Let's Get Started

Thank you for visiting me, an unknown blogger on my first post. I am a writer by trade so this blogging business is an outgrowth of that creative impulse meant to give my opinion and tell the story of those of us here in Austin who keep the flame of liberalism alive in a state that is...well...our governor wants to secede because we have a black president (he gives all kinds of other stupid reasons but we know the truth) so that gives you an idea of what is all around us.

Here in Austin, we are a small dot of blue in a seething sea of red. Austin is the only reliably liberal city in Texas, although Houston is coming along. When I venture out of town, I see bumper stickers such as: "Liberal Hunting License" (they want to kill us) and "I'll keep my guns and you can have your change." What wit!

First, I'll tell you about my recent political activities: I was a so-called 'super-volunteer' for President Obama in the election. My project was to help recruit and train people from Texas to go to battleground states to campaign. We realized, of course, that Texas itself was futile so we sent our best volunteers to places like Florida, Colorado and Ohio. They took a month or so off work and went to live and work in precincts at the grassroots. I admire their dedication and appreciate their efforts. In all, my program sent 2740 volunteers out of state. We won every state our volunteers worked in and I'm sure they contributed to the victory.

Since then, I've been working with OFA which has been retitled from "Obama for America" to "Organize for America" in the trenches of health care reform. I awakened late to the need for involvement. Silly me, I imagined that after electing our Democratic president, senate and house, we could relax and let them take over. I reckoned without the tea-baggers and all the other reactionaries. My wake-up call was the sight of Congressman Lloyd Doggett being chased and threatened by crazy protesters carrying "Obama is Hitler" signs at a town hall meeting in South Austin.

In response, we had an event to bolster Congressman Doggett's resolve. It was a Health Care Forum held in downtown Austin. Three groups were involved: Move On, OFA, and the Gray Panthers. We overflowed all three venues we had reserved because over 2000 PROPONENTS of health care reform came to the event. Only 100 protesters stood across the street with the usual nasty signs. If you had seen the television coverage, you would not have realized that ratio. They shot the footage so that it looked equal. The media loves controversy, not truth. I was livid but it doesn't seem to matter what anyone says to them. They are like crows to a shiny object. Even liberal MSNBC did not mention our event although they covered several smaller town halls with angry protestors. I sent all the hosts links to our coverage. Nothing.

That is apparently why normal Americans who want and need reform of this broken system are not given coverage. We don't shout. We don't dress in funny clothes and wave crazy signs and we don't shout people down. Maybe we should rethink our tactics. We don't seem to be getting through to the politicians on either side.

Next time, I'll tell you why I'm so interested in health care reform. It's personal.