ALPHA/OMEGA

I feel terrible about putting these two contrasting observations in the same post. And yet it is the essence of life.

The news from the South is devastating. After making jokes like "I hope that the storm doesn't hit Commander's Palace" (our favorite NO restaurant) it now appears that the Big Easy did not dodge a bullet and in fact it and the neighbors in MS have experienced something that the rest of us can only begin to imagine. My favorite charity for this kind of things is Episcopal Relief and Development, but Red Cross, Salvation Army etc. are all good choices.

It also happens that five months after starting my own political action committee, I may have scored a win in my first venture out of the gate. Pat Jehlen appears to have won the Democratic primary for a special election for State Senate in the Somerville area. I feel like my efforts were worthwhile, even though they were a VERY small part of her overall fundraising efforts. Most about that another time....

Isn't that the essence of life? Yin and yang....mundane and ethereal....ridiculous and sublime.

HOW TO MAINTAIN YOUR SENSE OF OUTRAGE?

...when you're sitting on the beach in Eastham?

I know I haven't posted in a VERY long time. But HELLO! Do you think I started this blog so I could have YET SOMETHING ELSE to feel guilty about? I mean, this is like my answering machine at home. I ONLY LISTEN TO THE MESSAGES WHEN I FEEL LIKE IT...ITS NOT FOR THE CALLERS' CONVENIENCE, IT'S FOR MINE! So this blog is for when I want to say something and not like I have an editor breathing down my neck saying "Your column is due!"

That having been said, I want to thank the people who tell me they actually READ this thing. It's a great privilege to be someone that you use your valuable time to check in with. And I want to respect and honor that.

But I did wonder what I should write about seeing as how I was at a cottage pumping my own water and getting back to nature by improvising showers and using dishwater to flush the toilet with. (You think I'm making this up? I'm not.) But it was gorgeous and relaxing and I was privileged to be there. But it does make one ask "How are you going to get revved up enough about something to write about?"

I mean, it's not like you want to hear "How I spent my summer vacation..."

And then Cos (and I'm sorry but I've forgotten the name of his blog) very appropriately pointed out some things about the special state senate election that's being held Tuesday that got my blood going. So it just shows to go ya...

He pointed out that Pat Jehlen, the individual that MargePAC is supporting, is in favor of nonpartisan redistricting and same day registration and a lot of other "clean elections" kind of legislation. I had been getting discouraged because she was not endorsed by the Globe and I thought maybe I had been too hasty in supporting her. But when Cos pointed out these differences with one of her opponents (and perhaps all of them) I revitalized the courage of my convictions.

THE SINGLE MOST EGREGIOUS ASPECT OF THE AMERICAN POLITICAL SYSTEM TODAY IS THE FACT THAT POLITICIANS DRAW POLITICAL BOUNDARIES.

Oh, and please, don't start with "but that's the way the people have control. They can vote out the politicians but not the nonpartisan commission." Yeah, and how do I vote out the Billy Bulgers and the Finnerans the the Travs and the Sals? Give me a break. I'm not even saying Trav and Sal are bad people. But why have a special election on 30 August? Give me a BREAK!

Believe it or not, more than the war in Iraq, we should be concentrating on changing the way that electoral districts are drawn in this nation. In other countries, it's nonpartisan. Since ours are drawn for incumbents, not only is there VERY LOW TURNOVER in both the national and state legislature (I'm not expert enough to comment on any other jurisdiction than MA...) but it means that individuals run to the extreme in their party, since the primary is the only place they can potentially be beat. But of course if you're a good party member (and I consider myself to be one) you don't run against a sitting member of your own party unless s/he has done something egregious. And if the district is drawn for them, then the other party doesn't have a chance in hell.

So take that to the extreme. The House of Representatives is made up of M's of C who are extremely liberal or extremely conservative. So there's no compromise, no consensus, no meeting of the minds. And yet the average voter is a moderate on one side or the other.

Until we look this square in the face, we're condemned to decades of deadlock. (Title for a book?) Doesn't make me happy. What about you?

FOOLS RUSH IN....

and of course in the Fools category, I have my black belt.

So just in case anyone cares, I think the NARAL ad was a BIG MISTAKE.

