Weekly Wilson

I’m going to pretend that ALL the pictures posted here are from the RNC. In reality, the one of me with the Biden poster was taken inside the Pepsi Center in Denver, but I’m trying to keep all of you honest. Likewise, the picture of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a dead-ringer for his father, was from the DNC.

After that, it’s all about the shenanigans in St. Paul. There are several pictures of the “Closeted Gay Republican Tour,” orchestrated by a Los Angeles film crew to publicize a new late-night Fox TV show hosted by someone named “Spike.” Spike is shown, smiling at his executive producer, who is decked out as Abe Lincoln and whose fake beard is falling off in the photo taken with Yours Truly. They invited me aboard the Closeted Gay Republican Bus, but it was going to end up at the men’s bathroom stall at the Minneapolis airport, and, quite frankly, I had dinner plans. (Ahem). I only got out of my car and went over to interview Abe because I thought he was the 6′8″ Lincoln impersonator from Marion, IA, that I had read about in a local newspaper. Au contraire, mon frere. This was a totally different Lincoln impersonator, and I spotted about 5 of them before the week was out.

Then there are the Ron Paul photos, taken at the Target Center in Minneapolis. If the RNC was less-than-thrilled to have me inside the Xcel Center, rest assured that the Libertarians couldn’t have been nicer! You see me fingering my Press Credential badge in one shot.

Mickey’s Diner, a St. Paul landmark, was the scene of many stand-offs between the protesters and the riot-clad Gestapo, whom I picture crossing the street in another scene. If you wonder about the shot of someone taken from the back, that was the Obama impersonator, but I was driving at the time, and it didn’t look good for me to be able to get out of the vehicle. There is also a girl with pink tape on her mouth, who ended up on Conan O’Brien’s show…also a protester.

All-in-all, it was a busy week, with me lost much of the time and trying to get out of the city for what seemed like hours. If you want the “long” version, go read my account of the Closeted Gay Republican Tour on Associated Content, where I actually paid attention to the names of one and all, but, for now, enjoy my photos of the Republican National Convention from St. Paul, MN,…except for the Ron Paul Rally, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and, of course, me inside the Pepsi Center. Woo hoo!

Sarah Palin lives 40 miles northeast of Anchorage at the western edge of Wasilla. That distance from Washington, D.C., means that she is close to Russia, which the Republicans have suggested makes her more expert about Russia and Putin. Jon Stewart suggested that she also lives close to the North Pole, which might make her an expert on Santa Claus. If this sounds facetious, it is.

Palin was interviewed by Charles Gibson of ABC News on Friday night, and, to his credit, Charlie tried to pin her down on her supposed opposition to “earmarks,” when it has been established that, when she was Mayor of Wasilla, she hired a lobbyist for $30,000 a year to secure just such earmarks.

The much discussed “bridge to nowhere” that Palin claimed to have turned down during her RNC speech, was actually something she favored, at first. Even after she reversed positions, the $223 million given Alaska for the bridge was not returned by the state. Therefore, as Gibson established, citizens in the sparsely inhabited state of Alaska got $231 per person, while Barack Obama’s home state of Illinois received only $22 per person. Gibson also pointed out that Alaska asked for $3.2 million for a study of harbor seals and the mating habits of crabs, which seems to smack of “earmark,” but which Palin defended.

Actor Matt Damon recently said he was quite frightened at the thought of Sarah Palin a heartbeat away from the Presidency, since John McCain’s age, alone, means that the oldest nominee in history might well not live through even a four-year term. Here is a woman who has served as the Mayor of a town of 9,000 and has been in office as Governor of the remote state of Alaska for less than 2 years.

Harking back to Hillary Clinton’s battle cry, “Who is ready to be President on Day One?”, it is inconceivable to Matt Damon…(and to me)…that either candidate for President would select as his running mate someone whose entire appeal was that he could help win the race inside the United States. The head honchos this year (McCain and Obama) owe we, the people, the very best this country has, to lead us in case they are taken out by the vagaries of fate. I’m not getting the idea that the Republicans have picked that number two person to run, and that makes me mad and sad. Mad that they would squander our nation’s future on an untested quantity and sad that it’s “politics as usual,” which it certainly appears to be.

