Good Bye 2012

At home, after a wonderful dinner of paella, toasting every time zone up to ours. When your family and most of your life-long friends are far and wide, it's become my favorite New Year's Eve pastime.

This fine year of 2012 is one I will remember fondly. It would be the year I turned 60. Last year at this time, I thought about making it really count. The main focus was Election Year. And re-electing President Obama was front and center, for SO many reasons.

I visited my Keara in Austin in February, and got to see a few friends in Houston. I do not miss Texas but I really miss my friends there. And I relearned that Texas in February is really really nice when you live in a cold snowy place. I could make a habit of that trip...

I ran for, and won, election as a National Delegate to the Democratic Convention in Charlotte. I will not underestimate myself ever again! I had never been to a National Convention, and I had never been to Charlotte. Both were fabulous.

I organized our Precinct Caucuses and County Convention, and went with a full complement of County delegates to the Congressional District Caucus and the State Convention. Our little band of Klickitat Democrats really gelled and even when I was out of town, they took care of business.

For my birthday in June, we played Tourist in our 'hood, and took an afternoon sternwheeler cruise on the Columbia from Cascade Locks. In the rain. It was fun. Really, it was. And the captain of the vessel was a young woman. It did this former seafarer good to see that.

Also in June, I traveled back to Boston for the 'Class of 70 Turns 60 Birthday Bash', reuniting with folks from my high school class. I'd been in touch with but a handful over the years. We started a Facebook Group in advance of the event, so that by the time we all met, we were not strangers.

July meant some family time...with my mom, brother, sisters, and Alina. And with Concord Cousins on the 4th of July. And with the Cape Cousins on the 7th of July, a big cookout planned at Dad's funeral back in Feb 2011, just like the old days...Pat even wore Uncle Jim's cookout hat and apron. I'm still smiling thinking about the big cousin bash. I am grateful that my daughters know their cousins, because cousins are really special. This trip I also got to spend a few days with the McKevitts in Chatham, with Alina. Another great Irish family in my life.

I was back in White Salmon in time for the Art and Wine Fusion and the 14th LD Picnic we organized at our city park, and for the fun of Jamba Marimba gigs. I do love my marimba band gals! We all need music in our lives.

Summer also means festival booths. My band of KD's took care of several in my absence, and we had a fine booth at the County Fair. And did I mention, I worked on Saturdays at Springhouse Cellar with the awesome Carolyn, with whom I discovered many connections (including fisheries and NOAA). I love it when new friends have 'old' connections. God, I've had so many lives! That's what happens when you are 60. BTW I'm back on Fridays now at the winery.

September's travels to Charlotte and Boston were off the charts. To spend almost a week in Charlotte with my fantastic delegation, and my old friend and mentor Susan from Ft. Bend, was a dream come true. Celebrating my mom's 85th birthday with both of my girls and most of my family was also very special. Then to top it off, I found out the end of the month that I had won the honor of a Magnussen Award for State Committeewoman of the Year! Can this get any better????

October was our 31st anniversary, and we FINALLY got to the coast. It was a perfect camping trip, perfect weather, perfect hiking with the most awesome dog ever, Brindle. Even at more than 14.5, she was up for long daily walks on the beach and a 5 mile hike thru the woods to Cape Lookout Point! On that trip I got word that we would be able to have a Dem HQ in downtown White Salmon. Seriously? Can this year get any better?????? And then all the days of manning the office, and phone banking (which I hate) paid off...with the best election night for me in a long time. I was flying from Boston to Portland on election night 2008. Found out Obama won as we touched down at PDX. This time we took over Los Reyes Mexican Restaurant in Bingen. A very good night indeed.

The weekend in Seattle for the Maggies was fabulous. And then, in November, my sister Mary called with the sad news that her husband had to be in Spokane, so there was a spare ticket to see Bruce Springsteen's Wrecking Ball Tour stop in Vancouver BC on Nov. 26. Bad news...my passport expired Sept 26, in the frenzy of the political I'd neglected to renew...but the passport office and PO came through. I got my passport renewed in 12 days (expedited). So off I went, driving to Blaine, staying with friends, and Bolt Busing to BC from Bellingham. It was worth every penny, and every mile of driving. Bruce and Mary-time. So good. Added bonus of Humphreys (and the Banff Film Festival).

