Long's Peak Scottish-Irish Festival in Estes Park Sept. 7

Prickly Pair & The Cactus Chorale from Dubois traded western duds for Scottish tartans at the Scottish-Irish Festival in Estes Park. Les Hamilton (left) is a fourth-generation fiddler with Scottish roots from Wyoming's Big Horn Basin. His wife, Locke, plays guitar, sings and writes some of the songs, while Norman Winter plays bass. Sitting in with the group is Denis Sullivan from the Denver Celtic group Gobs o' Phun. Prickly Pair plays vintage Western, old-time fiddle and cowboy folk tunes. They also play -- and talk about -- the Celtic origins of early cowboy and fiddle tunes of the Northern Plains.

Prickly Pair plays a hybrid of country-western and traditional Scots-Irish folk songs. They performed a song about Irish and Scottish soldiers who fought (and died) with Custer's Seventh Cavalry, one about a Wyoming cowgirl and a Scottish bagpiper who meet and fall in love (based loosely on Les and Locke's own lives), a song by Lori Lewis from the point of view of a fiddle dreaming of his previous life as a tree, and a ballad about Scotsmen driving the last working team of Clydesdale horses across their land. According to Locke, some ranchers in the West still use these "gentle giants" on their spreads.

For more on Prickly Pair, go to http://www.thepricklypair.com/

A competitor "throws the weight" during the Highland Games at the Scottish-Irish Festival. The goal of this event seems to be two-fold: 1. Throw the 56-pound weight over the bar; 2. Try not to get conked on the head when the weight falls earthward.

Cheyenne Scot Ron McIntosh tosses the caber at Scottish-Irish festival. As for me, I could barely lift the caber much less toss it so it lands at 12 o'clock.

Haven't seen so many flag-waving white people in one place since the Republican Convention .

Pipers in the lead, Scottish-American regiments advance on ragged hordes of Celtic festival-goers.

Calling all insects: make war, not love

Author and entomologist Jeff Lockwood will read from his latest book, "Six-Legged Soldiers: Using Insects as Weapons of War" on Saturday, October 18, 5 p.m., at Second Story Books, First and Ivinson in Laramie. A reception will follow, with the author signing copies of his books, including intriguing earlier books on locusts and grasshoppers. The event's co-sponsors include the UW Ecology and Philosophy departments, and the MFA program in Creative Writing.

Jeff is a Professor of Natural Sciences and Humanities at University of Wyoming, and teaches in both the philosophy and creative writing programs. His spring 2008 course, "Interstellar Message Composition" (writing for terrestrials, in Trekkie language), was underwritten by the Wyoming NASA Space Grant Consortium and featured in the Christian Science Monitor and on ABC's web site at <http://www.abcnews.go.com/story?id=4873966>.

"Six-Legged Soldiers" is published by Oxford University Press. Here's a description of the book taken from amazon.com:

Beginning in prehistoric times and building toward a near and disturbing future, the reader is taken on a journey of innovation and depravity. Award-winning science writer Jeffrey A. Lockwood begins with the development of "bee bombs" in the ancient world and explores the role of insect-borne disease in changing the course of major battles, ranging from Napoleon's military campaigns to the trenches of World War I. He explores the horrific programs of insect warfare during World War II: airplanes dropping plague-infested fleas, facilities rearing tens of millions of hungry beetles to destroy crops, and prison camps staffed by doctors testing disease-carrying lice on inmates. The Cold War saw secret government operations involving the mass release of specially developed strains of mosquitoes on an unsuspecting American public--along with the alleged use of disease-carrying and crop-eating pests against North Korea and Cuba. Lockwood reveals how easy it would be to use of insects in warfare and terrorism today: In 1989, domestic eco-terrorists extorted government officials and wreaked economic and political havoc by threatening to release the notorious Medfly into California's crops. A remarkable story of human ingenuity--and brutality--"Six-Legged Soldiers" is the first comprehensive look at the use of insects as weapons of war, from ancient times to the present day.

Can you oppose New G.I. Bill but still support veterans?

Wyoming Republican Sen. John Barrasso did not support Sen. James Webb's New G.I. Bill for post-9/11 military veterans. But I found this curious item in Sen. Barrasso's Aug. 27 e-mail newsletter. Kind of odd that you can vote against veterans' benefits yet still claim to support Wyoming's veterans. Anyone know what this means?

GI Bill Education Benefits Can Transfer to Family Members

I recently joined Senate colleagues to force changes to the “GI Bill” to allow Wyoming military members to transfer their education benefits to their families. We won the day for the things Wyoming veterans told me were most important to them. Wyoming veterans wanted to be in a position to help their families. The transferability of education benefits will be a tremendous help to our service members and a great comfort to our military families.

As a matter of principal, it does not make sense to penalize service members who decide to make the military their career. The transferability provision provides the right incentive to our men and women in uniform. Service members can transfer their education benefits to their spouse and children. This recognizes the sacrifices made by both the military family and the service member. Studies show it will bolster recruitment and encourage service members to continue their military careers. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the original legislation would have hurt reenlistment by 16 percent.

McCain=Bush=More of the Same

Palin story slams into Banned Books Week

I received the following timely ALA press released promoting "Banned Books Week" at about the same time I heard that Republican Veep hopeful Sarah Palin tried, as the new mayor of Wasilla in 1996, to get the librarian to remove controversial books from the shelves. The Palin story is a bit more complicated than it first appeared, but it is clear that her fundamentalist Christian bent got in the way of free speech. This happens often. You can read a comprehensive report on Palin and book-banning at the Anchorage Daily News web site at http://www.adn.com/. Time magazine also did a piece on it.

One of our county librarians told me the other day that she met a librarian from Converse County checking out a book by C.J. Box. This mystery writer's books face removal from the Converse County Library due to what's called a challenge. Objectionable language and content, stuff not fit for reading -- at least according to the challenger. So the librarian had to go somewhere other than her own library to get a book.

C.J. "Chuck" Box of Cheyenne writes the Joe Pickett mystery series set in Wyoming. Chuck has won tons of awards (nominated for an L.A. Times award for his first novel!) and his books are read by all kinds of people because they're set in Wyoming and the protagonist is a game warden. I was at a book signing at City News three years ago. Ahead of me in line were teen boys (very rare at readings and book signings), elderly couples, entire families, guys that looked like actual cowboys, a few pinko Liberals such as myself, and one biker wearing colors. Chuck told me later than the biker gushed about being a big fan. Chuck asked who to sign the book to. "Mouse," said the biker.

Wonder how Mouse would react to people telling him what NOT to read.

I have to mention here that Chuck is a Republican, owns (with his wife) his own international travel business, is a member of the high-falutin' Cheyenne Frontier Days committee (no pinkos allowed), and is a dedicated supporter of free expression, books and writers. His book jacket photo shows him in a black cowboy hat. He has his own horses and the entire family rides.

That's the great thing about Wyoming. Just as you've worked up a stereotype about someone, he or she blows it all to hell with something unexpected.

Here's the ALA press release:

The American Library Association (ALA) opposes book banning and censorship in any form, and supports librarians whenever they resist censorship in their libraries. Since our society is so diverse, libraries have a responsibility to provide materials that reflect the interests of all of their patrons.

Each year, the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom receives hundreds of reports on books and other materials that were "challenged" (their removal from school or library shelves was requested). The ALA estimates the number reported represents only about a quarter of the actual challenges.

In support of our efforts to fight censorship, the ALA annually celebrates Banned Books Week – a national celebration of the freedom to read. Observed during the last week of September each year, Banned Books Week reminds Americans not to take the precious democratic freedom to read for granted. This year, Banned Books Week will take place September 27–October 4, 2008.

The American Library Association is a nonprofit, 501(c) (3) educational association that supports quality library and information services and public access to information. As such, it is not allowed to take a position on political candidates and strives to be nonpartisan in its
activities.

To learn more about book challenges and Banned Books Week, please visit http://www.ala.org/bbooks.

