Hey Wyoming Democrats--donate to Josh Weil and change the balance in the U.S. House

Josh Weil is a Democrat running for one of Florida's vacant U.S. House seats in District 6. He will replace a Trump cultist. Ads bill him as a bad-ass teacher and concerned citizen which are what we need to stop the Republicans. We've donated to his campaign and we see the results in full-page newspaper ads and TV spots blasting his weirdo opponent. These two House seats can put a dent in the GOP/Trump/Musk/Project 2025 majority. FMI: https://joshweil.us/ or go to ActBlue. Go Josh!

One of the cool things is that I get to vote for a Democrat for a change. I voted for Dems in Wyoming but it rarely made a difference except for governor (twice) and a few state legislative elections until MAGA crazies came out of the woodwork. Wyoming Democrats can make a dent in an off-year election in another state by donating. 

Following the congressional hearings, what will become of Trump?

I've never read a book's first chapter and skipped to the last one. You miss all of the delectable middle parts, the intrigue and humor and character development. The slog, too. That middle can go on forever. That's part of it, though. We get to know the people and the setting. Just how many teatimes can we sit through in a Jane Austen novel? I laughed when when the normally easygoing Ted Lasso tries tea for the first time as a soccer coach in England. "Ugh -- brown water" he said as he moves away the tea cup as if it were radioactive. "Coffee?"

There a lot of brown water in any story's middle parts. 

I watched the live-action opening chapter of the Jan. 6 Committee hearings on June 9 and last night watched the closing chapter. The committee, co-chaired by Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, still is deliberating and continues to take testimony. But the public viewing part of the show is over. We know the story now. We await the denouement. Who will be punished and in what way? Will anyone in power pay the price for treason? The rioters, themselves, yes -- some have already been convicted of seditious conspiracy, civil disorder, destruction of public property, etc. They are guilty of the crimes and will pay fines and serve a bit of time in jail.

But what about the main POI, Donald Trump? Will he escape blame for the chaos he spawned? I keep thinking of the creepy paterfamilias Noah Cross  in "Chinatown." We don't know this until the end, but he raped his daughter Evelyn when she was 15 and her daughter is his too. In the final scene set in Chinatown, the police accidentally shoot and kill Evelyn as she tries to escape to Mexico with her daughter. She is the only witness to Cross's crime and now is dead. The cops restrain Detective Jakes Gittes and Cross takes off with his daughter. There's a chilling foreshadowing early when Gittes and Cross meet. Here's the scene:

Noah Cross: You may think you know what you're dealing with, but, believe me, you don't.

Gittes grins

Noah Cross: Why is that funny?

Jakes Gittes: That's what the District Attorney used to tell me in Chinatown.

In the congressional hearing room, the panel seems to know what they are dealing with. They have seen Trump in action since 2016 and know the dangers. What we all suspect is that Trump will be the one who slithers away from any punishment. Co-chair Cheney wrapped up the night with a magnificent speech, which you should watch if you haven't already. She is staking out a claim for the presidency, possibly in 2024. Cheney was flanked by Virginia Rep. Elaine Luria, a Naval Academy grad who retired after 20 years as a commander, and Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a USAF veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq. They take their oaths seriously and acted upon them every second during the hearings. One of the few GOP congresspeople who have publicly loathed Donald Trump -- and received death threats for doing it -- Kinzinger had this to say on CNN:

"I truly believe within my heart in five years, maybe not five but definitely 10, you're not going to be able to find a single person that admits to supporting or voting for Donald Trump in this country," the GOP congressman said. "Because they're going to be embarrassed, because their kids are going to say, 'You actually supported Donald Trump? Are you kidding me?'"

Refreshing to hear. History will judge. Our children and grandchildren will judge. Will a 2022 judge convict him of any crimes? Not bloody likely. It would be nice to think that Trump is now on his way to the dustbin of history. But we still have to deal with him in 2022. And worse, we have to deal with the millions of Trumpists who have drunk the Kool-Aid. And there are so many of them in red-state Wyoming, many running for elected office. On Aug. 16, I will switch my party affiliation from Dem to Rep to cast a vote for Cheney. Not much but it's something. 

The 2017 Women's March gave us hope in the dark and dismal early days of Trump

I feel almost giddy as this week spells the end of Trump in the White House and a new president installed. A new day for Washington, D.C., and America. A new year. Promise is in the air.

On the night of Nov. 3, 2016, all hell broke loose. Hillary Clinton led the results, at least in the beginning. And then came Florida and Pennsylvania and it was all bad news from there. Chris and I left the Democrats' celebration party early. She went to bed. I watched the West Coast returns even though my heart was broken.

I joined a group of millions across the globe in the 2017 Inauguration Day women's marches. We held one in Cheyenne attended by locals aided by protestors from around the state, western Nebraska and northern Colorado. The crowd was estimated by the Cheyenne Police Department as 1,200 but it may have been more as the police are usually conservative in their crowd estimates. It was a big crowd in our Capitol City with a population less than 70,000. Did this old bleeding heart good. Read my recap of the event here. 

