Dick Gephardt loves his iPod!

[MacBytes]

Category: Apple Hardware
Link: Dick Gephardt loves his iPod! (http://www.macbytes.com/link.php?sid=20041207170209)
Posted on MacBytes.com (http://www.macbytes.com)

Approved by Mudbug

[Mudbug]

moved it to politicals - just for giggles. :)

[stubeeef]

Mudbug you didn't mention the pagans/festivus/or athiests! in your signature greeting, are you playing favorites? :D :D :D

[stoid]

Anyone want to be kind enough to post the text of the article since NYTimes requires registration (yes, I know it's free, it's still a pain in the ass).

[Don't panic]

mmmh.
interesting aswers. maybe he would have been a good prez.

p.s. stoid, I will be kind and not post the article so maybe you will register to the NYT, which is one of the few decent sources of info in the country (they do screw up sometimes and they're a bit conservative, but you can't win them all ;)

[Lancetx]

I will be kind and not post the article so maybe you will register to the NYT, which is one of the few decent sources of info in the country (they do screw up sometimes and they're a bit conservative, but you can't win them all ;)

The New York Times is "a bit conservative?" Are you sure you've ever read the NYT? They're anything but. :D

[Blackheart]

For those of you who don't want to register, get firefox if you don't have it already:

http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/

Then get the Bug Me Not plugin:

http://www.bugmenot.com/

Then right click (or ctrl-click) the "user" field on the NYT login and select Bug Me Not. This will enter someone else's username and password for you to log in.

[12ibookg4]

about the bugmenot,
if you don't want to firefox but still want the plugin, you can come pretty close to it with a bookmarklet in safari
just make a boomark and set the address tojavascript:void(window.open('http://bugmenot.com/view.php?mode=bookmarklet&url='+escape(location),'BugMeNot','location=no,status=yes,menubar=no,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,wi dth=385,height=450'))
and then place in in the bookmark bar for easy access

[dotnina]

Per request, here's the article. It's in Q&A format. The questions are in italics. Unfortunately, the italics won't show up in here, so use your imagination. :D

Edit: I bolded the good parts. :D:D:D


December 5, 2004
QUESTIONS FOR RICHARD A. GEPHARDT
House Proud
Interview by MATT BAI

Q What's different about Washington, as you leave it, than when you arrived?

When I came here, we'd fight hard on the floor, in the old Tip O'Neill phrase, but then we'd go have a beer together and get along as human beings. And that just does not happen as much as it did. When it's my way or the highway every day, which is the way I think the Republicans run the place, I don't think it works very well.

Who was the most talented politician you ever saw?

Bill Clinton. Hands down. You can't just be up there giving numbers and facts. You've got to connect emotionally.

I was at the flea market the other day, and they were selling the edition of The New York Post with the famous headline that said you were the vice-presidential nominee.

I thought I could get enough of them that I could support myself in retirement. I could autograph them and sell them for a little more on eBay, and get $5 rather than $3.

That's as good a retirement plan as I've heard from Congress in a while. What else have you been buying?

I did get an iPod. Oh, I love it. It's the best thing that ever happened to me.

What are you listening to -- political speeches?

The collected speeches of Newt Gingrich. That would be NO. I like Josh Groban. I like Tony Bennett. I like Nelly. He's from St. Louis. He's a very good rapper. I like Eminem. I have his album.

Some of the lyrics are a little hard to take.

Oh, I don't listen to the lyrics. I just like the music. I like the beat.

Is the vice-presidential nomination something you really wanted?

What I told John Kerry was: ''If you really want me to do this, if you think I can help you, I will do it. But I'm 63 years old. I'm never going to be president, and so, you know, I'd just as soon do something else.''

What will you do next?

One thing I'll probably do is set up an institute for public service at Washington University in St. Louis to interest young people in what I got messed up in -- politics, public life, public service.

Do you buy the idea that the Democrats are on the verge of not being a national party?

I don't believe that. I do think we have to do two things to be successful. One, we've got to speak to values and people's faith. Secondly, I think we need to do grass-roots politics better than we've ever done.

I have this enduring image of you standing up there in a union jacket. Where do you keep all those jackets? Do you have an enormous warehouse somewhere?

I have the world's largest union jacket collection. I think I probably had more memberships in more unions, honorary memberships, than any living human being.

Is the situation for workers today better or worse than when you came to Washington?

It's probably a little worse, because when I came here, services were not in the world economy, just the manufacturing and industrial-type jobs. Now everything's part of the global economy.

If you could snap your fingers and amend the Constitution, what would you change?

The Electoral College. Get rid of it. You basically had an election in seven or eight states, not the whole country. And I don't think that's healthy. You did not have the level of activity in, say, California, Georgia, New York or Alabama that you had in Ohio and Michigan and Pennsylvania. I mean, what's that about? It's their president too.

[dotnina]

For those of you who don't want to register, get firefox if you don't have it already:

http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/

Then get the Bug Me Not plugin:

http://www.bugmenot.com/

Then right click (or ctrl-click) the "user" field on the NYT login and select Bug Me Not. This will enter someone else's username and password for you to log in.

And for anyone who doesn't use Firefox ... if you go to BugMeNot's main site, you can type in "www.nyt.com" and get a login / password for the site. :)

[Blackheart]

about the bugmenot,
if you don't want to firefox but still want the plugin, you can come pretty close to it with a bookmarklet in safari
just make a boomark and set the address tojavascript:void(window.open('http://bugmenot.com/view.php?mode=bookmarklet&url='+escape(location),'BugMeNot','location=no,status=yes,menubar=no,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,wi dth=385,height=450'))
and then place in in the bookmark bar for easy access

Thanks, I didn't know about that.