The person selected number two on the ticket this year has a better-than-average chance of ascending to the highest office in the land…possibly within the first four years. It is disrespectful to the American people and to the world to pick a running mate based solely on that individual’s ability to help carry a ticket to victory in November. There is a higher responsibility to the nation…and the world…. to pick the very best candidate to go head-to-toe with other nations during these troubled times. The individual selected should be confident and capable of facing down the likes of the leaders of Russia, Korea, China and Iran, should the need arise. Listening to Sarah Palin tell Charles Gibson, “I’m ready. I have the confidence in that readiness,” did not make me feel any more secure. She didn’t look or sound “ready.” Far from it. She looked like a nice-enough lady who likes to hunt moose and have kids and whose entire life experience has better prepared her for those tasks than for leading one of the more complicated nations in the world and guiding the ship of state through troubled waters. There were no concrete plans. There were no specifics. There was just the acknowledgment of all the right-wing beliefs that “the base” so loves, despite the fact that survey after survey shows that women in the United States value the right to choose, regardless of religious preference. Being a life-long member of the NRA will get the NRA vote, no doubt. Will it help curb violence on crowded inner-city streets? Unlikely.

When asked by Gibson if her National Security credentials were up to that task (and at least she was asked), Sarah Palin immediately deflected the question, turning it into something it wasn’t, saying, “But it is about the reform of Washington.” From there, she segued on to her credentials on energy, apparently thinking that this old political ploy of not answering the question at all would go totally unnoticed.

I noticed, Ms. Palin.

I’m pretty sure the rest of those listening did, too.

Would you rather have Senator Joseph Biden, who has extensive National Security experience, negotiating with foreign leaders, or the self-styled “hockey mom” from Alaska, who has absolutely no experience whatsoever in this crucial and sensitive area?

The Republican ads that followed the ABC interview trumpeted: “She stopped the bridge to nowhere.” Welllll, maybe not. And the change mantra? Four more years of Republican leadership dedicated to “a win” in an untenable war, to no choice for American women, to status quo on embryonic stem cell research—none of that equates to “change” for the better.

The “Spin-meisters” afterwards (George Stephanopoulus and company) thought she wasn’t very forthcoming. That’s putting it mildly. They did describe Governor Palin as “doing okay on these answers, not great on these answers.” One expert suggested that the VP be coached a bit more before taking on the hard ones.

My take: she didn’t answer the questions asked at all. She did the typical politician buck-and-wing, and that is sad. I thought the Republican ticket had staked its claim to election on being “different” from the old-style politics of Rove and Bush? There was no difference, tonight, between the Bush campaigns of the past two election cycles and the McCain ticket, this year.

The spin-meisters thought she looked very “scripted.” I thought she looked very out-of-her-element and sounded very much like Bush (again) in 2008.

I’m sitting here right now listening to Ron Paul, the former Libertarian candidate for President, say that the War on Drugs has been ‘a complete and total failure. The war has led us to a condition where the states pass laws that say, if you get sick (AIDS, cancer), the federal government actually arrests sick people in the name of compassionate conservatism. But some say, ‘Well, it’s dangerous.’ ..I said, “Yes, some of the strongest drug lawyers in Washington, D.C. rant and rave about a sick person using marijuana, but they have no inhibitions about indulging in a drug called alcohol.  The drug war has caused us to do so many foolish things. It violates the concept of state’s rights….The first law against the use of marijuana was in 1937. It’s  a recent onset. During the war, it was important that hemp be used in the war effort to make food products and clothes. But we are obsessed and confused. If you go out and plant hemp plants, you’re going to go to jail. What’s going on? In order to get high on a hemp cigarette, the cigarette has to be as tall as a telephone pole. This is a very serious issue. The last thing I want to leave anyone with is the thought that drugs are safe; I think that drugs are very, very dangerous and we should be very cautious about them. But, as a physician, I also recognize the great danger of prescription drugs. (Applause). What about the government mandating these programs for all our school kids.

I lost my skepticism; I hope you lost your apathy.

“It’s not the 1950’s any more.”

