Talking about Netroots Nation Monday night at Laramie County Democrats meeting in Cheyenne

Van Jones

If I can get my laptop (and myself) to function properly, I will be showing a few clips from happenings at the recent Netroots Nation conference during the monthly meeting of the Laramie County Democrats at the IBEW Union Hall, 810 Fremont St., Cheyenne, on Monday, June 27, 7:30 p.m.

Although I have an entire composition book filled with notes, I thought that a few vids might be a lot more fun than a reading a batch of my scribbles from the event. I am especially fond of Jill Sobule's new song about the Tea Party that she debuted at the conference. There's a rousing speech by Van Jones and a wry, deadpan address by Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota, Minneapolis hometown boy. And if we get bored, we can always look at footage of Wingnut Andrew Breitbart trying to crash NN11 because The Right Online conference across the street was so bloody boring.

So come on out. All are welcome. It's free, although LarCoDems' treasurer Gary Roadifer may badger you for spare change. Sometimes we have cookies. Get more info at www.laramiecountydemocrats.org

Another great photo from Laramie County Dems' revel at Cheyenne SuperDay!

Wyoming Organizing for Obama Director Bryon Lee (left) and  Out in Wyoming blogger Jeran Artery (right) flank Pres. Obama at SuperDay! in Cheyenne. A great time was had by all.

It's no accident that the Wyoming State Seal features "Equal Rights" front and center

A colorful rendering of the Wyoming State Seal is being embedded in the new plaza in front of the State Capitol Building. On Friday, I stopped to watch the installation. Joe from southwestern Virginia and Joe from Cheyenne were supervising the work. From afar, the seal looks magnificent. During the legislative session, I had seen an artists's rendering of the finished project.

This is a major improvement over the aging plaza that was in place this time last year. In Cheyenne, we always measure time by Cheyenne Frontier Days -- "The Daddy of 'Em All." It's our version of the New Year's celebration. The year ends or begins with CFD -- not quite sure which. Anyway, the construction barriers and construction crews and the big box surrounding the Chief Washakie statue will all be removed by July 22 to make way for the influx of tourists.

What they will see is instructive. The plaza will be flanked by statues of Nellie Tayloe Ross, the first woman governor of a U.S. state, and Chief Washakie, the legendary leader of the Shoshones. Wyoming may be the only U.S. state to celebrate the contributions of a suffragist and a Native American chief in front of its Capitol Building. You might call this a concrete representation of the stat'e slogan, "Equal Rights," that also is part of the state seal. Has Wyoming lived up to this clarion call for justice? No. Shoshone and Arapaho youth on the sprawling Wind River Reservation continue to commit suicide at alarming rates. The dropout stats for Rez youth are the worst in the state and the unemployment rate is 70 percent. Women nationally earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man. In Wyoming, women earn 67 cents for every dollar paid to guys (such as me). The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported these figures in May.

But the state seal sounds the call for justice. Here's a description of the state seal from the official State of Wyoming site:

The Great Seal of the State of Wyoming was adopted by the second legislature in 1893, revised by the sixteenth legislature in 1921. The two dates on the Great Seal, 1869 and 1890 commemorate the organization of the Territorial government and Wyoming's admission to the Union. The draped figure in the center holds a staff from which flows a banner bearing the words, "Equal Rights," and symbolizes the political status women have always enjoyed in Wyoming. The male figures typify the livestock and mining industries of the state. The number 44 on the five-pointed star signifies that Wyoming was the 44th state admitted to the Union. On top of the pillars rest lamps from which burn the Light of Knowledge. Scrolls encircling the two pillars bear the words, Oil, Mines, Livestock, and Grain, four of Wyoming's major industries.

No mention of the area's original inhabitants, but we'll work on that. The "draped figure" is obviously a woman. The two men flanking the "Equal Rights" figure are a miner and a herder or a cowboy. It celebrates Wyoming's status as the 44th state admitted to The Union. It celebrates knowledge. It celebrates industry, farming and ranching. It celebrates working people.

The miniscule photo above doesn't do it justice, especially when compared to the large state seal that will be the centerpiece of the plaza. 

