The MasadaWell, I guess I should have said this blog will be out at least once a week. So hi again, this week, and thanks again as well, for the ear.
I want to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude to those of you who responded so positively to my last blog. As my good friends here in Seattle, Ed and Sallie (also NSJ readers), remind me ~ it feels good when you pass it along and even better when it comes back to you.
Ed’s from the Bronx and played six years with the New York Yankees. Sallie’s a former Hollywood dancer whose credentials include the original Music Man. They’ve been married to one another 30 years or so and have been around some, so when they speak, I shut my shamrock Yiddish yap and listen. Mostly. When the stars are in appropriate alignment and my bio-rhythms are in harmony. And after the cat’s been fed.
However, I digress…(NOT front page news)…
I liked what President Obama had to say the other day about not paying too close attention to what’s going on with the stock market. He described it as a rollercoaster ride and even though nobody I know has much invested, I could see where it sure could be to somebody whose wealth is mostly on certificates.
I don’t imagine what he said is having much impact on Wall Street but it’s made me and mine rest some easier. He’s reminding us that even though we might not have a lot to spend, especially these days, how we spend it still matters.
He’s also doing his job in another way. He’s got a website which shows just how this economic stimulus is being distributed. My state, Washington, has a link to how what we receive is being spent here.
A few years back, in a small rural county in Oregon, on a snowy winter night, a very independent grandmother who ran a big timber family died when the homestead cabin she lived in alone as a widow, burned down because the fire department arrived too late.
By the time, a year or so later, that all the investigations of this were finished, it was determined that bad county roads were responsible.
I was working as the county’s public relations person at the time but I know the story I’ve just told you about because I covered it as a newspaper reporter. I was the first media on the scene and the last to leave the funeral. When I went to my new bosses and proposed a road improvement levy, I was told that several had been tried in the last 75 years and none had passed.
I did some historical research, got an idea of what else was also going on when these past levees were proposed and how they were promoted. I talked to the commissioners about what I’d learned and suggested a real direct approach.
They got to make a spreadsheet and pie chart breakdown of it. I got to drive out and take pictures of some of the worst of those roads. In all kinds of weather and in that part of the Willamette Valley, it changes just as fast and as often as it does in meteorologically schizoid Seattle and the Greater Puget Sound.
We put together a media kit with photos, graphics and a narrative explanation. We also created a display for the lobby of the courthouse. The levee was also an open agenda item at county council meetings. We kept it simple and informational. We let folks know how much we figured it was going to cost and how it was to be spent.
Yep, it passed. Our elected officials decided to talk to their constituency about this the same way they talked to them about life in general as neighbors and friends they met on Main Street, in the Yamhill Café, over pool at the Evergreen Tavern or at the park after church on Sunday. It was a bad thing that happened to Mrs. Swenson. We need to make sure it doesn’t happen to someone else.
I was not real pleased to learn that apparently, now, the Republican Party only speaks for 26% of Americans. I do applaud and support the Party of Abraham Lincoln’s acceptance of that and the need to re-examine and restructure.
Few things in this world disgust and anger me more than political gloating and/or bashing. As President Obama is also saying and as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has affirmed with regards to China, this is not about competition but about cooperation.
To contend that the Republican Party is solely and totally responsible for this present situation is not only dangerous thinking but, to me, stone stupid and historically insupportable. To further infer that they do not have valid concerns and positive options is also to me an extremely toxic and incredibly self-destructive perspective, especially right now.
No single entity, individual, political party, etc. et al got us into this seemingly monumental mess. We’re all, in however small or large a way, responsible. Since it took all of us to get here, it’s going to take all of us to get out of here. That’s not rocket science and that’s a good thing because I’m not a rocket scientist.
President Obama seems to understand the differences between Athens and America. In this country, we’re not a privileged democracy. And in America, anyone eligible to vote is expected to participate in the process.
We have public meetings. We have access to the media and their polls. We have emails to our elected officials. We certainly have blogs, homepages, chatrooms and every other form of expression, including the arts, that a reasonable specifies could ask for. And now we have a president who is essentially saying,
"Okay, the channels are open. Talk to me."
If anything else, this President has a strong stomach and chutzpah probably unparalleled since the Masada. He’s asking us to behave like the Americans he’s been elected to serve.
We’re a wild bunch at best, Mr. President, so good luck with that. And let me know if there’s anything I can do to lend a hand.
Until next time then, folks, take care, stay well and God Bless.
Rusty
I want to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude to those of you who responded so positively to my last blog. As my good friends here in Seattle, Ed and Sallie (also NSJ readers), remind me ~ it feels good when you pass it along and even better when it comes back to you.
