Before The Dawn…
…many of us expected to feel depths of dispair when Sen. Kennedy made his inevitable crossing over. I’m gently relieved how much a resolve and fairly consistent energy has marked the day after… Andy and the DC peeps made memorial appropriate to the occasion in the form of a ‘card’ for the extended Kennedy family. This ‘family’ feels about as inclusive as those of us who ever got into a Grateful Dead show for free. I identify myself as ‘progressive’, rather than the 20th century moniker: ‘liberal’-for several reasons I’ll go into another time. Kennedy, then, gave me a voice as more of a champion of my causes-not so much of my class. My inability to relate to his background does stop at the point where financing one’s way through the Great Depression comes into play…but back on track..
Ted Kennedy simply motivated me not to quit at several key points where I was willing to either A) Throw in the towel on politics…or B) Give up on Democracy as an effective agent for progress. His speeches did more than get me “fired up and ready to go”. Kennedy spoke with a perspective gained through intense emotional grief and resolve to choose hope- much before that concept gained panache’.
Town Hall Variety Show
Our erudite Congressman from the South Sound, Adam Smith, held..his..town hall this evening in front of nearly 3,000 in Lakewood WA. The outdoor QandA session lasted well past the scheduled 90 min. Things were winding a little free as Cheryl J.C. and I left. We’d spent the balance with Local 6 folks and their cool ‘human right’ healthcare banner we’d seen back on May 30. Only one..obviously staged..’fight’ broke out in what was as passionate an event Tacoma can manage with it’s retired military-based sense of community discipline. Roughly 3/5 of the crowd were still reform-backers, in spite of late arriving groups of coached talk show fans. Smith was…funny! Quips were used judiciously to augment comments and answers. Far cry from the professorial man who laid out Medicare facts for us in his D.C. office in June. Ringmaster Smith was applauded several times for his crowd containment skills. He thanked us and thanked us more for crowd props …also staged?… re: his pragmatism. His statement he planned to vote NO on HB3200 as it stands drew healthy reaction on both sides. Friends, the man is running for reelection…in a district that, thank the gods, ends 3 blocks from my home. J.C. and I called it a draw and scrammed to Ruston in time to jump on the stage for a little Woody Guthrie Kool Down…..
