I Was A...

Before YouTube, it was public access that made guys
like this famous

I Was A Male War Bride
I Was A Teenage Werewolf
I Was A Teenage Zombie
I Was A Teenage Republican

If we were playing a game of "Three Lies and A Truth" and it was my turn, which of the four responses above would you choose as the truth? Stymied? Let me help you out.

The Zombie one is somewhat believable, as I've posted one of my high school senior portraits as proof of my latent puberty, Zombie-esque mien. The Werewolf one is somewhat believable too, especially if you've seen me after a day without shaving or even worse, sans a shirt. The Male War Bride is out of the question. I was too young to go to Vietnam and the only war being fought in my teenage years was Nancy Reagan's uber-successful war on drugs. Ladies and gentlemen, just say no.

And speaking of Mrs. Reagan, that leaves us with the Teenage Republican option, and if you chose that one, you chose wisely. In fact, in high school, I was a card-carrying member of the Maricopa County sect branch of the Teenage Republicans. So committed to the cause was I that I served as Treasurer (as I recall) of said organization. I was always interested in current events and politics as a youth, but I was even more interested in girls. What girl wouldn't want to date a dork kid interested in politics? By my count and experience in high school, none of them. Except for one girl, who was with her sister very active in the TAR organization. Suddenly, I was politically active. Here's what I learned: our club was affiliated with the College Republicans chapter at our nation's most respected and academically challenging university, ASU, and their sole purpose was to date the high school girls since they were not exactly BMOC material. I also got to see a little of the train wreck machinations of the state political machine and my disillusionment with the GOP, and political parties in general, was underway. It didn't help that a few years later my home state would elect an off-kilter slightly racist auto dealer as a governor and that I watched my fellow students at BYU lose their collective minds when a woman had the testicular fortitude to run for student body president. Did I mention that was in 1989? Not 1889. So is it any wonder I am where I am politically today? To my Mittite friends, I promise it does not make me the Anti-Christ.

I suppose it could have all turned out a little differently. Perhaps if there had been a more effective way to discuss all things political back in 1982, I'd have a different perspective on things? In 1982, the Internet wasn't a thing. Cable TV really wasn't much more than HBO and something creepy called ONTV. There was no public access cable to speak of, but that was soon to come. Without it, we'd never have met Wayne and Garth and been reminded of the glory of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody." But today, thanks to the interwebs, there is no end to the options for a teenager or any maniac (I give you the flotsam that is the Kardashians) for that matter with an opinion, valid or otherwise. There's a lot of junk when it comes to the never-ending discussion of politics and current events, but I've stumbled onto a political discussion show that gives me hope. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Unnamed Political Podcast.


(Full Disclosure - I know one of the co-hosts, Clark, and his family well. Clark didn't tell me about this. I found out about his efforts through some other friends.)

These are two high school kids who actually know what they are talking about, especially if you lean uber-conversative (note the Bill O'Reilly - it just pains me to type that - book over the shoulder of one of the co-hosts). These guys have done their homework. They're savvy, placing themselves on the YouTube and the Instagrams. They are pumping this stuff out on a regular basis and it's pretty great. By and large, I don't agree with 95% of what they say but I can't get enough of this. For my conservative friends, you'll think you've died and gone to heaven. I'm telling you, these two could replace Joe and Mika on Morning Trump Joe tomorrow, but I think Fox News would be a little more welcoming environment. Also, I think after you've watched the clip included above, you'll agree with me that the "Chairman Mao" kid needs his own segment on every show. Seriously, these guys should make the leap!

It's so refreshing to see this level of engagement in politics, current and world events from a couple of high schoolers. Like I said earlier, it gives me a little hope for what lies ahead. Given how different their version of public access is from the aforementioned Wayne and Garth, I don't think we'll see the boys of the Unnamed Political Podcast doing this anytime soon:



Somebody help me get these guys a show!