Pira-technics

Last night was the grassroots segment of Operation Pira-Technics. Four of us hit the outlying areas of the ball park and basically handed out the flier to anyone who would accept it. Considering the fact that I've constructed dozens of fliers in my life, I find it odd that I'm not sure if it's spelled "flier" or "flyer." I tried to upload the image but it's not in the proper format. No big deal though. I'll leave it up to your imagination.

I'd say I had about a 94% acceptance rate. The vast majority of people will accept anything you hand them as long as you have a positive expression and make a seemingly innocent comment. I would have assumed it was a coupon or some religious crap. Of course it was straight comical propaganda instead. I spoke with a few people who gave it a cursory glance and they seemed pleasantly surprised/amused.

So... did the entire crowd sing the new version of "Take Me Out to the Pirates?" I seriously doubt it. Perhaps a spattering of drunks deep along the third base line. It figures that they would score a bunch of runs in the 6th inning and distance themselves right before the 7th inning stretch. Maybe it's an omen. They had a fucking 7 game losing streak and then right at "crunch" time, the Pirates woke up and came through in what seems a concerted effort to destroy my mission.

To be honest, the real effort takes place today as all the relevant media outlets will receive the propaganda (both the letter and the flier). I just need one or two sportscasters to take up the cause. Will any of them? Maybe. This one's a tough call. I'm admittedly a little too biased. I think I'll get some feedback, but not the groundswell of support for a national audience via ESPN. Then again, you never know.

Personally, my interest in the whole thing has diminished more rapidly than I anticipated. I woke up to the Newt Gingrich comments about the ground zero mosque. Everyone is so shocked, but he got what he wanted. He has distinguished himself from the pack. The scary part of it - I know he didn't misspeak. This is all part of a ploy to portray himself as the leading front runner of the Republican party. He'll definitely get his headlines. I'm curious to see where he goes with this. Once you go down that road, it's difficult to scale back. Then again, who are we really talking about when the shit hits the fan??? We're talking about conservative farmers in rural Iowa and hardcore churchies in South Carolina. In New Hampshire, the more conservative intellectual base would probably trend Gingrich. Maybe Newt thinks the mosque controversy will have dissipated by then. He's probably right - going for the cheap headlines and publicity. I wouldn't be surprised to see if his next comment down the road is something like... "Sure, I think Sarah Palin is a great leader and a visionary, I just don't think she's electable in a general election for President." Watch for it. Mitt Romney will remain silent the whole time. The guy just doesn't have the balls to jump into the fire. If he did, he'd come off as phony and awkward. I still think Newt will get annihilated on the adultery issue, especially since he voted to impeach Clinton over the stained dress debacle. Maybe he'll give one of those Jerry Falwell "Forgive me, I have sinned" speeches. That would be a trip. Kind of like a watershed moment similar to the Obama speech on racism. I hope Newt doesn't break down and cry. I'm just not ready for it. Maybe if I have a couple years to prepare for the emotional onslaught.

I just got to thinking. Let's say hypothetically that Israel bombs Iran's nuclear facilities. Most political pundits think this is a realistic course of action int he Middle East. I tend to agree with them based mostly on Netanyahu's hawkish position and the past precedent when the took out Saddam's facilities back in the 1980's. And don't forget how they quietly disposed of Syria's intentions a year ago. That was a masterful operation. It got ONLY one fucking day of media exposure. Unbelievable! You can't play it much better than that.

My whole point behind bringing up the Israel-Iran confrontation is that it ramps up anti-Muslim sentiment in the states around election time. Maybe Newt thinks he can score points with the Jews over Obama. Not a bad strategy. My point is this - Gingrich knows what he's doing. His comments, albeit incendiary, are carefully crafted. It's all part of a larger strategy. I think he made a conscience decision to get involved emotionally. He purposely decided to eschew his conservative principles of constitutional property rights (not really an issue that resonates with most Americans as they generally take it for granted), and set off on a course to engage and inspire the primary voters. For Newt to really gain a foothold in a presidential election he needs to be viewed as having some passion, not just an intellectual speaker behind a podium. He knows this. And so do his staffers.