Future IMPACT: Next Year’s Speakers Announced

This most recent IMPACT Lecture Series had an excellent lineup. Every speaker contributed in their own unique way this year. John Stossel allowed all of Langford auditorium to bask in his mustache’s aura and Mitt Romney gave us an extra ten pounds of reading material. Ralph Nader even presented the audience with definitive proof that he was indeed still alive (and occasionally kicking Stossel’s ass). In sum, next years IMPACT will undoubtedly fall painfully short of this year’s event and whoever is in charge next year is doomed for failure. But never fear The Slant has been conducting tireless research for at least two hours to determine who could possibly live up to next years hype. Here is our current short(-er than John Stossel) list:

Arnold Schwarzenegger vs. Jesse Ventura- Ladies and gentlemen, here we at The Slant present not only two great action hero’s but also two great politicians. Only in America can you co-star in an action movie about an invisible alien hunting people for fun, and then become leaders of millions of people’s lives. I would expect any debate between these two be only SLIGHTLY less violent than their action movie, Predator, and if we play our cards right it could involve even more weapons! Between all the gun fire, Austrian accents, and “WTF did politics do to his beautiful face” moments, I would rate this showdown a 7 out of 10 mustache’s on the John Stossel scale.

Reverend Al Sharpton vs. Ann Coulter vs. Howard Dean- Did these speakers come to IMPACT in 2005? Yes. But I think the formatting for this event was all wrong. What should 2011′s format be? Two words: Cage Fight. I’m taking bets now on who will be the least maimed: Odds- 5:1 Al Sharpton (the man is past his prime) , 2:1 Ann Coulter (she will fight dirty) and 3:1 Howard Dean (YEEEEAARHGH!!!!). Normal Fight: 6 out of 10 mustache’s. Someone goes to the ER: 9 out of 10 mustache’s.

George W. Bush vs. Bill Clinton- This would be entertaining regardless, but I think one little addition to this debate would really step up the game. It’s the word every college college student lives for: pre-game. Of course I don’t mean the audience pre-gaming, I mean the former presidents. I want at least 8 shots in each of their bodies by the time they take the podium, and then I want them to be required to finish off a six pack of Natty before they can get off the stage. There is no way this debate fails. I can already hear the sexist statements, curse words flying, and the inappropriate passes at each others wives. Ladies for your own safety please don’t sit in the first three rows of this one, or wear anything revealing. 8 out of 10 Mustache’s, assuming of course someone passes out on stage.

So there you have it, a little preview of the possible IMPACT debate’s next year, and their hopeful outcomes. It will never be able to add up to Ralph Nader extending the debate just to cock slap John Stossel, but we can always strive for that ideal. And strive we shall!

Nader Wipes the Floor with Stossel’s Prominent Mustache

Last week I was lucky to be among hundreds who saw Ralph Nader and John Stossel talk about capitalism. While the subject matter was only mildly interesting and the event lengthy, everyone was rewarded with what they came to see– two old geezers doing epic battle on stage. And of course a glimpse of the legendary, iconic mustache that is John Stossel’s.

The event was structured with some talking from each speaker, then several other friendly categories such as swimwear and a talent portion. It then got more competitive with a Super Smash Brothers Brawl best of 3, a game of Croquet, and Not Repeatedly Losing Presidential Races, all of which were swept effortlessly by Stossel.

However, Ralph Nader, in his own words, “pwned that noob [Stossel]” in the speeches and Q and A, despite a slow start. Ralph, at age 76, gave a sluggish speech that criticized various forms of dickery in government and business, which was followed up by a tight, well-practiced speech by John which amounted to a bunch of cheap shots at Nader (hey, that’s our job!). Stossel’s digs at Nader got him quick early points with the audience, but his advantage quickly disappeared when the audience was allowed to ask questions. At this point, Nader perked up and said “What, people were actually listening to me?” and used the 13 years of wisdom and 4 failed campaigns he has on Stossel to wow attendees.

In the typical politician’s style, each speaker totally ignored each question and seized the opportunity to drive home his one good point: “Mr. Nader, what is your favorite color?”– and instead of yelling “GREEN!” and being done with it, he spent a while complaining about the trouble he was having getting Medicare to pay for his electric scooter. His trouble concentrating in the face of such a brilliant mustache can be understood, though. Such a brilliant… thick… dreamy… fluffy… mustache… mmmmmmm…….. oh I just wanna rub my face all over it… mustacheeeee… :-| |D

Stossel’s answers to questions mostly consisted of “let the consumer show their support to whoever provides the best product” which the audience took to heart when they erupted into applause for all of Nader’s comments. John put up a good fight but just could not rally the audience for his side. He totally missed a response to one question and looked pretty ill when the moderator extended the time for questions. Good thing he’s a capitalist and OK with owning lots of things, so he felt comfortable getting owned so hard by Nader at public speaking. Seriously, who saw that coming from someone older than John McCain?

The talk ended with a simple question: to give Obama a rating. Stossel responded quickly with “’F’ for fruitcake” while Nader apparently got confused and spent several minutes whining about the environment before giving his predictions for LOST and commenting on the weather.

A packed Langford Auditorium made the event a huge success. We all learned a little about capitalism thanks to our ironically free tickets and saw some old guys go cane-to-cane on a hot issue. Mitt Romney even spoke the next night to wipe up for conservatives after Stossel’s brutal defeat, so all views ended up getting fairly represented. Mustache.