We’re in Loveland, Colorado, where I interviewed Adrian Yanez. He is a music teacher at a local school and worked in the music industry for years as well. He said music connects with us on three levels. That is: physically, mentally and spiritually. And what connects with these is rhythm, harmony and melody. Mr. Yanez, who is Catholic, said there is a lot of secular music that conveys good messages. However, he said there is a lot that doesn’t. And what’s more, it (rock, rap, hip hop…) appeals to our carnality, our materialism, our tendency toward violence… This is such a tremendously important point, in looking at triggers that, at least in part, lead to the sociological problems we have today. Violence is almost off the scales in our big cities, to rap back beats. Sexual acting out is rampant, as explicit rock lyrics (“Why don’t we do it in the road…”) psychologically urge us on. Drug use increases exponentially (“One pill makes you morbid, another makes you small…”). For us to think that much of this music is merely inane background noise that doesn’t influence us is: merely nuts. As parents, Liz and I closely monitor the music our children listen to (as do the Yanez’s). In these days, it’s important parents, well, be parents. Note: Walking into the weight room at Loveland’s Chilson Rec Center right after the interview with Mr. Yanez, the first lyrics I heard over the sound system were: “Let the music be your master…”
a different type of Memorial Wall
Our Rocky Mountain High Tour continues… We headed north to Boulder where we visited the “Memorial Wall for the Unborn” at Sacred Heart of Mary Church there. It honors: “All unborn babies lost to abortion, miscarriage or stillborn.” At the top of the section on the wall to the babies who have been aborted, it reads: “Blessed are they who morn, for they will be comforted.” -Mathew 5:4. Below were various rectangles with various short thoughts inside. Some read: “I realized too late.”; “Part of me died too.” –Your loving sister; “Please for give me.” …Leaning up against the bottom of the Wall was a small basketball, a doll, a model plane… In Boulder, we also went to the Whole Food Market for lunch. As I was walking in, a man asked me about my platform. I said I would be considered progressive leaning when it came to my stances on the environment and social justice. And I would be considered conservative when it came to “life issues.” He asked what that meant. With the Memorial Wall still fresh in my mind, I said I’m, for instance, against abortion. “I guess that’s all I need to hear,” he said, turning and briskly walking off. As I watched him go, I thought of the small basketball leaning up against “the Wall,” that would never get bounced. Note: Some 11 Russians have just been arrested as part of a spy ring in the U.S. The Wall Street Journal noted that for the past 20 years, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, both Russia and the U.S. have continued to participate in “espionage and counter-espionage” against each other. Maybe this is just me, but if we don’t want Russia spying on us, MAYBE WE SHOULD STOP SPYING ON THEM! (I’m serious.)
Got altitude?
We continued north to Lafayette, Colorado, where I saw a t-shirt that read: Got altitude? … In Lafayette, I interviewed Ben Venvigel who was at the Los Alamos nuclear site at the same time Albert Einstein was there, working on the atom bomb. While Venvigel said he saw “the bomb” as an istrument for peace (ending World War II), now he’s not so sure, and in fact a bit leary of the technology. He related that JFK once was quoted as saying: “Let’s put an end to the atom bomb, before the atom bomb puts an end to mankind.” Bumper sticker sighting in Lafayette: Who Would Jesus Bomb? …While in Lafayette, I also talked with George Peirce, 85. He was raised in rural Texas during the Depression. He said he, his father and five siblings all lived in an abandoned cotton mill. And if it wasn’t for FDR’s “New Deal,” he said he wasn’t sure the family would have survived. He said at the height of their own family crisis, the government began providing regular food staples. What’s more, the father eventually got a job with the New Deal’s Public Works Project crushing rocks for new roads in the area.
Is kickball an Olympic sport?
