CPAC, FFRW, and P5

CPAC, FFRW, and P5

This weekend, a very unusual series of events took place in Orlando, Florida. The Florida Federation of Republican Women held their biennial convention on 9/22 and 9/23. Presidency 5 hosted the Fox News/Google Republican Presidential debate 9/22, and Straw Poll 9/24. On 9/23, the CPAC event included a Florida Republican US Senate Straw Poll, remarks from Presidential candidates, and a number of educational sessions. All events were held in the Orange County Convention Center, Rosen Center, Rosen Plaza, and Peabody hotels, so proximity assisted in coordination of all events and allowed delegates to each event easy access to the others. The organizers of all three events are to be congratulated for their planning this multiple event opportunity.

Traveling with the President of the Gulf Coast Republican Women Federated club was a great experience for me. She is new to politics, having been involved for only a couple of years, and had not attended any events like the three we attended. Having been politically active off and on for about 30 years, I’ve attended quite a few and it tickled me to see her so excited about everything we did. Its easy to forget not everyone has my background and experience, and very easy to be a little blasé about these events. I was very grateful to experience the weekend through her eyes as well as my own.

I attended all three events, and wanted to record and share my impressions and experiences before I see any “news” about any of them. In years past, it has been my experience that news reports often vary from actual events, leading me to question most news reports with “What if that were true?”. So, the following are my impressions of the events as delegate to all three, not made on behalf of any of the organizations, just my personal impressions, so please don’t think any of the following are “official” stories or news releases. Now that my disclaimer is finished, here’s what I experienced this weekend.

FFRW

As always, the FFRW event was well organized, well executed, and well attended. The Board meeting prior to the general meeting was one of the quickest I have ever seen, at about 7 minutes flat. It helps when the business to be conducted is communicated to the participants ahead of time in a clear and concise fashion.

The FFRW has unveiled the Florida Women’s DC Project http://whatsthebuzzgop.com aimed at forming a coalition of 50,000 women, Republican, Independent, and disillusioned Democrat, to help defeat the current occupant of the White House. I am not certain I’m crazy about the “Anybody but Obama” slogan, as it tacitly indicates support for an Obama primary challenger as well as anybody with other party affiliations. Maybe that was the intent, but if the assumption was that the incumbent would be the Democrat nominee, that may have been a bit naïve. Anything can happen in an election cycle. Anything. Perhaps I am being too critical and cynical, but having a strategic and tactical mindset, I try to never assume anything.

Prior to the debate, the FFRW hosted a cocktail party for members and a number of distinguished guests. National President Sue Lynch, who is from my home state of Wisconsin, was there and I got an opportunity to speak with her and ask about some old friends from Wisconsin’s Third Congressional district circa 1985. It is a small world, indeed. Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll joined us for much of the event. She is the absolute darling of the FFRW. Being longtime member helps, but LG Carroll is such a brilliant, lovely, articulate and personable lady, its impossible not to adore her. Texas Governor Rick Perry’s wife turned up for a time, but I’m afraid she was a bit upstaged by our LG. Nothing against Anita Perry, its just that Jennifer Carroll is our homegrown superstar and she is a tough act to compete with.

Fox News/Google Debate

While I did have delegate’s credentials and was therefore invited to the debate, the idea of a hot bath and a glass of wine in my hotel room while watching the debate on TV sounded far more appealing to me than sitting in a drafty hall with 4000 of my closest friends watching the “Mitt and Rick” show. As it turned out, my expectations of the debate were realized and I had a much better time on phone, Twitter and email with some of my more astute fellow political hacks. One member of the hack pack made the perfect statement to sum up the debate “Rick Perry got his ass handed to him… and it was Rick Santorum doing the handing”.

As expected, most of the questions were directed to the media-anointed frontrunners and truly, none were much more challenging than “What is your favorite kind of cookie?”. The “Who on the stage would you select for VP?” question was a good way to wrap up the Perry/Romney lovefest and a lot of fun, at least when the candidates answered it. Newt’s response was predictably professorial when he said this isn’t a game show and refused to respond, but was also indicative of why he will not be the nominee.

