Cities, Video Rental Stores, and Ultimate Frisbee

A couple weeks ago I wrote an article for ColeMcNeely.com about how I think Republicans should campaign harder in cities. The policies and ideas I’m proposing are not going to fly well with many Republicans, and they’re not going to fly well with the urban liberal who believes all Republicans are either theocratic racist Evangelicals or greedy Wall Street bankers hoarding corporate profits to pay for their private jets. Also, I’m a twenty year old kid who grew up in relatively affluent suburbs and haven’t lived in the heart of a city for very long, so there’s a very real possibility I might be completely wrong about the direction that cities need to take. I’m always willing to learn and be presented with different viewpoints, so if you read it and have any feedback, email me at [email protected] or tweet me @CaptainSidd.

It’s actually pretty interesting looking at the political split between urban and rural, because I don’t think that people are that far apart when it comes to most issues. Sure, there will be a few single issue voters motivated only by a few things like gun control or abortion but aside from those few wedge issues, I don’t the majority of Americans disagree a whole lot. It’s just the most extreme people on either side being vocal. One thing that I do want to talk about is LGBT rights, and that’s an area where I think the Republican Party needs to shift to left a little — at least become socially moderate. They don’t have to actively fight for LGBT rights, just accept that people are different and move on. But you see the passage of religious liberty laws, and those are the kind of laws that I think the party needs to stop focusing its energy on.

I support the idea of a religious liberty law, just not how it’s implemented. I think laws establishing that private individuals or businesses need not act or be involved in something that violates their morality or conscience or whatever are ok, even if they’re not the best use of a Representative’s time. The issue I have with them is lack of penalty for discriminating against customers on basis of sexual orientation. Granted, it’s one thing for a wedding caterer to cater a ceremony that they don’t agree with on religious grounds, but another thing entirely for a pizzeria to refuse to serve gay couples, and the latter isn’t ok. In the first case, the business owner is being asked to be a part of the ceremony, and they shouldn’t be obligated to serve the customer in that respect. A pizzeria has no such basis to claim exemption, and must therefore serve the customer.

To my fellow Eagles fans: if you’re not super excited about this season after watching this video, your Bleeding Green card has been revoked. Looking at our defensive line, we have 3 first round picks, 2 second round picks, a 3rd round pick, and an UDFA. That’s crazy amount of talent, and that’s not even considering the linebackers, secondary, and hopefully our new starting cornerback VH3. I just want it to be football season again. Also with regards to Philly sports, Allen Iverson was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame today, and I loved everything about the way he played — the passion, the swagger, and the never say die attitude. That’s all I have about one of the greats.

I actually live down the street from the Football Hall of Fame, and I still haven’t been there. Shameful, I know. But I did find something in Canton, Ohio that blew my mind: a video rental store. It cost me 50 cents to rent The Wedding Ringer for 3 days — how in the world is this place open and profitable???? It’s very strange. Plus it’s a franchise with location all over northeast Ohio, so apparently the people of northeast Ohio haven’t found out what Netflix is, which also explains my horrible success rate on Tinder.

Also something that happened recently — the ultimate frisbee season kicked off. I used to play ultimate frisbee in high school, and it makes me sad that I don’t have the time to play in college. It’s such a great sport, and nearly everyone that I’ve met while playing has been super friendly and fun to hang out with. Funny story — I was once interviewing for a company, and the person interviewing me wanted to know if I fit the company culture. I mention that I played ultimate in my spare time, and he figured that was enough, and gave me the job. Basically, I miss spending my time on a green field running down a white frisbee with some really amazing people.