Having lived more decades than I care to admit, I find myself in the regrettable position of wanting to become politically active but without the required experience to do so. I want to do more than vote, more than write letters to the editor about the latest blunders emanating from Sacramento or Washington. I want to change things. At the very least, I want my voice to be heard. Sadly, everything I’ve accomplished is, apparently, too average to imbue me with the gravitas to be taken seriously. When I express a desire to run for office, party officials smile and politely encourage me to become a precinct worker for a “real” candidate. I’ve written a book, but publishers and literary agents keep talking about “a strong platform” from which to write. The Clintons, Newt Gingrich, Barbara Streisand, and Oprah Winfrey have strong platforms. I’m just an average American. One literary agent, getting right to the point in his rejection letter, said, “Alas, I fear a ‘big name’ is needed to place a book of this kind.” OK, I’ll become Secretary of State and get back to you.
I graduated Magna Cum Laude from UCLA with a B.A. in Political Science, but, as any social science major will tell you, that and two bucks will get you a tall drip. I’ve enjoyed nearly thirty-three years of marriage with my lovely bride, but, as our friends will tell you, my wife deserves the accolades for that. We have a lovely, well-grounded, intelligent, and effervescent daughter, recently married to a fine young man, but I can’t take credit for that either. Refer to my statement on marriage.
I started and nurtured a very successful paper recycling business. Over a ten-year stretch, the company went from one employee – yours truly – and one half-ton van to sixty employees, eleven trucks, ten forklifts, and one huge baler, operating on two acres in South Central Los Angeles and packing over three thousand tons of waste paper a month. We captured the attention of a Fortune 100 company which made an offer I couldn’t refuse. It was sweet to build the business, but I must admit it was even sweeter to turn all that equipment and goodwill into cash and walk away. Maybe I should write a book on recycling, or building businesses. Hmmm…
I’ve washed dishes and cars, delivered newspapers, driven trucks, operated shovels and Caterpillar tractors, managed businesses like mine, and sold life insurance. If you ever want to test yourself, become a life insurance agent. Or, just run head-first into concrete walls. One would think that life experience – going to work all those mornings, paying all those bills and taxes, attending all those school functions, risking life and limb to be a girl’s softball coach, participating in community and church functions — not to mention doing all of it by the rules – would build some sort of credibility. One would be wrong.
So, I want to get involved in the political process, and I’m told that my platform is too weak. Fine, I’ll build my own platform. That’s what blogs are, right? Twenty-first century soapboxes, places where average Americans can pontificate on their most cherished topics. And I intend to pontificate, because I have a lot bottled up about this country of ours. I’m hoping that you also have a lot to say about America. My greatest desire for this site is that it becomes a true marketplace of ideas, each post and comment adding to a rich political dialogue average Americans can sink their teeth into. Of course, exceptional Americans are also welcome. We’ll be patient with you.
Posted by Jerry Pomeroy in Purpose of the Blog