Wyoming Rep. Cynthia Lummis votes against Matthew Shepard Act

Matthew Shepard, the Casper native who was murdered in 1998 in Laramie

Today, the U.S. House overwhelmingly passed the the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, also known as the Matthew Shepard Act.

Matthew Shepard's mother Judy Shepard, a Casper resident, responded to the decision saying, "No one should face violence simply because of who they are. This bill is a critical step to erasing the hate that has devastated far too many families."

U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), vice chair of the LGBT Equality Caucus and co-sponsor of the measure, said: “Every hate crime is an attack on the liberty and equality valued by every American. This legislation will provide state and local law enforcement agencies with resources they need to investigate and prosecute hate crimes, while also protecting the exercise of free speech and religious expression provided under our Constitution.”

Matthew Shepard, oldest son of Dennis Shepard and Judy Shepard, was born in Casper on December 1, 1976. He attended Crest Hill Elementary, Dean Morgan Junior High, and the first two years of high school at Natrona Co. H.S., Dick and Lynne Cheney's alma mater. He was a member of St. Mark's Episcopal Church.

On the cold night of Oct. 6, 1998, he was followed when leaving a gay bar, beaten up, tied to a fence and left for dead. The girlfriends of the two young men arrested testified that they had targeted Shepherd because he was gay.

Wyoming's lone representative in the U.S. House, Cynthia Lummis, is from Cheyenne and graduated from the University of Wyoming, the same school attended by Matthew Shepard. Today, she joined her Know-Nothing colleagues (a.k.a. Republicans) in the House and voted against the Matthew Shepard Act.

Shame on you, Cynthia Lummis. Shame.

You're no better than Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) who spoke against the House legislation by saying that the story that Matthew was murdered because he was gay is a "hoax" played on the American people. This "hoax" idea is a popular theme on wingnut blogs.

Those must be the blogs that Rep. Lummis reads.

Rain today, hurricanes tomorrow in Wyoming

Chris Boswell talk to the LarCoDems last night and depressed the heck out of us.

Maybe it was just me. Fortunately, I'm always heavily medicated, a prerequisite for Wyoming Dems.

Ten percent budget cuts for state government in FY 2010. More severe cuts later on. "It may be raining tioday, but it's really going to rain tomorrow." State collecting less money on mineral taxes. Natural gas was selling for $8 per Mcf a year ago and now it's down to $2.37 Mcf. The companies are still pumping out the gas and selling it for less, even though a dramatic oversupply is predicted for this summer. Other mineral prices are down, although Wyoming is selling its coal like there's no tomorrow.

And there may not be.

Greenhouse gases. Global warming. Alternative energy. These are not welcome terms in Wyoming. Boswell mentioned that one of three main companies digging up our low-sulphur coal is a global warming-denier -- and actively works against any new legislation on CO2 emissions.

That may have been fine in the Bush Administration, when every federal office had an open-door policy for energy companies.

But that's changed. There are some coal-producing states that have a seat at Obama's table. Illinois, for instance, the president's old stomping ground. West Virginia (Sen. Byrd!) and Kentucky, too. Dare I say Pennsylvania and its new Dem senator? Our neighbor to the north has two Democratic senators who support coal -- and a powerful and popular Governor who has all sorts of way-out plans for King Coal.

Who is representing Wyoming and its magnificent low-sulphur coal at these meetings? Sen. Enzi is busy with health care reform and, to his credit, working on it in a bipartisan manner. The almost-rookie, Sen. John Barrasso, is too busy ragging about Obama on Fixed News. Too bad, Boswell says, because "he's an intelligent man." A physician, too, and a big supporter of the Muscular Dystrophy Association who votes against stem-cell research and tows the Repub line on just about everything -- including global warming.

Rep. Lummis? She votes against anything that comes across her desk. A lost cause, just like her predecessor.

Boswell noted that it doesn't help that the "Big Three" coal conglomerates that operate in Wyoming haven't done a good job promoting their product -- and investing in clean coal technologies.

That has to change if Wyoming is going to keep selling its energy products. It's the taxes on oil and gas and coal and trona that keeps the state afloat. The impregnable Repub fortress that is our legislature won't raise taxes, not even on gasoline (one of the lowest taxes on gas in the U.S.). They won't spend any money unless there's a zillion-dollar surplus, as there has been in the past four years or so. We need to spend more on renewable energy sources and then figure out a tax structure for them.

