For my first diary (and first post) on Daily Kos, I've linked (below the fold) to three essays I've recently written, discussing, from various angles, a fairly precise framework through which to analyze the torrent of events that we discuss every day, rather than discuss, in this instance, the torrent itself.
Everyone has an agenda: Mine is to raise the profile of both reason and good will in political discourse. Some recommended steps in that direction are: (1) to increase attention to issues, and decrease attention to personalities; (2) to acknowledge the importance of political strategizing, but not to allow it to displace attention to issues as the primary focus of political discourse; (3) to strive to eliminate intentional hostility from our conversations, and to strive to accept differences in style and personality with grace and good will; and (4) to recognize that blind ideology, whether of the right or of the left, is the bane of reason, and to strive to rely on as few arbitrary assumptions as possible in our consideration of how to refine our public policies for our mutual benefit.
I apologize for my verbose and academic writing style (too ingrained at this point, I fear, to be remedied), but hope that the substance of my message survives any defects in the form by which it's conveyed.
The Politics of Consciousness
The Tyranny of Blind Ideology
A Framework for Political Analysis