DennisMansfield.com

Gustav's Opportune Preamble (GOP)

In 2005 I had the honor of joining the first civilain crew from Idaho, via the Vineyard Boise church, that went down to New Orleans to start cleaning-up the disaster caused by Katrina. We had to fly into Houston because the damage to the New Orleans Airport (and surroundings) in Kenner, LA would not allow commercial flights to land. It was all that fresh.

I remember at the time thinking that neither the GOP nor the Dems showed ANY good side of themselves. The President was tardy and the Governor of LA was just as bad. The whole thing was a governmental cobbed up mess of posers, in pretend leadership costumes. (Jack Nicholson's line as the Joker in the 1989 Batman movie came to mind at the time: JOKER (furious) "Batman!  BATMAN!  Can somebody please tell me what kind of a world we live in where a man dressed as a bat gets airtime!? This city needs an enema! ") Hmmm....

The place was an absolute mess...and it seemed that the only folks who were doing anything practical were the ones who were on the ground at the time or who flew down there to volunteer. Government leaders failed us at all levels.

So as the GOP Convention stops dead in the path of Gustav, John McCain is to be commended. Now is the time for  us all to be Americans, first...parties last.

The Twin Cities are a far distance from New Orleans, but not really. We are all neighbors. We are all workers and we are all Americans.

The truth of the matter is that our nation needs leadership. It begins at the local level with city councils and mayors...through PTAs and civic organizations. Through churches like the Vineyard Boise and others that sent crews like ours to live in gyms and work for hours on end in the shabbiest conditions I have ever seen. The mold was unbelieveable...the dispair was everywhere...until hope arrived.

How great it was to arrive with chainsaws, shovels, masks and time...time to simply tear out walls, roofs and houses and begin rebuilding them.

Gustav is already bringing out the best in us...the GOP convention is a distant issue of importance. Life is what counts. The rest is just foolish "self importance", isn't it?

Den

The New Reformers: Progressive Conservatives & Gov. Sarah Palin

Churchill's adage that in politics, young men are liberals and old men are conservatives makes for a good plausible thought...but not a true fact. Regardless of Churchill's enduring observation of age (and obvious omission of gender), something else SEEMS to coalesce political types together, rather than age. But what is it? Maybe, a better take on those interested in getting people elected could be that politics is like high school.

Think about it: some are in the "in" crowd and others are simply crowding in - awkward outsiders with their noses pressed against the plate glass, "feeling-about" for their identity....(maybe feeling like they are looking for their lockers...)

The underlying theme of this metaphor is that whether folks are conservative or liberal, their ideology (dare I say neo-religion?) demands that they capture ground and keep it. Once "in", never again to be outside looking in.  But does that work?

In a sense, I suppose I am a "recovering high school student", finally loosening the bonds of attachments that created in me a "mini-adult" status so many years ago, watching too many political movies and TV Oval Office shows and trying to act and pose like actors who act and pose like candidates...At 52 years of age, it's about time to acknowledge that I've finally graduated...tee hee.

I see it in all levels of the Democratic Party and the GOP. "Them that's gots, keeps..." Could be the mantra, I suppose. For the purpose of this posting, allow me to center in on the GOP, as it is my affiliation. For the purpose of this posting I site Sarah Palin as someone who got into politics to do something and will get out. For goodnes sakes, she spent years in her PTA and on her local town council...not quite CareerBuilder.com stuff.

I'd argue hers is the safer plan for the nation to enjoy, than the perpetual high school student councils elections of Biden, Kempthorne, Kennedy(s), Craig and Nixon.

I've been around the GOP for 32 years, run for office, lost and run again. With each passing year, I move further and further away from the goofiness of political in-fighting and power plays...and towards reform, progressive conservative reform. Please do not consider me bragging, but rather, illustrating the path of a progressive conservative - a reformer, encouraging others to reform their lives, cities and government like Sarah Palin has done.

• Get in and get out. I supported the Term Limits reform in Idaho. When the legislature overturned the will of the people, I led the actions that put the Referendum into place - forcing the issue back on the ballot for a final vote by the people.
• Turn them in, get them out. Reform demands that a person do what's right. I "turned in" my then-boss, a CA legislator (Assemblywoman Doris Allen), who was operating unethically.
• Run for office, even if it looks like political suicide. In 2000 I ran for US Congress against Butch Otter. People told me I was crazy. Though a good friend and a sitting Lt. Governor, Butch represented years of "in" crowd GOP back-slappers. No reform. No vision. In a field of 8, I came in 2nd to Butch. My race for State Senate was not too dissimilar.
• Stand up, speak out. Even if your friends  don't agree. Reform doesn't mean winning the first time, but it can happen. Don Paradis was on death row. I didn't see him as guilty and led the effort to have his case reviewed. Governor Batt amended his sentence and Don is a free man today.
• Change the world. We opened New Hope Community Health to help secure sobriety housing and classes for ex-addicts/ex-inmates. Godly, Christian, Republican neighbors opposed me. Hmmm...Reform means change. Change is painful. Changing the world is REALLY painful.