We only had a tiny idea of what the next four years would bring. Nature's way of causing us further trauma. It culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol by by raging Trumpists. Many have been arrested for their attack on the seat of this country's duly-elected legislature. They stormed democracy when they stormed the building. Those filmed images will stay with me forever.

Come on Jan. 20, 2021!

Barrasso and his GOP pals have a COVID-19 message: Forget Trump, Blame China

Note of paranoia from Wyoming Senator/Sawbones John Barrasso.

Somehow I got on his email list. I haven’t yet unsubscribed because it is so telling to see what he’s sending out to his broader constituency.

On May 1, I received an e-mail with some helpful hints about the pandemic. It opens on a hopeful note: “We are all in this together.” I had to laugh. Together? The senator, thanks to deluded Wyoming R voters and those who stayed home, has a guaranteed job through 2024. A guaranteed paycheck and staff goes with it as does health care paid for by you and me. He can get a COVID-19 test whenever he wants. He’s become a millionaire since going to Congress. If Trump is reelected and the GOP keeps its majority in the Senate, Republican Barrasso will be up for a major leadership role. Meanwhile, he joins #MoscowMitch in opposition to the new stimulus bill approved by the House and now a-mouldering on Mitch’s desk.

In an interview on, of course, Fox, Barrasso said that :

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "must be living on Fantasy Island" if she thinks her $3 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill will become law…. It's bloated and partisan, and it's a payout to her liberal constituencies. 

Barrasso may look thin on TV but he's usually all about being bloated and partisan. Remember, he voted for Trump’s tax cut for the rich and he hovers around #MoscowMitch in every blasted press photo and every televised news conference.

In the meantime, Barrasso and his right-wing pals stir up a war with China. It’s a dandy way to take our minds off of Trump’s ineptitude in handling this health crisis. Here’s his May 8 message, courtesy of Friend of John Barrasso:

The coronavirus has changed our daily lives and brought our economy to a standstill. 

We’ve had to adjust to social distancing and making tough calls between health and safety, and keeping essential parts of our country going. 

China’s response, or lack thereof, led to our current pandemic, shutting entire countries and the global economy down. Rather than warn the world, it appears the Chinese government chose to cover up their deadly mistake.  

Mike, China has a history of being a bad actor, from human rights violations to privacy concerns, and their role in the coronavirus pandemic is no different. We must hold China accountable - will you add your name to our petition? 

SIGN THE PETITION 

We must stand together to hold China responsible. Not only did China choose to withhold information about the virus, they have been actively pushing propaganda and attempting to deflect blame to the United States. 

We must take a stand. Add your name to join us in holding China accountable. 

HOLD CHINA ACCOUNTABLE 

Thank you for your commitment to our fight, 

Team Barrasso

I disabled the links as I don’t want to lead you astray. If you must blame China, don’t buy anything at a big box store or in one of America’s disappearing malls. That’ll show ‘em.

Part XIV: The Way Mike Worked -- How the Contract with America bit the NEA on the ass

The story resumes...

It's been a few weeks, but today I get back to my series "The Way Mike Worked," based on the Smithsonian-sponsored exhibit "The Way We Worked," featured in the Cheyenne library this fall. I've been busy with my novel and some free-lance writing assignments. These later chapters of my saga also take some research, as they deal with my time as an arts bureaucrat at the Wyoming Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. I lived the first four decades of my life clueless about the world of arts administration. For the ensuing 27 years, I lived and worked in that world. I'm still active as a volunteer. My hope is that we all will get a chance to promote the arts in our communities. Taking an active role in creativity may save us all. It may not, but we will have a much better time along the way.

On that day in D.C., I witnessed history.

On Tuesday, September 27, 1994, Rep. Newt Gingrich assembled 300 Republican candidates for a photo op in front of the U.S. Capitol. The occasion was the signing of the Contract with America, a document designed by Newt that featured 10 bills that Republicans hoped to pass once the 1994 Mid-term Red Wave led to a Republican majority.

I was just starting my second year in D.C. and still a new hand at inside-the-beltway politics. Did I have a gut feeling that Gingrich's contract would change my life? Not really. Curiosity moved me. That, and a request from my National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) boss that it would be good to keep an eye on Gingrich and his pals as we closed in on the November mid-term election.

That day, I skipped my usual Metro Station stop that led to a two-block walk to NEA offices in the Old Post Office, now a Trump Hotel. I rode all the way to Union Station to take in the event. Republicans had been promoting the gathering for weeks and I was curious. I also had a feeling that it would affect my stint at the NEA. Newt had waged war on Democratic Party policies since his election to Congress in 1979. He had been active in the culture wars, a vanguard in the Religious Right's fight against the NEA, NEH, sacrilegious art, naked art, hip-hop -- any creative strain within 1990s America that threatened The Word in the Bible and U.S. supremacy in the secular world. Not exactly the opening salvo in the struggle but one that would steer politics right into the Trump era.

