The Eric Wroolie Blog

Overpass Experiences

One Liners of a Presidential Debate

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It’s October 14, 2004. I missed my train by seconds (it would kill them to open the doors for one second) and have been standing on a platform in the pouring rain.

Last night, the third Presidential debate took place between George W. Bush and John Kerry. This is what I’ve been thinking about on the platform. I didn’t get to watch the event live since it took place at 2am here in England. I’ve taped it and will watch it when I get home from work.

I did see the highlights, however. More than any issues, I’m struck by John Kerry’s one liner, “George Bush lecturing me about fiscal responsibility is like Tony Soprano lecturing me about law and order.” Wow, is this guy in touch or what? He really has his finger on the pulse of what’s cool, doesn’t he? How pathetic.

Prior to that little remark, I hadn’t really discounted Kerry as a contender. But now . . .

Why does his bother me so much? Because it is so damned staged. It is obvious he had that lurking around in his head and was waiting for the right time to use it. This is his idea of humour. Sickening.

Now I have to ask myself what I am more opposed to-an unjust war in Iraq or an idiot in the White House. As an American, I can still head to the embassy and vote.

This isn’t the first time in the debates that candidates have lowered their rhetoric to one-liners that insults the intelligence of the American people. I remember in ’88, Dukakis saying “George Bush is becoming the Joe Isuzu of American Politics”. In ’84, Mondale used “Where’s the beef in your economic policy”. Bob Dole, although I can’t remember exactly what he’s said (who can?), would make you cringe every time he tried to grasp onto any kind of pop culture. It’s an obvious political ploy. It makes me sick.

Kerry doesn’t deserve to be president. My opinion is made up.
Rant over.

Mark Cuban

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The ChangeThis website has an excellent manifesto at the moment by Mark Cuban.

Basically, Cuban talks about his salad day and starting out in business in Texas. He briefly mentions getting fired a few times in his life, but then goes into his rise to success.

Probably the most pivotal moment of the article-possibly of his life-was getting fired from his dream job as a computer salesman.

If you got a minute, I highly urge you to read it.

I read this yesterday morning. One thought in the article has stuck with me. Cuban says that he was surprised that people in his industry did not read the same articles he did. When he would mention a book, article, or whatever, he expected people to nod and say, “Oh, yes, I read that too.” But it was the opposite.

In fact, the majority of the people Cuban dealt with did not spend a considerable time reading. He, as he confesses, knew nothing of computers-but often knew more than the experts he sold to.

I found this fascinating. I read at least one self-improvement book a week. There are times when I don’t see the point. There are times when I think that the opinions of the entire world are changing at the same time mine is. Then I get hit with what I was hit with today.

If you’ve ever read any books on interviewing techniques (job interviews, not news interviews) you will know that they all basically say the same thing. Dress nice. Don’t try to shock. Try to be funny, but don’t TRY to be funny. And never, never, never bad mouth your previous employers. You could have been working for Satan himself, but you still must grin and say, “they were good people. We had a disagreement from time to time, but that’s healthy in a growing company.” Then, long after you get the job, you can tell everyone what bastards they are and how you might be persuaded to hit them with your car if you ever see them crossing the street.

I know someone who has been looking for a job for two years. His problem? Well, this is my opinion and I think he would disagree with me-his problem is that he likes to talk about how much other people try to screw him over. It’s not that he doesn’t have accomplishments-he’s got loads. If he focused on positives, he would be fine. But he doesn’t. He talks about how great he is and the only reason he isn’t greater is that “those bastards keep holding him back.”

I assume this advice, like most that I read, is really just common sense. Surely, we all know this already. Surely, if we got ready for the interview, combed our hair, ironed our suits, drove to the office building-we wouldn’t want to through in the towel because we can’t let go of a grudge.

Mark Twain said it-“Common sense is not common.”

What’s so great about history?

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What’s so great about history?

My degree is in History with a minor of Psychology. I have a passion for history. I read a lot of history books. I sit in front of a lot of history books. Yet, I can’t say that I love everything associated with history.

First of all, I talk of history like it’s a single subject. Like you could take a single course and know it all. The best scholars will focus on one tiny bit of years of history and learn everything there is to know about it. They devour texts, documents, microfiche, you name it. They may know everything there is to know about, say, the Spanish-American War-but they can’t tell you the exact date of the Rough Riders taking San Juan Hill. These scholars are more concerned with learning than they are with spouting trivial facts and being winners at Jeopardy.

I’m not interested in all of history. Who has the time? Also, I’m not interested in trivial aspects like how butter was made in the agrarian age. I’m sure it was difficult.

History is about decisions. To me, the best history books are about people who made remarkable decisions or remarkable sacrifices to better humanity. People often scoff at history being all about wars. But, why do we focus so much on war? Because war is full of people making tough decisions-abandoning the status quo.

Maybe I prefer a good biography than an essay on the cotton-gin.
An incomplete thought-maybe. Just what is on my mind.