Anthony aka Bova aka Alex P. Cheatin' is one of my favorite people ever. If you haven't been reading the comments on these posts, A is basically my fact-checker. And... Anthony is a REPUBLICAN. Wha?
But instead of brushing it off like so much dirt off your shoulder, I sent A a few questions to get his side of the story. He replied with War & Peace. Or, GOP & Dems. Lolz!
On behalf of both of us, apologies for the length of this post. But hey, now you don't have to work for the next 30 minutes!
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Mayoress,
It would be an honor and a pleasure to give you an interview... Your blog has actually made me wish I was going to MN next week so I could create a fully realized “through the looking glass” experience to yours. I kept thinking to myself- wow that all looks like fun, I wonder if the Republicans will be as fun- then I realized- if they’re like your old friend Alex P. they sure will!
As you are not here to ask me additional questions- I will ask them of myself.
The following interview was conducted in Manhattan on August 27th Anno Domani 2008 .
Questions courtesy of C-Press and Piper Gaucher. Answers by Alex P.
Alex, thanks for joining us today- we have to admit you’re probably our favorite war mongering, red neck, NASCAR loving, back water, white American, bible thumping, hate spewing, Hannity jocking, race card playing Republican we know. Welcome.
Wow, thanks… I think. I’m just glad to have the forum to chat with you and to keep the political dialogue going. I think it’s so important to read and speak with people from all backgrounds. Every day I read the Huffington Post right after I read Fox News. I wash that down with some good old fashioned ESPN and suddenly I feel whole again. Okay on with the show.
So what did you think of Hillary’s speech last night?
I actually started writing a pretty long counterpoint to your Hillary speech post, but I didn’t post it. In watching the speech last night, I couldn’t help but think about the rivalry between the Yankees & the Red Sox. As a kid the thing I hated most about Sox fans was that they seemed to hate the Yankees even more than they supported their own team. I saw the same thing last night from Clinton & Tiny Kucinich…
How so?
Hillary’s speech did exactly what she was asked to do: Get out of the way. And she did, all be it through a forced smile. But she wasn’t out there selling Barack. She may have saved herself from being labeled the goat if he somehow loses, but she didn’t really give us any reason to believe that she actually believes in the guy. As it has been pointed out, she did not ONCE say that Obama was ready to lead, or that he had the experience needed. She may have spent “35 years in the trenches” (Ahhh, that explains why she recalled being shot at in Bosnia… she was actually fighting “Zee Germanss” in WW1 France, makes perfect sense now)- but she didn’t talk about the years of public service that Obama has and what he has accomplished. She used the platform to concede without concession and to continue to place herself over her party. Her attacks on McCain came off as speechwriter written sound bites, and the association with our current (and admittedly awful) president also seem like cheap-shots to me. Saying that John McCain is EXACTLY like Bush is like saying that Barack will drive a tank at a campaign stop* or that he will get freaky with a reasonably unattractive intern… its just fear mongering. And for a party that accuses their opponents of using that tactic to “retain power” as you put it- it’s interesting to see it coming from the other side. *That was a Michael Dukakis reference for anyone younger than 21 reading this blog
So you’re a Republican, how’s that goin’ for ya?
Well to be honest I am a conservative, which is actually something a little different. But for the sake of conversation I’ll just say yes- Republican I am.
Alex, you seem like a pretty good person you know, with a soul and all- I just have one question: When, how, and good lord man why are you open and proud about being a member of the GOP in 2008?
My reasons for embracing a conservative political view are based on a pretty basic concept. At my core- I want to be left alone. I want to be able to do what I want with the money that I earn (privatized social security for example), I want to determine which causes I want to donate my efforts towards instead of having my government determine them for me. I believe that if you work hard and become successful in this country that you should not be penalized for that.
Do you think that people have a responsibility to help each other out?
Absolutely. But I do not feel as though big government inspires people to work hard. If you are too far below the fold, you are dejected and give up, and if you are too far above the fold and you are overly taxed you get bitter and that’s where the “isms” always seem to come in. Worst of all, those in the middle are the ones who are hurt the most. It scares me to think that I earn in the top 15% of Americans and yet I still cannot buy my own house. Where as, if I made less than $30,000 someone would come to my rescue that to me that just doesn’t seem fair to me. I want people to be trusted to do what they want with their lives, their families, and their choices. I think that Democrats don’t give the average American enough credit to do the right thing on their own.
Wow, Alex, all of that sounds really nice, I would want to be a Republican too- if I didn’t know that was the exact OPPOSITE of what your party has done!
(Ooh, Anthony - good comeback - I am totally taking credit for that one!)
