Reason.tv: Mr. Carey Goes to Cleveland - Drew Carey and Nick Gillespie talk to the Cleveland City Council about how to save Cleveland

Reason Saves Cleveland with Drew Carey, a Reason.tv original documentary series that proposes viable solutions to some of Cleveland's biggest problems, premiered in March 2010. The release made the front page (twice) of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and ruffled the feathers of at least one local writer.

The film also caught the attention of the Cleveland City Council, who invited Drew and Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie to Cleveland to discuss the ideas raised in the documentary.

This short video is a collection of highlights from Drew and Nick's 2.5 hour conversation with the Cleveland City Council on May 27.

Approximately 10 minutes. Produced, shot and edited by Paul Feine and Alex Manning.

Go to Reason.tv for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

Comments

[Warty]

My favorite part of the meeting was how all the councilmen made sure to explicitly tell everyone that they're not libertarians.

[Astrid]

Mine was when the councilman ask Drew Carey not to wear that jacket.

[Clich? Bandit]

Councilmen Ed Coleman of Indianapolis was looking to get Nick and the guys out to talk to Indianapolis. They might actually listed to what they have to say. Alas, i am not sure Ed has been able to contact them.

ho hum

[hmm]

Yay Ed.

In all seriousness even a short article looking at Indi and Ed wouldn't be all bad. But I'm a lil' bias.

[Matt]

In Indianapolis, you cannot build a new Kroger (across the street from two other grocery stores) without paying your respects to local warlords.

http://assets0.indy.com/posts/.....onon-trail

[hmm]

You have no idea of my experience with trees and citizens. Oh god the nightmares.

This isn't uncommon. Having worked forestry you are in a no win situation of the 5% that give a fuck half hate you for cutting a dangerous tree down and half hate you for leaving a tree that puts leaves in a gutter up. It's a thankless job.

[skr]

being a landscape architect, you have my sympathies.

[hmm]

I swear to god if you plant trees that get 40' diameter and 80 feet tall on 10 foot centers 8 feet from a building I will hunt you down and beat you with a Robinia pseudoacacia limb!!!

Okay, maybe I will just post mean spirited threatening posts and do nothing.

[Subsidize Me!]

It's the political equivalent of "no homo."

[Ragin Cajun]

"What the hell do they want to do? Privatize everything?"

[Waggoneer]

Councilmember: "...all we can do is arrest people, pick up trash and fill the potholes in the road."
libertarian: What do you mean, "public" garbage collection?

[Episiarch]

Isn't Cleveland in Canada?

[Warty]

You say that from Seattle, you drug-addled wreck.

[Episiarch]

The Browns are a field hockey team, right?

[Ragin Cajun]

No, they suck at that, too.

[Warty]

They're the #2 team in the U.S. Crippled Women's Field Hockey League, dude. That's nothing to sneeze at.

[Episiarch]

Ohio is a province, right?

[Warty]

Ohio is a state of mind.

[Tomcat1066]

In other words, it's a mental condition?

[Episiarch]

Devo came from PA, right?

[Timon19]

You take that back, Epi.

[Episiarch]

Or was it Michigan that Devo came from? I can't remember.

[Timon19]

Maynard went to college in Michigan.

[?]

DEVO were from Akron, a small town in Manitoba.

[Episiarch]

This makes sense, as Devo are not men, and people from Manitoba (well, all of Canada, really) aren't human.

[Timon19]

You're trying very hard. Too hard.

[Episiarch]

Be stiff, Timon.

[Timon19]

Are you hitting on me?

[Episiarch]

Do you want me to?

[Timon19]

Maybe...

[Warty]

Marilyn Manson: Ohio's prodigal son.

[Butts Wagner]

What are you trying to say about Florida?

[Zeb]

It's America's wang.

[skr]

Marilyn Manson is from my hometown, as is Macy Gray and Boz Scaggs. Trent Reznor was born in Ohio. They all however leave.

[Warty]

Trent Reznor was born in Mercer, PA.

I was born in your hometown, skr. Contemplate that on the Tree of Woe.

[Timon19]

British Columbia says "what?"

[Pro Libertate]

What difference does it make? All of those Rust Belt towns are the same.

[Timon19]

France v Mexico has kicked off.

Allez les Bleus!

Mexico seems to have huge support. HUGE.

[Timon19]

Bahahaha! Gio Franco got booked for encroachment.

[hmm]

Mexico seems to have huge support. HUGE.

Genetics.