My roommate came back about a half hour after the debate and we watched the Sean Hannity post-debate interviews, which I thought were more interesting that the actual event and talked about our impressions. One thing we agreed upon was Google’s stellar performance on the technical side. Those folks at Google have it going on; and the several I met were gracious and at least outwardly neutral to the whole process. A very competent and professional group.

CPAC

The CPAC event was by far the highlight of the weekend. Well organized, with the schedule published in advance as well as available on a kiosk in the main hall of the convention center, the events were varied enough to hold appeal for all attending but the schedule was not so crowded as to be overwhelming for the participants.

When we arrived, I decided to walk through the vendor expo, as I was not sure I would get another chance. Talking with various delegates and guests, many conversations involved the ridiculous bias of the debate and angst about the impression that once again, the left and the pants-wetting press were telling the delegates who the nominee should be. Many comments were made about Rick Perry to the effect that “Well, he’s going to be the nominee, but I don’t like him”. My response was always “then, don’t flipping vote for him”. Still somewhat undecided, I was not able to offer an alternative, but don’t vote for someone you don’t believe in or like. Another common thread was about the other media-inspired frontrunner. The general consensus is that Gov. Romney has nice teeth and hair, but we don’t vote for teeth and hair if we have any intelligence; and that if the man could not beat John McCain in 2008, he has an icicle’s chance in Hell of beating the current occupant of the White House in 2012. One gentleman suggested there should be a rule that if you have run for President before and were not the nominee, you should not be allowed to run again. That would certainly have spared us a lot of Ron Pauls, John McCains, Bob Doles, Pat Robertsons, and Pat Buchanans. Maybe someone should propose that for post 2012.

Speaking of Dr. Paul, there was a very large and vocal group of his supporters in attendance, though very few were actual delegates. He has some great ideas and some very questionable ideas, but I wonder if there is a “Ron Paul-speak training school” somewhere as his supporters generally say the same things in the same way, often with the same words. I was a little surprised at the number of them who said Dr. Paul started the Tea Party. I guess none of them has ever heard of Jennybeth Martin, Amy Kremer, or even Rick Santelli.

I was rather amused when the young man from CFACT asked if I would like to sign a petition to help defeat Al Gore. Apparently, he’s missed the memo that Sen. Gore was not running for anything, but I humored him a bit. The fact that his name tag said “Press” and his petition had no indication of any affiliation with any organization was even more suspect than the scent of alcohol on his breath. Perhaps he’s shy and needed some liquid courage to talk with strangers. I did promise to check out the CFACT website and see what they are about, which I fully intend to do at some point, but not today. Then again, maybe he was doing a press “gotcha” campaign. Hard telling without knowing, but there were more interesting ways to occupy my afternoon.

CPAC sponsored a Florida US Senate Candidates Straw Poll and each of the four candidates were allowed a 15 minute speech to the crowd. I listened to all or part of each of their presentations.

Adam Hasner made a salient point when he pointed out the fact that he is the only one of the field of four who has ever won an election. I’ve heard Mike McCalister before and am impressed by his qualifications and his understanding of the duties and responsibilities of the US Senate. Until Friday, I had not been particularly impressed with his speaking, not that it was not interesting and compelling, but it was somewhat lacking the ability to create fervor and inspiration in the audience. Friday, Col. McCalister gave the speech of his life; and when you consider he did not have a booth at the vendor expo nor a pack of minions running around the event handing out McCalister stickers, one can only conclude his very respectable showing in the straw poll was a result of that speech. I know I walked in to the polling room fully prepared to vote for him myself. George LeMieux’s presentation was a banal self-aggrandizement and I stopped counting how many times he used the word “I”. It may have been 53, but I could not attest to the number. People with “I-itis” are generally not the best public servants. Its not about you, Senator, its about me. Give me a compelling reason to believe my world will be a better place if I vote for you and I will walk over hot coals, climb mountains, swim with sharks and even listen to NPR to advance your cause. Tell me “Hi, I’m wonderful, how do you like me so far?” and I’m apt to take up knitting instead. I am sure Craig Miller is a very nice man and good to his grandchildren, but when his presentation started with a joke about making better pizza than Herman Cain, I figured he was reaching and decided I probably did not need to hear all of it. Besides, I’d already made my decision. Funny thing, though, when it came down to the vote, as inspired as I was by Col. McCalister’s speech, the fact that Adam Hasner has won elections before just appealed to the strategist in me and in the end I, along with a majority of the voting delegates, voted for Hasner.

