I won’t be joining the fight for stronger gun control laws. Gun enthusiasts are correct: watch Bowling for Columbine all the way to the end, when Michael Moore provides his answer to the question of why Canada, with approximately the same gun-loving culture as the US, does not have anything app… Read full post »

You already know that many people with great wealth and power are willing to break the law to get more wealth and power. You also know that our voting machines count the votes in whatever way the manufacturer or hacker tells them to count. But do you know who… Read full post »

Last night at a meeting, I had a microphone put in front of me. This morning, I was on Wisconsin's statewide public radio, talking up my favorite thing: Democracy. Take a listen; it's less than two minutes. 

I did not realize how much I talk in italics. I need to work on… Read full post »

On another Open Salon blog that linked to a website of Unitarian Universalist jokes, one commenter piped up with humor of his own: "I'm an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church... $17.95 on line and you get listed in the database and a nice certificate!! I'd fit right in with… Read full post »

I used to get so tired of it when people used to say, "You know, George Bush is just someone you'd like to have a beer with."

Well, no, I never thought having a beer with the Shrub would have been anything but excruciating. However, can you imagine having the chance… Read full post »

MoveOn was sharing pictures like this on Facebook from people who said they are part of the 47%, but I figured it was okay for one of the 53 percenters to join in the fun.

(I Photoshopped one of  my profile pics, which for me is easier and… Read full post »

Here's some lazy blogging. I just wrote an email to my niece and realized it would probably make a decent blog entry. Maybe I'll come back later and edit it, but right now I'll just copy-and-paste to save time.

* * *

Thanks! I'm glad you… Read full post »

The members of my local grassroots club have better-than-average political conversation skills. That's not surprising: Anyone who willingly attends  weekly political meetings gets more practice than the random person. Last week’s meeting, however, was derailed by an all-too-common pitfall.… Read full post »

Two small discussion groups at the Wisconsin Grassroots Network conference yesterday blossomed in different ways during the breakout period. All the groups had the same assignment: In 30 minutes, come up with a list of four priority goals for the grassroots movement in the next year. Both t… Read full post »

Perhaps I should feel at least slightly guilty. Last night, I successfully impersonated an irate right-wing taxpayer--without uttering one word I did not believe. In doing so, I demonstrated to myself how strongly partisan affiliation, whether real or imagined, colors what we perceive--and what we do… Read full post »

My friend Denise, a dedicated Democratic Party official in Ohio, wrote to me Friday to say:

I've been thinking of you and your hardworking friends in Wisconsin all week. How are you all? I imagine you're feeling like we did in 2004 after the Kerry campaign.

My friends have been asking… Read full post »

Today’s Wisconsin State Journal commented on a proposed 5.5% tuition hike for the University of Wisconsin System, sharing these useful facts about an important policy choice facing our state's citizens:   

• This is the sixth year in a row the UW has proposed a tuition hike.
• Tuition cu
… Read full post »

I have to admit it will be nice to wake up in the morning and immediately think something more normal than “What should I do to save democracy today?” I'm too raw and tired to have read the news this morning, so I don’t know how the media are spinning the… Read full post »

This will not be my best-researched post, and I'll apologize in advance for typos. I'm sitting here at my keyboard the night before Wisconsin's recall election, distracted and nervous, knowing that the effort that has shaped my life for the past 16 months will be over tomorrow and there's no telling… Read full post »

The Progressive magazine's Matt Rothschild recently visited Fort Atkinson to poll its residents about Tuesday's recall election. Fort Atkinson is a town of about 13,000 between Madison and Milwaukee. Its biggest employer is health care; its crown jewel is the Fireside Dinner Theater , wh… Read full post »

I was fascinated by the speech patterns of a fellow bed-and-breakfast guest this past week. A certified Master Gardener from Minnesota, he was visiting Wisconsin with his wife and another couple to see a few noted gardens and attend a plant auction in a nearby Amish community.

As my husband… Read full post »

As the civic life of America dissolves into partisanship and dysfunction, I cannot think of anything more worthy of study than Americans’ civic values.

Jonathon Haidt’s recently released book, The Righteous Mind, Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion, is worth reading for… Read full post »

It's been said that Democrats have a harder time articulating their values than Republicans do. The Obama Administration's response to the Trayvon Martin killing is, I think, an excellent example of a characteristically gray Democratic response. Obama has, as yet, said nothing. His press secretary sa… Read full post »

On February 14, 2011, after word had spread about the surprises in Governor Walker’s draconian budget, I went to Wisconsin's Capitol square by myself to see what was going on. Over the next few weeks, I went many times again, always alone, to participate in the growing protests. I didn’t… Read full post »

Although I am trying (within reason) to keep this blog circling around the topic of interpersonal political communication, the post below focuses on a single, specific issue. I originally wrote it as a response to a post by OS blogger Jonathan Wolfman, who had asked whether there was a difference bet… Read full post »

I had taken a poisonous viper from the zoo and inexplicably brought it home. It was darting around, hiding under the bed, then the dresser. It bit me once and did not inject enough venom to hurt. But it was sure to bite again and harm me or someone else if… Read full post »

I spent last Friday afternoon feeling the weight of democracy in my hands. The voice of the people was handed to me in half-inch-thick stacks of 50 petitions demanding the recall of our governor. Approximately 50,000 hours of data entry are needed for the more than a million signatures turned in… Read full post »

The first steps in conflict-resolving communication often involve disguising or feigning certain emotions—that is, insincerity.  None of the experts (at least in the methods I’ve studied so far) explicitly uses the term 'insincere,’ but that’s the way it feels before you&… Read full post »

These are the books and other resources I've found helpful so far in learning about interpersonal political communication. I intend to update and add to this list as my study progresses.

Please let me know, in the comments section, about any other books or resources you can recommend.

Political mess… Read full post »

My nephew, a soldier who identifies as a devout Christian, was posting pro-war messages on Facebook. His words and photos revealed that he was eagerly anticipating the joy of seeing action and engaging in camaraderie with his buddies during their Excellent Adventure in Iraq.

At around the same time… Read full post »