As I talked to Joe and Joe at the Capitol, the Tea Party was holding a rally on the publicly-funded and maintained Capitol grass. The Tea Party doesn't believe in taxes except for war-making. Not sure what they think of the Capitol renovation. This is just the first stage of a major overhaul of the historic structure, inside and out. Tea Partiers maintain that they pay too many taxes. Most of them drove to the rally public roadways, although some may have beamed in from Planet Tea Party. Many of them are Medicare-eligible, judging by their ages, although maybe they are doctrinaire enough to refuse those benefits which they contributed to all their lives. Some Tea Partiers want to revoke the 10th and 14 amendments of the U.S. Constitution. Some even go so far as to advocate secession.

But the part of the state seal that seems to rankle them the most concerns "equal rights." The Tea Party crowd hates those "illegal aliens," such as the ones that Sen. John McCain says started the Arizona wildfires. The Tea Party crowd loves Arizona's racist SB1070 law and wants Wyoming to have one just like it. There was one proposed in the most recent legislature but it went down in flames. HB94, according to the Equality State Policy Center, "would have led to racial profiling, split up Wyoming families with documented and undocumented members, and hamper police by drawing off resources to enforce federal immigration law." The measure was killed in committee. The Legislative Management Council rejected a move to fund an interim study on the immigration issue. Since the Republicans control all legislative business, it is safe to assume that some Republicans take our "Equality State" motto seriously.

That also applies to the same-sex marriage issue. Live-and-let-live Republicans killed HB74 -- the "Validity of Marriages" bill. This happened only after pressure by live-and-let-live Wyomingites, gay and straight.

The next Tea Party rally will probably be on the completed plaza. It's a public space, and publicly-funded at that. Protesters will stand right on the state seal that promotes equal rights and justice for all (A-L-L) and education and the Union and workers and they will promulgate ideas antithetical to those things we hold dear.

Thanks, Joe and Joe and all the Joes and Janes who continue to build Wyoming and make it a great place to live. It takes hard work and eternal vigilance to keep it that way. 

Letter to the editor: WY Congressional delegation hypocrites on health care votes and quotes

Republican Cowgirl Cynthia Lummis doesn't know her Medicare donut hole from a hole in the ground

I volunteered at the Laramie County Democrats booth today with Seth King. Seth just graduated from Central High School and is an active local voice for progressive politics. He and his cohorts are forming a College Democrats chapters at Laramie County Community College this fall. Read some of Seth's thoughts on our regressive Congressional delegation and their hypocritical votes on health care reform. Yes, Dr. Sen. Barrasso, we are talking about you! You too, Richy-Rich Gal Cynthia Lummis! And Sen. Enzi too! Go here to read the letter.

Local Democrats out in force for SuperDay!

Laramie County Democrats' state committeeman Forrest King, Pres. Barack Obama yours truly at SuperDay!

Laramie County Democrats were out in force today at SuperDay! to sign up new members of the county party and commitment cards for Pres. Obama's 2012 re-election. Much fun was had by all, including Pres. Obama, who wasn't actually there but still wore a smile. I sported full war paint, including a mustache painted on at the Cheyenne Old-Fashioned Melodrama booth and a "Defy the Hate" slogan from the Defy the Hate anti-bullying campaign.

A bit windy as Chris (2008 Hilary Clinton alternate delegate to state convention) hugs Barack Obama

LarCoDems also sponsored a bean bag toss and impromptu hula-hoop lessons. Lots of people stopped by to sign up or chat or toss the bean bags. We had a prime spot in front of the main stage. To our left was the Cheyenne Family YMCA with all of its great family exercise and health programs. To our right were the melodrama folks, some in full costume -- and the others wearing new 2011 melodrama T-shirts. Next to them  was a booth staffed with local Shakespearean players.

A fair amount o progressive hula-hooping went on at the Laramie County Democrats' booth

It was a day devoted to creativity, to the life-affirming values most of us hold dear. As always, the City of Cheyenne Parks & Rec Department did a fantastic job. Thanks to thew main sponsor, Frontier Refining, home to some great union jobs. Fuel from the refinery finds its way to area gas stations such as the on at King Soopers on Dell Range. Local people, local fuel, local jobs.

