Political party conventions offer free air time for candidates, really. In an election like this one, so close (and yet so far), every minute counts. Or does it? Let’s analyze a little.

Item: Paul Ryan gets the crowd fired up and ready to go, but he gets his facts wrong. Progressive web sites start calling him “Lyin’ Ryan.”

False: President Obama didn’t save a General Motors plant in Wisconsin.
Truth: First, Obama wasn’t even in office when the GM plant closed.

False: President Obama ignored recommendations of a bipartisan debt commission.
Truth: Paul Ryan actually sat on that commission. And he led Republicans in voting down the commission’s own recommendation. So the commission never gave a report to Obama, because Ryan himself voted to kill the report before it could.

There were more conflicting statements in Ryan’s speeches. Keep an eye on the press. Move On Civic Action is sponsoring a petition asking members of the press to “…Fact-check and call out candidates when they lie. You have an obligation as journalists to educate the public on the facts of the major campaign issues.”

Item: Clint Eastwood talks to an empty chair.

• He gets mocked by slide shows all over the internet
• Clint manages to upstage Romney’s acceptance speech – during prime time, too
• Fans start wondering if he’s losing his marbles in his old age
• Obama has a simple response: This Seat is Taken.

That’s the trouble with free air time. Anything goes – almost. In the same vein as “Buyer Beware” let’s add “Listeners, look it up”. Check the facts. Check the sources.  Voters, let’s not allow falsehoods like Ryan’s or oddball statements like Clint’s influence our votes.

After all, President Obama looks mighty nice in his chair. He belongs there.

In my travels, both real and virtual, I see many visual messages. From the Southeast to Midwest, join me on my journey.

In Tampa, Florida, the locals welcome the Republican convention.

From the Milwaukee area, I bring you The Overpass Light Brigade: brilliant.

From a nearby parking lot, on the bumper of an original VW Beetle:

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

I couldn’t believe the baby aspirin between the knees method of birth control made headlines last year.

Now I can’t believe the idiocy of Representative Tod Akin, Republican from Missouri and candidate for Senate. He claimed the following:

First of all, from what I understand from doctors, (pregnancy from rape) is really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.

What the hell??!!

Does this man talk to real doctors, MDs, professionals who really know how a woman’s body works? Did this man talk to sexual assault counselors?  Does he know what rape means? Did he pay attention in middle school when the science and health teacher taught how fertilization occurs?

I’m appalled that Mr. Akin would believe such a falsehood, much less attribute it to medical professionals and state it as truth.

I’m even more appalled that people might trust him and agree with this woefully inadequate piece of playground gossip.

I’m still more appalled that ignorant voters might decide to vote for lawmakers who believe that a woman can “shut down” her reproductive organs and somehow resist pregnancy when she is being attacked.

Republican leaders are distancing themselves from this horrific statement and the man who made it. But listen up, women: VP Paul Ryan was one of 200 cosponsors of the “personhood” bill that would outlaw birth control pills and narrowly define the term “rape.” Mitt Romney wants to completely eliminate federal funding for Planned Parenthood. These two candidates are dangerous.

I want my health to be a discussion between my doctor and me. No one in Congress need get in the middle. If Tod Akin is any example, many in the Republican Party didn’t pay enough attention in school to understand how pregnancy occurs, and they certainly can’t comprehend or define the term “rape.”

Women, we can’t stay silent. Speak up, educate, and above all, vote. A woman’s vote still counts the same as a man’s.

There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest. 

~ Elie Wiesel ~

The wild and woolly recall election was over a month ago. The scars are fading, but they’re still visible. I have three meetings on this week’s calendar, all in some way political. I keep plugging away, but some days it just seems pointless.

Why do I bother? Does one person’s effort really matter? The big money sources are working to make sure their own puppet legislators are in power. Those on “my” side keep begging for donations, and I can afford only to give them time. Does volunteerism count for anything in the long run? On June 6, my efforts and energy seemed – oh, I give in, it seemed wasted. Totally wasted.

Then I ran into the above quote from Elie Wiesel.  Holocaust survivor, journalist, writer, teacher, leader in human rights causes, Elie Wiesel’s quote reminds me to keep active. I may not have the money, but I have words and I will make the time. Tonight, messaging workshop at the OFA office. Tomorrow night, City Council. After that, a couple of days off to rest and reconnect with my family.

And then, after that, despite that occasional powerless feeling, I’ll keep protesting injustice and helping others fight the good fight leading to the Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

The Overpass Light Brigade, a creative tactic born in Milwaukee