There were several breakout sessions that showed promise. I stopped in to the discussion of healthcare and the Obamacare lawsuit featuring Attorney General Pam Bondi and former AG Bill McCollum as well as others, but there was such a huge crowd, I figured I’d hear about it from fellow delegates. There were also panel discussions about isolationism, Cuba, America’s youth awakening from a collective Obama hangover, and the future of the conservative movement, the last being my favorite session. Amy Kremer reminded the crowd that the movement is a process and significant progress is rarely made overnight. The young man next to me was working on his 4^th grade math workbook and I later commented to his Mom that I was very impressed he was doing school work rather than playing with a Gameboy. She explained he wanted to come to CPAC and that he was allowed to attend rather than going to school that day on the condition his school work was not neglected. I congratulated her on her raising of the boy, and his commitment to learning. Makes you feel good to see a responsible kid. Also, I didn’t hear a peep out of him the whole session – and he was a cutie!

Later, some of the Presidential candidates were allowed a 15 minute speech, emceed brilliantly by Al Cardenas, Chairman of the American Conservative Union. I watched Gary Johnson, who was at that time the most Googled name in the world, thanks to his comment about dog poop. Gov. Johnson is very entertaining and doubtless a very nice man. I’m glad he got his Andy Warhol-esque 15 minutes of fame, but I think that’s over now and, IMHO, its time for him to go back to New Mexico. I want to say John Huntsman spoke, but I honestly don’t recall. Maybe Gov. Johnson can drop Gov. Huntsman off on his way home. I was able to hear the entire presentations of Rick Santorum and Herman Cain. Santorum is a good looking, passionate, articulate conservative who has defeated a number of Democrat incumbents in his career. He never mentions he was defeated in 2006 by the largest margin of defeat for an incumbent Senator since 1980, per Wikipedia, but then, I guess I’d leave that detail off my stump speech if it were me, too. The last Presidential candidate I heard was Herman Cain. With 5 standing ovations, I was pretty sure he had reached a few people and was very happy for him. There were a number of people, myself included, who had gone to the event thinking Mr. Cain had accomplished quite a lot, got his message out pretty well, and needed to exit the race. I think he changed a few minds that day. I know he changed mine.

That evening, there was a party at the Ice Bar on International Drive hosted by the Sarasota Republican Party. We had been invited, but thought better of it when the rain started. At dinner with a couple of lovely ladies from the Daytona Beach area, my roommate received a call to “get over here NOW” and she and the ladies headed out for the Ice Bar. By that time, I’d had a couple of glasses of wine and a reasonable meal and was thinking bed sounded better than ice. I understand it was a great party and I missed the opportunity to have my picture taken with Sen. Santorum. That’s the 4^th opportunity I’ve missed. Oh well, I suspect we will see him again….

P5

The morning session of P5 featured Andrew Breitbart and was, by all accounts, worth the price of admission on its own. Unfortunately, we had decided to check out of the hotel that morning and head home once the straw poll was finished. Funny thing about women traveling, especially traveling to woman-centric events (like FFRW), we seem to lose all sense of proportion when it comes to packing. Colin and I took less luggage the last time we visited England for a week than I had for a weekend. All this is to say, it took us a while to pack up and head out.

We wandered around the convention hall for a bit and ran into a high school sophomore who asked us a question. I forget the question, but we asked him who he would vote for if he were a delegate. He proceeded to tell us his opinions of each of the candidates and defended those opinions capably and without any of the “he’s got teeth, and hair, and he’s soooo cute” that you sometimes get from middle aged women. Smart lad. I expect he will do well in life.

