Letter to Editor in the Star re: Barrasso supporting torture

This was a well written letter sent to the editor of the Casper Star Tribune. I thought it was worth repeating here:

Editor:

A familiar pit formed in my stomach on Friday morning as our family caught the morning news. I listened as Sen. John Barrasso described his support for "appropriate interrogation techniques" -- torture. I was filled with a mixture of disgust, frustration, anger, and despair. My representative to the Senate, a trained physician, was describing an evidence-free argument supporting the torture of mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters.

Barrasso's position was fundamentally disturbing on several levels. Growing up in a family with a long history of medical service, I witnessed the compassion and
understanding of pain felt by most caregivers. As a trained physician, Barrasso
understands the psychological and physical consequences of pain, and the
longterm results of the fear associated with longterm, predictable pain.
Fifty-nine years ago this understanding motivated the Geneva Conventions, the
codified global disgust for such actions.

As a Christian, I seek to live by the principle that respect for human dignity must trump my personal desires. Fear of the unknown or a desire for absolute security must not lead to behavior that sacrifices the clear message taught by Christ on Good Friday -- all humans have dignity and that dignity must be honored by the way I treat their body and their spirit.

Lastly, it disturbs me to the core that Barrasso is willing to dishonor our brave service persons and strip them of the moral high ground that is so important in a time of war. If captured and subjected to torture, I want my son to benefit from the energy and moral strength that comes from the certain knowledge that his country, his fellow warriors, his government, would never behave this way to a prisoner. He will need that strength to withstand the terrible experience. During his education at West Point, my son Philip's training will include strong ethics education completely antithetical to the position being promoted by his own senator. Is Barrasso telling me that he prefers to continue eroding the high moral ground that Philip, the young
soldiers he will lead, and all American service people need as a foundation as they enter into the horrific, challenging theater of war?

GREG HAYWARD,
Laramie

Well said, Mr. Hayward. The fact that Bush and his entourage were willing to stoop to these levels leaves me feeling quite disgusted as well.

Introductions: Charles McDonald, Platte County Democratic Party Chairperson

Welcome to the great debate. Here is practiced the democratic principle that moves our country. Dialog about the issues of our lives, creating a consensus for how politics and policies can aid us where we need them. Part soapbox, part reporting, part editorial, here is where you can come to see the Democratic Party movement in Platte County and the state of Wyoming. Here we can cast the stones that will ripple out and affect our lives.

As the new chairperson for the Democratic party of Platte County allow me to introduce myself. My history with the party is inherited ( as I believe most of us do ) from my parent. A single mom during the late sixties and into the seventies, she instilled in me a liberal view of the world. My formative years are marked by the Civil Rights movement, Feminism, retaining the rights of individual liberty and our responsibility to community. I am a liberal and an activist. I work at the Safeway in Wheatland and am the chief steward of the Union here. The steward position brings with it the skills of leadership I will use as chairperson.

In the coming weeks and months I and others will open up debate and dialog here. Michael is our monitor and administrator for the site and I thank him for all of his efforts and work. He is our Technology/Communications officer. This site gives us voice to the Platte county community and the who, what, when and where of our political party here. Politics is said to be an art, so consider this to be our public gallery as the art of politics is practiced. I am excited and proud to be a part of this community and wish to serve it well.

Factcheck.org covers "Conservatives for Patients' Rights" Ad

There's a million dollar ad campaign from a group called Conservatives for Patients' Rights trying to play to people's fears that the government is going to take over health care. Good 'ol factcheck.org scrutinizes these spots to separate the fact from fiction. The ad is below, followed by the link for factcheck.org's rebuttal.



Oooh, scary huh? Now please take the time to read the factcheck.org review of the piece. I think you will find that the ad is filled with holes and misleading information. Don't let yourselves get swiftboated on this one folks.

Gov. Dave proclaims today Equal Pay Day

From the office of the Governor:

EQUAL PAY DAY
WHEREAS, forty-five years after the passage of the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, women continue to suffer the consequences of inequitable pay differentials; and

WHEREAS, according to statistics released in 2008 by the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2006 year-round, full-time working women in our nation earned only 78% of the earnings of year-round, full-time working men, indicating little change or progress in pay equity; and

WHEREAS, year-round, full-time working women in Wyoming in 2007 earned only 63% of the earnings of year-round, full-time working men; and

WHEREAS, women earn less than men in every occupation for which enough data is available, including occupations dominated by women (e.g., cashiers, retail sales, registered nurses and teachers); and

WHEREAS, educational attainment is not free from wage discrimination with women holding a graduate or professional degree earning 66% of the earnings of their male counterparts; and

WHEREAS, over a working lifetime, this wage disparity costs the average American woman and her family $700,000 to $2 million in lost wages, impacting Social Security benefits and pensions; and

WHEREAS, fair pay strengthens the security of families today and eases future retirement costs, while enhancing the American economy; and

WHEREAS, Tuesday, April 28 symbolizes the time in the new year in which the wages paid to American women catch up to the wages paid to men from the previous year,

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DAVE FREUDENTHAL, Governor of Wyoming do hereby proclaim Tuesday, April 28, 2009 to be

EQUAL PAY DAY

in Wyoming and urge the citizens to recognize the full value of women's skills and significant contributions to the labor force, and further encourages businesses to conduct an internal pay evaluation to ensure women are being paid fairly.