They put road blocks in front of nuclear energy and then they put federal subsidies behind making ethanol out of corn, which doesn’t make any economic sense. The Brazilians can actually sell us ethanol made from sugar cane cheaper than we can make it from corn in this country. But we put a tariff on it. But there is a better source than ethanol, and it happens to be hemp.
The founders were great. They knew the importance of freedom of choice. Government are incapable of making good economic decisions; they are only capable of making mistakes. This entire idea that the government can tell us what we can eat and drink and smoke leads to some other silly things. Can you believe that the federal government has regulations on the delivery of raw milk. They can’t give you enough freedom to make up your mind whether you drink whole milk.

I’ve heard so many times over the year, ‘I’m opposed to this welfare system; I’m opposed to this system,” unless you need it. And then what happens, if it’s something that comes for free, so often the good moral high ground that the other side has doesn’t really help the other side. What it generally helps is the people who are in control. Just witness what happens when the government gets in charge of housing programs. What they do is, they end up doing the same thing over and over again. What we need to do is break up the cycle. If we don’t, it will bankrupt the country and destroy our liberties.
There is one issue that frequently I barely mention: the bum rap we get who believe in freedom that we don’t care about the environment. That is just not true. The environment has been damaged, very often, by bad federal regulations. The dependency on the government to build our dams and our levees and they build them in the wrong places and we have these consequences. (Promotes strict adherence to property rights.)
We don’t have the right to pollute our neighbor’s air, water or living space. Just like in welfare, the corporations benefit. Somebody abuses the system. That is why government should be very minimal. It means you have a right to your own life but you don’t have the right to do any harm to your neighbor’s rights or property. That is the one limitation that we have. One thing that I believe is coming as a consequence of the campaign, (and now we’ve had a grand campaign and we’re climaxing that campaign right now) and there’s every reason in the world for us to be energized. (Stomping of feet).

All I can say is that a year and a half ago, I had no idea what it would lead to. I firmly believe, now, that our day is coming. The conditions are such that there is room now for the defense of liberty. It’s not working monetarily. They will not welcome us with open arms. I found that out. But there is a vacuum out there. The vacuum is not in one political party. It is pervasive. Ideas spread. You can’t stop them. An idea whose time has come cannot be stopped by any army or any government.  (People waving “Rally the Republic” signs and standing and cheering; CNN coverage).

They like to describe us as being on the fringe and a little bit kooky, now and then. We talk about privacy, a sound national defense, liberty, …and they want to say that these are bizarre ideas. They harp about the need for us being around the world. The candidates out there right now don’t have many differences in their foreign policy. They want troops around the world. (Boos). Both candidates now think that we should send more troops to Georgia to protect their oil ines..and that’s not the state of Georgia, either. The public school kids probably don’t even know where the country of Georgia is, and somebody said, “They probably don’t even know where the STATE of Georgia is!”

It’s amazing that the drums of war can be beaten so that we want to go to war with Iran. They have no weapons, no tanks, no nuclear missiles. And we’re supposed to be intimidated and scared. The Iranians…they don’t even refine their own gasoline…and we’re supposed to be frightened and intimidated by them? We’ve got to get the truth out; that is what we need.

A wonderful thing about restoring the Republic and restoring our interest in liberty is that that is the key to restoring individual liberty. Energy and creativity comes from the individual.  We all are individuals, but we have to have the motivation. The strongest motivation in the world is to take care of ourselves. We should be embarrassed at asking somebody else to take care of us!

The wonderful part about a free society is that you eliminate entirely victims.  I have a bumper sticker on my desk that says, “Don’t steal. The government hates the competition.” It’s rather popular. Some people worry that our neighbors aren’t great enough…that we don’t have 51% of the population behind us, but ideas only need to be run by 5% of the population. But today I heard a statistic that shows our numbers are much greater than that, even in the face of the Republican party. Just think how much greater they are in the whole country.

We will bring about change. We will attract the young people. What we have when we have a free society, we reject the idea of people being leeches and looters and plunderers. We need self-reliance, self-respect…I have been asked, these last several days, what I am doing this for, what the purpose of all this is. In many ways, it is true that it is to send a message. Being disruptivce doesn’t really achieve anything and puts us in a bad light.  This is much greater than the Republican party.  So, I encourage people if they want to campaign within the Republican party, do so, but in a true revolution, a true revolution will be then reflected in the Republican Party, the Democratic Party, the Independent Party, and everyone in the country will be affected.