So yeah, it was a great year. The downsides? Losing Brindle after Thanksgiving. I was in Blaine. But we'd said our goodbyes after her October stroke. She knew I loved her. She was the Best Dog Ever, and had a good long life. Losing my cousin PJ. after a long battle with Hepatitis C. She had that twinkle in her eye you thought could never be extinguished. I saw her in July, when she was waiting on the list for a liver. There was not enough time. There is never enough time, so we all need to use ours wisely. Not having Keara and Alina here at all for the holidays. But they were with family in Boston, and we'll do Xmas in March in Texas.

On the whole, 2012 will go down in the annals of Lorrie History as an excellent year. A very excellent year. Look out 2013, I still have a ton of positive energy rolling here...

PS: I hereby resolve to write more in 2013. 

One for Each Decade

Three Cheers for the US Passport Office and the US Post Office! Today my expedited renewed passport arrived, a mere 12 days after I mailed it off in an overnight mail envelope with a return overnight mail envelope.

Now, this kind of service is not free. I could have saved myself $60 for the expediting fee, plus the overnight mail fees, had I paid attention to the expiration date on my 10 year old passport. But it's nice to know it can be bought!

When my sister called 2 weeks ago to tell me she had an extra ticket to see Bruce Springsteen Nov. 26th in Vancouver, BC, of course I say yes to a sister adventure!!! Until I checked my passport, which had expired on Sept. 23rd. There was no time to lose, especially with the Veterans Day Holiday and Thanksgiving in the mix.

However, without a passport number and expiration date, one cannot book a flight. That was OK, too expensive anyway. One cannot book Amtrak either. That was not OK, as I watched all the possible trains become sold out. Thanks to friends Tom and Leila, who live near the Canadian Border in Blaine, WA, who read of my plight on Facebook and offered a place to stay bookending the Canadian excursion, should I decide to drive. And thanks to the new Bolt Bus routes in the NW. I was able to snag a Bellingham/Vancouver round trip for a mere $10. Much cheaper than hotel parking fees.

So Sunday, I will be off on another adventure. Looking at my old passports today was a trip down memory lane. They may not be cheap, but they sure do open the door to the world!

The Wrong Lesson Indeed

Yesterday's Oregonian had a mind boggling front page article on what Beaverton schools' budget cuts have done to the teachers and classrooms. It's a lesson in What Not To Do, lest you appear to be really really stupid.

Beaverton School District of 51 schools slashed its budget and cut 344 positions resulting in nearly 400 transfers to fill holes as the layoffs created a domino effect. In late July they laid off 204 teachers, and have since returned 106 to full or part time positions.  Important info here: the teachers union and district have no rules for transfers other than licensure. Competence, experience, grade level, or subject don't have to be considered. Say what?

Here's what some of the changes have wrought as "about 160 teachers were placed in significantly different positions":

• A high school government, world history and economics teacher the last 5 years was moved to 7th grade math. She had never taught math before, nor middle school.

• The top district librarian was moved to elementary school. She's since taken a leave and is subbing.

• A high school language arts teacher moved to elementary English language development.

• An elementary teacher to middle school science.

• An elementary music teacher to English language development.

• A middle school art teacher to 4th grade.

• A German teacher to Spanish.

Teachers trained in IB and AP were moved to schools without these programs and teachers lacking IB and AP training were moved in, costing 1/3 of the district's training budget to get them up to speed.

Here's one of my favorites:
A teacher who was working with seriously ill students at their homes was laid off, and a high school math teacher was assigned the job. The first teacher was called back and put into the math teacher's position.

 The district wouldn't allow them to swap back because it would cause even more disruption in the classroom and cost the district two days of pay.

I think they've disrupted the classrooms past the point of reason.

Teachers had no choice in the moves, and principals had no say in who came and went. 