It was freezing in the convention hall and so I stepped outside to see if my feet would thaw out. A man was seated nearby smoking a cigar, so I sat down near him. I was missing Colin and the smell of a good cigar was comforting to me. There was a lady finishing her lunch in the same area and we started to chat. Presently, a young lady who is a recent college grad joined us and over the next hour or so, several others drifted in and out. Conversation topics: RPOF needs better event planning expertise on staff. There were a number of events about which little to no information was available and would have been better attended if we knew about them. CPAC could give lessons in event planning. The debate was a farce. The pants-wetting press is once again trying to influence the outcome. Nobody is fond of Mitt or Perry. It would be a hoot to watch a debate, sans teleprompter, between Gingrich and Obama and it is an interesting time to be alive and involved in politics. For a while, one of the Ron Paul-ites joined us and participated admirably in our impromptu debate. We agreed with him on a few points, refuted him on a few others, even though we had all pretty much agreed prior to his arrival that Dr. Paul provides little else than comic relief. When he left, someone, could have been me, commented that the cool thing about the GOP is that we are, by and large, pretty tolerant of differing opinions and that while many of us were voting for different people, we were able to engage each other and the Paul-ite in a polite and intellectual manner without degenerating each other, name calling, or accusing each other of being a racist, sexist, bigoted, homophobe and we were able to respect that each was allowed their opinion. Felt like the “big tent” days of old.

The afternoon session featured a touching tribute to former RPOF Chair, Dave Bitner, who recently lost his battle with ALS. Not a dry eye in the house. Governor Rick Scott spoke admirably and I was most impressed with the fact that he wore a chambray shirt with the Florida seal logo embroidered on it. No coat and tie. I guess he didn’t feel a need to impress anybody. In reality, he impressed everybody. Jennifer Carroll was the chairman of the event and carried out her duties with her customary grace and charm. Following are my impressions (and mine alone) of the presentations for each of the candidates:

Michelle Bachmann – no presentation, no surrogates. One has to wonder how much longer she will stay in the race?

Gary Johnson – see above.

Mitt Romney – no presentation, no surrogates. Maybe Gov. Hair and Teeth heard our conversations….

Ron Paul – was represented admirably by a county coordinator and a video presentation, but Dr. Paul had apparently long since left the building. Regardless, his contingent was very vocal in their support.

Herman Cain – entered to a standing ovation, the first of about 16 during his time on the stage. His preamble was a video “I Am America” http://youtu.be/sbwR7aSTcGY Mr. Cain then went on to explain his positions on and proposals for a number of the problems facing America today. IMHO, the 9-9-9 plan is not a workable solution, as such must be passed by Congress and will introduce a new tax that, while seemingly affordable now, could be increased by a future administration, but the man has a vision that has been articulated. And it does not consist of “go to my website and check out my 59 point plan”. Seriously, who does the 59 point guy think will pay attention to 59 points? Reagan had a 3 legged stool that pretty much anyone could articulate. That was much more relatable to the public, IMHO. To me, the most memorable parts of the speech included the Reagan quote “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.” Mr. Cain said that is not a conversation he intends to have with his grandchildren. He closed with his call to action “Help me put the ‘United’ back in the United States of America.” The crowd went wild.

Rick Santorum – I need to once again disclaim here, the following is my opinion. Sen. Santorum took the stage and looked visibly shaken, and a whole lot pissed off. My impression is that he could see Cain just won the vote and he was not happy about following him. I’ve noticed he has a “tell”. You poker players know what I am talking about. He sort of pushes his upper lip over his upper teeth. Not sure what the tell is relevant to, but it is there and was present a number of times in his speech. Several of his points seemed to be intended as a direct refutation of Mr. Cain’s speech, so I am guessing he sees Cain as his biggest threat. I did hear some comments about Sen. Santorum’s presentation that included the words “phony” and “smarmy”. His conclusion was the story about the partial birth abortion debate circa 1999, which I had heard before. He told how the baby is delivered, all but the head, and then killed as the doctor holds him. He left out the part about the scissors inserted at the base of the baby’s skull that enables the baby’s brain to be sucked out and flushed down the sink. Maybe that was deemed too graphic by a focus group. His story is compelling but one must wonder if that story from 1999 was the epitome of Santorum’s career. He did receive a few standing ovations. My count was 5. Could have been one more or less.