When the subject comes up not too infrequently, “When do we get so dissatisfied with our current operation that we try to bring about change?” Some are so frustrated with the slowness of what we do and want to change things in a much more aggressive manner. But there is a time and place for peaceful, civil disobedience.  The changes brought about by Gandhi and Martin Luther King were peaceful. We do know that our members have already been affected, because they may be correct, but they end up behind bars.

Let’s say this foreign policy gets out of hand, which I worry about all the time because both parties are becmoing more militaristic. Those who want to reinstitute the Empire will want to reinstitute the draft. We should never ever have a draft. If there is a draft, those will be very, very hard decisions. I have already resorted to saying I will be rallying the troops and running for office. That is the way I will be working.

Amy Allen sang the song “the Universal Soldier” for me because I asked her to do that. It talks really about the essence of decision-making. It talks about should you strike and not participate any longer. It’s the universal soldier that allows the power-mongers around Washington to exist. It’s always done by getting the young people and making them feel that,if they don’t participate, they’re unpatriotic.  I think of the story of the early days of WWI, on Xmas Eve, when the Germans and the British took a break and began singing Christmas Carols. And then, on the morrow, the leaders came back and said, “You will go back to killing one another.”

As a young man, as a doctor, I was drafted. There were times that people were starting to resist, but I marched off and I was the Universal soldier. What we need today is the Universal Champion of Liberty. (Cheers; waving of placards).  Just as we need a President who offers to do less and not to run your life and run the economy and police the world, we need freedom, which is really the answer. And, fortunately for us, freedom is still very popular. (Chants of “Free-dom! Free-dom!”) Traditionally, over the history of mankind, governments have appealed to idealism, whether it’s to patriotism in drafting us or in sonething else. They’re always appealing to the idealism and the idealists go along with it. They get people pulled in because they are idealists and they want to do the right thing. Why can’t we appeal to the people of the country to do the RIGHT thing?

Let me close by giving you a strong word of encouragement. I sincerely believe our day is coming. What is happening these last 18 months has been phenomenal. Can you imagine going from those 12 spammers we had at the beginning to what we have here tonight? (People standing and cheering.) So, in 18 months, let’s say we had a 1,000% in our number of energetic freedom fighters. What about the country? We’re not talking about 10,000, or the million.2 that voted in the election, we’re talking about millions of people in the country and around the world that have heard our message, and it seems like, even if they tried, they can’t stop us.

Al Gore was seated directly behind me (Section 101, Row 35) in the Skybox at Invesco Field at Mile-High Stadium in Denver, Colorado on August 28th, the night that Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for President.

Also visible inside the skybox at various times were Oprah Winfrey, Kanye West and other notable celebrities. In town during the four-day event were Jennifer Lopez, Sean Penn, Cindy Lauper, Ben Affleck and Jennnifer Garner, Steven Spielberg (who I did get a side shot of), Jesse Jackson, Jesse Jackson, Jr., Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Charlize Theron and her boyfriend, Stuart Townsend, and a cast of literally thousands (delegates, press, volunteers, etc.).

I got to the stadium at 2 p.m. to get a good seat, and it was good enough that the main press officer for the German Embassy was seated directly in front of me and Mo Rocca was within a few yards of my placement.
More pictures to follow

Tonight, I tried to find the Courtyard by Marriott, where an “Iowa” party was being held from 9 to 11, and I would have known Super Delegate Richard Machacek through association with Dave (his Republican brother) and Marcy, my old high school classmate. I came home from the Charlize Theron thing and wrote till 5 and only then took a bath, did my hair and took a nap until I woke up, which, unfortunately, was 9 p.m. I dressed quickly and took my blue Mustang convertible with the GPS downtown, trying to find SOMEWHERE to park it. I was told to “try 17th St.” as 16th Street is a pedestrian mall with “light rail.” So, I saw a big sign that said PARKING GARAGE on Stout Street and entered, drove to the 4th floor and parked. I couldn’t figure out how to turn the lights off, which was a problem that took me at least 20 minutes to solve, and I am driving with what appear to be my “brights” on at all times, as I can’t figure out how to get the “brights” down to “normal” brightness, but the GPS is working like a charm! (Otherwise, I’d be lost the entire week.)