Some of the teachers have resigned or taken unpaid leaves of absence rather than be put in a position to fail the students.

Can we please have a discussion about treating teachers as PROFESSIONALS??????

Back to AB Normal

It took a while, but the house is pretty much cleaned up, almost all the Big Blue Box is packed up, signs are down, and the laundry is caught up. I think everyone was ready for election season to be done with. We had great participation from local Democrats, making our office, phone banking and signing successful. I hope they don't all disappear now until the next time around. We need to be channeling our energies into our pet issues, and keep on top of our elected officials to be mindful the will of the people they represent.

On Halloween Night, at the White Salmon downtown trick or treat event, our visitors included County Commissioner Dave Sauter and Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler. Both are Republicans. Commissioner Sauter is well known as a person who listens, considers the facts surrounding an issue, and who can work with people of all political persuasions. Congresswoman HB is a new face to us, after redistricting delivered our county into her hands from Doc Hastings. We stood on the side walk in front our our HQ and spoke about communities needing to work TOGETHER (emphasizing together) to solve our big problems. Sadly, she is one of the Congressional Representatives who has signed Grover Norquist's pledge. Taking something like taxes off the table is not the way to solve our problems together. So my first email/letter of the new season will go to Rep. Herrera Beutler. I tried email, but even though redistricting took effect many months ago, her website STILL doesn't recognize my zip code as being in her district. So she'll get a snail mail letter.

I'm not sure which issue I will focus on first. There are so many. But as a County Chair, I still have work to do by the end of the year. It's reorganization time!!! No rest for the weary.

Ten Days...Make Them Count!

I needed a little perspective, so I turned to a trusty friend out in Spokane. Thanks, Val.

We have ten days. Ten. We need to make our time count. The house will be cleaned, the leaves raked, the garden pulled after November 6th. We can't have this time back to help re-elect President Obama.

Some people are really upset about the sign problem we are having. The disappearing signs are NOT important. Tracking down who is taking them is NOT important. Contacting voters IS important. Face to face, in our HQ, on the streets, in the grocery line, on the phone. We have to be sure every vote gets into the hands of the Auditor. Here at home and out in the rest of the country. This is all about VOTES.

She reminded me that every minute I waste trying to find more signs, I could have called a voter to remind them to mail their ballot. Remind them that the Governor's race 8 years ago (before my time) was won by 77 votes! So, 2 or 3 votes per county CAN and DOES make a difference. I do remember that Obama won Klickitat last time by 21 votes. That's less than one per precinct.

So, if you want to camp out and wait for someone to try and steal or deface your signs, set up under an EZ Up tent, with lots of signs, and make GOTV calls with your cell phones.

But really, you can do it from the warmth and dryness of your own home. Click here to get started.

To all my lady friends out there, there's a women's call tool on the Obama website. Click to get started!  http://ofa.bo/WfOCallTool

For my local friends, we're generating call lists to remind our Klickitat folks to get those ballots back in! We're in a vote by mail state...NO EXCUSES!

 

To Not Know You Is To 'LIKE' You

It feels like a good day for a Romney Rant. So fans of Mitt, I won't be offended if you skip this one.

I know I'm not the only one on Facebook who is annoyed at the ads on the side, especially when the Mitt Romney face is on top showing all my 'friends' who LIKE him. Really, I don't want to be reminded of that every day. I'm sure they feel the same way about Obama's face popping up on theirs, with my name on it. I just hope there are more people listed that they know than I see on the Rmoney face. But I have to wonder, WHY do they LIKE him?

Fortunately, I don't note any of my Massachusetts friends on there. They know better. My friends there who are teachers certainly won't be there, after his taking credit for the status of Massachusetts education. They still remember what happened to teachers when he became governor, enamored with austerity budgets that disproportionately affected public servants and the poor. I can always count on Caroline, my Boston artist friend of over 40 years, to come up with fuel for the fire- the stuff that makes me just go nuts on Mitt Romney. Usually I contain it. Somewhat. Not today. Granted, it's from a liberal source. But I can live with that.