Nick Carter challenges Barrasso on energy

This comes from the Nick Carter for U.S. Senate campaign:

United States Senate Democratic Nominee Nick Carter pointed out John Barrasso's contradictions and politics as usual approach to our country's energy crisis today. "With the price of gas hovering at four dollars per gallon and working families worried about the next price spike, John Barrasso offers contradictory views on drilling and no long term solution for our dependence on foreign oil."

"Out of one side of his mouth, Barrasso says he supports drilling in ANWR and offshore while out of the other side of his mouth he doesn't think Wyoming oil producers can safely produce oil and gas in the Wyoming Range," Carter said. "This type of political double talk by Senator Barrasso is exactly the kind of pointless pandering that our country can no longer afford."

Carter laughed out loud when he found out that Barrasso said that the "real" energy supplies were not to be found in Wyoming. "I've been watching working folks come home from the rigs in Wyoming since I was 6 years old and it sure looked like they were drilling for something 'real' to me."

"The sad thing is that without a comprehensive energy policy that is dedicated to freeing us from oil dependence, it is only a matter of time before Senator Barrasso is clamoring to drill in the Wyoming Range because gas is six or seven dollars per gallon. Remember, John McCain and George Bush Sr. were opposed to offshore drilling until recently. The only way to preserve our environment and our economy is to make tough decisions on a nationwide energy policy. Anything else is just political doublespeak."

"Remember, Senator Barrasso voted against Wind Energy in Wyoming while taking a half a million dollars from big oil. He neither wants energy independence nor protection of the environment. Now he also wants any drilling jobs to go out of state. You can't trust him with the environment. You can't trust him with your job. You can believe I'll work toward a solution to our energy problem -- not just political talk."

Carter will be sweeping through the state over the next week, speaking with energy companies, veteran's groups, and senior centers. Unlike Barrasso, Carter claims, he is making a genuine connection with the people of Wyoming so he can truly represent their interests in Washington.

New public art in my neighborhood

This is not a great photo, but I took it with my cell phone camera out of the driver's side window of my minivan. It's a four-engine C-130 aircraft used by the Wyoming National Guard at its base just south of my neighborhood. It looks a bit smaller than a C-130. Maybe it's something else?

A Korean War-era Starfighter stood on this site until a few months ago. It disappeared mysteriously overnight (Chicoms spirited it away?) and now we have this public sculpture, which is a better representation of the Guard's mission.

By the way, I'm not complaining about this new addition. I'm a fan of airplanes. Once, during the Guard base's open house, I was exploiring a C-130's cargo bay and a young woman in uniform asked if I had any questions. "You fly one of these things?"

She gave me a nervious grin. "Yeah, I'm the one making all the racket for the neighbors."

I shrugged. "I like the sound of airplanes."

She seemed a bit surprised by this, and said the base gets a lot of complaint calls, especially at night. I said that I wasn't one of them.

I wonder if the Guard gets any complaints about their choice of public art.

I have to get a better photo of it. Keep posted.

THERE IS "CHANGE" WITH A CAPITAL "C"...

...and then there is change that is almost invisible to the naked eye.

"Change is coming," quoth John McCain to the Repub multitudes. He and his loyal minions are going to drive the moneychangers out of Washington, D.C., temples of government.

Why would the moneychangers want to banish themselves from power? Great questions. But that's what the McCain campaign says it will do if elected. Do you believe that?

Maybe what McCain meant is that "your change is coming," referring to all those 72 cent rebates (in celebration of his 72nd birthday) he promised to his contributors. "Where's my change?" ask the pink-faced Republican multitudes. "See my running mate," says McCain with that eerie smile of his. "She's the change agent."

As Jon Stewart mentioned on "The Daily Show" last night, what you see at the RNC is not always clear. The other night, the convention stressed "service." Conventioneers were handed signs that read "service" and then speakers spoke about service. But Stewart pointed out that Palin and Huckabee and others then went on to dis those people who actually provide service -- community organizers.

So Stewart assumed that the "service" signs were meant to get some food and beverage service for all those hungry and thirsty delegates in the Xcel Center stands. "Get your red hots here!" "I'll take three -- heavy on the mustard!"

The McCain-Palin idea of change is to get elected so that they can replace (or change location of) the current holders of the presidency and vice presidency with themselves. They will look differently, but sound and act and legislate the same. McCain, as senator, voted with Bush 95 percent of the time.

He seeks change with a very tiny "c" that will be almost invisible to most of us.

This is the era of "The Walker"

Chris and I are walkers. We walk evenings during the week and mornings on weekends. Coco's on the end of the leash held firmly in my hand in case she sees a rabbit. Coco bolts after rabbits and squirrels, her two mortal enemies. We're still trying to leash-train her, but she's still technically a puppy and it's a task.

We walk through our neighborhood and down to the Cheyenne Greenway. Recent mayors and the city council pushed to expand this urban amenity. Greenway expansion was on the May ballot and it passed with flying colors, even though a $55 million rec center was defeated. Judging by that support, and the number of walkers, cyclists and runners who use it, the Greenway is a hit. It's concrete, a step up from the asphalt paths you usually find on greenways.

So we walk. Chris walks to keep in shape and moderate her diabetes. I walk to keep in a semblance of shape and I love being outside. Walking spurs my imagination although that's mostly when I walk alone. Chris and I talk during our walks but not all the time. When I walk alone, the activity stimulates the creative center of the brain. Sometimes I'm inspired to write another story. Other times I'm able to work out the kinks in something I'm in the process of writing.

Chris and I walk the mountains. Sometimes that's called hiking but more and more it seems like strolling. We're not as intent as we used to be about logging miles. My sensibilities tell me to slow down and enjoy the view. My knees also send signals to slow down.

I also walk downtown, where I work. It's a good place to walk. Long blocks, wide sidewalks, and very little traffic most of the time. But Cheyenne is primarily a driving town, so walkers have to be wary of street crossings. Motorists can be courteous, but often they (we?) are clueless. A decade ago, I wrote an online story on "New Urbanism" design and its philosophy of livable, walkable neighborhoods. As I drove around town, I noticed how few walkers there were, especially in the Dell Range corridor with all its big box stores. On ten trips down Dell Range, I saw only one pedestrian, and he looked hopelessly lost.

The article received a few responses. One was negative, taking me to task for trying to shove East Coast ideas down the throats of Wyomingites. New Urbanism, the writer declared, was just a plot to take away a citizen's trucks and tell him/her what kind of house to build -- and where.

Wyomingites don't like to be told what to do by experts, especially if they're from "The East Coast" or California. But many times these outside experts can see things more clearly than those who've lived in a place for a long time.

Dan Burden of Walkable Communities visited Cheyenne this week "to see which neighborhoods are the most pedestrian-friendly," according to the 9/4 Cheyenne Tribune-Eagle.

He found out that Cheyenne was not particularly pedestrian-friendly. No surprise there. He was startled that the roads and streets were so wide (39- to 52-feet) and the sidewalks were so narrow. We could have told him that. Western streets are really wide compared to their cousins elsewhere. Is this due to the Mormon pioneer precept that dictated streets should be wide enough to turn around an ox cart? Very few ox carts left, even in Provo and Salt Lake City. But take a look at streets in Cheyenne and Fort Collins. Those are some wide streets. At least Fort Collins has bike lanes on most streets. We're still working on that. Yellowstone Ave. that flanks my neighborhood has bike lanes. Dell Range on the other flank does not.

Burden's a city planner that contends that his peers have the wrong priorities. "Design standards should accommodate people first and vehicles second, not the other way around."

Sidewalks, he said, should be six feet across to let two people walk side by side. The most narrow sidewalks were three-and-one-half feet in Pointe Frontier. The sidewalks around the public library downtown were only four feet wide. They are too narrow to accommodate the gaggles of St. Mary's School students which soon will be trooping from their new school to the library.

