The main mentor of my adulthood was clearly David Aldrich, a Berkley grad who majored in history and philosophy.  An activist, and writer like no other.  Dave passed away a year ago but you can still read his extensive blog at http://davald.wordpress.com 

One of my favorite stories from Dave was when he talked about his father.  I played some golf with Dave and his dad up in Everett, Washington many moons ago.  His dad was a character indeed.

Dave, like myself, grew up in a traditional Catholic family home with reasonably progressive values.   The senior Aldrich was a union member and strong advocate of democratic principles.

One of Dave’s strongest memories of his father were times when his dad was watching the news or reading the paper, decipher what they were up to and would just holler out “Those God Damned Republicans.”

That’s exactly how I feel most days.