Tag Archives: consultant

The blathering idiot and a word from our sponsor

The quest for the highest office in the land begins … again.

The blathering idiot and Lydia were sitting in a conference room with the consultant. The blathering idiot was about to go out to the podium and microphone and announce his candidacy for the highest office in the land.

“We have to do it now,” the consultant said. “June is National Accordion month. We are the Pro-Accordion Party. If we don’t announce now, what will people think?”

Lydia nodded. “He has a point.”

“Then why aren’t accordion makers sponsoring us?” the blathering idiot asked.

“Because there are no accordion makers in the U.S. They’re all made overseas and foreign companies and countries can’t buy elections.”
“But U.S. companies can?”

“That’s not what I meant,” the consultant said. He wiped the sweat from his brow. “Look, this was the best I could do. I will try for additional sponsors, but right now this is the only one, and unlike other parties and candidates, we need one. Hell, we need more than one.”

“I have to read all of it?”

Lydia touched his arm. “I will be out there with you. You read part of it. I’ll read part of it.”

“And the consultant will read part of it?”

“That’s not his job,” Lydia said.

“But it is mine?”

Lydia nodded. “Sadly, yes.”

Shaking his head, the blathering idiot walked to the next room and stepped up on podium. It looked out at the two, maybe three people who had come to hear his announcement.

“I, today, am again a candidate for the highest office in the land. I do this because … because …” From that point on, the blathering idiot rambled about making the country a better place, unifying the waring ideological factions, and giving a voice to the voiceless. He finished, turned, and started to leave. Lydia grabbed his arm and gently turned him around and handed him a piece of paper. The blathering idiot turned, cleared his throat, and read:

“And now a word from our sponsor: This campaign for the highest office in the land is brought to you by Puns in a Pak. Whether you buy one pack, two, or get the deep discount for buying by the gross, Puns in a Pak are shop-tested and well-lubricated – ready to slip into your casual conversation, work e-mail, or most intimate moment. Nothing lifts a trite phrase up out of the dust bin of inequity like Puns in a Pak. On sale today online or at your local grammarian shop. And for those politically minded, try our Puns in a PAC. Nothing says politics like Puns in a PAC. Ask us about our special Super-Pak PAC of puns, created especially for this election season. Puns in PAC, when nothing else will do.”

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The blathering idiot and the Pro-Accordion Party, part 6, the accordion and the door

The photo shot with the blathering idiot and the accordion as the candidate on the Pro-Accordion Party ticket for the highest office in the land was just short of being a disaster.

First, he was not a natural at holding the accordion and wondered if anybody every really was. It seemed an instrument better suited for playing sitting in a chair, or on a bar stool.

Then there was the fingering issue. They wanted him to look like he knew what he was playing and not simply have his fingers splayed across the keys as if he were randomly smashing them.

On top of that was the bellows. He needed to have the bellows open wide on some shorts and closed tight on other photographs.

“Remember our party slogan,” said the consultant with the florid lips. “Say it with me—”

The blathering idiot closed his eyes and said, “We are the party that is wide enough to welcome everybody and small enough to focus on your needs.”

In his imagination, the blathering idiot could picture the consultant made a motion with his hands, opening them wide on the first part and collapsing them together when he said small enough.

“No, no, no,” the consultant said. “The word is broad as in broad enough to welcome everybody but focused enough to understand your individual needs.”

“But I don’t know how to play the accordion,” the blathering idiot said for perhaps the fortieth time since this photography session had started.

“That’s okay,” the consultant said. “I’ve already told you that puts you in touch with most of our potential voters. They don’t know, either. It will give you the common touch.”

The blathering idiot opened his mouth to say something when the consultant said, “ I don’t care about you not wanting to be a common man. Get over it. You are.”

The blathering idiot looked at the door to the studio and willed it to open and for Lydia to walk through it with Xenia. Xenia was in school today, but she would understand all this and explain it to her. But right now she was in class learning to play the recorder. The blathering idiot wished he knew how to play the recorder, wished he was in her class learning right now.

But the door did not budge, and neither did the consultant.

The blathering idiot had a sinking feeling and he felt a little dizzy. He looked at the door again, and it appeared tilted, maybe even spinning.

Titled door from Twilight Zone

The blathering idiot had a sinking feeling, as if he might have just crossed over … into The Twilight Zone.

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The blathering idiot and the Pro-Accordion Party, part 5: the accordion and vegatables

Accordion

Sometimes not knowing is important … at least to your electability.

“But I don’t know how to play the accordion,” the blathering idiot said once he understood that he would be posing in ads with one.

“That’s okay,” the consultant said. “That will put you in touch with most of our potential voters. They don’t know, either. It will give you the common touch.”

“But I took this position as candidate for the highest office in the land so I wouldn’t be just another common man.”

The consultant looked at the blathering idiot for a moment and then shrugged.

“People want to feel they could sit down and have a beer with you.”

“But I don’t like beer,” the blathering idiot said. “I do like broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels Sprouts.”

The consultant’s nose scrunched up. “Well, we don’t have to let the voters know that.”

“You mean voters don’t like people who eat their vegetables?”

The consultant opened his mouth to say something, paused, and then closed his florid lips.

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Filed under blathering idiot, Photo by author, Pro-Accordion Party, Story by author