Gardening in Wyoming

Garden, with water and sunset (black blob in background is our mutt chewing on bone).

Juneteenth in Cheyenne

Juneteenth committee member, community organizer, YMCA maven (and loving spouse) Chris Shay serves as emcee at Cheyenne event.

Rep. Jim Byrd introduces Juneteenth

Democratic Rep. Jim Byrd speaks about the history of Juneteenth during the celebration at Martin Luther King, Jr., Park in Cheyenne.

Y as in _ _ _ _

Y Guy and Annie S at the "Music on the Plaza" event in Cheyenne Friday evening. At last, the sun...

Send Rev. Mooney your bibles, your torahs, your korans, your atheist texts, your dog-eared W.S. Merwin books...

I receive the weekly newsletter from the Capitol Heights Faith Communities in Denver. Two communities share one building in one of Denver's oldest neighborhoods. One is Capitol Heights Presbyterian and the other is the 10:30 Catholic Community. My family and I were members of the latter. Our son was baptized at 10:30, which had one weekly mass -- at 11 a.m. The explanation is too longto get into now.

It's been awhile since I was an active member but I like to keep up by reading the e-mail "open letter."

This week's issue had info on a unique art project:

Rev. Tim Mooney is the pastor at People's Presbyterian Church and an accomplished artist. For the Biennial of the Americas Celebration in July, he is constructing an art installation at the Space Gallery. The installation will be an American Flag made from some 4000 bibles, torahs, talmuds, korans, vedic texts, etc. - the scriptures/texts of all the major religions/belief systems in proportion to the percentage each religion/belief systems represents in our country's population. Through the installation he hopes to create a visual picture of who we are, and add to the ongoing conversation about religious, spiritual, and even atheistic beliefs that influence and affect us. The installation will be accompanied by a looping audio track with recorded prayers/hopes for our country based on the various perspectives. You can help by sending old bibles and other religious texts, preferably but not exclusively hardback to him. Red and white are particularly needed. Based on the PEW reports latest statistics he will need about 2000 bibles (protestant Christians), 1000 bibles with apocrypha (catholic and orthodox), 70 books of Mormon, 30 writings from Jehovahs Witnesses, 70 Torahs or Talmuds, 30 Sutras or Tibetan books of the Dead, 25 Korans, 15 Vedic scriptures, 70 books on atheist writings, 20 new age books, and about 300 poetry or philosophic books that cover a percentage that are unaffiliated. If you can send books, please e-mail him at timmooneystudio@aol.com and let him know the quantity and kind of book(s) you're sending. He would also gladly receive funds to support this project.

Chris and I have some old Catholic perayer books and Bibles we can send. We have Chris's father's pocket Catholic missal (sp) that he carried through WWII. I also have a Book of Mormon I can part with (I have an extra). Quite a few philosophy tomes, too, that I probably can part with.

I want to contribute. Artists should be encouraged. And this one will be chock full of messages -- subtle and no so subtle.

Contemplating Flannery O'Connor this summer in the Wind River Mountains

I stumbled upon the Ring Lake Ranch site today. It's a retreat center near Dubois. I looked at their summer schedule as was bowled over by some of the offerings.

Here's one I especially like:

Bishop Will Willimon presents "Haunted by God with Flannery O’Connor," August 1-7.

Some commentary by Director Carl Koch from the web site:

Flannery O'Connor may have been haunted by God. She was a devout Catholic who beleived it heaven and hell. I used to be cut from that same cloth. But now am no longer a practicing Catholic. However, I am still haunted by the remnants of my faith. Reading Flannery O'Connor pushes all my buttons.

I have sometimes wondered in recent years about how many mainline Protestants and Catholics consciously raise the issue of their redemption or salvation. I must confess that “Will I be saved?” doesn’t keep me up nights – and it isn’t because I’m all that good. Even so, my recent bout with cancer turned my attention to last things – but only until my tests after treatment came back clear.

On the other hand, one still hears people on opposite sides of many issues – abortion, the death penalty, gay rights, war – condemn their opponents to damnation, in effect claiming that folks on their side will be saved.

Like Flannery O’Connor, my family and I were Catholics raised in a pre-Vatican Council church that seemed a lot clearer about who would and wouldn’t be saved. Good Catholics would make it into heaven – that was a given.

