Another Item On My Christmas List

Feel free to comment with bad jokes .... there are many that are coming to me.

Or .... make suggestions for a special playlist to go with it. First tune that I thought of it was "The 1812 Overture"


ICarta Stereo Dock for iPod with Bath Tissue Holder

Now you can enhance your experience with your favorite music from your iPod. Make your bathroom more enjoyable with this ICarta stereo dock and bath tissue holder for your iPod! This iCarta stereo dock and bath tissue holder will distribute paper while blasting your favorite tunes. You'll need an iPod and the ability to sing while taking care of business. This revolutionary unit features four (4) moisture resistant speakers (two tweeters and two woofers) volume control and multiple audio in ports. When the newspaper or the occasional car, sports or men's magazine are not enough, adding your favorite music is the answer!


http://www.amazon.com/ICarta-Stereo-Dock-Tissue-Holder/dp/B000HX7ASU/sr=8-20/qid=1159549028/ref=sr_1_20/102-3306849-6916102?ie=UTF8&s=electronics

Battling Bigotry with Bucks!!

Since Tuesday we have seen an escalation of racist and anti-Muslim rhetoric coming from the Republican Party and other sources. From Alan Fine's pathetic yet offensive press conference Wednesday to the revolting, open hatred spewed in some blogs it has been mind boggling. We now know that our opposition has decided that their only hope of winning is to appeal to the lowest commen denominator in our society.

But, what can we do? I know that it is not good for my blood pressure each time some of this venom spews out. Here is my solution:

Every time Ron Carey, the Republican Party, Alan Fine or any other purveyer of bigotry uses racism, anti-Muslim rhetoric or ethno-centrism to attack Keith Ellison I pledge to donate $5 to the his campaign. If enough of us do this we will be part of history in electing Keith Ellison to Congress as the first African-American from Minnesota and the first Muslim in the nation. And, when the opposition realizes that every vile word of bigotry they speak just raises more money for his election, they just might decide they have to campaign on issues rather than hate.

For those of us with financial limitations you can pledge an hour of volunteer time.

You can go to www.keithellison.org to donate or volunteer. Be sure to note "Mypledge to combat bigotry" in the attribution field.

Perhaps the next victory is in the 3rd CD Come November?

From Betsy O'Berry, Campaign manager for Wendy Wilde:

An interesting fact to note:
With 13,914 votes in the September 12 primary, Wendy Wilde outpolled Republican
incumbent Jim Ramstad by 1,268 votes.

Wilde and her two DFL challengers garnered a total of 18,101 votes compared to
12,646 cast by Republicans in the 3rd District primary.

Two years ago, 48% of 3rd Congressional District voters selected John Kerry for
President. (Compared to 47% in the 1st CD, 44% in the 2nd CD and 42% in the
6th CD).

There are more Democratic voters in the 3rd CD than most people think. As a mom
working to bring common sense to Washington, D.C., Wendy Wilde is a candidate to
watch in a changing district!

For more information about Wendy Wilde's campaign, go to www.electmom.com

Betsy O'Berry

Mental Illness and Politics

So, I have spent a good portion of the past couple of weeks dealing with mental health issues in politics. This is not calling my opponents crazy or anything like that. I am talking about working with people who have serious psychiatric illnesses. There are so many levels to trying to deal with these issues:

• Level 1: As a Party leader I need to balance the safety of the the organization and our members with the right of all people, regardless of whether or not they have a psychiatric illness, to partcipate.
  
• Level 2: Assisting local leaders, all volunteers, who may or may not have experience working with mentally ill people. There are a lot of misconceptions out there plus, sometimes, these people can behave in scary ways.
  
• Level 3: Just the sadness of it all. In the cases I have had to deal with the past couple weeks the individuals in question are incredibly intelligent and really sweet people. I myself have a fairly mild case of depression. Two pills every morning and I am OK. But I remember how frustrating and almost soul crushing it can be to so caught up in feelings and thoughts that, on some level, you know do not make sense. And that was depression, I cannot begin to imagine the pain of more serious illnesses like Schizophrenia or Bipolar Disorder.
  

It all came home for me last night. I was working on a campaign database when one of my best friends called. They had just found his sister's body and since she had Bipolar Disorder there is a good possibility that it was suicide. I left the campaign and spent the evening with him.

A couple years ago another friend had a brother who committed suicide. In that case he had actually tried to get help. But because of cutbacks in social services by the Pawlenty Administration he was not able to be seen for several weeks. He didn't make it to the appointment .... the pain got too great and now we don't have him anymore.

I guess the two things I want to wrap up this rambling post with are:

1) We have got to get serious about health care, including mental health, in this country ... before we lose more people.

2) Please remember that the vast majority of people with mental illnesses are no danger to you, they are more likely to be victimized themselve than hurt others. We may have to make hard decisions about how to interact and facilitate their participation but never forget that they are human beings and citizens who have a voice that desperately needs to be heard.