Apr. 23, 2008: Why it doesn't pay to care about politics
Did you hear about the kid who got suspended from school just because he wanted to meet Barack Obama?
More fallout from the Pennsylvania primary--a high school senior gets suspended for a day because he snuck out of school to go meet Barack Obama, who was making an appearance at a diner down the street. Obama even wrote him a note and everything!
It seems kinda sad to me that a young person is showing interest in politics and gets punished for it! They even took away the kid's title as senior class president. It seems a bit harsh, don't you think?
When I was a kid, I couldn't help but be interested in politics. I was surrounded by it! My dad, and to a lesser extent my mom, were very involved in politics..my dad even got psyched about races for things like appellate court judge!
I even went with my parents to various political functions. I did get to see Jimmy Carter give a speech while he was president. It was a big shindig for Congressman's Dave Obey's 10th anniversary in the House. My dad and I had front row seats, and I spent the whole time trying to get members of the Secret Service to smile at me. Even though I was 17 and reasonably cute, I was unsuccessful.
A couple years earlier than that, I went to a campaign event for Carter at the Stevens Point American Legion hall. I got to meet a very important person campaigning for him. His son Chip. Good old Chip Carter, what's he up to these days?
But nothing is quite as jaw-dropping as the very first political event I attended. I recall sitting on my dad's shoulders, trying to get a glimpse of presidential Edmund Muskie. When I did get to see him, I was very disappointed to learn he was not a giant fish.