Newt Gingrich – I answered nature’s call during Speaker Gingrich’s intro and did not hear the first few minutes of his speech, but when I returned to my seat, I recall thinking that he is far too cerebral for the average voter. He would be an excellent debate coach for whomever the nominee is, but I’m afraid he should have run in 1996. Few people today recall the Contract with America and the resulting budget surplus. ’96 should have been his time. Now, to the average person he’s a college professor who was once in politics. I was particularly appalled when he stated that the reason he did not answer the running mate question because Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) was not on the stage and hinted broadly that Rubio would be his running mate. Someone said aloud “Gosh Newt, can you spell pander?” Could have been me.

John Huntsman – had also left the building but did send a video that was far too arty and a little distracting in its artiness. He also elected to allow his wife, an Orlando native, and children to represent him. I can understand the motive. She is a lovely and gorgeous woman and if he intends to use her as a campaign representative, what better venue than in a safe and supportive environment like her home town? Unfortunately, there were a number of comments about how she is not a stellar speaker and those poor kids had to stand on either side of her for the entire performance. One can only hope Gov. Huntsman had hitched a ride home with Gov. Johnson and he will not subject his wife to another such experience.

Rick Perry – Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams, a candidate for Congress, represented Perry. Williams is a tall, very good-looking black man who has a soothing, almost melodic voice. I could have listened to him read the telephone book for about an hour. Actually, I might have preferred it. He wanted to refute the belief that Perry is in favor of giving tuition breaks and other perks to illegal aliens, but given some of the statements Gov. Perry made in the debate, the message fell flat. As someone pointed out later, Perry was also opposed to the second amendment before he was for it…..

Voting followed immediately. We took a short break and were considering leaving when there was an announcement that the ballots were ready. Seated again, there was an announcement that there was a surprise guest, Sarah Palin. As the woman took the stage my reaction was “Oh dear God, NO!!” and then I realized she was a celebrity impersonator. She was followed by a George W. Bush impersonator, who was remarkably believable. Both actors did an admirable job.

The roll call followed and I was particularly touched when the lone delegate from Gulf County received a standing ovation for being present and casting his ballot.

Results were announced in the reverse order of finish:

8. Michele Bachmann, 1.5%

7. Jon Huntsman, 2.3%
6. Newt Gingrich, 8.4%
5. Ron Paul, 10.4%
4. Rick Santorum, 10.9%
3. Mitt Romney, 14.0%
2. Rick Perry, 15.4%

1. Herman Cain, 37.1%

The room erupted. Erupted! ERUPTED!!!! I have not seen this much excitement at a political event since the last time I saw Ronald Reagan speak live in 1985. Hugs and high fives abounded. Even people I knew to have voted for others were pleased and excited. Someone eloquently mentioned “This will fuck with the heads of the media” I agreed. It is going to be a paradigm shift and I can’t wait to see how the pants-wetting press deals with it. One of Cain’s slogans is “Is America Ready?” I don’t know about the rest of America, but I’d say the Republican Party of Florida is ready. And Cain is able.

Notes from a Weary Traveler

The following is an essay I wrote shortly after the terrorist attacks on 9/11/2001. It took a long time to locate it again, but with the 10th anniversary of 9/11 coming up, I thought it might be an appropriate re-visit.

Monday, 10 September

I flew cross-country in a B 767-200. At that time, my biggest concern was that I was seated in a window seat, having given up my preferred aisle seat so that a mother and child could sit together. Grumbling about the lack of space and claustrophobic feeling caused by sitting on an inside seat next to a 6’4" man, I thought to myself "It’s your own darn fault, you volunteered to change seats with that woman." So, I offered my corn flakes to the big, burly businessman and went to sleep. The rest of the flight was uneventful and we landed in Salt Lake City on time.

Tuesday, 11 September

What a difference a day makes! News of the terror came in a phone call from a friend at about 7 AM local time. Numb, I went to the client site. People had boom boxes and portable radios playing the news. Folks surfed the Internet looking for some indication that a miracle had occurred and there would be only minimal damage. I got on the phone and email, looking for my brother who works in DC and colleagues who would be traveling this week. My boss phoned about 10 AM local time; she was checking in with all of the team, making sure we were all safe. Then the influx of emails started: friends, family, and friends whom I consider my family sent the same message: "Did you travel yesterday?" "Where are you?" "Please tell me you are safe."