[Stella]

Wonderful, I'm glad for him.

But... so what?

Another filler story

[mactastic]

Wonderful, I'm glad for him.

But... so what?

Another filler story


You're right, this isn't exactly heavy-hitting news. But it does involve Apple and a prominint person, which often meets the threshold for posting it to this site. As you can see, no one is making too much of a deal about this, just noting it in passing.

[solvs]

The New York Times is "a bit conservative?" Are you sure you've ever read the NYT? They're anything but. :D
NY Post is the conservative one. Probably what they were thinking of.

[themadchemist]

Nelly? Eminem? eBay? iPods? Man, Dick Gephardt is HIP!

[macFanDave]

while walking the halls of Congress to drown out the gloating of the ****ing Republicans these days.

Well, GOP, you've got the authoritarian, single-party form of government you've wanted since the 20's, let's see what's in store. Is it a Depression, WWIII, the bankrupting of the federal government and the cancellation of the Constitution? My bet is that all four are in your agenda.

[Jerry Spoon]

Nelly? Eminem? eBay? iPods? Man, Dick Gephardt is HIP!

Actually, I wish they would talk about more of this type of stuff when they're on the campaign trail. To me, it makes all those guys a little more "human". I think they could definitely connect with younger voters that way. Of course, they might still not come out to vote. Who knows.

[themadchemist]

Actually, I wish they would talk about more of this type of stuff when they're on the campaign trail. To me, it makes all those guys a little more "human". I think they could definitely connect with younger voters that way. Of course, they might still not come out to vote. Who knows.

Yeah, but I think they don't want to take away from looking presidential...There's a certain weight to being President (or running for the post) that inhibits such expression.

[Jerry Spoon]

Yeah, but I think they don't want to take away from looking presidential...There's a certain weight to being President (or running for the post) that inhibits such expression.

Maybe, but how many of us remember Clinton blowing on that sax on Arsenio? How about Nixon on Laugh-In (already in office, but during reelection). Bush (sr) talking about his refusal to eat broccoli b/c he's the president. Reagan sharing is (almost) obsession with jelly beans. I know that the last two of these did not take place during an election time, but all of these events made many people see the president (or in Clinton's case-hopeful president) as more human even though you wouldn't normally describe the events as "presidential".
And when the press is taking pictures of Kerry windsurfing, I question how un-presidential it would be for someone who is running to say that they have an iPod or that they think the electoral college is outdated. I guess you could argue that Kerry didn't win and that Bush turned that photo-op against him, but the point I'm trying to make is that I don't think anyone looked at that footage and then described Kerry as un-presidential because of it.
I guess really is all depends on what demographic that you're trying to appeal to. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, they say that they younger voters (which I'm still barely one of) didn't come out to vote in the numbers that were hoped for by some. So why would you do anything to appeal to them when it could turn off voters that are more of a "sure thing"? Maybe you wouldn't. And maybe I just disproved my own original statement... :rolleyes:

[themadchemist]

Maybe, but how many of us remember Clinton blowing on that sax on Arsenio? How about Nixon on Laugh-In (already in office, but during reelection). Bush (sr) talking about his refusal to eat broccoli b/c he's the president. Reagan sharing is (almost) obsession with jelly beans. I know that the last two of these did not take place during an election time, but all of these events made many people see the president (or in Clinton's case-hopeful president) as more human even though you wouldn't normally describe the events as "presidential".
And when the press is taking pictures of Kerry windsurfing, I question how un-presidential it would be for someone who is running to say that they have an iPod or that they think the electoral college is outdated. I guess you could argue that Kerry didn't win and that Bush turned that photo-op against him, but the point I'm trying to make is that I don't think anyone looked at that footage and then described Kerry as un-presidential because of it.
I guess really is all depends on what demographic that you're trying to appeal to. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, they say that they younger voters (which I'm still barely one of) didn't come out to vote in the numbers that were hoped for by some. So why would you do anything to appeal to them when it could turn off voters that are more of a "sure thing"? Maybe you wouldn't. And maybe I just disproved my own original statement... :rolleyes:

I think you're right when it comes to the iPod...However, Nelly and Eminem are a bit too hot to handle for any active politician. It's just too controversial on an issue whose controversy isn't worth it. Should anyone vote for you because you listen to Eminem? Will people? Maybe, but not nearly as many as those who WON'T vote for you because you listen to Eminem.

[Jerry Spoon]

I think you're right when it comes to the iPod...However, Nelly and Eminem are a bit too hot to handle for any active politician. It's just too controversial on an issue whose controversy isn't worth it. Should anyone vote for you because you listen to Eminem? Will people? Maybe, but not nearly as many as those who WON'T vote for you because you listen to Eminem.

I'll agree with that. I can see commenting on it if asked (I don't think he really was here) and emphasizing that you enjoy the beat of the music and not necessarily the lyrics and focus on it being a "hometown" person who you're also supporting. Looking non-presidential and being overly controversial because of listening to music with harsh lyrics are two different things I think.

[Xtremehkr]

I think the President were given an iPod he would find a way to fall off of it, or choke on it.

He could pre-record his speechs though, I would rather watch an iPod standing in his place.

[nsb3000]

I think the President were given an iPod he would find a way to fall off of it, or choke on it.

He could pre-record his speechs though, I would rather watch an iPod standing in his place.

Now there is an idea! Someone from the White House could just put one ear-bud on each mic. And if it was an iPod photo, the screen could have a little presidential seal on it. It sure would by a whole lot cheaper than flying the idiot around on Air force One...