John Kasich in Stand For Something, by John Kasich
On Homeland Security:
$1B per plane for B-2 is a colossal misuse of money
[In the 1980s], it was not good politics to go up against the pro-defense lobby, especially for a Republican. But I didn't think it was good government to keep signing up for these ridiculous expenditures. Most ridiculous of all, I came to think, was the
development of the B-2 stealth bomber, which at the outset was presented as an essential weapon against the Soviets. I used to listen to the B-2 proponents, spinning all their tales of gloom and doom, and glory and might, and get the feeling I had steppe
into some overproduced Cold War action movie. In any given year, the development of the B-2 was a small line item in the overall defense budget, but the long-term plans for the bomber would be realized at a staggering cost, over time. At anywhere from $1
billion to $2 billion per plane, it seemed a colossal misuse of taxpayer monies--and a misguided defense strategy, to boot--and I never understood why we needed to fly a plane inside the Soviet Union in the middle of a nuclear war. It made no sense.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p. 92-94
May 23, 2007
On Budget & Economy:
1989 had 3 budgets: Democrats'; President's; and Kasich's
I was overwhelmed because both 1989 budgets were deeply flawed proposals. Bush the First, his budget was terrible. And the Democratic budget was even worse. So I went back to my office and announced to my staff that we would write our own budget.In
1989 there was offered on the House floor the President's budget, and the Democrats' rebuttal budget, and the Kasich budget. The Democratic budget received 230 votes. The Bush budget received 213 votes. The Kasich budget received 30 votes.
Every year
I offered my own budget for consideration, and my 3rd or 4th year my budget received more votes than the President got for his budget, and in so doing I learned a few things about leadership. Leadership is not talking. Leadership is doing.
Every time they beat my budget on the floor of the House and I lay there in a bloody heap, people knew I was committed. It wasn't talk. It was action.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p. 84-86
May 10, 2006
On Budget & Economy:
1995 shutdown led to first balanced budget in 40 years
In 1995 when the Republicans won the majority I became chairman of the House Budget Committee. We were poised and ready to balance the budget for the first time since man walked on the moon.As it happened, Pres. Clinton wanted to phony up the numbers
on this first go-round, so we shut down the government. I look back and think it was one of the greatest moments of my career. Why? Well, typically, politicians make their decisions based on votes. And yet in at least this one instance politicians set
aside these concerns and stood up for what was right. For our children. For our shared future. For America. For this one battle, for the time being, we forgot about politics and focused on good government, and if we had to take a beating for it then so b
it. And as a direct result of that government shutdown in 1995, we wrote a bill that provided for the first balanced budget in nearly forty years and allowed us to pay down the largest chunk of our staggering national debt in the history of this country.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p. 86-87
May 10, 2006
On Budget & Economy:
Sarbanes-Oxley deters legitimate American business
Mutual funds were established in the early 1900s as a way for the average investor to participate in the markets without the benefit of deep pockets. They have lately been operating under such a cloud of suspicion that many people have taken their
investment dollars elsewhere.The cleanup continues, and frankly I don't think we're doing a good job of it. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, hailed as the most significant change to federal securities laws since the New Deal, has had a deleterious
effect on American business. I see it as a clear case of the government overreacting to a serious problem, one that can't be solved through legislation. Why? Well, for one thing, you can't legislate ethical behavior; you either know the difference betwee
right and wrong, or you don't.
On the positive side, Sarbanes-Oxley has established a strong set of internal controls. But they've been a deterrent to legitimate American businesses. They've put many honest businessmen and women on the defensive.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p.135-136
May 10, 2006
On Civil Rights:
Made speech in high school to ease tensions during race riot
When I was old enough, I borrowed a page from my mother and stood tall for what I felt was right. There was a race riot in our school. There were precious few blacks among our student body, but there was enough tension to get a full-fledged riot
going, and I took the microphone at a school board meeting and berated the community for not doing enough to ease the tension. I didn't think about it; I just stood and said my piece. And do you know what? Folks listened.