Face it: we're living in a new century in which fuel prices will climb steadily and we'll all have to turn to alternative transportation. That could be smaller cars on narrower roads, hybrid cars, bikes and walking. Let's add width to sidewalks by taking it from roadways. We've already done that in Cheyenne on Vandehei. Yes, I know that most Cheyennites complained about the winding narrow street with bike lanes on the other side of concrete and brick dividers. But it may be tactics like this that gets us out of our Saudi-powered vehicles and onto our legs where bipeds belong.

At the end of the article, the reporter talked to Carol Matteson Pascal, who was participating in the walkability audit. She named her favorite walking cities in the U.S.: Santa Fe, Seattle and San Francisco. I haven't walked around Seattle since I was a kid lost at the Seattle World's Fair. But Santa Fe and San Francisco I've walked during the past ten years and they are high on the walkability scale. So are Portland and Denver. Salt Lake City's not bad. It's great to walk in Sheridan and Buffalo, Wyoming. Jackson's great for walkers, as long as you don't stop to shop -- could spend all your allowance in five minutes. Missoula's a walking town. That's true of many university towns. Laramie, for one, as long as you don't need to get to the Super Wal-Mart way out on Grand Avenue.

Although Wyomingites rarely venture to the dreaded East Coast, it boasts some ultra-walkable places such as Washington, D.C. (yes, inside The Beltway!), Boston, St. Augustine (although you have to drive to get to the beach), and the Baltimore Harborfront.

Which are the worst? So many choices. Houston, L.A., Atlanta, Orlando. Most modern sprawling U.S. cities, especially in the West and South. Phoenix? Some cool places downtown, such as Roosevelt Row and the adjacent historic district. There will be a light rail system soon. But Phoenix remains a car city. Tucson, too. Great bus system, though.

What are your favorite walkable towns and cities? Least favorite?

And Sarah Palin called Obama an "elitist"

In today's Huffington Post, Ari Rabin-Havt quotes a Vanity Fair article about the price of the glittery ensemble Cindy McCain wore to the RNC Tuesday night. Here are the figures:

Oscar de la Renta dress: $3,000
Chanel J12 White Ceramic Watch: $4,500
Three-carat diamond earrings: $280,000
Four-strand pearl necklace: $11,000-$25,000
Shoes, designer unknown: $600
Total: Between $299,100 and $313,100

I hope she thanked Laura Bush while they were on stage together. According to an analysis by the Center for American Progress Action Fund, the McCains have received $313,413 thanks to George Bush's tax cut. If John McCain were President, she might have been able to add a bracelet to the ensemble. According to the same study under McCain proposed tax cuts they would have received tax breaks of $367,788.

It's nice to see that George Bush's tax cut for the rich has done some good. You wouldn't want to wear just any-old earrings to the Xcel Energy Center in front of 15,000 howling pink faces. Without the tax cuts, where would she be? Maybe wearing a cast-off pantsuit from Hillary Clinton, ringleader of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuits. Or some old frock from Cindy's 10,000-square-foot clothes humidor in Scottsdale.

Lots of gas, rising costs -- what gives?

In her most recent e-mail newsletter, veteran activist (and activist veteran) Nancy Sindelar posts news on a series of Heating Conference Town Meetings being held across the state. These meetings are part of Wyoming Energy Assistance Program. Many are concerned that the program will be overwhelmed with requests (and short on funds) this winter, when home heating costs are rising 30 to 70 percent. The Gov was on Channel 5 this morning talking about the program. I particularly like Nancy's pointed, embedded comments within the event listing. Take a look:

Thursday, September 11th, Casper, Douglas, & Wheatland: Heating Conference Town Meetings sponsored by the Public Service Commission. Find out why Wyoming is a major gas producer, yet our prices are almost doubled from last year. 1 1/2 Hour meeting with a member of the PSC and utility reps. 10 AM, UW Outreach Bldg., 951 North Poplar, Rm. 150, Casper; 1:30 PM, City Hall, Council Chambers, 101 North 4th St. Douglas; 4:30 PM, Town Hall Council Chambers, 600 9th St., Wheatland. Free, but it will cost. Info: 307-777-7427; Wyoming_PSC@state.wy.us

There are more of these town meetings set for Wyoming, including ones on Sept. 15 in Evanston and Kemmerer.

Tix still available for Jefferson-Jackson dinner in Casper Sept. 13

I can't attend this year's Jefferson-Jackson dinner because I'll be in Tennessee for an arts conference. But you can go! Here's the info from the Wyoming Democratic Party web site:

The 2008 Jefferson-Jackson dinner and banquet will take place at the new Casper Hilton Garden Inn on Saturday, Sept. 13, at 7 p.m. To learn more, and to buy tickets online, go to:
http://www.wyomingdemocrats.com/ht/d/RegisterForConvention/i/1198342/pid/273337

Tickets are $75 per person for the dinner banquet, or $600 for a table of eight. Featured speakers include Gov. Dave Freudenthal and our candidates for congressional offices. You can also join those candidates -- including future congressman Gary Trauner and future U.S. Senators Chris Rothfuss and Nick Carter -- at a VIP cocktail event prior to dinner. Tickets to the VIP cocktail are $100 each.

This is going to be a fantastic rally continuing this historic election year that you won’t want to miss. Seating is limited at the dinner, so please sign up today.

FMI: 1-800-729-3367

Fresh Alaska news: Go to Celtic Diva's blog

Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis is the place to go for freshly-caught news about Gov. (and recent Repub Veep nominee) Sarah Palin and other Alaskan politicos (and political shenanigans. The Diva was a fellow blogger at the DNC in Denver and her photos are much better than mine. Check out the blog at http://divasblueoasis.blogspot.com/

For more prog-blog views on Palin, Palin's baby, Palin's teen daughter's baby, Palin's husband's sled dogs, and all sorts of other Palin ephemera, go to Lefty Blogs and click on the Alaska posts. Daily Kos has been abuzz with news (and non-news) about the Repubs.

After primary defeat, Goodenough works to elect Natrona County candidates

Casper's Keith Goodenough, defeated by Nick Carter in the primary race for John Barrasso's U.S. Senate seat, sent this message the other day:

Just a quick note to say "thank you" to all of the fine Wyomingites and otheres that helped with my effort to become the Democratic nominee for the U.S.Senate.

The final numbers were 11,984 for myself, and 12,316 for Nick Carter. A difference of 332.

I raised and spent around $5,000.

Now I am going to focus my political efforts on helping some other candidates here in Natrona County. And you will be hearing from me on that front in the coming weeks.

Nobody wrote politics like Hunter S. Thompson

Matt Davis at Ghost Road Press in Denver alerted me to goodreads.com, where readers meet to recommend books, slam others, and just talk about their favorite subjects -- books and authors.

Yesterday Matt sent comments on five of his favorite Hunter S. Thompson books. He gave five-star ratings to "Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72;" "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream;" "Hell's Angels;" "The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time;" and "Generation of Swine: Tales of Shame and Degradation in the '80s."

The first three I've read, the second two I've read excerpts from, whether in Rolling Stone or by just grazing the collections.

In the 1970s, all of us budding writers and journalists wanted to write like Hunter Thompson but knew we never could. The first presidential campaign I really followed was in 1972 when I was 21 and a college drop-out and an escapee from the military draft. It was the first time I realized that these every-four-year contests actually meant something -- a great deal, it turns out. If Muskie or McGovern or any Democrat had won in 1972, history would have been wildly different. Nixon gave us his version of peace with honor at a great price in lives and national honor.

Hunter Thompson took his politics seriously. He was outraged by the spectacle and the hypocrisy he found at every turn. He diatribes against political operatives and Spiro Agnew and media stars were hilarious. The venom burst from the page. It was propelled by righteous anger and, as we all know from Woody Creek legend, drugs and alcohol. He cared about democracy and self-righteous bozos on the campaign trail ticked him off.

"Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" was outrageously funny. In "Hells Angels," he recorded the excesses of the Angels in vivid detail. He got his ass kicked for his trouble.

