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Inspired by a letter that has become an internet phenomenon, on October 22nd, 2008, performers from all walks of life (both unknown and celebrity) will lend their voice and human presence to thousands upon thousands of women across America (Democrats, Republicans and Independents) by reading, live on the internet, diverse and emotional written responses from these women to the nomination and potential Vice Presidency of Sarah Palin and her policies.

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Rainy AM commute, originally uploaded by idblog.

A little fall color on the Mall.

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Sunrise, 10/27, originally uploaded by idblog.

Wanted to see if the BB could capture the crescent moon this AM.

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I first saw the expression the “McCain Mutiny” over at Crooks and Liars, and thought, well duh. Hadn’t thought of it before I saw it, but once I did, it was kinda like of course.

I next did a Twitter search, and found that it’s already taking root, largely because Republican strategist Mark McKinnon wrote a piece with this title for Tina Brown’s Daily Beast (the new competition for Huffington Post).

McKinnon is pretty kind to McCain, summing it up this way:

I know and have worked with Obama’s lead adviser David Axelrod, and he’s as smart as anyone I’ve worked with in politics and deserves a lot of credit for a well-run campaign. But I know he’d be the first to admit that he just had the good judgment to saddle up on Secretariat.

I also know and have worked with McCain’s guru Steve Schmidt, who is also one of the most talented players in the game. He just saddled up on Seabiscuit. But he’s running against Secretariat. And only one great horse gets to win.

Me? I watched Seabiscuit, and don’t exactly see the parallels. But if we keep seeing articles like this on tensions within the McCain/Palin campaign, think we’re going to see a lot more about the McCain Mutiny.

Update: Well, that was fast. Can’t be good when Neil Cavuto and Don Imus talk about the campaign this way:

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First, a little LOLcats:

Now a little of my cats:

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Decades ago (yes, I’m that old), I wasted what was in hindsight an amazing opportunity and coasted thru a political history class at BU with Howard Zinn (if memory serves, he frankly didn’t do much serious grading of his students … in fact, you may have gotten to choose your own grade. And crap, I think it was at like 8AM on a MWF. Yeesh).

You probably have never heard of Howard Zinn, unless you saw Good Will Hunting. In the flick, Matt Damon tells Robin Williams:

If you want to read a real history book, read Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States. That book will knock you on your ass.

Zinn’s bio is amazing, which is why at this point, it’s probably my one regret about not being more studious during my undergrad years.

Anyways, I’m reading HuffPo today, and I had to check out a post titled Howard Zinn Will Vote For Obama But Says Direct Action is Needed, where Zinn talks about the election and aftewards:

We have gone through an insufferable 8 years with the Bush administration, probably the worst administration in history. In this situation we are desperate for a change. So even though Obama doesn’t represent any fundamental change he creates an opening for the possibility of change. That is why I am voting for Obama. That is why I suggest to people that they vote for him. But I also suggest that Obama will not fulfill that potential for change unless he is enveloped by a social movement, which is angry enough, powerful enough, insistent enough, that he fills his abstract phrases about change with some real content.

I think this is spot on. Congress’ approval is actually lower than George Bush’s. And regardless of how inspiring Obama is, he’s going to have to deal with 538 people with their own agendas.

This is why I think that Joe Trippi and Lawrence Lessig should be getting more visibility for Change Congress. As Zinn says, people need to hold both Obama and the new Congress to the fire.

I have to say that I’ve thought of Michael Douglas’ speech at the end of The American President more than once during this election (the Richard Dreyfuss role seems to be very reminiscent of John McCain wrt fear). But re Zinn, the relevant part is where he says:

America isn’t easy. America is advanced citizenship. You’ve gotta want it bad, ’cause it’s gonna put up a fight.

All of this basically points to the fact that we’re not done on November 5th. The work is only just begun.

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Wow. Ben Smith of Politico shares an early voting story from Indiana:

For me the most moving moment came when the family in front of me, comprising probably 4 generations of voters (including an 18 year old girl voting for her first time and a 90-something hunched-over grandmother), got their turn to vote. When the old woman left the voting booth she made it about halfway to the door before collapsing in a nearby chair, where she began weeping uncontrollably. When we rushed over to help we realized that she wasn’t in trouble at all but she had not truly believed, until she left the booth, that she would ever live long enough to cast a vote for an African-American for president. Anyone who doesn’t think that African-American turnout will absolutely SHATTER every existing record is in for a very rude surprise.

Seriously, this makes me tear up. Really. I can’t wait to vote.

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