I was barely seventeen years old, confronting several hundred adults in a real crisis situation, shining what I hoped was a positive, hopeful light, and I somehow got to the heart of the matter and stilled the crowd. Why? Because
I'd seen my mother argue with anybody about anything--as long as she believed in it. Because it seemed to me to be the right thing to do. Because it was in my bones. Because it needed doing.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p. 51
May 10, 2006
On Drugs:
Refuse to celebrate the drug-filled lifestyle
Be mindful. Be vigilant. Demand better--of one another, and of ourselves. These are our marching orders. - Go ahead and lend a hand to your neighbor in distress--or even to a stranger whose path you just happened to cross.
-
Go ahead and tell your kid you won't buy him that Randy Moss jersey, because Randy Moss represents everything that's crass and off-putting about professional sports.
- Go ahead and turn off MTV when "The
Osbournes" comes on, and refuse to celebrate the drug-filled lifestyle it depicts.
- Go ahead and share your gifts with the world around you, even if those gifts have nothing to do with what you do for a living.
-
Go ahead and do what you can, where you can, whenever you can--because that's leadership, and it's in the doing, the taking care.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p.229-230
May 10, 2006
On Education:
Our broken public school system is beyond fixing
Our primary and secondary school system simply doesn't work. I'm not alone in suggesting that it's not about to work any time soon.We simply don't have the rigor, the control in the classroom, the innovation, or the personnel to keep pace.
Our public school leaders are reluctant to take any action or bring about substantive change because they're afraid they're going to get sued, or they fear the loss of market share,
or they worry they'll innovate themselves straight out of their own jobs,
Our public school system is log jammed, broken-down, paralyzed... and it's been unable to reform itself.
That's because it's beyond fixing, I'm afraid. I'm not just talking about schools in our inner cities; the problem runs to our small towns as well, and all across the country.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p.176-178
May 10, 2006
On Education:
Competition is what's missing from public school monopoly
The reason America can boast the finest system of higher education in the world is because colleges and universities compete for the right to teach our children , and yet it's this very competition that's missing from our primary and secondary
school system. The little red schoolhouses that sprang up in the eighteenth century are in desperate need of refurbishing, but there's no incentive to rebuild because the public school establishment has a kind of monopoly.
There are private schools where the spirit of competition is alive and well, and more and more we're seeing families of means opt out of public schools, but many parents can't afford to make that kind of choice for their children.
Why shouldn't every parent have the right to choose where their children go to school? Why shouldn't teachers have to compete for the right to educate students?
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p.185-186
May 10, 2006
On Education:
Not enough money for public schools? Aw, give me a break!
For too long now, the rallying cry among public school educators has been that if they just had enough money they could fix the problem. Aw, give me a break! Money is not going to fix the problems endemic to our primary and secondary system for our littl
red schoolhouses--and we do our kids a great disservice when we hide behind this argument.Parents get in line hoping to get a spot for their children in a new charter school program that was to begin the following school year.
I came away thinking we have no choice but to open up all of our schools in just this way, so that we can finally put some teeth into the "No Child Left
Behind" mantra that passes for an education policy these days, and if we can't give parents full choice on the education of their own children then we ought to at least fight for a robust charter school movement.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p.191-193
May 10, 2006
On Families & Children:
Being a father is all about setting an example
I started looking at the world through a different lens once I became a father. I got around to it fairly late, and when I finally did I caught myself second-guessing a lot of my decisions, and wondering how my actions might make me look to my kids.
Big things and small, it's all about setting an example, and taking the lead, so I make sure to keep my seat belt on even when I'm in the driveway, and
I make sure to treat people decently, even when it's one of those telemarketers who seem always to interrupt us during dinner. Don't tell your daughters one thing and do something else, I've learned, because they don't care what you say; they care
what you do, and they remember what you do, and they learn from what you do. Oh, you better believe it.We should live like we're being monitored, because we are. We ARE being watched. We ARE setting an example. We ARE being judged.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p. 26-27
May 10, 2006
On Families & Children:
Yesterday's R movies have become today's PG fare
I will never understand how yesterdays' R movies have become today's PG fare, and how what used to be unthinkable on prime-time network television is now so pervasive that most of us don't even think about it. I will never stop seeking the national
conscience that ought to lie beneath everything that passes for entertainment.And so I cringe instead, at the general coarsening of America's ethical standards, and when I'm done cringing I get to wondering if I've become so out of touch with the
mores and manners of our popular culture that my own standards come across as old-fashioned.
