Reading of Bill Ayers' statement on Cheney Plaza

Several students staged a reading of Bill Ayers' statement, "Doublespeak at the University of Wyoming" this Friday. I happened to walk by, camera phone in hand.

Not all students wanted this event cancelled and are speaking up.

Memorial service scheduled for UW professor

Photo: Dr. Margaret Zamudio, UW News Service

Memorial service scheduled for UW professor
Meg Lanker
Monday, January 10, 2010 7:11 PM MDT

A memorial service for University of Wyoming professor Margie Zamudio will be held this Friday in Laramie.

The service is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the University of Wyoming Art Museum in the Centennial Complex, at 2111 Willett Drive. Zamudio died Dec. 25th at her home.

According to a UW news release, Zamudio joined the UW faculty in 2002 and taught in the Sociology, Women's Studies, and Chicano Studies departments. She received tenure in spring 2009.

Zamudio taught several classes at UW focusing on issues of race, immigration, social justice, and gender relations.

Her book, "Critical Race Theory in Education" will be published later this year by Routledge.

A scholarship has been established in her name. Contributions to the Margie Zamudio Memorial Fund can be made at the UniWyo Federal Credit Union in Laramie.

The University of Wyoming released a full obituary for Zamudio Monday:

Dr. Margaret "Margie" Zamudio passed away Dec. 25, 2009. She was 45 years old.

Margie was born in Los Angeles in 1964. She attended UCLA as both an undergraduate and graduate student where she received her B.A. in 1989, her M.A. in 1991 and her Ph.D. in 1996, all in sociology. Margie taught at the University of Colorado at Boulder from 1996-2002 and came to the University of Wyoming in 2002. She taught in the Department of Sociology as well as the Chicano Studies and Women's Studies programs. Margie received tenure at UW in the spring of 2009.

Margie's advocacy and scholarship on issues of social justice, immigration, race, class and gender provided inspiration to many of her friends, colleagues and students. Her book on Critical Race Theory in Education will be published by Routledge in late 2010. Just before she died, Margie was researching the socioeconomic forces behind the immigration of El Salvadorian women in the 1950s and 60s. Her passion and devotion for social justice and racial equality will be greatly missed at UW.

Margie loved the outdoors. The mountains around Happy Jack had a special place in Margie's heart. Margie was an avid cross country skier and mountain biker. She also loved camping in the Medicine Bow Mountains -- the North Fork of the Little Laramie in particular. Margie is survived by her many family, friends and students who will greatly miss her intelligence, compassion, and wonderful sense of humor. Margie will be especially missed by her dog Harley.

A public Memorial Service for Margie will be held Friday, Jan. 15, at 6 p.m. at the University of Wyoming Art Museum in the American Heritage Center at 2111 Willett Drive, Laramie.

In lieu of flowers, well wishers are encouraged to donate to the Margie Zamudio Memorial Fund at the UniWyo Federal Credit Union in Laramie. The proceeds of this fund will create a scholarship in Margie's name.

UW professor found dead outside home

Photo: UW Associate Professor Margaret Zamudio, from Department of Sociology website, University of Wyoming

UW professor found dead outside home
Meg Lanker
Monday, December 28, 2009 1:21 PM MDT

A popular professor at the University of Wyoming has died.

Laramie resident Margaret "Margie" Zamudio, 45, was found dead outside her home Saturday after a concerned resident called police shortly after noon after seeing boots outside of a snowdrift. Authorities discovered Zamudio's body outside her home at approximately 12:30 p.m.

According to Commander Mitchell Cushman of the Laramie Police Department, authorities do not believe any foul play was involved and Zamudio's death appears to be accidental. "We believe she stepped outside at some point, slipped and became unconscious. Due to the weather conditions, she most likely froze to death," he said.

On Friday and Saturday, temperatures in Laramie dipped into the single digits with wind chills as low as -20°F. Cushman said extreme winter weather conditions of this type can quickly take a toll on an individual.

Cushman said the investigation is ongoing and toxicology results could take six to eight weeks.

University of Wyoming President Tom Buchanan released a statement Monday. "I know I speak for the University of Wyoming community when I say we’re all saddened by Margaret’s death; we will all miss her and her contributions to UW very much," he said.

Zamudio was an associate professor at UW and taught several classes, specializing in Chicano studies and social inequality. According to the UW Department of Sociology's website, she was beginning research "examining the political economy of pre-1960's gendered migration to the U.S. with an emphasis on Salvadoran women."

She received her doctorate from the University of California in 1996 and focused her research on issues of immigration and labor, on race, class, and gender, and on critical race studies in education.

On life support: Reforming the healthcare industry

Photo: A sign at the 9/12 project's march on Washington D.C./Andrew Aliferis, used under Creative Commons license

On life support: Reforming the healthcare industry
Meg Lanker
Monday, November 30, 2009 9:22 PM MDT

No one could have predicted the peculiar turns the healthcare debate took.

One of the most jarring sprung from the plethora of town-hall meetings in August. Gun-rights advocates claimed that the healthcare debate is bizarrely and inextricably tied to an imaginary push to deprive Americans of the right to bear arms, illustrated by a man who carried an AR-15 assault rifle strapped to his back outside a town hall meeting with the president in Phoenix, Ariz.

This followed national coverage of a New Hampshire man openly carrying a gun in a thigh holster at another Obama town hall meeting while holding a sign stating, “It’s time to water the tree of liberty,” – a partial quote from Thomas Jefferson, who said, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

Another claim about gun rights fired up the masses again when Gun Owners of America began circulating the claim that the Baucus health care bill would ban guns used for self defense. The group derived this from provisions in the bill allowing for higher premiums for tobacco users – this provision is then extrapolated by the group and right-wingers to include other “risky” behaviors like gun ownership. Non-partisan group PolitiFact.com rated the claim as “false” and said, “Every behavioral factor explicitly cited in the bill concerns pure medical issues, such as a lowered cholesterol level, maintenance of a certain body mass index, quitting smoking or losing a specified amount of weight.”

Gun owners continue to show up and pack heat at what should be peaceful town hall gatherings and rallies but have become free-for-all melees of shouts about socialism and racism and fascism and every fear-mongering “ism” in the book. The consequence of the town hall debacles in August have led to a serious reluctance to even consider speaking to constituents on anything related to health care reform.

Thankfully, these self-styled guerillas of freedom haven’t killed anyone – indeed, there were no arrests for gun violence, but police have arrested a few for unlawful possession of a firearm. But, as one Phoenix police officer explained to the Associated Press the simple presence of a man with a large rifle “sparked a lot of emotions.”

Perhaps those Americans who were angry, or distressed, or sickened by the sight of a man with an assault rifle at a presidential event recalled what happened when another man brought a rifle to a presidential parade in Texas. Or when a man brought a rifle to hear a Baptist preacher speak about civil rights in Tennessee. Or possibly the sight evokes the unmerciful memory of hearing a heart-lurching knock at the door in the early morning hours after being identified as the next-of-kin.

And the pundits and politicians. The cries of socialism and marches to communism and the figurative beating of breasts deserve an Oscar or ridicule, depending on which side Americans take. Glenn Beck weeps as he speaks of rationing and whether or not citizens will be considered valuable enough to keep alive. Sarah Palin warns us of the death panels that would have decreed her son, born with Down Syndrome, not important enough to birth. Representative Michele Bachmann warns of schools allowing 13-year-olds to receive abortions and then be put back on the bus to go home, with mom and dad none the wiser. Americans were warned by health insurance companies that a shadowy government entity would come between them and their doctors – warned by the very industry of bloodsuckers spawned by coming between patients and doctors.

The most outrageous lies are the ones most readily believed by the right-wing desperate to get the government out of their Medicare – forget the ridiculousness of that statement because the fear, to them, is real.

Thanks in part to the scare tactics, and in part to the powerful health insurance lobby, the U.S. House passed a watered down bill Nov. 7 with a weakened public option and insurance mandates. The bill also included sweeping abortion restrictions under the Stupak amendment, added at the last minute to appease Blue Dog Democrats, several of which voted for the amendment and not the final bill. The new legislation has little cost controls and opens a market previously unavailable to the health insurance industry of impoverished Americans. The lone Republican who voted for the bill, Rep. Joseph Cao of Louisiana is now targeted as a traitor by his own party.

