The New Deal lives on, 75 years later

"The legacy of the New Deal is evident today not just in buildings, roads, bridges and trails across the United States. It can still be seen in the ongoing existence of unemployment insurance, insured bank deposits, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Federal Housing Authority.

"The spirit of the New Deal also lives on in the social programs that we consider important to our society -- those that care for the elderly and the poor, and offer a safety net for even the most productive of our citizens who sometimes fall on hard times."

This comes from Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal's introductory letter for the program distributed at the 75th anniversary New Deal celebration Saturday, May 3, at Guernsey State Park. It's ironic that these are some of the programs that the Republicans have tried to dismantle since they were enacted. Social Security privatizations anyone? John McCain still has that on his agenda.

FDR recognized that difficult times demanded bold solutions. The Civilian Conservation Corps was a program that put men back to work building roads, bridges, and buildings, paying them $30 a month for their hard work. Of that, the CCC men had to send $25 home to their families. Wyoming had 19 CCC camps, two of them at Camp Guernsey in Platte County. Many of the structures built by the CCC around the reservoir are still standing and part of Guernsey State Park.

The federal government had many programs putting people back to work during the Great Depression. The Works Progress Adminstration employed artists composing guides to each state, painting murals in post offices, and staging plays. Such well-known American writers as Zora Neale Hurston, Nelson Algren, Studs Terkel and James Baldwin were active in the Federal Writers Program. Idaho's renowned writer, Vardis Fisher, was writer and editor for the state guide, still recognized as best-written of all the guides. Fisher fought to finish and release the Idaho guide first, even though the WPA honchos insisted the Washington, D.C., book be first.

Not all writers were excited about government work. Ernest Hemingway, for one, another writer who ended up spending a lot of time in Idaho -- eternity, too. Other writers and artist and performers turned up their noses at the WPA, but many already had a career and means of their own. It's possible they wanted to avoid some of the controversies engendered by some of the plays and films produced by WPA creative types. They often focused on the poor and downtrodden, and aimed the laser of satire at big business. Critics contended that people accepting taxpayer funds should not be biting the hands that fed it. Sound familiar?

It all comes down to your feelings about the role of the federal government. Should it step in when the country is going to hell in a handcart? Yes, I say, as do both Democratic Party candidates for the presidency. No, says John McCain, who wants a market-based health care system, which is what we have now and is failing so miserably.

Governor Freudenthal obviously believes in government's active role. Not only is that evident from his words about the New Deal, but by the fact he's supporting Sen. Barack Obama. He'll be speaking on behalf of Obama May 10 in Montana. I, for one, am happy that he's come out of the closet politically and is ready to stand up for the Democrats. Yes, Wyoming is a Republican-dominated state and most of its residents like the careful balancing act that Freudenthal does with his politics as homegrown free-thinker, hunter and wearer of fine cowboy boots. But, when your country is in trouble, you have to act. As FDR did with his many New Deal programs.

For more about the Gov's support of Obama, go to the May 3 Casper Star-Tribune article at http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2008/05/03/news/wyoming/bc0fc0ad1716cfb88725743e0000ffd1.txt

Tickets still available to Dem bash in Mont.

The Associated Press reports this:

Tickets to the Democratic Party's annual Harry S. Truman Dinner next week in Billings remain available, but if you buy one, don't expect a meal.

The party says tickets to the dinner featuring remarks by former President Clinton and Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal are sold out. Bleacher seats remain available, however. The price is $40.

The event May 10 will be in the gymnasium at Montana State University-Billings. Yellowstone County Democratic Party Chairman Ray Tracy says the gym holds about 3,700 people.

Clinton's appearance is part of the presidential campaign by wife Hillary Clinton. Freudenthal will speak on behalf of her rival, Barack Obama.

New stories due from Proulx in September

Jenny Shank reports at New West that Annie Proulx's new book of stories of people who inhabit "pioneer country" (a.k.a. "Wyoming") will be out in September. "Fine Just the Way it Is" is Annie's third story collection set in Wyoming. The first was "Close Range," which included "Brokeback Mountain," which now is a book and a movie unto itself. The first edition of that book was illustrated (in color) by Denver watercolor artist William Matthews. It now sells for a pretty penny. The second collection was "Bad Dirt." Prior to these flurries of stories, Annie was best known as winner of the Pulitzer Prize for "Shipping News," set in Newfoundland. She lives in the Platte River Valley near Saratoga, Wyoming.

If you don't have time to sit down and read "Close Range," there's a terrific audiobook. Three actors are featured and take turns reading. One of the best driving-across-vast-distances-listening-to-fiction experiences you can have.

Jenny picked up the tip on the new Proulx book from the Buzz Girl blog ("a publishing insider gets the skinny on tomorrow's bestsellers") at http://bookpagebuzz.blogspot.com/2008/03/scribner-summer-2008.html. Buzz Girl originally had the release date in June but then amended that for us readers anxious for the new book.

