The Absolutely Positively Only Way The GOP Can Win In 2016 by Rick London

 As GOPs & former GOPs, from Susan Eisenhower to me and so many others, we’ve been warning to stop the (“creating Obama scandals, stop the sequester immediately…and get our GOP Congress to work on real job bills”). 

 The Tea Party claims they know best.  Here’s their best.  Obama’s approval rating up almost 10% since the “scandals” started, and Hilary’s has maintained an even keel, way above anyone who could possibly run against her (and expected to rise over the next year if this behavior continues). This is not from me, it is from the very conservative GALLUP POLL.  We’re trying to help, but you won’t listen.  So left to your own devices, you must know best.   

Want to win in 2016? I can tell  you how.  Find a VERY brave GOP Senator or Congressperson.  He/She’ll have a press conference.  He/she will say something like, “Benghazi is over. We know what we need to know to prevent another like asking Daryl Issa to stop defunding security (to the tune of 400 million dollars before the attack).  Besides it wouldn’t have mattered. We now know that Ambassador Stevens refused in writing any additional security.”  

“The IRS is an independent agency. We know Obama had nothing to do with that; he can’t.  AP got people killed. And more will be killed by exposing one of our spies in Al Queida. The Justice Dept begged them not to run the story for that reason. They were after “Pulitzers On Steroids”. 

“Today we will stop the sequester.  We will start jobs, and social politics is no longer a part of our agenda unless it is to make sure Obamacare is handled properly along with our Democrat and Independents across the aisle.  The war on women, gays, etc etc is over. Anyone caught pulling that crap is out of our club.” 

“In addition, we will be totally supportive and protect the 2^ND Amendment.  That means any monies from the NRA is going back to them and we are asking them for no more report cards or lobby money.  Nobody has done more to erode the 2^NDnd Amendment or the GOP and cause blood and carnage in the streets than the NRA. They are no friend of us, or the 2nd Amendment.  They are the fringe. Not their members, their directors and employees.  They began as a wonderful organization that taught gun safety to our youth, and ended up an incestuous Machiavellian lobbying firm for the gun makers and distributors.  They work extremely hard to keep military weaponry on American streets until ours look like Syria (and the former Iraq and Libya).  They will be long gone to a Polynesian Island counting their cash by the time America becomes that, but I assure you, it will be come that and probably worse, if they have their way.  They do nothing for the law abiding gun owner but hurt his/her chances of keeping his/her guns with their political shenanigans.”

“When a party decides “Umbrellagate” is now the juiciest scandal within the Beltway, trust me there are HUGE problems within the party. But, deep down we know that Obama has nothing to do with those “Scandals”.  We also know he is not an “out of control spender”.  Americans know that too.  That’s why we are losing.  We are lying with straight faces, and even allowing Fox News to do it for us when we need a break.    Meanwhile the deficit is shrinking much lower than we ever imagined (which is why we need to talk about that).  Give credit where credit is due.  What Obama did, worked.  What we are doing, is killing us. What we are forgetting, America is watching.  Furthermore, our party is shrinking yet again, and the Independent and Democratic party, like in 2011, are growing by leaps and bounds.  We don’t stand even a chance (and will lose most seats in 2014) if we continue creating “gotcha scandals”.  We need to get to work.  And stay there.  That’s what we were elected to do.”

“Please, wake up and get our once great party back, or continue this spiral until there is nothing left.  Really.  I’m not being condescending.  Our country runs best on a strong two party system. Right now we have a super-virile Democratic party and a VW Bug full of clowns throwing stones at their intelligence and virility, frankly because it scares us.  We know as a political party we used to ‘have that mojo’ but now its gone and there is no way to get it back.  Or is there?  Of course there is.”

“That’s Jr. High politics and why American GOPs keep jumping ship in huge numbers every single day.”