The House bill is an insurance company’s wet dream.

How did it get to this point?

Way back in 2008, in a campaign that seems hazy from the almost-euphoric high generated by the possibility of change, the Republican Party painted Barack Obama with the pinko tint of socialism or communism, depending on the crowd. John McCain and Sarah Palin fervently assured us that Obama wanted to take away our freedoms to worship, to choose our doctors, to stroll around in a public place with an assault rifle. He was not one of us, and probably a terrorist, dontcha ya know? He pals around with bad dudes and they probably even have a book club led by that Saul guy.

After the election, the Republican Party was eager to prove it was not in the death throes of a movement long past its era or usefulness. It jumped on the opportunity to become the party of Americans who want things to stay the way they were, back when credit was plentiful and so was the cheap plastic crap at Wal-Mart. Back then, the free market throbbed with excitement as houses were erected one right after another and purchased with no down payment and credit terms arranged.

But that was way, way back in 2005, when everyone wanted flip houses and flipped for house they couldn’t afford, either through enticement into sub-prime mortgages or pure unencumbered desire. Americans didn’t notice the spiraling cost of health care as much because they all had jobs and money, and besides, the emergency room treats anyone who walks in. U.S. citizens didn’t really need all those silly civil rights and those inane leftists had themselves in a tizzy over Gitmo. Remember, kids, it’s the first and second amendment rights that really get things done.

It’s this last principle that sees America in its present predicament. It’s my first amendment right to shout the loudest at the nearest town hall, to warn my fellow citizens of impending socialism and I’ve got the second amendment to back that one up should some peacenik think otherwise. The right-wingers have transformed the blissfully ignorant into the fearfully ignorant and unleashed the Tea Party people, the birthers, the conspiracy theorists, and the garden-variety lunatics upon the issue of “socialized medicine,” leading disgruntled seniors to scream about the government keeping their hands out of their goddamned Medicare and Sarah Palin to write on Facebook about evil Obama’s plan for “death panels.”

Their scare tactics bordered on the barely factual to the absurd. In the barely factual column, the right-wing continues to warn of rationing, which already happens when insurance companies decide to cover treatment or not, which treatment is appropriate, and how long patients need treatment. Dismiss the silly rationing idea based on rich versus poor since all the poor have to do is go to the ER or ask their church for help. In the absurd column, there’s the reviewed and revised summary of HR 3200, “adapted on July 29, 2009, by the Liberty Counsel from the original authored by Peter Fleckenstein and posted on FreeRepublic.com.”

These claims, embraced and distributed by conservative groups like the national 9/12 Project, include this gem: “Sec. 2511, Pg. 992 – Government will establish school-based ‘health’ clinics. Your children will be indoctrinated and your grandchildren may be aborted!”

I highly doubt this – typical school health clinics include first-hand education on not putting rocks in your nose versus putting tab A into slot B; plus, an abortion is fairly time-consuming procedure requiring a physician and not many students can get out of class long enough to surreptitiously smoke cigarettes, much less abort their unborn.

These claims, which seem to have originated with Mr. Fleckenstein, continue to appear in chain emails supposedly authored by this or that constitutional scholar urging people to call their congressman and tell them to vote no on reform.

These are also the alarmist assertions parroted by Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. She insists that creationism is valid science and claims swine flu originated with Democratic administrations, and yet, people still take her seriously. She also said she will run for president in 2012 if God tells her she should. Let’s hope God doesn’t get the hint.

Bachmann also spurred a large “press conference” (read: protest rally) Nov. 5 on the steps of the Capitol Building – a rally which featured signs depicting Obama as Hitler and Mao. Among the most distasteful was a large banner depicting naked concentration camp victims piled in a mass grave with a caption reading “"National Socialist Health Care, Dachau, Germany 1945." Several of her fellow Republicans stood grinning behind the podium. This is apparently the new base for the GOP.

These incongruous declarations do not seem to be based in any kind of reality. Instead, they surface from a deep, dark alternate universe – a place fixed in the psyche of many white, working class, older Americans. It’s the persistent fear of the other, of change, of deviation from the norm. These are the folks that lost their jobs at the plant after they went overseas to kill little yellow people to bring them freedom. Their children and grandchildren are going into the desert to bring freedom to more ungrateful foreigners. These folks come home from a hard day’s work and see this smooth-talking black president on television telling them that he’s going to make him pay for the health care for other people’s children and grandchildren with their hard-earned paycheck.

That guy, with all the opportunities their children should have had but didn’t, is now telling Joe Schmoe and Jane Doe to give their money willingly to support people that they think have never known an honest day’s work. And it makes them angry. America is the land of bootstrap opportunity, not government-based handholding. And they’ll be damned if it will become a nanny welfare state.

So when they’re told to shout at their congressmen at the nearest town hall, or to rally on Sept. 12 or Nov. 5 in Washington D.C., then, by God, they’ll do what it takes to stop the socialists, the welfare cheats and the academic elitists in their tracks. They heard the horror stories about rationing in Canada and the months spent waiting for bypass surgery. Joe Schmoe can’t bear to think of his granddaughters going to kindergarten and learning how to slide on condoms instead of learning the alphabet. Jane Doe agonizes over the thought that her aged mother might have to face one of those death panels that Sarah Palin talks about in her folksy manner. So they’ll stop this day of reckoning from coming to fruition.

This is irrational, and yet, this stroking of panic over a long, strange summer was effective. The public option appeared to be headed for an unceremonious death several times. Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo. even felt comfortable enough to assure the people of this state that if it wasn’t for him, Wyomingites would have national health care. Perhaps the good senator may want to consider Health Care for America Now’s report on the health insurance industry currently bankrupting this country and Wyoming residents.

Health Care for America Now (HCAN) is comprised of more than 1,000 organizations in 46 states “representing 30 million people dedicated to winning quality, affordable health care.” According to their report released in June, the average combined cost of health insurance premiums paid by employers and workers climbed to $16,771 in 2009 for a family of four. This represents nearly one-third of a U.S. family’s median income.

How is this sustainable? HCAN points out that in Wyoming, insurance premiums rose 129 percent from 2000 to 2007, 4.6 times faster than median earnings rose in Wyoming. This is the fastest and highest rate of premium increase in the nation. For family health coverage in Wyoming during that time, the average annual combined premium for employers and employees rose from $5,605 to $12,824 - 26 percent of the median family's income and projected to reach 47 percent by 2016.

In Wyoming, 72,821 of 520,500 residents are uninsured. These are Sen. Enzi’s constituents, the people to which he proudly announced his blocking of national health care.

Of course, all this is under normal circumstances. When a family member becomes ill, the problem of underinsured policy holders becomes clear. In 2007, 62 percent of Americans filing for bankruptcy said inability to pay medical bills was the key reason. Three-quarters of those filing had health insurance. In no universe does it make sense for working class people to oppose this reform.

But fear will make a person do peculiar things.

In August, Missouri resident Kenneth Gladney was allegedly involved in a fight at a town hall with members of the Service Employees International Union and later went to the ER claiming to have sustained multiple injuries. He was shown on a video of the incident quickly springing to his feet after appearing to trip on a curb. After jumping up from the ground, Gladney continued to shout at the SEIU representatives. He appeared later at another town hall to plead for donations to cover his mounting medical bills in a wheelchair, supposedly unable to speak – until he emerged on Fox News the next day. His appeal came at a protest against health care reform that would provide him with insurance, despite the fact he was recently laid off from his job. The irony was completely lost on the conservatives and rally attendees.

Hopefully the Republicans, the pundits, the tea partiers, and the right-wing, volatile fringe movement are pleased with what they hath wrought. Americans now know they’ve been spared the awful, horrible, inhumane health care the residents of Britain receive and would never trade for our current boondoggle of a system bankrupting citizens.

This health care “debate” is no longer a debate. It represents a strange and possibly dangerous turn in politics. This is potential mob rule via the ignorant and the U.S. Congressmen stirring this populist frenzy are playing with fire. The Democrats do not understand the fury either. They cannot comprehend the trepidation felt by many Americans because the liberal mentality does not deal in individual morality – it boasts the common good of society as its goal and the individual morality is intertwined with the benefit to society. It is no challenge to the GOP to paint “collectivism” to the uninformed as a horrible step toward communism.