Wyoming is on the wrong end of history, energy-wise. Otherwise, too, now that the president that I helped elect is making the decisions, backed by a huge Dem majority in Congress.

Next time: impact of the stimulus bill on Wyoming.

New Dem Chair supports Pres. Obama's higher-education plan

This is the second press release I've received from Leslie Petersen, the new chair of the Wyoming Democratic Party. Thing is, she's been in office for less than two weeks. Hope she keeps up the pace.

In this release, Leslie supports Pres. Barack Obama's higher education plan, which was presented on Friday.

Said Leslie:

“Students in Wyoming – like young people all across America – are struggling to cope with the skyrocketing cost of higher education. In recent decades tuition has grown ten times faster than a typical family’s income – putting an undue strain on families and making the cost of higher education too expensive for far too many.

“At the same time, students are competing in a global marketplace with countries like China and India, and we need to ensure that the American workforce has the tools to rise to the challenge. That’s why the President today announced a plan to make college more affordable and to continue his administration’s historic investment in America’s future.

“President Obama has already enacted legislation making the cost of college more affordable by making working families eligible for a $2,500 tax credit to help offset the cost of tuition, modernizing and expanding federal loan programs and reforming the Pell Grant program. The plan the President announced today to eliminate waste in the current loan programs and expand Pell Grants will help ensure that more students can afford college and that our system is as efficient as possible.

“As unemployment rises, a college degree is more important than ever. We must do
everything we can to make sure all eligible students can get the education they need to succeed. We are thankful that with President Obama at the helm, we are much closer to making the dream of an affordable college education a reality.”

If only our all-Repub Congressional delegation would get behind this plan. At one point, Sen. Enzi was a champion of education. But I suspect that the Know-Nothings in his party got to him.

We already know that Sen. Barrasso and Rep. Lummis are too busy sucking up to the wingnuts to be of any help on this issue.

Cheney and Yellowstone wolves prowl Wyoming

Dear Democratic Party of the USA:

I understand that you are still trying to raise $202 to send former Veep and Unrepentant Scourge of Humanity Dick Cheney back to Wyoming.

How goes the fund-raising? I'm sure that Marylanders are excited, as it will rid them of Cheney. But Donald Rumsfeld will remain. How can you get rid of one scourge but leave the other one in the neighborhood? Your strategy is flawed.

Let's leave Cheney where we can keep an eye on him. Once he gets loose in Wyoming, there's no telling where he may end up. You know the story of the wolves released into Yellowstone. The National Park Service told the wolves two things: don't wander out of the park boundaries and don't kill any cows or Republicans. Did the wolves listen? No, they have wandered far and wide. There were reports last week that the carcass of a Yellowstone wolf was found in northwestern Colorado. Panic gripped Casper last week. A wolf pack had been spotted and alarums raised throughout Natrona County. One elderly resident of Casper swears that she saw a Yellowstone wolf sipping a pina colada at a downtown bar. His hair was perfect.

On the second count, the wolves have killed a number of cows. No Republicans -- human variety -- have fallen victim to wolf predation. It is, however, a matter of time.

See how difficult it is to corral a predator once it's let loose back into the wild? It's entirely possible that the former Veep will not stay put in his mountain redoubt but will prowl the territory, looking for fresh Democratic blood. He will have many choices in Jackson. But once he wanders outside Teton County into the Repub strongholds of Sublette and Lincoln counties, he may very well end up like the wolf that starved to death in Colorado.

Please, keep Cheney where he can be tagged and observed. You owe that to the citizenry of Wyoming, especially the Dems who worked so hard to elect Barack Obama.

Sincerely,

Fairly Frightened in WYO

Young Democrats rally Tuesday at UW

Bill Luckett sends this announcement:

Democrats at the University of Wyoming plan to hold a press conference tomorrow to discuss the impact of President Obama’s investments in education on students in Wyoming.

TIME: Tuesday, April 28, 2009, 12:15 p.m.

PLACE: University of Wyoming, Simpson Plaza, in front of the Wyoming Union

CONTACT:
Dana Walton, Chair, Young Democrats of Wyoming, 307-258-1825
Rey Fuentes, Vice Chair, Young Democrats of Wyoming, 307-679-4125
Bill Luckett, Executive Director, Wyoming Democratic Party, 307-631-7638

One suggestion. Support Barack Obama's plan for student loans, which boots out the mercenary private lenders and makes more federal funds available through Pell Grants.

