At the mouth of Big River which flows into the sea at Mendocino a beautiful house sits perched elegantly out of reach.  It could easily symbolize the best of everything in America. From the garden of this wonderful house there are steps going down toward the sea, but they stop so far above the water that we are left wondering why they are there at all.  It's not clear how anyone, even with excellent swimming and climbing skills, could reach the bottom rung.

JUST THINKING... on a Sunday Afternoon 

Once each month, I participate in a voter registration exercise at the San Diego Civic Center on a Wednesday when several hundred immigrants renounce first loyalty to the land of their birth and pledge allegiance to the United States of America and are officially declared to be citizens with all the rights and privileges of American citizenship. The ceremony is always impressive. People are happy, and although most of them have been taught that voting is an important responsibility of citizenship, many haven’t given much thought to political party affiliation.  When I am asked by a new citizen who is registering to vote if it is necessary to choose a party affiliation, I always say that it is not necessary; and I don’t press anyone to put a mark in the little square box before the word Democrat.  I usually tell them that if they haven’t given the matter enough thought, they may want to register as independents.

My own party affiliation is obvious because I’m working at a cluster of tables under a blue canopy with Democratic Party signs on all sides and an American flag above one corner.  In another place on the plaza another bunch of citizens are working at a cluster of tables under a red canopy with Republican Party signs on all sides.  A life-size cardboard cut-out of Ronald Reagan stands at one corner of their space.  He is clearly their choice to be the president who best represents the ideals of the Republican Party, the iconic Republican.  At a corner of the Democratic Party space stand life-size cut-outs of Barack and Michelle Obama.  There is always a line of new citizens waiting with family and friends to have a picture taken with President and Mrs. Obama.

When I am not registering voters and am asked specifically why I am a Democrat, my response these days is the same as it was when I was a younger man.  I am committed to government that has public interest rather than private interest as its primary focus.  I understand Democrats to be a national party of citizens whose ideals are rooted in grassroots concerns. I am not a schooled economist, but I am well enough read on that subject and history to be convinced that a trickle down theory which favors the efforts and enterprises of the wealthiest citizens does not produce an economic environment which serves public interest first.  I affiliate with the party that recognizes the critical importance of government.  I steer away from political movements and from candidates whose emphasis is on diminishing the role of government in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, public education and civil rights. The party to which I belong must be committed to government that provides healthcare for all citizens.  I want a party committed to government that guarantees civil liberties and civil rights to all citizens. I want a party that recognizes the danger of deregulation in the marketplace.  My political party affiliations are not determined by religion.  I want nothing to do with a political party that wallows in anti-tax fantasies. I want a party that commits to jobs and fair compensation for work done... but especially I want affiliation with political movements committed to justice for those whose needs and rights are often neglected by the elites in American society.  

I particularly like a statement by Ted Sorenson who said, “Government must give priority to the needs of ordinary citizens, workers, consumers, students, children, the elderly and the ill, the vulnerable and the underdog, and not to the needs of those already sufficiently powerful and affluent to afford their own lobbyists.”