Hot Air video contest: Tell us your story of federal regulation
posted at 8:48 am on April 20, 2010 by Ed Morrissey
After writing about the new EPA effort to outsource its propaganda needs by holding a contest for the best 60- to 90-second video ad extolling the value of federal regulation, a number of people suggested that Hot Air could best counter that propaganda with some grassroots, real-life examples of federal regulation out of control. Sounds like a great idea to me!
After consulting with the Salem Communications home office, we’re pleased to announce the launch of a new contest for video submissions that show the danger and damage that existing federal regulation already does! What are the rules? They mainly parallel those of the EPA contest:
- Brevity is the soul of wit, but 90 seconds seems like a rather short time frame. Let’s stipulate that the videos should be 3 minutes or less in order to be accepted.
- Videos must be original content, or its media clips must fall within the doctrine of fair use.
- Don’t send the raw video files; upload the video to YouTube, Daily Motion, Viddler, Live Leak, or another service that provides embed code for blogs.
- Make it entertaining, but explain clearly how federal regulation harmed you or someone you know well.
- No profanity, nudity, or vulgarity.
Links to videos uploaded to these services should be sent to videos-at-edmorrissey.com (please don’t send them to the Tips line), where I will review them and post those entertaining enough to generate some interest, including links back to home blogs for the contestants. The contest will run for two weeks, until May 3rd, when I’ll put together a team of judges to vote on the winner.
And what does the best video get? Instead of a Leni Riefenstahl Award, we’ll give a $50 Amazon gift card and a free one-year subscription to Townhall Magazine to the winner, with the two runners-up also getting a free year of Townhall as consolation prizes. Hey, it’s not $2500, but this should show that the private sector can produce a better product with more cost efficiency — right?
Keep checking back to see the videos!
Blowback
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This will be great
I’m sure many people will produce some funny azz videos
blatantblue on April 20, 2010 at 8:50 AM
You just singlehandedly eliminated half of possible submissions
:P
blatantblue on April 20, 2010 at 8:52 AM
Great idea, Ed!
This is gonna be good!
Saltysam on April 20, 2010 at 8:53 AM
What , wasn’t it supposed to be about federal regulation?
the_nile on April 20, 2010 at 8:55 AM
Woo Hoo! counter the Alinskyites with Alinsky of our own. Lovin’ it!
ted c on April 20, 2010 at 8:56 AM
Click here to see the glories of federal regulation!
Akzed on April 20, 2010 at 8:57 AM
I’m waiting for the HotAir Battle of the Bands
blatantblue on April 20, 2010 at 8:58 AM
Cool.
Ian on April 20, 2010 at 8:59 AM
I’m waiting for the HotAir Air Guitar Championship.
Disturb the Universe on April 20, 2010 at 9:02 AM
“No profanity, nudity, or vulgarity.”
Dangit, you shot down all three of my ideas in once sentence :(
Kevin M on April 20, 2010 at 9:02 AM
FIFY
davidk on April 20, 2010 at 9:03 AM
Awesome.
terryannonline on April 20, 2010 at 9:03 AM
Can we do this on Facebook or something with a lot of WIDE appeal so the brain dead youngsters can see it?
Elizabetty on April 20, 2010 at 9:04 AM
Don’t be so sexist. The Hot Air Babes deserve to see a like Hunkiness too!
Elizabetty on April 20, 2010 at 9:05 AM
See a little Hunkiness. Sorry, got excited.
Elizabetty on April 20, 2010 at 9:05 AM
FIFY
uknowmorethanme on April 20, 2010 at 9:06 AM
Yeah, there goes lorien’s chances…heh
w00t! This could get interesting! (perhaps a mash-up w/hat eating?)
JetBoy on April 20, 2010 at 9:06 AM
There goes the video of me naked while cursing, as inappropriately-Photoshopped images are shown in the background.
You guys are such prudes, you know that?
amerpundit on April 20, 2010 at 9:06 AM
LOL
happens a lot eh
blatantblue on April 20, 2010 at 9:07 AM
O/T So cool we just heard the shuttle break the sound barrier on it’s way back in. Can’t see it though, bummer.
Cindy Munford on April 20, 2010 at 9:07 AM
link isn’t working
Monica on April 20, 2010 at 9:09 AM
AWESOME!
Just watched it land on Fox.
Isn’t it amazing? I can sit in my living room, having coffee, and watch a group of people, live, come back down to Earth from space. It’s truly amazing.
blatantblue on April 20, 2010 at 9:09 AM
How about onerous state and local regulation too? It’s getting just as bad. Has anyone been in front of a local zoning board lately? How about begging the Historic Office for permission to paint your house the color you want? Got any damp spots on your property? Well don’t try building anything there or putting in a driveway in. It might be a fragile “wetland”, You’ll need to check with your state environmental bureaucracy first, and probably hire an engineer to map it, and then they will still tell you “no”…
forest on April 20, 2010 at 9:15 AM
I really think contests like this, and others in the future, will do wonders for this blog.
blatantblue on April 20, 2010 at 9:15 AM
I am going to miss it. If it’s clear we can watch see a little bit of the take off from our lanai. This was only the second time I have heard the sound barrier get broken. I guess I missed it when I was employed.
