The Next Governor of Pennsylvania?

[Don Wassall]

As the corporate media, the sports and entertainment industry and politics continue to merge, don't be surprised if the next non-politician celebrity to hit it big is Lynn Swann, former receiving star for the Pittsburgh Steelers during their glory years in the 1970s.


Swann has already raised more than $600,000 whilehe continues to "explore"the possibility of running for governor of Pennsylvaniain '06 as a Republican. He hosted a $1,000-a-head reception last night in Pittsburgh.


Swann has no previous political experience but that hardly matters anymore in a "democracy" powered by media illusions, disinformation, omission, propaganda and lies. Swann is probably the most non-threatening well-known black man in America. Women think he's cute and cuddly. In that respect he's reminiscent of O. J. Simpson and Warren Moon. (Of course Moon allegedly nearly choked his wife to death and we all know what O. J. did; oh well, nobody's perfect!)


Running as a Republican sounds strategically like a great idea. Republicans willgo wild overhim as they always do over blacks who favor them, while many blacks and other Democrats may well vote for him because of his race.


The current governor of Pennsylvania is Democrat Ed Rendell, a Jew who was formerly mayor of Philadelphia. He's an old school big government pol. If Swann (assuming he runs and wins the GOP nomination) can get a lot of support from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia blacks and from white Republicans in the suburbs around those two cities he can win.

Edited by: Don Wassall

 

[Colonel_Reb]

That would be interesting to see him run for Governor. I imagine he would be better than Rendell, at least for favoring "smaller" government. I'd like to see the race happen, just for curiosity purposes.

 

[sport historian]

I remember reading a quickie book published after the O.J. Simpson murders titled Raging Heart by Sheila Weller. It told of the Simpson marriage, Nicole's family helped the author. Buried inside the book was an interesting anecdote.


It seems that after Tom Bradley narrowly lost the 1982 California governor's race, O.J. Simpson got the idea of running for Governor of California some day. In the next sentence, the author reported that Simpson changed his mind when Gary Hart was driven out of the 1988 Prersidential race. O.J. didn't want to have his private life scrutinized in the press.


Regarding Lynn Swann, I don't know that he would do as well as it might appear. Many people don't take athletes (black or white) as overly serious people. This hurt Jack Kemp when he tried to run for President, and Bill Bradley as well. The one famous athlete who could have run for high office on his merits away from his athletic fame would have been the late Supreme Court Justice Byron White.


Hasn't just about every Republican Governor of Pennsylvania since William Scranton been of the liberal Republican type? This might work in Swann's favor.

 

[Don Wassall]

SH, you're right that a lot of people don't take athletes seriously. But it's also true that in America's low-IQ political system, looks count for a lot, especially among women, and a lot of men idolize athletes. Here in the western part of Pennsylvania there is a fixation on the Steelers -- and especially their dynasty of the '70s of which Swann was an important part -- that is well beyond rational in my opinion. This area was once the arsenal of the world through its steel industry and other heavy manufacturing, now there's very little left outside of government, university and hospital jobs, and a mostly older population clings to the Steelers for sustenance.


Of course, a Steeler herowon't have the same kind of appealin Eagles country in the more populated eastern part of the state.But Swann's possible candidacy issymptomatic of a corrupt systemmore and more utilizingcelebrities and ex-jocks as stand-ins for real statesmen and leaders. It started with the election of Jesse Ventura as governor of Minnesota. A lot of people around the country were hoping that he would be the real deal, an insurgent who would really challenge the status quo, but he was nothing but a self-absorbed phony interested mainly in making money. The possible prospect of two "women" (feminists is the more appropriate word) -- Hillary Clinton and Condi Rice -- facing off against each other in the '08 presidential race is another example of rather desperately trying tomaintain interest and faith through gimmickryin a system that has gutted America from within.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Good post Don, and I agree. We need more real statesmen, and fewer politicians. Thanks to an ignorant populace, they have been selling us down the tubes for years.

 

[White Shogun]

The populace can only vote for the candidates that are funded and supported by the establishment. You can't vote for men who aren't running for office.

