Eureka Springs @ 78

Cheney says.. We are not in the business of torturing people.

I guess it’s set up as a not for profit status.

Yes, we’ve outsourced that work.

-GSD

Cheney: Profit…no! It’s done for pleasure! At the President’s pleasure!

I call the candidate, show her his statement. She says the following in response “I have no interest in leaving the Democratic Party. I think it is a horrible rumor to spread. It is my wish to attract others to the Party. It is going to take some very hard work to build the Party here in Alaska.”

I bring it up at two threads at which Mitch has been very vocal. He apparntly has then disappeared two times now. Before I make my next statement on this Alaska situation, I’ll give Big Mitch a chance to respond…

Margot @ 172

Adie @ 156,

I would be happy to have any suggestions you could give me. People start talking to me in the grocery or the gas station, how high the prices are, who’s going back to Iraq, how they can’t afford medicine, etc.
When I try relate it to voting, it just goes nowhere.
And my question to Sen. Brown was, “Will you be coming to our county fair?” It wasn’t a demand. I realize there are too many fairs to get to even a sliver of them.

Margot. Please pardon my snark earlier. I was out of line, but I am so tired right now, and frankly kinda sick of people picking on Brown. I don’t even know the guy, personally, but I know a lot about his record and his caring attitude and his skills at getting things done. So it touches a nerve when people easily fall into the habit of picking on someone they know nothing about. BlueAmerica support for Brown was “dropped” mid-campaign in response to outcry from some FDLers who objected strenuously his voting for the military appropriations bill(?) in the House, that had had that odious torture amendment added onto it in the dead of night. For the record, as far as I know, Brown promptly returned all the BlueAmerica $$ he had been given, & seemed to bear no grudges. (He’s also been working actively, as co-sponsor of efforts to axe that torture provision, ever since getting into the Senate.)

I don’t know an easy answer to your question about how to get people to vote. That’s one of my constant themes also. Our kids are grown, and we help them reach their friends to make sure they vote also, research candidate info, precinct info – you name it – to try to lure in more and more of the 30-something crowd. Sign petitions. Write congresscritters with kudos as well as brickbats. Letters to the editor…

People are A.N.G.R.Y. And they should be, as well as frightened. I’m mid-60’s, and I don’t ever remember our country, or the world in general, being in as much danger as now, during my lifetime. To have our own government directly responsible for a substantial amount of that danger to us, our kids, everyone else in the world, all the other creatures in the world (pardon: we’re biologists/naturalists), is absolutely excruciating.

One thing I find reaches a lot of people is to tell them I share their anger and frustration.
Tho we’re Democrats, my parents were life-long, proud Republicans – honest, upstanding, fine people. I also tell that to folks, as well as adding that, were they alive today, my parents would be utterly horrified at what their party has become. I would have no words sufficient to explain to them how people in power could be so cruel, greedy, and unfair to others as I am seeing today.

But there are true heroes out there. You can tick them off as well as I: Waxman, Conyers, Leahy, Durbin, Byrd, … (I hate making lists because I forget even better folk, & none of them are perfect, so it’s always easier to snipe than defend.)

From what little I know of Brown’s campaign for Senate, he was absolutely running flat-out, non-stop the whole time, covering the whole state himself, especially in the southern areas which are traditionally Repub. strongholds. I also doubt that he had much staff – just a hunch. It was mostly his own energy, and his use of the ‘net combined with personal touch which did the trick. It’s just impossible to be everywhere all the time, so I’ll hazard a guess your request was lost in the shuffle, since he was on the road almost all the time, and serving diligently as he could in the House.

I would urge you to go to his website. It’s well organized and user-friendly, and much more informative than most. Ask him your questions.

Check with various organizations you have respect for, and see what they say about his voting record. Try again to meet with him.

For heavens sake, stay tuned in here at FDL. I don’t know a better, more reliable place to get reliable commentary, backed up by links to source material to back up claims.

For your friends and acquaintances who are lukewarm about anything political, you might try something that has been surprisingly helpful to me. I got so frustrated by the deaf-dumb-&-blind mainstream media, I started recommending that people with computers check daily with huffingtonpost.com for their news. Much shorter and easy to browse through in a hurry (which obviously not one of FDL’s strongpoints, nor their aim). Then, if a particular topic is handled really well by one of the wonderful posts here at FDL, recommend those as they appear.

I hope this helps a little. Let’s stay in touch, okay? For now, I’ve gotta go konk out for the day… ;->

Thank you, dear Adie.
I really appreciate your answer.
I’m early-mid-fifties here, and have worked in local doctor’s offices and hospitals, so people recognize me and talk to me. It’s pretty easy to get a conversation going, is what I’m getting at. I’m far from giving up!
That undercurrent of anger is everywhere here. If there is a better job out there, it’s 60 miles a way and gas is so high… There are so many worries.
I’m concentrating on my congressman, sending him polling reports, news articles, and posts from this and other blogs. Bless his heart. We desperately need good Democratic representation in this state; I hope he can win re-election.