Cindy Munford on April 20, 2010 at 9:15 AM
That’s awesome!! And I’m jealous. :)
ladyingray on April 20, 2010 at 9:15 AM
I’ve been wanting to have a hot dog cart for years, but the town and county regulatory boards just make things so damn expensive.
I can’t keep up with the costs. By the time I get done with the schematic to meet their requests, the costs are way beyond my reach.
blatantblue on April 20, 2010 at 9:16 AM
Just as Barack Il Duce has ironically required the phrase “let your voice be heard” somewhere in the EPA’s socialist video project, what tag line might Hot Air producers recommend we Americans embed in our videos?
jeff_from_mpls on April 20, 2010 at 9:20 AM
F**K!
MadisonConservative on April 20, 2010 at 9:23 AM
Isn’t that all done with CG nowadays. /s
Dasher on April 20, 2010 at 9:24 AM
I wish I had a clue how to do this. I would love to get some of the 225 ex-employees of the student loan company I worked for that closed due to the government take over of the industry.
Cindy Munford on April 20, 2010 at 9:24 AM
best part?
I can sit in my living room, watch the shuttle land, and do it while naked and cursing!
blatantblue on April 20, 2010 at 9:25 AM
…that’s the point…
Akzed on April 20, 2010 at 9:25 AM
You’d better consult your attorney. There’s probably a regulation about that. ;)
jwolf on April 20, 2010 at 9:25 AM
I can live with federal regulations. I CAN’T LIVE WITH HOT AIR REGULATIONS!
Sh!t.
(.)(.)
;-)
Abby Adams on April 20, 2010 at 9:34 AM
oh my
blatantblue on April 20, 2010 at 9:36 AM
LOL — this video contest will be awesome!
It flew right over us this morning, which is a rare flight path, apparently. I wish I had known! I could swear I heard a boom as well, but I don’t know whether it “booms” the whole time it’s travelling at sonic speeds, or only upon re-entry. In any event, it wasn’t anything like the booms I used to hear when I lived in L.A. and it would land at Edwards Air Force Base. That was so loud it would shake the buildings and set off car alarms! It was so cool.
NoLeftTurn on April 20, 2010 at 9:41 AM
See? That sounds like a perfect video Blue. Just how much would you have to charge for a hot dog? Add it up as the video unfolds…
JusDreamin on April 20, 2010 at 9:45 AM
Happy 35th Wedding Anniversary!! Sorry I am a day late.
PS> Heard from Hawk Driver lately?
Dire Straits on April 20, 2010 at 9:47 AM
That’s just too funny.
davidk on April 20, 2010 at 9:48 AM
To get a taste of federal access try calling your local post office. Try calling any FEMA, USACE or EPA regulator and see if 1) a human ever answers, and 2) they will take a question.
To warm you up to the task make the effort to look them up in your phone book and after that fails, go online and try.
DanMan on April 20, 2010 at 9:48 AM
Subtle, I wonder how many trolls will keep looking for that website? Hopefully, for the rest of the week at least but preferably they will never catch on.
PrettyD_Vicious on April 20, 2010 at 9:50 AM
It’s so sad to see Ed trapped in the cage of Corporate Policies. ;-)
KS Rex on April 20, 2010 at 9:54 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XcTnxSca4Q
(I don’t understand the extra-curricular comments.)
davidk on April 20, 2010 at 9:55 AM
Are humpbots out?
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on April 20, 2010 at 10:02 AM
Heh. I just heard on FNC that the Feds are looking to regulate salt.
Buy Danish on April 20, 2010 at 10:16 AM
Just wait until my divorce is final!!
Elizabetty on April 20, 2010 at 10:36 AM
I can’t wait! These ought to be really good.
Bob's Kid on April 20, 2010 at 10:36 AM
Those of us with maturity & self-discipline thank you!
itsnotaboutme on April 20, 2010 at 10:45 AM
I dunno guys.
I’ve been here a long while-though I don’t comment that much-and I just can’t imagine Michelle doing a contest.
Just the idea of HA doing something like this smacks of…I dunno…desperation….a lure to bring in more readers.
I visit every day-but with all respect to Ed and Allah-this isn’t the same blog that it was when Michelle was keeper of the gate.
annoyinglittletwerp on April 20, 2010 at 10:46 AM
It’s like our own cute little version of a concern troll.