[Timon19]

Doubtful. They often exhibit an alarming case of Little Man Syndrome, especially anytime it comes to the US and soccer.

[sage]

Who do you think is more dangerous: a skilled football player with a tiny penis, or a skilled football player with a giant floppy horsecock?

[Timon19]

The one with the gun.

[The Mexicans]

Beaner Power!

[Warty]

Plagiarism! Should I be flattered or enraged?

[Groovus Maximus]

It depends if sage spits or swallows. I'll let you make that call based on your preferences, Wartington.

[sage]

Flattered. I laughed for about four miles yesterday.

And I don't do that, Dr. G. All the Actiq suckers in the world wouldn't dull that memory.

[Warty]

What you need is some coca candy. That'll numb the shit out of your mouth.

[sage]

I may have to get that for her.

[hmm]

You dirty minded fucks. I was talking about Mexicans inherent genetic disposition to play soccer!

[Timon19]

Lots of chances both ways so far.

[Timon19]

Carlos Vela out due to injury only 30 minutes in! Very interesting.

[dbcooper]

Some of the mexican players look pretty mean. Or perhaps I've been watching to much gang themed TV recently.

[Timon19]

Just pray they don't trot out Blanco.

[Timon19]

Toulalan booked right on the stroke of halftime.

No score. First 30 minutes or so were frantic with lots of chances. Last 15 were calmer.

[Timon19]

Mexico subs out Juarez, who will be suspended for the 3rd group game anyway.

[Timon19]

Blanco is on. Age 37. Weight 230 lbs.

[Timon19]

Javier Hernandez scores for El Tri.

Fuck.

[Timon19]

75th minute, still 1-0 Mexico.

[Timon19]

Mexico cheats their way to a penalty. Blanco to take the PK...

2-0 and France is done.

78th minute.

[Pro Libertate]

Crap--missed the old game. Damned job.

I expected Mexico to win. I thought they were better than their first game indicated.

[BakedPenguin]

Merde. Maudit esp?ce de cul Mexicains!

[Pro Libertate]

Adios, suckers! Oh, I'm sorry. Au revoir.

[Timon19]

I fucking hate El Tri.

[BakedPenguin]

I fucking hate El Tri.

And now Les Bleus will need to wipe the floor with South Africa, while Uruguay will have to do the same to Mexico to keep them out of the knockout round.

Fuck.

[Pro Libertate]

I'm willing to root (in the non-Australian sense) for Mexico. . .unless they get in the U.S. team's way.

[hmm]

Was the whole thing taped and if so make it available you assclowns.

[Ragin Cajun]

Damn, the quality of that video was much better than trying to watch it live. I actually know what the city councilmen look like now.

[Tyler Nixon]

It was nice they had Gillespie and Carey in for a talk. 1 will get you 10 that is far as it ever goes with that bunch.

I have fought my own City's Council and Government on a seemingly endless stream of idiotically anti-citizen and ultimately self-defeating moves (at least as far the city's economic viability) [read: eminent domain abuse, incessant tax hikes, fee increases, parking enforcement zealotry, abrasive personnel and abusive practices, organized labor trough-slopping and on and on].

Unfortunately in just this short flick I recognize the exact same type and tone of metastatic inertia and myopic dead-end bloviating as you get from every garden variety turf-protecting double-talking and ultimately double-dealing urban politician.

For all their grandstanding they boil down to pseudo-serious front men/women for the self-dealing bureaucratic bloat and the status quo machine, whatever form that takes in any particular city.

If these people had a clue they wouldn't be 4th tier political wannabes pretending to agonize over how to fix the ongoing results of their own incompetence, only to revert to the same old same old when decision time comes.

They are pros at wasting the time of anyone with novel ideas/solutions, while any camera happens to be running.

It was a worthy effort from Drew and Nick nonetheless.

[Chad]

"parking enforcement zealotry" = tax on stupid assholes.

They should be jacked even higher.

[Nash]

Regressive taxation can hurt the poor. Why are you so heartless?

[Jo Denny]

ROTFL, just who does that egg head think he is.

Lou
http://www.feds-logging.at.tc

[Tim]

Would Cleve even recognize his land today?

[Jose Ortega y Gasset]

Carey has the real solution for Cleveland... get the fuck out and don't look back. I get the whole hometown nostalgia thing, but Drew, you can't fight Darwin, baby. Look at the bright side... in 100 years, you'll be able to watch specials about when Cleveland roamed the earth on the Discovery Channel.