I know I know, people say "Why can the slimy Republicans demo John McCain and demonize John Kerry and get away with it and we can't play hardball?"

1. Because we're not a party where people of good will sit around and do nothing when they see something unfair (They Are.)

2. Because we don't have the stomach for slime.

Does that make us wusses? Well, if the definition of a wuss is someone who refuses to stoop to the lowest level just because "they did it first" then sign me up. No election is worth selling one's soul for. And, as I said in a previous post, I think we have to accept the fact that Bush called our bluff when he nominated a non-slimeball for the SCOTUS. Doesn't mean he doesn't have to answer questions and produce the work product from his days in the Reagan White House. But what it DOES mean is that all those people who were gearing up for a fight NO MATTER WHO GOT NOMINATED can't turn on a dime.

We need to maintain our focus on lying about WMD, Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, the corruption in Ohio and the overarching question of how we draw national legislative districts in this country. I'm not a lawyer, and I don't play one on TV, but it seems to me that if people are members of a NATIONAL legislature, then it should be up to a nonpartisan, computer-assisted, "intelligent design" to draw the boundaries in all 50 states. Politics should have nothing to do with it. The reason we have come to such a divided Congress and polity is that districts are drawn in the House for safety's sake, meaning very few are competitive to begin with, and most people run to the extreme side of their party's spectrum to maintain their bona fides. There's no premium on nuanced answers or thoughtful bipartisanship.

I wonder how bad things are going to have to get before people throw up their hands and take responsibility for a broken system. Or are we all numb?

Do I REALLY Have to Go Home????

I just received an email from a close friend asking me if I'd read this month's issue of Harper's. No, I hadn't. Well, he said, any blogger worth her salt, any PAC chair needs to read this.....I told him that sitting in Oak Bluffs, looking out over the water, riding my new bicycle, and reading a Jonathan Kellerman mystery all seemed like lot better ways to spend my time than worrying about the state of the nation.

HERESY!!!!!

But I have learned a couple of things this weekend.

I am now an OFFICIAL MA BLOGGER!!! Lynne from "LeftinLowell.com" included me on her distribution list. This means I have arrived and I will have to find a way of suitably celebrating it. And when I put my URL into an MSN website, some of my postings came up on the search engine. OH MY GAWD!!! I mean, it's one thing to find yourself on the web under "Ware takes job at Elder Services." It's another to have your blog posts pop up. All this "finding yourself at 55 " stuff is getting pretty exciting.

I have also learned that even my old LWV friend Polly, who is now only part time in MA, and the rest of the year in NH hasn't heard of Deval Patrick. Nor had the people I'm staying with, or the other couple who's visiting. We have our work cut out for us people. I DID see a minivan with a big "DevalPatrick.com" bumpersticker and an old Kerry-Edwards sticker in the parking head at the Gay Head cliffs, so we're not totally unknown. But it's an uphill battle.

Also Oak Bluffs should be DP country. What an interesting town. It's the summer hangout of the black upper middle class. Sort of like Washington DC on an island. BUT NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT POLITICS. White or black. It's more about where are you going to get your ice cream and do you need a reservation for dinner and who took the sunblock down to the beach. I'm not much of an "you have to get on a boat to get there" person but I have to say I like this town. Once you figure out what ferry you need to get on (not as easy as it sounds; two departure points, two arrival points, can't get there from here, etc. etc.) you can ride your bike off and we happen to be within walking/biking distance of the ferry. It's heaven. And yet the house seems very much in the country. And a view of the water. DOES IT GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS?

I am not spending much time philosphizing on why I get to spend the weekend here and others are struggling for healthcare. I do that every day and work hard at it. This weekend is about taking care of myself to gird myself for the hard work ahead this summer making sure 30,000 Medicare beneficiaries know what's happening to them. I need to have my karma together in order to get the job done.

The other wonderful thing has been being with old and dear friends. We are having conversations we haven't had in years, and laughing and singing 60's music and camp songs and Broadway songs and hymns and drinking and walking and eating and chilling out. It is Nirvana. We held hands tonight at dinner and sang grace.

We haven't sung this song, but it sums up this glorious weekend. I know Karl Rove is an asshole and that the election was stolen in Ohio and that people are starving in Africa and my daughter's house hasn't sold, but.....

