Demographic shifts spell doom for GOP, but not in Wyoming

Why are these aging white guys laughing?

This comes from Reader Supported News:

Pew Research Center Director Andrew Kohut had this to say following the release of a survey last Wednesday that showed support for the GOP tanking among college-educated, young and non-white voters:

"The Republicans really are the party of white people, and especially older white people," Kohut told reporters as the poll was released. "They've done nothing in this campaign to make themselves be more favorably viewed" among other parts of the electorate.

Republican strategists such as Karl Rove keep arguing that the Republican Party needs to find ways to reach out to other demographic groups, particularly Latinos.

The example of what could happen if the party does not do so is California, where the GOP became alienated from Latinos just as their voting percentage began to rise rapidly. Over the last five election cycles, California has moved from being a swing state to being one of the most solidly Democratic states in the country.

Republicans don't face that sort of dire situation nationwide, in part because the nation's demographics differ from California's. Whites without a college degree form a much larger percentage of the voting population nationwide, and that group has become a bastion for the Republicans. But as the country becomes less white and more college-educated, the picture is changing. And the numbers in the Pew survey provide some bad omens for the GOP. 

Latinos, for example, view the Republican Party unfavorably by a 2-1 margin (30% favorable, 60% unfavorable). By contrast, Latinos view the Democrats favorably, 56%-31%. The picture among Americans under 30 is almost as negative, with 34% viewing the GOP favorably, while 53% have an unfavorable view. Their view of Democrats is almost the exact opposite, 54% have a positive view, and 35% negative. 

Among those with a college degree or more, only 31% said they had a favorable view of the Republicans, while 66% were unfavorable. That group, which was a key to Barack Obama's victory in 2008, views Democrats favorably by 55%-42%. 

No chance any time soon that Wyoming will waver from its Republican voting patterns. The state is 91 percent white and is aging rapidly. Until serious cohort replacement takes place, it's the Democrats who are doomed in The Equality State.

Smoke and Black Hawks and history in the air over Mount Rushmore

We cruised up to Mount Rushmore National Memorial yesterday afternoon. It's a 27-mile drive from Rapid City past a weird assortment of tourist attractions -- sprawling waterslide parks, Bear Country USA, Reptile Gardens ("See Maniac, America's Giant Crocodile"), Old MacDonald's Farm petting zoo ("Pig races!"), Black Hills Maze, Sitting Bull Crystal Caverns, etc. Most are closed for the season. A few are closed for good.

Anyway, we got to Mount Rushmore. I've been there but my wife Chris has not. I took the kids there 13 years ago when my son was at Boy Scout summer camp near Custer. It's an impressive place. It took 14 years and 400 workers and a million dollars and tons of dynamite to carve the faces of four presidents into Harney Peak Granite. Why bother, you might ask. But therein lies the tale. Local promoters thought it would be a great celebration of American freedom and a terrific tourist attraction. They were right about the latter. The former is still being debated, which seems fitting. The ranger at the visitor center said there was a recent History Channel documentary that called Mt. Rushmore a "testimonial to white privilege." Or maybe that was "testament to white privilege." He seemed upset by the idea. But you have to admit that those are some big white faces up there on a mountain that is still claimed by High Plains Indian tribes. I'm not privy to the current state of white-Indian relations regarding Paha Sapa. But it's always been testy, not to mention bloody.

We took many photos. We walked the Presidential Trail. A beautiful day in the Black Hills. As we made our way from one interpretive placard to another, we heard the sounds of a helicopter. Looked up to see a Black Hawk hovering nearby. We wondered if it was some sort of spring weekend military demonstration. Or maybe a visit by a V.I.P.? A president, perhaps? But we would have heard about that.  

The Black Hawk dipped behind the trees, hovered, and the buzzed off. We forgot about it until we got back to our car in the parking lot and saw a plume of smoke on a nearby ridge. Uh oh. The Rapid City Journal's cover story Saturday morning talked about the extreme fire danger caused by unseasonably warm temps and high winds. On our return to Rapid City, we passed fleets of police cars and firefighting trucks blocking a side road. Smoke was in the air. So was a Black Hawk.

Good news. The authorities jumped on the fire and put it out quickly. The cause appears to be target shooters, as shotgun shells littered the charred ground and targets were affixed to surrounding rocks. Not sure what to say about that. There are many things one can do safely in a tinder-dry forest. Discharging firearms is not one of them. 

St. Patrick's Day -- a look back

On the road to the Black Hills this St. Patrick's Day. Too preoccupied with the upcoming St. Patrick's Day Pub Crawl in Deadwood to write anything original. So I'll leave my readers with this St. Patrick's Day column from 2011. It covers a lot of Irish genealogical history: Potato Famine, Irish Diaspora, excessive drinking, superiority of Irish literature, Catholicism, etc. Read it here.