To be in D.C. in the springtime

One of the great things about D.C. is that there is always something going on. When you work there, it's old hat, maybe even annoying -- maybe you don't even notice the latest demonstration or rally. But to us rubes from the hinterlands, it's wildly entertaining. Anything's better than sitting on the general store bench watching yet another tumbling tumbleweed blow by.

When I was visiting the Capitol this week, Dick Cheney and his entourage blew by. I was just minding my own business, sauntering along the sidewalk past a demonstration of disabled Americans in motorized wheelchairs, when I came to an abrupt halt at the edge of the U.S. Capitol vehicle entrance. A crowd of people I took for tourists lined the sidewalk, waiting for something. A half-dozen cops milled about. I was on the cell phone, trying to straighten out a situation at home (the cattle had stampeded again!) and I thought that the cops were stopping us so the wheelchair-bound protesters could pass by.

Just as I was ringing off, a posse of official Harleys started up with a rattling roar, and a trio of Capitol Cop cars started to roll down the driveway. Then all the sirens came on, and a fleet of black limos and SUVs pulled out of the bowels of the Capitol Building and rolled down the drive. They moved fast, but the tourists lining the street had their cameras out, wildly snapping photos. I asked the guy nearest to me if this was the president's motorcade. "No, it's the vice president." I stepped away from the curb, as if burned by the cinders of hellfire. The Prince of Darkness was passing by. I suppose I should have bowed my head and uttered a prayer to St. Michael to protect me from the fiend. But I stood gawking along with my fellow gawkers. One black SUV had its window open and inside was a soldier in black cradling an automatic weapon. Now that's firepower!

The motorcade passed in a flash, although we could hear the sirens for another five minutes. I thought to myself that the Veep's pals in the oil and gas business would be mighty proud of their boy on this day. That V.I.P. parade was burning some prodigious amounts of fuel. And they must do this every day that Congress is in session, as the Veep is president of the Senate, standing by the break a tie on the Republican side. What sort of nefarious deeds had he been up to on this day, I wondered.

The rest of my afternoon was uneventful. I walked back to my hotel via the National Mall. I stopped for a few minutes on a bench by the National Gallery of Art fountains. I occasionally ate my lunches here when I worked in D.C. Always cooler here in the summer, with the trees and the mist blowing off the fountains. Nobody ever bothers you, unless it's some tourists looking for a bystander to take a group photo.

I visited the World War II Memorial for the first time. It's strangely bland, especially in comparison to the legendary Vietnam Wall and the stark soldier statues at the Korean War Memorial. The more controversial the war, the more invigorating the monument. Not sure if that's true. If it is, the Iraq War Memorial slated for the Mall some time in the next 20 years will be a doozy. I always linger by the Vietnam Memorial (shown above). I'm not a Vietnam veteran, but a product of those times. Something haunting about the black granite wall that will never leave me.

I recall the turmoil surrounding the memorial's design. "A black gash of shame," one critic called it. But it was promoted by Vets and had enough clout on Capitol Hill to weather the storm. The day I was there, a steady stream of tourists walked the path that flanks the wall. One young kid was doing a rubbing of one of the 58,000 names. Maybe he was a grandson or a relative, or maybe doing it for a class assignment. A group of Chinese tourists filed by. Couples and families. Some of the men looked old enough to be vets, but one can't be sure. The Wall draws all kinds. Some, obviously, have never been here. Like the guy who lives in this very white house....

Happy "Mission Accomplished" Day

It's great to be back in Wyoming after four days inside the D.C. Beltway. I kept looking for political insiders while I was there, and I found a few, but more about that later....

Yes, it's the fifth anniversary of Mission Accomplished Day. It seems like only yesterday that a costumed George W. Bush announced from the deck of an aircraft carrier that the Iraq War was over. We looked on in fascination as the president made his landmark speech on May 1, 2003, against the unfurled banner that was the source of our country's pride.

Alas, the announcing and the bannering and the jubilation were premature. The Iraq War rages on and the casualties keep piling up.

Wonder where Dubya will celebrate Mission Accomplished Day?

Wyoming delegation: Support G.I. Bill!

Fifth-seven Senators and 241 House members have thus far signed on as co-sponsors for Sen. James Webb’s 21st Century G.I. Bill for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

On the Senate list, I see the names of both senators from Montana, one senator from Nebraska (Republican) and one from Colorado (Democrat).

Neither of the two senators from Wyoming have signed on. Their names are Sen. Mike Enzi of Gillette and Sen. John Barrasso of Casper. Both are Republicans. Call or e-mail them and ask them why they hate the troops. Our esteemed Republican Representative, lame duck Barbara Cubin, is not on the list of House supporters. Rep. Cubin, why do you hate the troops? Call her and find out.

Both Democratic presidential candidates have signed on as co-sponsors. No sign of presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, Vietnam veteran and former POW.

