Still overwhelmed…

I mentioned in Overwhelmed that I have stumbled into a local political project and am in way, way over my head. Things are actually getting better. A few thousand visitors in the last 48 hours, 100+  registrations, and maybe five active volunteers. It’s kind of like the radical Islamic math I’ve posted on so many times - a percentage of a percentage of a percentage of people will actually DO something.  But with the assistance of a volunteer who did the legwork, I just applied for a permit for my first political rally.

If you’re interested, go check out the site - LegeWatch. For some reason, many people use the word “lege” when referring to our state legislature. I don’t know why - I looked it up and it’s not a real word. Maybe it’s one of those local things that make no sense but everyone says, like “Chicagoland area.” So - LegeWatch. A nonpartisan site to track the offenses of the Louisiana state legislature. And they are legion.

Anyone who’s been reading this blog for a while probably just snorted the beverage of their choice right out of their nose. Yes, nonpartisan. When it comes time to elect replacements for the legislature, I’ll be as partisan as you’d expect, over here on my personal site. But we’re aiming for LegeWatch to be a resource for everyone.

The site is entirely secular, and yes, the header graphic is quite rude. At some point that’s going to have to be changed when we settle down and try to become a respectable watchdog organization, but at the moment it reflects the mood of pretty much the entire state.  Our legislature just attempted to triple their already generous salary, then settled for more than doubling it. They are trying to set themselves up as a full time legislature when our constitution states that they are part time, and they are being dishonest about what they get paid; whining about their “base pay” which is low, but not discussing the fact that it’s more than doubled by per diems and other things. Louisianians are furious and recall efforts have been started to get these bozos out.

Other than voting and volunteering for various politicians, this is the first time I’ve gotten involved politically - the first time I’ve been part of organizing anything political.  It’s very strange.