Progressive conservativism simply means well thought-out reform, regardless of personal costs; all accomplished from a traditional reference point. Getting rid of personality-driven public policy is key to it. Teddy Roosevelt did it 100 years ago. Sarah Palin is being called on to do it this centrury. My call is that a progressive conservative movement will rise within the GOP  - a movement of home makers, outsiders, part-timers and reformers.

After all, remember that the term status quo means "he/she who stays".....

Den

What does "it" matter? - 50,000 page views later

Get this, on September 2nd of 2006 we launched this blog with the following text:

What is "it"? There have been a lot of "its" in the past and many quotes like "it's the economy stupid" and many others. For this website the "it" for now is an attempt in fusing politics, culture, business, personality, religion, you and me.

No longer will there be a perceived hidden agenda - you'll get the straight scoop right here. There has never been a hidden agenda in my life; I like to lay myself right out there. Along with some friends there is a plan to bring many thoughts and plans to help businesses succeed, to help people reach their true potential and see a fusion of different perspectives become a stronger entity.

You'll see video, documents to download, links to other sites and people that speak into this dream - hang on & hope you like "it"!

Well....it's been 23 months since that first post (and 50,000 pageviews later as well - we hit that today.)


I'm sure that's not a big deal for some folks, but on this blog, it's fun to see us tip the scales at 50,000. ( I think that's more than the total number of election votes I've ever received - tee hee)


We've had a bunch of posts and we'll have a bunch more....

Keep hangin' on...and thanks for joining us, lo these many , many days/weeks/months and now years.

Den

 PS: Let me know which ones may have been "favorites", ok?
I just may sprinkle this month of August with a few "Best Of's"

The PickensPlan

 
Find more videos like this on PickensPlan

What do YOU think?
 

Nuke Waste To Leave Idaho...Why?

Idaho Statesman - I love you... I read you every day.

INL, INEL, INEEL - however you want me to call you, I think you guys are awesome!

Gov. Otter - I dig you, I may not fully understand you, but I'd like to hang out one day and chat...maybe we could meet over at Dawson Taylor for coffee in the morning or Mongolian for lunch/dinner. You name the time and place and I'll be there (as long as it is after my short 4th of July trip to eastern Montana).

But I have to ask why can't we figure out a way to recycle the nuclear waste? (I even dig the way GW says nuclear)

Here's the simple concept - energy doesn't go anywhere, it just changes or transforms. Now I know that is a simple, almost juvenile explanation, but hey I'm a progressive conservative and, for sure, a simple guy. The principle is there, the nuke waste is there - why can't we harness that energy? Maybe someone out there can direct me to a solid explanation, but so far I've found a lot of deep sounding words instead of a clear explanation. I mean, come on, we sent people into space...to the moon. We've done things in the modern world that make my jaw drop. Have you seen the Hoover Dam? Have you seen the Golden Gate Bridge? Do you ever think that 100 years ago the concept of flying was a concept?

Happy Independence Day to All! Be safe in all that you do.

Pitch hitting a short piece before he drives out of town,
Lee

I think your hat's causing climate change.

I found this to be funny...

Seriously, though, I think your hat's causing something to occur....

Den

Are We Almost There?

Thank you Dennis for letting me "pinch hit" on an environmental topic, which is something that makes my heart beat, almost like watching the original Star Trek, listening to Bob Dylan's Forever Young, and sipping on a good port wine. I know, I know, what a crazy combination...

There are so many things happening lately in the news related to solar, wind, fuel cell, electric cars, green /yellow fuels, waste recycling, and more. Used to be that you had to frequent fringe sites like TreeHugger to get your fill of this kind of news, but now USA Today (solar article), Business Week (wind article), and other "mainstream" publications are frequently posting articles and posting them before the more fringe sites. And if you watch investments in stocks related to solar, ethanol, and other "green" technologies/companies you'll see a large movement of money into that realm. In addition The Science Channel (part of Discovery Channel) has along with other channels new shows that are showing that green is not something 10, 15, or more years off - we are closer than ever before. I hear rumors that Discovery Channel is even going to start a whole channel on green. I'm looking on YouTube for the Eco-Tech shows that recently were on August 20-24 - they were amazing! if you can find them in digital form please check it out.

So are we almost there?

Child-centeredness and why it is destructive....

Thought you might want to read this. Not sure that it is 100% true, but from my own experience as a parent, "this bucket may hold some water...."

Read on.

Den

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by Gregory Ramey, PhD, child psychologist at Dayton Children's and Dayton Daily News columnist

...from online resource Want to be a better parent? Be more selfish!

At a workshop for parents of older teenagers, I asked the group “What was the biggest mistake you made when your children were younger?”

I expected the typical answers about the need for consistency, limit setting, and positive feedback. Instead, one parent bluntly responded, “I think I spent too much time with my children. I made them the center of my world. That wasn’t good for them, me or my husband.”