At Bachmann’s health care rally, attendees held signs advocating violent revolution, compared the U.S. Congress to Nazi Party members, and several hanging effigies of various congressmen were the norm and not the exception. When did any of this become the desired political discourse? All this, as Congress debates health care reform that will surely benefit many of these people. They are patsies in a terrible corporate lie, as it has always been. The GOP must continue to count on populist dread since its remake as the party of big business or risk complete dissolution.

Greg Sargent wrote of a telling conference call in August where a Tea Party organizer stated: “The purpose of Tea Parties is not to find a solution to the health care crisis — it is to stop what is not the solution: ObamaCare.” The tea parties, for all the talk about “astroturf” and “faux populism,” do attract Americans who are worried about what the reforms will bring and who are angered over the bailouts, rising health care costs, unemployment, etc. However, simply blocking reform of any kind benefits no one but the health insurance industry.

Their rage is understandable and familiar. We liberals felt it for eight years under the Bush regime. But these folks are directing at the wrong people. Direct the anger at the insurance companies, the corporations who were "too big to fail," Ronald Reagan and his beginning of the end with the institution of neoliberal economic reforms. But do not throw it at the people trying to institute beneficial improvements to health care successfully for the first time in our nation’s history.

The real tragedy in the health care debate is that due to these horrendous bailouts coupled with two unwinnable wars running rampant over the national deficit, it is doubtful the U.S. can afford massive reforms of any kind. But we cannot afford to continue the way we have. A classic Catch-22 and too little, too late. The time for reform was with Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, Nixon, even Clinton. Ted Kennedy must be weeping in the afterlife over this mess.

The U.S. Congress is not completely altruistic. Nearly every member is bought and paid for, courtesy of lobbyists sashaying through the aisles guaranteeing cushy campaign contributions. Are watered down bills and wrath-fueled tea parties the solution? Absolutely not. But no one seems to have an unambiguous solution and the 9/12 Glenn Beck acolytes are promised that what they’re being told to do is the solution.

Storming Nancy Pelosi's office and being arrested.

Holding signs about "Kenyan Obama", socialism, fascism, and Nazism.

Chanting "Kill the Bill" at the top of their lungs after Michele Bachmann told them on Sean Hannity’s show to come to D.C. and “scare” their congressmen into not voting for the bill.

The thought of the chaos possibly inherent in the 2010 elections is chilling. The U.S. Senate is beginning their debate on their own version of the bill today. Already, Beck and Hannity are calling for more marches in tirades laced with violent, revolutionary metaphors and absolutes.

There is no denying this is getting frightening.

Click here and here to view photos from Tea Party protests across the nation

Docs 4 Patient Care rally in Casper Nov. 21st

This is a slideshow from the Docs 4 Patient Care rally in Casper, Wyo. last Saturday. The Underground was there to interview rally-goers and counter-protesters alike. A recap will follow Friday. A common thread running through the comments of rally attendees was fear. Fear of socialism, fear of government takeovers, fear of out of control spending, or fear for their own families. Stay tuned for The Underground's recap...

Stay tuned...

Photo: Multi-exposure photos of mountains near Jackson Lake in Jackson, Wyo. Meg Lanker

The Underground has been rather quiet lately, but that doesn't mean there's nothing going on. Stay tuned for a piece on Saturday's Docs 4 patient care rally in Casper, Fort Hood, the University of Wyoming, and health care in general.

I am the editor of The Underground, but I am also a full time student. Now that school is beginning to wind down, expect brand new articles and opinions. Want to submit? Submissions are always welcome and are a key piece of this site. See the description above for instructions.

Thanks to the readers who have made this possible. As Thanksgiving approaches, I remember and am thankful for those who have encouraged me, kept reading, and will read in the future.

-Meg Lanker

Health care panels scheduled for tonight

Health care panels scheduled for tonight
Wyoming health care professionals and students will debate reform
Meg Lanker
Tuesday, October 20, 2009 2:21 PM MDT

Southeast Wyoming residents will get two chances today to find out how health care reform could affect them.

According to a news release from the Wyoming Democratic Party, local health care professionals will discuss health care reform at a panel at Laramie County Community College Center for Conferences and Institutes.

The panel is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will include Wyoming Department of Health Director Dr. Brent Sherard; Lorraine Saulino-Klein, RN; and Mary Forrester, FNP. Other healthcare professionals will also attend and discuss what reform will mean for Wyoming residents and how it can impact Wyoming.

“No one knows more about the urgent need for health insurance reform than those who work within the health care system every day,” said Wyoming Democratic Party Executive Director Bill Luckett in the release. “It is important that we have the opportunity to hear their perspective.”

Wyoming Democratic Party Vice Chair Mike Bell will moderate the discussion and a short question and answer period following the panel’s comments.

Elsewhere in the state, the University of Wyoming College Democrats and College Republicans will hold a debate regarding health care reform and the issues surrounding various proposed bills.

The debate is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Wyoming Union West Ballroom and will also feature a question and answer session afterwards. The College Democrats invited the College Republicans to debate in the interest of having a bipartisan view on health care presented.

Both clubs are aiming to educate Wyoming residents and UW students about the concerns surrounding health care reform. In pre-debate meetings, College Republicans president Caitlin Wallace and College Democrats president Dana Walton both said they wished to see a civil, enlightening debate.

Laramie resident and activist Matt Stannard will blog live during the debate at theunderview.blogspot.com and will follow with commentary on the debate during his nightly “Shared Sacrifice” podcast from 8-9 p.m., accessible to the public at blogtalkradio.com/shared_sacrifice.

Stannard is looking forward to liveblogging the debate. “The liveblogging serves two purposes: In addition to the important global exposure it provides for UW and the health care debate, it also serves as an opportunity for anyone and everyone to fact-check the debate,” he said. “I hope people will look over the notes I post during the debate, research the facts, and post their findings on the blog.”

According to Shared Sacrifice’s website, the daily podcast is also co-hosted by Iraq veteran Gary Barkley. The website describes the show as “progressive in nature” but emphasizes “all Americans have the right to be heard.”

Listeners are invited to call in during the podcast with their questions and comments. Stannard said the entire hour will be used to discuss the debate and health care reform. "We'll continue the conversation on tomorrow night's podcast too, if there's interest," said Stannard.

Me and Mr. Cheney: A history

Photo: Protesters assemble on Dick and Lynne Cheney Plaza before the dedication. Credit- Meg Lanker, The Underground

Me and Mr. Cheney: A history
Meg Lanker
Monday, September 28, 2009 2:56 PM MDT

It may have been excitement, but I want to believe it was solidarity. The two little boys raised their fists as I marched with the protesters past the University of Wyoming Lab School students on recess. One gap-toothed boy cheered wildly as Nancy Sindelar, a Laramie peace activist, shouted, “These are your rights, kids! It’s the First Amendment at work!”

I watched their eyes light up and the wheels begin to turn. We were more alive than any history book, any documentary, any slideshow. The enthusiasm and unease electrified the air as they pushed forward, crossing Prexy’s Pasture on their way to protest former Vice President Dick Cheney and his dreadfully, ironically-named Cheney International Center.

I marched in solidarity with them Sept. 10. I have marched in solidarity with them since 2003, as the crazy 48-hour deadline for the bombs to drop ticked away and the news anchors waited with baited breath. I knew this invasion was wrong in my inner core. I scrawled furiously in a notebook as the airstrike began on the Iraqi Presidential Palace March 19, 2003. The night vision with white puffs of smoke sanitized the carnage on the ground.

I remembered seeing similar images when the U.S. went into Iraq in 1990. I was in first grade at a small Catholic school in Ohio. My class wrote letters beginning with “Dear Soldier.” I still remembering wishing an unnamed soldier Merry Christmas and not quite understanding why.

Dick Cheney was around for Desert Storm as well – in fact, then-Secretary of Defense Cheney and General Norman Schwarzkopf oversaw the engineering and planning of Desert Storm. In 1990, Cheney said, "I do not believe the President requires any additional authorization from the Congress before committing US forces to achieve our objectives in the Gulf." An unnerving statement, considering what happened nearly 12 years later.