But, there always was some doubt that I still carry with me.

In one of my previous lives I was a professor of American Literature. Naturally I taught Flannery O’Connor’s works from time to time. In virtually every story, O’Connor placed her characters in a situation in which they faced a moral decision – a decision between salvation and damnation. They were given a “moment of grace” during which they had the power to select the good. O’Connor didn’t allow wiggle room either. At the end of the story, the reader knew the fate of each character.

So, who can be saved? How do we recognize our “moment of grace?” Bring your musings about and stories around redemption. This should be a provocative session with a master preacher and teacher who has clearly tackled this subject from many perspectives.

Wyoming's Organizing for America holds June 15 meeting in Cheyenne

From the Laramie County Democrats:

I am happy to announce that Kathy Everingim will be hosting a house meeting on Tuesday, June 15, beginning at 6 p.m.

Her address is 1717 East 22nd St., Cheyenne.

Please bring a little beverage or snack to keep the mood festive and the taste buds guessing!

At this meeting I would like to focus on a couple things that needs to happen in order for Wyoming to keep moving forward.

1. 2010 voter outreach to that large number of 2008 first time voters in Laramie County. There was over 5,000. That's a lot of votes, especially then you consider that in 2006 only 33% of eligible Wyoming voters actually casted a ballot.

2. How to host phone banks and community canvasses

3. I would also like for us to meet some candidates, so let us hope they show up

4. There will be specific plans of action conducted, because that is where the fun happens.

Bryon Lee
Organizing for America - Wyoming
State Director
(307) 752-5972
leeb@dnc.org
http://www.facebook.com/ofa.wy

Please, take a couple minutes to check out this Recovery and Reinvestment Act Benefits video: http://www.barackobama.com/recovery/video.php?source=feature

Bad company -- Wyoming Rep. Cynthia Lummis and staffer Johnnie Burton

From today's Casper Star-Tribune:

CHEYENNE -- Wyoming's 2010 congressional race heated up recently, as Democratic candidate David Wendt blasted incumbent U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., for employing the controversial former director of the federal Minerals Management Service.

Lummis' campaign fiercely denounced the accusation, in what could be the start of a contentious election campaign for the state's lone U.S. House seat.

In a letter sent last week, Wendt demanded Lummis explain why she employs Johnnie Burton, who came under fire during her five years as head of the MMS, the federal agency that oversees offshore drilling and revenues from energy exploration on federal lands.

Burton, who served with Lummis in the state Legislature in the 1980s and was also director of the Wyoming Department of Revenue, serves as a Cheyenne-area field representative for the congresswoman, helping constituents with issues such as receiving veterans' benefits or obtaining travel visas.

As MMS director, Burton oversaw the agency plagued with what one federal investigator later called a "culture of ethical failure." Agency workers were caught taking bribes from, having sex with and using drugs with energy industry employees. Burton also promoted a now-defunct royalty-in-kind program that allowed energy companies to avoid making billions of dollars in payments to the government.

She also was criticized for not acting quickly enough to correct blunders on offshore energy leasing contracts that cost the federal government billions of dollars in royalty payments.

Read all about the scandals that plagued the MMS during Burton's tenure in the Denver Post's investigative report from September 2008 at http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_10431998

And read this scary post at emptywheel: http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/06/02/dick-cheneys-wyomings-face-at-mms/

There's more. So much more. And you thought that the Gulf of Mexico was oily.

Ken McCauley comes calling -- in the rain

Ken McCauley stopped by my house yesterday. Surprised to see him as it was raining and there's still time enough to campaign for the 2010 Wyoming primaries in August.

But he's new to political campaigning and thought he'd get an early start. I invited him in but he said he had a lot of territory to cover. He handed me a flyer. We talked outside in the drizzle.

Democrat for House District 8. My previous rep was Democrat Lori Millin, who's parlaying her two terms in the Wyming House to a campaign for the Wyoming Senate. Both House and Senate need all the Dems it can get. Wildly outnumbered in both houses. Still, there's always hope.