See it now -- Wyoming Video Contest

Big Horn Samurai Sinema's home-grown filmmaking talent on display in Wyoming Video Contest. Scary, too. Music by Ten Sleep's Jalan "Trailer Park Fire" Crossland.

Felicia Follum's "Make it Plain" exhibit to be held in conjunction with the Shepard Symposium at UW

Artist and fellow progressive blogger Felicia Follum (see blogroll on right sidebar) will be featured in an exhibition "Make it Plain," March 19-April 2 in Gallery 234, room 004 in the lower level of the UW Union. A reception for the exhibit is scheduled for Wednesday, March 28, from 6-8 p.m. Admission to both events is free and open to the public. It’s an African-American view of history and religion, as well as an exploration of the ways we persecute members of society today. This exhibit is being shown in conjunction with the Shepard Symposium for Social Justice , March 28-31.

Classic Alfred Hitchcock thriller -- with a twist -- opens March 23 at the Atlas Theatre

Tickets are on sale now for the CLTP production of The 39 Steps. Directed by Steve Lien.

Take a classic Alfred Hitchcock thriller, stir in a healthy dose of spy novel noir and a heaping dash of Monty Python hilarity and you might start to understand this intriguing, riotous and fast-paced comedy. A cast of 4 plays more than 150 characters in this full-throttle tale of an ordinary man on an extraordinary adventure to save all of Britain from a shadowy cadre of devious spies.

Performances are March 23-April 1 at the Historic Atlas Theatre. Special $10 ticket performance on Thursday, March 29, 7:30 p.m. 

Contact 307-638-6543 or online at www.cheyennelittletheatre.org

Soldier-poet Brian Turner will talk about his work at Equality State Book Festival Sept. 14-15 in Casper

Brian Turner

Here's some exciting news. The Wyoming Arts Council announced yesterday that soldier-poet Brian Turner will serve as judge for its creative writing fellowships in poetry. Turner will travel to Casper Sept. 14-15 for the Equality State Book festival to read from his work with the three poetry fellowship winners. He also will participate on a panel with fellow Iraq War vet Luis Carlos Montalvan. He's a U.S. Army Iraq War veteran and author of "Until Tuesday: The Story of a Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever Who Saved Him." Here's some info on Turner and his books:

He is a soldier-poet who is the author of two poetry collections, Phantom Noise (2010) and Here, Bullet (2005) which won the 2005 Beatrice Hawley Award, the New York Times “Editor's Choice” selection, the 2006 Pen Center USA "Best in the West" award, and the 2007 Poets Prize, among others. Turner served seven years in the U.S. Army, including one year as an infantry team leader in Iraq with the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. Prior to that, he was deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1999-2000 with the 10th Mountain Division. Turner's poetry has been published in Poetry Daily, The Georgia Review, and other journals, and in the Voices in Wartime Anthology published in conjunction with the feature-length documentary film of the same name. Turner was also featured in Operation Homecoming, a unique documentary that explores the firsthand accounts of American servicemen and women through their own words. He earned an MFA from the University of Oregon and has lived abroad in South Korea. In 2009, Turner was selected as one of 50 United States Artists Fellows.
At the Casper College Literary Conference Sept. 14-15, 2012, Brian Turner will read from his work together with the fellowship winners. He also will participate on a panel about soldier-writers.
Here’s what critics had to say about Here, Bullet: 

 "In sharp, straightforward, yet lyrical language, Turner exposes the many costs of war.” — Library Journal 

“The day of the first moonwalk, my father's college literature professor told his class, ‘Someday they'll send a poet, and we'll find out what it's really like.’ Turner has sent back a dispatch from a place arguably more incomprehensible than the moon—the war in Iraq—and deserves our thanks...” — New York Times Book Review

Printed fellowship applications will be available next week on the WAC blog and web site.

The postmark deadline is June 8, 2012.For more information, contact Michael Shay, 307-777-5234 or mike.shay@wyo.gov, or visit the WAC web site at www.wyomingartscouncil.org.

Celtic harp, with narration, enlivens St. Patrick's Day

I'm not going to be in town, but maybe you will be and are looking for something a little less green-beer-oriented on St. Patrick's Day:

"The Story of St. Patrick: Celtic harp with narration and friendly conversation" by Michael Riversong at the Paramount Cafe, 1607 Capitol Ave. Cheyenne, on Saturday, March 17, 5:30-8 p.m. This is an informal family friendly performance by Michael Riversong. Children are especially welcomed. FMI: Michael Riversong, Biblical Bards, http://home.earthlink.net/~mriversong 

A few photos from the filming of Democratic Party video at Cheyenne's Atlas Theatre

The band warms up the audience (and vice versa) for the 3/11 filming of a Democratic Party video filmed at the Historic Atlas Theatre in downtown Cheyenne. The video, filmed and produced by filmmaker Alan O'Hashi, will be out later this month. Stay tuned... Photos by Marguerite Herman.