You're stuck choosing between Dumb and Dumber and a few fringe candidates every election. Bush or Kerry? What other choice do you have, besides not voting?

Good men do not want to run for office anymore. Its too dirty, political, and the costs are too high. And I'm not talking just money.

 

[jaxvid]

A "statesmen" can be defined as a dead politician.

We need more statesmen!

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Jaxvid, that works for me!

 

[sport historian]

Don, thanks for your comments. Yes, celebrity candidates are becoming common. Arnold becoming Governor of California, for instance. I've been seeing Condi Rice being promoted for President by some of the "conservative" sites, TAS especially.


I don't recall Dean Rusk, William Rogers, George Schultz, or Warren Christopher being considered Presidential candidates. Strangely, Condi is being promoted as such. I wasn't aware that she has very many brilliant accomplishments as Secretary of State.


I neglected to mention in my previous post that O.J. was (is)a registered Republican. There have been several well-known black athletes who are Republicans of a sort. They tend to be of the "Country Club" type. Lynn Swann, I presume is in this category.


Famous athletes have been elected to office, but they reach a ceiling that they can't go beyond. Jack Kemp was never seen as a serious Presidential contender, and didn't help Dole in 1996.

 

[KD52171]

I dont really know which is worse.

A jew or Lynn.

 

[White Shogun]

Isn't Charles Barkley a Republican? I recall hearing something about Charles running for Governor or representative or some such for the state of Louisiana.

Anyone heard of this?

 

[KD52171]

The Cajun KKK will not like this development.

 

[Don Wassall]

Barkley is a registered Republican. He has made noises about running for governor of Alabama, but began saying that at least six years ago by now.


Barkleyhas been interviewed several times on Rush Limbaugh's show. If you listen to Limbaugh at all you know that he very rarely interviews anyone, so Barkley is obviously very high up on Limbaugh's list of Very Important People. I've never heard Barkley say anything that makes him sound remotely like a conservative as that word was commonly defined before the onset of the George W. Bush regime and the neo-conservatives.


When you see white Republican "conservatives" pandering to the likes of Barkley, it shows you that Lynn Swann can expect the same kind of enthusiastic backing from many Republicans no matter what he actually believes in. My guess is that he'll "stand" for whatever his handlers tell him are the safest positions to back in order to be elected, in other words not much of anything except continuing the status quo.Edited by: Don Wassall

 

[bigunreal]

Lynn Swann would fit right into the present-day Congress. The idiotic
voting public has shown that they are perfectly willing to elect
non-lawyers to public office, provided they come from either the
entertainment or the sports world. What can you say about a people that
elects actors from horrible TV series like "Love Boat" and "The Dukes
Of Hazzard" as their elected representatives? Come on, if you're going
to be that careless with the Founders' concept of representation, at
least make it a good TV show. I mean, Miss Hathaway from "The Beverly
Hillbillies" tried to make it, but they didn't vote her in. No taste.
Seriously, when you allow Sonny Bono (and even more humorously, his
wife, after he was killed) to be "the voice of the people," what does
that say about the people? Steve Largent, J.C. Watts, Jim Bunning...the
list goes on. If these guys are qualified, why aren't any average
working stiffs qualified? If an average citizen actually was able to
get the money required just to start a political campaign, he would be
ridiculed by everyone, if they paid any attention to him at all. Until
we have representatives in Congress who are not wealthy, the problems
faced by the majority of the population will never be corrected.

 

[White Shogun]

I've often wondered why celebrities think their mere celebrity makes their opinions more accurate or worthwhile than anybody elses.

Who gives a rats ass what Brad Pitt thinks we should do about Tibet?

If these guys are so concerned about the starving millions in Africa, who are all dying of Aids, why don't they spend out of THEIR millions of dollars to help them out, instead of asking the guy down Mainstreet who earns $20K per year with two kids to fork over TAX MONEY to pay for that garbage!