[-]

I saw that show, but I think it was called 1000 Years After People.
Cleveland looked exactly the same.

[Jose Ortega y Gasset]

Carey has the real solution for Cleveland... get the fuck out and don't look back. I get the whole hometown nostalgia thing, but Drew, you can't fight Darwin, baby. Look at the bright side... in 100 years, you'll be able to watch specials about when Cleveland roamed the earth on the Discovery Channel.

[Tim]

Yeah, the solution to Cleveland is to move to Texas.

[Warty]

That's my plan, as soon as I get my next worthless piece of paper.

[Spoonman.]

Nice! Where?

[BakedPenguin]

Ohio has the best laws regarding marijuana possession in the country. It might have absolutely nothing else going for it, but that still counts for something.

[BakedPenguin]

Here's the link.

[Warty]

Not sure. I'll figure that out once I'm Dr. Warty.

[Chad]

Yeah, Tim. Just LOOK at how much higher taxes are in OH than TX!

http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/335.html

It's always funny to watch libertarians squirm after you point out that they simply ASSUMED the data supported their argument, and clearly didn't bother to even spend a minute checking.

You guys are a real treat.

Btw, TX has no income taxes but some of the highest property tax rates in the nation. The sales tax is fairly high, too. Pick yer poison.

[Warty]

Who gives a shit about taxes, you self-fellating baboon? Texas has a functioning economy, and Ohio doesn't.

Besides, everything in Texas is shaped like Texas. That's the main reason why I love the place so much.

[Chad]

A libertarian saying "Who gives a shit about taxes". You really are making my day...rofl

People are moving southwest, primarily from the rust belt to the sun belt, and it has nothing to do with your precious tax policy.

[Ragin Cajun]

Since the data shows that TX has the 43rd highest taxes in the nation, and OH is at 7th highest, I have to conclude you are a fuckwit. Of the highest order.

[Chad]

You aren't getting my point: there isn't much of a difference between one state and the next, as they all fall over a narrow range.

Btw, if you plot the overall tax burden of each state vs its per capita income, you find that higher taxes = higher incomes, not the reverse. Go ahead and check for yourself.

[Tim]

Actually, I don't live in Texas...

[Tim]

Testifying to the Cleveland City Council is about as fruitful as Chuck Heston testifying before Dr. Zaius on the Forbidden Zone.

[Pro Libertate]

Well, now, that did work out for him, in the end. In fact, after a little more time had passed, he was able to finish the job of his maniac friends. Yes, he blew it up.

Does his nuking of the Earth damn him to hell as well?

[Tim]

penetrating insight.

[P Brooks]

Seriously, this time they'll get it!

[Tim]

Background dude at the Apple laptop looks like the insurance executive from "The Incredibles"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bob: Did I do something illegal?
Gilbert Huph: [begrudgingly] No.
Bob: Are you saying we shouldn't help our customers?
Gilbert Huph: [pacing back and forth] The law requires that I answer no.
Bob: We're supposed to help people!
Gilbert Huph: We're supposed to help *our* people! Starting with our stockholders, Bob! Who's helping them out, Huh?

[LeBron James]

Really, it's too late for Cleveland. Cleveland is toast.

How about, how to save Austin or Raleigh or Pheonix or Tampa -- a city that still has a chance.

Cleveland is toast.

[&]

Mass suicide in Cleveland on July 1, LeBron?
C'mon, you can tell me.

[Jim]

There's no way Lebron signs on July 1. He's going to draw it out Favre-like before he goes to a new team where he will continue to not win titles.

[&]

The deadline to announce his intent is July 1, unless I've been lied to by ESPN, the smug bastards.

[Jim]

Fair enough. I thought you meant he would sign on July 1 (just because he declares himself a free agent doesn't mean he can't still sign with Cleveland .... oh man, I can't even write that without laughing).

[&]

It's my understanding that he'll make much more money if he signs with Cleveland by the deadline. If he enters free agency, he'll have to settle for less, even if he does indeed eventually settle with Cleveland, which, at that point, wouldn't make much sense, unless he wants to draw out Cleveland's agony as long as he possible can.

[Jason]

Carey and the Reason Foundation, a Los Angeles-based libertarian think tank, have teamed up to produce "Reason Saves Cleveland," a series of short videos tackling, and ostensibly solving, our city's most pressing problems. From Los Angeles, where both Carey and Reason are based.

Those damn California liberals!

[Jim]

I'm glad they invited you there, but it seems their point was only to act as PR flaks for Cleveland. So, in the end, a waste of time.

