I have written 125 essays in my over three years on ‘Sounding Off.’ That’s a lot of words and I think that I risk taking myself too seriously if I continue. It’s time for new voices to share this and other spaces with you. Thank you for providing a forum for my thoughts. Thank you for listening. It’s time for me to move on - perhaps to spend more time with my wife, with my sons, with my fishing rod.

By almost any measure, we Democrats did quite well on November 4th. We did well on the national front with the big prize – the Presidency, with more seats in the Senate, and with more seats in the House. We did well on the local level making continued strides in Dallas County. On the state level, we did make gains in the Texas House and Senate. All in all, it was a good day for the Democratic Party.

As President-Elect Barack Obama walked to the podium on the evening of Tuesday, November 4, 2008 for his victory speech; you could almost see the weight on his shoulders. He spoke beautifully and true to the millions and millions of us watching from Grant Park, Times Square, outside the White House, Oak Cliff, Dallas, DeSoto, and so many other places.

I did not realize until well into the speech that...

Well friends, we have done just about all that we can do. Personally, I would like to have done more recently, but I have been very focused on being the election judge for my three precincts tomorrow. I’m expecting the worst but hoping for the best as far as a smooth flow of voters. I would like to have done more voter registration, called more swing state voters, written letters to the editor, etc.;...

Our nation sits precariously atop a precipice. For 28 of the last 40 years we have had Republicans in the White House.  The greed, lack of regulation, disrespect for the law, and just plain meanness has taken its toll. We are just about permanently broken. No matter what, the next President is left with a tremendous mess.

Everything is at stake in this election. A Republican win would seal our...

My wife can’t go to sleep unless she has watched the latest clips from John Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Sometimes she’s like a young child at the pool diving board -“Watch this, watch this,” she calls. Still the adoring husband after 28 years, I usually watch.

Bill Maher was on The Daily Show the other night promoting his new movie. He said something that I found quite interesting and have hinted...

In DeSoto, Texas the mortgage crisis is real. You can walk down just about any street and see a foreclosed home or maybe even two. Even if I wanted to sell my home, it’s out of the question. There’s just no market. Period.

How did this happen? Did it happen overnight or has this crisis been brewing for a while? And what will it take to address this crisis? $700 billion might do it, but there’s uncertainty...

A couple of weeks ago; I wrote about the educated, accomplished, and beautiful Michelle Obama. Not only Michelle, but the entire Democratic Convention, focused on what America could be – the sort of America that many of us dream about and think is possible with the right leadership and participation.

Since then, things have gone steeply downhill. It began when John McCain announced his surprise running...

After watching Michelle Obama on Monday evening, I am once again perplexed as to why this election seems to be as close as the pollsters say it is. Michelle Obama and her family exemplify what is best about America. She is hard-working, intelligent, educated, and cares about ‘the other guy.’ She and Barack both gave up the fast track to help people less fortunate than them.

My wife told me that she...

My flight arrived about 8:20 AM at DFW airport. I walked out of the gate at about 8:30 AM to vigorous applause and shouting by dozens - perhaps hundreds - of people. Since my alarm had rung at 4:00 AM in Minneapolis, I was not quite clear as to what was happening. When I was some distance from the gate, I realized that there was another visible, isolated hallway above us. A number of U.S. Army personnel...

Bubba (George W. Bush, that is) thinks that we are stupid. In actuality, 28 to 32 percent of us do seem to be stupid. Or quite incapable of critical thought at least. That’s the approximate percentage of the electorate who continue to support Bubba even at the end of his disastrous presidency.

When Bubba took office, gas cost about $1.41 at the pump in Texas. Today it’s about $3.99. See http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/wrgp/mogas_history.html....

Tuesday, November 4, 2008. Without a doubt, that will be a big day in American history. Will the country’s voters elect George Bush to a third term? That is, will the voters elect John McCain to the Presidency? Will they once again endorse the War in Iraq? Will they once again vote to support the millionaires and billionaires and oil tycoons and not the rest of us? Will the voters continue to allow...

Texas Primary Day – March 4th – was a day that I will not soon forget. It was fantastic, it was a nightmare, and it was historic. A week later, I can finally find some humor in that day.

 

When I got to DeSoto High School on the afternoon before, staff were not sure where to put me (as election judge) and my equipment. When we finally decided on a location, I could not setup because students...

It’s only February and things are heating up in North Texas and elsewhere. And I’m not talking about the beautiful weather that we had last weekend. I’m talking about politics baby! Let’s take a quick tour starting with the other side of the aisle.

Even my Republican friends don’t seem to like John McCain. They say ‘talk about flip-flopping!’ Some of the social conservatives are saying that they will...

About 41% of the public knew that Robert Gates is the United States Secretary of Defense. About 31% knew that Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson was of Hispanic descent. 78% knew that the Democrats hold the majority in the House. And about 54% knew the amount of U.S. troops killed in Iraq.

 

What's your political IQ? You can find out at the Pew Research Center for the People and...

I can answer your last question about whether to write his false findings as fiction or non-fiction - he will reach a larger audience with fiction, and some readers will believe him because of his scientific jargon.  Like you, I was EXTREMELY disappointed that he would use a work of fiction solely to refute global warming. 

 

Peggy Henger

I am very pleased with the results of the Iowa Democratic Caucus. On Thursday, as you likely know, Iowa Democrats picked Barack Obama as their first choice to become President. Iowa – the pretty, rolling state up North that is 94.6 percent white – was able to get beyond color and chose an African-American as its first choice for President in the Democratic Caucuses.

 

I am ecstatic that Iowa...

2008 will be a critical year for those of us who love America and who are willing to help restore its soul. The Bush, Cheney nightmare is about to come to an end. They, and their band of co-conspirators, came within an inch or two of creating a permanent conservative Republican-ocracy to control our country. They have tried to corrupt and dismantle the very core of our democratic institutions – and...

My book club just read and discussed State of Fear by Michael Crichton. Crichton is the author of Andromeda Strain, Jurassic Park, Congo, The Lost World - all of which became movies. He is also the creator of the long-running television series ER as well as many other famous endeavors.

 

Crichton is quite fascinating in himself. He graduated Harvard University in 1964 summa cum laude and Phi...