OH THE LORD IS GOOD TO ME
AND SO I THANK THE LORD
FOR GIVING ME THE THINGS I NEED
THE SUN AND THE RAIN AND THE APPLESEED
THE LORD IS GOOD TO ME.

Peace. Keep fighting. But take care of yourselves. We need to be in shape for the work ahead.

ACT BLUE!!!

I know I'm a little slow on the uptake, so I'm probably the last person in the fundraising world (to which I'm incredibly new....) to discover "Act Blue" (http://actblue.com) --I think!!!

I discovered it because at LITERALLY the eleventhg hour, I decided I wanted to contribute to the "we're the definition of an uphill battle" Paul Hackett campaign in Ohio. I got a $20 to my PAC from a person in OH who shall remain nameless. It was an act of faith on her part, and so I thought the least I could do was match it with $20 to an Ohio candidate and put in my own two cents. So tonight I gave $20.02 to Paul and gave Act Blue a 10% "tip" for being the conduit.

Then I discovered I can have my OWN "Act Blue" account which of course I have named "MargePAC." I realize that this solves one of my problems in terms of setting up 50 PACs. I can have a Federal PAC someday, and keep my MA PAC, but for state candidates in other places I can use ACT BLUE as the vehicle. I commend them for figuring all this out way before I did.

I've put Deval Patrick and Martha Coakley on my "Fundraising List" but the sight says they're not in a position to give to these campaigns yet. Not to worry. I'm sending them money from the PAC, but in the future it will be a way to "advertise" their candidacies to others. And maybe add some interesting races like CT and VA gubernatorial runs.....

This stuff is FUN! What a hobby, and it's cheaper than skiing.....

I WOULD HAVE VOTED FOR CAFTA....

Yes, this is one of those weeks where I'm probably glad I'm NOT a Member of Congress.

I would have voted for CAFTA. And received the undying animosity of most of my party.

Get over it people. The world is flat. Shit happens. Life changes. We have to compete against everyone in the world. It's not just New England competing against the South for where the textile mills are going to go.

Easy for me to say. I have the kind of job that can't be exported. That is, unless people in India want to talk to elders and explain the Medicare D program to them.

But the reality of life is that unless you work in a service industry that demands that you be present ON SITE (the last time I checked "they" hadn't moved the Grand Canyon or the Empire State Building) then everything is up for grabs. Are you smarter? Do you work for lower wages? Do you need health insurance?

Am I saying I like this? No, not necessarily, although there is a whole philosophical question about whether people in the U.S. deserve to live at a much higher standard than people in developing countries. Do you wonder whether the British felt this way in the 19th century?

I was not an econ major, so I'm sure there are a lot of holes in my argument, but the bottom line is that the more we put money in the pockets of people in other nations, the more they will buy our goods, the less incentive they will have to immigrate and the more there will be some economic "balance of power" around the globe.

I'M NOT SURE MY DEVAL PATRICK FRIENDS....

want to hear this, but Tom Reilly has become a better campaigner.

And I think it's because of Deval Patrick.

When Reilly spoke to the Democratic State Convention in May, you maybe could have heard a car backfire, but you couldn't have heard a pin drop. He was dry, lawyer-like and generally boring.

DP lit up the room and he was the buzz of the day.

To give TR his due, he's not as dumb as he looks.

He spoke this afternoon to the State Committee and he had actually become a human being. Taking a page out of DP's playbook, he told about being the child of Irish immigrants, growing up in Springfield (lucky for him the meeting was in Pittsfield...) having his dad and two older brothers die when he was a young man and how local cops in the neighborhood took an interest in him and showed him there was an alternative to being a punk.

When he talked about issues, he kept it short and sweet. Public education, especially higher education. Those of us who are UMass alums (Professional MBA '98) cheered when he said he wanted to make our alma mater the equivalent of Ann Arbor or Berkeley. Health care, etc. All those good liberal causes. (Do I think he's going to give the same speech in the red counties? no, I think he'll emphasize being a tough DA but what does one expect?)

He looked fit and trim and relaxed. He looked like a human being. Now, he still wasn't TOTALLY comfortable around the crowd (he's managed by handlers) but it's a far sight better than it was a few months ago.