It's been bumpy at times, but consider the Republican alternative

"The Road We've Traveled" premieres March 15. We've traveled a long and scary road the past four years. Just think of how bad it would have been with McCain/Palin at the helm or -- shudder to think -- just Palin. But we are motoring down the road into the future. The Republicans want to put us all into a stagecoach and transport us back to the past, all the way to those golden days of the '50s -- the 1850s!

Four years after: March 2008 caucuses bring out endangered toads and grizzled old coots

In my attempt to return to the heady month of March 2008, in which hope was in the air and the Wyoming Democratic Party caucuses were mobbed, I'm reprinting some blog posts. Here's one from four years ago today:

Julianne Couch is a writer in Laramie. Her column about the caucuses appeared in this morning's Wyoming Tribune-Eagle. The Obama-Clinton surge meant a lot to Wyoming "Non-Republicans," whom Julianne likened to "a rare species to toad -- a curiousity that is easily squashed by the heel of a heavy boot when it gets in the way of progress." 

She was happy that the caucuses "took the Wyoming Democrats off the endangered species list, at least temporarily."

Julianne now lives and works in Ames, Iowa. Her move contributed to the thinning of the WY Dem ranks. And the "endangered species" remark seems especially poignant four years later.

The WY Dem caucuses also received national attention from "The Daily Show."

Monday night on "The Daily Show," Jon Stewart had a great time picking on Wyoming. He noted that there were 59,000 registered Dems in the state. "I have more Democrats in my building," he quipped. If he's in New York, I'm sure he does. Later, Samantha Bee broke down the caucus numbers for us. Supporting Obama were the rugged outdoorsmen, grizzled old coots, ornery drifters and mustache guys. Hillary won over the hearty prospectors and cowardly saloon owners. Jon Stewart asked about gay cowboys, and Samantha Bee said that hadn't been in issue for about a year (remember the hubbub over "Brokeback Mountain?") and that those numbers were no longer tabulated.

And I thought that all of those grizzled old coots supported another grizzled old coot -- John McCain?

Anti-racist author Tim Wise is keynote speaker for UW Shepard Sumposium

 From a UW press release:

Tim Wise, anti-racist essayist, author and educator, is the keynote speaker Wednesday, March 28, for the University of Wyoming's 16th annual Shepard Symposium on Social Justice. Wise will speak from 4:30-6 p.m. in the Wyoming Union Ballroom. "Identities: Dismantling the Boxes" is the theme of this year's Shepard Symposium, which runs March 28-31. 

Wise, who is among the nation's most prominent anti-racist writers and educators, has been called "one of the most brilliant, articulate and courageous critics of white privilege in the nation," by best-selling author and Georgetown University Professor Michael Eric Dyson. 

Wise is the author of six books, including the highly acclaimed memoir, "Affirmative Action: Racial Preference in Black and White"; an essay collection, "Between Barack and a Hard Place: Racism and White Denial in the Age of Obama"; and his recent book, "Dear White America: Letter to a New Minority." 

In 1997, former UW College of Education faculty members Omawale Akintunde and Margaret Cooney organized the first symposium, then called "The Symposium for the Eradication of Social Inequality." Since then, the symposium has evolved into a major national conference that engages participants in discussion and analyses of strategies and actions that can eliminate social inequality. 

Honoring the work of the Shepard family and the memory of their son, Matthew Shepard, a UW student and social activist who was murdered in 1998, the symposium's name was changed in 2002. That spring, the Shepard Symposium received funding from an anonymous endowment given to UW to pursue social justice activities throughout the campus. 

The symposium is a living reminder of the need for information and dialogue about social justice concerns in America and beyond. 

"We want people to deconstruct and interrupt the ways in which proscriptive identities are forced upon members of marginalized groups by society," says Chair Angela Jaime in explaining the latest theme for the symposium. "Specifically, we hope that attendees will critically examine the ways in which society forces people to identify with certain membership groups." 

Various presentations will be made during the symposium. Highlights include: 

Beth Loffreda, UW Department of English associate professor, will present the plenary speech, "The Consequences of Identity," at the noon luncheon Thursday, March 29, in the Wyoming Union Ballroom. She is the author of "Losing Matt Shepard."

Bridget Kisling, a junior music therapy and psychology student at Anna Maria College (Paxton, Mass.), will use a life-size version of the 1950s Barbie doll to shed light on how the media plays a significant role in shaping a young girl's sense of body image. Her presentation is Friday, March 30, 1:45-3 p.m., in the Wyoming Union Big Horn Room. 

