If Sen./Dr. Barrasso isn't going to legislate, he can at least medicate at Wyoming health centers hit by sequestration cuts

Sen./Dr. John Barrasso, Sen. Mike Enzi and Rep./Gazillionaire Cynthia Lummis don't have to depend on the Cheyenne Health and Wellness Center on Fox Farm Road for medical and dental care. They get free care courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer. But hundreds of other southeast Wyoming residents are not as fortunate. These low-income individuals will be impacted by the sequestration cuts soon to hit the Cheyenne center and a similar one in Casper, Community Health Center of Central Wyoming. Since both Enzi and Lummis call Cheyenne home during their many vacay days, and Barrasso is from Casper, perhaps they could look in on some of the people who will be affected by their dilly-dallying and political gamesmanship. Better yet, maybe Dr. Barrasso could take some time out of his lackadaisical schedule to minister to those Casper folks needing sutures or prescriptions. If he isn't going to legislate, he could at least medicate. Read about the cuts in today's Casper Star-Trib.

Wyoming Legislature may need therapy for gun obsession

The Wyoming State Legislature is obsessed with guns.

Guns in the classroom. Guns at public meetings. Silencers on hunting weapons. 

And legislators don't want the federal gubment to get in the way of Wyomingites owning semi-automatic weapons and high capacity ammo clips. How many rounds does it take to kill a deer or an antelope, anyway?

Yesterday, the so-called Wyoming Firearms Protection Act advanced out of committee. It has the has drawn national media attention by proposing to ban enforcement of all federal gun regulations within the state.

So, as the feds move closer to requiring universal background checks and forbidding the type of rapid-fire weapons that killed 20 six-year-olds in Connecticut, Wyoming moves closer to the margins of Gun Cuckooland. 

Federal law trumps state and local law except in the minds of Tea Party conspiracists and their fellow travelers in the legislature. Nullification! Freedom! Second amendment! Morons!

It's true enough to say Wyoming has a strong gun culture. My neighborhood may be better armed than most Midwestern cities. I've lived here for seven years and nobody's been shot that I know of. It's entirely possible that our low crime rate and incidences of B&E may be due to criminals never know who has a gun and who does not. When I walk neighborhoods for Democratic candidates, which in itself may be a cause for suspicion, I often see stickers on doors and windows. "Protected by Smith & Wesson" is a favorite. So is "C'mon, punk, make my day" that usually comes with an illustration of a bullseye or a big Dirty Harry handgun. I have never been confronted with a drawn gun, although I was reported as a suspicious character when I canvassed a south side neighborhood last fall. I must admit to looking slightly shady. I was wearing a ballcap and a blue T-shirt and carrying around a fistful of leaflets for a Dem running for the legislature. It was an October Saturday and I wasn't at home or at a bar watching college football, suspicious in itself. Cops rousted me, although they kept their sidearms holstered and didn't frisk me. BTW, I was old enough to be their grandfather and at least their father. But you never know -- I could be a frontman for a cadre of Colorado-based break-in artists. Can't be too careful.

Home protection and hunting and collecting and gunsmsithing I can understand. Right-wing whackadoodle paranoia I can understand too, but it scares me. Seems like our legislators are only too eager to sign on with the paranoid few.

Workers urged to share their voices in a "community-building, creative investigation of what it means to labor in Wyoming"

Today's news from Michigan shows that the Republican war on workers continues unabated. Southern Wyoming once had a strong union presence in the mines and on the railroads. But most of the railroad jobs were moved out of Rawlins and Rock Springs and the mines got all "Right-to-Work-State" on its workers.

Mark Nowak is a documentary poet, teacher and labor activist who will will serve as eminent writer-in-residence for the University of Wyoming creative writing program in February. He and I are two of the writers featured in Working Words: Punching the Clock and Kicking out the Jams, a 2010 anthology from Coffee House Press.

This is an excerpt about working in a steel mill from Mark's poetry series, "$00 / Line / Steel / Train," which is included in the anthology:

Because the (brake) past is used because the tearing  (past) of the (brick) form is used is used because the fence (in) of the (goddam) frame is used is used is utterly used against us and by us and upon us and for us is used is used in the present (past) future (form) we are used yet users yet used.

Every day you put your life on the line when you went into that iron house. Every day you sucked up dirt and took a chance on breaking your legs or breaking your back. And anyone who's worked in there knows what I'm talking about.