According to Sen. Webb’s web site

...more than two hundred veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan from across the country will converge on Capitol Hill Tuesday, April 29, to join Senator Webb and members of Congress advocating a "21st Century GI Bill" for our newest generation of veterans. The group will call for immediate legislative action on the "Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act."

"We need to move expeditiously to get this vital piece of legislation passed this year for our returning Iraq and Afghanistan service members," said Webb. "After six and a half years of service, our nation's men and women in uniform deserve a GI Bill that rewards their service and invests in their future. The educational benefits in this bill are crucial to a service member's readjustment to civilian life and as a cost of war that should receive the same priority that funding the war has received the last five years."

The Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act is designed to offer the brave men and women who have served honorably since September 11, 2001 a level of educational benefits on par with those provided to veterans of the World War II era. The legislation will give our returning troops the tools to succeed after military service, strengthen our economy in the face of increasing global competition, and make military service more attractive as we work to rebuild our military.

As luck would have it, I’ll be on Capitol Hill Tuesday on another errand, which includes lunch with a variety of Senators and Representatives who support the arts. Perhaps we can invite the veterans to lunch with us, and they can tell us why the 21st Century G.I. Bill is a good idea, one that needs overwhelming support from both sides of the aisle.

For more, go to http://webb.senate.gov/.

"The war is over. Halliburton won!"

That's from a pickup truck's bumper sticker spied by author Alexandra Fuller on a jaunt across Wyoming. It's part of a column the Wilson-based writer wrote for the New York Times Op-Ed pages. In it, she blasts the "untouchables" that run the oil and gas industry in Wyoming.

And a powerful oil lobby reminds us with Orwellian regularity that we owe everything to oil and gas taxes, bullying those who disagree. (In February, a committee of the Wyoming Legislature rejected a spending increase for the University of Wyoming’s Ruckelshaus Institute of Environment and Natural Resources after institute scientists dared to raise concerns about water produced in coal-bed methane wells.)

Yes, it's true. The energy extractors run the state, even run roughshod over it. Our Oilmen-in-Chief, Bush & Cheney, have made it easy for them. The Halliburtons of the world are poking holes in every last part of Wyoming they can get their snouts into. When citizens raise their voices and say something such as "Not So Fast," the oil lobby questions the patriotism of the critics. This is a dicey business in rural stretches of the state, where the critics are not your average namby-pamby enviromentalist but ranchers and housewives and hunters and even those who work in the oil patch but value our outdoor spaces. They could even be veterans of Bush's oil wars who have come home to find that the war is being waged in their hometowns, places such as Pinedale and Rawlins and Wright.

Lately, executives have been telling increasingly unhappy communities that domestic drilling is our moral duty, an alternative to sending more soldiers to war. They imply that anything less than full support for the oil companies is un-American.

Alexandra points out that the industry has a lousy track record on worker safety, topping the "national death toll on the job" statistics with 16.8 deaths per 100,000 workers. Not surprisingly, Alexandra's upcoming book, The Legend of Colton H. Bryant, has for its focus a young man from Evanston who was killed in an oil field accident. The book has already garnered some favorable reviews. Alexandra hits the road May 8 for her book tour. First Wyoming stop is Evanston on Friday, May 16. She'll conduct an author’s talk and book signing at the Uinta County Library, 307 Main St., with a 5:30 p.m. social hour followed by Alexandra’s talk and signing. There will be a dinner at 7 p.m. for ticket holders. For more info, contact Jan Maggard at jmaggard@uintalibrary.org.

It would be preferable if an actual discussion ensued during the tour. That's a lot to hope for in these times, when opponents usually start each "discussion" yelling and the volume and vitriol goes up from there. But it could happen. In her op-ed piece, Alexandra notes that author and UW writer-in-residence Terry Tempest Williams has taken her students on the road to conduct what she calls "weather reports" in small communities.

Addressing packed rooms, Ms. Williams turns the microphone over to the people of Wyoming — a stoical populace whose habitual stance against something they don’t like is a tight lip. Astonishingly, they have opened up, voicing their concerns over the rapidity and scale of the oil and gas development. "One day, I fear I will wake up and all that will be left of Wyoming is a hole in the ground," one resident of the southern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem said.

Oil executives have pushed back. One oilman, State Senator Kit Jennings, took the microphone in Casper and declared that Ms. Williams had demonized the oil companies. He rejected her contention in a local newspaper article that the energy boom had helped drive up the use of crystal methamphetamine in the region and announced that he had demanded that she be fired from the university for her criticism of the industry.

Oil and gas are accustomed to dominating the debate. But Ms. Williams’s forums have created an opportunity for grass-roots rebuttal. Residents, who have so far been cowed by the enormous tax contributions that energy companies make to the state’s coffers, are upholding values not counted in dollars.

