www.WrensJournal.blogspot.com

"[Nature] knows the people are a tide That swells and in time will ebb, and all Their works dissolve ... As for us: We must uncenter our minds from ourselves; We must unhumanize our views a little, and become confident As the rock and ocean that we were made from." Robinson Jeffers

It was on this day in 1776 that Thomas Paine published his political pamphlet Common Sense arguing for American independence from Great Britain. At the time of the publication, Paine had been living in America only two years. He'd grown up in England, where he'd struggled to earn a living as a tax collector. He saw firsthand the corruption of the British government, and had recently been fired from his job when he met Benjamin Franklin in London, and Franklin encouraged him to move to America.

He arrived just in time to see the colonies rebelling against problems in the British tax system, similar to what he had experienced back in England. He got a job as a journalist, and he immediately began to write about the political situation. After the Battle of Lexington and Concord in April of 1775, he decided that the only solution to the conflict would be total independence for the American colonies. But when he expressed those ideas in his newspaper, he lost his job.

He spent the next several months traveling around Pennsylvania, going to various bars and taverns and talking to ordinary people about their opinions on American independence. He used these conversations to develop a writing style that an ordinary person could easily understand, and he used that style to write his pamphlet "Common Sense," published on this day in 1776.

The pamphlet sold more than 500,000 copies, more copies than any other publication had ever sold at that time in America. It helped persuade many Americans to support revolution, and seven months later, the colonies officially declared independence.

From The Writer’s Almanac
http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/

The Denver Post Online has a feature article on the Colorado Caucus today:
Interest Builds in the Colorado caucus
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_7927905
The first comment on the caucus story complained about boredom.

This is what I posted in response:

I hope the Denver Post will reprint Sue O'Brien's column on the caucus-assembly system from 2002. She captured the excitement of seeing new political leaders and future elected representatives getting started at their first neighborhood precinct meeting.

Dick Gibson told me one time that he felt sorry for the young people who couldn't appreciate good jazz, so he tried to help with his jazz radio station and concerts. The Colorado Caucus needs that same help. It takes someone like Sue to help people hear the music of our wonderful system! Who among the living will now continue that important role at our local newspapers?

We'll have copies of Sue's column at the free Denver IDEA Cafe meetings each Friday from now until the Colorado Caucus (Feb 5). Meetings are free and open to everyone who is starting a new project, campaign, career, or new business. So if you are thinking of starting a new political career as a vocation or avocation you'd be more than welcome. There is more information and you can RSVP at http://ideacafe.meetup.com/1

Or if you have questions you'd prefer to ask me privately rather than here, feel free to email me at JohnSWren@aol.com

Ben Franklin said we have a republic if we can keep it.

Can we?

John S. Wren, MBA+
This life is short, let' get started!
www.JohnWren.com

Think you might be an alcoholic?
If you decide alcohol is a problem for you and you want to stop drinking,
email me and I’ll tell you what worked for me.

Socrates Cafe tonight!
Good discussion about interesting topics we choose at the meeting. No preparation required. Hope you'll join us. More information and RSVP at http://socratescafe.meetup.com/82

Denver IDEA Cafe each Friday.
Join us any Friday you aren't sure what you're going to do Monday morning.
The former head of the marketing department at the University of Denver was with us last Friday as he starts his new consulting practice. Click here to see his comments about the meeting: http://www.brandchampionsblog.com/


If you haven't RSVPd yet for next week's 302nd Ben Franklin Birthday Party, please do so at once! It will be a lot of fun, and we hope to generate some postive publicity for our wonderful Colorado Caucus. Thanks to my friend Kenton Kuhn at Blacktie for doing the ticketing More information and RSVP by clicking on the link on the upper left hand corner of this page.

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