposure and it makes me ill. And while we’re banishing her lets banish all the faux celebrities out there who have no talent and no earthly reason in the world for being on the checkout stand magazine cover.

“Fiscal Cliff”

The news media was at its most annoying best (worst) with the continuing reference to the tax hikes and budget cuts Congress imposed on itself two years ago as the conclusion to the “sequester” negotiations. We were not ever going to go off our fiscal cliff. It was a faux news story…like Paris Hilton.

Thanks for visiting. Comments are welcome.

Be Yourself on Social Media.

Image representing Facebook as depicted in Cru...

I joined Facebook with my personal profile page in May 2008, and some would say at that point a monster was made. The truth isn’t quite so dramatic and was in fact a slow evolving process. Now I’m very active on Social Media and a lot of it is for fun, but most of it is a calculated effort to promote my company Total Broadcasting Service, and recently my wife and my Advisor status with the direct sales company, AdvoCare.

The truth is the “monster” reference above refers to both my frequency of posts and my willingness to break some long-standing “rules” for business and networking. The big one of which I refer is “never talk religion or politics”. It’s long been believed crossing the line into those two subjects is a sure way to lose customers or potential customers. Well, I’m a happy example of how that “rule” is largely myth. And I’ve come to the conclusion that the politics and religion banishment from social media discussion or business and networking discussion is created mostly by people who are personally more reserved anyway.

Nothing is wrong with being more tightly guarded about your thoughts, actions, or beliefs. But those who are ought not unfairly judge those of us who are happily more vocal. After all, if everyone held ideas so closely to the vest and never shared them how would people learn and grow and solve problems. It’s the more boisterous in society who call attention to problems and those problem’s solutions.

FB Tower pic w-number

Total Broadcasting Service is an eight year old company. We’re a radio advertising brokerage and audio production company that has added video production for internet marketing to our list of services. We experienced four years of growth after beginning operations in 2005, and then fell on hard times like so many others in 2009. We saw a lot of customers close their doors that year. Since then every year has gotten progressively better. And in 2012 we have recorded our best year ever in terms of gross income.

What I find interesting about this is the fact that 2012 was an election year and I made no secret about my support for what the election determined was a minority opinion. Not only was it a minority opinion nationally, but my Conservative politics was and remains an extreme minority opinion where I live and where most of my business originates from, in King County, Washington. So how can it be possible that my business has continued to grow and support my family with what amounts to an above-average income and life-style?

Stephen Colbert in New York City at Border's s...

Stephen Colbert

As Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert demanded to know during the Chick-fil-A vs Gay Marriage controversy last Summer, “I’ve got to know what positions my food has taken on all the issues. For example, I love Carl Jr’s Western Burger. It must be anti-ObamaCare, because it is clearly trying to kill us. And whenever I go to Applebee’s, I insist that they only give me right wings. After all, you are what you eat. And now, you also believe what you eat.”

The absurdity of Colbert’s comment should be obvious. And to me the obvious conclusion I’ve come to is that most people don’t care about politics or religion. Traditionally poor voter turnout proves this fact. Studies showing only about 50% of Americans regularly attend church further proves it.

Like Adam Smith clearly enunciated in his seminal book, The Wealth of Nations“, 

Profile of Adam Smith

Adam Smith

everyone cares about their own selfish interests. And that’s a good thing. Because in caring for our own selfish interests we as individuals and individual businesses are stronger and better able to serve specific customers and the general populace. Weak people and weak businesses serve very few. And in caring for their own selfish interests people care little about my politics or religion. They care about whether my business can make their lives better, something we constantly strive to do. And we strive with equal fervor for our Liberal customers as for our Conservative customers; for our Christian customers as for our Jewish, Buddhist, Atheist, or Muslim customers. Doing so is in our best interest.

My efforts on Social Media now include regular posts to my Facebook personal page, business page, and personality page. In 2010 I added Twitter and LinkedIn personally and for business to my Social Media promotional efforts. And in 2012 Pinterest began receiving our attention. And we are bloggers here on M Schuett blah blah blah. (We’re also on Biznik. But since they started charge money for even their most basic profile page we discontinued our subscription). Selfish advocacy of my political and moral points of view are frequent subjects of my posts. But foremost at ALL TIMES is merely to be interesting to as many people as possible in order to promote my business interests; Total Broadcasting Service, and in the past 3-4 months, AdvoCare health and nutrition.