Anyway, after all this, it was close to 11 and the Iowa party was only going to last from 9 to 11, they said. As I exited the parking garage, I asked the attendant how to walk to the Iowa hotel, and she said I couldn’t leave my car there past 10 p.m. ! (It was already 11 p.m.!) I went back UP to the 4th floor, drove my car out onto the street and tried to follow some fairly poor directions about a parking lot that was open air. Just then I saw a place on the street, but what street? I parked and found A Marriott, but not the Iowa Marriott.

However, I knew Illinois was in a Marriott downtown, so I went in there and, sure enough, there was an Illinois party going on and it did not end until 2 a.m. I spent the time with 4 pretty young girls, whom I will feature on my blog. They were very nice to let an oldster like me sit with them. One even bought me my (only) drink. I saw Mike Jacobs and asked Callie King (whose father is the Chief of the Denver Fire Department) to go over with me, as she was a pretty young thing (born in 1984) and I figured Mike Jacobs might actually speak to me if I had a pretty young thing with me. We introduced her as “my chauffeur.” He was quite courtly, speaking primarily with Callie, of course, and he didn’t have a clue who I was. Later on in the evening, he was being fairly loud ebullient with his cronies in the lobby (after the party was over) while I was watching a big plasma TV set, but with no sound,  because I let a different correspondent go tonight (Tuesday, Hillary’s night) and I will go again tomorrow (Wed.) and then go to Invesco Field the final night (Thursday).

I’m tired, but it’s fun!

Now comes the typical party. I couldn’t find my car and,, no, I was NOT drinking at all. (I had one glass of zinfandel in about 3 hours). I was drinking diet Coke, which was free. I finally hired a “pedi-cab,” driven by a kid from Wisconsin and we pedaled around until we found my blue Mustang convertible. I paid him $10, but it only took about 5 minutes on a bike to go around in circles. I then programmed my GPS without incident and arrived home only to discover that the local police have banned ALL parking on the side of the street that my 2427 W. 32nd triplex is. Luckily, there was one very small spot left across the street where it is still legal, and I managed to squeeze into that, and then realized that I never had dinner. I made a peanut butter sandwich and am waiting for my camera to “charge” and going to bed.

I’m sure glad I kept the car and also very glad I got GPS, although it cost me extra.

I don’t know, for sure, what I’m doing tomorrow besides going to the convention all night. They don’t have a TV set that works here (!) and there is no AC and the bathroom is smaller than Satch’s first bachelor pad and has a tub that is smaller than the one in my downstairs bathtub and an old clawfooted thing, to boot. Still, it is nice to have a kitchen, and I haven’t spent much at all on food, so far.

The DNC (Democratic National Convention) in Denver, Colorado kicked off on Monday, August 25^th, and I was there. I was almost not there, however, because (as outlined in AC content producer Tom Treloar’s story),  major highways are all but closed down, including I25, parts of Speer Boulevard, and nearly all the roads that lead one close to either the Pepsi Center, where the nightly meetings take place until Thursday, or Invesco Field, where Obama will make his acceptance speech.

I began my Odyssey towards the Pepsi Center by cab, because previous walking to interview the protesters in Tent City  left me lame. I waited for an hour for a cab, as some automated cab numbers did not  provide a “live” person to ask for a vehicle, but left you on “hold” for a very long time. Then, the number given me was for a cab service in the mountains. After an hour, a cab arrived, but the driver seemed less-than-informed about street closings. I finally exited the cab, $8 poorer, somewhere in the downtown area.

At this point, things got interesting. In trying to walk to the arena, visible about ½ mile away, yellow crime scene tape limited the ability to walk up the steps provided.

I flagged a city maintenance truck to ask “How do I get from here to there?” (”there” being visible, but not easily reached.) Locals had pointed to a building at least 10 miles away and told me to “walk to that building and come back.” After my merry laughter, I commandeered the maintenance truck and climbed into the front seat between Jorge and Luis, neither of whom spoke much English. Through my gestures, they understood that I wanted to get closer to the Pepsi Center, and, to that end, we nearly drove over some pedestrians on the sidewalks. I yelled, “Ay, Carrambe!” a lot (whatever that means) and they asked, “Hable Espanol?” to which, unfortunately, the response is “No hable Espanol,” [which I probably spelled wrong, as well.] Jorge, Luis and I got close, but no cigar. That is when two men (police? Secret Service?) in a golf cart took pity on me. One got out of the golf cart, I got in, and the golf cart drove me to the front door. (Sweet! Thanks, guys!)