For more, go to http://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com/2009/04/pres-obama-takes-on-student-loan.html

Colorado's got a fever for Wyoming's water

Some guy named Million wants to suck millions of gallons of Green River water from Wyoming to water lawns in Colorado.

No kidding, this water entrepreneur's name is Aaron Million and he came up with this keen idea in grad school to relieve Wyoming of its water.

That's not sitting too well with Wyomingites, especially those in the southwest part of the state.

Great column on the subject by Walt Gasson in today's Wyoming Tribune-Eagle. He's a Sweetwater County native and the head of the Wyoming Wildlife Federation.

Lots of people fish in the Green River. The Flaming Gorge Reservoir on the Green is one of the best recreation areas of the state.

According to Gasson, Million's plan to send Green River water via pipeline to the Front Range. This would draw about a quarter of the area's available water -- it's already one of the driest parts of the country. And it's not only a pipline that needs to be built. The plan calls for construction of 16 natural gas fired pumping stations and several reservoirs.

Notes Gasson: "There is no law in Wyoming that requires Mr. Million to use any Million dollars to leave a minimum flow in the Green River."

That figures. Wyoming law is so lax on so many things that the state is plundered regularly by smooth operatrors from other states and countries. Yes, Wyomingites hate too much government and too many regulations. But when that attitude collides with reality, it's just plain recklessness.

The lack of water in the Green will kill trout and salmon and wreck the environment. It will hurt Wyoming's tourism business. The real tragedy is that there is absolutely no need for it. Colorado needs to conserve water. Period. I acknowledge that my home state has done more than Wyoming to conserve water and energy, especially during the past decade. But (and I really mean this Colorado) you just can't have Wyoming's water.

Written comments on the project will be accepted until May 19. Send them to Ms. Rena Brand, Regulatory Specialist, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Omaha District), Denver Regulatory Office, 9307 S. Wadsworth Blvd., Littleton, CO 80128. To chat with Ms. Brand, call her at 303-979-4120.

Finally, a children's book about beer

Not enough books out there with beer as a subject.

But now there's "B is for Beer," subtitled "A Children's Book for Grown-ups" and "A Grown-up Book for Children."

Tom Robbins was one of my favorite writers back in the 1970s. "Another Roadside Attraction" (1971) featured a vagabond football player, mistaken identity, a Vatican hit squad, tourism and a possible Second Coming. The main character in "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" is Sissy Hankshaw, born with a very large thumbs tailor-made for hitchhiking adventures. A movie was made by Gus Van Sant in 1993. I never saw it, but maybe I should put it on my list.

An adventurous English prof at World's Most Famous Beach Community College used "Another Roadside Attraction" in his class. I devoured the book. Kooky and well-written, it's hippie-era mysticism suited for the times. The only other English classes I'd taken to that point focused on the classics of American and Brit lit. This was a welcome change. However, I did go on as an English major to take many more lit classes, most featuring the classics, but made interesting by talented profs at Hogtown U in Florida and Aggieville in Colorado.

I read "Cowgirls" later on my own. I liked it less well that "Roadside," but it was fun and entertaining. I lost touch with Mr. Robbins after those first two books. He has others, I know, but methinks he was keeping to himself in the wilds of Washington state.

His new book demands attention. He'll be at the Tattered Cover in Denver's LoDo on Thursday, April 30, 7:30 p.m. This is one of those free ticketed events. The TC will give a ticket to the first 275 people who who buys a copy of "B is for Beer" ($17.95 Ecco Press). Since TC started giving out tickets last Tuesday, they probably are all gone. You can still hang out in the TC corridors and hear Mr. Robbins -- you just won't be able to hear him. To get a signed copy of the book, e-mail books@tatteredcover.com.

Here's a description of the author and his new book from the TC web site:

Maverick bestselling novelist Tom Robbins will discuss and sign his new book B is for Beer, a children's book about beer, but also a book for adults, from the author known for his ability to both seriously illuminate and comically entertain. Once upon a time (right about now) there was a planet (how about this one?) whose inhabitants consumed thirty-six billion gallons of beer each year (it's a fact, you can Google it). Among those affected, each in his or her own way, by all the bubbles, burps, and foam, was a smart, wide-eyed, adventurous kindergartner named Gracie; her distracted mommy; her insensitive dad; her non-conformist uncle; and a magical, butt-kicking intruder from a world within our world. Populated by the afore-mentioned characters -- and as charming as it may be subversive -- B Is for Beer involves readers, young and old, in a surprising, far-reaching investigation into the limits of reality, the transformative powers of children, and, of course, the ultimate meaning of a tall, cold brewski.

