An Apology

Subject: Garrison Keillor apologizes to Republicans:

"Having been called names, one looks back at one's own angry outbursts over the years, and I recall having at various times referred to Republicans as 'hairy-backed swamp developers, fundamentalist bullies, freelance racists, hobby cops, sweatshop tycoons, line jumpers, marsupial moms and aluminum-siding salesmen, misanthropic frat boys, ninja ditto heads, shrieking midgets, tax cheats, cheese merchants, cat stranglers, pill pushers, nihilists in golf pants, backed-up Baptists, the grand pooh-bahs of Percodan, mouth breathers, testosterone junkies and brownshirts in pinstripes'.

I look at those words now, and 'cat stranglers' seems excessive to me. The number of cat stranglers in the ranks of the Republican Party is surely low, and that reference was hurtful to Republicans and to cat owners. I feel sheepish about it."

The Friday Rant! News Media.

I have been following the disappearance of a missing person here in New England, only because this person is being featured in the news a lot. To the surprise of no one, this person is young, white, and female and now dead. If you link here, here, and here you can read all about ywfs missing since XXXX, and mostly likely dead. One of my callers even said it was tragedy, and it is. The unfortunately reality is that if a missing person is not found within 24 hours, they are likely dead. My question is why the media is obsessed with missing ywfs? Are ywfs more valuable in our society? Is it our mostly dominant Anglo-Saxon culture? Their virginesqe appearance?

My rant is why can’t a young black male get as much attention as this poor ywf?

The Men's Bathroom at 59 Temple Pl Suite 431

I have Friday rant. What is the bathrooms in this place? I mean why don't they have ceiling fans, windows, vents? Everytime I walk in I gots to brace myself for some "smells o foul." Can we doing something about that? I mean really!

Gary Bittenbender, Humanitarian

Gary introduced me to the terms: "Luddite" and "R U Serious," he exposed me to the wonders of the Grateful Dead, great jazz music, living in a warehouse and the pains of working with an older employee. While he would probably loathe a blog tribute, it is one of the ways I want to pay tribute to him. He was also one of the few selfish people in the world who do the type of work I do, but at the most grunt level possible and he loved it. I was his last "boss." We had our fights, our nights eating hot wings at a bar, our indie meetings, our victories, and our defeats. He was bitter, smoked and drank way too much, complained a lot, but he always went out and did his personal best. He worked in rain, snow, heat, in pain, in health, until he could not do it anymore. He was not a teacher, and mainly worked alone, but was an inspiration to young people half his age.

While he looked like an axe murderer, he raised more money on a more consistent basis then anyone I have worked with. People he canvassed at the door knew him and could describe the hardscrabble man at their door. He canvassed in southeastern PA for so long that I often talked to people on the phone and at the door who would say “I’ll give to Gary when he comes by…”

I Wonder

The upcoming election has prompted some thoughts. Stop now if you don’t care about my views or the elections. But you should…care that is. I hate partisan politics, I hate that one party thinks it is better than the other. I think that most politicians are either corrupt, inept, out of touch and don’t represent my (your) views/opinions. I think we should change the way elections are held, run and paid for. I think elected officials talk too much and do too little. I think that while Dems stand for things, they have a hard time talking about and standing for those things. I believe that candidates should not go after other candidates in demeaning, putting down, or insulting ways. I think most people would be with me on these issues. Each party believes that its view and outlook of the world is the “right” way to view and see the world. Any logician will tell you that both can’t be right. My political views mostly conform to the Green Party platform. Yet here I am raising money for the Democrats and hoping they win the House and the Senate. So why should the Dems win this November? Well…

Any organizer will tell you that you have to “organize people where they are at.” That is one of the first ways to shift people’s paradigms. Right now the country has some pretty fucked up views and beliefs. Support of the death penalty, unquestionable support of Israel, that we need oil to live, that Bush is doing right, that people (Islamic Terrorist) are coming after us by the thousands, that they fear death from a neighbor more than they do from someone they know, that violent rap causes violence. Most of these views are wrong to some extent. But that is where people are at. So let’s go from there.

Shifting these views is not something that will change with a radical change like the Green Party. So the next least objectionable option is electing Dems. Let’s work from there. Rome was not built in a day. Omelets are not made without breaking eggs, you make the world a better place with the party you have not the one you wish you had. If you live in a place where it counts, pleace vote Democrat this November.

Free Hugs

Free Hugs Campaign.

The Office

The Office

Well the office is rolling along. BShaw was out here from SB helping me realize all the crap I am not doing and have to do. Starting from scratch is tough business/work/effort. Every day is filled with excitement though. I am managing to stay just ahead of the tipping point. I have added several callers. I am setting up systems, getting a printer (that was big) and taking some decent job calls for interviews. It is hard to walk in every day and not feel overwhelmed. My many years of running other offices have saved me where others with little or no experience would have been crushed. I am constantly getting stuff thrown at me and have to take it in, internalize and then execute it. I have planted a new thing and it is growing every day. Every system I create, every pattern I establish, every precedent I set, will be that way for a long time. Long after I have left...if I ever leave? The thing I worry most about is how much I can make it grow on my own? How long can I survive without help for something I really care about? How many things will I go through before it is where I want it to be? Will I ever be happy with the way it is? The last time I had one of these it took a year to get it to where I liked it. On to housework.