My first - and last - lesson in politics.

I was age eighteen. I had never been to a political event. Our State Senator, Everett "Cy" Bidwell, offered to take me to the caucus of the Second Congressional District Republican Party at the Inn on the Park in Madison, Wisconsin. He and I lived in Portage, Wisconsin, forty-five minutes by car north of Madison.

As we waited in the hallway for the caucus to start, a tall, slender middle-aged man approached Bidwell. Bidwell said, "Jack, this is Paul; this is his first political event." Jack walked up to me. He was taller, and when he spoke he had to bend a bit to "look me in the eye." I shall never forget what he said. Here it is:

"Young man, when I was your age, I was going to save the world. Then, I got a little older, and I thought I would settle for saving just America. But now, I just want to do something to save Wisconsin."

The speaker, I later discovered, was Lt. Governor of Wisconsin, Jack Olson, US World War II Navy veteran, and owner of the fabulous Wisconsin Dells river boat tours.

To this day, his wisdom guides me more and more.

Yes, it is about Wisconsin, our home state. The rest of the world can take care of itself. It is about right here and now, not over there.

More and more, I can relate to Robert E. Lee who refused command of the Union Army when Lincoln offered it because Lee would not "lift his hand" against the people of his home state. Your humble servant here feels the same way, as did Lt. Gov. Olson.

The people of my beloved home state, Wisconsin, do the work, pay the taxes, obey the laws, and fight the wars that keep America going, and for this they ought not to suffer abuse by anybody, homegrown or foreign. Sadly they do more and more by the Vampires on Wall Street and their hired political gangsters in Washington, D.c.

Wisconsin, her people, matter, as Lt. Gov. Olson understood in his wisdom, which he shared with me. Time has tested his wisdom for me, and it has passed the test over and over and over.

I hope every American feels the same way about his or her home state. I hope every Canadian feels the same way about his or her home Province. And in the British Isles, I hope every man and woman feels the same way about his or her county in Ireland or the UK.

Charity begins at home. Loyalty beings at home. I thank Senator Bidwell and Lt. Gov. Olson, both Republicans, both now deceased, for this basic lesson early in life.

I wonder what Lt. Gov. Olson and Senator Bidwell, both Republicans, would think of the foreign wars for corporate oil profits now if they could come back to visit us today. The Republican Party of today is certainly not the one of my youth, sadly.

Yet, the good people of Wisconsin, my people, remain. God willing, I hope to be able to do something to help them in the spirit of Lt. Gov. Olson and Senator Bidwell.