Sounds like a Tom Robbins book.

I look forward to imbibing it.

Voices in Wartime seeks submissions for "Waging Peace"

The Voices in Wartime Education Project seeks submissions for an on-line booklet, "Waging Peace," to celebrate the International Day of Peace in September. Voices is asking for contributions from members of poems, narratives, quotes, photographs and pictures. You have to join My Voice to submit your entries. Go to My Voice.

One of the submissions comes from poet and poetry performer Judyth Hill, formerly of Sapello, N.M., and now living in San Juan de Allende in Mexico. Judyth sent this poem to me in slightly different form when war was breaking out in Iraq six years ago.

Wage Peace

Wage peace with your breath.

Breathe in firemen and rubble,
breathe out whole buildings and flocks of red wing blackbirds.

Breathe in terrorists
and breathe out sleeping children and freshly mown fields.

Breathe in confusion and breathe out maple trees.

Breathe in the fallen and breathe out lifelong friendships intact.

Wage peace with your listening: hearing sirens, pray loud.

Remember your tools: flower seeds, clothes pins, clean rivers.

Make soup.

Play music, memorize the words for thank you in three languages.

Learn to knit, and make a hat.

Think of chaos as dancing raspberries,
imagine grief
as the out breath of beauty
or the gesture of fish.

Swim for the other side.

Wage peace.

Never has the world seemed so fresh and precious:

Have a cup of tea and rejoice.

Act as if armistice has already arrived.
Celebrate today.

New WyoDems Chair: The Doctor is "out of touch with reality"

Bill Luckett sends this press release from WyoDems HQ:

Wyo. Democratic Chair Petersen responds to Barrasso criticisms of President Obama

WILSON - John Barrasso's recent criticisms of President Obama are out of touch with the reality of a president who has lowered taxes on 95 percent of Americans and restored fairness to the tax code, Wyoming Democratic Party Chair Leslie Petersen said Friday.

Barrasso recently appeared on Wyoming Public Radio to launch several attacks on President Obama.

Furthermore, Petersen said, Barrasso's embrace of divisive partisan politics does nothing to further Wyoming's interests in Congress and represents a disappointing departure from the style of the person he replaced in the Senate, the late Craig Thomas.

"It was very disappointing to hear our freshman Senator abandon the moderation and civility of his predecessor, the late Craig Thomas," Petersen said. "Senator Barrasso ignored the fact that Obama's leadership has resulted in lower taxes for 95 percent of Americans and balanced taxes more fairly between the middle class and the very wealthy. We hope he'll stick to the facts in the future."

She said President Obama's many accomplishments in his first 100 days range from getting a stimulus bill passed to save the nation's economy from the brink of true disaster, to improving children's access to health care by expanding the SCHIP program, to signing the Lily Ledbetter Act, to ensure that women must be paid the same as men for the same work.

Congressional Republicans, meanwhile, have offered no constructive solutions and have contented themselves with obstructionist tactics, establishing themselves as "the Party of No."

"In the past three months, President Obama had fulfilled many of his campaign promises, greatly improved America's standing around the world, and taken necessary steps to repair the economic disaster left over from the Bush Administration," Petersen said. "John Barrasso, sadly, has offered no serious solution to any of our country's problems. Let's hope he will change his partisan tone and instead focus on working for the people of Wyoming."

Dear Democrats: Please rethink Cheney one-way bus ticket campaign

I have a bone to pick with my Democratic Party. It is raising money to buy Dick Cheney a one-way bus ticket back to Wyoming.

This must stop!

For one thing, we don't want him amongst us. He has proven to be a negative influence on the population of the U.S. and the planet. He also has undue influence in Wyoming. He's received at some of the best houses, in Jackson and elsewhere. When he addressed the Wyoming legislature a few years ago, he was cheered lustily by both houses, while the citizenry stood outside in the cold, unable to come into its "House of the People" to hear the assistant leader of the free world deliver his platitudes.

He could have a damaging effect on a state that is only now emerging from the 19th entury. Besides, he or his wife might run for office. If Dick Cheney were to elected governor, a huge wall would be built around the state, and all Wyomingites with liberal leanings would be thrown into re-education camps where Lynne Cheney would torture us by reading her super-patriotic children's books over and over and over again. Can you say "Ronald Reagan Is God?" I thought you could.