I walked the neighborhood for Lori in 2006 and will probably do the same for Ken. Lori beat long-time House Repub Larry Meuli in 2006 and newcomer Bob Nicholas in 2008. Both were squeakers. In 2008, results on KGAB Radio had Millin the loser. She ended up winning by a handful (documented at the time on this blog -- I forget the number).

Ken has a similar challenge. I've seen him working up to this for some time. He's a fellow traveler in the Laramie County Democrats. We were both handing out Gary Trauner flyers in the dark on election eve 2008, urging people to get out to vote for a good cause, albeit a losing one.

His campaign material displays his name underlined by an A-10 and its contrail. Ken flew A-10s in the USAF and is a combat veteran. He now flies big jets for United. That alone shows dedication and skill. Military service carries with it a mantle of patriotism. But that's not enough, at least for me. Many ex-military politicians have deserved votes. Others have not. I know some of Ken's politics and will research the rest and go to his public appearances. His significant other, fellow writer Joanne Kennedy, thinks a lot of him and that's probably enough for me. Still, an informed voter gets to win the arguments.

For the rest of you -- Ken deserves your attention. And, once you learn about his person and his politics, your vote.

Five Democrats in the Wyoming Gov race

The WyoDems' site lists the following Democrats in the Governor's race:

Pete Gosar, 1774 Coughlin Street, Laramie, WY, 82072
Phone: 307-760-3219. E-mail: gosar4gov@gmail.com

Al Hamburg, 4705 Road 70Y, Torrington, WY, 82240
Phone: 307-532-7710. E-mail: TBD

Leslie Petersen, PO Box 1147, Jackson, WY, 83001
Phone: 307-413-5004. E-mail: leslie@peopleforpetersen.com
http://www.peopleforpetersen.com

Rex Wilde, 1910 E. 22nd Street, Cheyenne, WY, 82001
Phone: 307-274-5450. E-mail: rexwilde2010@gmail.com

Chris L. Zachary, 1015 Warren Ave., Cheyenne, WY, 82007
Phone: 307-514-2891. E-mail: chrislzachary@yahoo.com

Leslie Petersen of Jackson, recently the party chair, is deemed front-runner by those in the know and bloggers, not necessarily the same group. I've been following Mr. Gosar on his Facebook page. His photo is a shot of him on the gridiron. Not a bad thing. I am a prog-blogger but as a one-time jock I don't automatically dismiss former football, basketball and baseball players as viable candidates. Hockey players, maybe.

One problem -- most ex-jocks tend to be Republicans. Sen. Bill Bradley is a notable exception. Maybe it's the legacy of St. Reagan's turn as George "The Gipper" Gipp in the movies. That forever tainted jocks making the transformation from gridiron to backroom politics.

Is there something about sports that makes conservatives? When I think of sports heroes, I think of the hard-chargers and risk-takers. I think of Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods and Joe Namath and Pete Maravich and Dan Issel and Roberto Clemente and Muhammad Ali and John Elway and George Brett and so on. Champions.

Maybe it's the big money of pro sports that makes conservatives. If you make a million dollars a minute, are you going to be radical in your politics? Can you afford it? Probably not.

I wish Mr. Gosar the best. But I do think that Ms. Petersen is going to take the primary and be our candidate for the November election.

What are her chances against Colin Simpson or Matt Mead? Not good. Simpson and Mead are moderates, as is Petersen. When two moderates face off in the Governor's race, the Republican always wins. Repub voters outnumber Dems in Wyoming two to one.

However, when the Dem is a smart moderate with great Wyoming creds (Dave Freudenthal), and is going up against a cuckoo Repub, as happened in both 2006 and 2010, the Dem wins.

I do not put Rita Meyer in the cuckoo category. She is savvy and may end up as the Republican candidate. But Ron Micheli is definitely in cloud cuckoo land. Right winger. Tea Party fave. Wants to cut state government by 40 percent.

Peterson can beat him in the race.

I'm a confirmed Dem. But I could see myself voting for Simpson, possibly Mead. But there is much danger in a Petersen/Micheli face-off. We live in strange times. Anything can happen.

That's why many Dems will switch to the Republican side in August to vote against Micheli. Think about it...

Great news for Cheyenne locavores

This comes from Cindy Ridenour:

Summer Farmers' Market Season officially opens on Tuesday, June 8 as the Wyoming Fresh Market opens.

