Who would have thought that going Rogue would involve so many lines?

In Columbus Ohio there is something special about the second Friday in November. Everyone is in their scarlet and/or gray. There is a vibe about the city as we collectively gather our concious toward the united goal of seeing the Ohio State Buckeyes defeat that team up north. Yesterday was that day, and I was a part of the biggest crowd in the city. Yet there were no cries of "O-H!" nor the expected replies of "I-O!" No band played "We Don't Give A Damn For The Whole State of Michigan" and the next victory we were all rallying for was change in leadership in congress. I am a Buckeye fan, but today I am more excited because I might get to meet the biggest celebrity in the country: Sarah Palin.

On Monday, the day before her book, "Going Rogue" I just happened to catch the news saying that Sarah would be signing her book at the Borders on Sawmill Road. This particular store is only a couple miles from my house so I cleared it with work to stand in line by taking half the day off. The plan was to get in line around noon and be part of the masses who can't get enough of the conservative governor. That was plan A.

My plans started to change on Thursday night. After a workout at the gym my wife, a fan of standing in lines for limited quantities of things, especially on the third Friday in November agreed with me to check out the Borders and see what time I actually needed to get there. Krystle had a better instinct than I on scoping things out because when we got there roughly a day before the signing was scheduled to start there were already a handful of tents set up for people looking to spend the night on the sidewalk in front of the store to be the first in line to get the required wristband that gets you in to get the autograph... essentially these people were standing in line for the right to stand in line. My opinion on this subject comes from comedian Ron White who once said, "I wouldn't camp out all night if I was... camping!"

So we went home.

At this point I formulated plan C. I got up early, went to work then drove over to Borders at about 9 AM. The parking lot was filled... not just the parking lot for the book store, but the parking lot for the entire strip mall. I ended up parking across the street at a bar with sand volleyball courts. That parking lot was empty at 9 AM.

I did not realize exactly how long that line was, so when I parked across the street (unseen to the north on the photo below) so I ended up walking the entire length of the line to it's end three quarters around the entire complex. This was disheartening.

But I started talking to my fellow conservatives and making friends with them.

We were all in good spirits but rumors started working their way down the line that they were cutting the wristband from 1000 to 500 because Sarah is just not getting all the signing done.

We tried being optimistic despite being somewhere in the 700's.

Once the line started moving we felt like progress was being made. We eventually made it to just a few dozen yards from the front door, and that's when people started coming out telling us that there were no more wristbands left.

Slightly disheartened, but not defeated we said our goodbyes.

I went back to work having took most of my half-day in the morning. I grabbed some lunch worked on some stored procedures and left around 3, came home and took a nap.

That evening after Krystle and I had dinner she wanted to run to the post office and Sam's Club. After that I said, let's just go to Borders and see what was going on? She couldn't believe how full the parking lot was (again, not the Borders parking lot but the lot for the whole strip mall). I made my way to the front doors of the store while Krystle looked for Rose Bowl shirts at Buckeye Corner. I was talking and joking with some other conservatives who had a group called "WALNUT" it was a spoof of ACORN. We talked for a bit when some activity started on the inside.

Sarah Palin was coming out to greet the crowd!

While that video was of low quality, it needs some explanation. The line at the front of the store was people who did not get wristbands but stood in line during the book signing anyway. Sarah herself came out, and unhooked the velvet rope that marked the beginning of the line. The harsh words you heard were probably the three protesters on the side.

Somehow I ended up in the mob that subsequently rushed into the doors, but because I was there on a whim and not as part of an official plan D I walked around the store, tried to get a photo, but it wasn't possible because Sarah was way in the back blocked off from lookie-loos like me.

I made a quick phone call and met up with Krystle... I didn't want to buy another book so we went home.... about a block from home I said, "Do you have your keys?" She said yes and I asked her to run in, grab my book while I turned the car around.

I was home and back in less than fifteen minutes and they let me back in line!

It looked like Plan E would be the one to work! Twelve hours later I'm back in line, but this time payoff is looking real.

Again, in good spirits, joking and having fun with the other conservatives around me I was not only in line, but only feet from the enterance to the bookstore... no, now I'm in the book store... They're telling me what the governor will sign... It's really happening!