According to one participant at the "weather report" in Casper, Jennings ended up inviting Ms. Williams for a tour of the Jonah Field. No word yet on whether she's taken the senator up on his invitation.

It's noteworthy when two writers can garner this much attention and controversy for giving voice to their views -- and helping others to have theirs.

Nick Carter cranking up Senate campaign

Nick Carter sent out e-mails recently asking for donations and volunteers. He's the Democratic Party candidate for Republican John Barrasso's Senate seat. He's from Gillette, as is the case with Wyoming's other Republican senator, Mike Enzi. Enzi has not officially announced his run for re-election.

Here are some excerpts from Nick's e-mail appeal:

The people of Wyoming need an advocate in the U.S. Senate. We can not afford any more rubber stamp, party-line-no-matter-what politics from our U.S. Senator.

What if you could have an advocate in the U.S. Senate? An advocate working on the problems and solutions important to you and your family?

You can. I will be that advocate for you and all the citizens of our great state - with your help.

As your advocate in the U.S. Senate, I will:
* Work to provide health care for all citizens at an affordable price
* Bring the Iraq War to an honorable end, get our troops out of harm's way
and rein in the enormous cost to us, our children and grandchildren
* Work to bring down the price of gas, utilities and groceries
* Make Wyoming the leader in current energy and new, cleaner sources

As an attorney in Gillette, I have been an advocate for many, many Wyoming citizens over the past 17 years. A United States Senator should be the ultimate advocate for all the people of Wyoming. I will be that advocate with your help.

Your donation of any size, whatever you can afford, will allow me to run an effective, competitive campaign for the U.S. Senate. I want donations from Wyoming people, like you, to combat the effects of the big donations from pharmaceutical, insurance and other PACs who lavish money on my opponent.

Please take two minutes to CLICK HERE and make a secure contribution to my campaign.

(I also need your help as a volunteer for my campaign. You can volunteer here.)

The candidate makes some sound proposals. I wish his statement about Iraq was stronger. We should get out NOW, which would get our troops out of harm's way and rein in costs. All those billions could be spent at home to cover health care for all, development of clean energy sources, student loans, etc. Events have proved that the "Get out of Iraq now" crowd was correct all along.

Cheyenne curbside recycling a step closer

Can you find Earth Day cards among this spring's Mother's Day and "Happy Graduation" cards? I should have checked our local grocery store when I was there last night buying emergency supplies of Ben & Jerry's. Earth Day cards are a great idea for no other reason than they could be sent to Republican relatives. Nay, you say, even Republicans are earth-friendly in the 21st century. John McCain has an environmental platform. Poppycock, say I, recalling how Our Current President has spent his time. When he's not waging war on Iraqis and clearing brush on his Crawford ranch, he's waging war on the environment. Lately he's mumbled something about climate change actually existing, but we are so used to him talking out of both sides of his mouth that we don't pay attention any more.

On the local scene, the City of Cheyenne is one step closer to curbside recycling. The City Council's Finance Committee voted unanimously yesterday to buy a truck (from Canada) outfitted for recycling. Later this spring, the full council will be voting on buying the truck and approving the $1.4 million curbside recycling program. There's already a pilot program in the Sun Valley neighborhood that has been wildly successful. The city's been picking up 10 tons of recyclables from the area every other week. According to this morning Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, that means that about one-third of the trash generated in Sun Valley stays out of the landfill, which is so close to reaching capacity that some of our trash is being trucked to a landfill near Ault, Colo. Even recycling naysayers have to be concerned about that.

City officials say that the big blue recycling bins will remain at three locations around town. I visit the ones at my local Albertson's parking lot once a week. I'm always impressed by how many people of all ages are there, recycling their Diet Coke cans, Bud bottles and copies of the daily paper. Most of the time, the bins are full before the trucks get around to picking up the stuff. But that's progress.

Celebrate Earth Day by doing something earth friendly. That could be replacing your light bulbs, riding your bike to work, or donating money to Democrats running for Congress and the presidency.

Big square Wyoming sends election greetings to small-town Wyoming, Pa.

They will be voting in the primary tomorrow in the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania. The State of Wyoming allegedly got its name from this coal-mining region of the northeastern part of the state. I was thinking of this place (where I’ve never been) as I was making calls to Pennsylvania this weekend in behalf of Barack Obama. When I told people I was calling from Wyoming, I expected them to ask: "The big square state or the small Pa. town and/or county?" But nobody did. Maybe they were tired of the calls. One man said he was sick and couldn’t talk. An elderly woman was on her way out, possibly for Passover but I didn’t ask. I was calling numbers in Philadelphia, so maybe these city dwellers hadn't heard of this valley made famous by the 1809 poem, "Gertrude of Wyoming," by Scottish poet Thomas Campbell.