I wish we had the likes of Hunter Thompson on the 2008 campaign trail. I wonder what he would have made of the Democratic Party's stage-managed spectacle in Denver last week? Or the Repub gathering in St. Paul right now?

One other area where Hunter really showed his stuff was sports. Some of you may have read his coverage of the Kentucky Derby and various professional boxing matches. But he was a sports nut and during his last years wrote a weekly column for ESPN online. Very funny and occasionally outrageous, but not as sharp as his early stuff.

We miss him during this oddest of election seasons.

Donate to Lori Millin's campaign

Lori Millin, my respresentative in Wyoming House District 8, has a donation page at https://secure.dlccweb.com/o/5945/p/10021/donate. Go there and donate $10 to help Lori's re-election, and return her to the State House so she can continue her great work on health care, education and other important issues. While there, throw in a "tip" to ActBlue to support other Dem candidates.

I contributed earlier today, and shall sleep the sleep of the righteous tonight.

Gustav knocks Cheney off RNC podium

We were anticipating with much relish the Dick Cheney speech at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn.

Alas, the Veep was upstaged by Hurricane Gustav as it continues to threaten the Republicans with strong winds, torrential rain and terrible P.R.

One remembers Dick Cheney, Casper's not-so-favorite son being greeted with cheering crowds when he visited coastal Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina three years ago. Oh, now I remember. He was greeted by a guy who said "Fudge You, Cheney," although he didn't say "fudge." After that, Cheney retreated into the mist.

Although it wasn't mentioned in the AP story, Cheney's non-appearance probably means that Republican candidate for U.S. House Cynthia Lummis won't introduce him.

The good news: Pres. Bush won't speak either.

The bad news: Laura Bush and Cindy McCain will talk to the RNC crowd about the importance of being prepared for natural disasters, such as another Republican being elected president.

Welcome to Beijing...or Baghdad...or maybe St. Paul

This just posted on DemocracyNow site and I'm reprinting in full:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE http://www.democracynow.org/

September 1, 2008

Contact: Dennis Moynihan, Mike Burke

ST. PAUL, MN—Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman was unlawfully arrested in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota at approximately 5 p.m. local time. Police violently manhandled Goodman, yanking her arm, as they arrested her. Video of her arrest can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYjyvkR0bGQ

Goodman was arrested while attempting to free two Democracy Now! producers who were being unlawfuly detained. They are Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar. Kouddous and Salazar were arrested while they carried out their journalistic duties in covering street demonstrations at the Republican National Convention. Goodman’s crime appears to have been defending her colleagues and the freedom of the press.

Ramsey County Sherrif Bob Fletcher told Democracy Now! that Kouddous and Salazar were being arrested on suspicion of rioting. They are currently being held at the Ramsey County jail in St. Paul.

Democracy Now! is calling on all journalists and concerned citizens to call the office of Mayor Chris Coleman and the Ramsey County Jail and demand the immediate release of Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar. These calls can be directed to: Chris Rider from Mayor Coleman’s office at 651-266-8535 and the Ramsey County Jail at 651-266-9350 (press extension 0).

Democracy Now! stands by Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar and condemns this action by Twin Cities law enforcement as a clear violation of the freedom of the press and the First Amenmdent rights of these journalists.

During the demonstration in which they were arrested law enforcement officers used pepper spray, rubber bullets, concussion grenades and excessive force. Several dozen others were also arrested during this action.

Amy Goodman is one of the most well-known and well-respected journalists in the United States. She has received journalism’s top honors for her reporting and has a distinguished reputation of bravery and courage. The arrest of Goodman, Kouddous and Salazar is a transparent attempt to intimidate journalists from the nation’s leading independent news outlet.

Democracy Now! is a nationally-syndicated public TV and radio program that airs on over 700 radio and TV stations across the US and the globe.

Video of Amy Goodman’s Arrest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYjyvkR0bGQ

Labor Day: Hope vs. More of the McSame

Labor Day drive across WYO in our trusty high-mileage Saturn Ion, made in the U.S.A. by American workers. Raining along I-25 as we return from visiting our daughter in Casper. Raining outside, political signs from DNC reflect political state of affairs. Notice McCain reflection on far right: THE SAME.

Who would Jesus vote for?

These Repubs in Denver during DNC are close personal friends of Jesus and know that the Dems walking the 16th Street Mall in Denver are doomed.

Homes raided in Minneapolis prior to RNC

Hey, I thought I was finished with convention blogging. I almost forgot about the upcoming RNC in St. Paul, Minn. The Republican's fun began today in Minneapolis.

Read "Massive police raids on suspected protestors in Minneapolis" at Glenn Greenwald’s site at http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/08/30/police_raids/index.html.

Get more updates from the mnblue blog at www.mnblue.com

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune has more at www.startribune.com

The Daily Show finds real Obama bio video

This should have been the Barack Obama bio shown Thursday night at the convention, as it is both funnier and shorter than the DNC version:

Something to look forward to...

From the Casper Star-Tribune:

Wyoming's Republican candidate for congress, Cynthia Lummis, will address the national Republican convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul Monday afternoon, officials say.

The former two-term state treasurer, will appear before Vice President Dick Cheney takes the podium on Monday.

"We will be so excited from Wyoming to have two of our own speaking," said Amy Larimer, executive director of the Wyoming Republican Party. "It's been such a historic election for us anyway and this is just really, really exciting," she added.

For the first time in anyone's memory, all three federal offices were up for election this year. Lummis will face Democrat Gary Trauner of Jackson in the November general election.

P.S.: TRAUNER WILL WIN!

On conventions, blogging and the West

Now that I've had a day of reflection and power napping, I'm prepared to tackle the convention in retrospect.

It was a spectacle. Heavy-hitting Dems as speakers! Celebrities in the delegations! More media than delegates! More cops than media and delegates combined! Music! Fireworks! Protesters!

It was impossible as a lone blogger to capture it all. I tackled it in slices. Some people stood out for their antics and/or attire. There was the tall blond delegate from Mississippi in her Ole Miss antiwar dress. The TV cameras liked her a lot. There were celebs -- Ashley Judd just behind the Wyoming delegation in the Pepsi Center, and Jamie Foxx walking the aisles. Almost all the Democrats who've been in the public eye during the post-World War II era: Jimmy Carter, Daniel Inouye, Michael Dukakis, John Kerry, Hillary and Bill Clinton, Fritz Mondale, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton. And those are only the ones I saw personally.

But after the first day of the convention, I was less interested in pol-and-celeb-spotting than I was in talking to the people around me. And eavesdropping. And keeping my eyes open. All techniques honed by years of fiction writing. Most of my stories come from personal encounters. The way someone speaks. A passing comment. The look in the eye. A small gesture can turn into a short story which can speak a universal truth -- if you're lucky.

While I was blogging in the hotel lobby Thursday, two volunteer Democrats who been shepherding us all week were chatting. One good thing about publicly typing on a laptop -- people don't think you're listening. But the woman volunteer, who was in her early forties, was talking about moving from Minnesota and how hard it's been on her daughter, who's in high school. She's going to the very huge Cherry Creek H.S., which used to be the largest one in the state but now probably is dwarfed by new and bigger exurb schools. The daughter is "very social" but finding it hard to make friends. The woman volunteer also complained that there was no water in Colorado. "So many lakes in Minnesota," she said, adding that her entire family loves swimming and boating and water-skiing.

The man from Minnesota moved to Colorado Springs to be near his kids, three out of four of them had moved to The Centennial State. He wore a gray pony tail and wire rim glasses, which made him look a bit like John Denver. He seemed perfectly happy in the Springs, even though Dems are outnumbered by insufferable hordes of born-agains.

I contemplated the words of the unhappy Minnesota expatriate. It's very tough to move out of your homeplace. It's really tough on teenagers. Her husband pushed for the move and she went along but now is having second thoughts. What's going to happen to them? Back in the booming 1990s, I heard statistics that 50 percent of those who moved from California to Colorado moved back within five years. They returned to family because they missed them. Didn't like the winters. Discovered that there hadn't been an ocean in Colorado for 30 million years.