An endnote student panel discussion, "Boxed In," will be presented Friday, March 30, at 11:30 a.m. in the Wyoming Union Ballroom. UW students will discuss complex and misunderstood identities. 

The second annual Shepard Symposium Friday Night Party is from 10 p.m.-1:30 a.m. at the Library Bar and Grill. All proceeds benefit the recognized student organizations that have contributed time and efforts to the Shepard Symposium. Tickets are $5 at the door or $4 in advance, and can be purchased at the symposium.

For more information about the Shepard Symposium, visit the website at http://www.shepardsymposium.org/, or contact Jaime at (307) 766-3991 or email jaimea@uwyo.edu.


Here's some info on Tim Wise's book, "Dear White America":

In America, being white has long meant never having to think about race. Whites have been able to assume that the culture, political leadership and their own neighborhoods would “look like them,” and the economy would work for them, so long as they played by the rules. Now, facing chronic economic insecurity, a multicultural pop culture, a black president and a future in which they will no longer be the majority, whites are growing anxious. This anxiety has helped create the Tea Party phenomenon and is characterized by the call to “take the country back” to a mythologized past. Using racialized nostalgia, the right seeks to enlist fearful whites in a movement for reactionary social and economic policies. But as Tim Wise explains, such an agenda will only further harm the nation’s people, including most whites. Only by embracing a progressive, multicultural future, can the hope of American democracy survive.

Open Mic Night set for March 28 at Laramie County Public Library

Laramie County Community College students Annie Shay (music) and Mikey Hernandez (theatre) have put together this open mic night March 28 at the Laramie County Public Library in Cheyenne. Somewhere along the line, Annie (my daughter) pressed me into service as emcee. Bring your poetry and and prose and scripts and music to the library for a fine time.

Tea Party Slim (a.k.a. Snow Bird Slim) returns from Arizona early for Wyoming Republican caucuses

Face it, Tea Party Slim has the best of both worlds. He spends his winters in Arizona and summers in Wyoming.

"I should call you Snow Bird Slim," I said. Slim drove his massive RV back into town last Sunday. He parked the RV in his driveway and he and his wife Nancy were unloading their luggage. His wife looked askance at me; she did not like Slim consorting with Liberals.

"You're just jealous of us retirees," Slim said to me. "Foot loose and fancy free."

"You're early," I said. "Usually you're not back until April."

Slim hefted a suitcase in each hand. "Caucuses," he said.

"Caucuses?"

"The Republican caucuses. The party is holding them early this year. We wanted to be back to cast our votes."

Slim and I have been neighbors for years. He's hardcore conservative. I'm reliably liberal. We'd never been shy about sharing our views. Our exchanges have sharpened over the two years since the Tea Party emerged from the primordial slime. He'd been gone since Halloween. I missed the big lug.

"Who are you voting for?" I asked.

He glowered. "None of your business."

"C'mon, Slim. I'll tell you who I'm voting for on the Dem side."

"No choice," he said. "You're stuck with Obama."

"Our caucuses will be boring. Not like last time. They were held this time four years ago. We had to rent the Civic Center to hold the crowds."

Slim harrumphed. "Every lily-livered, weak-kneed liberal within 50 miles crawled out from beneath their rocks for that one."

I was a bit nonplussed by Slim's words. "They arrived in droves, Slim. A few did have weak knees, but not sure about their livers."

Slim disappeared inside with his suitcases. When he reappeared, he carried two beers. "Thirsty work," he said. He handed me a beer. It was a sunny pre-spring day in Cheyenne. We drank in silence, at least for a few minutes.

"Rick Santorum has been stepping in it," I said.

"What do you mean?

"You know, all of his crazy talk about denying birth control to women."

"Churches shouldn't have to pay for birth control."

"It's not about religion," I said. "It's about health care."

"It's about religious taxpayers being asked to pay for birth control for sex-crazed feminists."

I almost choked on my suds. "Too much Rush Limbaugh, Slim."

"Rush is right," he said. "He told that college girl where to get off."

"If I'm not mistaken, both of your daughters are college graduates."

"What's that have to do with anything?"

"How would you like it if Rush called one of them a slut and a prostitute?"

"Neither of them would have testified before Congress about birth control. They're good girls. Religious."

"It's a fact that 98 percent of Catholics practice some form of birth control."

"We're not Catholics."

"Most people practice some sort of birth control. They deserve to have insurance to cover the costs."

"Fooey," he said. "I don't want to pay for a liberal feminist's birth control."

"Most people pay for their own birth control," I said. "Don't they deserve to have a choice in the free-market of health care coverage? Don't you Republicans believe in free markets? Don't you rail against Obamacare because it's that darn federal gubment interfering in our personal lives?"

Slim sipped his beer. "On Tuesday, I'm voting for Rick Santorum."

"I thought so," I said. "Next month, I'm voting for President Obama."

