What happened tonight is nothing short of history. This work, for me, fulfills the promise of 3 generations of Democrats, to provide a level playing field, affording all citizens of character and dedication the same opportunities for entrepreneurship. Listening to POTUS speak tonight, on a whim, I heard this in the back of my head.

It never goes away

This is a the final push to ensure the legacy of Teddy Kennedy, perhaps the greatest senator of the modern age.

In 2002, I was a theater major at Wesleyan University, sitting backstage when I saw the GOP took back the Senate. I had a vision of 20 years down the road having to tell my kids that when the Republicans took back the senate, overturned Roe and generally screwed the country that I had been sitting backstage and watched it on TV.

I couldn’t stand for that.

The next morning I called my Dad up on the phone and said “I know this sounds kind of cheesy, but I want to do something for the country. How do I get involved?” 5 Months later, I was working in New Hampshire for Dean. This was a transformative experience and has literally defined the course of my life since then.

As a Massachusetts Democrat, I grew up with my parents pointing to Teddy as the example of what it meant to stand up for your principles, even when it might be not be popular, even when everyone else shouted you down. This is not just a race for a Massachusetts Senate seat. This is a race to select someone to carry on the legacy of Teddy Kennedy. This is a race to ensure that national healthcare, the promise of 40 years of progressive politics, becomes law. Martha Coakley is the 60th vote for cloture and Scott Brown has vowed to be the 41st to block it. It’s that simple.

I’m taking leave from SalsaLabs now to fly up to Boston, to put my shoulder to the wheel, and to fight with every molecule in my body to ensure that “the dream lives on, the work continues, the cause endures, hope lives and the dream shall never die”

“We are turning our guns on anyone who doesn’t support constitutional conservative candidates,” [Tea Party leader Dale] Robertson said. “If they don’t get that, and their party chairmen don’t get that, they are going to be ostracized.”

Now, I as democrats, we’ve bowed and scraped to the “moderate” dems that we’ve paid exorbitant amounts of money to get elected in tight districts. If any more “democrats” go turncoat like Parker Griffith, I think they’re going to find a mighty cold reception on the Conservative side when the teabaggers notice that they’re moderate.

Rogue? More like Mystique

I know that these knuckleheads have become, for all intents and purposes an actual political party, but I’m still reeling about the name. For a bunch of people who hate critical thinking, moral relativism, questioning authority, and above all, Latte Drinking, Volvo Driving, New York Times Reading Liberals like myself, they certainly seem to like both Massachusetts and other potential definitions for teabag.

I hate to say it, but more likely, they just don’t know what they’re saying.

So I was minding my own business last night, trying to do some work, when, after a nice quiet episode of The Bachelor when out of nowhere, my brain was assaulted by the incarnation of everything that’s wrong with American dating in the form of. Conveyor Belt of Love. I’m not really sure what to say about this, except that I found myself enraptured by the fact that more than one woman used “geeky” and “nerdy” as positive desireable attributes. That said, seriously, where did they get some of these jokers? Life as a single woman must really stink.

Really?

I was struck when the news ran a story about Robert Byrd pushing himself to the wall to keep coming back to the Senate for votes. It’s stories like this where I see a 92 year old man taking the work so seriously that he shows up at 1 AM to vote, yet how republicans can sleep at night when they will use blatant stalling tactics to prevent anything from being done.

For all intents and purposes, they were hoping that our senators would not be physically able to stay at work and would be too old to finish the job.

Their actions are infuriating, vile, and shameful. Bernie Sanders didn’t go far enough.

This is supposed to be a season where we strive to be our first, best selves. Where we celebrate the struggle of oppressed people against evil, and the birth of a man who preached caring for your neighbors as you would your own family, as you wish they would act towards you.

The Republican party purportedly has Christian values, but I, for the life of me, can only see behavior you’d expect from Darth Vader or Emperor Palpatine, caring only for themselves. They are perfect examples of what is truly wrong with our world.

Well, I suppose we have to take whatever small victories we can, and today was absolutely a step forward. It’s not perfect by a long shot, but politics is the slow boring of hard boards, and this is how progress occurs. So, we should be happy.

In the spirit of the holidays, and the Tiny Tim vote, God, Bless us, every one, even Tom Coburn…

-m3

It’s surprising given that political data and tech are all about the science and statistics and lighting design is often best described as “visual music.” Then again, it’s part art and science on both sides. More often than not, we focus on the statistics so we can intuitively grasp the larger trends.

How many times have you found yourself playing your fingers across a QUERTY keyboard and imagining that it was a show desk of some kind? Man, what I’d give to be able to drive VAN using a Hog.

In that vein, what did you do before you took your current job?

Tell your story

In a totally economic light, we’re facing the realities of having to get home somehow, and use either the nice affordable metro, or burning our disposable income on cab rides. (even with meters it’s still painful to my wallet). It’s just safer, a far better idea to keep the metro open a little later, stagger the track work maintenance and get people home safe.

Other than congress not giving a crap about what happens to the residents in dc (see dcvote.com), and not wanting to spend money on us, I can’t seem to come up with a good reason why they shouldn’t. Please feel free to tell me I’m wrong on this one.

Now go Do something about it, or face Ari Gold!

Or Else

http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/6027/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=403

The only thing that I’m sure about is that we haven’t really hammered it out recently.

Regardless, perhaps it time that we sat down and discussed it.

http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/6027/t/5465/event/index.jsp?event_KEY=14789
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