I bought a new hip-hop CD, "Roots". I'm not a moralizer, and I like to think I have an open mind, but I've got to tell you
I couldn't open it wide enough to accept such as this, and as I listened to the CD I kept coming back to the language. I won't repeat any of it here. There was no justifying it, really. I threw the CD in the trash.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p.198-203
May 10, 2006
On Government Reform:
Limited government supported by our Judeo-Christian ethics
American is a special place because of our Founders' vision. They believed that a nation could be built on the back of self-governance, that making laws didn't necessarily give us the solutions that free markets and conscience-driven individuals would
also approve. They believed in the limits of government as much as they did in the power of government. And they believed that a free market economy and a limited government would be supported by our shared Judeo-Christian ethics to provide a fundamental
sense of duty and conscience to all American citizens. Indeed, our moral foundation continues to flow from the shared values that have been passed down for generations, and these values are simple, straightforward, and widely held: honesty, integrity,
personal responsibility, faith, humility, accountability, compassion, forgiveness. They're a part of us, whether or not we want to cop to them. What's wrong with America is that on a societal level we have swung away from these fundamental values.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p. 3-4
May 10, 2006
On Government Reform:
1970s: No judge pay raise until state employee pay raise
In the State Senate in the 1970s, I found myself in another tense meeting with a group of local judges who were pushing for a pay raise, this at a time when state employees were feeling the economic strain of a decades-old wage scale.
I finally said, "Gentleman, I'm not going to vote for a pay raise for judges until our state employees get a raise."If any one of these guys had a gavel, he would have cited me with contempt of court. As it happened, all I got was their contempt.
These people were just furious with me, and I'm not sure I was right and that the judges weren't entitled to pay raises for all their hard work and good counsel, but I told them what I thought.
It was a priority to these judges, but only on a personal level; in my mind the lower-level state employees had to come first.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p. 81
May 10, 2006
On Government Reform:
Money affects ability to honestly assess policy situation
A great majority of the people who initially set out for a career in politics do so for reasons that are noble and admirable. It's what happens next that's got me so concerned. You need money to win elections--and yet it's the reliance on money that gets
us into trouble, and it's the insatiable desire for more of it that ultimately limits independence. You get your money from the people who have it, and too much of that money comes from special interest groups. Just because someone or some group gives
money to your campaign, it doesn't mean they own you. Like every other politician, I took money from special interest groups, but it never amounted to much, and these special interest groups became less inclined to contribute to my campaigns because they
could never count on getting anything in return. I worked hard to ensure that money never got in the way of my good judgment, but a lot of folks don't make that effort. It takes the edge off someone's ability to make an honest assessment of a situation.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p. 83-84
May 10, 2006
On Homeland Security:
Cheap Hawk: Strong on defense; tight with a dollar
In the 1980s on the Defense Committee, in addition to the Russians, another enemy was the status quo. I may have been strong on defense, but at the same time I was openly critical of the excess spending in every aspect of the federal budget, which cast m
as a kind of cheap hawk and served to essentially alienate me from everyone.I was astonished to discover wasteful spending in the Pentagon budget; I was even more astonished that hardly anyone was speaking out against it. The mantra in Washington at
that time was to trim the fat from our social welfare and entitlement programs. But to take the welfare out of the Pentagon? Well, to do so as a cheap hawk Republican, who walked the political tightrope of being strong on defense and tight with a dollar.
One of my congressional colleagues even called me a traitor to our country, that's how out there my position seemed to be among the hawks in the Republican Party, but my feeling was that we needed to ferret out this waste no matter where we found it.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p. 91-92
May 10, 2006
On Homeland Security:
Walked out when preacher opined against missiles in Europe
Today's preachers must be careful not to change platforms, and not to confuse their calling or the work of God with secular lawmaking.I'll never forget sitting one Sunday morning in an
Episcopal church, and for no good reason the minister started reading a letter from the bishops discussing why we shouldn't put missiles in Europe. I stood straight up and left. I thought, What do these bishops know about missiles in Europe?
