""Ted Nugent called. He wants his shirt back.""
Who could forget this indelible line that George Clooney slings at Brad Pitt in the 2001 classic ""Ocean's Eleven?"" Clooney and Pitt's characters devise a clever scheme to lift more than $150 million from three Las Vegas casinos.
Anyone who has seen the film recalls the steps these two take to capture their loot. Their band of thieves trick casino security and walk away with the moolah—and the audience loves it.
In essence, Clooney and Pitt's characters know how to influence people to get a desired result. Similarly, prominent figures influence people into action by displaying their opinions to the public.
On the surface, these figures appear merely as individuals with the money and the resources to voice their views. However, upon further inspection, the keen observer detects greater motives at work.
Read on about the following two individuals who spoke on the UW-Madison campus and what they shared with the Madison community.
First there is Howard Zinn, the soft-spoken, left-wing author of ""A People's History of the United States."" On Oct. 25, Zinn, a World War II veteran bombardier, recalled to listeners how he choked up while putting his war medals away.
Zinn had remembered the thousands of innocent civilians who died by the bombs that he and others had dropped on the countless theatres of war.
A decade later, he played an active part of the civil rights movement, joining the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. At one point, Zinn stated, ""War cannot be an acceptable way of solving problems in the world."" He further washed his hands of the United States' bombings of Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The next day, the aforementioned Ted Nugent visited Madison. Nugent, a vocal, right-wing proponent of the National Rifle Association, spoke to a large group of supporters—and a few hecklers—about his life experiences, his service to the poor and his unique genre of music.
Nugent criticized drug addicts and alcoholics for throwing away the gift of life and urged them to become productive members of society. He praised his father for fighting in World War II and defending a way of life. Emphasizing how the United States never succumbs to tyranny in the world, Nugent claimed, ""In order to save freedom, we had to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki.""
Okay. That was a lot to digest. Now, why should we care about these individuals' effect on our way of thinking?
Consider the time: Wisconsin is just coming off of one of the most divisive elections in recent history. Civil unions, the death penalty and affordable health care have increased tension between the liberal left and the conservative right.
And as the United States approaches the 2008 presidential election, more issues including the war in Iraq and the environment will undoubtedly fuel arguments between the blue and the red.
Consider the place: Both men presented at Memorial Union. Memorial Union serves as a gathering place not just for UW-Madison students, but for the entire Madison community. Moreover, Madison is the capital of Wisconsin, a place where political fervor takes center stage.
Consider the people: Madison is a college town and young minds are strongly opinionated. In fact, according to youngvoterstragtegies.org, votes tallied by 18 to 29-year-olds in this year's election increased by more than two million votes since the 2002 elections. Young people's opinions not only matter, but are having an increasingly greater effect on election results.
The bottom line is this: Opinions support our democratic process. They spur discussion and promote the constant questioning of our government in the ongoing effort to create the ideal society for all.
However, the public should be aware of the intentions of those who come forth and voice their opinions. Zinn and Nugent came to a heavily political college city on the proverbial eve of its elections. And the voters turned out.
Jackpot.
