Production Is About Taking Care

I love production.

Eventually I'll start putting up some of the many photos we've taken; probably an entire page dedicated to photos so you cans them all, not just the ones we'll use in our posts. Right now however, I'm managing my energy carefully.

For days it's been 1-2 hours of sleep. Some nights -- at least twice in the last week -- literally it has been no sleep at all, going 50-55 hours with maybe a fifteen minute cat-nap sitting up somewhere, nodding out.

LM jokes about perhaps twice, ever, finding me asleep lying down. (We're roommates whenever we're on the road, plus I'm staying at his home in New York City.) Normally he finds me asleep sitting up, half-slumped over the keyboard, fingers just off the keys, in the middle of whatever. It isn't that I don't want to lie down; it's that before I manage to lie down, I just fall out.

So far this trip -- New York City to Washington D.C./Arlington VA (where we're staying)/and back to New York City -- we've been VERY lucky/the production Gods have smiled on us as these events go. We had a few VERY bad things happen which could have blown up the whole trip -- starting with my car electrical system which you wonderful readers saved us on -- which had luck, some good choices, and sometimes some lucky good choices, not broken our way, we'd have been up the creek.

We've also discovered some key tools and benefited from the kindness of strangers without which our entire coverage would have collapsed, or gone seriously awry.

• Car rental trouble - saved by the rental chain manager being wonderful.
• Renting a scooter for me as per Sara's - otherwise yesterday would be a FAIL; way too far to go. Even with the scooter the physical demands were intense. Being able to sit down and rest made it barely possible. If I'd had to walk, I'd not have made it half an hour, let alone stood up for the two plus hours of the concert.
• We had credentialing problems - the PIC were great with us in terms of fixing them once we showed up. The fact I was in my scooter may have had something to do with it. None the less, I'm very appreciative of how drama-free, rapidly, and properly they took care of us. The PIC has been WONDERFUL across the board. In contrast to those bastards at the Senate Press Galleries.
• We have a GPS. Oh, what a joy. Punch in an address, follow the instructions, and we're there. It also has saved us many times.
• The wonderful folks we're staying with. They've taken care of us, opening their doors, breakfast table -- BLUEBERRY PANCAKES, yo! -- and hearts. As well as the enormous amounts of electricity necessary to keep two bloggers and their cameras, video devices, multiple computers, telephones, the scooter, and assorted other weird devices all charged and running. I have at least six outlets going right now, and I'm sure some devices aren't charging currently.
• The people at Emily's List were amazing as well. More on them when I write my Emily's List post.
  
• Washington D.C. Metro employees whom have been helpful to us in the midst of chaos.
• And at least 5-6 other incidents I can no longer remember.

What I'm present to is how fortunate we've been this trip in people being nice to us, taking care of us, and in the choice of the correct tools, often seemingly by chance, but in retrospect our choices put us on paths which were just... right.

Today we slept in. I got ten hours of sleep. I can't remember the last time I got ten hours of sleep.

There are photos from last night. I have stories to write, about the Lunch yesterday at Emily's List, about the Concert (the Opening Ceremonies.) About what is is like to be back in New York City for the first time in a quarter-century. But today I had to sleep, try and get some energy back, just recover. I've been on the go, pushing pushing pushing, for at least 10 days, maybe longer.

My job, you see, on these events, is to get it done. There are no excuses for a failed event. Here, in Denver, and at other times, where ever GNB's goes to bring you a story, my job is to make goddamn CERTAIN that everything works right, no matter what, that our reporters and their needs (and the needs of everyone we come in contact with) are taken care of, leaving us available to report and file stories without anything getting in the way. If our reporters have their attention on production issues, I'm not getting my job done.