Hey, we're the EQUALITY STATE, aren't we? Paying less money to women is B.S. I don't quite understand a business owners motivation for doing this. Can it be that employers don't even realize this is happening? If it is being done on purpose, all I can say is "Knock it off!"

Source: http://governor.wy.gov/proclamations/equal-pay-day.html

Swing State Project making some 2010 predictions

It's rarely ever too early to start looking at the next election cycle. The folks at swingstateproject.com have already opened the conversation of which gubernatorial races will be worth watching. Wyoming receives this mention:

Wyoming - Dave Freudenthal (OPEN) (D): Likely R
A very odd duck indeed. Freudenthal is, as the law stands now, term-limited. However, a very similar statute which applied to state legislators was overturned a while back for failing to comply with the state constitution. Most legal observers seem to believe that the gubernatorial term limits would also crumble before a challenge. If Freudenthal successfully fights the law and runs again, this seat is probably Safe D. If not, then it's Likely R, if not Safe R - a crazy seesaw indeed. (D)

And how could Gov. Dave challenge the law? SSP explains:

After Democratic Gov. Ed Herschler served three consecutive terms into the mid-1980s, the state legislature passed a bill limiting Wyoming's chief executives to two terms. Then, in 1992, voters passed a ballot initiative that brought term limits to the state legislature in the finest "If it's good for the goose, it's good for the gander" tradition.

Fast-forward 12 years to a lawsuit brought by two term-limited legislators -- a Democrat and a Republican -- challenging the constitutionality of such limits. The state Supreme Court unanimously agreed that the term limits could not be imposed by ballot initiative, ruling that an amendment to the state constitution would be required.

While that decision did not apply to Wyoming's five statewide offices -- including governor -- there is a strong sense that if Freudenthal challenged the constitutionality of his own term limits, it would be a slam-dunk victory for the incumbent.

It will be very interesting to watch how this will play out. I'd certainly like to see Governor Freudenthal stay and continue to bring his thoughtful leadership to our state.

Source: swingstateproject.com

Democratic spring cleaning...think fresh!

I'm probably like many people in that my interest in politics is sometimes cyclical, following the ebb and flow of the elections. I'm quite obsessive in the preceding months up to election day, and then feel the need to focus on other interests. This would explain the lack of posts on this site since November. I've spent some time recently updating the sidebars, adding in contact information for our new Platte County Democratic Party officers, as well as our elected officials information.

As I come back to posting here, I find proof that I am not alone in the lack-of-updating department. I've browsed around on the sidebar links and see that many of our Democrat related sites could sorely use some fresh information. Our state party website is a good example. I don't know at this time how big of a team Bill Luckett has to help run the site, and I see that his blog info is new, which is great. But searching around the site I find "The Statesmen" link brings me to a 2007 .pdf file, the calendar page is empty, and I grimaced at the link titled "Wyoming for Kerry".

Now how about those "Young Democrats of Wyoming"? Surely if anyone would be hands on regarding the web it would be the tech savvy under thirty-five crowd, correct? Surprisingly, I had trouble finding them on the web. A google search leads me to the DNC webpage, which links to a "Party Builder" page, which was a dead end. How about the social sites? YDWY has a group on Facebook. The last "recent news" comes from last springs state convention, and the most recent wall post is dated September 5th, 2008. With 87 members (at the time of this post) I would expect at least one mention of the Obama win, or disappointment expressed over our state Democrat losses, yet there is not.

I look at how this would be perceived by a person looking to be involved with the Democratic party. How does this look to someone seeking to stay informed and perhaps converse with other fellow Democrats in the state? My fear is that the outdated info leaves doubt that the party is engaged. When we are trying to encourage people to join and participate, I think it is in our best interest to keep these sites fresh. It is not my intent to criticize, I know it is not easy to find the time to do this. But I do think it is important. We have some great new leadership in the party, and I am hopeful that the lines of communication will be open and utilized.

Cynthia Lummis VS Stephen Colbert

I missed this last month! Stephen Colbert sits down with Cynthia Lummis in his "Better Know A District" segment. I give credit to Cynthia for holding her own, even if she wasn't familiar with the meaning of "cougar" that Colbert meant. Here's the link.