"I thought so," summarized Slim.

Sh'Bang featured tonight at "Fridays in the Hynds" in downtown Cheyenne

The “Fridays in the Hynds” concert series continues tonight with music by Sh’Bang. This public event features local/regional musicians performing in an open house setting with a social atmosphere in downtown Cheyenne's Hynds Building. The initial series runs for five consecutive Fridays in March 2012, 5:30-8:30 p.m. 

Four years after: In the afterglow of the 2008 Wyoming caucuses, all things seemed possible

On this day four years ago, I mused about the possibilities that presented themselves to Wyoming Democrats. We were all aglow following record turnouts at county caucuses. None of us expected the eventual presidential candidate to win Wyoming, but we were hopeful that Jackson’s Gary Trauner could clinch the state’s lone U.S. House seat. He had come within 1,000 votes of unseating wildly unpopular Republican Barbara Cubin in 2006. As it turned out, John McCain enjoyed his second-largest vote margin in Wyoming, coming in right behind Oklahoma and just ahead of Idaho and Utah. Trauner was trounced by newcomer Cynthia Lummis, who continues to be a party-line Republican. 

On March 9, 2008, we were slightly optimistic that red Wyoming would morph into a shade of purple.

The message is clear. It takes a well-organized and well-funded campaign to win an election. Democrats in Wyoming have been down so long it looks like up to us. Many had just given up. It took a lot of effort to get them out of their lethargy – but they did come out. Almost 8,700 votes were cast statewide. In the 2004 county conventions, less that 700 votes were cast. The 2008 numbers are 12 times those of 2004. Some of those reflect people who switched parties, a Republican or Independent registering as a Dem and who will probably switch back before November. But most of those voters were either new registrants or newly-motivated Dems or people so fed up with the Republican Party that they switched and won’t go back. I know several of those in Cheyenne.

Read the rest of my March 9, 2008, post at http://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com/2008/03/dems-been-down-so-long-it-looks-like-up.html

Four years after: Dems emerge from hiding for historic 2008 caucus in Cheyenne

Big crowd of Laramie County Democrats cheer their faves during the 2008 caucus in Cheyenne.

Four years ago today, lines were around the block at the Cheyenne Civic Center for the 2008 Democratic Party caucuses in Laramie County. There were Dems in line I've never seen, and I thought I'd seen them all. The party had to rent the concert hall to accommodate caucus-goers who, four years earlier, had plenty of elbow room in the drafty basement of the American Legion hall.

Even a Denver-based Fox News reporter and cameraman were there to record the event for the nation. When their presence was announced, a chorus of boos rang out in the hall.

Those were the days, my friends.

Read my posts from that day here and here.

"Ghosts of the Atlas" screens March 10 at (where else?) the Historic Atlas Theatre

Is the Atlas Theatre haunted?

Four years after: Barack Obama's 2008 Laramie rally was one for the record books

From my blog post four years ago tonight:

Some 10,000 people packed into the Arena-Auditorium tonight at the University of Wyoming in Laramie to greet Sen. Barack Obama. The crowd was jazzed to be at what might be the largest political rally ever held in the state. College and high school students were huddled near the stage. Their elders were huddled in their fold-out seats, most recently used by Pokes' b-ball fans.

To read the entire post, go to http://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com/2008/03/barack-obama-stages-huge-laramie-rally.html

Music on the wintry streets of Cheyenne

Homemade music video by hometown musician Reboot the Robot. Filmed in downtown Cheyenne. The city never looked so big-city gritty (and cold). Hummingbirdminds likes the song. Good job, R the R!

Take part March 11 in the filming of a Democratic Party music video

This announcement comes from Wendy Soto of the Democratic Grassroots Coalition:

Be A Part of A Professionally Produced Music Video

Enthusiastic Audience Needed for an adaptation of WOODY GUTHRIE’S “UNION MAID”

To Celebrate Our Great Democratic Party

Arrive at 2 p.m. for Refreshments & Instruction

Filming Begins at 3 p.m.

Sunday March 11

Atlas Theatre

211 W. 16th St.

Downtown Cheyenne

Four years after: Wyoming Democrats get cranked up for candidate rallies and a statewide caucus

Return with us to those halcyon days of yore (March 2008) as Wyoming Democrats prepare for their largest-ever caucuses on March 8.

On this day four years ago, I wrote about the upcoming Wyoming appearances of Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Former President Bill Clinton held a rally for his wife Hillary on March 6 in Riverton that was attended by an SRO crowd of 2,000. Big crowds were expected for a March 7 Clinton rally in Cheyenne and a March 7 rally by Barack Obama in Laramie.

My wife Chris attended the Cheyenne event and I joined thousands of my closest friends at a packed UW Arena-Auditorium Friday evening in Laramie.