Shortly after 10, my brother emailed to tell me his building was evacuated and he was at home. Safe. Responses to my emails began to come through. All the co-workers were accounted for. Safe. A friend of a friend who works at Pentagon, a brave Marine stationed in DC, friends and children of friends, all safe.

When my favorite Brit heard the news, he phoned me. "If you can’t get home, I am driving to Salt Lake City to keep you company." He had recently spent two months back in the UK getting immigration issues squared away. I asked him if he felt that he wanted to go back. His answer was somewhat different than I expected. "This is my home now. I chose to come here to live, and here I will stay. Even with what just happened, I feel safer in the US than I ever did in UK. The acts of faceless, cowardly animals will not defeat this country. America is stronger than that and Americans are better than that. No, I will not leave."

For the rest of the day, everywhere I went there were stories of near misses and frightening moments, but all good news. My hotel was located next to the American Red Cross office. The parking lot, normally nearly empty, was packed all day and evening. Even with a rare blood type, the Red Cross could not get me an appointment and suggested I wait a week or two. Frustrating, but I guess it made sense. Everyone who donated today will not be able to donate for another six weeks.

Wednesday, 12 September

Another surreal day. People were at work, but they were busy sharing stories, rather than working. Restaurants were jam packed at mealtimes. Everyone was out to see that other people still live in the world, seeking the comfort of a friendly face.

I decided I needed a good meal and a stiff drink, the latter not being widely available in the city where I was staying. After dinner, I stopped by a hotel bar and traded stranded traveler stories. It seemed as if all of us road warriors were looking at each other thinking, "If you’re here, and you are safe. You are someone’s parent, child, sibling, or co-worker, so then all of mine must be safe, too."

A man standing outside the restaurant having a cigarette asked me, "What’s that?" He pointed toward the sky. It sounded like jet engines. The planes were flying once again. We stood there grinning at each other for a moment, wished one another a good night and safe trip home.

Thursday, 13 September

I was OK until this morning. Having traveled for many years, a delay in a trip is not a cause for alarm. Air traffic was beginning to return and it looked like the stock market would open soon. All my people were safe. Life was returning to normal.

As I drove to work, National Public Radio broadcast the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, normally accompanied by playing of "God Save the Queen" was today accompanied by "The Star Spangled Banner". The Brits were playing our national anthem. I burst into tears at a traffic signal and looked like Hell by the time I got to work. My client user asked me what was wrong. I puddled up as I told her. All day long, silly stuff set me off. I was beginning to be very glad I could try to return home the following day.

That evening, I phoned Delta Airlines and found my return trip had been canceled. Not surprised, I began to work with the very patient agent in Miami who was telling about this tropical storm in the Gulf. Oh my gosh! I hadn’t even looked at the Weather Channel in days!

In the next hour, we explored all sorts of travel options. Through Kansas City. Yes, I thought, I have friends there I can call if I am stuck. Atlanta? Sure, I have a place to stay there if I am stranded. Can’t get to Sarasota? I know people who would drive to Tampa or Orlando to get me. How about Miami? I have friends there too. Then I thought about all the people I know all across the country and what a poor correspondent I am. Made a mental note to tell everybody I love that I did love them.

Friday, 14 September

As I watched a live feed from Salt Lake City airport, I thought what a mess the trip home would be. After I phoned home to see how the weather looked, I learned that Tropical Storm Gabrielle was making landfall in my back yard even as we spoke. OK, I thought. Maybe God does not want me to go home this weekend.

Concerned for the safety of my house and cats, I phoned a friend who did not live not far away. She had already been to my house, ensured its security, and assured the kitties that "Momma would be home soon."

I phoned the wonderful woman at my company’s corporate travel desk who had taken such good care of me, and we sorted out a weekend drive to Reno. I gave Colin the required instructions and then hit the road. It was nice to get out of Salt Lake City. I was beginning to get cabin fever.