The line wound around the store and into a back part were curtians supported by pipes formed a make-shift room. An aide took my book while the governor shook my hand and signed it with a smile. THis made this story of a long day conclude with a happy ending.

So, these being the largest lines I have ever stood in, Sarah Palin is officially bigger than Star Wars Episode I. Sarah Palin draws Jim Tressle level crowds (that means something in this city). Sarah Palin is also WAYYYYYYY Better looking in person (if you can believe it!)

On the Issues in Ohio November 2009 – including casinos!

Issue 1: Veteran Compensation Fund

Issue 1 would authorize the state of Ohio to borrow and spend $200 million to "provide compensation to Ohio veterans of the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq conflicts, and to pay for the administration of the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq Conflicts Compensation Bond Retirement Fund and the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq Conflicts Compensation Fund." Veterans who served in the Persian Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan would receive a $100 cash bonus for each month they served, not to exceed a total of $1,000 per veteran.

This is simple redistribution of wealth. Compounding this issue is that the state is bankrupt. And we are going to borrow more money? This inevitably results in higher taxes and a further corrosion of the Ohio economy in the long run.

I do support veterans. No price tag can ever be placed on their sacrifice. But it is important to remember that they do what they do in the name of freedom and liberty, not bureaucracy and red tape.

Andy votes NO!

Issue 2: Livestock Care Standards Board

The amendment proposes creating an Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board for the purpose of establishing standards governing the care of livestock and poultry.

Again, why would we create a new bureaucracy of state workers to provide quality assurance for an industry that has not had any substantial quality issues for over 200 years. Where does the money come from to pay for this? I’ll tell you were it’s not coming from: it’s not coming from the people who have already left Ohio’s confiscatory tax structure for more economically free states. That leaves the rest of us to foot the bill on this one.

There is already a system in place to keep Ohio farmers at the top of the food production industry. It’s called the free market. If Farmer Brown’s flock or herd is of poor quality, then the supermarket will purchase food from Farmer Jones. And that system doesn’t cost you anything in higher taxes… if anything it means the best quality food at the lowest prices because both farmers Brown and Jones are competing for the sale to the supermarket.

Andy votes NO!

Issue 3: Casinos (hold tight, this is a big one boys and girls)

Issue 3, if approved, will amend the Ohio Constitution to allow casinos in
Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo.
A majority vote is required for initiative to be approved. A "yes" vote means voters approve of amending the Ohio Constitution to permit one casino each in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, and Toledo.

My first objection to this is of a personal nature, and one of reverence to our system of government. I do not personally believe that amending the state constitution for something as trivial as to allow casino gambling is a valid enough reason to do so. The constitution of the state should only be amended for urgent or big issue items.

The arguments for are the arguments against:

While the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) is in support of the casino initiative claiming there will be more jobs in the Buckeye State, their ulterior motive is that there will be a substantial crime increase surrounding the casinos. While profits from the casinos will go to the local government the FOP can request additional funding for police forces. Is creating more crime so that we can afford to further fund our police forces really the best way to provide security for our citizens? In fact that’s probably the worst way to do it. It is probably more proper to just stop funding the PR campaigns like “green” initiatives and “Commit To Be Fit” that in effect take money away from vital programs like police and fire departments and why cities are raising taxes.

Another argument for the casinos is that it keeps money in Ohio. Well, Indiana, Michigan and West Virginia all have casinos that Ohioans supposedly visit. By that logic nobody from those states will ever come to Ohio to gamble. Are there really enough Ohioans fleeing the state to support four casinos in Ohio? I’d like to see the market research numbers on that!

If that is the case then this state needs some serious gambling addiction counseling!

Remember those out-of-state casinos are profitable mostly because they have regional monopolies. Adding casinos in Ohio doesn’t necessarily mean that the same formula for success will happen here, but more likely you’ll just have a lot of less-successful places where gambling is allowed.

But the taxes will provide cities and counties with much needed revenue,right? Sure the casino tax rate will be the fourth highest in the country. THAT’S THE PROBLEM IN OHIO! Ohio is the forth highest taxed state in the country and thus jobs and people are fleeing Ohio for lower taxed states. If you tax the hell out of the casino it could potentially operate at a loss. If the Casino fails then we have more empty buildings in Ohio and none of the jobs that were promised.