PBS’ Frontline oral history website devoted a section to the former vice president called “Cheney In His Own Words.” In 1991, Cheney gave his perspective on U.S. involvement in the Persian Gulf: “We're always going to have to be involved [in the Middle East]. Maybe it's part of our national character, you know we like to have these problems nice and neatly wrapped up, put a ribbon around it. You deploy a force, you win the war and the problem goes away and it doesn't work that way in the Middle East – it never has and isn't likely to in my lifetime.”

Even then, Cheney knew. He knew this would never end – only go quiet for a period.

A friend of mine from my stint in the Navy was deployed to a ship running support operations for the 2003 invasion. He said they were told on the ship that they would “just know” if they were going to war. Later that night, as most prepared to sleep, the ship’s PA system erupted with AC/DC’s “Hell’s Bells” and the sounds of pilots firing up the engines of their jets. It was time, he said. He began singing the lyrics to “Hells Bells” on the phone with me – “I’m a rolling thunder, a pouring rain/I’m comin’ on like a hurricane/My lightning’s flashing across the sky/You’re only young but you’re gonna die!”

He called it the “most patriotic time of his life.” This was a year after the invasion began and they finally pulled back into port.

I felt sick.

I watched President George W. Bush land on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln May 1, a ship that had been out to sea for nearly a year and was now forced to sit off the coast of San Diego because of security concerns. The sailors were mocked by the sight of their home for several days. I saw the “Mission Accomplished” banner, the beaming sailors, and a flight-suit clad Bush as pure political theater and nothing else.

Where was Cheney?

As Bush stood on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln and said, “Major combat operations in Iraq have ended,” Cheney was nowhere in sight.

On July 2, 2003, when Bush famously said of the insurgency, “Bring ‘em on,” Cheney was still nowhere in sight.

Yet he took those messages to heart – even when the administration backed off both statements, claiming the notorious banner was “unclear” and letting the “bring ‘em on” blow over.

It also seems that Cheney was at his undisclosed location when Bush spoke of torture. On March 23, 2003, Bush said Iraqi soldiers were “welcoming” American troops, and were “surrendering gleefully, happily.” He emphasized to a cache of White House reporters, “They'll be treated well.”

Andrew Sullivan wrote in the Oct. 2009 edition of The Atlantic of Bush’s resounding condemnation of torture on June 26, 2003 on the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. This was roughly one year before the news broke of torture at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. In his speech, Bush said, “I call on all governments to join with the United States and the community of law-abiding nations in prohibiting, investigating, and prosecuting all acts of torture and in undertaking to prevent other cruel and unusual punishment. I call on all nations to speak out against torture in all its forms and to make ending torture an essential part of their diplomacy.”

There was no mincing of words. According to the Bush administration – or at least Bush – Americans don’t torture.

But anyone who watched news coverage of the Abu Ghraib prison photos, the de-classification of CIA and internal memos urging Bush to declare Taliban and Iraqi insurgents as exempt from the Geneva Conventions, and finally, de-classification of internal documents detailing methods ranging from sexual abuse and threats to the use of power drills and loaded weapons in the “approved” interrogation methods – anyone who watched any coverage of these stories knows better, knows America has tortured.

And it was with this in mind, I watched Cheney transform over the years from a faintly sinister-looking boorish uncle to a chilling criminal organizer of torture at worst and a nefarious bully at best. He was a chief architect in a pre-emptive invasion to find weapons of mass destruction with faulty intelligence, to spread democracy like so much syphilis, and, as many of Cheney’s detractors allege, to secure a significant slice of the Iraqi oil reserves for U.S. corporate profit.

Cheney insisted in a landmark interview March 16, 2003 with the late Tim Russert that the Iraqi oil reserves “obviously, belong to the Iraqi people, need to be put to use by the Iraqi people for the Iraqi people and that will be one of our major objectives.”

In this interview, Cheney made statements that are tragically laughable in hindsight and disastrous in their lack of foresight. He claimed, “My belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators.”

Russert pushed him on this statement and asked, “If your analysis is not correct, and we’re not treated as liberators, but as conquerors, and the Iraqis begin to resist, particularly in Baghdad, do you think the American people are prepared for a long, costly, and bloody battle with significant American casualties?”

Cheney replied, “Well, I don’t think it’s likely to unfold that way, Tim, because I really do believe that we will be greeted as liberators… The read we get on the people of Iraq is there is no question that they want to the get rid of Saddam Hussein and they will welcome as liberators the United States when we come to do that.”

Russert asked about costs of the proposed conflict, which analysts placed at $80 billion then, with a cost of $10 billion for each year of occupation. Cheney declined to elaborate on projected costs in the interview, only acknowledging “there are estimates out there.”

As of Sept. 23, 2009, the cost of the Iraq War was over $165 billion – nearly three times the cost of the war in Afghanistan. Since 2001, the U.S. has spent over $912 billion on these two wars. Much of that money has gone to civilian firms contracted to rebuild Iraq. A principle firm is Cheney’s old haunt, Halliburton, and its subsidiaries.

Cheney headed up the energy development company Halliburton, which bills itself on its website as “one of the world’s largest providers of products and services to the energy industry.”

I wonder if Cheney remembers the speech he gave to the libertarian-leaning-conservative Cato Institute in 1998. The think-tank sponsors numerous symposiums and invited then-Halliburton CEO Dick Cheney to speak at a conference entitled “Collateral Damage: The Economic Cost of U.S. Foreign Policy.”

He delivered a speech on the topic of Defending Liberty in a Global Economy, expounding on the challenges of delivering adequate energy services to a war zone.

Cheney remarked, “The good Lord didn't see fit to put oil and gas only where there are democratically elected regimes friendly to the United States. Occasionally we have to operate in places where one would not normally choose to go. But, we go where the business is.”

And, in 2003, the U.S. went where the business is – the second-largest oil reserve in the world, under the sands of Iraq. Also, in 2003, Halliburton was awarded billions of dollars of no-bid government contracts to rebuild the infrastructure of Iraq’s oil industry. Halliburton is also entangled with Blackwater USA, a private security firm under investigation for smuggling weapons into Iraq concealed in dog food bags and, in more serious allegations, of murdering Iraqi civilians for sport.

Since Halliburton held millions in government contracts even before the Iraq war, Cheney sold his Halliburton stock to avoid a conflict of interest as vice president, but retains a severance package and retirements benefits worth millions. These stock sales paid for most of the Cheney International Center.

Cheney and the black gold he holds so dear both share a common characteristic: Both can take the form of crude or refined. Whether it’s screaming, “Go fuck yourself!” at a fellow legislator on the House floor, to smirking “So?” at a reporter who, in 2008, points out two-thirds of Americans no longer think the fight in Iraq is worth it, Dick Cheney held the monopoly on evil in the Bush administration – so much so that I began to regard Bush as a puppet, a faux-martinet standing in as a mouthpiece for what Cheney had planned for America and Iraq.

And here we are. Two, then four, then six years crawled by as the body count on both sides rose and “Mission Accomplished” tasted not of victory but ashes. The war in Iraq appears to stagnate more and more as troops prepare to withdraw, and the forgotten conflict, Afghanistan, transforms into one step forward, two steps back.

As Cheney continually defended the actions of CIA interrogators who “may have” crossed the line on Fox News every time whispers of prosecution of the previous administration began, the University of Wyoming quietly prepared to dedicate the Cheney International Center.

A clichéd little birdie told me the dedication was prepared for Sept. 10 at 10:30 a.m. in front of the center on Dick and Lynne Cheney plaza. I confirmed the dedication with UW spokeswoman Jessica Lowell Aug. 30 and published the news on The Underground.

I knew I had to be there.

I wanted Cheney welcomed with the reminder that he sanctioned torture in the name of every American citizen. I wanted him to know that he could not buy honor. And I wanted him to know that not every Wyoming citizen claims him as a native son – never mind that he was actually born in Nebraska. A petty point, but Wyoming does have a tendency to disown those that dare move here from “back East” or, God forbid, California. Wyoming only claims a select few as its own.

I was also torn about protesting his visit. As the editor of The Underground, it is my job to remain objective when I report the news. I reported on his visit along with the opposition and planned protest to it, which thanks to several Laramie community members tipping off Mead Gruver of the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, garnered national attention via the AP wire story “Protests brew over Cheney International Center.”

