If you're looking for a good, in-depth, single-topic diary to contemplate, share with friends, and debate incessantly, you're in the wrong place.
Instead, I'd like to throw a whole bunch of shit at you at once and let you choose where to respond -- not to be a trouble-maker, but because this is how my brain is working lately.
I'm afraid I've come down with the blogger's equivalent of Attention Deficit Disorder. My mind seems to race from one thought to the next. Each thought is relevant here, to a degree, but I'm not focused enough to embellish any single theme. So if you'll indulge me, these are the 9 things I'm thinking about today.
1. JOHN EDWARDS
I tend to look at campaign strategy and messaging with a very critical marketing eye, because that's what I know. And I have to tell you, the marketer in me has John Edwards registering on the "brilliant" scale right now.
This campaign, especially at this early stage, is unlike anything I've seen in Presidential politics. Edwards' "rally the masses, get involved, don't wait for the election" message is, in my opinion, exactly the right rallying cry at exactly the right time. The idea that a man could behave Presidentially -- before being elected President -- is one that I'm certain will resonate in the current political landscape.
2. PICK ME A WINNER
I haven't decided yet that Edwards is my man, but I have decided when I'm going to decide: March 1st. By then, whoever's going to be in will be in, and I'm not inclined to wait for debates and commercials and YouTube stunts before I throw my time, money and support behind someone. I want to decide and get involved fast, instead of pretending that I'm undergoing some sort of personal, highly-intellectual debate about our best opportunity to win.
I will tell you that Edwards, Clark and Gore occupy my top tier at this very moment in time, but that could change by the 5th comment.
3. A COMMUNITY ENDORSEMENT?
All of which makes me wonder: why wouldn't we here at Kos make an early community endorsement of an '08 Presidential hopeful? Why wait for a nominee, when we could exert so much influence so much earlier?
Just curious.
4. PEOPLE ARE FRIGHTENINGLY STUPID
48 hours ago, my partner Scott & I hosted our 3rd annual New Year's Eve Bash here in a tiny suburb of Madison, and one staple of that party is a year-in-review trivia contest. For the 90 minutes or so between the king crab dinner and the stroke of midnight, the 30 guests are broken into 6 teams, and each team gets a sheet with 20 trivia questions relating to the year that was.
Guests expect this contest. They study for it. They look forward to it. There are prizes. Good ones.
And yet they sucked at it.
Question #1 was, "How many Democrats will be in the new Senate?" Answers ranged from 48 to 51 -- except NO ONE answered 49.
Three people knew what district Nancy Pelosi represented. Three people knew which state voted down its constitutional marriage amendment.
None of them knew how many congressional districts there are in their home state of Wisconsin (8).
The guest list, as you might guess, was largely left-leaning. Of course, by 2:00am, they were leaning even more.
5. AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
I watched it -- finally -- last night on Dish Network pay-per-view.
Aside from the really bad and self-serving and poorly edited segments about Gore's son and the 2000 election -- neither of which lent a bit of credibility to the overall message -- this was a great movie.
And I came away with more respect for Al Gore than I had previously -- not so much because of the message, but because of the strength and relatability of the messenger. Where was this Al Gore 6 years ago? Where was the affable, relaxed, conviction-dripping man back then?
He was good. Very good.
6. THE SURGE, THE SCAPEGOAT AND THE "SACRIFICE"
And now, after years of resistance, I'm ready to impeach.
Seriously. Are you as mortified as I am?
7. 4 SECONDS OF OLBERMANN
If you went to the bathroom, you missed it.
Keith Olbermann suggested, ever so briefly tonight, that perhaps the "surge" was a chess play to scapegoat the Democrats -- that perhaps Congress would say "No" to funding the move and then the debacle would be all our fault.
Richard Wolfe dismissed it, but I think Olbermann is right.
8. MY FATHER-IN-LAW
He was a Colonel in the Army. He served three tours of duty in Vietnam. Today, he trains US Army troops in virtual battles all over the world.
He is a Republican.
He assured me on Sunday that a "surge" was not mathematically possible. "There aren't many troops left," he said, "and those that remain are untrained and unqualified."
He knows his shit. So I listen to him.
9. GERALD FORD
All this ceremony for a man who was never actually elected...and eventually pardoned Nixon?
Yawn.
I don't mean to be disrespectful, but really.
.....
So that's what I'm thinking about today. Take this as an open thread, and tell us what you're thinking about.