So how does Kumbaya work for you?

The columns I wrote last week and this week about talking with folks we've taken to be political bad guys has generated more heartburn on the Blue Oregon blog than I expected. Maybe that was naive. Some folks responding think the whole case I'm trying to sell is naive.

You?

The critics have a point...

It could be that the sharpest political wedge that divides Oregonians, and keeps us from finding much more potent agreement than we do, is compensation of public employees. There's plenty to say on this subject. Part of what I want to say in this week's column, triggered by recent news that fund managers in the Treasurer's office are getting big bonuses, is that folks unhappy with some aspects of government salaries have a better point than we progressives like to admit. Ignoring that point just deepens the wedge.

Your comments most welcome...

I am not making this up

A B-level news story this week, really just a sidebar to the First-Monday-in-October ritual that launches the Supreme Court's annual session, brought me to my mental knees. It was more than enough to deserve a column this week.

There's a way of thinking in this country that's easy to overlook when you live in a progressive bubble, and that says a lot about why it's so damn hard to move forward.

Your thoughts?

Confidence in WHAT?

They call it the Consumer Confidence Index, and it is a very, very big deal. In a world where media-manipulated perception becomes reality (and modern financial markets qualify) our collective opinion of whether the economy is good or bad makes the economy good or bad...until our opinion changes.

This is nuts. It becomes more clearly nuts when you ponder a couple of questions, beginning with "Confidence in what?" That was the nub of this week's column.

If you see something I don't here, bring it on....