As the enthusiasm over the protest brewed, I began to suspect I could no longer be objective. This was cemented by UW President Tom Buchanan’s opinion piece in the Casper Star-Tribune Sept. 6 “Tolerance, diversity cut many ways.” Buchanan said he had reviewed a list of those protesting the decision to name the center after Cheney and recognized many friends and colleagues on this list.

Buchanan wrote: “The list includes some good friends and colleagues who have previously admonished the UW administration to support greater diversity and increased tolerance for all views. So it is ironic that they show so little of it when confronted by a situation that challenges their own comfort zone.”

The lack of understanding by the UW administration and Buchanan was incomprehensible and wholly offensive. I immediately fired off a letter in response.

In my letter, published in the Tribune Sept. 9, I wrote: “The protest to this decision has nothing to do with intolerance of Cheney's views or of narrow-mindedness. This has everything to do with naming the center after a man who is suspected of sanctioning torture internationally and numerous violations of U.S. citizens' civil rights.”

It was in that moment any ideas of objectivity fell away. I believe every journalist will one day face a crisis of conscience on whether or not to remain objective manifested by a breakthrough of passion. Mine came that day.

The day of the event, I scrawled the number for the Wyoming ACLU in black Sharpie marker on the arms and hands of nearly 50 people. I marched with the protesters. I created the music mix they blared from a small stereo as we marched from 22nd and Willett Streets to Prexy’s Pasture. I gave comments to the media as a facilitator. I counted nearly double the AP’s estimate of 100 protesters.

And then I stood in the media area, signed in and filmed the event, recorded the speeches and took comments for this feature from protesters, Cheney supporters, Tom Buchanan, and Jessica Lowell.

When Cheney walked out, the protesters booed, supporters cheered, but I remained silent.

When Former U.S. Senator Al Simpson commented on Cheney’s patriotism, how easy it was to protest and how anyone can be a “bitcher,” I continued to remain silent so as to not compromise my recording.

And when Cheney began to speak, not more than 20 feet from where I stood, all of the epithets and all of the curses I wanted shout at him about eight years of lies, sanctioning torture, buying honor, and sending my friends to die in an unjust war strained against my lips. I remained silent.

I remained silent because there were so many others hoisting signs and yelling what I have wanted to say to the man since I watched the bombs drop in 2003. The throng of protesters remained, for the most part, polite during the speeches – although Simpson’s comments certainly rankled a few.

The colorful signs elevated above the crowd spoke volumes. Some referenced the donation and torture: “We don’t want your blood money!” “UW: High priced whore” and “My USA doesn’t torture.” There were also references to Buchanan’s opinion piece: “Tom Buchanan tolerates torture” and “If thinking torture is wrong makes me intolerant, then I’m gladly intolerant.”

There were signs from supporters as well, both thanking Cheney for his donation and encouraging him to run for president in 2012 – although protester Will Welch dressed as a grim reaper-esque Darth Vader from Star Wars and carried a sign encouraging Cheney to add Vader to the 2012 ticket.

The demonstrators protested the naming for varied reasons, but many referenced the idea that Cheney was buying a mark of distinction at UW’s expense.

Chip Rawlins, a UW graduate student and Wyoming native, felt Cheney was receiving an undeserved tribute. “I think it’s wrong to honor someone like this who has done such severe damage to the United States and its reputation,” he said.

Protester and UW student Tim Earl said, “I don’t think that the university should allow Dick Cheney to clean up his legacy at this campus with this money with that building.”

Another UW student, Ruth Briggs, came out in support of Cheney and was dressed in a T-shirt with the message “Nobody likes a liberal.” She said she came out to show Cheney that there are “youth who aren’t influenced by the young liberal mindset, and that there are young conservatives who support Mr. Cheney.”

Briggs added she feels liberals outnumber conservatives on the UW campus. Later, she was able to have her picture taken with Cheney and he mentioned that he liked her T-shirt.

UW graduate student Dan DePeyer echoed many of his fellow protester’s sentiments. DePeyer helped organize the protest, sending a bulletin out to the members of the Facebook group, “UW Students Against the Naming of the Cheney International Center” and helped create signs for the rally.

DePeyer said, “I believe Cheney is guilty of war crimes, particularly torture, and he’s responsible for many international crimes.”

UW alumnus Mara Sobotka also helped organize people to rally at the dedication and led the march to campus. She said, “I am here to demonstrate that we do not support what Dick Cheney stands for."

Not everyone at the protest was a UW student or Laramie resident. Mark and Renee Sandefer of Colorado drove up to protest the dedication. Mark said he wants to see both the war in Iraq and Afghanistan ended and called for Cheney’s prosecution on charges of murder and crimes against humanity.

Renee said that the UW administration had committed “an atrocity” by allowing a “war criminal and a war profiteer to come in here and buy himself this honor.” She called the dedication of the center a “disgrace to this university and to this nation.”

Other supporters of the former vice president were just as vocal in their defense of Cheney’s actions and policies as his detractors. UW students Dillon Kinney and Dustin Stallings came out to support Cheney.

“I strongly believe that what he did was the best thing for our country,” said Kinney. “I think it’s great that the university can dedicate this in his honor and recognize what he’s done for us.”

Buchanan did not address the demonstrators in his speech but afterwards called the crowd “well-behaved” and “civil the way we hoped it would be on a university campus.” He said, “Considering the emotions here, Wyoming did itself proud. I’m sure there are folks who feel strongly on both sides.”

UW spokeswoman Jessica Lowell said of the crowd, “You know, in America, we have the First Amendment which entitles everyone to free speech and they certainly got their opportunity to use their First Amendments rights.”

In the end, I decided to wait a few weeks before writing about this event. Buchanan was correct in his assessment of the emotions running through the crowd that day. When Cheney began his speech, the cheers and jeers threatened to reach a fever pitch. Even though I decided to wait, the memories I carried away from the event remain fresh.

I carried away the memory of those kids, staring frozen in astonishment or applauding and shouting as we marched by their recess time.

I also carried away the memory forever burned into my mind’s eye of Cheney striding out of the international center and thinking to myself with a bizarre jolt, “But he’s just small, stooped old man with a cane…”

And I carried away the memory of being within a few feet of Cheney and feeling an unearthly coldness crawling across my skin on an unseasonably warm day as I heard him laugh. His laugh was humorless and bitter, his face blank as I looked him in the eyes.

Making eye contact with Cheney, I understood the arrogance needed to explain away five draft deferments, courtesy of the University of Wyoming and Casper College, with the statement, “I had other priorities in the 60's than military service,” and then later calling Vietnam “a noble cause” in which “had I been drafted, I would have been happy to serve.”

I understood the dispassionate indifference needed to look at reporters and the American people and insist the intelligence was never faulty, the CIA interrogators never crossed the line and that Iraq is still the noble cause he believed Vietnam to be so many years ago.

I understood and was dismayed – I know he will never answer any questions truthfully in any kind of investigation. Cheney creates his own acerbic reality, in which he is the star and the rest of the proletariat purely bit players.

Never mind the U.S. soldiers sent to die in the desert.

Never mind the lives battered and broken by the detention of innocents.

Never mind the legacy of national debt he helped create.

Never mind the quagmire enveloping the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

Never mind the authorization of heinous threats and abuse as “enhanced” interrogation methods.

Never mind any of this because he gave the university so many millions made the good ol’ capitalist way – war profiteering. Perhaps the business school should have been named after him, with lessons in no-bid contracts and off-shore accounts. After all, Cheney was a rather successful capitalist.

Furthermore, none of this will ever fit into Cheney’s version of events. The protesters and the media were simply part of his routine. Sen. Simpson’s annoyance at the demonstrators provided a back-handed acknowledgment of the dissent. Cheney made no mention of the protesters in his speech, only smirking in their general direction a few times beforehand.

I tried to ask him a question afterwards and was pushed out of the way. My entire generation was pushed out of the way with the assistance of this man, so I should not be taken aback by his impassiveness.

Several of the protesters saw Cheney’s plane off at the airport here in Laramie. Accompanying them was a long, heavy list of names – names of soldiers killed in action since these disastrous wars began. They displayed the names prominently and flipped him the bird as the plane took off.