Am I giving up on DP? Not in the least. But as a member of the State Committee is was reassuring to know that the putative nominee at least can cut the mustard, something I thought he was incapable of just a few short months ago.

Competition, rather than coronation, can be to the benefit of the Party. Let's get in their and talk about issues and see what people are thinking!

I WILL ONLY SAY THIS

1. We have to admit that GWB outsmarted us in nominating John Roberts. He is a creature of the DC establishment and will be confirmed. Get over it.

2. LET'S MAKE SURE WE KEEP KARL AND SCOOTER ON THE FRONT PAGES! This nomination was timed brilliantly. Let's change the conversation. Or at least let's ask JR what he thinks about WH staff outing a CIA covert agent.

GEE, I LIKE COUNTY FAIRS TOO!!!!

I know what the problem is. When baby boomers were growing up in the '50s and '60s, the standard catchphrase to motivate people was "In America, ANYONE can be President." The '80s joke was that, in fact, "anyone" was President. This was seen as a way of motivating middle-class tots, albeit white, male middle-class tots, but it was a motivator all the same. After all, we white females could aspire to marry "anyone" who was a potential Presidential candidate, and people of color could dream of someday dream of taking out the trash for "anyone" and being close to the seat of power.

So I give you this blurb from this morning's New York Times:

Pataki Will Test '08 Winds in IowaBy ADAM NAGOURNEYGov. George E. Pataki is headed to Iowa this weekend toexplore whether he should run for president in 2008. QUOTATION OF THE DAY -"We might do a country fair - I just love those. If we're going to be out there and there's one nearby, I want to do one."- GOV. GEORGE E. PATAKI, on a visit to Iowa.

So now that the rules have changed, and women can at least RUN for President (although we all know they can't raise money....) and I'm about as solidly baby boomer middle-class as you can get (pulled myself up by my bootstraps from the wrong side of the tracks in Shaker Heights, went to a Seven Sisters college on a scholarship, raised two perfect children in small town America, etc. etc. etc.) I think I might change my plans for a vacation on the Cape and "test the winds in Iowa."

After all, my friends Terry and Henry live there. I bet that they'd vote for me. And they probably have some friends. And some of their friends are from church, so when those friends hear that I am ALSO an Episcopalian (I know, not so popular as a Presidential religion these days...last Episcopalian was GHWB and look where that got us....) they will flock to my candidacy. Especially when they find out I ACTUALLY GO TO CHURCH AND NOT BECAUSE I'M TRYING TO IMPRESS PEOPLE!

OK, so I've got the Protestant Grinnell intellectuals in my corner. What next? OLD PEOPLE! I know more about Medicare than almost anyone in the U.S., certainly more than George Pataki. Once they hear my jokes -- "what's the best thing about being 104? No peer pressure!" -- I'll have them rolling in the aisles. And did you know that Iowa has one of the, if not THE, oldest populations in the U.S.? AHA!!! This is getting good.

Now, women. In the last election, the Governor's WIFE ended up being key to John Kerry's campaign. Women are the secret weapon obviously. And look at the effect that Debra Winger had! (Or was that Nebraska? I can never keep those Plains States straight. Not to worry. Will have staff to brief me on where I am...)

County Fairs? My brother lives in Geauga County OH. BIG SWING STATE! I went to school there! I've done the Geauga County Fair and the Redwood County Fair in CA and the Helena Stampede (which has actually been VERY favorably compared to the Calgary Stampede -- this is a direct quote from the lady in the tourist info booth in Helena in 1974 -- also the first place I saw an "Impeach Nixon" bumper sticker in the Heartland)in MT. The Governor of MT is considering a run....maybe he'd like to put me on as VP to balance the ticket? I'm not going to dismiss that out of hand. Perish the thought of the sin of hubris...

Gotta go. I have a fundraiser in NH this weekend. Six of my college friends are donating $10 each to pay for my gas to drive to Keene.

IT'S TIME FOR HIM TO GO!

When I was a delegate to the 1992 Democratic Convention (on behalf of our beloved Paul Tsongas....) one of the "chants" that the delegates were asked to repeat over and over and over again (I believe during an acceptance speech by the VP nominee, Al Gore) was a call for the Bush I administration (which of course we're now considering in a whole new "gee, I guess he wasn't THAT bad....) to be defeated. The chant went "It's time for him to go!"