This poem is really long and flowery, as befitting its time. Campbell was a contemporary of Wordsworth and Coleridge but not nearly as well known. For good reason, as it turns out. From "Gertrude of Wyoming:"

Delightful Wyoming! beneath thy skies,
The happy shepherd swains had nought to do
But feed their flocks on green declivities,
Or skim perchance thy lake with light canoe,
From morn till evening's sweeter pastimes grew,
With timbrel, when beneath the forests brown,
Thy lovely maidens would the dance renew;
And aye those sunny mountains half-way down
Would echo flageolet from some romantic town.

Then, where of Indian hills the daylight takes
His leave, how might you the flamingo see
Disporting like a meteor on the lakes--
And playful squirrel on his nut-grown tree:
And every sound of life was full of glee,
From merry mock-bird's song, or hum of men;
While hearkening, fearing naught their revelry,
The wild deer arch'd his neck from glades, and then,
Unhunted, sought his woods and wilderness again.

And scarce had Wyoming of war or crime
Heard, but in transatlantic story rung,
For here the exile met from every clime,
And spoke in friendship every distant tongue:
Men from the blood of warring Europe sprung
Were but divided by the running brook;
And happy where no Rhenish trumpet sung,
On plains no sieging mine's volcano shook,
The blue-eyed German changed his sword to pruning-hook.

The poem goes on like this for another hundred stanzas or so. How’d you like to memorize that? Because of the rhyme, it would be easier to commit to memory than "Howl." But not nearly as interesting. I’m not sure if Campbell had ever stepped foot in Pennsylvania. Perhaps he’d hooked up with Coleridge and they huffed on the hookah together. Flamingoes in western Pa.? Shepherd swains tending their flocks while lovely maidens dance? And scarce had Wyoming of war or crime? Killing Indians doesn’t count, I guess. I would venture that in the late 18th century, just surviving from day to day would have been a challenge. Shepherds would be fighting off wolves and the maidens would be fighting off the shepherds. You’d be lucky just to survive childhood and the regular plagues of cholera and smallpox. If you were in the valley on July 3, 1778, Loyalist forces and their Iroquois allies driven from New York after the surrender of Saratoga killed more than 300 "Rebels" at the Battle of Wyoming. The Iroquois then hunted down the survivors. They tortured some 30-40 prisoners to death, according to the wikipedia entry on the subject.

Settlers in this part of fledgling America were probably too busy to be flamingo-watching.

Author and critic William Hazlitt wrote at the time that "Mr. Campbell excels chiefly in sentiment and imagery. The story moves slow, and is mechanically conducted, and rather resembles a Scotch canal carried over lengthened aqueducts and with a number of locks in it, than one of those rivers that sweep in their majestic course, broad and full, over Transatlantic plains, and lose themselves in rolling gulfs, or thunder down lofty precipices."

All that aside, how will the residents of Wyoming, Pa., vote on Tuesday? Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were in the neighborhood recently. Sen. Obama spoke today in Scranton, best known as the home of the Dunder-Mifflin crew on "The Office." Hillary was spotted nearby.

A new poll by Quinnipiac University showed Mrs. Clinton leading Mr. Obama by 51 percent to 44 percent, with a margin of error of 3 percentage points. A seven-point spread will not make much difference in delegate count. Sen. Obama will be the nominee because Mrs. Clinton cannot win enough delegates at this point. We in WYOMING USA are sure of this.

McCain: Happy days are here again

Anderson Cooper Voiceover: “Senator McCain, are Americans better off than they were 8 years ago?” [CNN Republican Primary Debate, 1/30/2008]

John McCain: “I think you could argue that Americans overall are better off - because we have had a pretty good prosperous time…” [CNN Republican Primary Debate, 1/30/2008]

The Democratic National Committee has some fun with McCain's elitist comments in this TV ad set to air beginning Tuesday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFDc4M_PMN

Thanks to Crooks & Liars for the head's up.

iCasualties.org back in business

iCasualties.org, or the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count site, is beginning to look like its former self. Michael White's site has been an invaluable source of data on U.S. and coalition deaths in Iraq as well as stats on the wounded. It posts daily news stories about the war, often from non-U.S. sources such as Reuters and The Guardian and some Middle East newspapers and wire services. It also features hometown stories about young soldiers and marines killed or grievously wounded in the war. There's also a link to similar info on Afghanistan, a.k.a. "The Forgotten War."

A few weeks back, the web site's server was attacked and each time users clicked it on, it led to other sites. Annoying to some, it was tragic for those of us who want to keep track of the cost of the travesty in Iraq. We can't trust the MSM to do so, since they've apparently forgotten that the war exists. They're too busy tracking gossipy tidbits about Obama and Clinton (but not McCain).

In a recent poll, most Americans couldn't come close in guessing the number of U.S. dead in Iraq. Is it too much to pay attention to the slaughter that Bush & Cheney have wrought? Even if you don't have a son or a neighbor kid in the fight, pretend that you do. My 23-year-old son Kevin could be in the military right now. Instead, he's working and going to a community college in Tucson. Some of his high school buds have been to Iraq and are going back.