“I hope you know this press conference is not a slam. It is constructive criticism…actually of the most important kind.  It is not only suggesting change, but change that will require so much flexibility, so much bravery, and often letting go of toxic elements within ones own party.  Don’t think it can be done?  The Democrats did it.  Do you truly think they are that much better than you?   If you don’t believe it, watch in 2014.  Watch again in 2016. Please bookmark and save this blog so you can remember “who told you so” if you don’t make dramatic changes, big dramatic organized changes…like NOW. “

So what is written above, or something like it, is close to what a brilliant, brave, winning, GOP will not only say, but do with his/her actions by legislating and voting in the manner in which he/she speaks.  Look for that.  Look for what could be a reincarnation of Teddy Roosevelt or Abraham Lincoln.  And you’ve got your party back; stronger than it was before it turned into the circus that it is today.  And you know I’m not being unkind when I say that.  It has become a circus at best due to horrendous leadership, and as they say, ‘leader sets the tone’. “

Here’s the Gallup Poll Graph (A very conservative polling system) that shows Obama’s popularity rating before we started creating scandals, and now, nearly 10% up and we’re at our all time low.  They tend to agree with what I just wrote.   Thank you in advance in 2016.  May you surprise many, do the right thing, and win a lot of elections.

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Rick London is a writer, designer, and cartoonist.   He lives with his wife Lee Hiller-London who is the founder of nature photography blog HikeOurPlanet.com.  Together they hike and commune with nature in the Ouachita Mountains which they call their home. London founded Google #1 ranked offbeat cartoons and funny gifts “Londons Times in 1997.  Follow them on Twitter @RickLondon & @LeeHillerLondon.

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8 Secrets To Becoming The Most Brilliant Creative Entrepreneur In The World In Less Than Two Decades by Rick London

 

                   

   Am I the only one who, the older I get, the more I look for things to do?  I don’t mean go to the mall or neighborhood pub, etc.  That’s not my thing.  I mean in my business.  The funny thing is, every day I wake up there is plenty of things (mostly routine) to do, but the child in me is always looking for something new to create, expand make, produce, sell etc.

 

      About an hour into my morning coffee (I’m a slow drinker), the obsession starts.  “If I don’t create something so new and so different, the world, even my close friends and loving wife, will forget who I am or ever was.”

     Then I come to my senses.  I’m not a pimply-faced 12 year old who wonders why he’s no longer a boy but not yet a man, but it is amazing how fast that feeling can return if I’m not doing something productive.  I give myself permission to play on Twitter and facebook, and of course go mountain hiking with Lee but to me, that’s part of what I call un-work; regenerating or winding down, whatever one likes to call it.  I become a kid again in the forest. I love the flora the smells, the wildlife and yes, even the wildflowers.  If I didn’t  get out in nature far from the maddening crowd at least twice a week I’d explode.  In fact I think Lee has seen me explode once or twice and its so messy.  Fortunately Lee loves it too and it’s not only play for her but a major part of her work. 

 

      The great irony of it all is that I’m into my 15^th year of Londons Times Cartoons & Gifts and the large core of the work (not quite 5000 cartoons and about ¼ million gift items) are completed.  It didn’t seem like hard work but I know it was.  Actually more discipline than hard work, but staying focused and with a purpose.  I know that just about anyone could do what I have done (if they really wanted to).  Then I start thinking, “But who would want to”.  Then I remember, “Well there’s other nuts out there”.   In that 15 years at one time or another I was certain I was the “most brilliant entrepreneur in the world”.  Then I went back to school at age 47 and actually met some of the real most brilliant entrepreneurs in the world.  I learned humility. I would never come close to being so, but playing pretend can be fun.   I did learn some things from my amazing classmates and wonderful professors.   

       What Lee does is hard work too and she started Lee Hiller Designs very similarly to how I did, virtually with nothing but a computer, a brain and talent.  She got better as the years passed.  She is in her 5^th year and is still expanding and I love watching her work grow.  At first it was almost all nature photography.  Then she started experimented with her art which she’d given up in high school, only to find out it is a public favorite and sells on all types of items worldwide.  Her posters are very popular and several of them dawn our living room walls (next to my silly cartoons), but hey, I do my best.  Lee has about 30,000 products on the market and I remember when she started in late October of 2009.  I couldn’t believe her discipline and work ethic.   It continues and it’s contagious.

      In the strange economies in which we’ve lived the past three or four decades (on and off), I admire anyone who looks at obstacles as something to overcome, work hard, and keep a project or entrepreneurial venture alive.  It’s not magic and it’s not brain surgery.