I felt the same way when I moved from Florida to Colorado 30 years ago. I missed the beach! Also, warm weather. And my parents and my eight brothers and sisters and all of their kids yet to come. I was born in Denver, so I did have relatives there and still do. But it wasn't the same. My wife, too, was homesick, but possesses the vagabond spirit of the Army brat that she is. But we loved the mountains and made friends with other expatriates from Georgia and Massachusetts and even Minnesota. Now here we are 30 years later as Americans who've spent more than half of their lives in the Rocky Mountain West. Our son was born in Denver and our daughter in Cheyenne. She's the only native-born Wyomingite in the family.

There are many stories embedded in our experiences. Five years ago -- heck, one year ago -- I never could have contemplated attending a national political convention as a blogger. It's one of the many pleasant surprises I've had in my life. More to come, I hope.

Alaska's Palin not the Western governor with highest approval rating

Watching the TV talking heads tonight, and the subject was Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, Sen. John McCain's (72nd birthday today!) choice as Veep.

One thing the Repubs kept saying was the Gov. Palin had the highest approval rating of any U.S. governor. No solid numbers were mentioned, but one Repub talking head said that it was more than 80 percent.

So what? One Democratic governor of a Western red state has -- according to a recent poll -- an 81 percent approval rating. He's the only Democrat among the five state elected officials, and he has to deal with a veto-proof legislature, dominated by Republicans. He's a life-long hunter, and his hobby is rebuilding traditional sheep wagons. He opposed the feds' wolf-reintroduction rules, and boosted the budget of the state arts agency to record levels.

Who is this magic man? Gov. Dave Freudenthal of Wyoming.

So Sarah Palin's a Republican governor in a Republican state and has a high approval rating.

So what?

Thursday night at the convention

Sen. John Kerry advances menacingly toward the paparazzi.

"The Daily Show's" John Oliver broadcasts from the stadium floor. He was circling around the Wyoming delegation all night, obviously too star-struck to engage any of us in conversation.

Convention wrap-up -- final day

Once the bus returned me to the Denver burbs tonight, I drove to my uncle's house, picked up my gear and drove back to Cheyenne, getting in about 12:45 a.m. We made a pretty fast getaway from Mile High Stadium and the buses seemed to get priority entering I-25, which was eerily empty, with only our bus and a white Homeland Security van jockeying for space. The city closed the highway from 5:30 p.m. until midnight for security reasons. Just what prompted that decision is hard to say, since the stadium is far enough from the highway to protect against any kind of explosions. If there's one thing this convention had -- security. Denver cops, Lakewood cops, Aurora cops, ATF agents, TSA screeners, Secret Service and, I'm assuming, FBI. We had police in the hotels and on the buses. When is enough security enough? When we say it is!

One classy move the cops made -- providing an escort for the non-permitted march on Wednesday by Rage Against the Machine and members of Iraq Veterans Against the War. Something like 3,000 participated in that march, which made it the largest one at the convention.

More convention wrapping up in the morning.

At the DNC on finale night

Jesse Jackson meets the press on the floor of Mile High Stadium during the DNC Aug. 29.

A portion of the Wyoming delegation at the DNC

Convention

The eagle has landed! The eagle has landed!

Still in line

Mile High Stadium. Standing in line once again with other people taking photos of standing in line.

Blogging from Mile High -- cell phone only

It's been a long week of carrying around this laptop and connectors and cords and a power strip and all the rest of the gizmos a blogger needs. So, as I prepare to go down to Mile High Stadium, I am leaving this laptop behind. I shall miss it, but blog via tex message and photos on the cell phone. Let's see how this works, shall we?

If you don't hear from me during the next 24 hours, I've probably been detained in "Gitmo on the Platte" for subversive thoughts.

Pray for me.

Code Pink hits the Denver streets

Members of Code Pink bicycled through downtown and stopped at 17th and Broadway to set up and antiwar demonstration. This Code Pink activist's sign reads "Save the Constitution: Impeach!" A re-creation of the U.S. Constitution (remember that?) adorns her shirt.

Hero worship at the DTC Hyatt

Wow! I just met Roosevelt Grier in the lobby of the Hyatt Place Hotel. He's walking with a cane these days and is a bit more gray, but it's him all right. A great man. Marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., active in the Civil Rights struggles from the 1960s onward. And a pretty good football player, too.

Here's some background on "Rosey" Grier from Wikipedia:

As a professional football player, Grier was a member of the original Fearsome Foursome of the Los Angeles Rams and played in the Pro Bowl twice.

After Grier's professional sports career he worked as a bodyguard for Robert Kennedy during the 1968 presidential campaign and was guarding the senator's wife during the Robert F. Kennedy assassination. Although unable to prevent that killing, Grier took control of the gun and subdued the shooter, Sirhan Sirhan.

Grier's other activities have been colorful and varied. He hosted his own Los Angeles television show and made approximately 70 guest appearances on various shows during the 1960s and 1970s. Grier is known for his serious pursuit of nontraditional hobbies such as macrame and needlepoint. He has authored several books, including Rosey Grier's Needlepoint for Men in 1973. Grier became an ordained Christian minister in 1983 and travels as an inspirational speaker. He founded American Neighborhood Enterprises, a nonprofit organization that serves inner city youth.

Obama puts Bush's big lie to the test

Sometimes it takes someone with a keen eye to portray what's happened politically in the U.S. during the past 20 years or so. Bradley Burston writes from New Orleans in the Aug. 27 in Israel's Haaretz.com:

In the end, Bush's inexplicable air of harmlessness may be his real legacy. His genius was the glorification of ineffectuality. He played to perfection the part of the good ole boy who revels in the knowledge that things are not as bad as these insufferable, effete, under-manly liberals, intellectuals, elitists, eggheads, high talkers would have us believe. Here was the common man with the common man's truth -- be happy with what you've got, and as for these nay-sayers, may they not bring all o us down with them.

And no one was as good as Bush at promulgating -- perhaps, also, at himself believing -- the big lie. Here, after all, was the man, the moneyed, Yale Skull and Bones legacy son of a moneyed president, grandson of a U.S. Senator trading on his identity as the caricature of the common man, this self-styled rancher, this apparent dirt farmer. A lie as big as the great Texas sky. And Americans lined up to buy it.

It was too scary not to.

What could be more scary, at this point, than Obama bring right? The extent of the changes that need to be made are, in fact, frightening in dimension. There is, undeniably, something in human nature that suggests that if things are this bad, changing them could only be worse. What frightens me, at this point, is the possibility that Americans have come to prize mediocrity over excellence, turning a blind eye to facing hard truths full on. Fox News, meanwhile, has gone back to trying to persuade America that global warming may be a fiction, after all. Who better than Fox to know a fiction when it reports one? What may frighten some Americans about Barack Obama is his very excellence. His fiercest critics have so far had little else to go on.

Meet the DNC delegates: Patrick Goggles

Patrick Goggles has spent four years in the Wyoming Legislature as the representative from House District 33. His district takes in most of the Wind River Reservation from Crowheart on the west to almost Red Canyon on the east side of Lander. It includes the town of Hudson but not Lander, which Goggles calls "the hole in the doughnut." Just an indication of the strange shapes of Wyoming's districting (and gerrymandering by the Republicans).

I talked to Patrick, a member of the Northern Arapaho tribe, on the floor of the Pepsi Center. He lives in rural Mill Creek but his home precinct is in Ethete.

He said he's been interviewed by Wyoming Public Radio, a radio station in South Dakota, RezNet News out of the University of Montana, and several others. After we talked he was off to be interviewed by the BBC.

This is his first convention, but he remembers watching politics as far back as 1960 and the Kennedy-Nixon debates. He has relatives all over Wyoming, and four of his nephews recently finished Marine boot camp and will be headed to Iraq after further training. His son-in-law has served two tours in Afghanistan with the U.S. Army and one in Iraq.