Once inside, my “Hall” level pass allowed me to travel to behind-the-scenes areas, where I stood cheek-to-jowl with Jesse Jackson, Jr., on the “third level,” but, alas, did not secure a photo. I did take a picture of the large room housing at least 400 videotographers and bloggers (only 125 bloggers were allowed inside, I heard), and I crashed the party on the third floor, where larger media like NBC and “Time” (et. al.) is ensconced.

Much of my time was spent in the company of two young students from the University of Akron, who were feeding film for airing on PBS. Jamie Reeves, a junior, and Rebecca Gruccio, a Senior, were staying in Boulder, but getting class credit for their efforts for www.ztvakron.com.  Jamie will not wear high heels on Tuesday night.

After the party platform, gaveled into action by Howard Dean, had reinforced that Democrats want the complete redeployment of all troops in Iraq within 16 months, health care for all (a big topic of the ailing Ted Kennedy’s remarks), a new economic stimulus package, and more taxes on those with incomes over $250,000, the crowd began to swell in anticipation of the evening’s Big Name speakers, which included Nancy Pelosi, a video from (former President) Jimmy Carter, Jesse Jackson, Jr., Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg (introducing a tribute to her Uncle, Senator Edward Kennedy, who appeared in person), former Republican Congressman Jim Leach of Iowa, Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri and, the piece de resistance, Michelle Obama.

As an Iowa native, I was interested in hearing what a Republican Congressman from Iowa would tell the crowded hall about Barack Obama. Among other things, the scholarly address questioned, “Whether it is prudent to borrow from future generations to pay for today’s reckless fiscal policies or elect a leader who will shore up our budgets and return us to a strong dollar. Whether it is preferable to continue the policies that have weakened our position in the world, deepened our debt and widened social divisions or elect a leader who will emulate John F. Kennedy and relight a lamp of fairness at home and reassert an energizing mix of realism and idealism abroad.” Leach called Obama “a transcending candidate, an individual whom I am convinced will recapture the American dream and be a truly great President.” His delivery was Leach’s usual thoughtful style, and the true crowd-pleasers were Teddy Kennedy and Michelle Obama.

As State Representative and Delegate Shirley Nathan-Eullian from Maryland gushed to me and Finnish reporter Jari Alenius, reporting for Ilta-Sanomat (a Finnish newspaper), “Michelle Obama was articulate. She was fantastical!”

Barack Obama spoke to the crowd and his wife and daughters via a “live” feed from Missouri. He had been in Davenport, Iowa earlier in the day. The Michelle Obama remarks ended the night’s duties, and delegates adjourned to a series of parties across the city.

I chose to attend “Republicans Happy Hour for Hillary,” an  event at the Paramount Café at 519 16^th St. in Denver, which was scheduled for 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. Hillary never showed, but several young supporters wearing her shirts or McCain shirts did.

Alan S. Chartock of WAMC Northeast Public Radio, the owner of 22 public radio stations in the Albany, New York, area, with whom I chatted in the newsroom, said he had interviewed Hillary three times and that she was a “very bright woman,” but that she had “surrounded herself with idiots.” (By this, I believe he meant those who planned her Iowa primary campaign, not Bill Clinton.) While we were speaking, his wife phoned him to tell him that Denver police wear tear-gassing protesters outside the Denver Coliseum near 16^th Street.

The evening closed with me getting as close to Barack Obama as I am likely to get, in the person of a cardboard life-size figure at the Paramount Café. Too bad he wasn’t one of the Iowa primary candidates I posed with during that frozen winter.  Michelle Obama thanked the people of Iowa for turning out to vote for her husband Barack at the snowy Iowa caucuses, the first African-American with a realistic shot at being President.

Right now, rumors swirl that Hillary will ask for a state-by-state vote when her name is placed in nomination, and that she has brought her own camera crew to cover her appearances. A source inside the Texas delegation says the Hispanic delegates have not yet endorsed Obama’s candidacy, and, as Nancy Pelosi said, “To stay wallowing in all of this is not productive.”