Well, if anything EVER pertained to Karl Rove, it's that phrase.

Let's put it this way....there was a public poll yesterday on AOL or Netscape or something asking whether KR leaked deliberately or inadvertantly or what. 87% of the respondents thought it was deliberate. You can't get that many people to vote for Motherhood and Apple Pie these days. Second question was "how damaging do you think this is?" Silly me voted with the 17% who answered "somewhat damaging" only because when you have a Teflon president, apparently it takes something more than mass torture, lying and givng out billion dollar contracts to your friends to make a dent. Well, I was definitely in the minority. Over 70% thought it was VERY damaging.

And now, from 1600 Penna Ave we have "silence" or "chose not to comment" or "avoided the question." Yeah, I'd avoid it if I had a felon sitting at my right hand....but that's just me.

SO CAN SOMEONE EXPLAIN THIS TO ME.....the Republicans got all bent out of shape during the Clinton scandals about a. something that had nothign to do with the health, welfare and security of the US, and b. discussions of "well, it depends on what you mean by 'is.'"

NOW ITS "WELL IT DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU DEFINE AS OUTING AN UNDERCOVER CIA AGENT. HE DIDN'T REFER TO HER BY NAME, JUST SAID IT WAS WILSON'S WIFE." Oh yeah, that makes it TOTALLY DIFFERENT. You'd have to have access to highly classified records to know the name of someone's wife. I mean, they shot all the neighbors because they were privy to information that was on deep background.

Like the Downing Street memo, this keeps reverberating with Watergate-like allusions. How is their stance any different from listening to Rosemary Woods describe how she could have inadvertantly erased 18 minutes of recording from a dictaphone tape? It all defies logic, reason and the willing suspension of disbelief.

AND THEN THERE'S RICK SANTORUM. Don't get me started. There is a group of Democrats here in Berkshire County who are hell-bent on getting rid of Rick. When they first proposed their scheme I was frankly underwhelmed. I believed that we had enough people right here in MA (and not all of them Republicans....) to take on and that our efforts should be more targeted.

I will now admit that I'm wrong. The man is a menace and an idiot. It's a matter of national security to hand him his head on a platter. He claims that the Boston priest scandal in the Catholic Church is the result of our liberal lifestyle. Ignoring for a moment, that the priests involved represented a philosophy which said only men could hold power, that homosexuality (at least other people's) was an unnatural act, birth control was an abomination and there was never any possible reason why someone should seek a civil divorce, I can't say that this was the hallmark of a liberal lifestyle.

But what is also the truth is that the highest per capita rate of sexual abuse in American dioceses occurred in Louisville KY. I know this because a dear friend of mine was the attorney for the plaintiffs in that case. So either Louisville is a hotbed of liberalism, or mint juleps are the work of the devil or horses encourage us to, well, ....I'm sorry but this is a family channel.

I need to get to the dentist so I have to calm down. I'd like to thank all my "readers" out there who said "why haven't you written about Karl Rove?" Didn't know I felt so strongly about these jerks. Thanks for asking. Keep the faith.

What is the world coming to?

I know I "should" write about the bombings in London. They're horrible. Luckily I have heard that my four closest friends, Peter and Amy and David and Gayle are all ok (Gayle is actually in the US visiting her dad...) so that is a great joy. I tried to remember that when I walked in and saw that the puppy had eaten not ONE but THREE couch cushions.

But what I really want to write about is the Judith Miller thing. I'm sorry, and beat me with a wet noodle if I've lost my liberal credentials, but I don't think that she has any right under the constitution to protect someone who "outed" a CIA undercover agent. Those articles endangered Ms. Plame and her associates. I think wrapping yourself in the First Amendment in this case is inappropriate.

OK guys, let 'er rip.....

MAYBE THERE IS A GOD....

And she's so upset about Sandra Day O'Connor leaving the Supreme Court that she decided to give us a freebie....she decided to tell us that Karl Rove was the rat who outted Valerie Plame. Is truth stranger than fiction? Is it possible we'll be rid of the evil bastard and that everyone who's been too scared to talk so far will finally open up? And that the right wingnuts will go back into their holes?