Laramie County Democrats' Chair Linda Stowers and volunteer Seth King (with new banner in background)

And at SuperDay!, local fun and local political action. Local food too. Kiwanis was cooking up bratwurst lunches for $4 apiece.

Arizona still in the news for all the wrong reasons

The Daily Show - Aliens vs. Senator
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Arizona's SB1070 anti-immigrant bill was one of the major topics at last week's Netroots Nation conference in Minneapolis.

Arizona was back in the news earlier this week when Rapidly Aging Crank Sen. John McCain alleged that the state's raging wildland fires were caused by "illegal aliens." He may have been referring to undocumented workers from Gdansk or Singapore or even Tralfamadore, but we doubt it. In Arizona, "illegal aliens" or "illegal immigrants" or just "illegals" always refers to Hispanics. McCain is now denying he said such an incendiary thing.

Arizona is in the news this morning. An online activist group has hacked Arizona law enforcement files. Here's part of a press release issued by lulzsecurity.com

We are releasing hundreds of private intelligence bulletins, training manuals, personal email correspondence, names, phone numbers, addresses and passwords belonging to Arizona law enforcement. We are targeting AZDPS specifically because we are against SB1070 and the racial profiling anti-immigrant police state that is Arizona. 

The documents classified as "law enforcement sensitive", "not for public distribution", and "for official use only" are primarily related to border patrol and counter-terrorism operations and describe the use of informants to infiltrate various gangs, cartels, motorcycle clubs, Nazi groups, and protest movements. 

 Every week we plan on releasing more classified documents and embarassing personal details of military and law enforcement in an effort not just to reveal their racist and corrupt nature but to purposefully sabotage their efforts to terrorize communities fighting an unjust "war on drugs".  

Hackers of the world are uniting and taking direct action against our common oppressors - the government, corporations, police, and militaries of the world. See you again real soon! ;D

This is a new -- and possibly dangerous -- escalation in the war against some of the nutcase legislation that has been issuing from state legislatures. Anti-immigrant legislation has been very popular after SB1070. Right-wingers tried to ram through a bill in the most recent Wyoming Legislature. It failed.

I don't have the skills to be a hacker. I thought that wingnut trolls might want to know that. However, we all need to come up with new and subversive ways to reverse the Radical Right tide. It's a big Internet and it awaits our creativity.

Testing 1-2-3 in Pinedale

Shotgun Party

Summer is festival time in Wyoming. The Pinedale Fine Arts Council sponsors the SoundCheck festival this weekend. Three bands, all with Austin connections, are featured.

The Pinedale Fine Arts Council will be presenting the fourth annual SoundCheck mini-music fest on June 25, 2011 in the American Legion Park (5 p.m., free) in Pinedale. SoundCheck was first conceived four years ago following PFAC's purchase of a new sound system via grant monies from the Wyoming Cultural Trust. The inaugural event was a hit so it became an annual festival with attendance growing each year. This is sure to be the music event of the summer so mark the date on the calendar, dust off your cooler and camp chairs and come listen to some great music!

Notice that this event has its roots in seed money from the Wyoming Cultural Trust, with funding provided by the Wyoming State Legislature. Every arts event in Wyoming is like a pie in the face to the regressive elements which would shut down free expression and artistic entrepreneurship and creative placemaking and just plain fun. Support these events, and let your legislators know that you support their efforts at making Wyoming a better and more progressive place.

Library's Maurice Sendak exhibit closes June 24

One more day to see this cool exhibit at the Laramie County Public Library in Cheyenne:

IN A NUTSHELL: THE WORLDS OF MAURICE SENDAK EXHIBIT

This exhibition explores the influence of the Old and New worlds in the work of renowned illustrator Maurice Sendak, best known for children’s books, “Where the Wild Things Are,” and “In the Night Kitchen.” (All ages, Entrance Gallery)

UPDATE: Wyoming Progressives -- you may be alone!

