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Since frequent Cam and Company guest Ted Nugent is a “De Pasquale’s Dozen” alum, I had to ask him about Edwards’ show. He said, “The tip of the culture war spear is the right to keep and bear arms. The mighty NRA and our voice on Cam & Co keeps the self-evident truth alive and well, and because of Cam’s down to earth, believable delivery, has inspired legions to become active voices to educate and celebrate the God given right to self defense.”
You can’t get any better than a seal of approval from Uncle Ted himself.
Each week the De Pasquale's Dozen asks political figures and free market-minded writers and entertainers to take a break from politics and talk about their pop culture obsessions.
1. If there were a television channel that showed only one movie over and over, what movie should it be?
I think that channel exists and is already showing Office Space because that movie always seems to be on TV when I turn it on. However, if I get to add another channel I'm going with the 80's masterpiece Red Dawn . It has action, drama, romance, a great cast, a pro-2nd Amendment message, and is a fantastic cultural relic of the Cold War. It never gets old for me.
2. What’s one of your favorite movie quotes?
"I want my two dollars!" from Better Off Dead . I think it's time to set the record straight. John Cusack OWED that kid money, and all the little dude was doing was trying to collect a debt. We used to admire that kind of tenacity, doggone it. Hell, I'd be impressed with a kid having a paper route today.
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3. In A Clockwork Orange , Malcolm McDowell is strapped in with his eyes propped open and forced to watch images until he was "cured." If you could give President Obama, Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Leader Harry Reid the "Clockwork Orange treatment," what movie would you make them watch?
I'm going to cheat a little bit, because I'd actually like them to watch the John Adams HBO mini-series. Paul Giamatti is amazing to watch, and I'd like to think you can't help but get it after watching that over and over for a few weeks.
4. What pop culture souvenir do you own that people would be surprised to learn that you cherish?
I'm a Boston Red Sox nut, so it might surprise people that one of my prized possessions is a 1956 Jackie Robinson Topps Baseball card. When I was a kid I read Roger Kahn's The Boys of Summer and from that moment on I was a Jackie Robinson fan. When I was 12, I ended up trading a rookie Michael Jordan card for that 1956 Jackie Robinson. Financially, I got the short end of the stick, but I've never regretted the trade. Jackie Robinson was a true example of grace under pressure and a remarkably brave American.
5. What's your current “guilty pleasure” non-news television show?
I don't watch a lot of television, but for the past couple of seasons my guilty pleasure show has been “The Sing Off.” Yes, the a capella singing show. And no, I've never been in a barbershop quartet.
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6. What’s the best present you ever received as a child?
When I was 12, my mom managed to save the money to send me to Space Camp (yes, this was about the same time the movie with a young Joaquin Phoenix came out). It was an incredibly cool experience, though I was disappointed to learn that Kate Capshaw wasn't really an instructor.
7. What was the first rock concert you ever attended and where did you sit and who went with you?
My very first concert was Shaun Cassidy, but it doesn't count because A) he's not "rock" and B) I was four and was dragged there by my older siblings. I prefer to think Van Halen's 1984 tour stop in Oklahoma City as my first rock concert. We sat almost perpendicular to the stage about 30 rows up, and my cousin and her daughter (who must have been eight) were in attendance. I distinctly remember her trying to cover my ears so I couldn't hear David Lee Roth's between-song banter. Didn't work. I learned several new words that evening!
8. What advice do you remember your mother or father giving you? Did you take it?
It wasn't really advice... more of an edict, but my mother always told me growing up that I should "leave the world a better place than you found it", so that's what I've tried to do.
9. If Republicans and Democrats had theme songs for 2012 what would they be?
For Obama, I'd go with "Under My Thumb" by the Rolling Stones, since it seems that's where he'd like us to be. For Romney, I immediately thought of Cheap Trick's "I Want You To Want Me".
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10. What’s your favorite item in the National Firearms Museum?
I love the Mayflower Gun in the National Firearms Museum, but it really is tough to pick just one. I can get lost in that place for hours. It's one of DC's true hidden treasures.
11. What books are on your summer reading list?
I finished The Tyranny of Cliches a few weeks ago and loved it. I also enjoyed Tyler Cowen's An Economist Gets Lunch . Right now I'm reading a biography of Aaron Burr called American Emperor , and after that it's Kurt Schlichter's new e-book I Am A Conservative . I'm actually hoping to do more writing than reading this summer, though.
12. Tell me about the moment you decided to enter the political arena.
I wasn't raised by conservatives, and was fairly apolitical (and sheep-like) until I got married at the ripe old age of 23, and became a stepfather to a 6-year old son and an 11-year old daughter. Becoming the head of a household of four at that age was a life-changing experience for me, and ultimately formed my political philosophy. Until that point, I'd basically gone along with my parents' political beliefs, but as I threw myself head first into being a good husband and father, I found my point of view "evolving" (if we can still use that word). And working at KTOK in Oklahoma City as a reporter and ultimately a talk show host, I was lucky to have mentors like Mike McCarville (a veteran of Oklahoma politics) and Jerry Bohnen (my news director and one of the best journalists I know). KTOK carried Rush Limbaugh, and I'd listen to him for several hours a week as well. The exposure to conservative thought and my own experiences with a new family are ultimately responsible for my conservatism today.
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