Second, your humorous travel map at https://www.democrats.org/page/contribute/cheneybus?source=20090425_JOC_ND1 is all wrong. The red dot at the end of the bus route is in the incorrect place. If the former Veep were to disembark at this spot, he would be in the windswept fringe of the Red Desert and not Jackson.

As you may know, Jackson is a village of quaint restaurants and a lively art scene. The views are spectacular. While some of its denizens are Democrats, Cheney's rich Republican pals would scoop him into their collective arms and whisk him to safety at his mountain redoubt.


The scenery around Jackson (Teton Lake)

If he gets off in the Red Desert, no telling what would happen. He could be ripped to shreds by packs of escaped Yellowstone wolves or shot by some vision-impaired hunter. He could perish of thirst while he waits for helicoper pickup.

Wyoming's Red Desert (note pack of wolves in background)

Wait just a doggone minute! That spot that you D.C. Dems marked on the map really is Jackson and not the Red Desert. I was mistaken. That's a great place to drop him off. I've never been good at geography.

But, as I said, this campaign has to stop. Yes, we're terminally a red state and the place where Cheney grew up and entered politics. But he was born in Nebraska. Send him there. Or what about Utah? Or Iraq? Families of dead Iraqis would stage a grand welcoming party at the Baghdad bus station that Cheney would not soon forget.

Or maybe he would.

First, we kill all the credit card company lawyers execs

This comes intact from Crooks and Liars:

I expect a bit of deja vu, in which Obama tells them he's the only thing between them and the pitchforks:

This afternoon President Obama will tell top executives from 14 credit card companies -- including American Express, Bank of America, Discover, MasterCard and Visa -- that greater consumer protections are coming for their customers, with or without their cooperation.

The House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday passed "The Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights," a bill from Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-NY, that would require companies to provide a 45-day notice before any rate increase; prevent the companies from retroactively imposing higher interest rates to existing balances; and ban "universal default," which the companies use to raise interest rates on consumers late in payments to completely different creditors.

Oh yeah, universal default. That's the policy that allows them to jack up your credit card rate because your payment to the phone company was late!

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, and National Economic Council director Larry Summers will join the president at the meeting.

An industry source tells ABC News that the executives expect to hear from the White House that "the industry is unpopular right now." The source forecasts that the meeting will be "a carrot-and-stick" deal -- the administration will tell the executives that they need their help in dealing with problems such as high interest rates, but they will emphasize the threat of legislation.

"It will be a come-to-Jesus type of meeting," the source said

Let's not forget to include the always witty Capitol One in these proceedings.

Another reason we call him "Dick"

Former Veep Dick "The Dick" Cheney will be strutting his muscle-bound physique around Jackson, Wyoming, this summer. If his true physique is as muscle-bound as his mouth. we're all in trouble.

Photo borrowed from Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show."

Poetry on a spring night in Cheyenne

Attended an open mic poetry reading tonight at the Laramie County Public Library. A crowd of about 50 first heard the featured poet, Luke Striker (sp?) from Laramie. He's a young poet with a goatee (but no black beret). He received his M.F.A. in creative writing from University of Wyoming two years ago and now teaches there. As is the case with most M.F.A. writers, he's looking for a full-time job and writing his heart out.

He opened with "Lawrence" by one of his influences, Tony Hoagland. It's about D.H. Lawrence and how a batch of academics sneered at the man's work, although they weren't fit to drink his piss (not the exact quote, but you get the idea). Lawrence a man of the world and definitely not an academic. A big influence on writers from the West due to his wild streak and his time in Taos.

Some great lines in Luke's poems "Rock Hopping" and "Ars Poetica." In the latter poem, he managed to slip in William Carlos Williams' "red wheelbarrow" reference (something to do with chickens). I have to admit I never understood that poem, but that may be the point. I like Williams' poetry but I crave his short stories.

After Luke stepped down from the stage, up went a rapid procession of poets and musicians. Chris Howes (sp?) recently returned to Cheyenne after a decade in other places. He played guitar and sang an original song about his home state. My daughter Annie read two poems, one she just wrote today called "Dreams of the Afterlife."

Born out of Virgin Mary, her
womb an orb of light and purity.

And this from a kid of cradle Catholics. She was baptized in the church (our choice), but now is a 16-year-old vegetarian atheist (her choice).