My previous post was all about the Wide, Wide World of Online Progressives. I wanted to reassure my fellow Wyoming Liberals/Democrats/Progressives that there is an ever-widening online world at our disposal and that we all should make haste to use it.

Global Internet resources are one thing. But what about Wyoming online resources? What about resources on the ground for our far-flung folks in Crook and Big Horn counties?

I talked yesterday about some fine prog resources that focus on Wyoming issues and dilemmas. You can see many of them on the blog feed on the right sidebar. I invite other progressive bloggers who post regularly to drop me a line and I will happily add you.

We are all painfully aware how few resources are available on the ground. Last night at an Organizing for America planning session at the IBEW Union Hall in Cheyenne, OFA's Bryon Lee outlined a 2012 election strategy that focused on seven crucial counties. I didn't ask him for the list but I know that Laramie County is on the list and neighboring Platte and Converse counties are not. Platte County has a particularly active group of Democrats. Their web site is worth checking out. Wheaterville does a great job of keeping track of wacky activities in Wheatland and Glendo and Guernsey. Natrona County Democrats are organizing to oust the most Tea Party-prone of their legislators which, unfortunately, is all of them.

But Bryon Lee is it as far as the OFA structure. His intern Hannah was assisting as last night's meeting in Cheyenne. The state party is directed by Bill Luckett and just added Dana Walton (sp?) as field director. Congratulations to Dana.

So those of us who have active county parties are in the minority. On the plus side, that leaves many opportunities to get involved. The Wyoming Democratic Party features a list of county party meetings and contact info. Once you volunteer, you may still be alone but you will be too busy to notice, what with canvassing and phone banks and leafletting at the county fair. You can always head down the road to Cheyenne and attend Super Day this Saturday and seek out the Laramie County Democrats' booth -- I'll be there signing up people for Obama in 2012. You can also attend the monthly meeting of Laramie County Democrats on Monday, June 27, 7:30 p.m. I will give a short talk on my experiences at Netroots Nation 11.

And you always know where I am on the web...

Wyoming Progressives -- you are not alone!

One of the most encouraging aspects of Netroots Nation was this: we are not alone. Lots of progressive bloggers out there -- lots of progressives, period! As one speaker said, NN is the annual occasion to recharge and then charge back into the fray at the local level. Netroots bloggers are globally connected but are most effective at acting locally. Where have I heard that before? I learned the tricks of the blogging trade from my fellow bloggers at 4&20 blackbirds and Left in the West in Montana, and from the Kossacks at Daily Kos.

Here's an invitation to progressive bloggers in Wyoming. Get connected with one another. I was a lone wolf for years. I'm a writer, after all, and an independent-minded westerner. Only lately have I started reaching out to my Wyoming brethren and sistren. We need to connect with on another. This blog has a news feed from active WY bloggers such as Out in the West and Blowing in the Wyoming Wind and Equality State Watch.

Next step: start planning for Netroots Nation 12 in Providence, R.I. Democracy for America, America's Voice, Presente and Sojourners. DFA will begin voting next spring for scholarship candidates. Vote early and often, as you did for me. And start saving now for a plane ticket.

Netroots Nation has many sponsors, including SEIU (my union), MoveOn.org, the National Education Association, LiUNA!, AFL-CIO, and a host of others. Hundreds of people contributed to the DFA scholarship fund. I contributed to next year's fund. As I wrote my check, other people at the closing keynote session slipped credit card slips and $20 bills into envelopes as the hat was passed. A generous bunch. We were thinking about how much we got out of this gathering and how energizing it would be for others.

NN12 will be June 7-10. We already know that our presidential candidate will be Barack Obama. But who will be the Republican choice? Whoever it is, he or she will not have our best interests in mind on the long campaign trail to the November elections. He (Mitt Romney?) or she (Michelle Bachmann?) will be actively working to kill union jobs, curtail voting rights, privatize Social Security, dismantle Medicare and Medicaid, and expand tax cuts for corporations and millionaires. Sounds like an anti-American agenda to me.

NN12 will be exciting and energizing. I will be there. Will you?

Wyoming Tribune-Eagle: "Some angry about Wyoming's High Plains Initiative"

Land-use planning? We don't need no U.N.-sponsored Agenda 21 land-use planning in Platte and Goshen counties! Read article here.