AdvoCare allowed me and my wife to lose 30 lbs each in just 4 months.

AdvoCare allowed me and my wife to lose 30 lbs each in just 4 months.

Social Media experts will tell you that marketing through social media is not intended to get you direct business; but instead to keep your brand, product or service in the front-of-mind for potential customers. That’s true. But when you make yourself interesting on Social Media and are not afraid to “show a little leg” and make yourself vulnerable you gain credibility with even those who disagree with you. And in gaining credibility you gain direct customers. As we have. And we’re grateful.

Thanks for visiting. Comments are welcome.

Conservatives look in the Mirror

English: Seal of the President of the United S...

 

Americans have re-elected a President presiding over 7.9% unemployment and GDP growth below 2%. These are by far the worst economic numbers overcome by a President winning re-election since Franklin Roosevelt in 1936.

 

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933. Lietuvių: Fra...

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933.

 

It’s not too difficult to figure how this happened.

 

There are currently 47-million Americans on food stamps. Just how many of them voted for Mitt Romney? Seriously…can you really expect a dog to bite the hand that feeds it? President Obama received a total of 58-million votes. And if 95% of food stamp recipients voted for him then all he would have needed was 12-million non-food stamp recipients to vote his way to overcome Romney’s total. Obama has created this dependency. It’s not likely they’ll vote against the person who keeps giving them their candy.

 

In spite of the Federal Government-gives-candy-advantage Obama held; Romney still could have won this election had Conservatives not self-destructed. The most obvious failing comes from the selfish, masturbatory Libertarian voters who sent nearly 1.2-million votes to Gary Johnson.

 

Gary Johnson

Gary Johnson 

 

Add in the 0.1-1.4% (depending on the state) of “voters” who wasted their vote on the Constitution Party candidate and you have just enough Conservative voters to match Obama in the popular vote. There’s no doubt in my mind that had this 1-2% of voters not bashed Romney as equally and vociferously as they did Obama over the course of the past year we’d be celebrating a Romney victory this morning. Florida is still too close to call and Virginia, Ohio and Colorado went to Obama by less than 2%. That’s the whole ball game.

 

What troubles me now and did so throughout the campaign is the foolish, bigoted, and hateful comments about Obama and his supporters that continuously poured from Conservative corners. The “birther” issue was and remains idiotic. And it was clearly racist. What I never understood was the point of it. Obama could have been born on Mars. Because his Mom was an American citizen so was he. The end result was the extreme side of Conservative politics continually gave Liberals all the ammunition they needed to once again paint those with our point of view as angry, mean, and bigoted.

 

Since the 1930s more Americans have identified themselves as Democrats than Republicans. And over the past 20 years more and more Americans are identifying themselves as independent. Overall, it’s roughly 1/3 Democrats, Republicans and independents. Polls show Romney won independents. But he didn’t win Democrats, not enough of them anyway. If scary, angry, bigoted Conservatives (what few of them there are) scare-off even a small percentage of independents and all Democrats,  Republicans don’t have a chance…not in 2012, and certainly not going forward as our country increasingly becomes less white and more brown.

 

Karl Rove correctly points out that there is no reason Republicans shouldn’t enjoy more support from this countries Hispanics. Generally speaking they are more religious and focused on family values than the overall populous. With such values they should vote for the GOP. But they don’t. Yesterday and in 2008 they vote close to 70% for Democrats. Why is that? Only one reason: too many Republicans allow  hateful xenophobic attitudes to exist within our own political discourse without justly shouting them down. And I for one am sick of it.

 

It makes me mad as hell to have Liberals who don’t know me constantly assume I’m a bigot. It happens all the time. And it diminishes me in the eyes of my kids, my black kids. It’s important that my values are passed on to my kids so that they may pass them on to their kids, etc etc. But like all young people my kids are influenced not only by me but by what they see and hear in society. And if I’m less trusted and less understood simply because I’m associated with people who espouse bigotry I’m naturally going to be hurt in my efforts to stand as a good example to my children. I worry about this constantly.

 

Republicans have to bring people to the party and not repel them. With a country that is increasingly made up of people of color we’re going to have to see to it that we not only attract them but repel and reject the angry bigots. They don’t make-up a large percentage of Conservatives or Republicans. But they don’t need to in order to chase away any chance the party has of winning in the future.

 

God Bless America.

 

Thanks for visiting. Comments are welcome.

 

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