Our Rocky Mountain High continues… We traveled north to Lafayette, Colorado. There I met with Paul Spotts who is president of Catholic Young Adult Sports. In the Diocese of Denver, the organization is putting together a series of leagues (kickball, softball, flag football…) to get youth who, say, might not be talented enough for high school sports, involved with organized sports nevertheless. Spotts told me the main priority is building community among the youth, while providing an “entry way to Catholicism” for some. “It’s soft sell evangilazation,” he added… At the Lafayette McDonald’s, I stumped with some of the patrons. One man was Jeramy Hughes, who is a “senior scientist” with Cold Quanta in nearby Boulder, Colorado. He told me they expriment with lasers on atoms. I asked him what particular application(s). He said because the science is so new, they are still trying to figure all that out. “We’re a solution looking for a problem,” he smiled… I then went to the Lafayette Library where I put up a campaign flyer on the Community Bulletin Board there. This library’s entire roof is an array of solar panels and there is an intermediate sized wind turbine out front as well. Lafayette sits about 5,500 feet above sea level and gets a significant amount of wind. Note: Bumper sticker sighting in Lafayette, Colorado: Sea level is for Sissies!
‘on the ground strategy’ and socks
Our ‘on the ground’ campaign strategy continues… In the face of million dollar political advertising, we’re currently going with: “average Joe” fliers. Well, it could work… In Wheat Ridge, Colorado, I put up a flier on a bulletin board in King Sooper Grocery — right below a season schedule for the Mile High Grizzlies semi-pro football team. (Bulletin board placement is everything.) We then drove into downtown Arvada, Colorado, where I put a flier up on the community bulletin board on the square in the ‘Old Town’ area, then I walked about passing out more campaign literature… Then if was off to North Geffco Park in Arvada, where our Jonathan, 7, played in the sand at the playground with a group of kids and I passed out yet more campaign literature to some of the parents… Afterward we went to Shannon’s Thrift Store where the boys got a few used baseballs and I bought a couple second-hand pairs of socks. (Have I mentioned it’s a low budget campaign?) Note: Last evening at the Arvada YMCA, the coach of one of the teams there let our kids join in on a practice scrimmage. Liz and I ran the scoreboard clock. We all had an absolutely great time.
pro-life, social justice and “amen”
I gave a talk at the most long-standing pro-life Mass in Colorado, maybe even in the country. Fr. Bill has been conducting Mass every Saturday (rain, snow, sub-zero temperatures…) since 1994, at a street corner in front of Planned Parenthood’s abortion clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Fr. Bill told me that during the Republican Convention here several years ago, he had t-shirts made for people who were born after 1973. They read: “I survived Roe vs. Wade.” Fr. Bill also helps coordinate youth “Chastity Rallies.” He said it is his belief that the use of artificial contraception started to cheapen life, which consequently has led to almost wholesale abortion. During the Mass, Fr. Bill said if abortion continues, God may well, “out of His mercy,” allow major chastisements to correct us… We then stopped in Arvada, Colorado, where we talked with Chris Michalik. He’s been to Juarez, Mexico, four times to help with building projects in the slums there. (He goes with the non-profit group Southern Exposure.) They build a $3,750 home in a week there. The modest (by our standards) cinder block homes are like absolute mansions, in comparison to the tiny, cobbled together shacks that stand throughout most of the slums. Chris said to me that “…we are fighting the (immigration) battle on the wrong side of the fence.” He said a big part of the answer is to mobilize as much help as possible south of the border so people don’t have to leave family, friends, culture, language… Chris noted that people work in the multi-national factories in Juarez for as little as $4 a 10-hour-shift (Mexico’s current minimum wage), yet he was amazed to see that the prices in the stores in Juarez where comparable to the prices in U.S stores… Chris is also involved with Arvada’s Community Food Bank. We stopped by there today and interviewed a volunteer who told us that the year before last, the food bank collected some 46,000 pounds of food, whereas last year it was 42,000 pounds. He attributed the decrease to the recession. Note: The volunteer’s name at the food bank was: Richard Amen. (Honest.) He laughed and said at church when everyone says amen, “…I stand up and wave.” Note 2: At the YMCA yesterday in Arvada, we saw a bumper sticker with a picture of a bicycle and the words: “I spend my life behind bars.” Probably a good ‘sentence’ for all of us concerned about what’s going on in the Gulf.