Wyoming Organizing for America meeting June 22 at IBEW Hall

From Bryon Lee, Wyoming Organizing for America:

Cheyenne meeting for Organizing for America, Wednesday, June 22, 6 p.m., IBEW Union Hall, 810 Fremont St.

I would like to invite you to a Grassroots Planning Session being hosted by Organizing for America. The purpose of this meeting is to:

1. Discuss the President's accomplishments

2. Highlight volunteer work and hear their successes (at Juneteenth, phone banks, on Facebook, etc.)

3. Create constituency outreach goals for Laramie County (nearly 12,000 Democrats and nearly 800 Obama supporting individuals that want to help)

4. Define and then construct neighborhood teams (work within our precincts)

5. Develop and implement our next steps in making the Laramie Co. Democrats a strong political force that wins elections

If you have any thoughts, questions, or ideas, please feel free to email me or call me at (307) 752-5972.

Thanks, and I hope to see you all tomorrow.

Bryon Lee

Organizing for America - Wyoming

State Director

(307) 752-5972

http://www.facebook.com/ofa.wy

Jill Sobule: "They say they want their America back, WTF do they mean?"

Communing with "just folks" at Netroots Nation 11

At Netroots Nation, I was surprised by the people I met who were not bloggers and not affiliated with a progressive organization. It was the biggest crowd ever for NN's sixth year, with attendance of somewhere between 2,400-2,500.

There was Kathleen, a primary care physician from Minneapolis who, after 17 years, gave up full-time doctoring for life as a neighborhood activist. She has this idea that a neighborhood of no more than 200 homes can support itself with food, pay-as-you-go healthcare and education. A school or community center would be the hub of the neighborhood. I did not tell Kathleen this, but this seemed like a conservative's wet dream. Neighborhood schools. Mom and pop grocery store. Front porches and backyard gardens. And then I realized that this type of forward-thinking approach is opposed by Tea Party types as Leftist social engineering prompted by the scary U.N. "Agenda 21." Good luck, Kathleen! Leftie neighborhood organizers are the new conservatives!

I met a 50-something woman from southwest Kansas who came to Netroots Nation 11 just to hobnob with other Liberals. It's Kansas, after all. The legislature just killed its state arts agency and thinks that creationism should replace real science in school curriculum. I didn't catch her name but wish her all the luck in the world. She will need it.

I've already written about Pamela and her search for progressive policies in northern Virginia. She is a lifelong Catholic who attends mass in D.C. rather that putting up with the condescending anti-Liberal homilies from the narrow-minded Right Wing of the priestly fraternity. At least she can take the Metro to church.

There was the woman from North Dakota who was volunteering for the West Virginia organization working against mountaintop removal. She comes from the land of wind and cold and fracking and bad air. Sounds a lot like Laramie County, Wyoming.

There was the researcher from a San Antonio firm that does human testing for new medications. Not as scary as it sounds. Especially since his cause is revamping the U.S. electoral system. This was his fifth Netroots Nation conference. We rode the Light Rail together to the airport. It's one hell of a publicly-funded government transportation system. I am looking forward to the day when Denver's Light Rail extends to the airport on the eastern prairie.

It always comes down to this -- people, just people.

Outing ALEC legislators in Wyoming and elsewhere

From Daily Kos

Bloggers at Netroots Nation 11 had many discussions about our crazed state legislatures. We know that many of the wildest and most anti-human bills come from ALEC -- the Koch Brothers-funded American Legislative Exchange Council.

We can go down the list of similar bills promoted in our states, especially those in the Rocky Mountain West. Anti-Obamacare. Check. Anti-immigrant. Check. Anti-labor. Check. Anti-public education. Check. Anti-women. Check. Anti-choice. Check. Anti-reason. Check, check and double-check.