For example, this afternoon I and our host, drove to the Metro station LM and I are using in the morning and scouted where we'll park, if it's free or not (for disabled parking it is, everyone else pays), if there's a cut in the curb for my scooter, if there's an elevator. Then we drove into town to the ballroom where we're going tonight, looked around till I found the recommended parking structure, two blocks away and kind of hidden. It would have been HARD to find in the darkness. But now I have the street address and can program the GPS to find it no matter what. And I know about street cuts for the two blocks to the ballroom door. LM and I leave in less than 15 minutes from now. That kind of prep work is managing production. (And I'd already looked at one of those sites, as well as much of tomorrow's by overhead photo weeks in advance.) Plus I've been studying maps of tomorrow, writing down access/egress notes, and possible power recharging locations for the scooter, which is my biggest known problem for tomorrow, all morning.

Taking out the possible surprises. The one's you can't manage will be more than enough. *laughs*

Tonight (in minutes) we're going to the Netroots Nation ball at The Clarendon Ballroom in Arlington. Five hundred of the top bloggers and their friends in the country. Not even bringing a computer. (Well, my BlackBerry doesn't count, does it?) Taking the night off and just relaxing. We won. Time to have a night with friends and celebrate, dammit!

Tomorrow morning EARLY we're going to the National Mall to cover the Inagural. IF we can, afterwards, we'll swing over to Pennsylvania Ave and try and get some parade coverage (but no promises.) The ENTIRE National Mall has NEVER been filled. Last night the estimate was about half a million and from where we stood, able to reach my hand out and touch the stage-left corner of the stage (which I did more than once) the Mall looked packed. However beyond my view, at the GW Monument, the crowd ended. Tomorrow the prediction ranges from 3-4 million with EVERY part of the National Mall filled from one end to the other. Never happened before in history and may never happen again. This is the real deal, blueberry-baby-cakes. Place will be PACKED.

If you are attending tomorrow, DON'T BRING ANYTHING YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE. Security is intense. The checkpoints are through. They won't save anything for you, and you ain't getting whatever it is, through. Don't hold up the line; leave it at home.

If you want to watch either the inagural or the parade, be IN LINE no later than 8 am. Metro opens at 4 am. Be on the Metro by 5 am at the latest. We're going to be on the Metro at 4 am and in line by 5 am-ish. Why? Because to do otherwise is to risk being trampled under millions of people who are late, or to miss the event. Security (and the Metro) simply don't care if you're late, and can only process so many people an hour.

The key to warfare is logistics. The key to production is managing pieces, managing logistics, that is, making sure you are in a dance with the world and people as it and they show up. That way you're not surprised, and can keep dancing towards the committment you are that shall be. The bottom line to all of it is, taking care, paying attention, communication, giving people a safe space.

Our writing will continue over the next days as we bring you coverage. It won't all go up all at once, both because that isn't GNB's style, and because there are only two of us and we have living we have to do in the midst of this all including driving back to New York City tomorrow evening after all this is done. (We're not staying for the balls.)

More as we have it.

From the GNB Newsdesk in Washington D.C., this is Jesse Wendel. We're covering the inaguration of President-elect Barack Obama, now with under 19 hours to go before Mr. Obama is sworn in as 44th President of the United States. (Wow, try saying that last little bit outloud. It feels GREAT.)

Good Night.

There's more...

Obama: Weekly Address

High-resolution, mp4 format available here.

Weekly Address from the President-elect - December 17, 2008

It's the SCIENCE TEAM rollout.

Once again, he shoots, he scores.

These selections are all about competence.

Rock and fracking roll.

P.S. Check out the President-elect in high-resolution video. SUPER intense.

Change.gov - The Office of the President-elect

Remarks of President-Elect Barack Obama
Science Team Rollout Radio Address
Friday, December 17, 2008
Chicago, Illinois

Over the past few weeks, Vice President-Elect Biden and I have announced some of the leaders who will advise us as we seek to meet America's twenty-first century challenges, from strengthening our security, to rebuilding our economy, to preserving our planet for our children and grandchildren. Today, I am pleased to announce members of my science and technology team whose work will be critical to these efforts.