What set me off was this gem. Let's shatter the myth that Mitt was a bipartisan marvel in Massachusetts as Governor.  One of Mitt's Many Myths.

“I figured out from Day 1 I had to get along, and I had to work across the aisle to get anything done." Mitt Romney in Debate 1.

Oh REALLY? That's why you vetoed 800 pieces of legislation. Because you got along so well.

Vetoes don’t scream bipartisanship, and Romney had so many of them that it’s obvious he was on bad terms with the legislators from both parties as Governor. All told, Romney issued 800 vetoes in his one term as Governor. 800. Nearly all of them were overridden – 707 to be exact.

And wow, a business man is just what we need in the White House, right? Where everyone in Congress will do what he says, just like when he was a CEO. It worked so well in MA.

A Republican state representative said that Romney had a tough time dealing with the legislature, especially in his first year, because he was used to giving orders as an executive, rather than working with people to reach a consensus. Republican George Peterson said, “He was used to being a top executive, ‘and this is where we’re going, and this is how we’re going to do it.’ And this animal [the state Legislature] doesn’t work that way. Not at all. Especially when it’s overwhelmingly ruled by one party.”

By the time he left office (he was MIA 212 days his last year), almost 2/3 of the people of the Commonwealth were happy to see him go. They didn't want him back, but they didn't want him to be President either. Then or now.

Obama is leading Romney by a wide margin in Massachusetts. Not since 1916 has a candidate lost his home state and won the White House. The only saving grace for Romney is that while he is also losing his other home states of Michigan (where he grew up) and California, he has had residences in several other states that he could ostensibly call home, although certainly the folks in Massachusetts and Michigan know him best. 

Still think you 'LIKE' Mitt Romney? He's all yours. Just don't make him ours.

Rolling Stone...Gonna buy 5 copies for my mother.

The Rolling Stone has joined the fray, with this unflattering piece on Romney and Bain. I know, it's the Rolling Stone. But I am in total fear for our democracy. Who knew we had so many truth challenged people in this country? People who will vote to elect to the highest office in our land, a man who is so comfortable lying he doesn't even know he's doing it any more.

Questions abound: Will messing with voters and voting machines be the hanging chads of 2012? And who keeps stealing all our Obama signs as fast as we can get them posted? It's enough to drive me to drink (as if I need an excuse).


There are glimmers of hope, like when the Salt Lake City Tribune endorses Obama:

In considering which candidate to endorse, The Salt Lake Tribune editorial board had hoped that Romney would exhibit the same talents for organization, pragmatic problem solving and inspired leadership that he displayed here more than a decade ago. Instead, we have watched him morph into a friend of the far right, then tack toward the center with breathtaking aplomb. Through a pair of presidential debates, Romney’s domestic agenda remains bereft of detail and worthy of mistrust.

Therefore, our endorsement must go to the incumbent, a competent leader who, against tough odds, has guided the country through catastrophe and set a course that, while rocky, is pointing toward a brighter day. The president has earned a second term. Romney, in whatever guise, does not deserve a first.

Followed by the Tampa Bay Times joining the Obama endorsement team:

Among the Group of 7 industrialized countries, only three economies have climbed above the peaks they hit before the recession: Canada, Germany and the United States. France, Japan, Britain and Italy are in worse shape. So are Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Greece. Obama's economic policies clearly had a positive impact.

The economic stimulus package, which Mitt Romney and his Republican allies deride as a failure, had its flaws but stopped the collapse. It preserved or created up to 3 million jobs, and it invested in smart projects such as expanding U.S. 19 in Pinellas County and connecting the Port of Tampa with Interstate 4 in Hillsborough County. The auto company bailout, which Romney opposed, preserved jobs and rejuvenated the industry. The Dodd-Frank financial regulations, which Romney would repeal, protect consumers and force banks to act more responsibly. Undoing those reforms would be a mistake and invite the abuses that contributed to the economic crisis.

Today, a few more swing state papers got on board. The Washington Post asked would a 'business man' do better? Historically, no. Very interesting read.

 David Stockman, Reagan's budget director, doesn't seem to be a fan.

