my two cents on tonight's speech

on obama:
1. thank you, mr. president for at least trying to talk over the clapping. members of congress, i hate you. please sit on your hands and control yourself. i'm trying to go to bed eventually.

2. when will preventive medicine and primary care receive their standing ovation? far more important and beneficial than cancer research, i'm still waiting for prevention to get its due.

3. oh my god, obama called out directly to potential high school drop-outs. this is amazing. if you haven't been in a high school lately, you probably don't understand the clout that obama has on these teens. huge, huge, huge. and a call for post-secondary education! huzzah!

4. there's a bit much of the "america is always right and deserves the best of everything" sentiment for my liking. for example, the line about 'this is america and we don't do what's easy, we do what's necessary to move this country forward.' how about 'we do what's right'?

5. no governing out of anger. rock on.

6. carbon control on a market system! yes!

on jindal:
1. i like the man's story, don't get me wrong, but i couldn't stop thinking of troy mcclure (you know, the filmstrip guy from the simpsons).

2. mocking volcano surveillance? this is inappropriate. i imagine mr. jindal would have appreciated some funding for improved hurricaine preparedness a few years ago. natural disaster planning is crucial, and i'm not ok with it being used as a political ploy.

3. on healthcare, i'm tired of republicans warning against government making the decisions for doctors. a government official is a much better option than a for-profit insurance company.

4. i'm down with a call for improved transparency. i wonder what the reviews will be like for recovery.org.

on both:
1. please remind your speechwriters not to end phrases with prepositions.

2. little stories about individual americans are overrated.

inauguration

i had a great time at inauguration. i metroed in, took in the atmosphere, chanted, lamented the boos, cheered the cheers, puzzled over the poem, moved en masse, sang, danced, froze, breathed in some history, and finally walked back across the potomac.

(1) facing the capitol (which is blocked from view by the jumbotron) just in front of the american history museum
(2) yours truly
(3) facing backwards, the crowd surrounding the monument
(4) post-inaugural walkers of the memorial bridge

president-elect obama

those three words still give me chills every time i hear them. i can't describe my emotions except to say that i've never felt this way before and i cannot wait to see what will unfold over the next four years. i was really touched by mccain's concession speech, and was happy to see a return of the mccain i liked so much in the spring. i'm hopeful that the reaction of his crowd was only a gut response, and doesn't represent what a reconciliation between the parties will have to overcome. i think obama's speech gave a great view into what we can expect. my favorite lines:

"This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It can’t happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice. So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other."

hopefully we will all remember that the election itself hasn't changed anything & that we will all have to commit to the chance we want to see. i'm looking for obama to re-channel the passion for this election into a passion for a stronger, more gracious united states of america.

vote!

election day is like christmas for me, except i feel incredibly nauseous.

please please please please please please please go vote. right now.

vlad and friend boris

its been a long time since i was so amused.

colin powell on barack obama

after this, general, i don't think you'll need to campaign for senator obama.

barack o'lanterns

amazing?

chomp chomp

before the first debate i ranted about how a change in format was overdue and necessary. i guess they've "changed" things up this year, but should i eat my words? i think no. maybe its not possible to change things so long as talking points are effective for campaigns.

my new idea for the third debate? cut the microphones off after time's up. or maybe start playing music like they do at awards show. i know they need to finish their thoughts, but they drive me (and tom brokaw) crazy abusing the time limits.

up for debate

"what we have to do is find a way to celebrate our diversity and debate our differences without fracturing our communities."
-hillary clinton

i'm going to have to side with senator clinton: i'm pretty sure our current presidential debate system isn't cutting it. the neutral viewer learns little of value about the candidates, and the party faithful watch their opponents with baited breath for future campaign fodder. would it be so difficult to redesign the system so that americans could learn something about the issues and be able to compare potential policy? i'm excited to watch tonight, but also discouraged at the unlikelihood anything will come of it.

the structure of the debates feeds into society's dangerous propensity for soundbites and quick answers. instead of having three of the same, perhaps this year of "change" would be a good time to try out a new model of debate. a mirrored town hall? a revisit to sirs abe lincoln and stephen douglas? perhaps microphones designed to prevent interruption mid-explanation? there must be a way to reintroduce intelligence and thought into debates. larry sabato describes our current system as a nascar race, where we watch not for the monotony of the laps but for the perhaps catastrophic crash. debates should educate and inspire, not further partisanship. will tonight be the best our political process can create?