In late September, D.C.'s oppressive summer bubble of heat and humidity was just beginning to release its grip. But that day at the Capitol, a Republican fever dream was being born in Newt's image.

On this day, Newt launched a war against Democratic Party policies. Total war, akin to Sherman's March through Georgia, which Newt wrote about in one of his novels that I never read. A continuation of Nixon's Southern Strategy, which convinced Southern whites that Republicans were on God's side and Democrats had forged an evil alliance with ethnic minorities, feminists, gays, and college-educated pacifists. It wasn't just that Dem policies were misguided and needed correcting. It was that the Dems were the enemy and needed to be crushed. It was like a Newt Gingrich alternative history. Except it was real and, like the Civil War, had lasting consequences.

Newt wasn't content with writing alternative histories. He actually wanted to make history. Whatever the subject, Newt wrote a book. He's written 18 non-fiction titles. He's authored or co-authored at least a dozen fiction titles. You have to hand it to him. Hatching an idea, writing, revising, finishing, publishing and promoting -- the writer's life is not for the meek. Newt had a platform, still does if you look at the plethora of new titles. It is clear he had a vision and he could write. This one-two punch proved dangerous for the liberal agenda. It was a gift to conservatives waging the culture wars.

As Newt bragged at that 1994 event:“Today, on these steps, we offer this contract as a first step towards renewing American civilization."

What did you do in the culture wars, daddy?

I am a veteran of the culture wars. I don't have any medals and I don't brag about my service. I'm a survivor, which is something to be proud of. For 25 years, I worked to nurture the arts on the local, state, regional and national level. It was fun and heart-breaking. I'm here to tell the story.

What, exactly, are the culture wars? The most significant battle on the national front was waged over explicit photographs of nude gay men and a photo of a crucifix soaked (allegedly) in a container filled with an artist's urine. The NEA helped fund a grant that funded the Robert Mapplethorpe photo exhibit at DC.'s Corcoran Gallery. The crucifix art, "Piss Christ", won the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art "Awards for Artists," also funded by the NEA. Hysterical press coverage followed and evangelical yokels such as Sen. Jesse Helms and  Moral Majority's Jerry Falwell stirred up their followers with tales of blasphemy and obscenity and misuse of taxpayer dollars because, as you know, the national arts budget is so bloated that it puts the defense budget to shame.  

Pause for laughter.

Meanwhile, the NEA found itself in the middle of a lawsuit when it yanked fellowships of four artists for their ostensibly offensive art. All of these offending artists were linked with Satan and all of the Coastal Elites. Pres. Clinton, an evangelical from Arkansas raised by a single mother, was somehow one of those elites. The Republicans aimed to sabotage every one of his programs. This wasn't the first time a combative Congress took on the opposition's sitting president. But it led to all the battles yet to come. 

When confronted with an African-American Democrat as president (a guy who made good the hard way), Republican leaders vowed that none of his programs would become the law of the land. What they failed to obliterate then, they now put in the ruinous hands of the current benighted resident of the Oval Office. The battle will now be joined by the new Democratic majority in the House. Let's hope that the Democrats' tendency for appeasement has been replaced by a need to kick ass and take names. There are some encouraging signs, such as Rep. Pelosi taking Trump to the woodshed this week over the government shutdown.

Let's get back to Newt. His goal was to destroy the NEA and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Museum and Library Services Office (MLS), all part of the same funding bill. That was not as easy as it sounded. Newt, in fact, ran into what other conservatives have discovered over the years, that Republicans support the arts and many have children who are schooled in the arts and grow up to become artists, arts consumers, even arts patrons. They have museums and performing arts centers named after them. They weren't so sure that depriving their city's symphony/art museum/ballet of tax dollars was the proper thing to do. They appealed to their moderate Republican Congresspeople (there were moderate Republicans back then) to teach the Democrats a lesson but don't go overboard for goodness sake.

Newt was faced with a problem. How to satisfy the newly-elected rural-state rabble-rousers and their urban and suburban counterparts who had all of the money. Cuts came, as did compromises. The Right liked the fact that the 1996 federal budget cut funding for the arts almost in half and eliminated troublesome fellowships in visual and performing arts. Newt could declare victory and his colleagues could brag about their success out in the hinterlands. And get re-elected in '96.

It led to my early departure from the NEA and a return to my job in Wyoming. It also had other results that were less well-known. The survival of the literary fellowships. That's a story in itself and worth another post. But first, I have to go back 20-some years and do some research. I like research, although sometimes its tentacles grab me and won't let go..

Next chapter: Newt Gingrich, the writer's friend?