But I walk on thin cracked ice
each step precarious and unsure,
I feel the cold pierce my feet.

This is the first time she read her work in public. She was nervous, and I was a proud papa.

Her friend Brandon read two of his poems. Ed Warsaw, founder of Serendipity Poets, read his poetry and Dick Hart, Cheyenne's poet laureate, read his take on "that's the way it is in the West." An eighth-grade singer/songwriter and a high school sophomore trying out the first verse of his new song (still working on the second verse -- not the same as the first).

Carrie Hartmann, assistant county librarian, read the first poem she ever wrote (at 16) and then a new poem celebrating her daughter's impending college graduation. She then performed Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky," utilizing her considerable acting skills.

We express ourselves. So crucial. On a spring night in Cheyenne.

Meanwhile, the white chickens are outside in the rain, doing something with a red wheelbarrow.

Earth Day: "What Matters Most in WYO?"

This Laramie event comes from Nancy Sindelar's e-mail newsletter:

On Wednesday, April 22, 3 p.m., Education Auditorium on the UW campus in Laramie: "Environmental Education For Life: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue on What Matters Most in Wyoming." Keynote speaker will be Rebekah Simon-Peter, who will join five University of Wyoming professors and a school principal to bring out the issues that need be addressed by education in all life's phases.

This event is free and open to the public.

FMI: Suzanne, shlewis@bresnan.net.

Leslie Petersen new chair of WyoDems

This news comes from the Wyoming Democrats:

The new state chair of the Wyoming Democratic Party said she is excited to be working with such a strong team of leaders that will guide the party over the next two years.

"I’m excited about this opportunity to help elect progressive leaders at all levels of government throughout Wyoming," said State Chair Leslie Petersen of Wilson. "I'm pleased to have such a great Executive Committee to work with and thrilled with the newly elected Young Democrats who are full of energy, enthusiasm and technological expertise."

The Wyoming Democratic State Central Committee elected new officers in Casper on
Saturday, April 18, and the Young Democrats of Wyoming also met to elect representatives on the state party governing board.

State party officers elected Saturday include State Chair Leslie Petersen of Teton County, Vice Chair Mike Bell of Laramie County, Secretary Linda Barton of Fremont
County, and Treasurer Chuck Herz of Teton County.

In addition, the Young Democrats of Wyoming elected the following officers for the next two years: Dana Walton, chair; Rey Fuentes, vice chair; Sean Williams, state
committeeman; and Ellie Bolender, state committeewoman.

Chairman Petersen said two of her highest priorities for the coming election cycle will be spreading the Democratic Party's message and finding quality community leaders to run for elected office.

"We need to let the people of Wyoming know the many ways in which Democrats are working for the best interests of working families," she said. "Getting our message out is a critical component of the work we need to do over the next two years."

She said Democrats need to maintain their momentum from the past two elections, in which Democrats have gained a total of five state House seats. At the same time, the
party needs to improve its performance statewide in county-level elections.

"There are a lot of good leaders in this state who are Democrats and who would make good elected officials," Petersen said. "Our mission will be to find those people and get them elected to office."

Leslie Petersen has previously served as a Teton County commissioner and has been involved with various conservation, political and natural resource boards. She has been a Teton County Democratic Party activist for years, is a former Teton County party chair, and served as the county's state committeewoman for the previous election cycle.

She also worked as legislative liaison for former Wyoming Gov. Ed Herschler, and she was the Democratic Party's nominee for secretary of state in 1982 and for a state
House seat in 1990.

Petersen has helped organize fundraising events for presidential candidates Sens. John Kerry and Barack Obama that she said each raised more than $450,000.

Everything you know about Columbine is wrong

Jesse Kornbluth wrote in HuffPost today about Dave Cullen's new book, "Columbine." To read the column, go to http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jesse-kornbluth/a-disturbing-new-book-abo_b_180613.html

Two weeks ago, during spring break, Chris and I wandered into the Tattered Cover LoDo and discovered that Cullen was in-house that evening talking about his book. We found a few chairs in the back of a very crowded room.

Didn't take long to get very depressed. Everything I thought I knew about Columbine was wrong. Eric Harris was a psychopath, according to the author, and Dylan Klebold was his disturbed follower. Cullen bases his conclusions of a huge cache of documentation, including journals from both killers and interviews with law enforcement and witnesses. He's been researching this topic since it happened on a pleasant spring day in the Denver burbs.

