Here are a few thoughts that I shared with the crowd at the Florence Tea Party on July 4th.
Now that you’ve listened to the patriotic music and the good speeches, what should you do?
Be informed and share information with family, friends, neighbors and co-workers. Use every form of technology there is, telephone, word of mouth, email, snail mail, Facebook, Twitter – everything.
Inform your legislators about your feelings and opinions.
Every state and federal house seat is up for reelection in 2010 – and about half of the senate seats, city council, county council and school board seats. So, run for office yourself, or pick a candidate and volunteer to work for them. Or volunteer to work for your political party. There are dozens of ways to help out.
The most important place to volunteer, however, is at the polls. Josef Stalin is reported to have said, “It’s not who votes that decides an election, it’s who counts the votes.” I believe that’s true.
Do you remember where were you on November 9, 1960?
That was the election when JFK won by only about 112,800 votes – one vote per precinct in just four states! I was only 17 years old, not old enough yet to vote. But that night I was down at McKenzie School with some other teenagers, helping to count votes.
In those days, we still had paper ballots, marked by little short pencils. The woman in charge gave us skimpy training: “If a ballot has a stray pencil mark on it anywhere, don’t count it – put it aside in a pile. Also, if any election is not marked (has not been voted), don’t count that ballot either, put it in the pile too. I’ll come pick them up later.”
Later on she did come by. She collected those uncounted piles of ballots and sat at a table across the way, doing something with them. At the time I didn’t give it a second thought. Today, I would give it a second, third, fourth and fifth thought – what was she doing with those ballots?!
We need good, dependable, conservative poll managers to be sure the election is run honestly, and poll watchers to stop them if it’s not. The Florence County Election Commission is always looking for people to work at the polls, and conducts training sessions for both poll workers and watchers. Look up the number in the blue pages of the phone book, call and volunteer.
And most importantly of all – pray for our elected officials. Too often we pray for the candidate of our choice to get elected, and then when they are elected, they go to Washington or Columbia and they’re surrounded by lobbyists, power, influence, temptations on every side, and we forget to pray for them. It’s really a miracle any of them stay straight.
So, after the Tea Party, what? What should you do next? Don’t just go home today and sit on your hands. Pray, and then put feet to your prayers!
Posted by bettecox 
Posted by bettecox 
Posted by bettecox 


Born May 24, 1941, Bob is just two years older than me. I didn’t like him very much back in the day… I was more into Elvis Presley and country music. But no one can deny Bob Dylan’s impact on every genre of music there is in America, including gospel. He is the recipient of many awards, Academy Award nominations, Emmy’s, and others. It is amazing how much talent he has – despite a voice that sounds like chalk screeching on a blackboard.
His Never Ending Tour commenced on June 7, 1988, and Dylan has played roughly 100 dates a year for the entirety of the 1990s and the 2000s—a heavier schedule than most performers who started out in the 1960s. By the end of 2008, Dylan and his band had played more than 2100 shows, anchored by long-time bassist Tony Garnier and filled out with talented sidemen. 

Of course, these days I read news – and opinions about the news – with a bias, reading between the lines and taking note of what is included, what is omitted.
I have just seen X-Men Origins: Wolverine for the second time, and I’m a bigger fan than I already was.
In Florence, between 400 and 500 people gathered on the front steps of the City-County Complex, despite occasionally threatening clouds.
The Pledge of Allegiance, patriotic songs such as God Bless the USA, and several excellent speeches were included. Don Lowe (garbed as a sad Abraham Lincoln) read excerpts from some of President Lincoln’s quite appropriate writings.