I know he saw.

But I doubt he cared.

Photo slideshow: Cheney International Center dedication

The University of Wyoming dedicated the brand-new Cheney International Center on Sept. 10. The center houses the programs for International Studies and a lounge for international students.

Around 120-200 people gathered to protest the dedication, which generated nationwide recognition and controversy.

Photos: Meg Lanker

All photos remain copyright The Underground and Meg Lanker

Video of Dick Cheney's speech

Stay tuned for a news feature on the event, a behind the scenes look at the protest, and an opinion feature on the former vice president. For now, here's my filming of Dick and Lynne Cheney, plus the ribbon cutting.

UW to dedicate Cheney International Center

UW to dedicate Cheney International Center
Meg Lanker
Sunday, August 30, 2009 10:24 PM MDT
Update: Monday September 7, 1:21 AM MDT

Dick and Lynne Cheney will return to Laramie next month to dedicate the newly-constructed Cheney International Center at the University of Wyoming.

The dedication is scheduled for Sept. 10 at 10:30 a.m. according to University of Wyoming Director of Institutional Communications Jessica Lowell.

The naming of the building generated nationwide controversy but Lowell said the university followed an “identified policy and process” for the naming the building. “That process was followed in this instance,” said Lowell.

According to the "University of Wyoming Named Gift Criteria," approved by the UW Board of Trustees in 2006, the criteria for approving the naming of a pre-existing building is the amount of the monetary gift.

The reports states: "Previously constructed facilities, which are unnamed, can be named by a donor or a donor's representative through a substantial contribution of 50 percent or more of the renovation cost of the facility."

The Cheney family's gift “created for UW the largest single-university endowment dedicated to study abroad support,” said UW President Tom Buchanan in a news release Sept. 7, 2007. The total endowment of $1.8 million was matched by state funds.

According to the UW Foundation's annual report, much of the initial donation went to fund the renovation of the Student Health building and the necessary renovations to add the Cheney International Center.

In November 2008, UW Board of Trustees President Chuck Brown and President Buchanan issued a joint statement to Fred Vanden Heede and Suzy Pelican, both of Laramie, which ran in The Casper-Star Tribune as part of a letter to the editor. In the statement, Brown and Buchanan explained the rationale behind the naming of the building.

“In 2006, UW President Tom Buchanan, Vice President for Institutional Advancement Ben Blalock and former U.S. Senator Alan Simpson visited with the Cheney family at the White House to discuss the intended purpose(s) of the gift. At that meeting, the Cheney family emphasized its desire to focus the gift on students and on international programs at UW,” said Brown and Buchanan.

They also said UW responded with a plan for international scholarships and a “bricks-and-mortar” proposal for the center.

In a September 2008 letter which appeared in UW’s student-run paper, The Branding Iron, Heede and Pelican said, “UW and its international programs cannot avoid being identified with the ideology behind and approach to U.S. global politics championed by the Bush-Cheney administration.”

The controversy is expected to re-ignite with the dedication.

Sunday's Casper Star-Tribune featured an editorial authored by Buchanan in which he cited a list of people opposed to the Cheney International Center and said, "It came as no surprise that, having lived in Wyoming for more than 30 years, I know many of those objecting to UW's decision."

"The list includes some good friends and colleagues who have previously admonished the UW administration to support greater diversity and increased tolerance for all views," said Buchanan. "So it is ironic that they show so little of it when confronted by a situation that challenges their own comfort zone."

Buchanan did not mention the planned dedication.

A group of Laramie students and community members dismayed by the center's naming are planning to protest the dedication with a march to campus and signs with various messages for Cheney and the UW administration. Organizers of the demonstration are emphasizing the need for peaceful assembly.

The “UW Students Against the Cheney International Center” Facebook group was created by Daniel DePeyer, a graduate student in the international studies program. The group allows students to post their thoughts on the naming of the center and to get information on its construction and eventual dedication.

"I recently helped to organize a conference at UW which focused on the subject of human rights. The conference chair made it adamantly clear that he did not want 'Cheney International Center' to appear as a sponsor on any of the program material," DePeyer said in a statement to The Underground Monday.

DePeyer said the Cheney family's endowment was "laudable" and acknowledged that many students have benefited from the opportunities presented by the scholarships. He also said the benefit was not without its risks.

"I went to Tunisia for six weeks as part of a UW sponsored cultural exchange program," said DePeyer. "I do not know if any Cheney money was used to help fund the program, however, I do know that if the Tunisian government or even some of the Tunisian students we interacted with had found out that we were funded by 'blood' money, our lives could have been at risk."

DePeyer said although the program will benefit future students, the "future implications will undoubtedly hurt the University of Wyoming's credibility and ability to attract world renowned scholars for faculty positions, conferences, speeches, and panels."

Other Laramie residents echoed DePeyer's concerns. “I feel sorry for the University of Wyoming and the state of Wyoming when they have to change the name after he’s indicted,” said Nancy Sindelar, a Laramie peace activist helping to organize the demonstration. Sindelar referenced the ongoing investigations into what the previous administration called “enhanced interrogation methods.”

Recently released and declassified White House documents detail actions that may have been authorized by or known to Cheney in interrogations conducted by CIA members, including mock executions of prisoners and threats of rape directed at the family members of detainees.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder authorized investigations into alleged abuses this week. In an interview with Fox News’ Chris Wallace Aug. 30, Cheney said Holder’s investigation “offends the hell out of me” and called Holder’s actions “an outrageous political act.”

Cheney also questioned President Barack Obama’s ability to lead the nation in difficult times. “I have serious doubts about his policies, especially, about the extent to which he understands and is prepared to do what needs to be done to defend the nation,” he said.

UW previously faced criticism from within the state when the decision to name the building after Cheney was announced. Numerous editorials have appeared in Wyoming newspapers since the naming was announced – both for and against the decision.

In the Casper Star-Tribune Sept. 24, 2008, Donal O’Toole of Laramie suggested the university look into “other initiatives from hitherto untapped sources,” including, “[T]he Beelzebub's College of Theology, Enron's Institute of Business Ethics, the Tom Ridge Observation Center, the Michael Vick Dog Shelter, and the Kim Jong Il School of Hairstyling.”

In a letter to the Tribune Sept. 14, 2008 Lowell defended the decision and said, “The university has a procedure in place, and university officials followed that procedure and accordingly recognized this very generous gift for a laudable educational purpose.”

According to Lowell, the event is open to the public. She did not say whether or not the administration is aware of any planned demonstrations. The dedication will take place in front of the new Cheney International Center on Dick and Lynne Cheney plaza.

The UW Police Department will coordinate with the Secret Service to provide security for the event.

Spotlight: Wyo. State House Rep. Pete Illoway

Spotlighting Wyoming’s State Congressmen: Wyoming House Representative Pete Illoway
Meg Lanker
Friday, August 28, 2009 2:54 PM MDT

Wyoming State House Representative Pete Illoway, R-Cheyenne believes it’s time for Wyoming to assert its sovereignty to the federal government granted under the Tenth Amendment.

“We don’t have much input in Washington compared to larger states, but we need to let the federal government know that we matter as a state,” Illoway said. “The federal government has run amok and I feel Wyoming should stand along with other states who believe the same as we do.”

Illoway authored a state sovereignty resolution similar to those passed in other states recently. The bill requests that Congress “cease and desist from enacting mandates that are beyond the scope of the enumerated powers granted to Congress by the Constitution of the United States.”

State sovereignty resolutions similar to the one drafted by Illoway gained popularity in recent years, particularly with conservative legislators who feel the federal government has expanded to the point of encroaching on individual states’ rights.

The resolution is non-binding but can be officially entered in the U.S. congressional record. Illoway said, “Sometimes resolutions work and sometimes they’re ignored, but we won’t know what will happen unless we make our views known.”

The resolution contains a paragraph naming specific federal laws that “constitutional authority for which is either absent or tenuous,” including the Real ID Act and the Endangered Species Act. Illoway said those specific laws were added by Governor Dave Freudenthal at the suggestion of Wyoming Attorney General Bruce Salzburg.

