Palin Comparison

And I suppose the headline could also be the commentary.

Huh? Wha?

Read it out loud.

From the Southside of Chicago

I'm a Blues lover. In a few weeks I'll be sailing the Pacific with some of the genre's finest.

I can only imagine how proud artists Koko Taylor & the Blues Machine, Elvin Bishop, Magic Slim and Ronnie Baker Brooks must be of Chicago’s own.

Congratulations, Barack Obama, on accepting your presidential nomination on the 45th anniversary of Dr. King’s “Dream” speech. Politics aside, every American can honor and admire this historic event.

Somewhere in the midst of last night's remarkable revelry, even Faux News confirmed the GOP may postpone the beginning of its own convention. Huh, talk about cut & run...

So, what can derail such an enormous undertaking as one of America's two political conventions, a rally-driven gathering of the party's faithful from all corners, a production that's years in the making?

A powerful phenomenon named Gustav, apparently.

Uh, they wouldn't spell that B-A-R-A-C-K, would they?

I only hope that with so many punditry hours to fill no one will seek to make an absurd gender disconnection between Katrina and Gustav and preparations made to guard against these storms. But, I wouldn't be surprised, would you?

Man, Are We Blue

[This was the initial post for my first blog some four years ago in the days after the election of November 2004. Onward and upward.]

“What do we do now?” she wanted to know, now that the votes are in (not fully tallied but in) and now that the candidate has conceded (despite his lieutenant’s pledge to wait for the complete count) and now that we appear to be an ineffectual yet well-meaning rudderless ship about to sail off the flat face of the Earth.

What do we do, indeed.

For starters, let’s keep the campaign rolling, the party rockin’ and, in the words of the American Idol judges, let’s make it our own.

Let’s keep talking about politics instead of about The Apprentice.

Let’s use the heat of our anger and disappointment to fire us up again and ignite our activism.

Let’s actually and actively participate in our society, culture and government.

Let’s not rely on the Fourth Estate, but rather put all those Internets to good use—ours.

Let’s seek out, blog about and email the truth when we uncover it.

Let’s invest at least the cost of a ridiculously priced cup of coffee in organizations that support democracy and protect the Constitution.

Let’s listen to more than Rupert and Rush for intelligent and honest news for the rest of us.

Let’s keep adding to the list in new and creative ways that help us all.