Awwwwww…
Abby Adams on April 20, 2010 at 10:51 AM
When MM first started HA, she used to do video “vents” all the time. That’s what this is…video venting. I can’t speak for Michelle, but she’d probably love the idea.
JetBoy on April 20, 2010 at 10:57 AM
I miss the ol’ video content
blatantblue on April 20, 2010 at 11:04 AM
I’ve got a great example, but it’s personal, sorry.
Christien on April 20, 2010 at 11:10 AM
I want my royalties, Morrissey!
Timing…
MeatHeadinCA on April 20, 2010 at 11:21 AM
abbyadams
I’ve been registered since the second ‘open’. I’m a cradle conservative who been active and outspoken in conservative politics since I was first able to vote in 1988.
A troll I am NOT!
annoyinglittletwerp on April 20, 2010 at 11:24 AM
I’ll vouch for you ;-)
MeatHeadinCA on April 20, 2010 at 11:25 AM
Not a troll. Grow up.
Knucklehead on April 20, 2010 at 11:30 AM
Those were good times.
Related a bit, last night at the supermarket I swore this woman looked just like Michelle. I was in the produce section grabbing bananas (no jokes please) and she went by me…I must have stared at her for a good 2 minutes before I finally thought, what would Michelle Malkin be doing around here…at a supermarket no less.
JetBoy on April 20, 2010 at 11:31 AM
Don’t you think that MM needs groceries like the rest of us?
thomasaur on April 20, 2010 at 11:34 AM
Are you making Banana’s Foster for desert after you eat that hat?
Knucklehead on April 20, 2010 at 11:39 AM
Oh great Knuck-now I have a craving for Culver’s Frozen Custard.
annoyinglittletwerp on April 20, 2010 at 11:42 AM
probably cause JB is in CT and MM is in CO
blatantblue on April 20, 2010 at 11:43 AM
Perhaps you missed what I was driving at. I know you’re not a troll, I’d vouch for you myself even if Knucklehead and MeatHeadinCA weren’t around.
I said you were like our version of a concern troll (i.e. “I’ve always been a longtime ______, but recently I’ve found that they’ve gone too far/not done enough/left their principles/etc. What happened to our old _____?”)
As in, “I liked this site under Michelle, but I’m concerned about these videos… This isn’t the same blog that it was when Michelle was in charge.”
Abby Adams on April 20, 2010 at 11:47 AM
I know, we both shop at King Soopers.
thomasaur on April 20, 2010 at 11:47 AM
have u seen her there?
blatantblue on April 20, 2010 at 11:54 AM
Concern troll versus concern-troll-like…
This is concerning…
MeatHeadinCA on April 20, 2010 at 11:57 AM
My apologies Abby.
As I’ve mentioned before-I’m very mildly autistic and because of that I sometimes miss the subtleties in peoples writing.
As for my original comment-I knew that I was opening myself up as a target when I wrote it.
I’m a big girl ladies and germs…please fire away.
annoyinglittletwerp on April 20, 2010 at 11:59 AM
Everyone shops at KS out here and she lives on the other side of the Rockies.
thomasaur on April 20, 2010 at 12:00 PM
If only I knew how to make the internets do things for me.
GW_SS-Delta on April 20, 2010 at 12:23 PM
When MM first started HA, she used to do video “vents” all the time. – Jet
Ahhhh, the good ole daysssss …
Tony737 on April 20, 2010 at 12:41 PM
So cool we just heard the shuttle break the sound barrier on it’s way back in. – Cindy
I’d love to my daughter outside to see that! She’s only 3 but has already decided she’s gonna be astronaut ;-)
Tony737 on April 20, 2010 at 12:43 PM
Just put a closed circuit TV in a post office, welfare office, Soc Sec office, Medicare /Medicid office. Lets not exempt the states. Lets put a camera at the DMV.
Bevan on April 20, 2010 at 1:11 PM
Hey annoyinglittletwerp, I’m with you. I’m something of a functional autistic myself. Most of what I say is horribly misunderstood, and I usually misunderstand what other people say. The nice folks (the Christians around here) are pretty cool. The libertarians and hedonists are, well, exactly what you’d expect them to be like. But I find them interesting case studies anyway.
jeff_from_mpls on April 20, 2010 at 2:03 PM
No good with a camera, but here’s an idea. How about a bust by cops at a restaurant, with the police confiscating little bags of white powder… salt! Raiding an illegal salt mill down by the sea. Salt lords?
michaelo on April 20, 2010 at 3:12 PM
Maybe so but you must admit that you’re a twerp. And an annoying little one to boot.
platypus on April 20, 2010 at 3:18 PM
What about fisting?
That pretty much explains what the government has been doing to us…
Seven Percent Solution on April 20, 2010 at 3:32 PM
Check out little Derby Line VT whos residents are being harrasses by gestopo like authorities – both state and federal. A little problem with being near the border.