[Boogity]

Holy shit, that blonde at the end of the clip was hot.

[hieronymus]

...and pregnant.

[Cyto]

Nice effort guys.... Judging by your clips I don't think most of them understood a word you were saying... but nice effort.

The quip about "then all we'd be doing is fixing potholes, arresting people and picking up the garbage" was priceless. It showed the bureaucratic turf-protecting attitude and the failure to comprehend the basic point all in one tidy little package.

[BoscoH]

I thought the one councilman really got it when he said the city should just arrest people who get out of hand and fix potholes. That would be a great start.

[fashion vibramfivefingers]

My favorite part of the meeting was how all the councilmen made sure to explicitly tell everyone that they're not libertarians

[vibram five fingers]

Really trustworthy blog. Please keep updating with great posts like this one. I have booked marked your site and am about to email it to a few friends of mine that I know would enjoy reading..

[Scarpe Nike]

is good

[Warty]

Jesus Fuck, enough already, dude.

[Brian Sorgatz]

I'll shut up as soon as my blood stops boiling. Till then, I'll have to depend on the principle that a squeaky wheel gets greased.

The personal and the political aren't identical, but they do overlap. My quarrel with my parents has much to do with the spirit of libertarianism, so deal with it.

[Fist of Etiquette]

What are you responding to, Warty? Something's missing here.

[Chipotle]

My quarrel with my parents has much to do with the spirit of libertarianism

Jumbo Shrimp.

[Brian Sorgatz]

Yeah, and Grape Nuts has no grapes or nuts in it. What's the deal with that?

[Chipotle]

Grown men sponging off their parents seem to lack nuts as well.

[Brian Sorgatz]

Unless the sponging can be rationally defended as reparations for years of authoritarian mind-fucking. Whenever I dared to disagree with an elder on any subject, I was "arrogant." After all that repression and intimidation, pride in self-reliance is a hopeless cause.

[Tomcat1066]

So? Life's hard. Wear a helmet.

[hmm]

My advice is STFU.

Did the original post get removed. If so you have been pwned biatch. I hope someone is teabagging you now.

[Groovus Maximus]

Apparently, Mr. Sorgatz has some sort of blog dedicated to his regrettable family issues. While unfortunate as that may be, Mr. Sorgatz apparently wishes a verbal arrowroot cookie or some mental zwieback from other posters. It was a terrible threadjack and was deemed memory hole-able.

[Brian Sorgatz]

If you could only see what my Sitemeter account is showing me, Humjob, you wouldn't be so quick to call me pwned. That's all I want to say about that for now.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Thanks for the 411, Groovman. I was thinking the Wartster had had enough of Reason and the City of Cleveland (and also had a magical first comment indenting tag).

[sage]

Mr. Sorgatz has some sort of blog dedicated to his regrettable family issues.

Does he happen to have whiteface and black lipstick?

[nobody]

That's all I want to say about that for now.

Thank god.

[Tomcat1066]

Just remember Brian, they're laughing at you, not with you.

[hmm]

Don't worry. You'll be broke on the corner sucking cock for beer/rent money in no time.

[Episiarch]

No, just mommy and daddy issues that make Norman Bates look like Cliff Huxtable.

[Groovus Maximus]

I could write a case study on this, assuming even half of that stuff is true.

Wow.

[Episiarch]

Yeah, and then realize he's coming here--where we are more vicious than Christian Bale being interrupted during shooting--to look for sympathy/help/discussion/whatever.

[Pro Libertate]

Gosh, not only am I a libertarian, I'm also a parent with fascistic tendencies.

I have strange visions of one of my kids posting here in about twenty years.

[Groovus Maximus]

Remember when I asked if you named on of your kids Leto and though it was a swell idea? I rescind that idea.

[Jim]

I don't see a disconnect there.

[skr]

yes we are laughing at you. Get over it loser.

[Pro Libertate]

Whatever do you mean? I rule with the consent of the governed. Because if they don't consent, I'll bring in new subjects that look just like them.

[Flex Nasty B.I.G.]

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[Groovus Maximus]

You are the K H. That means your spawn will be a God Emperor and quite the tyrant. He will be the only one posting here, as thinking machines will have been banned (excellent analogy for internet censorship).

[Pro Libertate]

Well, there are a few problems with what you are saying. First, the God Emperor's whole Golden Path serves to save humanity from extinction.

Second, while he continues the ban on thinking machines for hoi polloi like you Suks, he keeps them for himself.