As we all celebrate what's taken place at the national level, I promised I would provide an update on my local county race against a two term incumbent.

In my March diary: The Craziest Thing I Have Ever Done I announced that my response to the incompetence and corruption and lies was to quit my career and run for local office.  This election, I was a run-off with the two-term incumbent...  

I live in rural California--in one of the more conservative districts in this county, where the past few races (though nonpartisan) have been a choice between two republican candidates.

The results....

Okay--I admit that i no longer watch corporate television.  I am in a rural area and I disconnected Dish Satellite Network after the 2004 election as a political statement more than anything else.  

This hasn't been as difficult to manage as I thought it would be.  First, I get my news from alternative news sites on the web and for entertainment (when I have time), I rent DVDs.  Lately, though, I haven't much time.  You see, I am running for local office and my time is spent on the campaign by walking door-to-door in our local district.

Yesterday, for the first time, I thought I might be missing something important on TV....

more after the fold.

well, Kossacks, This is my response to the corruption and incompetence and lies.

This is the craziest thing I have ever done.  

Somewhere along the way, I realized that we are all called to fix this mess that has been made of our government and the destruction of our world--starting with places in which we live.

My response, after the fold....

I have never run for office and am doing so locally for the first time.  as part of this process, I am gathering signatures in lieu of filing fee.  Each signature must be a registered voter in my district and is verified by the registrar of voters.

One of the more disturbing trends our campaign is discovering is that twenty five to thirty percent of the people who sign my petition think they are registered to vote in this district and turn out not to be.  Their signatures get rejected by the registrar as "not registered".  

The net is this: Many people will show up at the polls thinking they are registered to vote and are not!

My hypothesis and some "good news" after the fold...

A few years ago, I became interested in cerebral functioning--how the right and left hemispheres of the brain control different aspects of the person, and how that specialization is reflected in the face.

The right side of the brain controls the left side of the face and vice versa.  The right-brain is attributed to (at least in western civilization) the more shadowed and/or creative and non-verbal aspects of ourselves.  The left-brain, the "analytic" side, controls verbal functioning, critical thinking skills and our logical, linear side.  In some people, one side of the brain dominates.  In our society, the left-brain skills dominate.  

They say a picture is worth a thousand words...

It seems to me that we ALL voted our values... that's why we react at a visceral level to this election.

I, for one, find that my core values are being severely violated by this administration.

Values like:
--Stewardship and protection of Earth;
--Preserving the dignity and equality of all humans, regardless of gender, sexual orientation or race;
--A fair and open society;
--Civil liberties;
--An open and honest Government;
--Civility and collegiality in public conversation.

Some of the values are spiritual:
--holding as sacred each human reaching their full potential
--holding creation (Earth) as sacred
--Compassion for the weakest in our society;
--Humility, particularly in foreign policy;

I believe that our current culture conflict is, at its heart, a values conflict.