That’s fair. I think that the Republican Party has lost its way some and I do feel betrayed by George W Bush and his policies. Especially his financial policy as that is the main catalyst for my votes. You should have seen me the day that my supposedly conservative government passed a “bail out” for all of the people who were foreclosing on their homes. Hillary brought this up last night saying something along the lines of “investing in a home shouldn’t be a risky move”- well, if you think you can get one with 0% money down and do not read the fine print- then I have a pretty hard time feeling sorry for you. (Word.) And while I know that many of those people were taken advantage of- I think that they should file suit as a group against the loaners the private companies and not wait for a hand-out instead. To have the government swoop in and “save” those people really ate me up- how can you be part of the party that espouses small Federal government, and your administration has in fact grown the size of our government to levels that are even bigger than Clinton’s! You can’t and it’s a major failing for me with regards to the Bush Administration.
Luckily I now have a candidate now who believes in a smaller Federal Government, who believes in not taking private donations to campaign, who believes in a woman’s right to choose, and who believes that ultimately when business prospers so do the individuals. Trickle down economics don’t work, and neither to an overdevelopment of Federal programming but capitalism does. In the end, I believe in a very Darwinian approach to our society. There is always a top, middle, and bottom, the eco system is always shifting, but you have to let it happen at its natural rate of change and not force it based on an unrelated factor.
What about all of the other stuff- you know the right-winger stuff, Holy Wars, Blood for Oil, all that?
Well I can say this, as a New Yorker- I am glad we are at war. As an educated human, I can say we are in the WRONG war. Bush had his war planned out and he was going to do what he wanted. He did lie to the American people and there were no WMD’s we all know that now- its not even worth discussing. What’s sad is that we were attacked and we haven’t accomplished that goal- which is to find and kill Osama Bin Laden and his forces. Its like if after Pearl Harbor we decided that we should start a war w/ Laos. It made no sense to me.
Look the guy is an idiot, we can’t do anything about that- Mission Accomplished is a lie, but we still cannot make a mess and then leave it. That’s just wrong. We can’t say- “Hey Iraq, sorry we destroyed whatever completely screwed up infrastructure you had, but we really need to get going here, good luck with the ummm… country thingy… call us if you’re ever in the neighborhood.”
Both candidates want to get out of Iraq, hell the Iraqi government has asked us to leave (you know what they say about fish & guests… both tend to stink after 6 years…). The difference is- I believe that John McCain will honor the lives of those lost here in New York and abroad and get us back on track fighting the proper war and not a crusade. I am sad to live in a violent time, but we need to defend ourselves against those who attacked us first. (Insert 17 hour discussion about Israel/Palestine here)
Sadly, I don’t think that “opening a dialog with foreign leaders” is enough and that believing so is the 1st example that Obama didn’t have the experience needed. Sure Joe Biden has foreign policy experience, and I think that helped, but I don’t want on-the-job training. We need someone who knows how to act with strength and action against those who wish to do us harm.
What about the price of Oil and the environment- isn’t the main Republican goal to stay in bed with the Saudi’s forever?
Actually do you know what’s funny? Everyone is all up in arms that the Republicans don’t care about the environment- that we need to listen to Celebrities and the Democrats or our world will melt into the ocean. So we have the Live Earth concert last summer right? FINALLY, something that’s going to make a difference… So, Al Gore aka- Mr Environment plans the thing- and then flies all of the artists AROUND ON PRIVATE PLANES pumping 31,500 tons of carbon emissions into the air in one day. No kidding, while the average American creates 20 tons a YEAR. All of these celebrities LOVE to take pot shots at Republicans for being pro-oil, meanwhile I don’t see them curbing their consumption (and don’t even get me started on Coldplay and their Mango trees). (What? I thought Chris and Gwen's kid's name was Apple?)
So the fact that the American public believes that only democrats believe in the ecosystem is as stupid as those who believed that Saddam Hussein was involved in 9/11. John McCain has created an extensive eco-policy that is an “all of the above solution” for our challenges now and in the future- The Lexington Project. Many of the points in the plan are similar to Senator Obama’s such as domestic offshore drilling to help offset oil prices. Other initiatives such as offering $300 million to the company that creates the first fully electric car is a pretty good incentive to get people to start working on it (even if they don’t care about the environment- $300 milli is a lot, that’s Lil’ Wayne money). McCain also supports tax support for those companies researching and developing alternative energy products. McCain believes that CAFÉ standards should be upheld and increased. John McCain is offering tax credits to all US automakers that create Zero Carbon vehicles. He has a lot of plans that will help move us away from the dependency on foreign oil, which in the end will have the run off effect of helping our position in the Middle East (Israel not withstanding of course- Insert second 17 hour conversation about Israel/Palestine here)
So what else is he good for? Don’t Obama’s words inspire- and frankly, after 8 years of Bush- don’t we all deserve some inspiring?
