Woke up, put on clothes, went to work.

It's Thanksgiving weather today - white sky, 40 degrees out, no wind.

Two days stand between me and working on my book again. I think it should be ready to show my ag*nt in a month. (I know that sounds snobby.) Part of my mentioning the book in these entries carries another motive - sometimes friends believe I'm ignoring them, that I could write anytime, so how dare I turn down invitations? But I can't write anytime. I'm on a deadline (I'll explain later) and I can't write Monday through Friday. So time is limited.

Onward...Dawn, whose pre-election writing has mainly focused on Planned Parenthood's govt funding, criticized my political assertions from yesterday. Here's her response.

My comment was simply that an exit poll showed what was foremost on Middle America's minds - "moral issues," not Iraq. Dawn says liberals don't understand how important moral issues are in Middle America - well, I was saying the same thing. But my comment "I guess you don't understand it if it doesn't happen to you" can go for having a kid who's gay or a moral situation, too. Not just terrorism.

Of course I understand that moral issues are important. I don't want my kids to feel forced to grow up at 13. I also don't want my kids to believe that homosexuality is a bad choice people make because they're bored (and that's why Kerry brought up Cheney's daughter - because why the hell would Cheney's daughter make such a 'choice'?) I also don't want my kids to believe that if you're wealthy and healthy, it's because you worked hard and made good choices, and if you're not, it's because you're lazy and made bad choices. I want my kids to believe that people deserve at least a chance to get out of whatever bad situation they're in, that they all deserve basic health care if they're sick, and that you can't pass judgment on someone until you've talked to him/her or walked in his/her shoes.

My entry yesterday pointed out that Middle Americans, in an exit poll, said moral issues were more important than the others. Maybe Dawn is right - maybe liberals need to understand and take more seriously what is going through their minds, instead of saying, "Let me do what I want in my own bedroom." I don't want Bush telling me what to think, and they don't want Hollywood & Michael Moore telling them what to think. But can they be talked with? I always say, during political arguments, that I'm willing to listen to the other side and be convinced if I'm wrong. I imagine that Dawn agrees on that. Hopefully more of a dialogue will start now rather than just reactionary, scared palaver.

I'd like to ask Dawn, though, whether it's moral for someone to not be able to have health care because they lost their job or can't afford it. (Not everyone is eligible for Medicaid.) Then, I want to know what Bush is going to do about it. This is at least as important as other moral issues.