It was just announced that former Republican Senator from Iowa James “Jim” Leach, now serving as the interim Director of the Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard is to speak at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado on opening night (Monday, August 25, 2008).

Trotting out this esteemed thirty-year Republican legislator, who endorsed Barack Obama on August 12^th, is a coup for the Democrats akin to the use of Senator Joseph Leiberman, (former Democratic Vice Presidential running mate with John Kerry) at the Republican convention.

Jim Leach is one of the most respected politicians ever to serve. And serve he did…for 30 years, in fact, from 1977 to 2007, when, after being re-elected 14 times, he was upset in the 2^nd Congressional District in eastern Iowa by a mere 6,000 votes by former Cornell College Professor David Loebsack.

Leach, a graduate of Princeton, Johns Hopkins and the London School of Economics, and a Davenport, Iowa, native, has been a voice for moderate Republicans ever since he defeated Ed Mezvinsky (who later served time in prison) in 1976.

If all politicians had the integrity, smarts and scruples of James Leach, this country wouldn’t be in the mess it’s in at this time in our history.

Leach was fiscally conservative, socially moderate, but progressive on such issues as stem cell research, which he supported at a time when “W” was banning the use of all but a few strains. Leach also had the integrity to quit during Watergate, in protest over the “Saturday Night Massacre,” when Richard Nixon fired Eliot Richardson and Archibald Cox. (At the time, Leach was serving as a delegate to the Geneva Disarmament Conference and the U.N. General Assembly). He never accepted PAC money, refused out-of-state contributions to his campaigns, and put limits on how much one individual could contributions.

After 9/11, I was standing in a long line at the Baltimore Airport, trying hard to get a plane back from a Sylvan Learning Center convention to the Quad Cities of Ia/Il when I happened to notice that the man 2 people back in line was Jim Leach, schlepping his own suit over his shoulder in a garment bag. The lines that day, snaking through that airport, were the longest lines I’ve ever seen in an airport. Airports in Washington, D.C. had been closed and planes had been grounded for days.

I struck up a conversation with Leach, saying something less-than-intelligent like, “Hey! You’re my Representative!”

Everyone, at that time, felt as though they wished they could do something to help, and I sketched for Leach my goal of hosting a fund-raiser for the children of the victims of that tragic terrorist attack. When I asked his opinion of the idea, just then taking shape in my mind, he responded with amusement, “You’re way ahead of me.” I forgot to ask him if he would participate, were I successful in organizing such a fund-raiser, but belatedly thought of this coup and sprinted the length of two airport concourses to ask him (breathlessly), “If I get something together, would you come and be the keynote speaker?” He looked a bit startled, but acknowledged that he would do so.

Fast forward to an Iowa football game one month later in a pancake house in Iowa City, Iowa. Who should be there but Senator Leach, wearing an orange sweater. I went over to his table and said, “Remember me? The Sylvan lady? I’m still working on the plans for the fund-raiser. Can I still count on you?” He chuckled, probably wondering if I were stalking him, but responded affirmatively.

I worked out the details of this event between 9/11 and 11/11, Veterans’ Day. In frequent conversations with the Senator’s office staff, I received word that, although he had many speaking commitments that day, he would, indeed, travel all the way from Iowa City (106 miles, round trip) to the Pleasant Valley High School, whose auditorium I had rented for an event we dubbed “Celebrate Citizenship.” I was warned, however, that, since he had at least 7 prior speaking engagements, he would arrive late.

When Jim Leach entered the hall about halfway through the performance(s) by the Glenview Band, he gave a thoughtful report to the assembled citizens about what was being discussed in the halls of Congress regarding the dastardly attack on the World Trade Center. He was insightful, thoughtful, inspiring, just as I expect him to be on Monday night at the DNC in Colorado.

He did not let me down in my hour of need, and, through the generosity of the people of the Iowa/Illinois Quad Cities and the forthright goodness of this man of principle, we raised $5,000 for the Scholarship Fund established for the children of the victims of 9/11, (with matching funds from our Sylvan Corporate company.)

This is the James Leach who endorsed Barack Obama on August 12^th and who will speak to the nation on Monday, August 25^th.

Jim Leach is one of the good ones.  Lord knows we need more like him now. I hope that, when he speaks, the nation listens.