Mark sent along this info about the "Working (in Wyoming)" project he'll be conducting when he's in the state. Here it is:

Working (in Wyoming) is a community-building, creative investigation of what it means to labor in Wyoming. A series of creative writing workshops will be held in southeastern  Wyoming (Laramie and Cheyenne) in February of 2013.

These workshops will be facilitated by Wyoming writing instructors and students in the University of Wyoming's MFA program in creative writing. In these workshops, Wyoming workers of diverse backgrounds will have the opportunity to collaborate with others in the Wyoming community to create a short piece of creative writing (a poem, a parable, a short story, a piece of flash fiction/nonfiction, etc.).

Working (in Wyoming) will culminate in a large-scale yet intimate evening event in Laramie on February 28. Here working people from across the state will have the opportunity to share what it means to work in Wyoming with a presentation of pieces created in workshops. 

To get involved in the project, contact Kay Northrop at knorthrop@uwyo.edu or Brie Fleming at briennafleming5@gmail.com Read more on the project's Facebook page.

Mark's blog is filled with info about union organizing and strikes worldwide. If you think that workers in the U.S. don't have anything in common with coal miners in China or maquiladora laborers in Mexico, think again, and take a look at Mark's Coal Mountain blog.

Note to Wyoming Sens. Enzi and Barrasso and Rep. Lummis: NO CUTS!

Overpass Light Brigade posted this: From the San Diego Labor Council's candlelight event outside Sen. Dianne Feinstein's downtown office to avoid cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid programs; instead to pressure Congress to raise taxes on the wealthiest 2% of Americans. NO CUTS!

Strike that debt with Rolling Jubilee

This is a great idea, and yet another offshoot of Occupy Wall Street:

Rolling Jubilee is a Strike Debt project that buys debt for pennies on the dollar, but instead of collecting it, abolishes it. Together we can liberate debtors at random through a campaign of mutual support, good will, and collective refusal. Debt resistance is just the beginning. Join us as we imagine and create a new world based on the common good, not Wall Street profits. Learn more or contribute.

Call in and ask Sen. Enzi about GOP plans to ensure healthy retirements for Wyomingites

Laramie's Nancy Sindelar is a great source for intriguing political happenings around the state. She just alerted me about this:

Thursday, November 15, 7 p.m., Wyoming PBS presents "Wyoming Perspectives: the Future of Medicare and Social Security." This is a discussion with Republican Sen. Mike Enzi; Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services spokesperson Mike Fierberg; University of Wyoming professor and economist Anne Alexander; AARP Vice President/Financial Security Jean Setzfand; and AARP Wyoming Director Tim Summers. This is a live call-in show, or you can watch archived copy afterwards. FMI: http://www.wyomingpbs.org/seniors. Email jamend@cwc.edu. Ask live on-air questions: 1-800-495-9788 or wyomingperspectives@wyomingpbs.org. Twitter @WyoPBS, #WyoPBSseniors. 

My first question to Sen. Enzi: Now that the Republican plans for privatizing Social Security and turning Medicare into a voucher system are as dead as Paul Ryan's budget, how do you plan to spend your time in D.C.? And then there's that little question about avoiding the fiscal cliff. How does the GOP plan to deal with that little issue, eh?

Wyoming Tribune Eagle: Early voting eclipses 2008 numbers

Lots of people voting early in Wyoming, including a fair number of our Laramie County neighbors. Read more here: Early voting eclipses 2008 tally.

You can still vote early in downtown Cheyenne on Monday. And on Tuesday, vote at your precincts. 

Tired of Republican attacks on teachers?

Please join us for a Democratic Party education candidate house party for Misty Heil (LCCC Board), Nate Breen (LCSD#1) and Gary Datus (HD-42).  

Brand House 

629 Oakhurst Drive, Cheyenne.

Sunday, October 14, 3-6 pm. 

Come meet the candidates!  Supporters can learn how they can help these great campaigns.  Education at all levels is a priority for Laramie County and attacks on teachers, other educators/faculty and academic freedom are rampant. Our candidates value good  teachers and strong policies to support them and their students. 

For more information, contact Lori Brand at 307-634-6977.

Laramie County Democratic Party chili dinner set for October 21

ANNUAL LARAMIE COUNTY DEMOCRATS CHILI DINNER

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2012

4-7 P.M.