Don't Tread on Me

When I woke up this morning, I had forgotten how shocked I had been at a Letter to the Editor in yesterday's Berkshire Eagle. Only now did I remember, and felt compelled to address a letter to the editor. I don't know whether it will be printed, because they have a "30 day" rule, and I may have written more recently than that. Hope not.

A local Pittsfield resident stated that Democrats hate President Bush more than they love their country. I don't know whether to be angry, sad, disgusted or cynical. I guess I'm all of that or more.

When will this hatefulness end? Are we condemned to live in a century, or a country, where civil discourse is a mere remembrance? I weep.

PITHY REMARKS

Sometimes when someone says it better than you can, you need to point this out to people!

My friend Emily Carey Cronin sent this snippet from Molly Ivins who was one of the speakers at Haverford commencement weekend. ENJOY!


O.K. class of 2005. I would exhort you to go forth and change the world, but I think you've already been trained in that department. And I just want to refine the advice a little bit. Here's one of the things that you are going to have to remember as you attempt to save the world-I've been at it for several decades and so far no big visible effect-what you have to learn to do is have fun while trying to save the world. Now this is real, real important stuff. If you do not have fun while trying to save the world, you will get tired and cynical and burned out and become totally useless to everybody. Consequently, you really need to concentrate on how to make it fun, and in Texas we find that imagination and sometimes beer are quite helpful. In Texas, of course, liberals know how to survive hard times, and I pass along to you certain rules for going through hard times. In the first place, things are not getting worse, things have always been this bad. The long consoling perspective of history is always helpful. You will find that the people who were trying to save the world always thought that things were getting worse. Now, number two, things probably will get worse. That means that these are the good 'ole days, and think what a fool you will feel like in the future if you do not enjoy them now. Third, there is always, since we are the spiritual children of Puritans, the inviting possibility that adversity will improve our characters. I think this is something that needs to be worked on. I'm just going to tell you one story about how I think things should go. A few years back, the Texas legislature took a fit of communism and decided to recognize the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as a state holiday. Now, don't panic; they kept confederate heroes day. It was a package deal. Nevertheless, there we were honoring Dr. King and as you can imagine it upset the Ku Klux Klan. They announced that they were coming to have a big rally and march in protest, and it's always a pain in the butt when the Klan comes to town. I realize that in civilized precincts like Haverford such things do not happen. I can tell you that it just makes your Jewish citizens get upset, your Black citizens get upset, skin head kids turn out on the sidewalk to cheer for them, people get into fistfights, everybody is mad at everybody for a good six months. So, if you are like myself, a civil-libertarian, naturally you have to stand up for the right of these blue-bellied nincompoops to spew whatever viscous dribble they want to because it's in the first amendment. This is a stand that will make you about as popular with your neighbors as a whore trying to get into the SMU school of theology. So, several of us gathered mournfully over a pitcher of beer one night and came up with what we thought was a better plan. And we do not have enough cluckers there in Austin to have a good rally; they had to be bused in from Waco and Viddar (?). They got off the buses wearing their little pointy hats on their little pointy heads. They were greeted by several thousand citizens of Austin lining both sides of Congress Avenue, who mooned them as they marched. Made a very nice effect, it was sort of like a wave in a baseball stadium. This is the kind of freedom fighting tactic I recommend to all of you, although I realize that in this part of the country it's a seasonally limited option.

I'M MY OWN PERSON!!!

This is just a note to let you all know that this blog is NOT sponsored by flowers.com or some other insipid organization. I receive NO FUNDS for the time and effort I put into this magnum opus. In fact, if time is money, I'm donating huge amounts of dough to the cause of truth, justice and the American Way.

As I write this, Himself is "speaking to the nation" about Iraq. Well maybe on the west coast people haven't eaten but talk about upsetting your digestive system! Listening to that nasal twang, those illiterate sentences and then contemplating death, destruction, humiliation and downright stupidity? Not the way I want to end a very tiring day trying to rectify the healthcare system.