Bain Capital is a product of the Great Deformation. It has garnered fabulous winnings through leveraged speculation in financial markets that have been perverted and deformed by decades of money printing and Wall Street coddling by the Fed. So Bain’s billions of profits were not rewards for capitalist creation; they were mainly windfalls collected from gambling in markets that were rigged to rise.

So much for Mitt building his way up from a small business. I have had it. Whenever he talks I imagine a Pinocchio nose growing. The ultimate fact checker. I need to find a magic lamp and ask the Genie for a wish. 

Every time that little box in the ad corner on my Facebook page pops up and I see names of people liking Mitt Romney, I feel so sad. So sad. I'm sure there are people who find him likeable...Ann does. But that's not enough to elect him President. Too many people are living in an alternate universe.

There's only one way to make Mitt go away. Ann says he won't run again if he loses. So, do whatever you can to Get Out The Vote in your communities. Speak Truth to RMoney. 

Another Day, Another Debate

It seems like we are having a veritable tsunami of debates the last few weeks. Between the President and Mitt, the Joe and Paul show, and numerous governor's, senate and down ballot meet ups, mostly available online here in the fringe market, there's something to watch daily. Besides The Daily Show.
Which sadly should have shown last night's episode on Friday when it would have had more impact.

Tonight is another opportunity to gather friends and watch the show in the Center Ring of this year's big circus. The food and fellowship will be worth it, guaranteed. And who knows which Mitt Romney will show up? I am sure the Prez will be more energetic. The only way to go is up. But his message has been rock steady all along. But as for his opponent, confusion reigns. I am shocked, I tell you, shocked, that more people aren't questioning their support of this man with many faces.

This problem is troubling Margaret and Helen today. Margaret lives in Maine. Helen lives in Texas. They have been friends for 60 years and counting. And they love to talk politics. I love them so much, I get an email notification when they write something new. Today's post is worth a read. Go visit them now!

And before I forget, speaking of The Daily Show, the Prez is going to be on Thursday night. I might have to shut down the phone bank early so I can get home in time to watch!

I Want Candy

I know, it's bad for your teeth. Too much sugar. And a pretty awful song, recorded by the Strangeloves in 1965.

No, I'm talking about Candy Crowley, the CNN commentator chosen to host tomorrow's Town Hall forum debate. I've watched Candy for years. She's one of the top political women in business. She's got the chops, paid her dues and then some. So why are the campaigns all a twitter? They're afraid she might go rogue if the limited Town Hall format makes for a dull debate and focus on real questions? A la Martha Raddatz? Oh please, yes.

I personally was rather annoyed that she got the short straw on the Presidential Debate draw. I'd have given Jim Lehrer that slot. I know, hindsight. 

Candy, bring it! I'll be watching, and hosting a party with lots of other people watching.

Hating on Signs, A National Epidemic?

My friend Susan in Texas is not happy that a sign she help raise money for got vandalized. It is a very nice Obama sign, hurting no one. But somebody had a bee in their bonnet and took a can of red spray paint to it. You can see it here

I can sympathize with her. Within 24 hours of putting up this double panel of candidate signs on the Centerville Highway, the Obama signs on both sides were spray painted with red paint. Interestingly, the other candidate signs were left alone.

We debated what to do, decided to leave the signs defaced for a few days as a testament to intolerance.  When our sign guy went back to replace the Obama signs, the whole display was knocked down and beat up. The sheriff was called, they came out and filled out an incident report. The local paper covered it with a big article.

Meanwhile, back in White Salmon, a garden of 7 signs disappeared after less than a week in place. Police were called. Jokes were made about how if the owner of the signs was a Republican, the signs wouldn't disappear. Ha Ha.  Turns out the renter of the house thought someone put them up without permission so he took them down on trash day and put them out with the trash. The other renter on the property, who requested the signs and cleared it with the landlord, was not amused, and a letter to the editor was fired off, to go with the police report.

We are opening a small office for the 3 week crunch to election day, just down the street from the GOP's big  office. I sure hope people play nice. We have people on the east side of the county who are truly afraid to put up Obama signs.