I wake up sometimes thinking about how to do this, how to reach enough ‘others’ — people who are not engaging here, who aren’t already on board. Somewhere there must be people privately regretting their support of this insanity, but yet who do not share many progressive values. And we need them, not only their votes, but to be a healthy society again we have to have dialog among people who don’t agree. First, however we have to win the war with the bastards who lie, cheat and steal, and that also requires engaging the middle.
So I started writing guest columns for the print paper here in Tucson, the Arizona Daily Star. I wrote one, polished it best I could, submitted it and wrote an email to the editor asking if I could write regularly for the paper, free of charge. And lo and behold she said to submit them monthly (no promises, of course — but encouragement, I’ll take!).
Sharing this here, because the way I realized it was possible, was talking to a guy who had this idea last year and worked with the editorial board until he actually became a columnist — Marriah Starr. He did it for about a year, gratis. So I realized it was possible and indeed it is.
Here is a list of op-ed submission pages: www.theopedproject.org/… And if you are not in a big city, so much the better! Small rural papers would really reach out to a new crowd.
My first piece: Compassion, pragmatism should guide border policy . I tried to start with something concrete, personal, and let the reader make their own conclusions instead of hitting them on the head (though sometimes I feel like I would like to!)
My best friend from college became a quadriplegic right after we graduated, in a mountainside rollover. Lucky for him, a paramedic unit was nearby and quick action saved his life. Lucky for him, he’s a brilliant software engineer who can make a top-tier salary and pay for his intensive nursing care. Even so, he can barely piece together the life-preserving care he needs. And he couldn’t do it without “Rosa,” his live-in assistant, who is undocumented.
She is available to take this job at the rates my friend can afford because of her situation, because she can’t do other work. More than once, Rosa has literally saved my friend’s life. When someone is in a fragile situation they get their life saved a lot.
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The official circulation of the Star is 238,000. Optimistically 5-10% of those would read my column, but even if its 1%, that’s 2380 people, and in Tucson that means at least 800-900 people who are not democrats, might have read what I had to say, maybe more. Thinking about that makes me want to work hard on the next one, which I have a month to put together.
I love to write and read what you all have to say, and find some of the most important highlights here at Kos. Highlighting news items is important! I hope tho that each of us also finds powerful ways to reach out, and tip this damn thing over.