During the drive West, I realized that I never see the countryside when I am on site. I either work or study in the evening. Had this tragedy not happened, I would not allowed myself the luxury of this side trip. I saw a number of truckers, cars, and Harley Davidson’s flying the American flag. Many of the businesses and homes in the high desert displayed the flag as well. Old Glory never looked so good, even at half-mast.

It occurred to me that the people living in this desolate area had probably not seen the Manhattan skyline in person as I had, or walked upon the mall in Washington. But they were just as angry, hurt, dismayed and full of patriotism as us East Coasters and city dwellers. I was intrigued by the texture of the mountains. Once, a very long time ago, the area was under a glacier and later a great ocean flowed where I was now driving. The faces of those mountains were shaped by these events, events over which they had no control. The world had changed for them. The world continues to change.

Many times, our lives are shaped by events beyond our control. People are born and die. People change jobs and locations. People move in and out of our lives, and we too are changed by those events. It is how we choose to deal with the ever-changing world that determines who we are, and ultimately, what our "face" looks like.

I am grateful for many things in my life. I love my job. I work for people who care about my physical and emotional well being, as well as my productivity. I have friends in all parts of the country and many parts of the world. Not everyone has friends and neighbors who will watch over your property without being asked. Not everyone can phone a friend for dinner when they are stuck in a randomly chosen city. Not everyone has the material resources and to be able to take an unintended vacation or extend a stay if it is needed.

I live in the safest, freest, most prosperous country in the world. I am free to travel from one state to another with no special permission required. I live in a country where people help each other: friends, neighbors, AND total strangers. It doesn’t matter whom or where; when we hear of trouble, we ask, "How can I help?"

I have the right to disagree with other citizens or with the government itself without fear of unfortunate repercussions or threats to my personal safety. Our government is strong. Our military is strong. Our country has long offered refuge to those whose governments do not allow such freedoms as we take for granted and will continue to do so. To stop would be to admit defeat. That is not the American way.

So I look forward to going home. And I need to make a couple of promises. First, I will try to be a better correspondent to all I love so dearly. Second, I will not take for granted the traveling life I have chosen. Lastly, even if I am stuck in a window seat with a big, burly businessman who wants my cornflakes, I will not complain or feel sorry for myself, and I will be glad I am able to live in a country where all things are possible.

Naturalization

My husband Colin, who was born in England, was recently naturalized as a US citizen. So many people have asked us if it just took forever, and if it was horribly difficult and all bound up in red tape. To each, we responded it was pretty straightforward and did not take long at all. Invariably, folks thought we were joking, being ironic, or had the only good experience ever in the history of US immigration.

Knowing a few others who have been naturalized over the last few years, we know we are not an isolated case. A couple of days ago, someone asked me if I had a blog and if I could post the story of my newly American husband on my blog. Well, since somebody asked…..

Colin came to the US to work in 1997 on an L1 Visa. He was fortunate to have the opportunity and after his initial two year commitment to the company, elected to become a permanent part of the company’s US operation. Maybe meeting me had something to do with that. Maybe not. At that time, the company offered to sponsor him for a Green Card (they are pink, by the way, if you were wondering) and the application was set in motion.

That company began to experience some serious marketplace challenges in 2000 and there was a huge layoff February 1, 2001. Colin was one of those laid off. What he did not learn until later was that the company had asked the immigration attorney to cancel his application in the autumn of 2000, as they were tightening budget and presumably had already made the decision he would be included in the layoff at that time.

Funny thing about the L1, when you have one and no Green Card, when you lose your job, you have 30 days to leave the country. Buh-bye. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. So, his big challenge at that time was to find another job that would also sponsor him for a Green Card and to do so within a matter of days. Fortunately, he is exceptionally good at his job and we had a pretty good professional network in those days, so by the end of February, he had signed a contract with a new company and was preparing to move to his new work city.

The new company brought him over on an H1B Visa. The H1B Visa pool is probably the source of our greatest failure in attracting well-educated immigrants, in my humble opinion. They are not particularly difficult to qualify for if you have a profession, but since the pool for this type of Visa is today no larger today than it had been in 1990, it can be discouraging for potential applicants.

