Today was a special day for me.  I got up this morning, and played with my kids.  A few of you have read my diaries and know that they are two beautiful, mixed race kids that shine in every moment of their existence.  They smile, they play, and yes, they dream.

A few of you may remember some personal diaries I've posted over the last couple years.  I'm not one of the big guns on this site, and I don't have the time to pull in and collate many of the stats I see and read online.  Mostly, I'm just a dad who uses this site to vent a little about the frustrations that living in the U.S. sometimes causes.  

My how things have changed in the last 5 days.  My story begins on last Thursday night as I watched Barack Obama's victory speech after his win in Iowa.  While I was thoroughly moved by what Obama was saying, I was distracted by a sound from behind me.

About 2 months ago, I posted to Daily Kos regarding a workplace issue I was having.  I got such great responses and such helpful advice, that I decided to follow up as things at my employer began to unravel.

A couple months back, my employer instituted a new automated hiring system that assisted in processing new hire paperwork from the application to the point of hire.  One of the final steps in the process was to identify the race of an applicant.  We, as managers, were told that we would be required to enter the race of the applicant if the applicant "neglected" or refused to enter their race themselves.  However, we were told that we should not inform the applicant that we were doing this.

Late last week, I was told by my employer, as part of a new Human Resources computer program rollout, that I would be required to review the race identification on New Hires.  If the new employee decided not to identify their race, I will be required to do it for them without their knowledge.

When I questioned this, I was told that this had been reviewed by our legal department and was perfectly legal.  Moreover, because this information was required by the federal government, there was no better way to achieve the required results without doing this.

I am a white man married to a black woman.  I have two beautiful sons who, my wife and I have agreed, will get as open a dialogue about race in our household as we can possibly achieve.  More importantly, it is important for my wife and I to teach our children that they are the only ones who will get to categorize or identify who they are.  The choice is and should always be their's.

Because of this dilemma, I am up late trying to figure out how to proceed.  I have pretty much decided that categorizing another human being without their consent is not something I am comfortable doing.  Does anyone out there have any knowledge on the legality of this practice or any advice on where I should go to find out?

I was looking at a New York Times article here [http://www.nytimes.com/... New York Times and it got me to thinking.  How could these guys really be so lame as to think that a $100 rebate plan would fly with the American public?

According to Raw Story it looks like MSNBC's David Schuster has more on Rove today.  There is actual speculation that Rove could be indicted as early as tomorrow.  While it is all a little abstract at this point, there should be more at 7 pm EST on MSNBC.  For those of you capable of giving this the proper treatment, I would be happy to delete once this thread is up and running.  I know I'll be watching.

I know it sounds a little like alliteration, but I don't think that's the only thing that makes it poetic.  

I've actually felt good the last few days, because I feel like a shift is taking place.  It feels to me that Democrats are finally starting to find a voice again, and I think a new Leadership is in the making.

Pelosi feels nervous as evidenced by her speech the other day in SF.  Her responses to the wire tapping issues seemed uncomfortable because the Bushies made her complicit and she knows it.

Over the last several months, I've been developing a sense of hope for our country again.  The folks at KOS have given me a little light, Air America helps too.  Finally, a politician is moving me the same way.

I decided to send Mr. Feingold a note today.  He probably gets these all the time, but I felt it important to add my voice to the chorus.

This is my first attempt at a diary, so bear with me