This story should be on Rush or Beck, because 20/20 wont do it any justice.
It provides a microcosmic view of America under government totalitarianism.
Don L on April 20, 2010 at 3:48 PM
I have seen many of the shuttle launches. I used to take my second grade students outside to watch the launches. Two that I remember clearest was a night launch that was awsome and Challenger blowing up. I was in Dallas when Columbia broke up. It is a sad loss to our country to lose our hold on space, but socialist don’t see a need to spend money that does not go to the lower classes to insure their votes.
Franklyn on April 20, 2010 at 4:49 PM
Maybe so but you must admit that you’re a twerp. And an annoying little one to boot.
platypus on April 20, 2010 at 3:18 PM
I wear that badge with pride.
LoL
annoyinglittletwerp on April 20, 2010 at 5:09 PM
For me, the ne plus ultra of tales of regulatory woe comes from George McGovern. It’s not in the form of a video, but his epiphany is recorded in the June 1, 1992 Wall Street Journal (via the Congressional Record):
Paul_in_NJ on April 20, 2010 at 5:25 PM
Addendum: George McGovern’s tavern went bankrupt.
Paul_in_NJ on April 20, 2010 at 6:10 PM
Ooh! I love contests!
Let’s see.
I’ll need a machine gun, a spotted owl, one of those ‘Do not remove this label’ labels, a four ounce block of C4, a detonator, one of those clapping hat thingies that you see at football games, a tiny little bandolier, tiny little sun glasses, a teensy black balaclava and Anne’s rat.
BRB.
justltl on April 20, 2010 at 10:00 PM
Almost forgot- a six pack of Guinness, a pepperoni and anchovie pizza and two good cigars.
Those won’t be in the video- Rattie and I will need some sustenance during production.
justltl on April 20, 2010 at 10:12 PM
I have never heard of that before and that is absolutely fascinating! Is he still alive?
Hmmm maybe instead of a test to see if people know enough to vote… we should have a requirement the people who run for public office run a business first. A highly regulated business.
That might change a lot of things in this country.
Even a simulated computer game business… they need to get a certain score before their name gets on the ballot. And the regulations have to be brutal.
And unions have to be involved.
It was the failure that taught McGovern the danger of regulation.
petunia on April 20, 2010 at 10:32 PM
The Supreme Court says Ann could have video taped her rat in the throes of whatever… and it would have been free speech.
She may hate guns but…Ann is a Patriot after all.
petunia on April 20, 2010 at 10:35 PM
Great idea! I can’t wait to see the videos.
TN Mom on April 20, 2010 at 10:44 PM
I suggest some of you budding moviemakers check out this link: http://www.xtranormal.com/
and this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAc4NXuTzpQ&feature=related
You can make your own movies at the xtranormal website. Its a blast.
fullogas on April 21, 2010 at 1:13 AM
It doesn’t really fit this contest, but here’s the short-film I want someone to make.
Dark Ages theme.
Opening scene: Ragged, hungry, exhausted peasants working a field. Their clothing is marked “taxpayers”. Mounted on his horse, the “Tax Collector” fingers his whip, snarling that they’re not working hard enough.
Fade to: Entry gate to the lord’s castle, labelled “Washington”. Inside, bejewelled lords and masters gather around a lush feast. Wine, bits of meat drip from their beards. One particularly obese noble complains about the cost of his new summer castle. The lazy serfs aren’t working fast enough. Every day there’s some new material shortage.
But, he’ll show them!
Final scene: The noble looks at the others and declares: “I’ll raise their taxes and cut off their winter heating oil! They’ll learn to appreciate all I do for them!”. They all heartily agree.
Fade out as the camera shows the noble drop a huge portion of roast beef on the floor for his dogs to gobble up.
jeanneb on April 21, 2010 at 7:15 AM
I already consider you to be the winner. Good stuff! Thanks for the laugh :-)
wytammic on April 21, 2010 at 12:17 PM
If you survive the exercises DanMan suggests, try calling (as someone wanting to export something) the Commerce Department asking how to fill out their paperwork. Especially entertaining are questions about the appropriate Export Classification codes.
Calling the Medicare hot line (1-800-MEDICARE) and noting the elapsed time (my experience is an hour or more ‘on hold’ or forced listening to long announcements which you cannot escape from) until you get a live human response is also quite amusing (instructive/terrifying). While you’re waiting, imagine that you are having a heart attack…and that the Emergency Room is waiting for authorization to proceed!!!
Unfortunately, I can’t envision how to make a video out of these experiences without a staff of actors, many props, and a lot more equipment than I have. Just watching someone ‘on hold’ for an hour would be a pretty boring video…even if that is the point.
landlines on April 22, 2010 at 1:06 PM