ALEC lobbyists write the bills and pass them on to state legislators during sessions at its annual convention. This year, that convention will be in New Orleans in August (great choice, ALEC planners -- Jackson Hole would have been a much better choice for a dog days gathering -- and you could party at Dick Cheney's mountain redoubt). Anti-ALEC and Koch Brothers demonstrations are planned. And a concerted effort is in the works to out those legislators who are lackeys of the Far Right Rich. These state legislators say that they only have the wishes of their district's voters at heart. At the same time, they travel on the Koch Brothers dime to a national convention where shady Right Wing Bagmen slip them briefcases filled with boilerplate bills.

Sounds weird, doesn't it? A scene from a Robert Stone conspiracy flick? We wish....

Much more will be coming out on this topic during the next few months. Stay tuned to your local progressive blogger.

Sources: See Bob Sloan's post today on Daily Kos about ALEC and a model of a petition that can be sent to your state legislators. Go to http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/06/20/986970/-Exposing-ALECupdate-3-+-Petition-for-your-State-Lawmakers?via=search

I shock Tea Party Slim: "You guys are geniuses!"

Tea Party Slim couldn't wait to hear what I learned at Netroots Nation. He was pounding on my door five minutes after I returned from my trip.

"Let me sum it up," I said. "You Tea Party types are (pause for effect) geniuses."

This knocked Slim for a loop. "Geniuses?"

There was a time when I would have responded the same way. Geniuses? The same guys and gals with kindergarten spelling skills, who get all their news from the Fox Propaganda Channel, who shout nonsense at Congressional town meetings?

"Let me rephrase. I'm a little groggy from five days of Liberal politics."

"God forbid." There was a strange light in Slim's eyes, as if imagining Life in Hell.

"The Tea Party movement is genius," I rephrased.

"The Tea Party movement?"

"The big picture, Slim. The motivating force behind all of you."

"You mean the Constitution? The dreams that motivated our founding fathers?"

I summarized a presentation by Van Jones. Van Jones is an environmental advocate, civil rights activist and attorney. He's black, too. All of these assets made him a conservative target in 2009 when Pres. Obama appointed him as point man for the Green Jobs Economy.

"Van Jones said that he spent the past year studying the Tea Party," I said. "His conclusion: there is no Tea Party. It has no director, no D.C. office, no receptionist. It's an open-source brand."

I could tell that Slim was wary, as if he was being lured led into some kind of Liberal trap.

"I know what that is," he said. "It' something anyone can use."

"That's right. A brand ready-made for every Right Wing group in the country. Anti-immigrant groups, Ayn Rand Book Groups, KKK..."

"There you go," he said. "We're not Right Wing, we're true conservatives. You Lefties want to paint us a radicals."

"Lefties?" I smiled. "You got me. Anyway, there were thousands of 'true conservative" organizations ready to adopt the Tea Party mantle. Those small groups became a large force of like-minded people pushing their politicians."

"And we won in 2010."

"Yes, and you want to win forever. But you can't."

A wry smile from Slim. "Wanna bet?"

"No offense, Slim, but you're old and white. I'm getting there too. Tea Party rallies feature gray hairs and gray beards and people with walkers."

"And we vote in large numbers."

"Agreed. But you and I are an endangered species, Slim. Sure, you elected people like Rick Scott and Scott Walker and hundreds of ultra-conservative legislators in Wyoming and all across the U.S."

"And a U.S. House majority -- don't forget that."

"How could I?" I shivered as my mind flashed on an image of Michelle Bachmann. "But your crazies are motivating us. Those Wisconsin legislators who bullied teachers and firefighters are being recalled. Young people are rising up. And progressives have open-source brands of our own."

"Name one."

"Rebuild the Dream, for one."

"And Van Jones is the big cheese?"

"No, he's just getting the ball rolling. Local groups in Wyoming can be a part of it and won't have to pay dues or kowtow to some vaunted leader. The Netroots will be a part of it too."

"Bloggers." Slim said it with scorn.

I decided to switch the narrative, a timeworn Republican trick that Dems are slowly beginning to learn. "How does it feel to be a trailblazer?"

He brightened. "So you're coming to our Open-Source Brand Tea Party rally Friday at the State Capitol?"

"I'm at every Tea Party rally, Slim. Usually I come to privately revel in my scorn. This time I'm attending for research."