Part XIII: The Way Mike Worked -- On the road to D.C.

My eight-year-old son Kevin and I were on our third day of cross-country travel from Cheyenne, Wyo., to Washington, D.C.

I had promised Kevin three things to coax him into traveling with me in the U-Haul. No. 1, each night on the road we would stay at a motel with a pool. No. 2, we would eat every meal at McDonald's. No. 3, we would take his dog, Precious, with us.

He asked if he could drive but I said no, even though I could have used some relief behind the wheel. But I did stick to the other three promises and on this, the third day, I had a bad case of heartburn to match my driver fatigue.

We were passing through the sliver of West Virginia between Ohio and Pennsylvania when I spied a rest area and stopped. It was Labor Day weekend and one of the service clubs staffed a coffee stop. I hit the restrooms and then the coffee stand staffed by a pair of middle-aged guys. As he poured my coffee, one of the guys asked where I was headed.

"Washington, D.C.," I said. "I start a job there Monday."

He nodded, handed me the Styrofoam cup. The coffee was as hot as the afternoon. "You aren't one of those Clinton fellas, are you?"

"Afraid so." I smiled. They didn't. I heard the Deliverance banjo playing in the background. I thanked them for the coffee and retreated to look for my son. Clinton fella? I guess that I was, although far down on the list, way below the political appointees and the thousands of full-time D.C. bureaucrats and the hangers-on that accompany any new administration.  The National Endowment for the Arts was borrowing me from the State of Wyoming because, as a writer from a flyover state such as West Virginia, my higher-ups thought that I would lend a new perspective to the work of the government arts agency. I had signed up for two years with a possible two-year extension. I was part of a pool of Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) employees that made their way to D.C. every couple years. There was a surge now as V.P. Al Gore was tasked with trimming the federal work force.

Kevin and I spent one more night on the road. We could have made it to Rockville, Md., by nightfall but our new house wasn't available until the next day.  The motel had a nice pool and we could see the golden arches from our room. This Clinton fella was pretty tired and tomorrow was moving-in day. Chris and our infant daughter Annie were flying in from Denver in the afternoon. Soon we would all be together in a new house in a new town. Chris was going to stay home with Annie while Kevin went to the third grade. We would try to survive on one mid-level bureaucrat's salary in one of the most expensive suburbs on the East Coast. North Bethesda -- that's what city leaders wanted to rename our section of Rockville. The new name would probably bring higher rents and higher prices all-around. Bragging rights, too, I guess.

But that was all ahead of us in this new adventure.

Is there really such a thing as "compassionate conservatism" in the U.S.?

I am pleased with any response I get from my missives to the all-Republican Wyoming Congressional delegation. Not pleased so much as satisfied. Not really satisfied, gratified, or placated. I suppose that the best I can do is "pleased" when Enzi, Barrasso, and Cheney send me more material for my blog. Thanks!

A few weeks ago, I e-mailed my two senators and one rep complaining about Trump's "shithole" comments concerning Haiti and African countries. I asked them to disavow those comments, preferably in public. They did not. However, Enzi does note that he does "not support every remark any president has made, including President Trump.." That's something, I  guess.

The reality is that Republicans were very outspoken for eight years in criticizing Pres. Barack Obama. Now they are silent when Trump says outrageous things. Enzi helped draft the Republican tax scam policy. Barrasso is Mitch McConnelll's BFF. Liz Cheney wants to give away Wyoming's public lands and shoot all of the grizzlies. They are off their rockers.

I present Sen. Enzi's e-mail:

Dear Michael:
Congress should ensure that our immigration laws are compassionate, but also fair to American citizens. I believe all people and nations should be treated with respect. I do not believe that anyone should be bullied, intimidated or attacked because of their beliefs. I do not support every remark any president has made, including President Trump. I will let President Trump or his team answer questions about the president’s comments. Words can be powerful and we should do our best to be civil to each other. I hope for a serious debate about border security and immigration as we continue to work on this issue in Congress.

Sincerely,
Michael B. Enzi
United States Senator

How do you like that line about "compassionate" immigration laws? "GOP" and "compassionate" are very seldom linked. Why? Just take a look at the legislation that conservatives promote. Another question. Has Enzi made any statements about the immigration prison set to be built in southwest Wyoming near Evanston? I will look it up and get back to you.

Forget Christmas -- 'tis health care insurance selection season

It's that time again.

Christmas season. Or holiday season if you are a damn liberal like me who doesn't believe in saying "Merry Christmas" to every Tom, Dick, and Donald I meet. I even like the new Starbuck's Christmas cup that shows two cartoon women holding hands, at least that's how paranoid Evangelicals see it.

More importantly, 'tis the season to Make A Decision on Health Care for 2018. The U.S., in its wisdom, has the most screwed up health care system in the world and bound to get worse with Trumpists making the rules. Our family has a triple layer of coverage from private insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid. Cash, too, in the form of deductibles and co-pays.

