A friend here in CA told me he's disappointed with Obama's rightward tiltings, and is thinking of voting Green.  I think there's a better way of attacking the problem.

example: In Beijing, let the (choke) Games (cough, cough) begin! sf chron, 8-6-08

The danger pollution poses to athletes participating in the Olympics in China has attracted a good deal of media attention to the seriousness of China's pollution problem.

Although our Corporate Media cannot ignore the filth that China is drowning in, they have roundly failed to put together the big picture: The filth of China is the byproduct of moving virtually all of our manufacturing to a police state with little or no environmental, labor, safety, or health laws.

The fact is, that without the help and assistance of our corporations and corporate government, China would not have been capable of stealing our manufacturing, and drowning itself in its own filth.

By ignoring our assistance and complicity in China's fouling itself and the world, the corporate press can ignore the social and political changes here in the US that are paralleling the growth of China's wealth and filth.

Today John McCain focused heavily on nuclear energy and once again attacked Obama.  The problem is that McCain continues to lie and no one calls him on it. Obama needs to hit back hard with a "fact check."

More after the fold...

The other day I was reading an article through Slashdot, and found the following sentence in its introduction, referring to the article's author, a scientist who has proposed some reforms to science education:

"Can someone who went through 20 years of science education as a student, lived his life in academia since then and even got a Nobel prize get a fair shake from bureaucrats who like education the way it is - - flawed and therefore always needing more money?"

As a longtime public school teacher in California, I take exception to this comment, which betrays the writer's ignorance of what really obstructs progress in public education.

As I pondered U.S. security and foreign policy, it struck me just how necessary it is that the national intelligence community undergo serious reform. Especially when facing a multi-national, multi-ethnic terrorist threat, the U.S. vitally needs intelligence agencies that are accountable, well-trained, and most importantly, good at what they do. Unfortunately, despite a $44 billion budget and one of the most diverse and largest talent pools ever (the American people), the intelligence community repeatedly fails, and has done so throughout its history.

Once those two steps are completed, Obama said, the government should offer a path to citizenship for existing illegals.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...

   I admire his honesty and his ability to get it right.

I have to say that he has the attention of everyone that live in a border state when comparing McCains views and flips on the border subject.

Yesterday at NN08, I spoke with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, former Vice President Al Gore, and U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett about the bill in Congress to move Election Day to Saturday and Sunday. Check out the video.

As I write this, Lawrence Lessig is giving his talk at Netroots Nation.  As usual, it is extraordinary.  If you didn't get a chance to see it in person or online live (as I am from San Francisco), it will be archived (and I'll update this with a link).

But even before he started speaking, I got the email I'll post in full after the jump from Japhet Els (who is also at Netroots Nation).

 Change Congress has an Act Blue page and Lessig wants at least 500 of us to give contributions ending in .09 (the current approval rating of congress) to at least one of these candidates

http://www.actblue.com/...

Update: Right after I posted this, Lessig used a photo I took in his presentation.

I was an intelligence analyst for the Department of Defense from January '03, just before we invaded Iraq, until July '05. Now I'm an independent consultant to the Intelligence Community. I do this because it gives me an opportunity to improve a vital organ of our government.

Since "Change" is the buzzword of the year, I want to put forth some new ideas for making it happen.

We need to be more direct in our reform efforts. Citizens need to do a lot more than register, vote, give money, and then blog about it. We need to help our government do its job better and more honorably.

My thoughts are here.

I'm surprised by the fact Kennedy's office has been active on this issue holding meetings and yet, it's been off the radar.

I read an article yesterday talking about how, for all the lip service this election from both campaign in favor of change and a radical shift from  polarizing policies and politics, this election has quickly become a grudge match along the same lines as the last several.  While the Democratic primary was a reasonably sedate affair, Obama v. McCain went nasty almost immediately after the Illinois senator secured the Democratic nomination and is likely to become notably even more mudslinging by the time it draws to an end in a little more than four months.    

For those of us who love a good political fight and are incapable of seeing politics in any other manifestation, this kind of back-and-forth bickering is much in line with our desires and expectations.  

That's right, folks!

And my reasons go much deeper than the feelings I have for McCain, or coat hangers, or FISA, or the debacle in Iraq. They transcend all immediate concerns with respect to the 2008 election.

Ladies and gentlmen, I have forgotten. Forgotten the talent that Barack Obama offers to grassroots politics. That the important part of change involves the people standing together as a cohesive unit and demanding it.

And I plum forgot about the unhinged abuses of power that W's administration carried out as a matter of course -- that were not sufficiently checked by citizens who were not well organized. Abuses that are likely to continue if We the People do not join together and usurp the status quo.

Ever since Barack Obama sewed up the Democratic nomination, it has been both frustrating and interesting to see the way the news media has proceeded to chip away at his reputation as a reformer and as a new face in Washington.  Some of these issues give me reason to pause, but most I shrug off as part and parcel of any politician running for high elective office.

I can understand why few people are willing to go into the meat grinder of politics.  Those who run for elective office can never do much right but are capable of doing practically everything wrong.  Political culture thrives on scandal and negative reinforcement, appealing to the part of us biologically programmed to recoil in disgust at the sinister side of human behavior.  Every press expose seems to be designed specifically to induce outrage and rise everyone's blood pressure.    

(Cross posted from Docudharma)

(Cross posted from Docudharma)

In looking back at the Bush debacle, one thing stands out.  It would never have happened, at least not so blatantly and egregiously, had there been a healthy opposition party in America.  Up until 2000 there was at least the illusion of the Democrats as a party in opposition to the Republicans, however ineffective.  And the Republicans, though always venal, have never been so nakedly predatory, never so in-your-face ‘I’m going to take your shit and you’re going to like it’, never so openly disdainful of the Constitution and the law.  Somewhere along the line, the notion of the Democrats as the voice of sanity counter-balancing Republican lunacy has become just so much political vaporware.  What happened?  

Al Gore's endorsement last night in Detroit drew a fresh batch of sharp parallels between Barack Obama and John F. Kennedy and played up Gore's environmental credentials.  This, in and of itself should come as no surprise to anyone.  Prior speeches have seen the Senator from Illinois  bill himself as a cross between Abraham Lincoln and JFK, with a smattering of other Democratic superstars thrown in for good measure.  In a different candidate, I'd see this as empty chest-pounding, but Obama's earnestness and charisma make this characterization seem plausible.  

One also can't help but notice that Obama's massive rallies have the character and the makings of a sporting event, right down to the cheering, chanting, and booing the opposing team at all the right moments.  Gore and Obama both had to interrupt their speeches once or twice to set a somewhat unruly crowd straight a few times. Clearly both enjoyed the intensity of the rally, and the degree of passion and enthusiasm that the people in attendance felt strongly.    

Political Graffiti

Let me get this out of the way first:  I am a backer of Obama for President.  I don't think he's the second coming (of Bill thank goodness), or the next JFK (better than that, I hope).  His candidacy is historic, his policy positions are sound (if fairly pedestrian in most cases).  He's highly charismatic.  I'm not inclined to praise his every move, however.

That said, one of the first things he did after securing the Democratic nomination made my heart leap.  He extended his campaign's ban on money from political action committees (PACs) and lobbyists to the Democratic National Committee.