There’s a lot of money going into a multimedia ad campaign selling Ohioans on this casino… but what if it doesn’t deliver what it promises? It’s possible. It happened in Pittsburgh which has an economy not unlike that of Cleveland or Cincinnati.

Remember: never trust a pushy salesman. They never really have your interest in mind.

Andy votes NO!

And if I were a member of ACORN I’d vote no six or eight times!

Breakin' the law: a how to guide for professional athletes

Please rank the following crimes in order of severity:

A) financing and taking part in a dog fighting operation

B) drunk driving and killing a pedestrian

C) accidentally shooting yourself in a nightclub

If you answered: A, C, B you are correct. But only in the case of an NFL athlete. If you look at the sentencing and subsequent fallout from each of these crimes then you have the following results:

For financing and taking part in a dog fighting operation you will be fired, spend eighteen months in jail had all your assets go to finance fighting dog rehabilitation and spend eighteen months in jail before having to go on a media tour just to get your job back.

For the heinous crime of being stupid enough to carry a loaded gun into a night club and shooting yourself by accident you would also be fired, and be sentenced up to two years in jail (potentially twenty months for good behavior).

Finally there is the case of the drunk driver who kills a man in Florida. For this you are fortunate enough to settle out of court for a six-figure sum and spend only thirty days in jail. You get unpaid time off of your job for a year, but it's still there for you when you come back. Yet you are the only one of this group to have actually taken another human life.


Michael Vick was essentially ruined, financially and publicly for being a jerk who doesn’t like animals.

Plaxico Burress did not even harm another living being and will be incarcerated for two years.

And Donte Stallworth gets off comparatively easily despite ending someone’s life.

If you've ever wondered why athletes get into trouble, trouble that most of us normal people cannot even consider, maybe it's because they are literally playing by a completely different set of rules.

Anything you can do I can do better -Bill Clinton and a blow to feminism (again?)

He was president, she was not
She is secretary of state… he gets hostages released.

While Hillary Clinton goes on late-night cable news shows and asks North Korea to “Call me” it is the former first lady’s husband that actually gets the job done.

Two American journalists were imprisoned in the communist quagmire of North Korea for asking questions that one does not ask of a dictator (Kind of like opposing socialized medicine). Their sentence of hard labor was thought inevitable given the appearent ineptitude of the secretary of state and her department.
But in on his white horse comes… a man!

Feminism has been dealt a severe blow. While the second female Secretary of State can’t get hostages delivered her husband (something no REAL feminist needs) gets the job done.

Well if these liberal feminists don’t work out, there’s a real woman who has stood up for her beliefs, and got to where she was not because she was rebelling against her husband but because of his support.

You expected maybe, Carrie Prejean? That might work too!

Drudge article:
CLINTON DELIVERS!

Star Trek: validation for George W. Bush?

They are both constantly called “cowboy” as a derogatory term. They both have a father named George. They both are portrayed as party guys who can’t seem to grow up, and there are other similarities between President George W. Bush and Captain James T. Kirk.

In JJ Abrams latest movie “Star Trek” Kirk is very much a cowboy. He drinks, womanizes and gets into bar fights. It’s like he’s looking for trouble. He keeps finding it.

President George W. Bush was a known partier in college; he too seemed to find trouble. He’s even been known to pick a fight (with other countries).

Is Kirk based on Bush? It would almost seem so, if the Kirk character was not created in the 60’s. But this latest incarnation has traits that are hard to ignore.

It would almost seem so given the media hype trying to compare current President Obama with the cerebral Mr. Spock. One thing to point out about this comparison as it pertains to the movie: Mr. Spock was wrong!

A key debate in the film involves Kirk and Spock clashing over weather they should rejoin the fleet and seek assistance from the invading enemy, or fight them head-on. Without making too much of a stretch this is exactly the debate Bush had with the democrats in congress and the UN before invading Iraq. Only Kirk truly understood the motives and malicious intent of Nero's threat to Earth, and his solution was to fight.

Bush, after 9/11 knew that stopping terrorism inherently involved stopping the funding of terrorism by anti-American governments. This his validation of the Iraq war.

Opposing Kirk is Spock, who follows regulations to the T. His adherence to Starfleet code is logical except that there is no regard for the rules by the forces of evil in the film.