According to Illoway, Wyoming should not be entirely disconnected from the federal government. Wyoming received federal stimulus funding for infrastructure improvement projects under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

“The money WYDOT [Wyoming Department of Transportation] received went to shovel-ready projects which put Wyoming people to work,” said Illoway. “If Wyoming didn’t take the money, it would have gone somewhere else.”

Illoway was recently attacked by the Wyoming Patriot Alliance as not supporting sovereignty “because he believes in it.” The Wyoming Patriot Alliance's website describes the group as “concerned citizens that have banded together and want to hold Government (at all levels) accountable for their actions.” They also claim no allegiance to political parties and state: “We've adopted the 9 Principles and 12 Values from Glenn Beck's 9/12 Project because they are a great starting point.”

Illoway met with several individuals at the request of Janie White, a constituent of his who is a member of Wyoming Patriot Alliance and owner of the group’s website. According to Illoway, White told him they wished to discuss the state sovereignty resolution.

He said he told White and those present at the meeting his reasons for sponsoring the resolution but White abruptly switched gears into asking him to support a copy of the federal Defense of Marriage Amendment (DOMA) being inserted into Wyoming’s constitution.

Social conservatives in Wyoming have attempted to get the DOMA into the Wyoming constitution for many years. The latest effort in 2008 was House Joint Resolution 17 which failed on the House floor with 25 members voting “aye” and 35 members voting “nay.” Illoway voted against the bill.

The heavily-debated resolution read: “A Joint Resolution proposing to amend the Wyoming Constitution by creating a new section specifying that a marriage between a man and a woman shall be the only legal union that shall be valid or recognized in Wyoming” – fundamentally stating that Wyoming will not recognize same-sex marriages performed out of state.

Illoway said he had no warning White and the others wanted to discuss a DOMA resolution and characterized the meeting as “an absolute ambush.” Illoway said, “I was told we were there to discuss the state sovereignty resolution and nothing else. I feel these are two separate issues, and when I tried to explain this to Mrs. White, she became defensive.”

White wrote a post about the meeting on Wyoming Patriot Alliance’s website later. “He [Illoway] said he will NOT discuss marriage between one man and one woman because he doesn't believe in it,” she said.

Illoway said this assertion by White is false. He disagreed with HJ 17 because Wyoming already has a statute defining marriage as between a man and a woman – HJ 17 would add the extra piece of not recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states.

He also disputed the necessity of HJ 17 – Wyoming recognizes Common Law marriages from other states, so HJ 17 would single out one type of marriage for non-recognition. “We have a statute already that says marriage is between a man and a woman period – we don’t need to go any further. Gay people are people too. They have the right to exist like the rest of us,” Illoway said.

White also criticized Illoway as “pro-abortion” and said his “positions on abortion, gay marriage and other conservatives [sic] values did NOT coincide with the base.”

In a statement to The Underground, Illoway said he is not “pro-abortion” but is pro-choice. “I am pro-choice. I have been for years – this is nothing new,” he said. “No one is ever pro-abortion. Abortion is never something anyone wishes to happen.”

Illoway emailed White to clarify his positions on same-sex marriage and abortion. White pasted the email exchange below the original post about her meeting with Illoway. In the exchange White said, “If Ms. Lone and I believed I had mis-stated[sic] your comments, I would have been glad to retract but as you can see, and with the witnesses of that meeting, I have not and will not.”

On the Wyoming Patriot Alliance’s website, White said, “I don't have to work with Legislators and I definitely don't work for them, they work for me.”

Illoway disagrees with this notion and said the best way for constituents to get legislation passed is to work with legislators to reach common ground. “The town halls are a good example,” Illoway said. “It’s good for people to get involved, but nothing gets done by screaming at the people in office. There’s a level of respect needed.”

White did not respond to a request for comment from The Underground.

Illoway came to Wyoming in the early 1960s and was elected to the Wyoming State House to represent House District 42 in 1998. He previously served as the Vice President of Cheyenne LEADS (Cheyenne-Laramie County Corporation for Economic Development).

As the Wyoming legislature prepares to returns in 2010 to a rapidly changing economy, The Underground will put the spotlight on members of Wyoming’s House and Senate. Rep. Pete Illoway can be reached through his website, www.peteilloway.com

Sen. Kennedy: The lion who roared

Photo: Sen. Ted Kennedy speaks at the Democratic National Convention in 2008. (Photo from http://kennedy.senate.gov)











The lion who roared: Remembering Sen. Ted Kennedy and moving forward
Meg Lanker
Wednesday, August 26, 2009 5:35 PM MDT
To truly measure a legislator’s worth, one must not look at the amount of legislation simply passed, but at the quality of the legislation, the effort, and the compromise necessary to get that legislation passed. By this standard, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass. was a priceless civil servant in the U.S. Senate.

Kennedy diligently advocated for bipartisan compromise on divisive issues: health care, education reform, immigration, welfare, et cetera. In 1983, Kennedy outlined his hopes for America and said, “I hope for an America where we can all contend freely and vigorously, but where we will treasure and guard those standards of civility which alone make this nation safe for both democracy and diversity.”

Twenty-six years later, as this lion of the senate is silenced, it is devastatingly obvious these standards of civility hoped for by Kennedy have fallen away – if they even existed at all. With the passing of Kennedy, the book is closed on one of the last, great statesmen left in this country. According to the Los Angeles Times, Cal Thomas, a conservative columnist who forged a friendship with Kennedy in the 1980s, said, “I was opposed to his politics, but I came to love him as a person.”

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, is often considered one of the most conservative members in the Senate, yet still counted Kennedy as a friend. According to The Salt Lake City Tribune, Hatch came to the Senate 32 years ago with one goal in mind: "To fight Ted Kennedy."

Hatch and Kennedy wound up working together on numerous pieces of legislation ensuring children of low-income parents could see a doctor, and most recently, legislation boosting the funding to the AmeriCorps volunteer program and the stipend its volunteers receive.

On Wednesday, Hatch said Kennedy was "an iconic, larger than life United States senator whose influence cannot be overstated," and a treasured friend.

Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo. issued a statement Wednesday, and called Kennedy a “true, thoughtful, and caring friend” and gave his condolences to Kennedy’s family.

“The history books will show that Ted was a dedicated public servant who worked tirelessly for the people of Massachusetts and the nation,” said Enzi. “He leaves behind a long list of bipartisan legislative accomplishments, the impact of which will continue to be felt for generations to come.”

Wyoming’s former U.S. Senator Al Simpson served on the judiciary committee with Kennedy in the U.S. Senate. Previously, Kennedy had also served in the senate with Simpson’s father Milward.

In a statement to The Underground Wednesday, Simpson said, “My wife Ann and I are truly heartbroken. He was a dear friend. The two of us would put politics aside in order to make things work.” He called Kennedy a “master legislator” and cited their accomplishments together as an example of Kennedy’s bipartisanship.

“He will be deeply missed. A giant tree falls from the skyline. A great loss to the world,” Simpson said. “Our love, thoughts and prayers go out to Vicki and all of their dear ones.”

Seth Stern, writer for CQpolitics.com, shared an anecdote Wednesday regarding Al Simpson’s arrival to the U.S. Senate 30 years ago. Stern said when Al Simpson first arrived in the Senate in 1979, his father, who served with Kennedy in the 1960s, told his son to get to know Kennedy.

“Although they didn’t agree on much politically, Kennedy made a favorable impression when he was the first to arrive at a reception that year for the elder Simpson, who by then was suffering from Parkinson’s disease,” said Stern. “Kennedy kneeled on the ground for half an hour to talk to his former Senate colleague, who could not get out of his wheelchair.”

The Wyoming Democratic Party also issued a statement Wednesday and said it joined the nation in mourning the passing of Kennedy. State party vice chairman Mike Bell pointed out that Kennedy campaigned in the West for JFK and stood with the Wyoming delegation when the state put Jack Kennedy over the top for the Democratic presidential nomination at the 1960 convention.

Bell said, “Ted Kennedy was such a force in American life for nearly fifty years that it will take a while to get used to the fact that he is gone.” The outpouring of remembrance from liberals and conservatives alike reminds us that political views are, or should be, separate from the person.

Kennedy was a vehement defender of working-class and poor Americans and yet was able to give and take during negotiations on legislation without compromising his values or his friendships.