Back on January 1, 2008, I printed some remarks made by Senator Joe Biden (D, Delaware) as he appeared in Davenport, Iowa, during the Iowa primary campaign season. In light of Senator Biden’s selection Saturday (Aug. 23, 2008) to be Barack Obama’s running mate for the Democratic bid for the Presidency, I’m reprinting some of his more noteworthy comments. (For those who wish to see the original article, complete with photo of Joe Biden and Yours Truly, check the archives on www.associatedcontent.com).

There is no doubt that Senator Joe Biden is a great orator. Sometimes, he has followed in the tradition of “loose lips sink ships,” as when he used a line at an Iowa State Fair speech and failed to properly attribute it (he had attributed it appropriately in prior addresses). This furor derailed an earlier bid for the Presidency with charges of “plagiarism.”

When the position of Chairman of the Democratic Party was up for grabs, it was Dean and Biden who really stood head-and-shoulders above the field and commanded attention. (Dr.) Howard Dean had just come off his unsuccessful bid for the Presidential nomination during the “Sleepless Summer” tour in Iowa, which derailed in Iowa at the ValAir Ballroom in what infamously became known as “the shout heard round the world.” Howard Dean is now DNC Chariman, and the ValAir Ballroom derailing was nothing more than a dirty bit of Republican showmanship. (Ask Joe Trippi, his campaign advisor, if you don’t believe me). Howard Dean has been known to say a few things off the top of his head, to “lip off,” which he may later regret. And so has Joe Biden. But isn’t some candor refreshing after years of Darth Vader Cheney?

Here are a few quotes from Senator Biden’s Iowa appearance on January 1, 2008:

“I’ve been a Senator since I was 29. There are only 27 in history that have served longer than me. My Grandpa Finnegan would not believe this. Iowa is the last level playing field in American politics. You can’t do this anywhere but here. We owe you. The whole process owes you. Win, lose or draw, I’ll always be indebted to you. Absent you and New Hampshire, it’s all about the money.”

“I look forward to a country that is proud of its great heritage. The United States does not torture and does not condone torture. The world is not stable. George Bush has done more than mess up. He’s been the worst President in history…at least the worst in the twenty-first century. The next president has to know what they’re about. I am the only candidate with a specific, concrete plan to end the war (The Biden Exit Strategy creating a Federal State of Iraq.). Five years ago, when I visited Afghanistan, you could walk down the street. You can’t do that now. You have to stay in the Green Zone. We may be in the midst of losing Afghanistan.”

[This last nugget of information was seconded by a British Army member I met in Las Vegas recently, who had just completed his second tour of duty in Afghanistan and said that Britain would soon withdraw all its troops, as the situation was untenable and unwinnable.]

Biden: “You have the most dangerous and complicated nation in the region in Pakistan, armed with nuclear weapons. Their population is larger than Russia’s. It’s the place where Bin Laden lives, where the Taliban reside. Imagine a Pakistan taken over by 15% of the Muslim zealots. My God, the lack of focus we have! My god, what hat this President wrought? This is the single most consequential election of your lifetimes. If it’s about experience, well, heck, I win! There’s good change and there’s bad change. It’s not about change or experience. It’s about pragmatic action. Inaction is a decision in itself.”

Moving from the topic of national security, Biden noted that he wrote the Violence Against Women Act “back in the eighties” working alone, and that it took him six years to get it passed. He added, “Initiating change is about taking action.”‘

Biden also quoted the statistics that show him to be “the fourth most liberal Senator and the Crime Bill that helped him put 100,000 more policemen in the streets, with $10 billion of additional funds for the task. “I’ve gotten it done in the past, and I believe I can do it again.”

On the subject of Republicans, in general, Biden commented, “I’ve had it up to here with the moralizing on the part of the Republican party…Where in the bible does it say torture is good? How can a tax cut for the rich, while millions have no health care coverage and millions live in poverty, be good or fair?”

Biden ended that night by saying, “I can hardly wait to debate any of these Republican candidates. I can hardly wait. The test for the Democratic candidate for the Presidency is crystal clear: who can take these guys on and win? Who can turn this nation around?”

[For an exclusive AC interview with Finnegan Biden, Joe's granddaughter, search the Associated Content archives.]