OCR Text |
Show Editorial FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2011 3 THE SIGNPOST The Signpost Viewpoint The strength of political moderation For some reason, the "moderate" label and all the words that accompany it (e.g., "compromise," "gray area," "concessions" and "middle ground") are pooh-poohed by a large percentage of today's political leaders, and perhaps some followers as well. Herman Cain, one of many Republicans seeking the White House, said that compromise is "why nothing ever gets done," and that it's a word of which "people are sick and tired." Jon Hunstman Jr., Utah's former governor and another one of many Republican presidential hopefuls, appeared Tuesday night on The Colbert Report and explained his position as a moderate. When Stephen Colbert, the show's host, asked him how the conservative establishment could trust him after he abandoned his post as governor any of this "birther" nonsense to start working for President that ultra-conservatives like Barack Obama's administration Rick Perry, a presidential conas the ambassador to China, he tender from Texas, have flirted replied: "I was raised with the with. belief, in my family, that you The same could be said of always put country first, (and) General David Petraeus, who that if your president asks you to maintained a strict nonpartistand up and serve . . . you do as san policy while his you're told." forces and the Without endorsing any Obama adIt can be one candidate, it has to ministration be admired that Huntsworked to easy to see man set aside some fix messes our nation's poparts of his own poin the Midlitical structure litical agenda to assist dle East, as a battlefield the country in a time and is now when the economy is • •• the successstretched too tight. He ful director of sticks by some conservathe Central Intive principles, like the opinion telligence Agency. that much of the economy's It can be easy to see our napresent problems are the fault tion's political structure as of the Obama administration, a battlefield, with two sides but he also doesn't give in to sparring and screaming. This is Kory Wood • The Signpost columnist I'm just going to come out and say it: I auditioned for Jeopardy! "Flash Mob and Thriller is probably the biggest thing we're gonna do . . . I don't know about trick-or-treating; I think we're just gonna do a movie marathon." - Chase Sullins sophomore, business "I'm probably not doing anything. Handing out candy to trick-or-treaters, I guess . . . 'cause I haveyounger siblings that are going trickor-treating, so be the only one home." -Dakota Bone sophomore, art Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor News Editor Sports Editor Photo Editor Business Editor Spencer Garn Stephanie Simonson Kasey Van Dyke Nathan Davis Bryan Butterfield Cole Spicker Comment on this column at wsusignpost.corn A columnist's audition for Jeopardy! What are you going to do for Halloween? - Tricia Dirks junior, psychology he wants to hold on to his own income, but also feels that anyone should be able to marry whomever they want to. Perhaps he calls himself a liberal, but he is displeased with some of the early bumbling from the Obama administration, and isn't so sure about making the health insurance situation even more bureaucratic and impenetrable than it already is. Compromises are not perfect solutions, but they are solutions, and they are designed to move both parties closer to the desired end destination. And while the loudest people might sit on the outskirts of the battle and call themselves brave, the true fighters in the battle stand in the middle, where the fighting's the hottest. Abstract Academic 'Cats on Campus "Going, to a party for the kids, and trick-ortreating . . . I'm going as a policewoman." partially the fault of the loudest 10 percent of either army. They scream for no taxes and more taxes and no guns and more guns and no insurance and more insurance. Right in the middle of this battlefield, dodging verbal bullets from both sides, stands the moderate. This person is crucial to the outcome of the battle, because (1) he can see everything that happens on either side, and (2) he just wants people to stop shooting at him so they can hear what he's saying. Standing in the middle is a risky venture, though. The man might call himself a conservative, but he might also think there's nothing wrong with letting some greener legislation pass through the pipe (and maybe a few tax increases to pay for education). Maybe I struggled with whether or not to reveal this, because it's one of those things that you're both proud of and also a little bit embarrassed by. I imagine it feels a lot like getting the high score on an arcade game. You pump your fists and shout with joy as that last spaceship explodes, but then enter "AAA" next to the high score so no one will ever identify you. It was a neat experience, though. I passed a series of online tests and got invited to L.A. to audition for the show. I flew out early in the morning, spent a few hours moving from spot to spot inside LAX with my sheets of study factoids (U.S. presidents, world rivers and Shakespearean plays), then took a shuttle to the hotel where the auditions were taking place. I milled around for a while, unsure of where to go, and a little worried I had gone to the wrong hotel, until a small stream of guys wearing mustard-colored dress shirts and uncomfortably high-waisted khakis started trickling in (there was also a lot of hair gel). I took this as a sign that I was in the right place. 626-7121 626-7614 626-7655 626-7983 626-8071 626-7621 The Signpost is a student publication, written, edited and drafted by Weber State University students. Student fees fund the printing of this publication. Options or positions voiced are not necessarily endorsed by the university. As we lined up outside the audition room, I made a quick count: 24 guys, one lady. She was a very sharp lawyer from the Bay area, and she had more personality than the rest of us combined. I looked down the line of guys, all of whom were staring at their shoes or talking to themselves. Some of them were checking their calculator watches or fumbling with paperwork. No one talked. I found myself standing in line, staring at everyone else in their own little worlds, and I was smiling wide and laughing almost audibly. The lawyer turned to me and said, loudly enough for everyone to hear, "Boy, this is not a group of people accustomed to socializing, is it?" Everyone laughed awkwardly, and the silence returned. No, we were not. Eventually, the producers of the show let us in and we took another test, just to make sure no one got there by cheating. Afterward, they had us come up in groups of threes to play mock Jeopardy! matches and interview publicly. To be honest, I did fine. Just OK. I swept a category about quarterbacks, but I got hung up on a question about the capital of Saudi Arabia. In fact, I'm still thinking about it now . .. Jedda? Mecca? No. Medina? That's not it. . . . Everyone else had their own successes and struggles. At that level of the auditions, everyone knew the same amount Features Editor A&E Editor Copy Editor Adviser Ads Manager Office Manager Jerrica Archibald Kory Wood Alexandria Waltz Shane Farver Shelley Hart Georgia Edwards of answers. And it was a fairly diverse group, too. I was the only person there still working on a bachelor's degree, and one of three people below 30 years old, but I was surprised to see that there were no nuclear physicists or heart surgeons. There were quite a few so-called writers (at least 10), as well as a few lawyers, some computer guys, a couple professors and one really nice older guy who (I'm not kidding) brought a bag of chocolate to share with everyone. Like I said, these were not the most socially normal of people. And it was a little insulting, knowing that I was not just there with them, but one of them. But it was also oddly freeing. My friends and family are wonderful, but most of them don't care who played the lead in Patton (George C. Scott) or what class a cuttlefish belongs in (Cephalopoda) or which monarch lost his head alongside Marie Antoinette (Louis XVI). These people, my fellow Jeopardites, cared. At the end of the day, the producers thanked us and told us that, if they didn't call us in the next 18 months, then that was it, but they gave us clicky Jeopardy! pens ("You can use them to practice at home along with the show's contestants!"), and wished us on our way. I flew home, and that was that. Riaydh! The capital of Saudi Arabia. $#@#. Just got it. Comment on this column at wsusignpost.com 626-7105 626-7624 626-7659 626-7526 626-6359 626-7974 The Signpost reserves the right to edit for reasons of space and libel and also reserves the right to refuse to print any letter. Letters should not exceed 350 words. Letters should be submitted online to thesignpost@weber.edu and read Letter to the Editor in the subject box. |