I have not yet read the book, so this isn't a review. But after sitting there in TC listening to Cullen's talk, I sank into my chair, life's fragility weighing me down. How well do we know our kids -- really know them? Sure, Harris's parents could have done a better job keeping an eye on their son. But the kid got good grades and went to the prom just a few days before the massacre. He'd been in some trouble, but weaseled his way out of any major punishment. He was a fine liar. And a leader. That's what's so chilling. The kid next door seemed pretty normal. Never shot up the neighborhood or blew up anything up. Bombs? Guns? Never saw any.

Until April 20, 1999. And then it was too late.

All the President's books

On Friday, President Obama accepted a book from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The book was Eduardo Galeano’s "Open Veins of Latin America." Obama should read it, he really should. Galeano is an amazing writer. An outspoken leftist who had to flee right-wing death squads in his home country of Uruguay and more death squads under Argentina’s military junta. Galeano wrote his masterpiece "Memory of Fire" (Memoria del Fuego) while an exile in Spain.

Pres. Obama may read the gift book from Chavez. The prez, after all, is a reader. A writer, too. Reading good writers keeps the mind open, allows new ideas to permeate the brain and circulate freely. Allows you to consider new ways to do things. Chat with former enemies of the U.S., for instance.

Americans seem to have the idea that we invented the world. But the world was well on its way by the time we formed our democracy. Some 300 years of Latin American history had transpired by 1776. And a bloody history it was. In his book, Galeano tells short stories of the good and the bad and the in-between. The stories are compelling and the history, compelling and infuriating. How can humans make the same mistakes over and over again? So writers have something to write about.

I learned volumes about the history of this region from "Memory of Fire" when I read it in the early 1990s. As a writer, I was impressed with Galeano’s style. He did his research and transformed it into this book that was both personal and universal. Wikipedia described it this way: "It starts with pre-Columbian creation myths and ends in the 1980s. It highlights not only the colonial oppression that the continent underwent but particularly the long history of resistance, from individual acts of heroism to mass revolutionary movements."

He also prompted me to read John Dos Passos’s "U.S.A." trilogy, which documented our history in a similar fashion. Dos Passos documents labor struggles and war and politics through a variety of characters. He intersperses that with "newsreel" sections which document world events in the manner of movie theater shorts. It was a very original idea and ahead of its time. Dos Passos went from being a rabble-rousing leftist in the 1930s to a diehard Republican in the 1950s. People can change, can’t they?

"Open Veins of Latin America" has already shot up the book sales lists. I would like to see a photo of our president reading Galeano’s book. Sipping coffee in the Oval Office, his attention on reading. This photo would send out all kinds of messages. The main one is: "I read. I understand."

Gov Dave thought that April 15 tax protests "would be bigger"

Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal held a press conference yesterday and addressed issues relating to state government budget cuts, trans-basin water diversion and Tax Day protests in across the state and the nation. He said this about the protests, including one that happened outside his office window:

“I actually thought that they would be bigger. This is not a state that has affection for the federal government on any day, and the affection on tax day is even less.”

"True Grit" gets new film treatment from Coen brothers

I make it a point to read Jenny Shank's Western Book Roundup at New West. Somehow I missed her April 1 post, probably because I was hobnobbing with a batch of visual artists over in Laramie. She wrote some good news about books-to-film:

Oh joy: According to Variety, Joel and Ethan Coen will make a film adaptation of Charles Portis’ Western classic True Grit for their next project, and joy of joys, it’s not to be a traditional remake of the 1969 John Wayne vehicle, but a version intended to hue closer to the novel. (I wrote last year about the charms of Portis’s True Grit in honor of its 40th anniversary.) The Coen brothers were at work on another literary adaptation — of Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policeman’s Union —but True Grit will now come first.

Joel Cohen told London’s Daily Mail that they plan to stick closer to the perspective of the14-year-old narrator, Mattie Ross. “The book recounts the girl’s story. In the John Wayne film, she was played older. We want her to be her real age - it’s her story!”

If there is a better match between filmmakers and book, I can’t think of it.

I second that, Jenny. First Cormac McCarthy and "No Country for Old Men" and now "True Grit." The New West of McCarthy and The Old West of Portis. Sorry to see that "The Yiddish Policeman's Union" is being rescheduled for later. But I can wait. A terrific book. The Coen Brothers will treat it well.

Almost ready for spring planting