I don't see why everyone is buying into the narrative that Barack's decision to forego public financing is breaking his solemn word to talk to the Republican nominee about it if he were to become the Democratic nominee.  I don't see how his opting out is betraying the ideal of people-powered politics.

Gathering up a huge war chest of small donations has been the most significant and important aspect (besides the great speech-making) of Obama's campaign.  This has been generally dismissed or barely--until now--acknowledged.

I can't believe that even the New York Times in their editorial today is so dismissive of this amazing feat and what it represents politically.

The vast numbers of small donors is political change.  It demonstrates its own significance--no polls needed.  It is a poll in and of itself.

Why would people be annoyed that someone who is able to connect so significantly with such a huge number of donors

I don't know why I should write this, but I think it needs to be said.  We have gone from the silly season to the ugly season, and I'm afraid it is going to get uglier.  Samantha Power's "monster" comment infuriated me at first, and I think she must be just cringing over it right about now.  It echoes and ups the usual "bitch" accusation, but with pretty dangerous implications.  Not the least of which is the prospect of a pretty younger woman viciously attacking an older woman who has "earned every wrinkle."  Come on.  The patriarchy doesn't need that kind of help.

Drop a dime; cheer someone up.  That seems to be the conclusion from a study mentioned in an article in the New York Times.  Apparently, people who were asked to photocopy a piece of paper before answering a "happiness" questionnaire, reported greater satisfaction with life if they found a dime on the copy machine than those who did not find a dime as they waited for the machine to spit out a piece of paper.

It turns out that IED's are a social problem more than a technical problem.  I thought this quote in today's Washington Post article says it all about the problem of IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) which are now going off 100 times a day in Iraq:

Retired General Meigs says IEDs are a social problem

"What's different is the trajectory. Three 152mm rounds underneath a tank, which will blow a hole in it, are artillery rounds. But they didn't come through three-dimensional space in a parabolic trajectory. They came through a social trajectory and a social network in the community."

Mitt Romney missed the deadline yesterday to fund the negotiated contract with the Massachusetts Community Colleges faculty and professional staff (MCCC), thus failing to implement the agreed upon terms which HIS PEOPLE had negotiated with the union negotiating team, and which the MCCC members approved earlier this fall.

The new contract would have given a modest 3% raise (for 3 years) to hardworking state employees, but nothing else.  Many other issues that union members thought were important were left out.  With the Romney bamboozlers' "take it or leave it" attitude, the union negotiators decided they should take it to the members for a vote.  The members approved the new contract.

Then Romney refuses to follow through!  Last time he refused to fund a negotiated contract because it had been negotiated under a previous governor.  This time, it was negotiated under himself by his own people!  Unbelievable.