The good news though is that my Political Action Committee is "catching on." I arrived at a League of Women Voters "picnic" tonight (where no one was dressed like it was a picnic and they started at 5PM when I was still at work and there was no food left by the time I got there....but I digress....) and one of my friends said "I understand you started a PAC!" Yes, I admitted, I had. Well, she wanted to know, why hadn't SHE been solicited? So I had to describe how I needed to only buy 50 stamps and see how it went so that I didn't use more of the income than was appropriate for expenses! Once I got some contributions I went out on a limb and bought 100 stamps, half of which were for thank you letters! Another woman also wants to make sure she's solicited! So I guess I'm now part of the local buzz!

Keep the faith and let's hope the American people are waking up to what's in front of them. With any luck, the Good Guys will sweep the Congress in 16 months.

SO HOW AM I DOING?

As we all know, the above quote was from Ed Koch, who was constantly concerned about people's perceptions of him as mayor of the Big Apple.

My ambitions are less, shall we say, ambitious, and actually I'm going to TELL you how I'm doing rather than ask...

I am, of course, referring to my POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE. I know I've been sort of a tease telling people that I was going to tell them how it was going. Well now I fulfill my promise.

In my humble opinion, I'm doing quite well, thank you very much.

I've mailed somewhere between 40 and 50 solicitations and have received about 15 donations. On the one hand, that's an amazing return for "direct mail." On the other hand (and, isn't there ALWAYS an other hand?) given that the first 50 letters went out to close friends and family, the question is WHY IS THE RESPONSE SO LOW. Hey, just kidding. I'm VERY pleased with the response and realize that it is a true leap of faith to say "hey, send me your hard earned money and I'll 'invest it' in candidates of my choosing!"

I have received donations from California, Virginia, the District of Columbia, Ohio, New York, Massachusetts and Maine. So we're trying to go from sea to shining sea.

And I made my first contribution to a candidate. My friend Peter Marchetti, whom I met thru the Rhonda Serre campaign, is trying to reclaim his at-large seat on the Pittsfield City Council. Talk about a dysfunctional body. Oh well, it's Peter's choice.

More later....I got to bed at 1:30 on 6/21, got up at 5:30, drove to worcester and was compis mentis, got home nad now it's 11:30. I think I'm crashing.

Margie

Sir, HAVE YOU NO SHAME?

At some point in high school, we had a film in the auditorium (remember those days?) for history or government that had Joseph Welch, the congressional prosecutor of Joe McCarthy, explaining the ins and outs of the judicial system. And then, if I'm not mistaken, he played the judge in Anatomy of a Murder. He is one of my favorite people.

Obviously his best known line from the McCarthy era was "Sir, have you no shame?" And I think of Joseph Welch and that five word phrase when I look at pictures of Jeb Bush on TV and in the newspapers.

Silly me, I was under the impression that he was the smart one in the family. I sort of felt sorry for him because his parents dissed him when he married a Hispanic woman, and he's been eclipsed by his way more doltish older brother.

Either he has early onset dementia, or he's one of the cruelest people in public life today. Take your pick.

'Nuf said. I haven't had breakfast yet and don't want to ruin my digestion.

Al Franken for Senator

"In this country, we are going through a very dark period," he told his audience, "and someday your grandchildren are going to ask what you did, and you are going to tell them, 'I worked my butt off." ( Al Franken on the possibility that he might run for Senate in MN in 2008)

Which is why I started my own Political Action Committee. After the election, I did the whole "catatonia" thing for two days, moved on to the "let's drown our sorrows in San Diego Bay" thing (no, that does not mean offing oneself by jumping from a bridge....that means drinking margaritas and looking at the water, the skyline and the mountains and realizing that life still has meaning....margaritas can do that for you. Then I did the whole "numbness" thing, which included trying to pretend there wasn't an inauguration and throwing myself into work, where I try to protect elders from the ravages of the healthcare system.

The numbness thing had to quickly be replaced by the "vigilant citizen" thing, because a friend of mine was running for an open state rep. seat this past winter. It wasn't my district, and we had 57 days to see if anyone knew who she was. She ran the best campaign, but 57 days in the dead of winter wouldn't give you enough time to let people know that John Beresford Tipton was in town. We had the best message and the best candidate. We were also trounced. Luckily the Republicans were too dumb to nominate the more electable of the two people running in their primary, and so the D's waltzed to victory.

Before the numbness thing set in again, I realized something.