That being said, terror must be fought with the rules of terror, not by the rules of civilized people. Thus to save Earth, Kirk must take the enterprise to fight the evil Romulins instead of going back for more capable support, and leaving Earth defeseless.

[SPOILER AHEAD ]
*
*
*
*
*

It is not a perfect analogy, but it does work on multiple levels, especially here. When Kirk finally offers to negotiate with Nero, the act of benevolence is not received. Instead Kirk must execute the only option he has left and kill the bad guy.

The analogy ends here. While Kirk is praised for his maverick actions and his cowboy attitude and thusly rewarded. Bush was hated. That is a strong word, but is very accurate. His opponents never come around to his way of thinking the way Star Fleet does in the film. Instead, even as the Bush Administration has come to an end, the attack on now private-citizen George W. Bush is not without pause.

*
*
*
*
*

[ End Spoiler ]

Rewards are all to often given to those who seek them, that doesn’t make the real man less of a hero than the man of fiction.

My favorite Moments

Tonight, after eight years, two networks and a writer’s strike TV’s “Scrubs” came to an end.

While I was less than an occasional watcher of the series in it’s first few years, when the show went into syndication around 2006 I quickly fell in love with it and caught up with the history of the show.

Scrubs follows John “JD” Dorian (Zach Braff), he is a young doctor at Sacred Heart hospital. JD is prone to an inner monologue as well as fanciful daydreams, portrayed as cut-scene flashes on screen. In the first episode of the series JD going into his first day as an intern where he is informed by the chief of medicine that he is “just a large pair of scrubs to me.” Thus naming the show.

Scrubs was highly under-rated. Not only for it’s comedy, but also for being a show that actually openly discussed the issues in modern medicine. Not necessarily from a left or right perspective, but from the perspective of the doctor. It is a comedy in a hospital, but it had a sense of legitimacy.

That being said, here are my ten favorite moments/episodes from the run of the series in no particular order.

My Overkill · Season 2, Episode 1 – Aired: 9/26/2002
This episode features a great opening sequence in JD’s Daydream where he is avoiding Dr. Cox after it is learned he slept with his ex-wife, as well as other strained relationships after the end of the previous season. The avoidance sequence is set to the song “Overkill” by Collin Hay, formerly of Men at Work.

My Lunch · Season 5, Episode 20 – Aired: 4/25/2006
J.D. asks Dr. Cox out for lunch but runs into annoying former patient Jill Tracy, who unexpectedly teaches him something about responsibility. Jill dies and her organs are used to treat three of Dr. Cox’s other patients. Unfortunately the disease that kills Jill is passed on to the organ recipients and Dr. Cox takes it very personally. In the follow-up episode Dr. Cox is in deep depression and drinking heavily. It is up to the rest of the cast to get him back to work.

My Musical · Season 6, Episode 6 – Aired: 1/18/2007
A new patient at the hospital wakes up and sees everything happening around her as a musical. The music is catchy, and the story is a bit silly, but we finally get an explanation of JD and Turk’s relationship in the number “Guy Love”

My Way Home · Season 5, Episode 7 – Aired: 1/24/2006
In a "Wizard of Oz" homage, J.D. is trying to go home, Turk searches for a heart donor and Carla worries that she doesn't have the courage to become a parent. Meanwhile, Elliot doesn't believe that she has the brains to lead a question and answer session. The Janitor is painting color coded lines throughout the hospital for easier navigation. The episode ends with Ted’s band singing a beautiful rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”

My Screw Up · Season 3, Episode 14 – Aired: 2/24/2004
Dr. Cox learns that his brother-in-law Ben (Brenden Frasier) hasn't visited a doctor about his cancer in the two years he has been gone traveling the world. Ben dies after the first commercial, but the episode is set up so that all scenes with Ben are actually a mental breakdown suffered by Dr. Cox. It is not until the final scene that the viewer realizes exactly when Ben died.

My Monster · Season 2, Episode 10 – Aired: 12/12/2002
The episode ends with Elliot and JD hooking up, albeit for the second time. But it is a great sex scene, for a comedy, for TV, with some great music behind it.