Fact is, it was those very missiles in Europe that bolstered the historic negotiations that ultimately led to the tearing down of the
Berlin Wall, but I didn't walk out because the politics was all wrong. I walked out because right or wrong, it had no place in the church.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p.165-166
May 10, 2006
On Homeland Security:
Fire professor who said 9-11 victims brought on attack
Ward Churchill was a tenured professor at the University of Colorado. In a 2001 essay on the Sept. 11 attack, he called workers at the World Trade Center "little Eichmanns" and suggested that they might have in some way brought the attack upon themselves
When the dust settled, Churchill ended up resigning his post as department chair but he stayed on as a tenured professor.My own take was that he should have been fired, despite his tenure, because his freedom of speech should not extend to scurrilous
remarks that defile the memories of thousands of innocent men and women who died in those buildings. His comments, which he later claimed were intended as provocative, hit so many hateful, hurtful notes. Certainly, his speech should be protected, but tha
protection should not extend to his job, because with his comments he discredited himself and his university. A public institution like the University of Colorado should not be in the business of underwriting such invective with taxpayer monies.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p.182-183
May 10, 2006
On Immigration:
Post-Sept-11 open-door melting-pot is essentially intact
We are, at the bottom, a country built on the principles of Christianity and Judaism, and yet we make abundant room for Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and every other faith. Good for us. Good for ALL of us. Whoever you are, and whatever your beliefs, you ca
come and live among us.We've tightened up our borders a bit, since September 11, 2001, and in some communities our tolerance thresholds have been challenged as we attempt to coexist with our Arab friends, but America's open-door, melting-pot, inclusiv
approach remains essentially intact: You can build your temples here. But for the whole lot of us to survive, there needs to be that religious foundation, and there ought to be some uniformity within that foundation. Clearly, our Founding Fathers
recognized this as well--celebrating our Judeo-Christian principles in our Constitution. The Jewish and Christian religions that flow from these principles give us our shared conscience, and provide an essential bulwark for any free and dynamic society.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p. 24
May 10, 2006
On Principles & Values:
I don't care what you stand for, but stand for something
I can remember being in the Congress in 1994, sitting on the House floor as Pat Schroeder walked in. Pat was a liberal Democrat from Colorado whom I happened to like. I haven't seen much of her lately, but I like her, because
I have regard for people who don't think the way I think. Just so you think, that's all I ask. Take a stand. I don't care what you stand for, but stand for something. Believe in it, and work toward it, and talk me into it if you can.
That's how it was with Pat Schroeder and me, as it was with me and many of my Democratic colleagues throughout my political career. Remember, the
Democrats were in the majority at that time, and right or wrong it was seen as somewhat unusual for politicians of different striped to have a friendly conversation on the House floor, but that's precisely what we did.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p. 19
May 10, 2006
On Principles & Values:
Catholic Church has been unaccountable on sex abuse charges
I was an altar boy as a child, a card-carrying Catholic from a small, working-class church-abiding community. It's unbelievable and unacceptable to me that the Catholic
Church has not been completely accountable for the various scandals that have enveloped it. The molestation and sexual abuse charges. The duplicity. It's enough to drive a mailman's son from McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, to question his faith--until
I realize that we must separate the church from the individuals who presume to be in charge. People come and go, priests come and go, but it's the religion that matters. It's the religion that sustains us.
We all need to believe in something greater than ourselves and once we define that something we need to invest in it wholeheartedly. Not in the people who preach it or administer it but in the belief itself.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p. 22
May 10, 2006
On Principles & Values:
Always carries copy of St Augustine's "Confessions"
Where is our responsibility to stand tall in the face of low expectations? For me, the answer comes in a book written almost 2,000 years ago: St. Augustine's "Confessions". It's a tough little book, written in the 5th century, but I take it with me
wherever I go.St Augustine maintains that each of us has a special gift, and that it falls to each and every one of us to unwrap those gifts and share them with the rest of the world. I like that image a whole lot, because I look at gifts like I look
at stars. Have you ever seen an ugly star? I never have. They're all just magnificent. You look through the telescope and see that some of them are red and some of them are blue. And every last one seems just about as special and magnificent as a thing
can be, but none of them are quite the same.