I knew a lot ABOUT politics, I knew a lot of people IN politics, and I knew a lot of people INTERESTED in politics. I'm the local "go to girl" in my small town when there's a campaign for some obscure office. "Marge, who should I vote for?" is the constant question heard on the street. So I decided to put my money, and OPM, where my mouth was and start my own PAC.

I have always been a supporter of Clean Elections and contribution limits. My first run for Selectman, I put on a $25 PER FAMILY contribution limit and raised over $1200. Donated a couple hundred back to the high school scholarship fund. Won in a landslide (well, almost....) I've always been proud of that race because some people thought I was "stupid" not to accept $100 donations. Later in my term I needed to make a hard choice on an appointment to a board and "some people" had a much different opinion than I did. Luckily, they hadn't contributed 10% of my campaign coffer!

So now I'm inching up on the $1K mark in the Margaret Johnson Ware PAC. I'm about to write my first check to a candidate campaign committee. I only accept donations up to $132 per person. I'm looking for candidates who have a viable chance of changing the system and who stand for the issues that I'm interested in.

So at least when my grandchildren hear about the dark political days of the early part of the 21st century, when civility was lost from politics, and personal invective was the rule of the day, and they say "Grammy ....what did YOU do to make a difference?" I can say "I worked my butt off."

Rationality from the "Other Side"

I heard Christine Todd Whitman from the Commonwealth Club on NPR today. It was obviously an old broadcast, because the compromise on the nuclear option hadn't been concluded yet.

While I don't agree with the times she tried to make GWB look like a good guy, in general her talk made a lot of sense. Her book "It's My Party, Too" is probably a hat in the ring for 2008, certainly a way to make $, but who cares if what she says is true. It is also a reminder to Democrats about what it feels like to be a conservative in our party. And it's nice to know that there are a few R's out there who still want a constructive dialogue on the issues of the day. Her comments on energy, for the most part, were fairly tolerable. Her comments on the Schiavo case were right on!

It's always good to remember that no "side" owns the truth, and that you can learn a lot more from listening than from speaking.

That Was The Week That Was

Now, if you get the popular culture reference in the above title, you ARE dating yourself, but it means you're my kind of people.

I figure I have about three faithful readers, so to them I apologize for no new "news" in the last week. We had an engagement party for my son on Saturday, and that entailed transforming the entire house from a den of dirt into something presentable enough to be seen by his future in-laws. In the middle of that an old college friend showed up, and so I HAD to see her, and that set me back even more.

The party went off without a hitch and a good time was had by all families. This is not always the case and we feel INCREDIBLY lucky that our future d-i-l is so wonderful and has such a great family. We are almost over the whole "Republican" thing. In fact, my goal for the next visit is NOT TO MENTION PARTY AFFILIATION ONCE. (We'll see how I do....)

Meanwhile all the people in the blog world are talking about "The Downing Street Memo." I will now tell you something very embarrassing.

I have purposely NOT read anything about the DSM. You know why? Because I would either be outraged, or depressed, or both. I would feel that I'd (and the world had) been had, and I just can't deal with all those emotions right now. I'm putting my effort into something constructive, my new political action committee, called, surprisingly, "The Margaret Johnson Ware Political Action Committee" (in part because under Mass. law a PAC controlled by only one person needs to identify itself as such.) I have put the DSM in a category of "wake me up when 5% of the population has heard of, and is outraged, by such, and then I'll hop on."

I use the figure 5% because back in the days of a wonderful movement , early to mid-80's called "Beyond War," they had two interesting factoids about the adoption of a new idea. For an idea to become "imbedded" in the public consciousness, 5% of the population had to hold that idea. For an idea to become virtually a fait accompli it had to be adopted by.......can you guess? Not 50% but 20% of the population. That's right. When 20% of American became CONVINCED that Richard Nixon should be impeached, it was as good as done. No, it didn't happen at that moment. But it had reached a critical mass that made it a virtually unstoppable notion.

So when 5% of ....hmmmm, should it be the U.S. or the world, or Western Europe or what? Well, we'll have to go with U.S. because I can't really get a handle on "world" opinion. When 5% of the U.S. has heard of the DSM and feels that it rises to the level of an impeachable offense, send me an email.

As usual, I have digressed, but that's my perogative is it not? Later this week I'll tell you the story of my PAC and the wonderful initial success it has had.

And so to bed.....