try to do so at any rate. Every politician has a constructed public identity calculated to insure confidence in that person.

None of the above.

I saw a thing on Berlusconi on TV and it reminded me of someone, but of course no one probably thinks of themselves that way.

but my sense of humor is better.

He's a funny guy.

but if someone is really an asshole to me i can turn into Christie . but it would take a lot more to set me off than what sets christie off.

but he has too much of it, you're right.

so I'm tempted to say Putin.

And that is the unfortunate reality of being a politician. To win means catering to the idiots and knuckle draggers. Which means oversimplifying irreducibly complex realities and making things up to make them feel good about themselves.

I feel so uncomfortable lying it's all over my face. I think the trick is they convince themselves they are telling the truth. Romney was the most pathological example of it in recent memory.

But then probably Politics isn't the best career to pick.

fortunately men have a harder time reading women, for some reason.

Although with poker sometimes it's more helpful to look like you're lying when you're actually telling the truth.

The real trick is not to drink very much while you play.

Then "very much" is relative.

One of my ex-boyfriends said he liked me a lot better when I was drunk.
But no, I do stupid stuff with the game because I don't drink often enough to hold my liquor.

That used to be me, too-- I got ridiculous.. particularly when the alcohol was mixed with more herbal medicines. However, my misspent youth was a long time ago.

I was fortunate that back in my drinking days it was not often combined with gambling, at least not at the same time. Too hard to juggle multiple vices simultaneously.

after I'd drunk too much because I didn't realize my double pair had been counterfitted. That's just stupid.

And the only people I ever enjoy lying too are the powers that be.

though Berlusconi prefers them very young.

Plus Monica Bellucci would never have anything to do with him, I'm sure.

This is her husband

Plus if it wasn't for her, those last two Matrix movies would have nothin'.

Just thought I'd let you know.

guy around. Maybe I'm not as "stiff" as he was back in the day, but I do unfortunately share some of his awkwardness and lack of charisma.

if not more so.

I understand why he didn't, but I was disappointed nonetheless.

And I've been around for a while.

I always like reading your posts.

I'll correct that.

in history?

I'm trained as a historian of Latin America with a research field in Brazilian slavery.

and if I were running for president, it would probably be like Henry's campaign.

Can you do a Skype feed to DU for the bear wrestling sometime?

especially Ralph.

putin. definitely.

he's DREAMY!

But I think she and I have a lot of personality "stuff" in common.

Didn't see him. So chose "pass"

Everyone would have picked him. It's supposed to be based on personality traits, not ideology. He would have skewed the poll.

just saying.

I am not sure I entirely lean in his direction, after all I suppose I have my own personal issues that I think are important. Well, is this not true of most people? Or not?

not ideology.

I mean, you would have to live with a guy to know him that well, right? I don't know...this is all too confusing.

which you think you might be most like. So we perceive them as having certain
personality traits based on how they appear to the public. Christie and Gore, for example, are very different. You could imagine they'd be very different at home too.

You could read a ton of newspaper stories about a certain politician. They way they seem in public , and of course in private you have no idea. So if you say, well..I tend to be like.. Politician A... you are only seeing what the newspapers are reporting to you, or what a news broadcaster might say about them. (Then of course the difference between what someone from Fox News might say vs someone from MSNBC.)... All of which...might be totally incorrect. How can you base what a person is like by information that might be false?

We all have characters in stories that we admire. In a book or movie, you see them as they are presented. There is a huge difference in how a character is presented over how a real life person might appear to be. You have almost first hand knowledge of the character where as with a real person in the news, you know next to nothing.. even with all their news coverage.

Again, I will say I really like Howard Dean, but do I picture myself as Howard Dean like? How can I even answer that.. when I really don't live under his roof.

You never know what people are really like. I had a student who seemed like the nicest guy with ended up taking his ex girlfriend hostage and killing her parents before killing himself.