Ed’s from the Bronx and played six years with the New York Yankees. Sallie’s a former Hollywood dancer whose credentials include the original Music Man. They’ve been married to one another 30 years or so and have been around some, so when they speak, I shut my shamrock Yiddish yap and listen. Mostly. When the stars are in appropriate alignment and my bio-rhythms are in harmony. And after the cat’s been fed.
However, I digress…(NOT front page news)…
I liked what President Obama had to say the other day about not paying too close attention to what’s going on with the stock market. He described it as a rollercoaster ride and even though nobody I know has much invested, I could see where it sure could be to somebody whose wealth is mostly on certificates.
I don’t imagine what he said is having much impact on Wall Street but it’s made me and mine rest some easier. He’s reminding us that even though we might not have a lot to spend, especially these days, how we spend it still matters.
He’s also doing his job in another way. He’s got a website which shows just how this economic stimulus is being distributed. My state, Washington, has a link to how what we receive is being spent here.
A few years back, in a small rural county in Oregon, on a snowy winter night, a very independent grandmother who ran a big timber family died when the homestead cabin she lived in alone as a widow, burned down because the fire department arrived too late.
By the time, a year or so later, that all the investigations of this were finished, it was determined that bad county roads were responsible.
I was working as the county’s public relations person at the time but I know the story I’ve just told you about because I covered it as a newspaper reporter. I was the first media on the scene and the last to leave the funeral. When I went to my new bosses and proposed a road improvement levy, I was told that several had been tried in the last 75 years and none had passed.
I did some historical research, got an idea of what else was also going on when these past levees were proposed and how they were promoted. I talked to the commissioners about what I’d learned and suggested a real direct approach.
They got to make a spreadsheet and pie chart breakdown of it. I got to drive out and take pictures of some of the worst of those roads. In all kinds of weather and in that part of the Willamette Valley, it changes just as fast and as often as it does in meteorologically schizoid Seattle and the Greater Puget Sound.
We put together a media kit with photos, graphics and a narrative explanation. We also created a display for the lobby of the courthouse. The levee was also an open agenda item at county council meetings. We kept it simple and informational. We let folks know how much we figured it was going to cost and how it was to be spent.
Yep, it passed. Our elected officials decided to talk to their constituency about this the same way they talked to them about life in general as neighbors and friends they met on Main Street, in the Yamhill Café, over pool at the Evergreen Tavern or at the park after church on Sunday. It was a bad thing that happened to Mrs. Swenson. We need to make sure it doesn’t happen to someone else.
I was not real pleased to learn that apparently, now, the Republican Party only speaks for 26% of Americans. I do applaud and support the Party of Abraham Lincoln’s acceptance of that and the need to re-examine and restructure.
Few things in this world disgust and anger me more than political gloating and/or bashing. As President Obama is also saying and as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has affirmed with regards to China, this is not about competition but about cooperation.
To contend that the Republican Party is solely and totally responsible for this present situation is not only dangerous thinking but, to me, stone stupid and historically insupportable. To further infer that they do not have valid concerns and positive options is also to me an extremely toxic and incredibly self-destructive perspective, especially right now.
No single entity, individual, political party, etc. et al got us into this seemingly monumental mess. We’re all, in however small or large a way, responsible. Since it took all of us to get here, it’s going to take all of us to get out of here. That’s not rocket science and that’s a good thing because I’m not a rocket scientist.
President Obama seems to understand the differences between Athens and America. In this country, we’re not a privileged democracy. And in America, anyone eligible to vote is expected to participate in the process.
We have public meetings. We have access to the media and their polls. We have emails to our elected officials. We certainly have blogs, homepages, chatrooms and every other form of expression, including the arts, that a reasonable specifies could ask for. And now we have a president who is essentially saying,
"Okay, the channels are open. Talk to me."
If anything else, this President has a strong stomach and chutzpah probably unparalleled since the Masada. He’s asking us to behave like the Americans he’s been elected to serve.
We’re a wild bunch at best, Mr. President, so good luck with that. And let me know if there’s anything I can do to lend a hand.
Until next time then, folks, take care, stay well and God Bless.
Rusty
2 comments:
I found the story you told about being a journalist who cared enough to seek a solution to the infrastructure situation that caused a life to be lost and left others facing the same possible fate, inspirational. You see, I recently completed an Q&A interview-- for my Associated Content column--with a journalist who has been with our local newspaper for eons. From another source, a few minutes ago, I was told that newspaper may be going out of business—as seems to be a national trend. This really concerns me. My little bucolic town, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, would be further isolated from opportunities that could bring positive results to the citizens here on to many levels to mention. I hope what I heard is merely rumor. Furthermore, I intend to share your story with all of my friends here in Ferrum and Rocky Mount, VA, using it as an example of why it is important to have a local newspaper staffed by journalists who care, like our Morris Stephenson.
C. Shea LeMone
The partisan heel-digging of late bothers me greatly. I'm afraid we're in for a long haul.
Beth
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