"Research?"

"Sure. Van Jones said he wants his open-source brand to be as warm and fuzzy, kind and sharing, as the Tea Party. And as patriotic -- liberty and justice for all, eh?"

Slim rose and headed for the door. "I'll see Friday at noon. Better wear protective coloration and not that." He pointed at my red-white-and-blue Democracy for America T-shirt.

"You guys don't believe in democracy?"

"We're a republic -- as in Republican."

And I thought we were making progress, Slim and I. Maybe we will find common ground Friday at the Tea Party rally.

Photo: Van Jones says that the Tea Party could be a model for Liberal activists.

Dear Pops: Happy Father's Day from Netroots Nation

Thomas Reed Shay (a.k.a. Big Tom)

Alone on Father's Day. That occurred to me as I awoke this morning. I'm in Minneapolis, Chris is in Cheyenne, Kevin is in Tucson and Annie in Denver. By the end of the day, Chris and I will be together on Father's Day, which is important to both of us. Our kiddos have their own lives, as they should.

My father, Thomas Reed Shay, passed away eight years ago. Wonder what he would have made of the Netroots Nation conference? He turned my age of 60 in 1983, when we were knee-deep in the Reagan era. He was happy with the Reagan era and I was not. He was a moderate conservative, one of those people in the South who first went from Democratic to Republican for Nixon in 1968 and again in 1972. The beginnings of the vaunted Republican Southern Strategy, which culminated in two terms of Ronald Reagan chipping away at federal government programs and protections. And now look what we have.

My father would have found some common ground among the working people at Netroots Nation. He would have objected to some of the tough talk against Republicans. Not sure if he would have much in common with Tea Party Republicans such as Michelle Bachmann, a guest speaker at The Right Online conference held across the street from Netroots Nation. T.R. Shay was a William F. Buckley fan and watched him regularly. Free enterprise, hard work, small government. He believed in all of those principles. So do I.

He was the first in his family to go to college and he did it on the G.I. Bill after four years (two in Europe) as Government Issue (G.I.). He bought his first house with no down payment courtesy of the U.S. Government. He worked on government contracts for Martin-Marietta (now Lockheed-Martin) building ICBM missile silos across the West. Later, he worked on the space program with G.E. and NASA. Government programs.

He was a Florida state government employee (now an endangered species, thanks to wacky Republicans) and later had his own accounting business. He was the first one of us to own a personal computer -- the Apple IIe. We considered it a strange and wondrous thing. He seemed at home with it. He built his own crystal radio sets as a boy in the 1930s and, in the 1950s, built his own hi-fi. Not surprising that he was a radio operator with the U.S. Army Signal Corps in World War II.

If my father were still alive, would he be a blogger? I have no doubt that he would be a confirmed user of Facebook. His handle would be Big Tom, which is what his grandkids called him -- at his insistence ("I'm too young to be a grandfather!") If he blogged, he would be somewhere in the middle, caught between moonbats such as myself and wingnuts such as Andrew Breitbart et.al. He might also find himself closer to what I do, as the center has moved to the Right at the insistence of the Right.

As you can see, I'm thinking about my father today. We didn't always agree. But he was always my father. I miss him.

NN11: Telling our stories in in art, in words, in music

One of the mantras I've heard at this conference: we must tell our stories.

A writer knows this. Story telling is our trade. But there are always new stories -- and new ways to tell them.

Favianna Rodriguez is an artist and activist. She's taken on the immigration battle -- specifically Arizona's SB1070 -- with posters. They are designed around the slogan "undocumented and unafraid." It's her way of changing the conservation from thew scary term "illegal immigrants" to "we may not have papers but we are not afraid to stand up and be counted."  Her goal is to blend "the power of image with stories." Proceeds from sales of "undocumented and unafraid" posters go to AltoArizona, one of the groups fighting SB1070 and its many spinoffs. Wyoming saw at least one of those in its recent legislative session.