Goggles is an Obama supporter and nominated Sen. Obama at the Fremont County convention back in March. That upset his brother, a Clinton supporter, but Patrick says that he's getting over it.

He stresses the "unity" theme that's at the heart of this convention. "The end result is a unified front behind one candidate and that's Barack Obama."

Let Wyoming answer the roll call!

It's hell being the last state on the alphabetical list at a political convention.

Sen. Barack Obama was just named the Democratic Party's presidential candidate by acclamation. New Mexico (Home of a bunch of artists especially in Santa Fe!) yielded to Illinois (Home of the Valentine's Day Massacre!) which in turn yielded to New York (Home of New Yorker magazine cartoons that we don't understand!).

And who announced this?

New York Sen. Hillary Clinton.

The delegates roared their approval. And the rest of the alphabet didn't get to answer the roll call.

That included North Dakota, South Dakota, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin, West Virginia, South Carolina and North Carolina. Do I have all the post-New York states?

Rumor has it that the Pennsylvania governor is really mad. Our delegation is disappointed.

I vote that we secede from the Union and form our own country of states which didn't get to answer the roll call to make Sen. Obama's nomination official. Not sure what to call it. The United States of the Ignored? The Silenced Ones? The USA World Book, Nor-Wyo?

We'll think of something.

Hummingbirdminds answers it all for you

My friend and writing colleague Liz Roadifer from Pine Bluffs has some questions about the convention. I will attempt to answer them.

Q: What does everyone have to eat and drink at the Pepsi Center?

A: As for food, you can get gruel, either plain or with water drizzled over it. Beverages include water.

Q: Do you have access to the press room (is there a press room/area)?

A: Yes. I currently am in the Bloggers' Lounge and it is crowed with bloggers of all stripes. Some are not striped. I was near the CNN control booth and got to meet Bill Richardson. He is as tall and bearded as he is on TV. I wandered into one of the press tents (I have a press pass) and saw journalists from Japan, Mexico, Germany and New York. The Weather Channel is not here.

Q: Have you seen the guys, and gal, from The Daily Show who are working the convention, including Jon Stewart? (he's supposed to be quite short).

A: I have been looking high and low (especially low) for Jon Stewart but haven't seen him. The closest I got was a sign at the Campus Inn near University of Denver that read "Welcome Jon Stewart" in big letters and "Welcome DNC" in very small print. I used to hang out at the Campus Inn when my wife Chris and I lived in Denver and attended DU hockey games. I have been on the lookout for Samantha Bee who seems to be eternally pregnant. No sign of her yet.

Q: Does everyone get to keep the signs they hand out to wave for each speaker? (they really look good on TV).

A: I grabbed some of the signs from last night and hauled them back with me. I saw some people hauling signs away in huge black garbage bags. Wonder what they will do with them?

Liz: Can I pick you up one of those signs?

Fritz Mondale drops by to see WyoDems

Thanks to LarCoDems head honcho Mike Bell for bringing in V.P. Walter Mondale yesterday to meet the Wyoming delegation.

As a younger man in 1990 in Minnesota, Mike worked to elect Mondale's son Ted to the state legislature. He and the Mondales have stayed in touch.

"Mike came in and handled volunteers and we won the election," Mondale said. "So, I told Mike to go to Wyoming and run things there."

(Laughter)

Mr. Mondale looks great at 80. Still has a firm handshake and can make a speech.

"We live in dire times," her said. "It's real and it's now. We must act."

As a former Clinton supporter, he urged us all to get behind Sen. Obama so we can wrest control of the U.S. Government from the Bush-Cheney cabal.

"The only way that we now can support the things that Hillary supported is to get behind Obama. I worry about this country if we can't get that sorted out."

He had high praise for Obama's choice as running mate. "Obama showed what he was made of. This is the single most unambiguous step that a presidential candidate can make."

He paused to survey the room.

"I think that Jimmy Carter was brilliant."

(More laughter)

Mr. Mondale spent the better part of an hour with us, and then melted into the Colorado sunshine.

We're all Dems on this bus

Driving the bus this afternoon from the Hyatt Place Hotel at the Denver Tech Center was William Fentroy from Jacksonville, Florida. We hit it off quickly because he saw my 2006 Gators' National Championship cap and then showed me his official Gator cell phone holder. Gators everywhere.

He graduated in 1986. He's originally from New Iberia, Louisiana, which also is home to fictional detective Dave Robicheaux in James Lee Burke's mystery novels.

What happened to the mills and factories around New Iberia and Martinville is not fiction. All the jobs were shipped overseas by CEOs who wanted to own as many houses as John McCain (seven, at last count). As William explained, it cost 99 cents per six-pack of underwear made at the Union Underwear (Fruit of the Loom brand) Factory. The workers were paid decent wages and thousands were employed there.

The compaany shipped all the jobs to Malaysia where they could pay the workers meager wages and it cost just a quarter for each six-pack of underwear.

"Who reaped the profits?" I asked.

"Who do you think?"

Uh oh. Even more 20,000-square-foot houses for Dick Cheney's exclusive community in Jackson Hole. Just call it the Republican Free-Market Underpants Windfall.

Gary Trauner's statement on energy issues

From Gary Trauner's U.S. House campaign:

ENERGY PRESS STATEMENT 8/26/08 FROM GARY TRAUNER

Since the day I started running for Wyoming's lone seat in the US House, I have been saying that the search for sustainable energy independence is the issue of our time. It affects our national security, our economy, our environment and the legacy we leave to future generations.

But over the past four months, as I have continued to campaign door to door, community to community, I have heard countless stories of the incredible burden that out of control gas prices have put on Wyoming's families, businesses, and particularly, seniors on fixed incomes.

As I attended forum after forum during the primary season, most of my opponents embraced the simple slogan of "Drill Here, Drill Now." That's not enough.

Some of them also mentioned diversifying our energy sources. That's not enough, either.

The key issue of our time is for America to break what President Bush called in his 2006 State of the Union address, "our addiction to oil."

To do that, we must bridge the gap with the energy sources of today to get to the energy sources of tomorrow. With diesel right here at this station [Ghost Town Gas Station, Casper, Wy Diesel $4.19] over four dollars a gallon, our choice has already been made for us. Yet, it is going to take leadership, honesty, straight talk and tough choices to achieve our goals.

That's why simple slogans like "Drill Here, Drill Now" won't get it done. How many of you know that nearly 1/3 of the oil taken from under American territory every day is sent overseas to foreign countries? That's right – everyday, 1.6 million barrels of American oil and petroleum products goes to foreign countries. American oil that could be filling our trucks, heating our homes, and fueling our nation.

Giving new leases to energy companies - without holding them accountable - only puts money in their pocket, and doesn't bring down the price of gas. After all, there are millions of leased acres today that are not being used or even explored.

My proposal has three key elements: Short-term, long-term and immediate action.

In the short term, at the risk of repeating myself, "Drill Here Drill Now" is not good enough; What we need is "American oil for the American people", or if you like "Drill Here. Sell Here. Now." It's really pretty simple. I propose that Congress approve new leases under the following conditions to ensure accountability:
o One, every drop of oil drilled under American soil and American waters must go to the American people.
o Two, just like our coal leases, use it or lose it. If oil companies don't drill in a reasonable amount of time, then we'll find someone who will.

That's to help bridge the gap, but as Oil Tycoon Boone Pickens says, "This is one emergency we can't drill our way out of."

So we must have a long-term strategy too that is more than paying lip service to energy diversity, because that's not good enough either. Therefore, any legislation to allow new leases or to open up new areas to drilling must also be coupled with an "Apollo moon" type of project for long-term energy independence.

This means a firm and lasting commitment from our federal government to work in partnership with private enterprise to provide the policy framework, regulatory certainty and market incentives to encourage, research, develop, and financially support a diverse range of alternative fuel sources.