Wyoming Fresh Market

3:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Tuesdays, June 8 - October 12

Yellowstone Road in front of Sutherland's

"Eat Local. It's thousands of miles fresher."

Opening the Season with:

Fresh Garden Produce,

Grassfed Beef and Bison, Ready-to-eat BBQ, Smoked Salmon and Chowders,

Gourmet Pasta,

Baked Goods,

Local Jams, Honey, and Peanut Butter Spread,

Garden bedding plants and hanging baskets, house plants,

Natural Body Care Products

To come in the following weeks:

Tortillas and Chips, Salsas,

Grassfed Lamb,

Free-range eggs,

Colorado Tree Fruits, starting with cherries - perhaps end of June,

More Fresh Produce and body care vendors,

and more...

Dem Gov hopeful Pete Gosar participates in Energy Expo Gubernatorial Debate

From a press release:

Democratic Party Gubernatorial candidate Pete Gosar will be in Casper on Tuesday, June 8, 2010, at the Democratic Men’s Meeting. The meeting will take place at the Parkway Plaza at noon.

Pete will also attend the Energy Expo Gubernatorial Debate in Gillette. The debate is being
held at from 4-6 p.m. at the Cam-Plex Multi Event Facility.

Pete will be available at both events to answer questions and discuss issues facing Wyoming.

Contact: Pete Gosar, 307.760-3219, gosar4gov@gmail.com

Tales about Heart Mountain -- and the "Octopus in the Freezer"

Photo shows the interpretive walk on the site of the Heart Mountain Relocation Camp between Cody and Powell. Photo taken by Lee Ann Roripaugh on her family's tour of the site yesterday before a presentation at the WWInc conference. (from Facebook)

Lee Ann and Bob Roripaugh presented a fantastic reading last night at the WWInc conference in Cody. They took turns reading poems from Lee Ann's book, Beyond Heart Mountain. Readings were accompanied by slides from the internment camp, provided by Dave Reetz of Heart Mountain Foundation. Very moving.

Lee Ann read the poetic monologues that were in women's voices. Bob, her father, read the men's voices.

Lee Ann is Bob's daughter. Bob is Wyoming Poet Laureate Emeritus and retired University of Wyoming professor. Lee Ann teaches in the creative writing program at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion.

Lee Ann talked about growing up in Laramie. Back then, the university town was very, very white -- still is. Life wasn't easy for a shy non-white kid. Her mother, Yoshiko, met Bob when he was serving with U.S. Army occupation forces in Japan.

Bob grew up in west Texas where WWII bomber crews trained at the air base outside town. Meanwhile, in Japan, Yoshiko was a school girl whose town was pounded regularly by those very bombers.

In Japan, they met and fell in love and married and moved to the U.S. Bob taught English and wrote about his experiences. Bob's story "Peach Boy" was published by the Atlantic Monthly in 1958. This led to enquiries by editors. According to Bob, one letter asked if he was working on a novel. "I told him I was, even though I was really working on a book of short stories."

This led to a published novel. It's also a useful tip for short story writers. If an editor or agent ever asks if you're working on a novel, say yes.

In Cody on June 4, 2010, Bob read about one of the internment camp's No-No Boy who refused to serve in the U.S. Army and was sent away from his family to another camp. He read about the Isei building a mini-internment camp for the horned toads he found around the camp.

Lee Ann read in the voice of the camp nurse. She read about a Nisei woman whose son interrogates Japanese prisoners of war. She read in the voice of a young girl who has to listen to the snores of the old lady on one side of her thin barrack's walls (they don't go all the way to the ceiling) and the couple on the other side who fight and then make strange noises like the hooting of owls.

Each of the writers then read samples of their own work. Bob read a part of "Peach Boy" and the poem "Yellow Willow," both based on his experience in Japan. Lee Ann read some poems about growing up in Laramie: "pearls," "Antelope Jerky" and "Octopus in the Freezer." I've heard Lee Ann read "Octopus" before. But it was good to hear again because it alternates between horrifying and hilarious. Lee Ann's mom had bought an octopus at a Denver market and it was stored in the freezer. Lee Ann heard bumps in the night and the clanging of a furnace and thought it was the octopus banging around in the freezer. Not sure which of Lee Ann's three books this is in, but buy them all and pay special attention to "Octopus." A new twist on childhood fears of a monster hiding under the bed.

