Jason Atkinson’s final speech from the floor of the Oregon Senate:
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Jason Atkinson Photo HereRecovering PoliticianTHEN: State Senator (OR), 1998-2012 NOW: Entrepreneur, Filmmaker, Writer Full Biography: link    My party, the Republican Party, is stunned and wandering in the desert right now. Many just don’t understand how polls could have been wrong and how primary victories were turned into general election losses. Now that the dust has settled, most Republicans I hear from are blaming it on America’s slide toward socialism. Let’s slow down here. We can agree America is changing, but we should look at us first. Our primaries are about who can out-conservative the other, then who can swing to the middle for the general election. It’s as if we’re telling voters we don’t even believe ourselves. Many, many Republicans I know feel the party has left them. They believe the party is out of step, focused on fear and being the party of “no.” Whether other Republicans believe that or not isn’t the issue. Americans believe it, and they’re not voting Republican.
It appears to many that Republicans have forgotten that politics is about serving people. Who cares if we’re ideologically perfect to each other but not elected to office?
If my party is going to win in the future, it must do 10 things immediately: Read the rest of…
The real issue is my party. Romney insured four more years of tea party litmus testing from Congress down and according to the lessons of the 1970’s- Republicans don’t win. (Buckley vs. Rockefeller, part two). We need to be the party of solutions, lead in front of fear, stop scaring women and being perceived as against brown people. Yes, history always gives favor to the incumbent, but my party never got beyond one issue: vote for for me because. A lot of votes were against Obama, but never “FOR” what a Republicans would do. You can’t win in protest only.
Last night our indiegogo site closed and we raised $35,000. Thank you- Thank you everyone- This project has 89 supporters from across the globe who want to see this happen. – From my close friends the Browns being first to two generations of river guides – the Borg family – being last. Thank you. Every nickel you helped us raise in the last month gave the project credibility.
We will now raise money directly to the Klamath Basin Rangeland Trust. Stay tuned for project updates and success. We are so thankful. Truly moved by our friends surrounding us- We only have 24 Hours to go. If you want to donate, now is the time. Click here I want to thank everyone, all 82 of your so far, who’ve believed in me, this idea, and this film. I told Jeff Martin, the Producer, imagine 82 people from across the globe, standing together in one room, cheering us on. For me, this is unfulfilled. Making this film, changing hearts and minds through the human side of this river’s recovery, is something I just have to do.
It was too late for the Hudson River in New York. The same was almost true with the Willamette River. While today the water around Portland is better, I wouldn’t recommend swimming in it. There are only a few rivers in the world, which could tip in either direction. My son will live with the results. So will yours.  I took this picture Saturday Why laser beam on the Klamath? Because her champions are Government reports, bad politics, old hatreds, misinformation, and election cycles in both Oregon and California. The river’s future is stagnating like the water behind its lowest dam. Green, hot, and no one wants to touch it. I want to. We’re Americans. We fix problems. We build our country. We leave it better. Americans knew “super-sized” fast food was bad for our health. All the Government reports said so. But it was not until a documentary called Super Size Me made the emotional connection by laser-beaming on one man who ate too much, destroying his health, did America change. Within weeks of the films release, McDonalds ended “super-sizing.” My laser beam is focused on the Klamath because I know a spotlight will be shown on how Americans do conservation. Our emotional connection is with America (like Super Size Me), and our story is the families who depend on a restored Klamath River. I know the people of the Klamath. I am one. I know what is at stake, the competing cultures, the way of life in Oregon and California. I also know my great-grandfather swam with thousands and thousands more fish than I did Saturday. The Klamath matters because restoring this river and her people reflects who we all are as Americans. Help us finish up our grassroots push. We are just $19,250 to go. Click here, not to donate, but to leave a legacy and change conservation.
I want to share the story of an historic water-sharing agreement which will restore salmon, clean water and – most importantly – peace and prosperity, to one of the most beautiful regions in America. The Klamath River has been a passion of mine, for my entire life. Here in western America, where farmers are pitted against fish, states’ rights are bogged in years of lawsuits, native tribes struggle for existence and fish issues are considered partisan, the Klamath River story is unique…because for the first time a win/win, human and ecosystem solution, in the form of a historic water-sharing agreement is what’s at stake. Recently a remarkable pact has been signed, calling for the largest dam removal project in the world, a path forward to end one of the most bitter resource struggles in our history. Years of negotiations between federal officials, tribes, irrigators, power corporations and conservation groups will lead to restoration that supports and enhances fishing, farming, and ranching…the backbone of Klamath’s economy and the heart of the Klamath Basin. As a 4th generation steelheader raised on the middle river in California, the waters of the once-wild Klamath feed my dreams and sustain my soul. My grandparents – Grandma, a Reagan hating liberal, and Big Tom, an Eisenhower Republican – gave me the mantel to restore this river. Now I’m turning to you to help make restoration of the Klamath a reality. Together, we will bring the story to the big screen, inspiring others to follow our path forward towards a world in balance. Here’s an introductory video: Our plan is simple: raise 10% of our budget from our friends grassroots style, start shooting this fall, show our grassroots support to our first funder (yet to be landed, a lot of interested groups) to get thefirst $150k in, then our second funder (already ready for $80-100K) and then our finish funder (real solid interest from friends in philanthropy), then distribute nationally, (Nat Geo, PBS, History- lots of interest here) then change the world of conservation. Today we launch, and you can help in three ways: 1. Go to our site, and make a contribution of any size. 2. Send the link to anyone you know and help generate buzz. 3. If you can it would greatly help if: you have suggestions, can make introductions, or other thoughts regarding the above plan. Read the rest of… To kick off the weekend, RP Jason Atkinson offers his latest cinematic adventures, this time from a trip to Yakutat, Alaska: RP Jason Atkinson helps you kick off your weekend with his latest film about last weekend’s adventures with his kids. Mostly filmed with GoPro, Gunder and Pomp fished the Deschutes with their old Dad’s guiding:
Here’s my response, video-style: |
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Parties and federal government aside, people today are just trying to hold it all together. We’ve all got bills, health care issues, aging parents and kids with cavities. Research shows that most Americans are center right, believe in limited government and personal responsibility, and don’t think government is a good steward of tax money, but they are choosing to be unaffiliated, independent voters.
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