For a Good Time ....

....attend a fundraiser for Seth Williams tonight. Details available on Philly Future. It is from 5:30 to 7:00 tonight. Sorry for the late notice. Recommended donation is $25.00 but more or less will be accepted. I won't be there tonight but did send Seth $25.00; this can be easily done on his web site, www.seth4da.com. Seth is scheduled to be there. Dan, ACM, and some of the other area bloggers will be there also, so this a chance to meet the faces behind the words. For the single ladies, if you complain about not being able to meet nice guys in the city, here is your chance, because I'm willing to bet there will be more men than women in attendance, and by just showing up they have demonstrated some serious positive qualities. The political backdrop will provide sufficient small talk ("How did you get interested in the campaign?" or "Wow, it's great to see so many people interested in the city.").

Why should you care about this race or any race? Well, let me explain why I didn't post this earlier. You may or may not have heard that there was a fire on a railroad bridge outside New York City yesterday evening. Bear with me, I will get around to Seth Williams here. As it happens I was in New York yesterday; once or twice a year my job takes me there for a day. I spent most of the day in a basement room standing; when I wasn't standing I was sitting on the floor. Lunch was an egg salad sandwich and some lemonade, eaten standing. Not exactly boardroom stuff. I left the house at 7:30 a.m. and got to Penn Station to go home a little after 7 p.m. At that time all the trains were listed as delayed. At about 7:40 the pa system announced that we should make alternate arrangements because no Amtrak or NJTransit trains were going south any time soon. A coworker and I headed down the street and around the corner for the PATH trains, rumored to go to Newark, along with a horde of other people. The trains were packed. Two people jammed in next to me were complaining about the PATH system and one said the riders ought to organize and write their congressmen. The other said that her elected officials were so corrupt she expected to open the paper every morning and see someone else accused of dipping into public funds, and that no one listened to the riders. I was looking around for a map to figure out how the PATH trains worked and saw a big poster on the wall announcing meetings for the PATH riders association, and asking people to join and attend. The irony of it struck me. It is easier to complain than to do something.

We have the government we deserve because we take so little interest it. We seldom check into candidate's claims. As I've written about before, it isn't always so easy to look up voting records and ethics filings and such, but that it is in large part because so few people are asking for it. If you live in Philly and don't trust the courts or think the da's office isn't doing its job, then make sure you are at the polls May 17th to make your voice heard. Don't just stand around and say "oh, all politicians are bad." Some are, some aren't, but if you don't go out and meet them you won't know which ones are which.

As an aside, I did get home last night, at around 11:30 p.m. At one point, trying to switch trains just to get to Newark there was one of those scary moments when the crush of people trying to get on the train moves you along whether you are trying to walk or not, and the people inside the train trying to get out is pushing you in the other direction. And yet, through all of that, with the trains like sardine cans, everyone behaved very well. No yelling, no swearing, no one knocked down (in itself a miracle) or shoved aside. I am sometimes very impressed with our society, which is often amazingly civil. At any rate, I got home late so everything is getting done late, including this posting.

Four days until the election. If you confuse the days of the week and aren't sure you will remember which day to vote, the folks at www.votemay17.org will send you a reminder.