Read more at http://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com/2008/03/stand-for-change-in-laramie-friday.html

No drug tests for Wyoming welfare recipients or for legislators

The Wyoming Senate, showing more sense and sensitivity that the Wyoming House, defeated a bill yesterday that would have mandated drug tests for some welfare recipients.

The vote was 17-13. Democrats led the charge to defeat this so-called "punish the poor" bill (so-called my me) and were joined by moderate Republicans. All the votes in support of the bill were cast by Tea Party Republicans.

Sen. Kit Jennings (Tea Party-Casper), co-sponsor of the bill, supported the House-originated bill and the Senate's amended version, which stipulated random drug tests for adults instead of drug tests for all welfare recipients. In the Casper Star-Tribune, he said that 

it would have provided an answer to the many constituents he hears from who ask why they have to get drug-tested for their jobs but welfare recipients get a pass.

No word from Jennings about why it's a good idea for state government to get into the drug-testing biz.

But Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, said the bill would do more harm than good. He said the most likely result is that a small number of people would choose not to apply for the benefits because of the testing. 

“This is a program that is designed to help children,” he said. “The outcome of this randomized experiment is going to be that 1 or 2 percent won’t show up and their kids will probably go hungry.” 

Sen. John Hastert, D-Green River, said there were constitutional problems with the bill since the state has no probable cause or reasonable suspicion that the people it is testing are drug users. 

“By singling out this specific program, there is a sense of discrimination,” he said. “Why not drug test other forms of public assistance that we have? Like should we require drug testing for any type of subsidy?”

As the bill was debated in the House, Rep. Jim Byrd (D-Cheyenne) tried to attach an amendment mandating drug tests for legislators. It failed, but it was one heck of a good idea.

Next year, when ultra-conservatives bring up other punish the poor bills, it should be mandated that legislators also comply with drug tests. There must be some mood-altering substance responsible for the addled behavior of Tea Party Republicans.

Read more at http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2012/03/06/news/01top_03-06-12.txt

Four years after: Word comes about Barack Obama speeches in Casper and Laramie

2008 button for Barack Obama's visit to Laramie

On this day in Wyoming four years ago...

Barack Obama's campaign announced that he would speak in Casper and Laramie on Friday, March 7. The basketball arena was reserved for the Friday evening speech at UW in Laramie. It ended up being a good choice -- the place was SRO that Friday. Read more at http://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com/2012/03/jim-coppoc-leads-poetry-workshop-at.html

Meanwhile, Democratic Party leaders were grousing about the continuing battles in the primaries and caucuses. I warned them to back off and let the process play out in those areas of the country (Wyoming, for instance) that the DNC doesn't seem to care about. Read it at http://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com/2008/03/back-off-man-im-political-scientist.html

On-again, off-again funding for UW performing arts building now off-again

The Wyoming Legislature is changing its mind about taking $30 million in temporary funding from one-time highway funds. On Tuesday, the money came out of the highway funding bill. Said Senate President Phil Nicholas:

"All we're doing is Band-Aiding [highways] for two years, and then we're losing some enormously important opportunities.

These opportunities included funding a new engineering building and the extensive renovation of thew performing arts building.

On Thursday, the Senate took back the money.

It's getting tough to keep up. Try to keep track at http://legisweb.state.wy.us

Four years after: WY finds out that former President Bill Clinton will stump for Hillary in Wyoming

Wyoming was all atwitter four years ago this week when news came via MSNBC that former President Bill Clinton was coming to Wyoming to stump for Hillary Clinton in Riverton, Rock Springs and Laramie. Read all about it at http://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com/2008/03/bill-clinton-coming-to-wyoming.html

LCCC chorus brings to life the music of South Africa and African-American spirituals

My daughter Annie sings in the LCCC Collegiate Chorus. This was her first performance. Here she's shown (center) with proud Dad and Mom.

Nancy Cornish (front) is the director of the vocal music program at Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne. On Sunday, she directed the Collegiate and  Kantorel choruses in a program at King of Glory Lutheran Church featuring the music of South Africa and African-American spirituals. It was a great show. 

Jim Coppoc leads poetry workshop at Cheyenne library

Performance poet and musician Jim Coppoc of Ames, Iowa, leads a writing workshop on Sunday at the Laramie County Public Library in Cheyenne. Jim is in town to judge the Wyoming Poetry Out Loud competition Monday, 7 p.m., at the Atlas Theatre. 

REMINDER: Cheyenne Little Theatre Players' Mardi Gras Bash is tonight at the Atlas

Grassroots filmmaking bringing classic novel by Montana's James Welch to the screen

"Winter in the Blood" directors Andrew and Alex Smith answer questions with documentary filmmaker Tracy Rector, left, at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival at the Wilma Theatre Saturday evening in Missoula. Rector's documentary "Visionary Insight" showed the behind-the-scenes story of the Smith brothers grass-roots film. Tribune photo by Michael Beall.