My Choosiest Choice of All · Season 3, Episode 19 – Aired: 4/20/2004
Actually not one of the best episodes, but the musical number at the end, "Light & Day" by The Polyphonic Spree, inspired me to use the same song in my own engagement announcement (http://adventuresofandy.blogspot.com/2008/08/great-moments.html)

My Best Friend's Baby's Baby and My Baby's Baby · Season 6, Episode 2 – Aired: 12/7/2006
I love this episode because in one of JD’s daydreams he ends up debating abortion with a statuette of Jesus come to life. The statuette wins!

My Long Goodbye (2) · Season 6, Episode 15 – Aired: 4/5/2007
In an episode that has the emotional depth of a series finale we see Nurse Roberts pass away after a car accident. The rest of the cast must reflect on her influence on them.

My Finale, Part 1/2 · Season 8, Episode 18 – Aired: 5/6/2009
It is rare than any series finale of a long-running show makes the list anyone’s top episodes, but while it was stretched out to a full hour, it was well worth it. Three things make this episode great. First, and most importantly was Dr. Cox giving a touching speech on what JD actually meant to him. Next was the farewell walk of JD as he left Sacred Heart forever. Current and former cast members greeted him, including former patients and deceased characters. Finally as a farewell to the fans Ted’s band (affectionately knows as “The Worthless Peeons”) performs the show’s theme song a capella. Few shows have finales that life up to the reputation that gave them such a long run. For Scrubs this finale surpassed it!

Can this be filed under “saving the relationship?”

I couldn’t do it… I just couldn’t bring myself to watch the Obama Press conference last night. Not only did President Obama call a press conference to basically say that after one hundred days in office, he has not been impeached, no states have seceded from the union and there have been no attacks from invading armies… yet.

I’ve been at my job for well more than 100 days. Do I get a press conference?

But I did not watch because Krystle came over after her workout with her trainer and as we do on Wednesdays, have dinner and watch Lost. That’s another thing that upset me about this press conference. Sure I’m willing to skip an episode in the final season of Scrubs, only to watch it online later. But do NOT preempt LOST! I swore if I did have to miss Lost I would run against Obama in 2012 on that platform… That and the Fair Tax.

A typical occurrence when Obama is on TV is me sitting there engaged in debate with the president. He seems to ignore my rebuttal but somehow I usually end up ahead on points. Krystle has threatened to make me go downstairs and play Mario Kart on the Wii if I don’t stop. But since the Wii is at her house I decided to just not catch up on some unwatched shows on my DVR.

Tonight’s selection: GI Joe Resolute. This may be the GI Joe cartoon I’ve waited my whole life to see. It is definitely grown up from the 80’s cartoon, which by todays standards may be a little cheesy, so not much of a cheese factor here. But plenty of blood and guts, and even a few good guys not surviving the experience. Basically a globetrotting animated 24 that doesn’t take place in real time. Of course I’m not the first person to compare GI Joe to 24. Wizard Magazine once said “GI Joe makes the spies on 24 look like CIA washouts!”

The action is similar to the comic books, specifically the more recent Devil’s Due Publishing run, though this is an original story. The cast is mostly original. The voice acting was pretty good, but how great would it have been to reassemble the original cast. Yes I know there are cast members who have passed away so that is impossibility.

The animation was updated for the 21st century as well. The character models seem to be built on a hybrid Japanese/American style of animation. It works well.

The story is solid, works in some cool military sci-fi gadgets but does go PC in a couple places. Sure Scarlet, one of the few female Joes comes out of a fight unscathed while her male partner takes a non-lethal bullet. Also the Dialtone character is reprised as a woman. Not a mainstream enough character to be as offensive as Battlestar Galactica’s reprising of Starbuck as a woman, but sill a change nonetheless.

We finished with GI Joe at about 8:53 in time to hear President Obama give the final answer of his press conference. After a couple minutes I asked, “Is he just talking to hear himself talk?” as his words lacked clear cohesion of thought. After the president left the podium ABC’s Charlie Gibson gave a synopsis of the event calling the most interesting question: “What has surprised you the most? Humbled you the most? Enchanted you the most?”

I didn’t know People Magazine covered presidential press conferences. I did learn this morning that question was asked by a New York Times reporter.

Enchanted, really?

If journalism isn’t already dead, it’s on life-support and that reporter just pulled the plug!