OLD COMMUNITY HOUSE, LIONS PARK

MEET AND TALK TO CANDIDATES

RALLY THE TROOPS FOR THE FINAL WEEKS OF CAMPAIGN

BRING A DESSERT OR SALAD

CHILI, HOT DOGS, HAMBURGERS, BEVERAGES PROVIDED

DONATIONS WELCOME!

ALL PROGRESSIVE-MINDED PEOPLE WELCOME!

DEFY THE KNOW NOTHINGS -- VOTE DEMOCRATIC!

Republican Paul Ryan: Heavy on certitude, light on Catholic social justice

As I watched the Veep candidates trade barbs this evening in Kentucky, I couldn't help but wonder what they were like in high school. Lori said that Paul Ryan was called a brown-noser in his high school yearbook. I don't know this to be true but I also don't doubt it. One only has to see his thin-lipped smirk and his beady eyes to know he was a brown-noser, the kind who has his face so far up the teacher's bum that, well, you know....

Joe Biden, on the other hand, was a wise guy, quick-witted and big-mouthed, who might also have been fun to be around. He may also have been the BMOC -- Big Man on Campus -- the guy who got the girls and wasn't too humble about it.

But there's one other thing. Paul Ryan has the certitude and rectitude that makes him unbearable. He's the kind of parishioner who's driven me from the Catholic Church. This is what the Catholic Church believes! I know it in my lily white soul! If you don't like it, you must be one of those cafeteria Catholics. Get out!

So I did. These type of Catholics are insufferable. Certainty has never been a Catholic trait. Joe Biden was right when he quipped that Ryan didn't learn much about Catholic social doctrine with his catechism.

Give me those feisty social justice street-fighting Catholics any day. Or those heady Unitarians or friendly United Methodists or angst-ridden Existentialists or fallen Catholics or Jack Mormons. People who've been through the fire and learned a few things in the process.

Biden has been kicked around some. Lost his wife and daughter in a car crash. Had his son deployed to Iraq. Experienced losses at home and in the Senate. He knows that there's no certainty in life or in politics.

Biden stuck it to Ryan tonight. He probably would have done the same in high school debate, although charm and a big smile doesn't always win points in competition.   

9th U.S. Court of Appeals reinstates Montana's campaign donation limits

Good news from Huff Post Politics:

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated Montana's campaign donation limits, telling the federal judge who struck down the limits that the panel needs to see his full reasoning so it can review the case.

The court intervened late Tuesday less than a week after the judge's decision opened the door to unlimited money in state elections – during the height of election season.

Read all about it at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/10/montana-campaign-donation-limits_n_1954591.html

Tea Party Slim sounds the alarm on Agenda 21

Tea Party Slim is hopping mad about Agenda 21.

"What is that?" I asked Slim as we sipped our coffee at the downtown Starbucks.

He shot me a look. "What rock have you been hiding under? It's been all over the blogs."

"Which blogs."

"Tea Party blogs, mostly."

"There's the problem," I said. "I don't read Tea Party blogs."

"You should. They bring enlightenment."

"So enlighten me." I sipped my double mocha caramel latte. "What's Agenda 21?"

Slim sipped his dark roast, took a deep breath and launched into his explanation. When Slim wrapped up his spiel thirty minutes later, I felt none the wiser.

"So the United Nations wants to take over our neighborhoods?"

Slim nodded. "Lock, stock and barrel."

"Why?"

"World domination, son. They won't rest until they have our homes, our pick-ups, our RVs, our guns, our women..."

"Our daughters too?"

"No, not yet, anyway."

"That's too bad," I said. "My wife and I would like to get the last kid out of the house. We need some peace and quiet. Do you think the U.N. could use a 19-year-old with orange spiky hair who plays bass in a band called The Ingrates?"

Slim stared at me.

"Do you?"

He shook his head. "You're not taking this seriously. The U.N. has designs on our property. And they want to tell us how to build our homes, how wide our streets should be, even what kind of energy we can use."

"They don't need a bass player? My daughter's really good, as far as I can tell."

"Do you want the U.N. to tell you how to live?"

"Not really, but..."

"Do you want the U.N. to take away your car and tell you to ride the bus? Or demand that Cheyenne build a monorail?"

