For those who have asked what I look like, here is a recent photo.

And this is for those who ask who I am, where I come from, and how on earth I ever got involved in politics.

I was born in April of 1944 in Lake Charles, Louisiana. I remember the separate schools, separate movie theaters, even separate bathrooms and water fountains of the segregation era. And unfortunately I must tell you that I didn’t think much about it. But fortunately I wasn’t taught to hate anyone. So when black people started asserting themselves, when I was a teenager, but especially when I was in college, it struck me as reasonable that they should do so. OF COURSE they don’t want to sit in the back of the bus, I thought. OF COURSE they want to go to the better schools. But I never demonstrated for civil rights, and many times I have regretted not doing so.

I used to admire Ayn Rand’s writings, and the first time I voted for president it was for Goldwater. Once I began to get knocked around by life, I realized that not all the bad things that happen to a person are entirely his or her fault. So it’s only right to help people when they’re down and out.

Conversely, not all the good things that happen are solely due to a person’s intelligence, hard work, or diligence. So one who is fortunate enough to do well financially owes something back. For a person like George Bush, who has been coddled and enabled his entire life, to say that anyone can do well in America if they just work hard, is the purest essence of hypocrisy. And the one thing I absolutely cannot stand is hypocrisy.

When I graduated from college in 1966 with a BA in Spanish, there were only five things a woman could do–no, six, but I wasn’t much interested in selling my body. Nor were potential customers exactly lining up at the door. Since I wasn’t trained to be a teacher, a nurse, a social worker, or a librarian, my only other choice was to be a secretary. And if the work had paid well and if I’d been respected, I’d probably still be one. Most young women of today have very little understanding of how limited we were then. Women who went to college at that time were assumed to be working toward their Mrs. degree. I once applied for a sales position with the monopoly that provided electricity in the Lake Charles area and was told point blank that a woman wouldn’t be considered for that position.

I had always wanted to travel, but didn’t come from a wealthy family, so I had to do it on my own. A woman friend went to Vietnam to work for the Red Cross and came home in one piece, so I pursued ways to get an overseas job with the Red Cross, Army Special Services, and the USO. I ended up working for the USO in Cam Ranh Bay (22nd Replacement Battalion) and later in Chu Lai, Vietnam. Civilians serving in Vietnam were given the same R&Rs as the military, so I was able to travel to Hong Kong; Bangkok, Thailand; Taipei, Taiwan; and Sidney, Australia. I spent 18 months in Vietnam, and then went to Europe for ten months. I visited most of the European countries on the continent, and came to admire the European way of life.

When I came home I decided that I had to return to college. Over a period of years, working various part-time or full-time jobs, I earned an MBA at the University of New Orleans, and went to work in the consulting division of one of the (at that time) Big Eight accounting firms. I’ve been doing systems work ever since, most recently as an independent software developer in Chicago.

For most of my life I wasn’t active politically, even though I had strong feelings about the issues, especially the Gingrich revolution and the impeachment of a president I helped elect twice, for reasons that should have been none of anyone’s business. When it became apparent in the summer of 2000 that the mainstream media had actually joined the Bush campaign, and may as well have been picking up their paychecks from Bush adviser Karl Rove, I became seriously concerned about what was happening in my country. The aftermath of the election and the Supreme Court’s decision to put Bush in the White House only cemented my resolve to do what I can to save democracy, grandiose as that may sound.

I started an email newsletter, then a website, MakeThemAccountable.com. Since I’m a computer consultant by trade, I didn’t have a problem with the technical side of managing a website.

In 1977 I met the man that I decided to share my life with. He doesn’t like to be identified on the Internet, so when I post his comments, I call him The Voice From The Blue. Our political ideas are very similar, but until recently he didn’t understand the urgency I feel about the importance of fighting the fascist juggernaut that has taken over our country.

There are two things that played the biggest part in why I decided to become involved in politics. One is that I’ve been curious for many years about how the Nazis could have taken over in Germany. I decided that it was because not enough people stood up against them early on, and I hoped that if I ever saw something similar happening in my country, I’d have the courage to fight it. The Republican takeover was, and is, something very similar to the Nazi takeover in Germany.

[NOTE TO MAINSTREAM MEDIA REPORTERS, WHO LIKE TO TRIVIALIZE AND MARGINALIZE THOSE WHOSE VIEWS THEY DON’T UNDERSTAND: Calling the “Republican takeover” similar to the Nazi takeover in Germany is not the same thing as saying that Republican “control” is similar to the Nazi takeover. I have nothing against Republicans in general, only the ones who lie, cheat, and steal to obtain and maintain power. THOSE are the ones who are similar to the Nazis. See HOLY DOLPHINS, BATMAN! - 6/22/04]

Also, in December of 1998 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. It’s only after surgery that you find out the extent of the cancer, and what your long-term chances are, so during the month between diagnosis and surgery it kept going through my mind that I always thought I’d have more impact before I check out of this place. After a year of difficult and expensive (!) treatment, the news was good. I have less chance of getting breast cancer again than women in the general population have of getting it the first time.

After about nine months of recuperation following treatment, when I had most of my strength back, the 2000 campaign was going full swing. It scared me to see how the mainstream media were propping up George Bush while faithfully reporting every stupid lie that the Bush campaign made up about Al Gore. So here I am. And here I’ll stay. I’ll use every talent I possess and all my energy to try to bring back tolerance, decency, and generosity to the country I love.

Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com
April, 2003