News: Obama leads Romney among single women by 36 percentage points. There are 55 million single women in the United States, a big enough bloc to swing the election.

All the single ladies, all the single ladies!
All the single ladies, all the single ladies!

Now put your votes up!
Look at the polls… Read full post »

I was fascinated by the speech patterns of a fellow bed-and-breakfast guest this past week. A certified Master Gardener from Minnesota, he was visiting Wisconsin with his wife and another couple to see a few noted gardens and attend a plant auction in a nearby Amish community.

As my husband… Read full post »

In a memo prepared for the March 30 meeting of Wisconsin's Government Accountability Board, GAB staff report finding five (5) fictitious names among 900,938 valid signatures calling for the recall of Gov. Scott Walker. Despite the alarms of fraud raised by Madison's right-wing propaganda mill, the&nb… Read full post »

As the civic life of America dissolves into partisanship and dysfunction, I cannot think of anything more worthy of study than Americans’ civic values.

Jonathon Haidt’s recently released book, The Righteous Mind, Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion, is worth reading for… Read full post »

It's been said that Democrats have a harder time articulating their values than Republicans do. The Obama Administration's response to the Trayvon Martin killing is, I think, an excellent example of a characteristically Democratic response. Obama has, as yet, said nothing. His press secretary said:&n… Read full post »

On February 14, 2011, after word had spread about the surprises in Governor Walker’s draconian budget, I went to Wisconsin's Capitol square by myself to see what was going on. Over the next few weeks, I went many times again, always alone, to participate in the growing protests. I didn’t… Read full post »

Although I am trying (within reason) to keep this blog circling around the topic of interpersonal political communication, the post below focuses on a single, specific issue. I originally wrote it as a response to a post by OS blogger Jonathan Wolfman, who had asked whether there was a difference bet… Read full post »

I’m seeing a lot of these ‘33’ posts today. I haven’t done one for years, so I’ll join in.

1. Your main trait:  Curiosity. It hasn’t killed me, and I don’t believe it ever killed any cats, either.

2. The quality you like best in a man: Loving, calm… Read full post »

I had taken a poisonous viper from the zoo and inexplicably brought it home. It was darting around, hiding under the bed, then the dresser. It bit me once and did not inject enough venom to hurt. But it was sure to bite again and harm me or someone else if… Read full post »

A new and amusing avenue for political speculation has opened  in the last few days since the Obama campaign released its official playlist. What songs do the candidates play at their rallies? Why?

Mistakes have been made. Artists don't always appreciate the attention, and carelessness can… Read full post »

I spent last Friday afternoon feeling the weight of democracy in my hands. The voice of the people was handed to me in half-inch-thick stacks of 50 petitions demanding the recall of our governor. Approximately 50,000 hours of data entry are needed for the more than a million signatures turned in… Read full post »

The first steps in conflict-resolving communication often involve disguising or feigning certain emotions—that is, insincerity.  None of the experts (at least in the methods I’ve studied so far) explicitly uses the term 'insincere,’ but that’s the way it feels before you&… Read full post »

These are the books and other resources I've found helpful so far in learning about interpersonal political communication. I intend to update and add to this list as my study progresses.

Please let me know, in the comments section, about any other books or resources you can recommend.

Political mess… Read full post »

My nephew, a soldier who identifies as a devout Christian, was posting pro-war messages on Facebook. His words and photos revealed that he was eagerly anticipating the joy of seeing action and engaging in camaraderie with his buddies during their Excellent Adventure in Iraq.

At around the same time… Read full post »

A single exchange of political speech with family or friends rarely creates a sudden, major change of heart for either participant. However, a single exchange can have a small effect and might lay the groundwork for later movement.

One of my younger sisters commemorated Memorial Day 2010 with a Face… Read full post »

The federal budgetary fiasco that will follow the report of the Congressional supercommittee looks like it will be more of the same: Republicans serving their corporate masters and sticking it to the middle class, while Democrats try to figure out how much they, too, can hand over to the 1% without… Read full post »

“Forty states have passed voter-suppression laws since the 2008 elections, but yours in Wisconsin are the worst,” Sandy told us—nothing we didn’t already know. Representing Organizing for America (OFA, Obama’s campaign), she was giving a presentation to a Sunday afternoo… Read full post »

I had stopped by the Occupy encampment in Madison, Wisconsin several times in the past few weeks to participate in a march or to drop off sidewalk chalk or a donation. I had not until Saturday night participated in a General Assembly. I’m going to continue to donate chalk and ten-dollar… Read full post »

I first heard the term ‘tipping point’ several years ago when I saw a science professor stand a book upright and tap it lightly. It rocked and returned to its upright position. This illustrated equilibrium, he said. Then with a tap not visibly harder, the book teetered and fell. He had… Read full post »

I'm continuing to read in interpersonal communication, in an effort to pull together 'how-to' for use in talking politics with our fellow citizens--particularly those who are in the sway of the corporate infotainment industry.

I had read about the value of questioning in persuasive communication, wh… Read full post »

“Well YOU were the one who brought it up!” My lunchtime conversational partner was irritated by my request that he define “government-run health care,” which he opposed.

"No," I said, "I didn't bring it up. I am genuinely unaware of any proposals for anything I would call 'g… Read full post »

This post contains few of my own words. Today in my quest to learn the skills of interpersonal political communication, I’m reading Parker Palmer’s  Healing the Heart of Democracy (2011), and I felt the need to share some good passages, which cannot much be improved by my comments. I… Read full post »

Synchronicity strikes again. In recent weeks, I’ve felt a growing determination to discover how we can talk politics to friends and family who do not share our views. Separately, I’d signed up for a church discussion group about Karen Armstrong’s Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life… Read full post »

“If you’ve been to jail for freedom, then you’re a friend of mine,” hundreds of voices sang in unison. Ben Manski, organizer of last month’s Democracy Convention, introduced speaker after speaker by noting how many times he or she had been arrested.

I share Pete Seege… Read full post »

When the water soaked my socks late that drizzly Saturday afternoon, my first thought was that it couldn’t be a spill. No one had been in the kitchen since breakfast. My husband was away on a football weekend, my daughter at summer camp. My son and I had been packing… Read full post »