{"id":1110,"date":"2019-10-06T19:38:14","date_gmt":"2019-10-07T02:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/?p=1110"},"modified":"2019-10-06T19:38:14","modified_gmt":"2019-10-07T02:38:14","slug":"favors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/?p=1110","title":{"rendered":"Favors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Favors in Flavors<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It had been a long day for Brad and Teresa touring the\nnoodle factories of Taiwan. He pulled off his cowboy boots in the Presidential\nSuite in Taipei wanting to take a break before the big dinner tonight. He\nclicked on the TV, searching for the Vandals game figuring the kickoff was\nsoon. Instead the airwaves were full of the Ukrainian Trump telephone\nconversation. Brad skipped the Fox News analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat should I wear tonight?\u201d Teresa called from the walk-in\ncloset. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe black and gold dress!\u201d Brad yelled, hoping she\u2019d bring\ngood luck to his Alma Mater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She gave him \u201cthe look\u201d and he laughed. \u201cGo Vandals!\u201d he\nretorted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They went down the stairs before halftime and the Vandals\nwere ahead so Brad was in good spirits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGovernor, your table is here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They were escorted to the head table in the large banquet\nhall. Brad took off his jacket and threw it on the back of the chair, his Black\nand Gold suspenders complementing his wife\u2019s dress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the hall filled he chatted with the Taiwan Minister of\nEconomics. The minister asked, \u201cDo you anticipate any tariff issues?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, I don\u2019t think our government would want to obstruct the\nfree trade of agricultural commodities with Taiwan.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minister frowned. \u201cTaiwan will always be a good trader\nand Idaho offers good wheat. We have agreed to take more. We are always willing\nto do favors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brad laughed and clapped his shoulder. \u201cIt\u2019s no favor. We\ngrow good wheat. You make good noodles. We all benefit.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minister looked down, his frown deeper. \u201cBut surely, we\ncan do more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brad swirled his wine glass. \u201cWell, we\u2019ll grow more wheat.\u201d\nThen he turned away as the Taiwan Minister of Security touched his elbow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGovernor, I hope the noodle plants were to your\nsatisfaction today. The Vandals are now down by 4 points in the third quarter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brad didn\u2019t skip a beat. \u201cWe\u2019ll come back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaybe so.\u201d The Minister of Security offered with a soft\nsmile. \u201cWe have connections everywhere, but we cannot influence football games\nin Moscow, Idaho.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brad looked off, troubled by the news of the Vandal deficit.\n\u201cWe\u2019ll come back.\u201d He said again but distracted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Minister of Security cleared his throat and nodded his\nhead to the man next to him who quietly moved away. \u201cGovernor, I am here to\ntell you if you need any favors in your state, we are here to help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brad sipped the Washington Merlot and nodded. \u201cWe really\nappreciate all the wheat you guys buy.\u201d He looked over to where Teresa was\nchatting with the wife of some Minister of Something. \u201cCan you get your people\nto like potatoes more?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Minister of Security laughed and Brad did too. But as he\nstarted to turn away, the minister touched his arm. \u201cWe have many resources\nthat could be an advantage to you. We know the political landscape of your\nstate. Your primary election was very close. We study and have information. Let\nus know if you have any need, any need for any favors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brad bowed toward the minister and the minister bowed back\nand before they parted he leaned in and added, \u201cThe Vandals just scored.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teresa gladly introduced Brad to her chatty companion, the\nwife of the Minister of Political Affairs. After the smiles and chatting Teresa\nleaned in to Brad and whispered, \u201cWhy does she keep asking me if we need any\nflavors?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brad frowned. \u201cMaybe she has some influence on what dessert\nwe get.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teresa didn\u2019t give him \u201cthe look\u201d, but she gave him the\npublic look. \u201cI think they are trying to tell us something and I just don\u2019t get\nit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brad nodded. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It had been a long day for Brad and Teresa touring the noodle factories of Taiwan. He pulled off his cowboy boots in the Presidential Suite in Taipei wanting to take a break before the big dinner tonight. He clicked … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1110"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1110"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1112,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1110\/revisions\/1112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danschmidtforsenate.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}