I can imagine him in Iraq. I can imagine how I would feel while he was there and I could even dwell for a millisecond on how it would be if anything happened to him. Take a second to think about it.

Then go to http://www.icasualties.org/ and learn something.

From antiwar.com: "The time not to become a father is eighteen years before a war." -- E. B. White

Wyoming Dems gather in Jackson in May

The Wyoming Democratic Party state covention will be held in Jackson over Memorial Day weekend. Last spring, when I first found out about the site, I knew that Dems would be feverishly jockeying for those delegate spots, as (almost) everyone likes Jackson in the summer. A year ago, I had no idea that the competition for delegate slots would really heat up as Obama and Clinton battled for each warm body, including those lukewarm ones in Wyoming. In 2004, when I sauntered into the Laramie County Democrats' convention at the local VFW hall, I instantly was dubbed a delegate. That year, in fact, the LarCoDems fell short of its allotted 55 delegates to the state gathering. We had to drag people in off the streets.

This year is far different. The LarCoDems have 55 delegates -- me included -- hyped up for Jackson. There's also an equal number of alternates, my wife Chris being one of them. She's not happy being a Clinton alternate, as she'd like to be lobbying and voting for Hillary on the convention floor. But who knows -- there are sure to be drop-outs.

Travel costs may keep some Laramie County delegates at home. Jackson is in the state's oppositive corner, or kitty-corner, as my mom used to say. It's a 900-mile round trip, not counting side jaunts to Yellowstone. Lodging costs shoot up once you get to Memorial Day, the official launch of summer tourist season. The Wyoming Democrats got a great deal at the Snow King Resort (a Republican-owned establishment) for $79 per night. That's about half the summer rate. The bad news is that those rooms are now gone, or so one disgruntled delegate told me. Other $79 rates are available at the Inn at Jackson Hole in Teton Village, which is about eight miles from Jackson. Painted Buffalo Inn in Jackson is $110 per night. You can also book a studio room at the Snow King's condos for $138-$350 a night. There are four bedrooms per unit and it's reasonable if you can find some fellow Dems to share the costs. Our staff did that once for a work trip and it turned out cheaper than the Snow King's regular rates.

Not everyone likes Jackson in the summer. Most Wyomingites go during the shoulder seasons to avoid crowds. Problem is, those shoulder seasons are getting more narrow each year, as people try to avoid crowds and high prices.

Jackson holds it Old West Days festival during Memorial Day weekend. There's a parade on Saturday and a fair in the square, where you can buy food and wares from various vendors. I sold copies of our Wyoming literary anthology "Deep West" at the fair on the 2004 Memorial Day weekend. I periodically had to cover myself and my display as snow squalls blew through the valley. This year, I'll be inside a big hall jockeying to get Obama delegates elected for the national convention in Denver. Registration begins at 8 a.m. and activities start at 9. You can pay $50 for lunch, with proceeds going to the Wyoming Democrats. There's a dinner banquet at 7 that night. Tickets are $100 and, yes, proceeds go to you-know-who. It's important to raise funds in this election season. So much at stake. There's the presidential race, and all three of our Congressional seats are up for grabs. Then there are the state and local races. However, our budget won't bear a pricey lunch and a pricey dinner. One of those (probably dinner) Chris and I will be downtown at the Thai joint. Ain't it just like those elitist Democrats to eat foreign food!

Early registration (by May 15) is $25 for delegates and $15 for alternates. For info, call 1-800-729-3367.

Trauner raising money, making waves

The Trauner for Congress Campaign released its first quarter 2008 fund-raising numbers on Tuesday and they look pretty good.

Trauner reported raising $256,426 with cash on hand of $550,502. Of the money raised this quarter, 98 percent of the contributions came from individuals with more than 350 Wyoming donors.

"I am very grateful and proud of our fundraising efforts. People across our state are showing they believe the time is now for a new direction," Trauner said. The money raised this quarter brings total donations for this campaign cycle to $623,614 with over 500 Wyoming donors to date. The campaign set a goal of 500 Wyoming donors by March 31st and exceeded it.

As you may recall, Trauner, a businessman and Democrat from Wilson, came within 1/2 of 1 percent of beating six-term incumbent Barbara Cubin in 2006. Cubin's had enough and now is retiring. Trauner says he will continue where he left off, knocking on as many doors across the state as he can. He's a tireless campaigner and a great candidate. His Republican competitors have been a little slow keeping up in the fund-raising department.

Records from the Federal Election Commission reported in the Casper Star-Tribune showed that former State Treasurer Cynthia Lummis of Cheyenne had a first-quarter fund-raising total of $168,000, $67,000 of it her own money.

