Want to have some fun? Play this little game.

Meet with a friend, neighbor, co-worker, or even your spouse and secretly record a conversation with them. Try to get them to say something stupid.

Then, take the recording home and find 8-10 seconds of what they said and take it out of context. After you do that, write some commercial copy around it to make that friend, neighbor, co-worker, or spouse out to be the dumbest, meanest, or most clueless person on earth.

Record it and put it on the internet for everyone to hear.

Once completed, you can officially call yourself a Political Consultant.

You’ve seen these ads on TV where they play cuts of Dan Osborn saying something that was secretly recorded. Those comments seem a little incriminating.

The other day I went to a press conference where Dan accepted the endorsement of the National Security Leaders 4 America. After learning why these military experts thought Dan was the best for the job, I asked the candidate about those comments.

He had already visited Red Cloud to address what he said about small towns, but I was more interested in what he said about the trans issue. You know the leaked audio where he talked about what he needs to do to get elected and said…

“How am I going to do that by f***ing saying, ‘Oh, I love trans people, and they should be able to play in sports. F**k no, Jane, that’s not how I win.”

I asked Mr. Osborn for more context from that statement because the way it was presented in the ad made it sound like he was saying one thing in public and another thing in private. When I asked for more context, Osborn said that he’s more concerned with bigger issues than trans people in sports. He mentioned issues like the damage the Data Centers are doing to our aquifer and the war in Iran.

In the context of focusing on those bigger concerns, the comments about trans issues don’t seem so bad.

The media will also take a sound bite that doesn’t tell the whole story to get your attention.

Take the speech that President Trump made in Grand Island. The man spoke for almost an hour and a half, but what made the news was the brief comment where he said he wouldn’t have a problem if Iran bombed Los Angeles and San Diego.

Let’s put that in context.

Southern California is made up of millions of fellow Americans of all different political and religious beliefs. Why would the president want to see them dead?

San Diego is home to the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Fleet, and the main training center for Navy SEALs on the West Coast. It’s also home to Camp Pendleton, which employs 70,000 soldiers and civilians.

Likewise, L.A. has the U.S. Space Force command center and the Los Angeles Air Force base.

The White House tried to spin what Trump said as a joke.

When someone else asked Osborn about that “joke,” he said ( and I’m paraphrasing), “I’ve got a good sense of humor, and sometimes it can even be a little inappropriate. But I don’t see anything funny about being happy an enemy has killed American citizens.”

Yes, context is important.

Which is why we need to pay attention to the context as to why the National Security Leaders 4 America endorsed Osborn.

Pete Ricketts voted to give a man who was obviously unqualified the position of Secretary of Defense. A man who changed the name to the Secretary of War before taking into battle in Iran with little or no strategy for how to win or get out.

Dan Osborn is a veteran who has served in both the Navy and the National Guard. He has actually sailed through the Straits of Hormuz four times. Osborn said he’ll take his information from the military experts and accused Ricketts of getting his information from arms dealers that make big political contributions.

The Ricketts ads say you should vote for the Senator because Osborn is a secret Democrat.

In context, Dan has been registered as an independent his whole life.

Osborn says you should vote for him because Pete’s Dad is rich. And in context, his dad may be rich, but that’s no reason not to vote for his son.

Voting has already started. Try to have as much information as possible, because when it’s time to cast your ballot, we can’t be playing games.

Tom Becka is a long time Nebraska broadcaster who for over 30 years has been covering Omaha and Midwest issues on both radio and TV. He has been a guest on numerous national cable and news shows, filled in for nationally syndicated talk radio programs and Talkers Magazine has recognized him as one of the Top 100 talk show hosts in the country 10 times. Never afraid to ruffle some feathers, his ‘Becka’s Beat’ commentaries can be found online on Youtube and other digital platforms.

Opinions expressed by columnists in The Daily Record are not necessarily those of its management or staff, and do not constitute an endorsement or recommendation. Any errors or omissions should be called to our attention so that they may be corrected. Contact us at news@omahadailyrecord.com.