Yes, I think that inspiration is good. I think feeling proud of your country is good. I don’t think that people we not proud of their country during Reagan, during Eisenhower, or even during George H. W. I think being proud of your country should come from many things not just the party insignia monogrammed into the PJ’s of the Commander in Chief. I for one wasn’t so proud when Clinton’s scandal(s) broke (“it depends on what the definition of “was” is?”- oh you HAVE to be kidding me) but it didn’t make me want to disown America. This country needs leadership more than anything. We have had a terribly self serving leader, and who ever takes the reign’s next- needs to not make those same mistakes. I do believe that John McCain has the experience to do so. Whether you believe in ALL of his policies, no one can argue that the man has not put his country first. And that is not to say that Barack has also not, only to say that I think that in the grand scheme McCain has more.
Many of the issues that Obama is talking about- so is McCain. In fact- do a point by point issue check on both of their websites- a lot of it is the same, and ultimately what’s best for America- only with different plans and paths to get to the same solution. Both strongly advocate portable & affordable healthcare. However where the Democrats want to regulate that all children under the age of 25 have mandatory health care covered by the Federal government, McCain suggests providing more options and more affordable solutions and then letting the individual make their decision. You hear stats all the time about the number of uninsured there are- but no one wants to talk about the fact that most of them are not those that fall below the poverty line, its those in their 20s and 30s who can afford it but choose NOT to have insurance as a lifestyle choice. To me, I do not feel as though I need to pay for something after already making the right decision in my life. We already take care of our very poor- its not our job to take care of everyone especially those who choose not to take care of themselves.
I can see why people are so in love with Obama. He’s inspiring for sure, and I cannot thank him enough for getting the youth of this country to actually care about an election. Unlike some of the trash-talk Liberals out there- I will NOT “move to Canada” if Barack is elected. Again, it’s funny to see how angry Democrats are. It’s as if McCain needs to burn at the stake because of Bush and Halliburton. The pendulum has swung all the way back from the days of Newt Gingrich now it’s the liberals ready to wage war on their own country. You rarely hear Republicans say that Obama is a bad person, only that he needs more time before he can lead this country. But leave it to Tiny Kucinich and such- and you’d think that McCain was a baby murderer for once hugging the president. We cannot survive as a nation of dreamers; we need to be a nation of realists and so while can get behind his speeches and the ideas he wants for this country- I need to see that he can make it happen, and I haven’t yet.
Okay okay, jeez I write BLOG not a series of novels for Time Life (Act now and we’ll throw in Alex P’s Guide to Advertising & Media for FREE!!)- So local politics- lets discuss.
Well I am a HUGE fan of conservative local politics (even more so than Federal- I have voted for Democratic presidents, but always Republican local). I think that New York has thrived under fiscally thrifty mayors and I believe that we need more at the state level as well. Pataki was not a popular governor, but he was not the one who brought in the worst budget crisis this state has seen in 30 years. As a conservative, I believe that many more decisions should be left up to the individual states to decide for themselves so having small state governments which allow their constituents to make choices for themselves and allow the Capitalist system to function will always be best.
So what about those who need a little assist now and then?
Well just because someone is Republican does not mean that they don’t care. It’s just a different more business like approach. Let’s take the NYC school board. Shortly after taking office Mayor Mike dissolved the school board. Why? Because he hated public school kids or because he knew it was a corrupt floundering bureaucracy that had begun to do more harm than good. So as a smart businessman, he killed it- as he would any failing division of his private company. He brought in Joel Klein and Caroline Kennedy to fundraise, and the NYC public school system has never been stronger. But he left it in the hands of capable private citizens vs. creating more tax payer funded nonsense.
The shoes man, it’s gotta be the shoes.
I must say- it is INFINITELY cooler to rock some Obamair Force 1’s. Those are pretty sweet. I will say that I’ve got a pretty dope John McCain cardigan that really gets the girls at the Daughters of the Revolution meetings hot & bothered. (Alex concedes cool point to Obama… nice kicks, son)
So lastly, what’s the hottest style for fall?
The hottest trend of the season is passion. I love that we are living in an age that people in their 20’s and 30’s are actually talking about this. Wherever you stand on your political views I just like that people are having them again. I think the best thing George Bush has done is wake people up. Not since Herbert Hoover has there been a president that the people wanted out so badly. I’m just saying that I like the “other” change a little better.
But if you can that you live in a time when Yung Jeezy is quoted as saying that he “f**ks with McCain” (as in to “ride” with him)… you KNOW we live in a special time.
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Wow, remind me not to ever run against the Bov.
Democrats" procured handshakes and business cards from several elected officials, and it was very cool that Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer remembered me from his campaign in '05. Turns out Peter and Scott were once Manhattan Young Dems together. 
d in the Ballroom at the Sheraton, the party was packed with New York state & city leaders, delegates, and press. Fully-catered buffet dinner and open bar (is this my tax dollars at work?). I was in diversity heaven – people of all ages, races, religions, classes; and that made me proud of my state.
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