"I wouldn't mind getting rid of my car. It has 120,000 miles on it. I need new tires. And my driver's side window is stuck. Did you know that I have to roll down the window and open it from the outside? It's a damn nuisance." I sipped my latte. "And I wouldn't mind a monorail whisking me downtown to work."

Slim's irritation was beginning to show. "You're not taking this threat seriously."

"You're right, Slim. I don't see much of a threat. I don't see how the U.N. would spend its valuable time fretting about my six-year-old Ford Fusion or the amount of natural gas I burn in my 25-year-old furnace or the width of my suburban street."

He shook his head slowly.

"We can't even get the city to pave our street," I said. "Do you think that the U.N. might want to take that on?"

"You're hopeless," he said. "We're having a meeting on this very subject. It's on Saturday, Oct. 20, 5-8 p.m., at the Old Community House in Lions Park. Tea Party patriots from around the country will be protesting against Agenda 21 that day. We all know how dangerous this 'smart growth' nonsense could become. Other true blue conservatives will at the Cheyenne meeting. M. Lee Hasenauer for one. He's running on a patriotic platform for county commissioner. Taylor Haynes will be the emcee -- he's that Libertarian rancher who ran for governor. And so will Brad Harrington, editor of Liberty's Torch."

"That's one heck of a line-up, Slim. And it sounds tempting. But I'm getting my spine straightened that day."

"Didn't know that you had one." He smiled.

"A spine? Yes, I have one. It's been bent out of shape by all the right-wing fooferaw I've heard around here lately."

"Better get used to it."

"Never. All I can say is, 'Don't Tread on Me.' My spine couldn't stand the strain."

Forget the cold and snow -- these Democratic candidates need your help this weekend

From Linda Stowers, Laramie County Democrats:

Of course it is going to be cold this weekend when we need lots 

of volunteers working with our great candidates. Below is a list

of the activities:
 
Lee Filer (HD 12) walking tomorrow at 9:30 a.m., meeting at 

Town and Country on South Greeley Highway. 

Joe Fender (HD 7) walking tomorrow from 10:30 a.m.- 3 p.m. and

Sunday 1-4 p.m. Contact him at 307-421-6082.

Jim Byrd (HD 44) walking tomorrow 10 a.m. and Sunday 9 a.m.- 6 p.m.

Contact him at 307-287-5733.

Mary Throne (HD 11) walking on Sunday at 1:00 p.m., meeting at 

Mary Throne's home at 720 E. 19th Street. 
 
Let's get out and help these candidates!
 
Now that the flowers are gone you probably need some color to fill

the void, come to the LarCoDems office at 1909 Warren and pick up a

yard sign for the candidates.
 
Finally we will be doing our phone banks every Tuesday at 1909 

Warren at 7 p.m. and Wednesday at the home of candidate Lee Filer.

Please help out these activities,

Dress warm.  
 
 

Post-mortem, Wyoming style, on the first presidential debate

Democrats gathered tonight at Lori Brand's house in Cheyenne for a debate watching party. As always, we had a lot of fun just being together as Liberals in our decidedly un-Liberal state. We ate well, and drank fine wine and beer, as we watched the give-and-take between the candidates. Mitt looked and sounded desperate, trying to be a middle-of-the-roader in the Republican Party that is being driven over a cliff by right-wing crackpots. The moderator, Jim Lehrer, had no real part in the event. As Rachel Maddow quipped when it was concluded: "We've seen the death of this debate format." Or something like that. There was a bit of debate, but both Romney and Obama ran over the moderator. It doesn't work, and we deserve better.

Still, fun was had by all. We met some new people who heard about the event through the Obama for American site. We raised some money for state and local candidates, as well as for the Obama outreach effort from Wyoming to battleground Colorado, site of the debate. Obama needs to win Colorado to win the election. So we have to keep lobbing phone calls from The Equality State to The Centennial State until Nov. 6.

BTW, Jeran Artery of Wyoming Equality is a fine auctioneer. Thanks, Jeran.

On to the Veep debates next week!

Get 'em while they're hot, folks -- Presidential Debate Bingo cards

One of Meg's Presidential Debate Bingo cards

Laramie's Meg Lanker-Simons at Cognitive Dissonance has come up with a series of cards for "Presidential Debate Bingo." Every card is different! Play the game, get five buzzwords or jingoistic phrases in a row, submit the winning entry within an hour following the Oct. 3 Denver debate and win a swag bag of political buttons, bumper stickers, yard signs, and more. You won't find this offer in stores! Go to http://cognitivedissonance.tumblr.com/post/32773853069/inothernews-cognitivedissonance-presidential

MoveOn petition asks: Sen. Barrasso, why did you vote to block veterans' jobs bill?

