I am going to miss the best part of the movie!

It was a big loss for Democrats in the 2010 elections - of the 67 freshman members in the House, 60 of them will be Republican. In each of the three congresses I've worked in I was always excited about the new freshman class - who's hot (whichever way), who's brainy, who's power hungry, but I have to say that the 112th Congress may be the best thing that I will never be a part of - which annoys me a little.

This class was elected in an extremely tumultuous time in American politics. We are, for all intense purposes, a conservative nation and one that does not like to change direction or leap into new, different directions in public policy. A black man with a funny name who you don't trust because every disaster movie has a black president is now steering your country towards social-communistic-class warfare. We fear as a past time, and considering the large number of bloggers out there on the Right and the Left who are espousing vitriol and vehement propaganda while selling ad space to gold merchants and self-published "thinkers" my guess is that there are people who fear for a living now.

But enter the strident freshman class of the 112th. This bunch, of which 30% that don't have a college degree, enter stage right with such entitlement and blindness that they immediately get quoted in the dailies...

Apparently, members who sleep on their office cot "weir[d] people out" and make "the staff in the office uncomfortable." Rep.-elect Chip Cravaack (R-MN): "They work late at night, and you have the member walking around in his pajamas" (Washington Post).

Rep.-elect Andy Harris (R-MD) stood up in an orientation meeting 11/15 and demanded to know why his gov't-subsidized health care plan takes a month to kick in. Harris ran and won on "an anti-Obamacare platform" (Politico).

With the likelihood of awesome legislation like DADT, anti-choice, stem cell research moratorium, and a host of other anti-Obama legislation, I am so, so sorry that I am not going to be present when all of the cats find the catnip and Speaker Boehner has to herd them.

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Nils Tillstrom
m. 503.449.8523

"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much it is whether we provide enough for those who have little"- Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Marcel the Shell (with shoes on)

MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON from Dean Fleischer-Camp on Vimeo.

A friend passed this to me last night, and as I had spent the day sitting in the park reading about the myth of the American small business, tax expenditures from the 1980s, multi-dimensional party fractures, and the impending Republican zombie horde that is about to descend on Washington, this interview with Marcel the Shell was a welcome change.

I love Marcel.

Good day

Good day: Both a greeting and a statement.

My apologies for not being the consistent blogger I would have liked, or have lead you to believe I was. Many things have happened in the last couple months, but let's just focus on today.

Today, September 23, 2010, marks the implementation of the president's Patient's Bill of Rights goes into effect. These were the widely popular provisions in the health care reform bill that would prohibit health plans from canceling coverage for people who get sick while on the plan, and prohibits lifetime caps on benefits. Also, it tightens annual coverage limits. But by far one of the more popular provision was the allowance for parents to keep their children on their plans until they reach 26 years of age.

These are all good selling points for the fall and I was taken back, oh say, five years ago, when I was listening to NPR this morning and they were talking about something very important happening today and I was like, "Oh yeah. That's happening at work today." I felt connected again. It was good.

Also, I got to shake hands with Interior Secretary Salazar - Colorado College '77. We were in a meeting with the Oregon delegation to discuss timber issues and my boss, being the one-note bird he can be, brought up his opposition to the proposed casino in the Columbia River Gorge. Nothing to do with the meeting per se, but it is something that my boss was gonna do since when is the next time you are going to be in a 10 x 20 space with a cabinet secretary? After the meeting my boss and I were talking in the hall and I said we should walk back passed the room since we could catch the Secretary again, and luck would have it he pops out. He gives my boss an hearty, brotherly handshake and they start talking about the casino again: My boss wants him to come see the site and realize what a mistake it would be. They chat and I position myself very close to my boss to listen and to my surprise the Secretary reaches his hand out and shakes my hand. "Great to meet you, sir. Thank you for listening," I say. Which, at that moment, I thought was very genuine. We walk off. I say to my boss, "That went really well. I hope we get him. [Yada yada yada unmentionables on a blog yada yada] and I got to shake his hand!"

My boss chuckles, "You are too funny."

I still got it.

--
Nils Tillstrom
m. 503.449.8523

"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much it is whether we provide enough for those who have little"- Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Everyone loves a parade!!!

Multnomah Days parade with the Wu Crew!

No morning, sunshine?

Generally in this region, the end of a day in July or August is always marked by a brief, but violent thunderstorm. These things make their point. The sky goes dark, and a pinkish-greenish light takes over changing the mood from a "lazy walk home" to a slightly raised level of urgency to take cover. This is always a great moment for me because it means that I can relax after making it home and I think about the next day.

However, this morning I am perplexed since I awoke at 6:30 to the most terrific and horror film-worthy crash of thunder and tear of lightening. My first thought was, "Does this mean I get to just stay in bed and think about Friday?" I really would like that.

Beltway Bubble Beauties

We are not a pretty bunch here in Washington, DC. I can point to countless Members and staff that would not win any sort of beauty contest. I can also point to a countless number of Members and staff that have proudly had their photo taken with Hollywood elite when they come to dabble in saving whales, sharks, the Tongass rain forest, the Sudan, puppies, or ending cancer, AIDS and other worthy causes hoping that Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins or January Jone's looks would rub off on them.

This town is full of so many people that fit into the first category that DC sometimes proudly refers to itself as "Hollywood for Ugly People".

Ex. 1:Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is not pretty, but when he walked out of my neighborhood CVS I stopped and stared.

Ex. 2: When I found out that Rahm Emanuel often goes to my favorite bar, Lola's, I decided I needed to go more.

So when this town celebrates its conventionally beautiful people - its "beltway bubble beauties" - it does it in the MOST awkward fashion possible, via a website and print magazine.

Please enjoy The Hill's 50 Most Beautiful People. (<---- CLICK THERE)


--
Nils Tillstrom
m. 503.449.8523

"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much it is whether we provide enough for those who have little"- Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Because she is/can.

Because my boss and friend, KP, has invest time, energy, and finances in her relationship building with the folks at Dogfish Head Alehouse, it was easy for her to call up and ask them to open up an hour early so that we could watch Le Tour.

She is, indeed, the Mayor of Dogfish.