The idea that one can be opposed to an individual’s politics but not to the person seems alien to my generation. Those of us in our mid-twenties have foggy memories of former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. My generation grew up in the Clinton era – I still remember my father changing the channel when news anchors began discussing Ken Starr’s vicariously prurient interest in former President Bill Clinton’s sex life.

For my generation, politics have always been personal. In the past fifteen years, we’ve endured debates about stains on blue dresses over dinner as the level of political discourse in America sunk to the point of commentators pouring “gasoline” (read: water) on others to demonstrate what President Barack Obama is doing to the American people while insisting the “-ism” of the day was on the march.

Where was Kennedy in all this chaos?

Through all the name-calling and mudslinging, he continued to urge Democrats and Republicans to work together in order to bring about necessary reforms successfully. Kennedy advocated for single-payer health care beginning in the 1970s. Calling healthcare reform “the cause of my life,” he pressed for bipartisanship, writing in Newsweek July 27, “Our response to these challenges will define our character as a country.” Kennedy’s absence from the healthcare debate in recent months left a gaping hole in the Senate and indicated how precarious his health had become.

In March, Rush Limbaugh criticized the healthcare reform efforts put forth by the Democrats in Congress saying, “Before it's all over, it will be called the Ted Kennedy Memorial Health Care Bill.” As of Wednesday, he had not backed off his comments.

Limbaugh cited Kennedy’s death from brain cancer and the extensive treatment he received to prolong his life as reason to oppose the healthcare overhaul he espoused since the 1970s. "Why support the rationing of healthcare when Ted Kennedy, the lion of the Senate, did not?" said Limbaugh.

The debate over health care has now reached a nasty, shrill crescendo – led by pundits like Limbaugh and Glenn Beck – and will hopefully, respectfully be turned down. False accusations over government sponsored euthanasia and horrific waiting periods will not do anyone favors.

One of Kennedy’s Massachusetts colleagues, U.S. House Rep. Barney Frank expressed his frustration recently with the devolving healthcare debate. After a woman compared the proposed policies on healthcare reform to the policies of Adolph Hitler, Frank sighed and said, “When you ask me that question, I’m going to revert to my ethnic heritage and ask you a question: On what planet do you spend most of your time?” As the crowd began to boo, he continued: “Trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table – I have no interest in doing it.”

Sen. Ted Kennedy would have argued with that dining room table, and I have no doubt in my mind about him he reaching a compromise with it. Kennedy represents an era hopefully not past, when citizens respected the office – if not the congressman – and congressman treated each other with dignity.

I implore the Democratic Party to remember Kennedy as a diligent civil servant and to pass the kind of reform he wanted – coverage for all Americans, which he saw as a right and not a privilege. I also beg his colleagues, if they so desire to name a healthcare bill after him, that the bill be the type of reform he would support, and not a watered-down tweak of our current system.

I encourage all Americans to remember the words his brother, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, used on the campaign trail in 1968, quoting playwright George Bernard Shaw: “Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.”

Eulogizing his brother Robert in June 1968, Kennedy said, “My brother need not be idealized or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life, to be remembered as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.”

Kennedy concluded his eulogy with what is now my wish for him: “Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will some day come to pass for all the world.”

Meg Lanker is the editor of The Underground and can be contacted at meglanker@gmail.com

The Underground mourns Sen. Ted Kennedy

On behalf of The Underground, I wish to issue a statement expressing my condolences to the Kennedy family and friends of Sen. Ted Kennedy. Sen. Kennedy was a great statesmen and a tireless champion for those who truly needed a warrior.

This is the time to put aside the divisiveness over health care reform and remember that Sen. Kennedy worked for on this issue for nearly 50 years in office, never seeing it come to fruition as he hoped.

This is the time to mourn the "lion of the senate" as he was called by his colleagues and to celebrate the reforms he did enact - many with bipartisan support.

And this is the time to pay tribute to Sen. Kennedy and truly reach across the aisle, both as legislators and Americans, to see his dreams of health care for all actually come into being.

-Meg Lanker, Editor

Freudenthal supports state sovereignty resolution

Freudenthal supports state sovereignty resolution
Meg Lanker
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 6:35 PM MDT
update: Tuesday, August 25, 2009 8:12 PM MDT

Gov. Dave Freudenthal supports reminding Washington D.C. that Wyoming is a sovereign state under the Tenth Amendment.

The resolution was authored by Wyoming State House Representative Pete Illoway, R-Cheyenne and transmitted to the Wyoming Legislature’s Management Council July 29. Freudenthal said, in a memo attached to the resolution on his website, “From time to time we all wonder whether sending resolutions to Washington D.C. really does any good. On the other hand, it’s nice to at least get our view on the record.”

The proposed resolution is similar to resolutions adopted by other states in recent years, including Oklahoma and Michigan. The movement for states to declare sovereignty has gained momentum with the election of President Barack Obama. Much of the momentum stems from a belief, that in recent years, the federal government has gained too much power and has become what The Tenth Amendment Center calls “an oppressive central [federal] government.”

The Tenth Amendment Center, according to its website, “works to preserve and protect Tenth Amendment freedoms through information and education.” The center also “serves as a forum for the study and exploration of state and individual sovereignty issues, focusing primarily on the decentralization of federal government power.”

On the website, Thomas Grady, the founder of the Missouri Sovereignty Project, said, “It was the Bill of Rights’ final amendment, as if our Founding Fathers said, ‘By the grace of God, if the first nine amendments don’t prevent tyranny, the 10th will do so.’”

The website also features a boilerplate template for a suggested Tenth Amendment resolution for citizens to send to their governors and state legislators. Illoway’s proposed resolution follows the template closely, declaring “many powers assumed by the federal government and federal mandates are directly in violation of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.”

Illoway said Tuesday he decided to pursue a state sovereignty resolution to stand up for Wyoming's rights as a state and cited a primary reason for the resolution as a "federal government run amock."

"A majority of the States are pursuing similar resolutions and even though Wyoming has a budget session coming up, I felt we needed to pursue a sovereignty bill and stand along with other states who believe the same as we do," said Illoway.

In an interview Aug. 12 with Andrew Simons, host of Laramie’s political talk show Checks and Balances, U.S. House Representative Cynthia Lummis said she supports resolutions like these and is a “big advocate” of state sovereignty.

“The states are the most important units of government in this country,” Lummis said. “The federal government didn’t create the states. The states created the federal government.”

Simons supports Illoway's resolution as well, but had his own thoughts about the governor's support of state sovereignty.

“Governor Freudenthal supports this resolution to potentially get around current federal regulation on energy development and wolf management – not to mention currying favor with Republican voters after supporting President Obama’s candidacy,” said Simons. “He’s trying rebuild his base for a 2010 gubernatorial campaign.”

Freudenthal has not ruled out a run for governor in 2010, although he is considered term-limited. However, the Wyoming Supreme Court invalidated legislative term limits in 2004, leaving the opportunity for Freudenthal to challenge the constitutionality of his own term limits to run for re-election in 2010.

According to the Washington Post Feb. 16, when asked about the possibility that Freudenthal would seek a third term, his spokeswoman Cara Eastwood said, "When the governor has something to announce, he will announce it."

Recently, Wyoming citizens have been ramping up efforts to see Wyoming declare itself a sovereign state. At the Wyoming State Fair in Douglas, visitors were welcomed back to their cars with a newspaper published by an organization aligned with the national “Tea Party” movement. The paper accused “Gov. Dave” of supporting tyranny for not coming out against the Real ID Act and called for a Tenth Amendment resolution.

The Real ID Act, enacted under former President George W. Bush’s directive, aims to curtail terrorism by instituting a national ID program. In the state sovereignty resolution supported by Freudenthal, the Real ID Act is mentioned as one of the federal laws “where the constitutional authority for which is either absent or tenuous.”

Other federal laws mentioned were the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act – all areas where Wyoming has seen federal conflict in regards to wolf and sage grouse management, energy development and Forest Service policies.

Illoway said the specific laws mentioned in the resolution as examples of the federal government overstepping its authority were added by Freudenthal at the suggestion of Wyoming Attorney General Bruce Salzburg.

Freudenthal and his staff did not respond to repeated requests for comment.