For most of us out here who live amongst Trump voters in Flyover Land, the situation is made worse by indecision. The Republicans sabotage Obamacare in any way possible because they want to totally wipe out any sign of an African-American president. Trump's Ministry of Truth will soon create an America that is all-Trump all of the time.

Meanwhile, the American people are left in limbo. Will the ACA remain or will it be dismantled bit by bit since Repubs can't seem to muster enough votes to kill it outright? This affects millions.

I am 66 and my wife Chris is 61. I am on Medicare and she is not, covered instead by my allegiance to CIGNA via Wyoming State Government, my former employer. I pay $1300 a month to keep my CIGNA policy for me, Chris and daughter Annie, who is younger than 26, the cut-off date in family insurance created by Obamacare. For me, Medicare is primary and CIGNA is secondary. \Once I meet the deductible, I am covered like a blanket through my investment in Medicare and private insurance.

Let me pause here and say that I have no quarrel with CIGNA. While corporate-fueled insurance is expensive (must pay stockholders and CEOs a princely wage to afford those gated communities they are building for the apocalypse), it provides great coverage. When I inconveniently suffered a heart attack on Jan. 2, 2013, I ended up paying less than $1,000 for a bill that totalled $150,000, when you factored in ambulance, ER, oblation, stent, a week in telemetry and great cardiac care at CRMC. That summer, I received an ICD courtesy of  Syrian ex-pat cardiologist Dr. Obadah Al Chekakie. Since I already surpassed the $100,000 threshold, I paid spare change for a Made in the U.S.A. gizmo that monitors my heart 24-7 and sends results to master control at CRMC. It also includes a defibrillator which can kick me back into life should I ever experience Sudden Cardiac Arrest, which is as bad as it sounds.  My heart needs this assistance because it suffered damage during the long-term 100 percent blockage of my LAD artery, the so-called widowmaker. At a recent funeral, a long-term heart patient said that he had never met someone with a LAD who lived. I was pleased to hear that. I am pleased to hear almost anything. Except Trump is on Twitter again -- not that.

Chris is a diabetic so she benefits from plans that guarantee coverage for pre-existing conditions. That could go away too. So she's worried that the ACA will go away along with all of its guarantees and she has to shop for health care on the open market which may not cover a diabetic. I am worried with her, as Medicare is three-plus years away for her and we will have the clowns in the White House and Congress during that time. A dangerous time.

This brings us to our daughter. She is 24. She has been in and out of mental health treatment centers for 11 years. With some exceptions, most care was covered by CIGNA. You think our health care system is a mess? Just try to figure out the mental health care system. Annie, fortunately, moved to Colorado and got on the state's Medicaid program and when I received Medicare, she did too. So she is covered. Republicans threaten her coverage. One saving grace is her Colorado residency. It's a blue state south of our very red border. Not too far-fetched to think that we will have health care refugees in the near future, diabetics and cardiac patients and the mentally ill leaving their backward red state to find sanctuary in places such as Colorado and Oregon and Massachusetts. Canada, maybe even Mexico. Wouldn't that be ironic?

I am a retiree with a pension. Half of that goes to health insurance. In 2018, Chris will be covered by ACA and Annie will be covered by Medicaid/Medicare. I will be covered by Medicare and CIGNA. All of these programs (except for CIGNA) are in the sights of Congressional Republicans. They aim to reduce or eliminate these programs to give tax breaks to their corporate masters. We no longer live in a democratic republic but an oligarchy. It will truly be a country run by the rich for the rich if all of these lame-brain actions come to pass.

So it's decision time. You make the best decision you can under the circumstances. I have to remember to be thankful for what I have as there are millions who suffer from inadequate health care or none at all. Those ranks are certain to grow in the next few years. So be thankful -- and fight like hell to stop the Republican assault on "the general welfare" of the U.S. and its people.

Skeletons rejoice at Liz Cheney's defense of Trumpcare

My skeleton crew rejoices at Rep. Cheney's defense of the Congressional Republicans bill to revoke health insurance for 22 million Americans and turn their lazy asses into corpses. My favorite line in the letter is "I appreciate your thoughts and concerns." My second-favorite is this. "No state suffered more than Wyoming under one-size-fits-all regulatory burdens imposed by the Affordable Care Act." I like this one too: "As Congress continues the process of improving our health care system..." It goes on and on. If you want a letter like this, just write Rep. Liz Cheney, at one of her many offices in WYO or call her directly at 307-722-2595. Just ask for the skeleton letter, or the form letter that covers the AHCA, a.k.a. American Harvest of Corpses Act. You'll be glad you did. 

Welcome to April's Wyoming Congressional town hall meetings with (probably) no Congressionals

While I was blogging the events for April I forgot this...