Mark Gordon, a rancher and businessman from Buffalo, contributed $297,000 of his own money to a first-quarter total that topped $410,000. Gordon apparently has spent most of his money on TV commercials that dwell on illegal immigration, a non-issue to Democrats but the favorite paranoid delusion of the Rapture Right.

These Republicans like to put their money where their mouths are. I guess that’s a good thing, if you have extra in the bank, but it’s not always wise – look what happened to poor Mitt Romney.

Republican Bill Winney of Sublette County raised $5,650 this quarter, and state Rep. Dan Zwonitzer of Cheyenne, generated $9,275.

No word from the Repubs how many of their donations come from individual donors in Wyoming.

UW Habitat sponsors "Shanty Town!"

What a great idea in a time of a sinking economy and a record rate of house foreclosures. Flashback to the 1930s! And all for a good cause, one I worked at during the 1990s here in Cheyenne.

The Boss endorses Sen. Obama

Over at Daily Kos this morning, bloggers are talking about Sen. Obama's latest endorsement. It comes from Bruce Springsteen in a letter to his fan on his web site. Here's an excerpt:

After the terrible damage done over the past eight years, a great American reclamation project needs to be undertaken. I believe that Senator Obama is the best candidate to lead that project and to lead us into the 21st Century with a renewed sense of moral purpose and of ourselves as Americans.

Over here on E Street, we're proud to support Obama for President.

To read it all, go to http://brucespringsteen.net.

Republicans grumpy on Tax Day

Today is tax day. I mailed mine this afternoon along with a check. A small check, but still a check. I'm not exactly overjoyed to do my taxes. I'd rather get a refund than write a check, but the golden mean in taxes is to get as close to a zero balance on line 76 as possible. I'm getting very close.

April 15 is also the day that Republicans traditionally complain about high taxes and big government. Maybe it was cute during the Reagan years, when the Repubs were outnumbered in Congress and their only friend was in the White House. But not now. For six years, they've owned The Big White House, the U.S. Senate, and the U.S. House. Not to mention the Supreme Court and the Fourth Estate, at least the MSM variety.

So whose fault is big gubment in 2008? Bill Clinton, probably, or maybe FDR and all of his free-spending New Deal projects. The Democrats in Congress pre-1994, when Newt & Co. drafted the Contract with America and began to reduce spending in so-called entitlement programs while it increased welfare for the rich.

Now we have one trillion dollars spent in Iraq with much more to come, especially if McCain is elected. His big idea for an economic stimulus plan? Give all Americans a gas-tax holiday this summer. This would remove the 18-cent federal tax on gasoline for an as-yet-to-be undetermined amount of time. How will the tax revenue be made up? We will probably borrow more from anti-democratic Saudi sheiks, dig ourselves a deeper hole than we already inhabit. And McCain wants to make Bush's tax cuts for the rich permanent. How will he pay for his 100-Year-War in Iraq? Borrow, borrow, borrow. Deficit spending. Hey -- I thought only Democrats did that. But wait. Bill Clinton left office with a budget surplus and George W. Bush couldn't wait to run up the bill.

I heard Wyoming's U.S. Sen. John Barrasso on the radio this evening. He bemoaned high taxes and big gubment. He said that the tax code was too complicated and that Americans spend up to 30 hours doing the paperwork. They could be doing other things with their time. Watching "Survivor," for instance, or reading this blog. I may have spent 20 hours on tax preparation. I learned a little about the complicated tax code. Every once in awhile I'd think about how my taxes are used. War in Iraq. Bloated defense budget. Big ships for the U.S. Navy to use against the dreaded al-Qaeda navy. Subsidized no-bid contracts for Cheney's pals at Halliburton.

I'm just being a nattering nabob of negativity. Taxes also pay for roads, education, national parks, Medicaid, worthwhile military uses (such as the National Guard), historic preservation, and many other worthwhile causes. In high school civics classes, I learned that citizens don't necessarily get to pick-and-choose those programs it wants to fund. We elect people that we think will do the best job -- and trust them to do it. If they don't, we can vote against them next time. That's a bit simplistic. Adults know that we don't always get our way. So you just work harder. As we used to say on my old ship, the N.S.E.A. Protector: "Never give up! Never surrender!"

Happy Tax Day!

Snowpack may signal break in the drought

It was a long winter. A long, snowy winter.

But that’s good news for Wyoming. The AP reports that mountain snowpack in the state is above average for this time of year. The drainages that most impact the southeastern quadrant of Wyoming are the Upper North Platte drainage and the Little Snake River drainage in Carbon and Sweetwater counties. Snow-water equivalents are 115% and 130% of average, respectively. That means that reservoirs in our neck of the high prairie may be full this year, something we haven’t seen during the past five or six years of drought.

Up in Yellowstone country, record amounts of snow have fallen thus far. The summit of Jackson Hole ski mountain measures more than 600 inches. So much snow fell in Yellowstone that two of the bulldozers used by road-clearing crews have broken down. More than 100 inches of snow were measured at Yellowstone’s southern entrance in March.