 

      For us, this is what it took.  This is not the only way, but if a couple can agree upon it, and live it, they can go far (so can a non-couple)

Tear up your credit cards. Plastic surgery They look appealing when starting up a business, but they are not your friend (unless you own the credit card company) 

1 Pay with cash or debit cards (we rarely even use checks anymore).  We pay as we go. 

2 Advertise for free or cheap.  Why pay for major media or even overpriced newspapers, radio, or tv, when you can often reach as many if not more people consistently using social media.  We use it nonstop (even when we are not at the computer we use pre-scheduling software) which keeps our tweets going.  Many old-school twitterers pooh pooh that idea; but those are the types who often turn into life coaches and other type shadowy types, living on other’s blood and their credit cards, posting their various addresses (of which nobody cares or believes anyway), and don’t tend to do very well financially (or spiritually), which has been our observation. 

3 Never give up.  That’s become so common its cliché’.  I will add, “It’s okay to give up for a little while, an hour, a day or even a week”.  Everyone needs to regenerate and rest.  But know you are going back into the ring with a new plan.

4 It’s your business.  Use an attorney with agreements/contracts.  If you can’t afford an attorney, use one of the legal sites and get affordable agreements, but understand you are not as well protected, generally, as you are with a good attorney who understands your business needs (or even your business).  But they are better than nothing (usually).

5 Hype yourself.  No, nobody wants to know how ethical you are, brilliant you are, creative you are, moral you are, religious you are, etc etc., at least not from your lips.  If someone else says it about you,  it has a lot more credence. If you say it, intelligent people will tend to find people who really has at least one of those qualities and do business with them. 

6 Don’t be afraid of looking silly.  Why? Because no matter what, at some time or another in any startup, you are going to look fairly silly.  So prepare and realize it’s part of falling down and getting back up (which has happened to me more times than I’d like to count).

7 Use barter, talent and sweat-equity wherever and whenever you can. Your service or product is worth something to someone. Make a list of what you need, but perhaps cannot afford, and contact at least 20 people in that business offering your service or product for their service or product.  Out of 20, I usually have always gotten one positive bite. Different people have different thresholds, but the whole idea of a startup is every bit as much “a numbers game” as it is “a talent game”.

8. Scale down.  Have a car note or mortgage that is giving you nightmares?  This is where the tough decisions have to be made.  Sometimes we can’t have it all.  The good news is that a lot more people are scaling down than moving up; we are not in the “yuppie years” anymore.  We are all surviving the best we can.  So getting a smaller house, apartment or whatever might be the right move.  Lee and I have older cars that have been paid for for years.  We keep them serviced and they run like new.  We got a much smaller place, in a better location.  In NYC, our same place would be about $10,000 per month.  We pay a fraction. We have no car note.  At first it was not easy.  We’d both lived “in the burbs” and had picket fence homes in the past.   This is so much more manageable and anyone “turned off” by it doesn’t have to be a part of it (though most think its a very good idea and area doing similar things) and finding their bills are paid on time and worry of debt is not a big part of our lives.  If we can do that, anybody can. 

  Yes you can find venture capitalists but it’s not always as fun as it looks.  A venture capitalist is involved in many businesses and unless a close friend, generally only looks at the bottom line, not your potential (only you know that), and there are sites in which you can attempt to raise money online. If using one of those sites, offer back credits, not ownership. Own your own business.  That is why you got in it, isn’t it?  Aside from expressing yourself in our economy using commerce, it was for freedom, and nothing offers more freedom than being a successful creative entrepreneur. 

So with all this pent-up knowledge am I great, ethical, moral brilliant, etc?  Nahhhhh, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

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Rick London is a writer, songwriter, designer and cartoonist.  He founded Londons Times Offbeat Cartoons & Funny Gifts in 1997 which has been Google & Bing #1 ranked since 2005.   London has shops with funny t shirts and gifts such as Rick London Gifts and also designs Famous Quote Gifts at his RickLondonDesigns.com.  He is married to nature/wildlife photographer and blogger Lee Hiller-London who also owns designer affordable gifts at her Lee Hiller Designs shop.  Together they hike the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas where they live.