Podcast 488

Sick Of Politics. Yeah. Sorry. Sick Of Politics. I’m not the only one. When it’s above 70 degrees and sunny for an entire weekend in the upper midwest, no one wants to talk about whether or not the delegate selection process in Georgia and Colorado is messed up. In Minnesota and Wisconsin, people headed up to the lake to put the dock in, raked their lawns, washed their cars, sat on the deck blinking in the sun, and were amazed, tantalized and thrilled with late May weather in Mid April. I certainly remember mid April tax return mailings when it was snowing, or 30 degrees and raining. Aside from the ‘bring on more of this global warming’ jokes, it is pretty amazing to be able to get a sunburn around here at this time of year. Meanwhile, the cable news jockeys continue to drone away about what this one said about that one, whether the primary process should be scrapped for something else – don’t ask – and how the byzantine ‘state delegate selection process’ is flawed, as though anyone ever gave a damn before this ridiculous election cycle. God! Bring back the smoke filled rooms, cigar chomping, pinkie ring wearing, bourbon drinking ‘operators’. What would happen if we woke up tomorrow and suddenly there wasn’t anymore 24 hour cable news, talk radio, Facebook or Twitter? What would we think about? Is it possible we might discover what we have been thinking about below the crust of all this 24 hour news cycle generated angst and frustration? How would that sit with you? What do you think about when you’re not receiving or transmitting? A late night live podcast from the deck of the broadcast bunker, complete with planes, sirens and a very large mosquito. Mosquito’s already? And so it begins. Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul and Hydrus Performance.

Podcast 485

The Political Walking Dead. As many are watching the final installment of the current season of ‘The Walking Dead’ results of the Wisconsin primary roll in, making a convincing case for the next season of the Hit AMC Show which might be aptly entitled, “The Political Walking Dead”. Why? With a win for Texas Senator Ted Cruz in Wisconsin, the challenge for Donald J. Trump to get to the magic number of 1237 delegates will be quite difficult. That does not mean that it will be any easier for Cruz – who has a couple hundred less delegates right now than Trump – or Ohio Governor John Kasich, trailing behind front runner, and his close challenger. Meanwhile on the Democrat side, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ Wisconsin win might frighten Hillary Clinton (A.K.A Madame Mao) but unless Sanders can make inroads to the so called Super Delegates, he can count himself among The Political Walking Dead; Candidates who are campaigning but have little hope of winning their party’s nominations on a first ballot at their respective conventions. Establishment republicans have already stated their intent to split the delegate count, preventing Trump victories, by working for Kasich and Cruz in states that favor them. Is that what happened in Wisconsin? Don’t count on the pay-for-play media to report on that kind of substance. While there was little doubt about a Cruz victory in Wisconsin, one need only to look at the remaining primaries — which are outlined for you in this podcast — to determine whether they are winner-take-all or proportional states, and count it out. It will be very difficult for any of them to achieve the required plurality of delegates at the Republican Convention in Cleveland this summer. What happens? Very interesting question. Cruz and his supporters claim their campaign has already poached Trump delegates in North Dakota, some southern and midwestern states so their guy will arrive at the convention with the magic number of delegates. The Trump camp disagree.  Meanwhile, if you’re concerned your vote doesn’t count, you’re not alone. A recent poll shows GOP voters think the nominee should be the person who wins the most votes, regardless of the delegate count. By campaigning for delegates after primary elections, these campaigns and the establishment are showing voters they don’t care about their vote. In fact, this is a dirty game of pressuring delegates and getting to the magic number. Who do we blame? What the hell. Blame republicans. They’re the ones that wanted all these lackluster candidates. They’re the ones with no new ideas. They’re the ones that advertised a bad product and allowed a reality TV star to dominate this kind of a circus. And, republican voters who have no idea what they’re for ate it all up with a spoon. As we head for summer, the last few primaries and the mainline party conventions, one thing is for sure. Hijinks, Shenanigans and Surprises will be the order of the day in one of the strangest elections in US history. Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul and X Government Cars.

Podcast 484

The Fort. Boys need independence and Freedom. This is the story of my quest for independence and freedom in the form of my own ‘fort’. The Fort. A place where I could go with my friends. To dream. To Talk. To Plan. You know, boy stuff. As adults we spend a lot of time thinking about what we want, or need, or those moments in life when we could have been better, the mistakes we’ve made as well as the hard won victories. Sometimes, though, it doesn’t take much to experience true bliss. It’s also a story of manifesting the things we desire most in our lives. The story of an stubbornly independent boy, with this idea of a ‘fort’, who spent months scavenging lumber from all over town, and started building without any idea of where he was going or how to get there. And, a story about a father who did not share the same temperament as his son. A father who’s personality was introverted, a man who valued action over words. A story of a father and son who didn’t have very much in common but came together one summer to build something great; The coolest fort in town, by far. Dreams and acting individually can get you pretty far down the road, but that summer my father taught me how to accept help, how to work together, to create something far more than I could have by myself. It’s also the story of how that perfect moment fades as we reach adolescence. Sometimes when we look back, we realize that there was a perfect moment back there when we had much more than we realized at the time. Then again, maybe I did realize it. Sponsored by Brush Studio at The West End in Saint Louis Park, Minnesota and by Hydrus.