Wyoming MoveOn member Josh Kronberg sent this:

Dear Wyoming MoveOn member,

All over Wyoming we see public support for our troops overseas, but just because their tours of duty might end doesn't mean that the debt owed them by their country ends with them. 

Nonetheless, our troops are coming home to Wyoming and finding it even harder than non-vets to find jobs, housing, and support. We can wave all the banners we want and paste all the bumper stickers we can find but that doesn't put paychecks in veterans' hands or roofs over their heads.

Recently, Senator John Barrasso voted to block a billion-dollar veteran jobs program, and it's time we in Wyoming did more to support our troops than put bumper stickers on our cars and repost pictures on Facebook. 

That's why I created a petition on SignOn.org to Sen. Barrasso, which says:

Senator Barrasso, stop blocking programs to employ our vets, and start showing them the support they have earned. Reverse your decision on preventing the billion-dollar veteran jobs program from going through; put our money where our mouth is.

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Thanks!

–Josh Kronberg

This petition was created on SignOn.org, the progressive, nonprofit petition site. SignOn.org is sponsored by MoveOn Civic Action, which is not responsible for the contents of this or other petitions posted on the site. Josh Kronberg didn't pay us to send this email—we never rent or sell the MoveOn.org list.

Debate watch party on the agenda for Oct. 3

Democrats are holding a debate watch party on Wednesday, Oct. 3, 6:30-8:30 p.m. I saw the details on the Obama for America web site. It has a special relevance for those of us in Cheyenne who witnessed Obama's nomination and acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in 2008. This debate comes to us from the University of Denver campus.

It wasn't mentioned, but I wonder if there is a drinking game involved? You have to chug a beer when Mitt mentions socialism? When President Obama mentions Osama bin Laden? When Mitt can't remember the time that he told the Detroit auto industry to go to hell? When President Obama mentions that he's The Savior of Detroit? When the moderators lob a softball question at either candidate?

We'll be drunk by 6:35.

Get more info here.

Cheyenne Vineyard Church's "Cotton Patch Gospel" has roots in Christian social justice

My former work colleague Randy Oestman left state employment to serve as a minister for the Cheyenne Vineyard Church, 1506 Thomes Ave. Vineyard services are very musical, I am told, which is not surprising, considering Randy's theatre background. Randy and his Vineyard colleagues take the New Testament's social justice message seriously. They minister to Cheyenne's homeless and collect leftover foodstuffs from farmers' markets to distribute to needy families. I buy my eggs from Randy, whose chickens lay the darndest-colored eggs. Randy even practices his theatrical skills in the chicken coop.

In October, the Vineyard Church is producing the "Cotton Patch Gospel," based on a book by Tom Key and Russell Treyz, with music by Harry Chapin, written just before he died in a 1981 traffic accident. Anything with music by Harry Chapin has to be good.

Here is a description of the play from Wikipedia:

Cotton Patch Gospel is a musical by Tom Key and Russell Treyz with music and lyrics written by Harry Chapin just before his death in 1981. Based on the book The Cotton Patch Version of Matthew and John by Clarence Jordan, the story retells the life of Jesus as if in modern day, rural Georgia.

Using a southern reinterpretation of the gospel story, the musical is often performed in a one-man show format with an accompanying quartet of bluegrass musicians, although a larger cast can also be used. A video recording of the play was released in 1988 with Tom Key as the leading actor.

Interesting to note that Clarence Jordan was the founder of the Koinonia Farm,  a ground-breaking Christian social justice community that infuriated its white Georgia neighbors by practicing and preaching equality for all, including African-Americans. During the Civil Rights struggles of the 1950s and '60s, Koinonia was the target of a local economic boycott and several bombings. It was able to survive by shipping all of its goods through the U.S. Postal Service because, as we all know, "the mail must go through." Jordan also was instrumental in the founding of Habitat for Humanity, another revolutionary Georgia organization. Koinonia and Habitat had a big influence on one of its neighbors, Jimmy Carter of Plains. Clarence Jordan's nephew, Hamilton, was President Carter's chief of staff.