Let me be clear: government should not and must not dictate which specific sources of energy are the long-term answers. In fact, the answer truly lies in diversity.

We need to explore everything from clean coal technologies (including carbon sequestration to rejuvenate tired oil and gas fields), to wind power, solar power, biofuels, hydrogen, and sources yet unknown. Conservation, and energy efficiency in our appliances, vehicles and buildings are also critical aspects of this firm and lasting commitment.

Finally, we need immediate action, to reign in out of control gas prices. Therefore, we must immediately use all the tools at our disposal to bring down the price of gas. These include:
o Reigning in and properly overseeing speculators who manipulate the futures markets solely for financial gain;
o Acting now to materially increase fuel economy standards;
o Providing market certainty by restoring the expired tax credits for wind & solar that are currently being held up by political posturing in DC, while incentivize other forms of alternative energy; and
o Putting more money in Americans' pockets by eliminating unnecessary tax breaks and subsidies to the most profitable companies in the history of the world.

Taken together, these steps will bring down the price of gas and groceries; allow us to take back our national and economic security from dictatorships like Russia, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Iran; and ensure a lasting legacy for future generations.

There will be resistance to change - there always is. We must also remember that the politics of simple slogans solves nothing. And it won't help make gas more affordable for a rancher filling up his tractor or a miner driving to work. As Charles F. Mason, the H.A. 'Dave' True Jr. professor of petroleum and natural gas economics at the University of Wyoming, said in the Casper Star on June 15, "the notion that the nation could simply drill more wells to become 'independent' of foreign oil imports simply isn't realistic. 'It's a myth,' He went on to say, and I quote: "It's a great place to make a stand if a politician is up for re-election. But realistically, I don't see that as having a significant impact."

My vision will have a significant impact by turning adversity into opportunity and recognizing what has made America great over the years: properly utilizing the role of government to help guide and unleash the power of private enterprise to solve complex issues. Taking these steps will immediately relieve the pain and the pump, continue to grow high quality jobs here in Wyoming and ensure the best jobs for our children in the economy of the 21st are right out their back door here in Wyoming.

The view of the DNC from afar

My sister Molly from Tallahassee says that last night's speakers at the DNC were being viewed negatively in the Sunshine State. Too anti-McCain. Too many attacks on the former POW. Molly is one of those citizens who vote for the candidate, no matter which party. I sometimes wish I was that way but it passes and I vote Democratic. Especially this time out, when McCain is just more of the McSame.

Molly asked about the mood inside the hall. Raucous, enthusiastic, positive. Those are three descriptors I can think of. Many signs distributed. Dancing in the aisles to the R&B songs by the house band. Star-gazing, especially when Ashley Judd sat down about ten rows behind us in the Kentucky section.

It's a big show, an expensive production. But so what? It puts the Democrats on center stage for a week. It gets us charged up. We get to meet cool people. The Republicans will do this all next week.

Here's what I like: being around a bunch of Democrats. We are few and far between in Wyoming. I've met some incredible people. Rode the Light Rail back to the Englewood station last night with a Catholic Sisters of Loretto nun. As you know, nuns these days have been freed from their penguin outfits and now wear civvies and are very engaged in their communities. I believe her name was Maureen Fiedler (sp?) who has her own radio show that melds religion and politics (must look up her web site to get more info). She's from the social justice activist tradition. Since that's my tradition, we had a great talk as we watched ATF agents and their dogs search each train for explosives. I was surprised to see them using Labradors for the searches. Labs are great dogs with sensitive noses, but I thought German Shepherds were dogs of choice for law enforcement.

At the station with us was a man from northern Mississippi who was a state senator. He ran against a Democrat who had switched parties to Republican while in office -- and beat him. He said his district was very much Democratic, and that the state legislature had Democratic majorities. That was cheering to this guy from Wyoming who suffers under a state Senate which is 23-7 Republican and a that also has a ridiculous Repub majority.

Both of these people -- a nun from Maryland who went on a hunger strike for the Equal Rights Amendment battle in 1972 and this Mississippi senator with his down-south accent -- were very positive about the night's proceedings. Positive and tired.

Stay tuned for tonight's action, which includes speeches by Sen. Biden and Bill Clinton and a host of others. I will get there early to avoid the crowds.

Day Two of the DNC wrap-up

Wrap-up on day two of the DNC:

Made it a goal to miss most of the early proceedings this evening. My ass was deadened by six straight hours of sitting last night. Fortunately, I had other blogging errands this afternoon, and then had to stand in a very long line (see previous post).

Gov. Schweitzer of Montana is one spell-binder of a speaker. He knows his energy issues. I'm still not convinced of his coal-to-gas plan, and the whole sequestration thing. We're dealing with the same issues in Wyoming. Big issues. I'm counting on wiser heads to make sense of this stuff for me.

Sen. Clinton has never been a slouch in the speech department. Not on par with husband Bill, but she also gives shorter speeches. "Unity" was the theme and it should be. The Clinton delegates in our group seemed satisfied with her call for togetherness. Tomorrow comes the voting.

And now I have to get out of here before they sweep me up with all the discarded signs.

Bush & McCain: separated at birth

Great quote from Hillary Clinton:

"It's fitting that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities."

That got a big laugh. Nice line.

This is dedicated to the one I love

To my wife, Chris:

I am in a stadium full of people cheering for your candidate, Hillary Clinton. To judge by the thousands of waving red, white and blue signs, there must be more Hill delegates than those for Barack. I wish you could be here, as I know you would be cheering the loudest. And you can cheer loudly, if the hundreds of baseball, football and basketball games we've seen together is any indication (I'm still having trouble hearing out of that left ear).

Hillary is gracious in defeat and supportive of Sen. Obama. I know it's taken awhile to deal with your disappointment. You're the feminist in the family and you've taught me a lot about being one, too. You're a member of Hillary's Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuits, although I haven't seen you in too many pantsuits (you're more a bluejeans kind of feminist).

You're here in spirit. No doubt you have a few tears watching Hillary deliver her speech.

We'll vote together in November for a Democrat that can lead us out of the morass that the Republicans got us into. We've always pulled in the same direction -- peace and justice for all -- and I hope that all Democrats can do the same.

Schweitzer: Energy sense from Montana

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer devoted most of his prime-time speech tonight to issues of energy independence.

Here's a great line: "We can't drill our way to energy independence, even if we drilled in all McCain's backyards, even the ones he doesn't know he has."

He also said that McCain wants more of the same Bush/Cheney non-energy policy. "McCain voted 25 times against renewable energy, biofuels, solar energy and even wind power. McCain took more than $1 million in contributions from energy companies. Now he wants to give those same energy companies $4 billion in tax breaks."

Do we need four more years of the same? NO!!!

Dems (most of us anyway) wait in long lines

Some Democrats are more equal that others.

Me and thousands of my most personal friends in the Democratic Party were standing in line to get into the Pepsi Center. It was cordial, with more schmoozing that pushing and shoving. And a lot of texting on cell phones. Dems love to text.

But the minutes turned into a half hour and then an hour. Rumblings could he heard.

And then some people began to butt into line. You know how it was in second grade. "Don't butt." "No cutting." And most of your fellow second-graders listened.

And then some power brokers showed up with their handlers and began shoving into line. Several of us yelled "No cutting." One of them was me. A big dude in a while polo shirt stood up on the flank of the line and repeated, "Thanks for waiting in line.," He had a deep voice and I would have listened. But I wasn't trying to shove in line. I was awaiting like the rest of my fellow proles.

A group of well-dressed Dems of my age group stood with the cops, waiting to butt into line. They wore tenuous looks, as if our shouting was not music to their ears. But they eventually found a way to scoot into the line.

"Thanks for waiting in line" I met him later and he said he worked on veteran's affairs for the New York delegation. I don't doubt it. His first name was Clete. Way to go!

Thanks for waiting in line, indeed.

The DNC better take this situation in hand. Tomorrow evening is the voting. And to have a bunch of delegates miss their votes is not going to go down easy, not even with the line cutting contingent.