Heather Webb Springer of Indivisible Cheyenne/SE Wyoming posted this on the Indivisible Facebook page:

Please help us to promote the upcoming Town Halls being hosted by Wyoming constituents on Tuesday, April 11, 6-8 p.m., Laramie County Public Library, and Wednesday, April 19, 6 p.m., Laramie County Community College. 

First action item -- spread the news far and wide and help us produce a large turnout for these events! Please stay tuned for a copy of the letter that was delivered to the Congressional Delegation Offices on 3/29 inviting them to attend for 4/11 and/or 4/19. 

Invitations and letters to the editor are encouraged to help promote these Town Halls.

This is the beginning of my invitations, followed up by postcards and/or letters. The rest of you -- start writing. Or blogging. Or calling. To get you started, here is Rep. Cheney's contact info:

Cheyenne office: 2120 Capitol Ave., Suite 8005, Cheyenne, WY 82001, 307-772-2595
Web: http://www.cheney.house.gov
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/replizcheney

Newspaper ad asks Enzi, Barrasso and Cheney: Why Are You Hiding?

This ad was funded by a GoFundMe campaign by "just people" in Wyoming. You can still contribute -- I did -- at  https://www.gofundme.com/uu43mk-newspaper-ad (thank you, Emily Siegel). The copy is hard to read here but if I make it any bigger on my site, it will crowd the sidebars. You can save the image as a jpg, open MS Word, insert it into a template and it should appear in its original size. If not, you can enlarge it. Then you can print out copies and give to all of your friends and family members who voted for Trump and his gang. One of the things I like about this is the plug for the National Endowment for the Arts toward the end. You may not know this, but Wyoming's own Sen. Enzi is a member of the U.S. Senate's arts caucus and a long-time supporter of the Wyoming Arts Council, which receives almost half of its funding from taxpayer funds provided by the NEA. Sen. Enzi had a working relationship with the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, back when those sorts of things were allowed in Congress. Sen. Enzi reads books, unlike the current president who is giving marching orders to Enzi, Barrasso and Cheney. Would you blindly takes orders from a boss who didn't read? 

Republican Senator aids in "giant leap forward in fixing our broken mental health system"

U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), John Cornyn (R-TX), Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Patty Murray (D-WA).

We know that these senators are at odds about almost everything. However, they recently (Dec. 6) got together to push through HR 34, the 21st Century Cures Act.. This is the most comprehensive effort yet to address the country's mental health care system.

Here's what co-sponsor Dr. Cassidy, from the reliably red state of Louisiana, had to say:

“The 21st Century Cures Act marks a giant step forward in fixing our broken mental health system. It institutes comprehensive mental health care reform and makes resources available to the millions that have been previously denied treatment due to a lack of access. I want to thank all those who helped make mental health a priority in Congress, but I especially thank my colleague Senator Chris Murphy. We have been working together to fix our country’s broken mental health system since day one. Without him and the bipartisan effort he has brought to this legislation, we would not be here today. I urge the President to sign this bill and help the millions of individuals and families affected by mental health become whole.”

Said his co-sponsor, Sen. Murphy, from the true-blue Democratic state of Connecticut:

“This is the most comprehensive reform of our nation's mental health laws in a generation, and I'm so thrilled that we drafted it and passed it with support from both Democrats and Republicans. In Connecticut, I've met too many people struggling with mental illness who can't find the care they need, or can't get their insurance company to approve the care once they find it. This bill means millions of dollars in new treatment, and it creates a pathway to a better integrated, more coordinated system for people with serious mental illness. I’m incredibly grateful for Senator Cassidy’s partnership and friendship. He brought a doctor’s knowledge and a dogged determination to our effort, and a lot of people will be better off because of it.”

Sen. Cassidy is a physician. Do we know of any other medical doctor currently serving in the U.S. Senate? Just one comes to mind. That is Sen. John Barrasso of Casper, Wyoming. Both Cassidy and Barrasso have conspired with Mitch McConnell to sink Obamacare. Not sure what the tie-in is. If Obamacare sinks, so does access to health care by millions. Can you improve mental health care when people who most need help are deprived of insurance? 

Sen. Barrasso, of course, recently (Dec. 3) delivered the Republican weekly address on Republican plans to eliminate Obamacare. They see Trump's win as a mandate to return health care to the health care insurance conglomerates where it belongs. Remember how well that worked? Forty million Americans without health insurance, which meant a lot of your friends and family members and neighbors getting sicker while health care execs buy second or third homes in Dick Cheney's Jackson Hole neighborhood. Of course, Wyoming never okayed Medicaid Expansion which would have helped so many of those people that Sen. Barrasso claims to care about. 

I am taking the 21st Century Cures Act as a sign that Democrats and Republicans can work together on at least one issue. Time will tell.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness had this to say on the passage of HR 34: http://www.nami.org/Press-Media/Press-Releases/2016/-NAMI-Celebrates-Senate-Passage-of-HR-34. Also see NAMI on Facebook and Twitter.