Lee Ann, Bob, Max McCoy and two literary agents will be conducting workshops and presentations all day today. More info at http://www.wyowriters.org/

Wyoming writers in High Plains Book Awards

Two very talented -- and wildly different -- writers from Wyoming have books as finalists for the High Plains Book Awards.

Samuel Western's book, A Random Census of Souls: Prose Poems (Daniel & Daniel Publishers), is one of three finalists in the poetry category for the awards. Sam lives in Sheridan and has won a creative writing fellowship from the Wyoming Arts Council.

Info about the book:

Prose poems built of strong narratives, keen descriptions, and lively characters Packed with vivid and meaningful detail, these gemlike prose poems bear witness to lives both static and changing, set in well-defined contemporary and historic scenes. The stories reveal real people and their troubles, joys, and desires. The writing is bold and full of social consequence, whether set in among Wyoming high prairie, New England hardscrabble farm, or the metropolis of Ancient Rome.

About the Author:

Samuel Western has served in the Swedish merchant marine and worked as a commercial fisherman, contract logger, longshoreman, and hunting guide. He is the author of the book Pushed Off the Mountain, Sold Down the River: Wyoming's Search for Its Soul, and he has published poems and pieces in The Economist, Wall Street Journal, LIFE, Sports Illustrated, High Country News, Northern Lights, and Owen Wister Review. He holds an MFA from the University of Virginia -- where he also taught English -- and is the recipient of a Wyoming Literary Fellowship. He lives and writes in Sheridan, Wyoming.

Robert Greer's novel Spoon is one of three finalists in the fiction category. Bob has a ranch outside of Wheatland. He may be the only African-American physician best-selling novelist rancher in Platte County. But that's just a guess. Here's some info from Bob's web site:

Make time for SPOON, an engrossing literary novel from Robert Greer about a half-black, half-Indian man searching for his roots. Arcus Witherspoon comes to work for the Darleys as a ranch hand, but he ends up becoming a friend and mentor to their son, T.J., and a resolute ally when a coal company begins to pressure the Darleys to sell. Set in Montana's ranch land, this is a story about family, identity, and as always for Robert Greer, about our land and way of life in the West. A moving, memorable, and suspenseful tale.

Read an interview with Robert here

Fine summer reading.

Hallucinating on the road to Cody, WY ("Visions of Cody?")

Arrived in Cody yesterday as the sun set. We traveled in a caravan from Cheyenne. Seven-hour trip. Gorgeous scenery. The clouds were playing tricks with us, high-altitude winds carving them into a shark, the number two, a wagon pulled by a kid and -- according to my women traveling companions -- schlongs. Over beers, they also spoke of phallic rock formations. Perhaps seven hours on the road brings on hallucinations?

I didn't see any of the latter. One cloud looked like a Titan 3C rocket, another like a giant squid. But I was driving and had very little interest in cloud gazing which might cause me to drive into a shapely rock formation. And I was involved in listening to a book on CD, "The Spies of Warsaw" by Alan Furst. Read several of Furst's books but never listened to one. The reader (must get his name) has great facility for voices, delineating them with just a change in pitch or a bit of an accent. This is the unabridged version, but I may many more miles to go on this trip and will be able to finish this one and maybe another.

"The Schlongs of Wyoming." Enough of that...

The Wyoming Writers, Inc., board meets this morning to talk about budgets, last-minute conference details, elections and all those boring but crucial board details. The conference has a great line-up this year and it will be an exciting weekend.

More conference posts later....

Looking for a real test for ADHD

From the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/health/01attention.html?hpw

Who's running on the side of the Democrats?

On Friday, Wyoming Democrats' Chair Leslie Peterson filed to run for governor.

Tuesday afternoon, she'll announce her candidacy in the Wyoming Capitol Rotunda in Cheyenne.

Friday's news surprised me. I haven't met Ms. Peterson but have followed her press releases and policy statements for the past year. Feisty and well-written, possibly with the help of Party HQ. That's what PR people are for (I know -- I've been one).