Whatever happened to spending YOUR OWN MONEY on projects YOU DEEM WORTHWHILE? Instead, we're constantly bombarded by famous rich people beating US over our collectively guilty heads everyday to get YOU to send money??

 

[Colonel_Reb]

I agree with you guys. It's too bad the US can't produce more candidates for elected office like Davey Crockett. That's the kind of guy you are talking about.

 

[SteveB]

The problem is working people can't afford to run for office. The time and energy it takes to run for office means that the only people that can run are ones that are set-up for life and don't have to make a living. These folks are the ones that are the most disconnected from the average working man.

 

[Don Wassall]

The problem is working people can't afford to run for office. The time and energy it takes to run for office means that the only people that can run are ones that are set-up for life and don't have to make a living. These folks are the ones that are the most disconnected from the average working man.

Not only that, anyone not "approved" of by the party apparatchiks and the media and other power brokers will either be ignored or smeared. Plus, they will receive no funding or other help from the party. And that's when running as a Democrat or Republican! Try running third party and it's far worse. The U.S. political system is as closed as any open one-party dictatorship. Our "democracy" is restricted to two nearly identical political parties which filter out "mavericks" and whichshut out other parties in perpetuitythrough their monopoly control of the media, the judiciary and the political system itself.

 

[Bart]

Who gives a rats ass what Brad Pitt thinks we should do about Tibet?

If these guys are so concerned about the starving millions in Africa, who are all dying of Aids, why don't they spend out of THEIR millions of dollars to help them out, instead of asking the guy down Mainstreet who earns $20K per year with two kids to fork over TAX MONEY to pay for that garbage!

White Shogun, I agree with 100%. Why do these multi- millionaires always want to take more of our money for their pet causes.

 

[IceSpeed2]

To be fair, American policy on Tibet shows a lot of
common flaws that are prevalent in typical American policies, such as
the ones that are employed in Iraq.



As for Swann, it is a logical move. Swann was
an entertainer. While it is a statesmen's job to run something,
it is a politician's job to entertain. Due to the many flaws in
education, our voters do not elect statesmen but politicians.
Swann will probably just talk about "the catch" everytime an issue
comes up in a gubernatorial debate.

 

[IceSpeed2]

On a completely side-note, What is the Cajun KKK's
catholic policy. A historically anti-catholic institution, the
KKK was strong in Cajun Louisiana. That's confusing.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Just because there were a lot of Catholics in cajun country, doesn't mean the klan was full of them, does it?
From what little I know, they didn't like Catholics much either. It's not that confusing.

 

[Don Wassall]

While it is a statesmen's job to run something, it is a politician's job to entertain.

Why is a politician's job to entertain?

 

[White Shogun]

To be fair, American policy on Tibet shows a lot of common flaws that are prevalent in typical American policies, such as the ones that are employed in Iraq.

Why does America even have a 'policy' on Tibet?

Regardless of whatever that policy is, Again I Say, why should I give a sh*t what BRAD PITT THINKS ABOUT TIBET? Is he from Tibet? Is he an expert on international relations and economics because he made a movie in Tibet?

I didn't criticize U.S. policy on Tibet. I don't even know what it is and don't care, other than what amount of foreign aid it is that they receive and why.

My point is and the point in general of many of the posts in this thread, is why do celebrities think by mere virtue of their celebrity that we should lend any credence to their pet cause, theory or viewpoint on any issue whatsoever, other than making a movie?

 

[IceSpeed2]

The term "politician" represents the concept of
getting elected and campaigning much more than the actual job and
responsibilities of the office that is being campaigned for.
Politicians spend much of their time on campaigning and winning popular
support often. For example, Bush's throw at the 2001 world
series. A big part of campaigning, sadly, is being entertaining.

In politicians' minds, they are not paid for doing a
good job at governing, but are paid for attracting voters.



WS, you're right. Celebrities' political power
shows how prejudiced people are. Since someone is a "good", more
like popular, actor, people assume he is an intelligent man and should
be worshipped. Good actors must be right.

That is part of the reason why sick celebrities get away with crimes.