All this moisture will make Grand Teton and Yellowstone even more spectacular this summer. Normally you’d think that would bring out even more tourists, but who knows, with gas prices the way they are. The big snow may also bring big spring floods, depending on how warm it gets in April and May.

In Laramie County, the long drought caused the city to begin summer watering restrictions, something many Rocky Mountain cities started long ago. Cheyenne also recycles water to use on its ballfields and parks, which has saved a lot of water as reservoirs dipped to dangerously low levels. Cheyenne also purchased a large swatch of property west of town along with its water rights.

My lawn is way too big. It came with the house, which is how that usually works. I’m gradually replacing it with rocks. This will keep down on the water usage and the mowing, which also requires energy (mine and that provided by refined Saudi oil). I’ll keep a small greensward for summer bocce ball and games of catch with the youngster and her pals. I sometimes lie out on the cool grass at night and watch the meteor showers.

Bill Luckett named new WyoDems director

Congratulations to Bill Luckett, the new executive director of the Wyoming Democratic Party. The news was announced today by State Chairman John Millin. Bill has worked as the party's communications director since August 2005. You may know him as the guy who put thogether those very useful and entertaining daily news digests for the state party's blog. I was wondering why there's been no new news for the past few weeks. Now I know.

Here's a Millin quote from the press release:

"Bill has done an outstanding job as our communications director for nearly three years, and I expect that he will continue his good work as our executive director. Bill has worked on the front lines of Wyoming politics for nearly a decade. His experience, in addition to the relationships he has built with Democratic Party stakeholders across the state, will be valuable assets for the party as we head further into the 2008 election season and beyond."

The 35-year-old Luckett covered politics for six years with the Casper Star-Tribune. In 2005, the Sheridan native and UW grad joined the Wyoming Democratic Party as its communications director.

Here's a quote from Luckett:

"It has been many years since we've seen the kind of excitement and enthusiasm in Democratic Party politics in Wyoming that people are showing this year. We will work to capitalize on this momentum and put up a slate of candidates who will appeal to the best instincts of the people of this great state."

Art Spiegelman in Laramie April 30-May 1

During a trip to Orlando a few years ago, I was waiting for my sister to get off work so I wandered over to Rollins College. It's one of those bucolic and pricey southern liberal arts colleges, one with its own waterskiing lake. It also has a great art museum. When I visited, it was displaying artwork by Art Spiegelman, author of the illustrated novel Maus. I hadn't yet read the Pulitzer prize-winning book but was fascinated by Spiegelman's drawings and the story behind the book, which features Jewish mice and Nazi cats.

I'll have a chance to talk to Spiegelman when he comes to the University of Wyoming campus in Laramie April 30-May 1. The comic artist will give a lecture, "Comix 101," at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, April 30 at the Cavalryman Supper Club, 4425 S. 3rd Street (Hwy. 287). Afterward, he will answer questions from the audience. The event is free and open to the public. On Thursday, May 1, from noon-1:30 p.m., Spiegelman will discuss his work at the Cavalryman. This is free, but seating is limited. For tickets, call 721-2580 ext. 5456 or email albypr@will.state.wy.us.

In advance of Spiegelman's visit, on Wednesday, April 23, 5 p.m., the Albany County Public Library in Laramie will host a book discussion of Maus, led by Dr. Clifford Marx of the UW English Dept. To sign up, contact Kathy Marquis at kmarquis@will.state.wy.us. UW Libraries will provide free copies of Maus for the discussion.

In 2005, Time Magazine named Art Spiegelman one of their "Top 100 Most Influential People." He is credited with inventing the modern graphic novel. In 1980 he and his wife Françoise Mouly founded the acclaimed avant-garde comics magazine RAW. In 1992, Spiegelman won the Pulitzer Prize for Maus. Maus II continued the remarkable story of his parents' survival of the Nazi regime and their lives later in America.

From 1993-2003 Spiegelman was a staff artist and writer for The New Yorker, where he produced some of the magazine's best covers, including the stark black-on-black memorial of the World Trade Center. That image appears again on his book In the Shadow of No Towers (2004), about the 9/11 attacks and their aftermath. It was selected by The New York Times Book Review as one of the 100 Notable Books of 2004, and has appeared on many bestseller lists.

Spiegelman's visit to Laramie is sponsored by the Wyoming Arts Council, where I work, the UW MFA Program in Creative Writing, the Wyoming Humanities Council, UW Libraries, UW Office of the President, UW Art Department, Albany County Public Library Foundation and the Laramie Jewish Community Center "in memory of UW Political Science Professor Dr. Fred Homer."

In the fall, the Albany County Public Library will hold a series of discussions of graphic novels with Jewish themes, including work by Spiegelman, Will Eisner and Harvey Pekar. To sign up, contact Kathy Marquis at kmarquis@will.state.wy.us.