As far as I can call tell, she has several strikes going into the primary. One, she's from Teton County, land of second-home Coasters, retired Republicans of dubious ethics (Dick Cheney et. al.) trust-fund babies, spectacular scenery, artists, writers, more Democrats (including Gary Trauner and Ted Ladd) than is usually permitted in this one-party state, and more tourists than residents from now until Labor Day.

Two, she's a woman. Wyoming is The Equality State, you might say. Surely it's had at least one woman gov. Yes it has -- and don't call me Shirley. Nellie Tayloe Ross (D) served as governor of Wyoming from 1925-27.

Since then, it's been a long dry spell for women governors. Kathy Karpan ran on the Dem ticket in 1994 but lost. I'm not sure if women have waged campaigns (Dem or Repub or other) since then, but none have come close to being elected.

At the same time, we've had six-term U.S. Rep. Barbara Cubin and current U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis. Both are diehard Repubs. So, Wyoming is not allergic to voting for women in Congress, but they don't like women running for Gov.

That's the bad news. The good news is that Ms. Peterson is a Wyoming native. She was born in Lovell, a conservative farming community on the northeast side of the Big Horn Basin. She graduated from University of Wyoming. Here's part of her bio:

"Like a lot of us in Wyoming, I've had broad experience and done a lot of different things to get along" she said. Petersen was born in Lovell, grew up in Dubois and graduated from Dubois High in a class of six. She attended the University of Wyoming in the 1958-59 school year and was on the rodeo team and was selected for the Spurs honor society. She grew up on the CM Ranch, one of the oldest dude ranches in Wyoming and also worked in the family hunting business in the fall. Her father, Les Shoemaker was the first President of the Wyoming Outfitters' Association. Petersen moved to Jackson in 1975 and her husband of 34 years is Henry (Hank) Phibbs, a Jackson attorney, who grew up in Casper and is currently serving as a Teton County Commissioner. They have two grown sons, Travis Petersen and daughter-in-law Kristi, of Wilson, and Monte Petersen of Pagosa Springs, CO.

Pretty good credentials. Wyoming likes its natives, even its Democrats such as Dave Freudenthal and Mike Sullivan. And they're both lawyers! Go figure.

More possible good news -- there are four strong candidates running for Gov on the Repub side. They might beat themselves up this summer and the right-wing candidate Ron Micheli might end up as the candidate. Wyoming tends to be more moderate than other mid-American red states such as Idaho and Utah and even Oklahoma. Once Micheli's wacko Tea Party credentials come to light, a "Freudenthal Democrat" might sneak in and win the governor's race.

Welcome to the fight, Ms. Peterson. We may yet dare to hope for victory in November.

Get more info at http://www.peopleforpeterson.com/

Wyoming Writers, Inc. gather in Cody

On June 3, I leave for the Wyoming Writers, Inc., conference in Cody.

It's a great gathering of writers and poets from throughout the state (and beyond) who travel many miles to attend workshops and meet with editors and agents and read their work and listen to the work of others. There's also some catching up to do with people you see only once a year.

This year's conference features the Wyoming father-daughter writing team of Bob Roripaugh and Lee Ann Roripaugh. Bob is Wyoming Poet Laureate Emeritus and retired from teaching at UW. He's mainly known for his poetry but he was first published as a novelist.

Lee Ann is Bob and Yoshiko Roripaugh's daughter. She began college as a musician and ended with an M.F.A. in creative writing. One of her mentors was the great Yusef Komunyakaa. Lee Ann's first book, "Beyond Heart Mountain," won the National Poetry Series Prize. It features poems told in the persona of internees at Heart Mountain Relocation Camp. Located between Cody and Powell, the camp was the third-largest city in the state from 1942-46, home (?) to more than 10,000 Japanese-Americans moved from the West Coast during the hysteria following the Pearl Harbor attack.

The Heart Mountain Foundation is building an interpretive center at the camp, now a National Historic Site. Wyoming Writers, Inc., wanted to hold an event at the center but it won't have its debut until August. Instead, the Roripaugh family will talk about Heart Mountain at the conference's lead-off session at 7 p.m. on Friday, June 4. A book signing will follow, and then an open mike reading. Saturday and Sunday are full of workshops and readings and schmoozing. All events are at the Holiday Inn in Cody.