There is that. I mean here is a good example. Lets take a fictional character like Captain James T. Kirk. If you are a die hard treker, you have seen everything William Shatner ever did with the character. You may have read a ton of fictional books about Captain Kirk in Star Trek stories (all written by different authors, who have their own take on who James T. Kirk is or will be.) You might form a general opinion about Kirk and how he would do things given the opportunity.



Now on the other hand... there is William Shatner. How much do you really know about the guy? You can know his work, and maybe seen him in interviews.. but you personally don't know much about how he is. HE could maybe tell you his opinion about who James T. Kirk is, but its a one sided view, because he has preformed the character, though has not written the scripts..as the writers have.


The thing is, you can say, I want to strive to be like (in your own mind) Captain Kirk and you would have your own view of him, but it would be harder to say...I want to strive to be William Shatner. Most of your information is largely missing!

because I prefer Picard. Though I was always in love with Spock.

I can say I have always loved all the characters, from the Original Series to the rest of them. I could even say I am a Roddenberry fan, and actually got to meet him. (I was young at the time..but I do remember him.) But the point I was trying to make is, its a difficult task to find some one you feel you are like... personality wise. There are people you can strive to be like, as they set fine examples.. but to be just like them..is almost a impossible task.

It's not meant to so absolute or complete. This is just for laughs anyway.

Otherwise, maybe Jim Hightower

I actually had a temp job in Perry's office through Kelly Services for a couple of weeks back when he was Ag commissioner.

Hightower was actually making organic viable in the state until ChemFarm Perry was installed and stopped all organic subsidies.

So, what's the "dirt" on working in Perry's office back then?

I organized some old files but I don't recall anything about them. I made some huge typos on some letters. Someone stole a wrong out of my purse.

Before that I had done filing for a predatory mortgage lender in Austin. That left a greater impression. I filed foreclosure documents, and they had given loans in poor African-American neighborhoods where their income was just above the value of the mortgage. This was long before any of the mortgage scandals, around 96.

(pipeline designer/mapper) so I won't go into those details

But I'm glad a little stint serving divorce papers for a lawyer friend was short-lived. As in, I served some papers once. It wasn't worth the fifty bucks. I guess the people that do that kind of thing have to learn how to "detach" in order to have a conscience later. It was too much for me to do more than once.

I guess I'd probably have felt the same way working for a mortgage lender like that. I hope you didn't have to stay with them long.

I wasn't there more than a month.

Just sayin'

Like my alter ego is Jason Bourne, while I couldn't be further from it.

I'm probably closer to Jimmy Carter.

Though I doubt you'll give me credit for that one either, so I might as well stick with Rasputin.

Although in real life the elected officials I admire most are Booth Gardner and Gary Locke. Both super nice guys.

Biden is slightly more popular, but they have very different personalities. Gore seems closer to Carter. Carter would have been a good one to include though.

No one seems to want to pick her, though she is the most powerful woman in the world.

I would love to be as smart, personable and eloquent.

Had to leave Warren and Sanders out. People would vote on ideology rather than personality. That was a deliberate choice.

The TED talk she gave long before running for office, for instance, was outstanding.

Personality wise, I would think she'd be on a very short list of politicians worth emulating.

Except for the hair.

His is better.

When do you get out of the joint?

I remember him from Rowan and Martin, but I don't recall him ever putting up a presidential campaign....

Of course, I was out of the country for long periods when he was in his heyday, so maybe I missed it.

Or maybe someone's confusing him with Pat...?

I assumed he played a politician on TV.

I was alive at the time, but I was very young. I do remember my parents watching Laugh In, but I was too young to get any of it.

Assuming either the Left Wing or the Right Wing gained control of the country, it would probably fly around in circles. - Pat Paulsen



I'm often asked why I travel around the country talking politics. Is it for humanitarian reasons, community spirit, or is it for the money, the limousines or the girls? The answers are: no, no, yes yes yes!

If he decided to run again, I'd vote for him. I know he's no longer with us, but I'd vote for him anyway.

I will conquer this planet with Flower Power.

Beautiful!

I took this photograph with a toy digital camera I found in a junk store.

When I take on a right-winger, I'm fierce....and then I finish it off with a shit eating grin!