"Cotton Patch Gospel" will be performed at the Cheyenne Vineyard Church Oct. 5-6. 12-13 and 19-20 at 7 p.m. Admission is free but please bring grocery gift cards or non-perishable food for the needy. Call for tickets: 307-638-8700.

Question for Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso: Why did you vote to block jobs bill for military veterans?

Wyoming Sen./Dr. John Barrasso, running for re-election, voted today to block a jobs bill for military veterans. He was joined in the naysayers' column by Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi. The $1 billion veterans' job bill needed 60 votes to proceed. It was blocked 58-40. All no votes were by Republicans.

Senate Veterans' Affairs Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said the cost of the bill, $1 billion over five years, is offset. She noted that a vote to block the measure is tantamount to saying the nation has done enough for veterans.

"A vote to support this point of order says that despite the fact that we have paid for this bill, despite the fact that one in four young veterans are out of work, despite the fact that veterans suicides are outpacing combat deaths, and despite the fact that more and more veterans are coming home, we are not going to invest in these challenges," Murray said.

The nation owes veterans "more than just a pat on the back for their service," she continued. "We owe them more than bumper stickers and platitudes. We owe them more than procedural roadblocks that will impede our ability to provide help now and into the future. We owe them action."

Murray continued: "We owe them real investments that will help get them back to work. And that's what this bill does."

I'm voting for Democrat Tim Chesnut in the Wyoming U.S. Senate race. Maybe he will vote for benefits for our military veterans. On Sunday, Sept. 23, Tim will host a barbecue and fund-raiser from noon until 3 p.m. at the picnic shelter in Holliday Park in Cheyenne. Get more info by calling Barbara Guilford at 307-634-0309 or Michael Crump at 307-631-9569.

In Randy Newman's new satiric song, the narrator dreams about a white man for president

Nonesuch Records is offering a free download of Randy Newman's new song, "I'm Dreaming." I've always been a fan of Newman's songs is which an unidentified narrator is singing about a controversial topic. In "Sail Away," the narrator (a slave trader?) is urging black Africans to go to America:

In America, you get food to eat  
Won't have to run through the jungle and scuff up your feet 
You just sing about Jesus, drink wine all day  
It's great to be an American
 
Ain't no lions or tigers, ain't no mamba snake  
Just the sweet watermelon and the buckwheat cake 
Everybody is as happy as a man can be  
Climb aboard little wog, sail away with me

In "Short People," short people are singled out for ridicule by someone who may or may not be serious. In "Political Science," the right-wing Bircher narrator urges us to "drop the big one now" and "Boom goes London, boom Paree." In "Louisiana 1927," the rich and powerful are shown as oblivious to the plight of victims of natural disasters. This song received lots of airplay after Hurricane Katrina:

Louisiana, Louisiana
They're tryin' to wash us away
They're tryin' to wash us away
Louisiana, Louisiana
They're tryin' to wash us away
They're tryin' to wash us away

President Coolidge came down in a railroad train
With a little fat man with a note-pad in his hand
The President say, "Little fat man isn't it a shame what the river has done
To this poor crackers land."

"I'm Dreaming" is also one of Newman's "character" songs. Here's an interview with him on the Nonesuch site (thanks to Meg Lanker-Simons in Laramie for the tip):

Randy Newman’s new song, “I’m Dreaming,” is available as a free download below, where you can also watch the accompanying video. With lyrics from the viewpoint of a voter who casts his ballot solely based on skin color, the song draws attention to something Newman has noticed and written about for 40 years: racism in America. (The complete lyrics are below as well.) While the song, which Newman performs solo at the piano, is free, anyone wishing to contribute is encouraged to donate to the United Negro College Fund at www.uncf.org.

Newman explains, “No other Western industrialized nation would’ve elected a black president. I’m proud of this country for having elected Obama in 2008. But from the beginning of his term, I noticed a particular heat to conversations that wouldn’t ordinarily generate that kind of passion: The budget, appointments, health care.” He continues, “I think there are a lot of people who find it jarring to have a black man in the White House and they want him out. They just can’t believe that there’s not a more qualified white man. You won’t get anyone, and I do mean anyone, to admit it.

“I often write songs in character. You can’t always trust or believe the narrators in my songs. So why listen? Good question.

“Anyway the guy in this song may exist somewhere. Let’s hope not. Vote in November.”