Come on up and join us.

We are not weinies. We are Dems.

Are Wyoming Democrats weinies?

No. We take our licks, persevering against overwhelming odds. Repubs outnumber us 2-to-1. At gatherings, we often admit that we are Democrats, risking public humiliation. In 2008, we made thousands of phone calls and knocked on many doors to utter the name "Barack Obama." Very few of us were cursed at or beat up for our troubles.

But there were signs at tonight's Laramie County Democrats' meeting that we're not the champs we think we are.

Bryon Lee is Wyoming's Organizing for Obama chair, the only full-time paid Obama person within 97,818 square miles. He's from Gillette and now lives in Sheridan. He's been traveling the state to find Democrats grumbling about Obama and Gov. Freudenthal and lack of Dem candidates and even the horrible spring weather which must be Obama's fault. Sometimes he arrives at meetings to find tumbleweeds rolling through an empty room. A sad state of affairs.

He and six like-minded Dems waded into a Sheridan rally of some 250 Tea Party people a few weeks ago. They were hoping to serve as an antidote to the usual fawning media attention give to teabaggers.

They got it. Name-calling -- commies! socialists! When Bryon applauded the mention of Obama's name, he was shoved by a Tea Party goon. "You assaulted me," Bryon said. The menacing crowd closed in. Fortunately there was a reporter there and the incident ended up on the front page of the Sheridan Press.

The moral of this story -- nothing happens if you don't show up. Also -- don't let the teabaggers have all the fun.

Speaking of showing up -- Organizing for America is holding a meeting Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Windflower Room of the Laramie County Public Library in Cheyenne. Bryon will be there to talk about organizing for the 2010 elections.

The weinie issue continued when Ken McCauley spoke. Ken is an Air Force combat veteran and now flies big passenger planes for a living. He put together a presentation on national security because he was upset about wording in the 2010 Wyoming Democrats platform approved at last weekend's state convention in Casper. Ken distributed a handout that looked to be from PowerPoint (I'll ask him if it's available online and provide a link to it).

WyoDems adopted the following phrase in its platform:

"Wyoming Democrats support a foreign policy that reflects and promotes the principles of freedom, human rights and compassion without the use of force."

I'm a peacenik and even I couldn't believe that a phrase like this ended up in the party platform. I spent most of the 2004 state convention trying to get "U.S. Out of Iraq" planks in the WyoDems' platform. I received a smattering of support but the votes were overwhelmingly against the efforts. Maybe it was my Dennis Kucinich T-shirt that turned off the John Kerry multitudes. Maybe it was too soon to openly oppose a war that hadn't yet turned into its "extremely ugly" phase.

At last week's Casper convention, Ken tried to replace the platform statement with a hastily-worded one of his own:

"Wyoming democrats support the suppression of domestic and international terrorism that threatens U.S. security. We support the promotion of stable world democracy, safeguarding nuclear material, and worldwide reduction of WMDs."

His suggestion was ignored by the conventioneers.

So he put together his presentation and tonight offered a revised version, borrowing wording from Pres. Obama's recent speech to West Point cadets:

"Laramie County Democrats support combating the root causes that lead to terrorism, and we support the Obama administration's efforts to disrupt and dismantle known terrorist organizations so that legitimate and peaceful leadership can prevail in areas that spawn terrorism."

There was a spirited discussion. A motion was made to adopt the statement as a resolution. It passed unanimously.

We are not weinies. We are Dems.

Michael Pollan chronicles "food movement"

Looking forward to reading this (from a Grist column by Bonnie Azab Powell):

In what is ostensibly a five-book review for the June 10 New York Review of Books, journalist Michael Pollan has an epic essay charting the emergence and character of the food movement. Or, as he puts it, "movements." They are unified, for now at least, by little more than the recognition that industrial food production is in need of reform, "because its social/environmental/public health/animal welfare/gastronomic costs are too high." (Pollan, of course, has been indispensable to the rise of this movement, even though he omits his 2006 best-seller, The Omnivore's Dilemma, from his list of its catalysts -- among them Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation and Marion Nestle's Food Politics.)