A Shoe on the Freeway

I had better get back to work, my vacation spent, my money gone, my tan, such as it is, in a perpetual state of fading.

The yard signs have returned, urging us in various shades of red, white, and blue to do our civic duty. Oh yeah, and not be stupid. Vote for …

A few years ago Ellen Totzke, then a candidate for County Attorney had a big pink sign on Harrison. How refreshing. You don’t see a lot of pastels or day-glo in political signs.

They are about as bland as the messages we hear on television and radio. If I hear one more candidate drop “Nebraska values” into moody music and down-home looking folks, I think I’m going to scream. They are always telling us to vote for them because they traffic in Nebraska values, but they never tell us what those values are. Or how they might be different than Iowa values or Colorado values or property values.

Here’s a suggestion for a yard sign — in bright lime green with lemon accents: “Vote for me. I do not lie.”
Of course these days we would also have to list all the candidates that do lie and then we’d have a fight and deal for a reality show on Fox: “Celebrity Lying,” in which a movie star is matched with a local candidate in battle of honesty and ethics.

Right after “Cooking (or is it dancing?) with the Stars.”

I think the forums and debates are great. Anybody who wants to know where somebody stands has a chance to find out. And anybody who wants to put a sign in a yard with confidence can do so … in limited colors schemes, however.

Posted by George Ayoub at 02:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Now that we can carry a pistol to the double feature at the Bijou (Are political debates off limits according to the new concealed carry law?), state politicians can turn their attention elsewhere.

They have chosen Dave Hergert.

Hergie looks like he is staying and the sens in Lincoln look like they are going with the biggest diss they have in their briefcases: impeachment. I wrote about this in a column, but, briefly, they have too much to do to pursue something they already know will not work.

Change the system, instead. Hergie has stubbed his and the Regents political toe. The next time somebody mentions that board, remind the speaker that Hergert is a member. Besides, at some point he’ll get the sympathy vote if we keep pounding on him. That would not sit well either.

While we’re at it, what’s up with the Osborne haters? Come on, you can dislike the guy’s policies and positions or favor Nabity (a distant relative of my wife) or the Gov., but the old-man-mired-in-his-dotage image is out there with a flat earth and Elvis at Burger King. The guy is bright and can manage and lead with anyone.

I also do not understand the ex-coach broadsides. Osborne hardly fits the whiskey-swilling, woman-chasing, cigar-chomping stereotype of guy who knows Xs and Os and little else. Hell, he has a doctorate in education.

And if you voted for Reagan — an actor — and are trashing a coach, you had better check your consistency gauge.

Finally, is it just me or is there a noticeable quiet on the state political scene. Or is that apathy? Or are we simply suffering from political fatigue at every level of government?

Posted by George Ayoub at 09:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)