That, to me, is a true gift. We find them in the heavens, and we find them here on earth. We find them in our friends & family, and we find them in ourselves. And, significantly, we find them in our leaders.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p. 36
May 10, 2006
On Principles & Values:
As college student, wrote to Pres. Nixon and then they met
[As a college student, I wrote to Nixon and was granted a 5-minute personal meeting.] I shook Richard Nixon's hand & sat down across from him. Right at his desk. I had never before been inside such an important moment.And just what did I do? I talked.
And the President listened. He asked a couple of questions, and I offered what I hoped weren't perfunctory answers. As I spoke I allowed myself to think I was making some kind of difference. It became clear as I talked that he was taking the opportunity
to gauge the mood on college campuses, just 7 months removed from the shootings at Kent State, but I didn't dwell on his agenda. What mattered to me was the opportunity.
The good news is that meeting lasted about 20 minutes. The bad news is I would
go on to spend 18 years in Congress, and if you add up all the time I spent alone in the Oval Office with various presidents you'll see if doesn't come close to those 20 minutes. I guess I peaked out at the age of 18. That's when I should have retired.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p. 60-61
May 10, 2006
On Principles & Values:
1970s: Beat entrenched incumbent state senator 56%-44%
In the 1970s, I became convinced that I could be a member of the legislature, and got it into my head to challenge an incumbent in my district named Robert O'Shaughnessy. I was 24 years old, and after only a year or two as a legislative aide I'd convince
myself that I could do a better job than any of the folks in elected office. I gave myself a two-year running start and had at it.Election night was pure pandemonium. Before the election, the local newspapers had some flattering things to say about my
campaign & about my potential, but none of the pundits figured I could pull it off. In fact, they all thought I would lose by a significant margin. The O'Shaughnessy name was too tough to beat, they all said. As it played out, though, the election wasn't
even close. I ended up with better than 56% of the vote, a giant margin in a contest like this--and a stunning victory. Took the entire state by surprise to where some folks started calling it the biggest upset in the history of the Ohio legislature.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p. 62-67
May 10, 2006
On Principles & Values:
2004: If Kerry OR Bush wins, America will be fine
The 2004 presidential election was a polarizing time. Leaders of each party whipped Americans into such a hyperventilated frenzy that otherwise intelligent Republicans started to believe that if Kerry won,America would cease to exist, while Democrats fel
sure that if Bush retained the White House we were all doomed.At one point a presumably well-informed woman asked me what would happen If John Kerry won. They very thought was anathema to this concerned woman. So I looked at her and calmly said, "The
country will be fine."
"What do you mean?" she shot back, aghast.
"Well," I said, "the Republicans would still control the House and the Senate. The bench would slowly become more liberal."
The woman looked at me like I had just given her permissio
to breathe a long sigh. "You mean it won't be the end of America as we know it?" she said.
"No, ma'am," I assured her. "America will survive."
Then she thanked me profusely, and I realized she might have been over the top but she wasn't alone.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p. 73-74
May 10, 2006
On Principles & Values:
2000: Ran for president until money ran out
I threw my hat in the ring as a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000. Recall, it had been one of my childhood dreams to become President, and here I caught myself thinking that even if my reach happened to exceed my grasp, I would
do well to reach just the same. I kept at it for as long as my money held out, and one of the main reasons I held on was because I believed deeply I what I was talking about. When I announced that I was folding the tent on my presidential campaign,
I also announced that I was retiring from Congress. Why? Because I had started to think there weren't enough hours left in my days for me to accomplish everything I wanted to accomplish in elected office, and that I could perhaps do some of those things
more effectively in the private sector. I could stand on outside looking in, and work to bring about change from a new perspective.Politicians have to ask themselves how they want to be remembered. What do we want that snapshot to be?
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p. 97-98
May 10, 2006
On Principles & Values:
I can't figure out how anyone gets along without the Bible
I read the Bible. I travel with one, in fact. Why? Because the Bible always has something new to teach me, some new way to look at the world, some ancient story that can't help but resonate in interesting ways against the backdrop of our times.