These grass-roots filmmakers in Montana show us how it’s done in the Rocky Mountain West. From a successful $67,000 Kickstarter campaign to donated food to volunteer sweat equity, the Smith Brothers found new and interesting ways to make a home-grown film based on James Welch’s classic novel, “Winter in the Blood.” Read the details in this excellent Great Falls Tribune story by Michael Beall. I read about it first on the 4&20 Blackbirds blog. Thanks for the tip, Lizard! 

WY ACLU: "Religious Freedom or an Assault on Women's Health Care?"

From the The Republican War on Women Facebook page. 

Methinks it's the latter. So does the Wyoming ACLU. To read the grisly details, go to http://acluwyomingchapter.blogspot.com/2012/03/religious-freedom-or-assault-on-womens.html

Four years after: Getting out the vote in Wyoming for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton

Four years ago, Obama supporters in Wyoming were brimming with hope. We also were making scads of phone calls to Democratic voters, urging them to get out to the March 8 county caucuses.

In my March 3, 2008, blog post, I regaled my readers with tales of our split household. My wife Chris, whose feminist roots go back to the Equal Rights Amendment and Patricia Schroeder's Colorado campaigns, was a Hillary Clinton supporter. I had migrated from Dennis Kucinich to John Edwards (remember him?) to Barack Obama. Obama operatives had parachuted into enemy territory on a dark January 2008 night. We now worked with them on an aggressive ground game.

Chris and I fought very little over the use of our home phone. We reached an agreement that divided time and space and responsibility, much like the agreement between Barack and Hillary that gave the former the White House and the latter the rest of the world.

Step back in time with me at http://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com/2008/03/phoning-cheyenne-for-barack-and-hillary.html

Republican war on women -- illustrated version

From Daily Kos

Birthers rear their ugly heads (again) in Montana Legislature

Some of Montana's Republican legislators are even crazier than the ones we have in Wyoming (from Montana Cowgirl):

One of America’s top TEA Party imbeciles has called for President Obama to prove that he is eligible to be on the Montana ballot, or else have his name removed from it.

Bob Wagner, the Montana state representative who once told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that a person is ineligible to run for president unless both parents were born in America, is back at it again. Reviving Birtherism, Wagner has sent a letter to the Montana Secretary of State (she oversees elections), commanding her to

“prove that Obama is eligible to hold the office he usurped in 2008, or take him off the ballot.”

Wagner believes that Obama’s birth certificate is a fraud; and that even if the certificate were authentic, Obama would still not be a true American citizen because his father impregnated his mother while visiting America.

LCCC Chorus performs "The Music of Africa" March 4 in Cheyenne

Enjoy "The Music of Africa" on Sunday, March 4, 3-4 p.m. at the King of Glory Lutheran Church, 8806 Yellowstone Road in Cheyenne. This will be "a festive display of the sights, songs and dances of Africa performed for you by Laramie County Community College Collegiate Chorale, the Kantorei Singers and the Men’s Ensemble. Refreshments will be served in the fellowship hall following the concert so you can visit with the performers. Admission is free. Donations will be accepted for the Veterans Administration Medical Center." Our daughter Annie is in the chorus and this will be her first public performance since starting at LCCC in January. As always, your proud parents will be in the audience, Annie. Hope that doesn't make you nervous....

Find the music in your poetry at free March 4 workshop in Cheyenne

Poet and musician Jim Coppoc will give a free public workshop on Sunday, March 4, from 2-4 p.m. at the Laramie County Public Library in downtown Cheyenne. The workshop will focus on bringing out the musicality in poems. Anyone interested in writing and performing poetry is welcomed to attend.

Coppoc, a poet, spoken-word artist and musician from Ames, Iowa, teaches English and American Studies at Iowa State University and creative writing in the low residency M.F.A. program at Chatham University in Pittsburgh. Balancing poetry, pedagogy, play writing, music and performance in his varied career, Coppoc’s publications include Manhattan Beatitude, 1997 (One Small Bird Press, 2010), Reliquary (Fractal Edge Press, 2010), and Blood, Sex & Prayer (Fractal Edge Press, 2005). Coppoc received four Pushcart Prize nominations in 2011.

Jim is in town to serve as a judge for the Wyoming Poetry Out Loud state competition that will take place in Cheyenne on Monday and Tuesday, March 5-6.

The competition begins at 7 p.m. Monday at the Historic Atlas Theater in downtown Cheyenne. Joining Coppoc as judges are Pat Frolander, Wyoming Poet laureate from Crook County, and writer and arts educator Diane Panozzo from Tie Siding, Wyo. It’s free and open to the public. Come out and see some great poetry recitation by some talented high schoolers from around the state.