Sunday morning round-up

Half-awake on a January morning, I hear a lawnmower and think of summer. Then I'm fully awake and realize that my neighbor is clearing the ten inches of overnight snow with his snowblower.  The warmth of summer stays with me until I throw off the covers and begin the process of going to work on a winter morning. Certain sounds can recreate a July day. The whine of a lawnmower. The rumble as my neighbor Mike starts up his Harley. The hum of traffic from I-25 when a west wind blows. The shrieks of children playing. The drone of a small plane as it takes off from our neighbor, the airport. Dogs bark, doves coo. Late at night, I can hear that lonesome train whistle blow. The windows are wide open (no air conditioning) and the world comes in.

Javier Gamboa, Wyoming Democratic Party communications manager, wrote a thoughtful Fourth of July essay about his undocumented status and why immigration reform is crucial. It's one thing to stand on a Murrieta, California, road and yell epithets at Salvadoran children. It's yet another to actually know and work with someone who travelled the same hard road. Javier was 11 when he came to Wyoming from Mexico. He learned the language, graduated from high school and UW and now criss-crosses the state on behalf of Dem candidates. Read Javier's essay here. And then e-mail Rep. Cynthia Lummis and demand that she and her fellow Know Nothings get their butts in gear on immigration.   

So glad that I had a chance to see 1776 the movie on TCM Friday afternoon. I sat down with a turkey sandwich and switched on the tube, wondering if there wasn't some quirky, melodramatic 1940s film to pass the time between bites. Instead I got 1776, which I'd never seen, not on the stage nor on the screen. The film was released in 1972, when I was 21. Those hot and argumentative days of 1776 in Philly seemed a long way from those hot and argumentative days of summer 1972. Forty-some years later, the heat and the arguments only seem to be getting worse. But that's American history. Heat and light, substance and folly -- it's all there, if you only know where to look. Don't bother with school textbooks. All the life has been squeezed out of the stories you read about in fourth grade. Right-wing zeolots want to turn our founding fathers into cardboard saints. We lefties treat them as dysfunctional parents. In 1776, we see Franklin and Adams and Jefferson as humans. That was refreshing in its day and still is. Here's a Popwatch columnist writing about ten reasons to watch 1776 in 2014.

A final Fourth of July weekend note.... my garden, decimated by hail two weeks ago, is showing signs of recovery. My Homeslice tomato plant was sliced up by marbles of ice. One lone stem with one lone leaf  remained, but now another is growing out below. My Early Girl tomato is blooming and has at least one tiny green tomato showing. The season has been delayed but with a little TLC and a lot less hail, I will have veggies yet.

"Mean-spirited" is Rep. Cynthia Lummis's middle name

Thanks, Living Blue in Wyoming

With national parks closed, Jackson Hole quiet on the eve of ski season

When I was in Jackson Hole over the weekend, people were plenty sore about the Republican-spawned national park shutdown. Hotel reservations have been cancelled and tour buses rerouted to other parks, notably those in neighboring Colorado and Utah reopened by state funds. In Wyoming, alas, the constitution forbids state funds going to federal government operations. The tourism industry made an appeal to Gov. Mead. Alas, private dollars from Cody and Jackson were enough to plow the roads that got the parks opened in the spring but money couldn't be leveraged for general operating costs. That's fine with me, as I'm content to let Republicans stew in their own juices. Unfortunately, everyone in Teton County, D & R & I alike, is in that same gravy boat.

The newly refurbished Snow King bar wasn't dead, not exactly, but it's a jumping place on sun-drenched summer evenings and frigid ski-season nights. Last Saturday night, with baseball playoffs on one TV screen and an SEC tiff on the other, only a few patrons lined the bar. Most of the rest of the 20-some people were connected with the Wyoming Arts Council's conference going on around town. We made reservations for 10 on Friday evening at the popular Rendezvous Bistro. The place was half-empty by the time we got around to dessert.

Traffic flowed freely and no tourists seemed in danger of getting flattened by an RV; close calls are an every day summer occurrence. There just weren't that many targets (or RVs). 

We heard rumors about a protest by Cody Tea Party types set for Yellowstone's east gate. I don't know if that happened. It was snowing most of the weekend, and that tends to take some steam out of Tea Party gatherings, as most attendees seem to be of advanced years. We did hear about some daredevils sneaking into the park, but they risked getting a ticket from park staff still on duty.

Probably the best quote I heard about the closed national parks came from writer and activist Terry Tempest Williams. She's a Utah native but now lives in Teton County. At an arts conference talk on Monday, Williams spoke about taking a walk "on the periphery of Grand Teton National Park. I was surprised by how quiet it was."

She wondered what the animals were doing and thinking. " 'Frolic' came to mind."

The animals may be frolicking, but the humans, perturbed by Congress's antics, are in a sour mood.

