Ch. 11 KOCH BROS. & Elected
When the city authorities shut down Circus Mojo in 2015, it inspired me to get politically active in Ludlow. I can’t vote in town because I don’t live there, but they say all politics are local, so as a local businessman, I decided to work hard to engage the next round of candidates for Ludlow’s City Council.
On his 18th birthday, a young resident of Ludlow registered to vote and decided to run for city council while he was at it. His amazing initiative reminded me of my own tendencies to take chances along the path to achieving my goals. Young Jordan Scheid appeared in a stellar segment online with MTV News:
“No matter if you are on the Trump Train, feeling the Bern, standing with Hillary, or supporting another candidate, I encourage you to participate in the upcoming election. In order for a democracy to work effectively and directly represent its citizens, we need the input of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents.”
Meanwhile, Julie and Anine, two interesting characters from rural Denmark, were visiting Circus Mojo. Julie, a talented hat juggler, had come to Ludlow with Cirkusfabrikken in 2014. She then requested a return visit with her girlfriend, Anine, a budding filmmaker. They arrived for three months of circus adventure, just as election season was ramping up: Hillary vs. Trump. The two Danes had a desire to participate in democracy, and I wanted to work toward getting positive people on city council. And so, I decided to facilitate both efforts by creating a “Vote Ludlow” Facebook page as a bit of propaganda. (pg 106)
Together with support from Big Bill Robinson, former President of the American Bar Association, Circus Mojo secured funding. This consequently irritated Senators Flake and Coburn, as well as both Koch Bros. and their Cato Institute:
The Waste Awakens Never, to Sleep Again
Sen. Jeff Flake (R‑AZ.) follows retired Tom Coburn in reporting on the ludicrous waste of taxpayer dollars in Washington. In advance of the latest Star Wars movie release, Flake issued Wastebook 2015: The Farce Awakens. Alas, the waste never sleeps. One of the few constants in Washington is tossing taxpayers’ hard‐earned cash, not just to special interests who hire the best lobbyists, but for misbegotten purposes that only Uncle Sam could imagine.
The Wastebook showcases 100 nutty expenditures. It explains that each outlay “represents thousands, millions or, in some cases, billions of dollars that could have been better spent on cancer research, strengthening national defense, caring for veterans, or not spent at all to reduce our debt.” So much for that dreadful austerity that congressional spendthrifts claim we are suffering through.
I am proud to say Circus Mojo barely made the list as it had the smallest dollar amount.
“SBA provided $8,500 to Circus Mojo, a Kentucky traveling circus, to travel. The players joined the governor on a trade mission to Canada.”
I leveraged that trip to Canada as a part of the application to host the World Wheel Championships in Cincinnati.
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Governor Bevin’s CHNK security detail featured the same lineup as Beshear’s had for the trade mission to Canada.
“Pauly! What’s up? How you been?” They greeted me, dropping guard for a few moments to swing over and grab a macho shake/hug.
I could see Bevin squinting at me wondering, “Who’s this clown?”
A great time was had by all as we challenged the Governor to juggle and balance Crayola markers alongside the kids from the children’s home. He was delighted to be included in this video.
Beyond engaging with governors, I’ve had the pleasure of working with many politicians from both sides of the aisle over the years. Very memorably, during my time in Chicago in 2006, I joined forces with Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (who, long before “The Squad,” was one of the most liberal members of Congress) to secure expedited travel documents for three Sudanese refugees, enabling them to tour Germany with CircEsteem.
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I got a call with a request to host a Women for Trump Rally at the Ludlow Theatre, headlined by Republican National Committee Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel. (Before his ban, the @ RealDonaldTrump retweeted all about it.) Of course, we were happy to oblige, and as host, I prepared some opening remarks, just as I had for McGrath.
Understandably, the speech was subject to review by the RNC staff. I’d included a line inviting Congresswoman and member of “The Squad” Rashida Tlaib to join us for lunch. This sentence was left on the cutting room floor. (At the time, Democratic Michigan Congresswoman Tlaib was a co-sponsor with my Congressman, Thomas Massie, for the Prime Act, which empowered farmers by easing the local sale of fresh, farm-raised meat by limiting USDA restrictions that unnecessarily hindered the farmers’ small business practices.) The Squad and the Tea Party can find common ground on at least one issue: Beef.
While my “Tlaib invitation line” was cut from the speech, I managed to squeeze in the history of the wildly varied campaigners who’d stumped through Ludlow over 100 years before their event: Republican William H. Taft, Socialist Eugene V. Debs and the first president of the American Federation of Labor, Samuel Gompers.
Paul Miller’s 2014 Community Development Presentation at NKADD Annual Meeting
I know that Ludlow is a better place for hosting artists from 50 countries, and that I am very fortunate to have had the ability to work with leaders from all sides of the aisle – including our dear, old Mitch. Opening for Senator Mitch McConnell.
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Once we secured the grant, I took a foreign sales trip with our brewer, Tony, to Bogota, Columbia. There, we met with five regional breweries, including Don Vicente, a brewery that makes beer from quinoa, a locally sourced grain native to Columbia. We toured Chicaque Natural Park and discussed the possibility of creating a mini Bircus supporting their current tourist destination, a partnership creating nano breweries to support several tourist destinations worldwide.