four fingers pointing back
Our Rocky Mountain High Tour moved into Canon City where Liz, the kids and I got in a sandlot football game with some local kids. I then stumped with some spectators at a local tennis match. And then later, got in a conversation with the Canon City McDonald’s ‘brain trust’ table. Two former farmers asked about my agricultural platform. I said as president I would lobby to get corporate mega-farming classified as a “monopoly,” and broken up. In tandem, we would provide a series of incentives to mobilize the return of the family farm. Then, after a brief stop in Pueblo, Colorado, we headed on to Colorado Springs. There our family stood in solidarity with a group protesting in front of a Planned Parenthood Center the morning abortions were taking place there. Our Sarah pleaded with several women not to go in: “It’s a child. It loves you. Please don’t…” This morning I was interviewed by ABC News in Colorado Springs. I said while people are pointing a finger at BP, four fingers should be pointing right back at: us, as I pointed to a busy nearby street. “We’re creating the demand,” I said.
people were “packing”
Our whirlwind Rocky Mountain High Tour continues through Colorado… In rural Fremont County Colorado (elevation 8,500 ft.) we stopped at the East Creek Grade Restaurant where many people were “packing,” a sign read Parking for Republicans Only and a sign in the front window said: Abortion Kills… Then in Westcliff, I stumped with some guys leaving a prayer breakfast at the bowling alley. I said, in essence, that a lot of our platform embodied the gospel message. They said they’d be interested in that… In Westcliff my son Jonathan and I also attended a pro-life biker rally put on by the Lighthouse Pregnancy Resource Center here. And earlier in the morning, we stopped by the Silver Cliff Colorado Mining Days festivities. This is an annual celebration of gold and silver mining in the area. Ironically, the day before attending the festival, there was an Associated Press article out of Yargalma, Nigeria. It seems some 160 villagers here (at last count) had died from “lead unearthed by villagers digging for gold.” Many of the dead were children. The soaring of gold prices in recent years has sent poor herdsmen into the bush to search for it. But at what cost, huh?
‘Colorado two-step’
We headed out of Huerfano County, Colorado, and up Rt. 69, a two-lane road that took us up another 2,000 feet into the mountains. It is one of the most beautiful drives we’ve experienced in the country… We stopped in the small town of Gardner where I put up an autographed flier on the community bulletin board in front of the post office. (In the battle against multi-million dollar advertising — sans the most recent Supreme Court ruling striking down campaign finance reform — we believe well placed fliers is the grassroots answer. Once again, we’re doing this all without paid political consultants.) Then it was on to Silver Cliff, Colorado (elevation 7,950 feet). It was Tuesday night and the “town band,” with a strong leaning toward country music, was playing at the Mining Company Restaurant downtown. Now when I say “town band,” anyone who can play an instrument and/or sing, is welcome to join in each Tuesday night. And sure enough, every few songs someone else joined in, or had to leave, or… And I gotta say, no matter what the combination (for the most part), these guys not only sounded good, they had people up dancing –primarily the ‘Colorado two-step’ — and everything. Note: I mention (often) putting up campaign fliers on bulletin boards around towns, and the like, as we travel. And we’re asking our supporters to do the same in their towns. To down load our flier …
” That was enough of a sign…”
Our Rocky Mountain High Tour continues… Last weekend we met with Mary Jo and Dave Tesitor in Huerfano County, Colorado. They have three adopted children. The Tesitors, driven by their Catholic faith, adopted children with special needs. The first child was the result of a crisis pregnancy and preliminary tests showed the child could have some significant mental disabilities. The child was, indeed, born with some mental impairment. The Tesitors were in earnest prayer asking God for a sign about whether to adopt, given the condition. (They hadn’t yet gone to the hospital to see the baby yet.) However, during their discernment process, they decided if they were going to adopt, they would name the baby: Maria. After some time, they called the hospital to make an appointment to come in to see the baby. When explaining about which room the baby was in, the nurse said: ” ‘Baby Maria’ is in room…” “That was enough of a sign for us,” Mary Jo smiled. Note: Dave Tesitor also writes articles for the Huerfano World Journal newspaper here. He called his editor and said he’d like to do a story on our campaign. She said ok, unless of course I was like the last independent presidential candidate they’d interviewed. Dave told me that just before Election 2008, a woman showed up at the newspaper saying she was running for president as an independent candidate and that one of her platform points was: “Making Mars the 51st state.” I told Dave to call his editor back and tell her how ridiculous I thought that was. “Then tell her I think the 51st state actually should be Pluto.”