I am talking about striving in our own professions and civic lives for what we ask — what we demand and expect — our elected leaders to deliver: more integrity, less phoniness and more consideration of the community.

I'll volunteer my vocation as an example. Perhaps 95 percent of the American public thinks the news media are "part of the problem." The other 5 percent work in news or don't own televisions. Our craft is seen as tabloid, divisive, serially obsessive, gluttonous for the trivial, argumentative, biased in sneaky ways and distorted. And the market seems to be saying to us, "Go away, we won't pay!"

You Wanted Change? It's Time To Help

Bill Clinton also campaigned as a moderate, but in his first two years he was unable to govern as Congress pursued liberal priorities, including a big boost in taxes and spending. Recall Roberta Achtenberg as the scourge of the Boy Scouts and Joycelyn Elders calling for the legalization of drugs? Mr. Clinton chose -- or was forced -- to take up gun control and HillaryCare before welfare reform. Next came Newt Gingrich.

Maybe Mr. Obama has absorbed these lessons, but even if he has he'll have to be tough. The Great Society liberals who dominate Congress are old men in a hurry, and they'll run over the 47-year-old neophyte if he lets them.

I've been saying that a win for Obama didn't mean squat, but I do think that a lot of this will be tempered. There's really big problems that need to be solved immediately, and moderation will be key in getting solutions that work. I think he can make a case for priorities. But I think the likelihood of a massive swing to the left is not impossible or even unprobable and will definitely be unfortunate.

Obama's Real Opposition

At the 2008 Pop!Tech conference, best-selling author and debt crisis expert Juan Enriquez catalyzed a vigorous debate on the impetuses of the current American economic meltdown – and the immediate actions the country and next U.S. President will have to take to address the situation. Combining information and ideas from many sources, Juan enumerated an urgent, non-partisan10 point plan, to be implemented during the next administration’s first 60 days. Enriquez posited that failure to act – or, in his view, further misguided efforts – run the risk of triggering an irreversible economic collapse that could plague the American economy for decades.

WATCH IT!

Juan Enriquez at Pop!Tech 2008

The crux of the issue is simple:

1. Sarah Palin has unequivocally associated Barack Obama with the idea of terrorism and specifically with "terrorists".
2. Republican President George Bush has defined in our National Security Strategy, and the Republican Party's platform affirms, that we may identify and strike at terrorists before they have committed any defined acts of aggression against American citizens.
3. George Bush has made clear, by stating before a joint session of Congress that "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."
4. Palin has used deliberate choice of language to avoid these connections being highlighted by the media, while increasing the likelihood that the target audience for her message will be incited by her statements.

Oh this would be fucking GREAT! I can just imagine the unconstitutional expansion of power by the executive branch being used AGAINST the chief executive! Can you say irony? I knew you could.

What Sarah Palin Is Saying - Anil Dash

t is unusual to see so many prominent Republican politicians and columnists shift, even allowing for the fact that party affiliations are more fluid in the US than Europe.

Powell has blazed the way and made it easier for people to come out of the party closet.

US election: Prominent Republicans cross the aisle to endorse Obama

Top 150 words spoken at 2nd Obama-McCain presidential candidate debate

Top 150 words spoken at 2nd Obama-McCain presidential candidate debate on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

My fair neighborhood gets transformed for the height of political theater. I expect Auschwitz, but what I find is actually more like the county fair. With a dash of secret service and Red Bull girls.

Debate 2008 - a set on Flickr

Whoever produced this deserves a MacArthur genius grant. Watch it all the way through, unless you start to hyperventilate.

Contrary to popular belief, I am not responsible for this, although it is uncannily similar to what I would've produced. I give high props to whoever put this together.

ATL you're next!

Nashville's Gas Crisis: Inside the Metro Bunker? - Nashville Scene

John McCain is definitely winning the cougar vote now, on top of the Jamie-Lynn Spears vote.

"Don't underestimate the POWER of the Dark Side!"

We’re Sorry, But Palin Baby Daddy Levi Johnston Is Sex on Skates

Federal ballistics experts are testing to determine if a gun that was lost last year by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's former bodyguard and recently recovered from a violent convicted felon was used in other crimes.

Could this be the literal smoking gun in this case?

Feds testing gun for crime use