Favianna was moderator of a panel "Educate, Agitate, Inspire: How Artists are Fighting Anti-migrant Hate." Panelists spoke about the many methods being used in the fight. Musicians have organized a boycott of Arizona gigs. It's called Sound Strike. L.A.'s Javier Gonzales said a number of musicians and groups have signed on. The effort is being pushed by Rage Against the Machine guitarist Zack de la Rocha. Boycotting artists include Cypress Hill, Conor Oberst, Kanye West, My Chemical Romance, Ben Harper, Steve Earle, My Morning Jacket, Mos Def, Chris Rock, Steve Earle and others. Sparks have flown over the boycott, with some performers wondering how their stories can be told to a live audience if they are not playing in Phoenix and Tucson and Flagstaff. But boycotts against Arizona's excesses have been successful in the past. Amazing how quickly some legislators can change their minds (and votes) when the tourism and convention businesses take a hit. We saw that in the wrangle over the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday.

Artists and musicians tell stories. Amazingly enough, so do writers. Poet Ken Chen of the Asian American Writers Network was a panelist. He spoke about Word Strike, an effort to bring a group of writers to Arizona in September to speak out against SB1070. A September caravan is planned from New York City to the Southwest. Imagine a bus full of writers and poets! I spoke to Ken later and said we'd like to have him stop in Cheyenne or Laramie. He wasn't sure of the itinerary, but we'll be in touch.

The most touching story came from Gaby Pacheco of Miami. She and three of her friends grew tired of the immigrant battle at home and decided to walk to D.C. to meet with Pres. Obama. The story was : "this is what illegal looks like." Four intelligent and motivated young people who are sick and tried of being harassed and harangued and portrayed as "The Other" in the MSM.

Gaby Pacheco

"It was scary walking through the South," said Gaby. "We told our stories thousands of times. We Tweeted and blogged as went, and videotaped the whole thing."

They were surprised by the media coverage. They also were surprised by the huge support generated by social media. They also were unafraid. They went to small town police stations and confronted them about their harassment of local Hispanics. The KKK protested at one stop -- shades of the Freedom Riders of the 1960s. Lots of Tea Party types showed up with big flags and hateful words. It was turned into a short film -- we saw a clip. For more, go to www.trail2010.org.

Many stories and many ways to tell them in the age of new media.

Wyoming asks that darn federal gubment for disaster relief

Tonight, Wyomingites along creeks and rivers in Crook, Carbon, Albany, Lincoln and Sheridan counties are thanking their lucky stars and Gov. Mead that there is federal government assistance available in their time of need. If U.S. House Republicans (and presidential candidate Mitt Romney) have their way, federal disaster assistance will dry up and blow away -- or maybe be washed away in a tide of hypocrisy. From the Casper Star-Tribune:

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead has signed a disaster declaration for damages around the state caused by the ongoing flooding.

The state estimates more than $3 million in damages so far. That includes the cost of preventative efforts, mainly Mead's decision to deploy Wyoming National Guard members.

Rain and snowmelt have flooded several areas of the state, including Crook, Carbon, Albany, Lincoln and Sheridan counties. Many other rivers and streams are running high or near flood stage.

The governor's office says the state Transportation Department has responded to or is monitoring 37 landslides across the state.

Mead says the disaster declaration is needed for Wyoming to qualify for assistance from the federal government.

NN11: Make Clean Energy Not War (through art)

Artwork by Susan Slavick

Minneapolis Convention Center protest by the group 10 Years and Counting, as artists try to put a face to 10 years of war. Protesters hold up a 13-figure number that represents the bill for a decade of wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and various other locales.

Sept 11 - Oct 7, 2011 will mark the ten year anniversary of our nation continuously at war. 10 Years + Counting invites artists and others to take this historic moment as inspiration and use the power of creativity to illustrate the costs of war and image a more peaceful world. 

Paint it, dance it, sculpt it, write it, sing it! Imagine peace and create connections. Concerts, public art projects, garden parties, bake-offs, gallery exhibitions, street art, flash mobs, walks and runs: the possibilities are endless. 

Turn the weeks of this anniversary of devastation into an unstoppable, irrepressible explosion of imagining the possible, a new beginning.

Add your creation, gathering or event to the 10 YEARS + COUNTING calendar by going to www.10yearsandcounting.org