In the meantime, since his L1 Visa was for the company he no longer worked for, he had to leave the country and allow the new company to obtain a new Visa for him, which took about three months. Not bad for international bureaucracy. The new company had an English office so he was able to begin working there almost immediately upon his return.

Once back in the country, he immediately asked for a Green Card and a new application was initiated for him. Then September 11, 2001 happened. Now, you may be wondering why we did not just get married when he lost the job and transfer his Green Card application to one based upon marriage. We had discussed that and had decided we would be married one day, but he really felt it was important to get the Green Card on his own merit, not because he married an American. All that changed after 9/11. Actually, it changed on 9/10, the day he ordered my engagement ring, but once we started serious discussion about a wedding date, we decided sooner was much better than later.

So, we got married in July of 2002, fully five months ahead of our already accelerated schedule. We had already planned for him to move here in October and decided to execute that plan on schedule. We joke with people that the marriage was going so well after 3 months, we decided to live together. The next week, we visited an immigration attorney here in Sarasota (I’ll be happy to share his name if you need it) and submitted his Green Card application on or about October 15, 2002.

There were all of the silly things you hear about with trying to get a Green Card. There were fingerprints and chest X-Rays (his, not mine), gathering of financial records, and the dreaded “are you really married or is this an immigration sham?” interview. The INS agent we met with was delightful and did not even ask us any of the dreaded “horror story” questions and refused to even look at my wedding pictures (bitch!) – she had decided we were pretty obviously married, and not just to keep him here. Having dated for 5 years probably helped with that impression. I am not sure the exact date in 2003 when Colin’s Green Card was issued, but since his birthday is mid March and we had a “Happy Birthday and Green Card” shortly after, I am thinking it was about the 18^th or so… yes, it took 5 months for his Green Card to be issued.

After you have the marriage based Green Card for two years, it can be made permanent. If you get one from work, they are automatically permanent. The permanent version lasts for 10 years, so you have a good long period of time to decide if you want to try for citizenship or just continue with a renewed Green Card. His decision came in January of 2010. We talked about going back to the attorney to have the application submitted via his office, but when we looked at the online information and application form (not to mention talking with friends who had recently done theirs without legal assistance) we decided to give it a shot on our own.

His application for naturalization was submitted on or about March 15, 2010. At least, that’s the day we wrote the check… In April, he received an invitation for another fingerprinting session. Those folks at Homeland Security just love fingerprints. I guess the concept of keeping them on file is not something they do… anyway, that appointment was in May. They took his prints and gave him the booklet about the US, its history, the government, the political process and the pool of 100 possible questions his civics test could contain.

In June, he received his invitation to the interview and civics test, which was scheduled for July 22, 2010. That day, we were instructed to allow about 3 hours for waiting, interview and testing. We arrived at 9:20 AM for a 9:30 appointment and I guess things were going smoothly, as he was seen by an agent almost immediately. Twenty minutes later, he had completed his test (many fewer than 100 questions) and his interview and we were on our way home. Funny thing, the agent said Colin was just a few months from his Green Card when the first application was canceled in the autumn of 2000. Had it not been, he would have had his Green Card before being laid off and could have applied for citizenship in 2003, married to me or not.

The next naturalization ceremony was August 20, 2010, five months and five days from the day he made the application.

So, don’t believe the media and political hype about how horrible and awful and broken our immigration system is. If you have a profession and there is a need for your talent here, you can get a Visa. If you are coming here to start a business and have the requisite financing in place, you can get a Visa. If you actually marry an American for real, you can apply for a Green Card. If you are in this country for a long enough period of time with a Green Card, regardless of how it was obtained, you can apply for naturalization.

No, marrying an American does not automatically make you an American citizen (I could not believe the number of people who assumed that), and neither does obtaining a Green Card, but it puts you on the path. The path is a little time consuming, but not terribly inconvenient, not terribly expensive, and, in the grand scheme of things, not a very long process.

So the next time somebody tells you how terrible, unfair, unjust, etc. our immigration policies and processes are, do me a favor? Look them square in the eye and tell them “Bullshit”.