Get it now: Obama in a bottle!

Obama in a bottle. This vendor was parked along the 16th Street Mall today selling "Obama in a Bottle" water jugs for $15. An Obama figurine and a flag drift in the bottles. To demonstrate his wares, he had a six foot bottle on the back of the truck. Not too many people were buying. Click on photo for larger image.

Ted Kennedy rouses DNC crowd

His voice wavered a few times, but I think it was more from emotion that from the rigors of cancer treatments.

Ted Kennedy was introduced by Caroline Kennedy, followed by a film of the Senator sailing with his kids and grandkids.

Wish they hadn't closed out the speech with that old Top 40 nugget, "Still the One," which was bad when it first appeared, and hasn't improved with age.

Michelle Obama coming up after we boogie to "Celebrate," by Kool and the Gang, sung by the in-house band.

Nancy Pelosi at the DNC podium

Many of you viewers at home just saw Nancy Pelosi speak at the DNC. So, I won't go into the details, but just give you my impressions.

She's a good speaker. She looks good, although my view was partially blocked by the Torch Ginger blooming right in front of me.

There have been some harsh words in the blogosphere recently about Pelosi and her Congressional Democratic colleagues. Why didn't you end the war in Iraq? Why did you renew FISA? Why didn't you tell your Republican colleagues to stick their mindless obstructionism where the sun don't shine?

It's been frustrating for all of us who got jazzed up in 2006 and gave the Dems the majority in the House and a tie in the Senate. The margins we gave are not enough.

What about next time? No more excuses?

Next time, bring tumbleweeds for DNC decor

Note to self: Next convention, bring some Russian Thistle, sagebrush and Indian Paintbrush plants to decorate the delegation sign and official blogger post. Got the idea from the Hawaiian delegation sitting right in front of us. They brought three-foot-tall cuttings of Heliconia and Torch Ginger which they wrapped around their placard. It's pretty, but the greenery and orangery and reddery is now blocking my view of Howard Dean and Nancy Pelosi at the podium.
We wouldn't have that problem with the very spare limbs of thistle. At the first sign of the breeze (or a good burst of AC air), the Russian Thistle would go tumbling along and become tumbleweeds.

Driftin' along with the tumblin' tumbleweeds.

Trauner in Casper & Cheyenne Tuesday

Just received this from the Gary Trauner campaign for Wyoming's lone U.S. House seat:

Gary Trauner, candidate for U.S. House of Representatives will hold a press conference tomorrow on Tuesday, August 26, at 9:30 a.m. at the Ghost Town gas station at 6680 W. Yellowstone Hwy. in Casper, then at 3 p.m. at the Trauner HQ in Cheyenne, at 211 W. 18th St.

The Cheyenne location will have a dial-in option for those around the state who cannot attend. DIAL IN: 712-451-6100 / PASSKEY: 721718#

Trauner will discuss his "American Energy for the American People" proposal and then take questions.


For further information contact Adam Ruff at 307.699.4956, or reply to this email.

Now -- finally -- Day One at the DNC

The proceedings began at 3 p.m. or so. I was still trying to get off the DNCC bus which shuttled me and one cohort from the Denver Tech Center hotel that houses the WYO delegation. The drive was slow going behind the bus caravan taking the circuitous route through downtown Denver. We had a police guard on our bus -- recent retiree from the Department of Corrections but also a trained cop. He said that the driver had to follow a designated route or else. Not sure what "or else" meant. But I did see a lot of well-armed cops and Homeland Security people along the route.

The good news was that once we got to the Pepsi Center vicinity, we breezed into the secured convention grounds. What took me at least 30 minutes yesterday took 7 today. best to take the bus, especially when we have our own security guard. By the way, I had to ask if he was a Democrat. He said he was not, but his brother in Casper, Wyoming is. Yet another Democrat discovered in Wyoming!

Once I got inside the P.C., I saw former comedian and now Minn. Congressional candidate Al Franken. He's a lot smaller in person.

Howard Dean is at the podium now. Thus far, he has not yelled out in an unseemly manner. But there's still plenty of time for that.

Earlier, we saw Dave Freudenthal and Montana's Brian Schweitzer (sp?) in a film about the rising Dems of the West. Much talk about energy, too, the traditional in-the-ground variety and the new kind that is powered by wind and solar.

More later...

Launch Minus-One: DNC in Denver

And it ain't even started yet....

Sunday began (as I mentioned earlier) with an antiwar demonstration at the Colorado Capitol. More media members were present that protestors. One TV guy lugging a big camera said into his cell: "I'm here at the Capitol Building with a couple-hundred demonstrators. What do you want me to do with them?"

Not sure what the person at the other end of the line said. But I do know what the counter-protesters wanted to do to: shut up. As the sign of the warniks said: "Want peace? Then shut up and let us do our job." If only we knew what that job was.

A FOX News contingent arrived at the demonstration. A trio of three young guys wearing scarves over their faces and dressed in democracynow.org T-shirts, shouted: "FOX News go home!" And then: "Fudge the main stream media." Only they didn't say "fudge." In other words, "shut up."

With so many urging others to shut up, it was refreshing to hear Cindy Sheehan say "they won't shut me up -- don't let them shut you up." "They" were the "corporate entities and corporate political parties" that apparently control both parties, including the Democrats. Disabled Vietnam Vet Ron Kovic spoke out. "Dr. King said that a time comes when silence is betrayal." He urged the crowd to march together peacefully (they did) and not to let "them" shut you up.

"We will not go quietly into this dark American night," Kovic said. "We will not bow, we will not scrape."

He roused the crowd with a shout: "The Whole World Watching!" Not sure if that was a chant at the 1968 Dem convention, or the SDS at Columbia, or maybe the 1972 Repub convention in Miami where Ron was roughed up. It also was featured on a 1970 album by Chicago.

I am having a devil of a time finding wireless spots for my laptop. This morning, I'm at the local public library using a public access computer. Yet another reason to love libraries. Earlier, I tried to connect at a mall Starbucks but after several frustrating tries, the barista told me that I had to buy an AT&T card for two hours of Internet access. In a pinch, I would do that. But free computers are always better -- and more dependable.

Attended a breakfast meeting with the WYO delegation this morning. Everyone received their credentials and many briefings. The gavel goes down at 3 p.m. at the Pepsi Center where I'll be hooked up with an ethernet connection and won't have to search the skies for an AT&T satellite. Besides, we already know that the Pepsi Center has no wireless due to "security concerns."

See you at Monday's convention session...

Nevada Wobblies at antiwar demonstration

Marching through Denver

Lefty vs. Righty on Denver streets

Denver hosted two competing demonstrations this morning.

On the Capitol steps, Cindy Sheehan, Ron Kovic, Eldridge Cleaver's widow and various others took the U.S. to task for wrongs in Iraq, Palestine, Vietnam, throughout the U.S.A, and Across the Universe.

Two blocks away, an array of opposing demonstrators urged us to support the troops by holding up signs that said things like: "Want peace? Then shut up and let us do our job." The image on the sign was of a GI is full battle dress. Another sign showed a finger-pointing Uncle Sam saying "Osama wants you... to oppose the war on terror."

When it came time for the antiwar crowd to march to the Pepsi Center, a phalanx of cops lined up in front of the war promoters. A few harsh words were exchanged but nothing that could provoke a fight between peaceniks and warniks.

More later, along with some photos.

Bring us the head of Dick Cheney

The well-dressed Veep

Stayed tuned for convention blogging

Dear Readers:

I'm leaving for the Democratic National Convention in Denver in a few hours. I'm leaving early to make some time to visit with family before the action begins Sunday afternoon. I'll be posting from the Pepsi Center floor, the convention center and from the streets through Aug. 24-28. On Thursday evening, I'll join some 75,000 others to hear Sen. Obama's speech from Mile High Stadium (a.k.a. as Invesco Field).

Happy reading.

Comments welcome.