DAY 31 – The Kind of Media We Need – Thanks Timm

As I skimmed the Ventura County Star this morning, I was fortunate to notice, and read, on the Opinion page, Timm Herdt’s column entitled “A case study in how civil democracy can work”.

In the column Timm reports on the principles and behaviors of Republican, Jeff Gorell and Democrat, Ferial Masry as they vied for the 37th Assembly District seat in Ventura County in the months before the November 5, 2010 election. What a pleasure it was to read about the candidates’ mutual respect for one another, and their choice to not use negative campaigning. I savored reading each incident, conversation, and quote involving one or both of the candidates, that made the case that right here in Ventura County we had just seen a clear example of “civil democracy”.

Timm closed the column by saying, “They ran against each other. One got more votes. Both won.” What Timm knows, but didn’t say, is that we ALL won.

I had read the column first to myself, and then out loud to my wife. As I neared the end of the second read, my throat choked ever so slightly and my eyes began to water. My emotions about this come from my sense and belief that we desperately need to work together, and with respect. Our needs, as a society, are so great, and I don’t believe that we can be successful at caring for ourselves and our environment while simultaneously fighting one another.

Gorell and Masry have done us a great service. They have modeled the behavior that most of us want to see from our candidates and elected officials; and we have seen that it’s possible. But without a dedicated journalist like Timm Herdt, the good news of the 37th Assembly District would be missed by many. In a time in which bad news and sensational news are both omnipresent and sell, Timm offers us the opposite and uses his journalism to shine a light on an example of what COULD be in America.

This is the kind of media we need.

DAY 17 – 12 Hours on the Road to Democracy

You may have noticed that I did not post to my book/blog on October 20th. I didn’t even cop to it in my first post today. Here’s the story....

On Wednesday the 20th, Joanne and I got home from the office at about 7:00 PM. We put together some dinner and by 8:00 I felt exhausted. After having a talk with myself to pull me together, I spent the next 3 hours working on the signs for my personal democracy project for the next day (today).

In late October of 2008 I created two identical 4’x8’ signs on sheets of plywood and set them up on highway 33 near Casitas Springs and did my best for 13 hours to encourage motorists to vote for Barack Obama. It worked. :)

So yesterday, on Wednesday the 20th at 8:00 PM, having made some preliminary preparations earlier in the week, and having not done my book/blog writing for the day, I began to assemble two identical 4’x8’ signs on plywood that I would use the next day to try to influence the outcomes of some state and federal races in the upcoming November 2 election. I finished the signs and hit the sack, still no writing, at 11:00 PM, setting my alarm for 5:00 AM.

From 6:00 AM until 6:00 PM today I danced on the shoulder of highway 33, drawing attention to my signs and coaxing motorists to honk as a way of telling me that they were committed to voting on November 2. Long day; too much dancing for an old guy, and one can only do so many fist salutes before chronically injuring ones shoulder.

It was a great day, punctuated by innumerable drawn-out, rhythmic honks that clearly said, “you better believe I’m gonna vote!!!” I was only flipped off 3 times; a pittance compared to the 62 in 2008.

My day on the street does not qualify me as a great citizen, but I feel better for facing my fears, doing the planning, dragging my butt out of bed, and encouraging myself and others to be engaged in our democracy.