Plus, it's the greatest story ever told. Greed and charity, ruin and redemption, misery and hope.it's all right there. It's accessible, and at the same time it's beyond knowing, and I can't for the life of me figure how anyone gets along without it.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p.151
May 10, 2006
On Principles & Values:
Built relationship with God after parents died in car crash
My parents brought me to the doors of our church, but like many young people, I walked away.My parents were in their late sixties, in perfect health, looking ahead to a long, fulfilling retirement, when a drunk driver crashed into their car as they
were leaving a Burger King in August 1987.
My father had been killed. My mother was still alive when I got to the hospital, but I never got to tell her I loved her. When she died I sat for a while with my parents' pastor.
He said, "John, you've got t
decide right now if you want to build a relationship with God. You have a window of opportunity now, you're open to it, but in time that window will close. This pain will ease and you'll go back to the rest of your life."
Right there, I knew he was
right. And from that moment forward, I changed. Fully and truly. I was determined to build a real relationship with God, if He could stand for me as a strength & a direction. The REAL relationship was key. I wanted real, not learned. Not rote. Not dogma.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p.154-157
May 10, 2006
On Social Security:
More 18-year-olds believe in UFOs than in getting Soc.Sec.
We've increased our federal deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars, adding to the trillions of our national debt. We've blown an opportunity to take some of our surpluses and put them to work saving some of our biggest, most essential social programs
We've let Social Security deteriorate to where more 18-year-olds believe they stand a better chance of seeing a UFO in their lifetime than a Social Security check. We've seen health care costs spiral out of control, and unconscionable legal fees scare
honest, hardworking folks from starting or sustaining their own businesses. It's downright depressing if we don't look at the bigger picture, and the bigger picture is this: What goes around come around. For every valley, there's a peak.
Everything's on a pendulum, folks, and it's only a matter of time before fate and fortune swing back in our favor. We need look no further than our recent history to remind ourselves that such swings are the nature of the American beast.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p. 29
May 10, 2006
On Tax Reform:
1970s: In Ohio Senate, unwilling to raise taxes
In the 1970s in the Ohio Senate, when my own party decided to raise taxes, I wrote my own budget that addressed the fiscal problems of the state and allowed me to avoid breaking one of my chief campaign promises--namely, an unwillingness to raise taxes.
It angered my new colleagues, and I got slaughtered with it, but that didn't bother me. In fact, I was just pleased that I had a chance to present it.
(Indeed, many of my provisions were eventually enacted, which I took as a silver-lining-type compliment.) It was the only budget
I ever wrote in the legislature, but it would begin a pattern of going out on my own limb and crunching my own numbers that I would continue in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p. 68
May 10, 2006
On Technology:
Journalists should ask, "Am I reporting or pimping?"
Let us never forget the power of the printed word or the weight of a broadcast report, because Americans rely on all these sources of information. But at the same time let us never forget that ratings drive virtually every news-related decision in every
newsroom in this country.On my own FOX News show we must sometimes devote time to stories that appeal to our base instincts. I know the reality of my business, and I look to find a balance. Hopefully, you don't just do what feeds the beast, but you
offer stories and insights that give people a chance to learn something new. On our show, we've done stories on the United Nations, Sudan, Ukraine.before any other mainstream show would touch these topics.
The real question journalists of every stripe
should be asking is, "Am I pimping this story or am I reporting this story?" There's wide latitude in terms of what you say and write, just as there's great freedom in deciding which stories you'll cover in the first place.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p.217-218
May 10, 2006
On Technology:
Do better job labeling movies for graphic content
I was in my local video store looking for a movie to watch with my wife, Karen. The clerk in the store recommended "Fargo", a perversely dark crime story that had played to generally enthusiastic reviews. When Karen & I got to the part where they chop up
a guy in a grinder we looked at each other and thought, What the heck are we watching here? It was billed as a comedy, but it wasn't funny. It was graphic, and brutal, and completely unnecessary, and it rubbed us in so many wrong ways we had to shut the
thing off right there in the middle.Next morning, I got on the phone to Blockbuster and demanded that they take the movie off their shelves. The store manager finally threw up his hands and agreed to start doing a better job labeling movies for graphi
content--even well-reviewed, Academy Award-winning movies--and I contented myself with this small victory. I heard from friends that our local Blockbuster hadn't really done all that much in the way of labeling, which of course set me off all over again.
Source: Stand For Something, by John Kasich, p.222-223
May 10, 2006
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