Four years after: Tracking Barack Obama's path through Wyoming in March 2008

Four years ago today, my fellow Dems and I were canvassing the county for Barack Obama, a relatively unknown politician from Chicago.

I'm reminded of this today as I watched Pres. Obama's speech today in NYC in front of some of his supporters. He sounded confident. He looked presidential. And not only in comparison to the clowns running on the Republican side.

In March 2012, I'm going to look back at what was happening in Wyoming four years ago. On March 1, me and my fellow canvassers were looking ahead to to the March 8 Dem caucuses which ended up having record turnouts. We also attended rallies by Hillary Clinton in Cheyenne and an SRO speech by Barack Obama at UW in Laramie on March 7.

So travel with me back to the days when an Obama candidacy was in its infancy. Go to http://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com/2008/03/iowa-gov-rounds-up-wyo-support-for.html

Local Democrats hold Mardi Gras Casino Night fund-raiser March 24

http://www.laramiecountydemocrats.org/

John D'Agata to read from his new book March 7 in Laramie

On Wednesday, March 7 at 7 p.m., John D’Agata will give a reading from his new book, The Lifespan of a Fact, at Second Story Books, located at 105 Ivinson Avenue, Laramie. This event is free and open to the public, and will be followed by a book-signing. For more info, visit the UW MFA Creative Writing Program web site at www.uwyo.edu/creativewriting or contact Gwynn Lemler at cw@uwyo.edu or 766-6453.

The acclaimed author of About a Mountain (W.W. Norton 2010) and Halls of Fame (Graywolf 2003), D’Agata has also edited The Next American Essay (Graywolf 2002) and The Lost Origins of the Essay (Graywolf 2009). During his two-week residency at the University of Wyoming, he will visit university classes, consult on manuscripts with graduate students in creative writing, and discuss the writing life with a wide range of campus members.

D’Agata’s latest project is The Lifespan of a Fact (W.W. Norton 2012), which reproduces the extensive correspondence between D’Agata and Jim Fingal, a fact-checker for The Believer. Publishers Weekly describes the book as “very apropos in our era of spruced-up autobiography and fabricated reporting,” adding that “this is a whip-smart, mordantly funny, thought-provoking rumination on journalistic responsibility and literary license.” The Kirkus Reviews suggests that “[The Lifespan of a Fact] will be eagerly devoured and loudly discussed by creative-nonfiction writers and readers who thrive on books about books.”

Wyoming House Republicans sing rousing chorus of "Every Sperm is Sacred"

Know Nothings in the Wyoming House want to turn back the clock on women’s health with its Joint Resolution No. HJ7, "Resolution-conscience rights." It passed third reading in the Wyoming House on Tuesday and has now been referred to the Senate Labor, Health and Social Services Committee.

Rep. Mary Throne, a Cheyenne Democrat and one of the few women in the Wyoming State Legislature, spoke against the resolution, saying women have a fundamental right to decide whether to get pregnant.

Let’s see if the Know Nothings in the Wyoming Senate, overwhelmingly Republican and male, will decide if women’s contraception decisions will be left to the whims of their employers.

Here’s an update from Sharon Breitweiser, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wyoming:

HJ7 -- http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2012/Introduced/HJ0007.pdf -- calls upon President Obama to reverse a rule issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) requiring insurance coverage of all Food and Drug Administration approved contraceptive methods as well as sterilization without a co-pay or deductible.  The rule excludes churches/houses of worship and makes accommodations for religiously affiliated employers such as universities and hospitals.

HJ7 would put the Wyoming Legislature on record as opposing health insurance coverage of contraception and sterilization. 

Talking points:

·         The HHS rule on essential services is not about government mandates.  This is about the importance of reproductive medical care and women's health.  HHS heeded the findings of an independent panel of experts, the Institute of Medicine, which recommended that birth control be included as a preventive health care benefit. 

·         Forcing women to pay out-of-pocket for contraceptives puts an unfair, discriminatory cost burden on a certain segment of society, and women may choose not to use the most effective form of birth control due to cost concerns. 

·         Birth control pills are sometimes prescribed and used for many other medical conditions.  Allowing employers to exclude contraceptives from health insurance plans could also prove costly to individuals with such conditions. 

·         Contraception helps prevent unintended pregnancies, improves the quality of women's lives, and reduces the need for abortion.  

Please contact the five members of the Senate Labor, Health Committee and ask them to vote "NO" on HJ7:

Senator Charles Scott, Committee Chairman, charlesscott@wyoming.com

Senator Dan Dockstader - ddockstader@wyoming.com

Senator Marty Martin - mmartin@wyoming.com 

Senator Leslie Nutting - lnutting@wyoming.com 

Senator John Schiffer - jschiffe@wyoming.com