In April, Ken Smith wrote about the need to citizens to provoke change in their government He asked this question: “What tools do citizens need to make this essential contribution to their democracy?”. Ken created an initial list, but I would like to suggest three other sites for resources.

Community Tool Box from the University of Kansas: “Get help taking action, teaching, and training others in organizing for community development.” 

City of Orlando: Neighborhood training source

City of Orlando: Taking Your Leadership Skills to the Next Level (PDF)

City of Cupertino: Neighborhood Block Leader Resources

The political primary for the state of Oregon was last week, and I was pleased with the results overall (most of the candidates I voted for won). I have had the feeling for some time that although voting is a necessary condition to maintain democracy, it is not sufficient by itself. Participation by the voters in the democracy is also required to keep it strong. Last fall, I signed up for the newsletter for my county Democratic Party committee. I have not done any more than that up to this point. Well, today, I sent for some information on the Neighborhood Leader Program. It is a small step, but long journeys begin with the first step. I will work to take one political action each day. Hopefully, this journey will make me more of a participant in our democracy.

I have watched all of today’s electoral count events – many thanks to CSPAN, CNN, and PBS for their coverage (also Twitter and other linked material from Twitter). It has been quite an experience to see our nation’s Capitol building attacked by a mob, and to see the almost total lack of response by law enforcement to this violent attack. I hope that there is some followup investigation to find out why this happened. CNN had a story late Wednesday showing the difference in police response between Wednesday’s mob action and previous Black Lives Matter protests (spoiler: police response was very strong for BLM protests, yet almost non-existent for the mob action)

I am glad to see that the electoral count was able to be completed, and that Vice-President Mike Pence carried out his constitutional duty and did not attempt to veer from that duty. It is the first time during the past four years that I have found something to appreciate about Mike Pence. The Senate speeches during the debate were excellent, the House speeches less so. It was sad that House members continued to object to certificates without Senate concurrence (Georgia, Michigan, Nevada). On the Pennsylvania speeches, it seemed that every House rep from PA spoke – ugh! Enough is enough!

I also created a liveblog of the events, I hope that some of my five readers found it of some value. I felt an obligation for myself to document this event in a journalistic way. It will be a record for years to come. The Little Outliner application worked superbly, and I appreciate all the work that its creator, Dave Winer, has done to make outliners more available to all.

In one of the Senate speeches in the Arizona debate, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden stated that the Senate needed to spend the next two weeks watchdogging Donald Trump. He also mentioned that the National Association of Manufacturers called for the 25^th Amendment to be used to remove Donald Trump from office. Via CNN, the House Judiciary Committee Democrats also called for the 25^th Amendment to be applied, and Cabinet members are also discussing this. I think it would be in the interest of the nation for Donald Trump to be removed from office to protect our country from any further damage, and this be done by any legal means available.

My hope is that when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris become President and Vice-President, our nation will begin the healing process, and can focus on helping our citizens in this pandemic. Donald Trump has shown no interest in this, resulting in many deaths that could have been avoided. Let us pull together to make this a better nation.

Within the past few weeks, the citizens of the United States of America have had the opportunity to follow the election process across the 50 states and the interaction of the states with the federal government. Reports on these processes from media organizations and social media have been the main source of how people have been able to monitor these processes. However, I had two experiences since Election Day that demonstrated that being at an event or being able to observe an event live can provide much more information than the summary presented from a media organization.

The first instance was a press conference by President-Elect Joe Biden in Wilmington, Delaware. This was carried live by ABC News (where I saw it), and the experience was a breath of fresh air – indeed, a whole tank of fresh air! Kamala Harris gave an address, followed by Joe Biden. These addresses were clear and understandable. Afterwards, Joe Biden took questions from reporters. The phrase that accurately described it was “presidential”. Biden was polite and thoughtful in his replies to questions; he was honest in saying “I don’t know” when he did not know the answer; he was straightforward in explaining how he could not answer some questions as he had not been inaugurated as President, and he responded in a respectful way even when reporters were clearly tying to bait him into responding in a rash way. The experience was one that I have not seen in over four years.

The second instance was a livestream presentation of the meeting of the Michigan Board of State Canvassers held on Monday, November 23rd. I watched the initial part of this meeting via a link from the Detroit Free Press, although I found later there were other links to the Youtube live video. Through watching this livestream, I had a front-row seat to listen to the statements from the board members, testimony from the state elections director, multiple clerks and election officials, and a number of private individuals. I was impressed and proud to hear how many individuals contributed in carrying out the election in Michigan. I was disgusted to see how board member Norman Shinkle treated a number of the people giving testimony. I was impressed with how board member Aaron Van Langevelde asked questions in an attempt to make an informed decision about what actions the board should take. I was pleased with the other two board members, Jeannette Bradshaw and Julie Matuzak, and their responses to the situation. I had to invest several hours to participate in this way, but I received a richness of information that, again, was not available from any other news source.

After these experiences, I was filled with pride in the people who serve our country in the electoral process and the work of the courts in resolving disputes. I was also proud to see first-hand the President and Vice-President that will begin leading our nation in January 2021. Although my participation in this election was solely to vote, I am going to look for ways to get more involved in the political process of my city, state, and country. I encourage all citizens of the United States of America to do the same, to help in healing the divide that affects our nation.