Furloughed NWS staffers keep the candles burning during Black Hills blizzard

Paul Huttner, chief meteorologist for Minnesota Public Radio, had a compelling story about the federal government shutdown in his "Updraft" blog today. Furloughed National Weather Service staffers, trapped in their Rapid City office by the blizzard, tracked the storm and provided crucial weather info as some places in the Black Hills were walloped with 55-58 inches of snow. Huttner sums it up this way:

The job performed by the staff at the Rapid City NWS was well above and beyond the call of duty last weekend. Especially considering they did it without the promise of a paycheck.

Read the entire column here.

Meanwhile, South Dakota's Republican governor has requested federal disaster assistance that probably won't arrive anytime soon due to the Republican shutdown of the U.S. government. Read more about that at Larry Kurtz's excellent and acerbic Interested Party blog.

Putting the blame where it belongs for national park shutdown: Wyo's lone congressional rep

Jim Stanford on Oct. 1 at JH Underground:

Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks are being barricaded today, and all public access closed, thanks in part to Wyoming’s lone congressional representative, Cynthia Lummis.

Lummis is part of an extreme faction of the Republican Party seeking to hold the federal government hostage over implementation of the 2009 health care law. She voted repeatedly this weekend and last night to send a budget bill to the Senate that was dead on arrival.

Without funding, all federal agencies, including the National Park Service, were forced to close.

On her website, Lummis said she did so to protect Americans from “the onslaught of Obamacare.”

Onslaught of Obamacare?

Read the entire column here. 

Republicans agree on one thing -- denying health care to our neighbors

Including thousands of our friends and neighbors in Wyoming. Read more about Pres. Obama's Friday press conference at  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/09/obama-obamacare_n_3733933.html

Republicans say it loud and scary: BENGHAZI!

As a fiction writer, I enjoy e-mails from Wyoming Rep. Cynthia Lummis. The Republican from Cheyenne never ceases to amaze with her fabrications and half-truths and spin -- can't forget the spin. As a member in good standing of the Republican cabal in the House that gives gridlock new meaning, she can be trusted to always be on the FAR RIGHT side of each issue. This time, she is even asking questions at one of the many hearings that House Republicans are holding on BENGHAZI! I capitalize and emphasize the Libyan city's name because that's how the Republicans do it. BENGHAZI! Or like this: 

BENGHAZI!

It was funny to read today that 39 percent of those Americans polled who believe, as does Rep. Lummis, that BENGHAZI is a cover-up, don't know what country it's in. From Public Policy Polling's latest national survey (thanks to Crooks & Liars):

"One interesting thing about the voters who think Benghazi is the biggest political scandal in American history is that 39% of them don't actually know where it is. 10% think it's in Egypt, 9% in Iran, 6% in Cuba, 5% in Syria, 4% in Iraq, and 1% each in North Korea and Liberia with 4% not willing to venture a guess."

BENGHAZI!

Wherever the hell it is.  

Oogalee Boogalee! Are you scared now?

Here's Rep. Lummis's e-mail (the links are hers):

Dear Friends, This past Wednesday the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee heard from three men, all of whom are public servants and all of whom have firsthand experience with the Benghazi attacks of September 11th, 2012 that claimed the lives of four Americans.

From the testimony we heard it’s clear there was a conscious effort to provide misleading and conflicting information on the Benghazi attacks. The question now is how far up in the administration did this cover up go?

People died. There are four deaths. Concealing the facts and impeding efforts on behalf of Congress to investigate this situation is simply deplorable.

Wednesday’s witnesses had illustrious careers. But when they had the gumption to correct the inaccuracies being spread about this attack some of their careers became fodder for revenge. It is inexcusable what this administration has done to these citizens, particularly in light of what these men have done for our country.

I walked away from this week’s hearing with more questions, more rabbit holes and without concrete answers for the families of these victims. Clearly it was the tip of the iceberg, but I’m glad to hear truth being shed on this unfortunate situation. The Committee will continue our investigation until concrete answers can be delivered.

I want to thank witnesses Gregory Hicks, Mark Thompson and Eric Nordstrom, for having the courage and strength to come forward and set the record straight on these horrific attacks.

Watch my questions HERE.

Sincerely, Representative Cynthia M. Lummis 

Interesting to note that Republicans in the House have yet to convene numerous committees to investigate how George W. Bush and Dick Cheney lied us into the Iraq War. Or the many diplomats and embassy staffers who were killed during the Bush presidency. After all, PEOPLE DIED!

Joan McCarter on DKos: 'Greatest retirement crisis' in history looms large

As is often the case, Joan McCarter is one step ahead the rest of us on timely topics. Today it's the retirement crisis facing American Baby Boomers. And I'm not just saying this because I am one of those Boomers on the verge of retirement. Check out Joan's Daily Kos column here and the daily schedule for our fellow Kossacks posting about the topic this week.