Whether it's the science to slow global warming; the technology to protect our troops and confront bioterror and weapons of mass destruction; the research to find life-saving cures; or the innovations to remake our industries and create twenty-first century jobs -- today, more than ever before, science holds the key to our survival as a planet and our security and prosperity as a nation. It is time we once again put science at the top of our agenda and worked to restore America's place as the world leader in science and technology.

Right now, in labs, classrooms and companies across America, our leading minds are hard at work chasing the next big idea, on the cusp of breakthroughs that could revolutionize our lives. But history tells us that they cannot do it alone. From landing on the moon, to sequencing the human genome, to inventing the Internet, America has been the first to cross that new frontier because we had leaders who paved the way: leaders like President Kennedy, who inspired us to push the boundaries of the known world and achieve the impossible; leaders who not only invested in our scientists, but who respected the integrity of the scientific process.

Because the truth is that promoting science isn't just about providing resources -- it's about protecting free and open inquiry. It's about ensuring that facts and evidence are never twisted or obscured by politics or ideology. It's about listening to what our scientists have to say, even when it's inconvenient -- especially when it's inconvenient. Because the highest purpose of science is the search for knowledge, truth and a greater understanding of the world around us. That will be my goal as President of the United States -- and I could not have a better team to guide me in this work.

Dr. John Holdren has agreed to serve as Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. John is a professor and Director of the Program on Science, Technology, and Public Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, as well as President and Director of the Woods Hole Research Center. A physicist renowned for his work on climate and energy, he's received numerous honors and awards for his contributions and has been one of the most passionate and persistent voices of our time about the growing threat of climate change. I look forward to his wise counsel in the years ahead.

John will also serve as a Co-Chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology -- or PCAST -- as will Dr. Harold Varmus and Dr. Eric Lander. Together, they will work to remake PCAST into a vigorous external advisory council that will shape my thinking on the scientific aspects of my policy priorities.

Dr. Varmus is no stranger to this work. He is not just a path-breaking scientist, having won a Nobel Prize for his research on the causes of cancer -- he also served as Director of the National Institutes of Health during the Clinton Administration. I am grateful he has answered the call to serve once again.

Dr. Eric Lander is the Founding Director of the Broad Institute at MIT and Harvard and was one of the driving forces behind mapping the human genome -- one of the greatest scientific achievements in history. I know he will be a powerful voice in my Administration as we seek to find the causes and cures of our most devastating diseases.

Finally, Dr. Jane Lubchenco has accepted my nomination as the Administrator of NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is devoted to conserving our marine and coastal resources and monitoring our weather. An internationally known environmental scientist and ecologist and former President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Jane has advised the President and Congress on scientific matters, and I am confident she will provide passionate and dedicated leadership at NOAA.

Working with these leaders, we will seek to draw on the power of science to both meet our challenges across the globe and revitalize our economy here at home. And I'll be speaking more after the New Year about how my Administration will engage leaders in the technology community and harness technology and innovation to create jobs, enhance America's competitiveness and advance our national priorities.

I am confident that if we recommit ourselves to discovery; if we support science education to create the next generation of scientists and engineers right here in America; if we have the vision to believe and invest in things unseen, then we can lead the world into a new future of peace and prosperity.

Thank you.

What do you think about the President-elect's commitment to science?

What about the President-elect's science team so far?

What still needs to happen?

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Network Neutrality

Net Neutrality has been a big topic today.

Mostly because the Wall St. Journal wrote a bullshit article.

I posted at Firedoglake: WSJ Lies About Network Neutrality

Comments?

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Obama: Weekly Address

High-resolution, mp4 format available here.

Weekly Address from the President-elect - December 13, 2008

Housing.

In the middle of Saturday's address, President-elect Obama announced his nominee for Secretary of Housing.

This transition is moving more rapidly than any in modern times.

Personally, I am stunned with the competence of the people named so far.

If I had one beef it would be that too many of the senior staff come from the Ivy league.

I believe in competence no matter what school one went to. Hell, I believe in competence even for those who didn't graduate. Bill Gates and many of us senior computer geeks never finished a four-year institution... it simply wasn't required. What mattered was, could you hack or could you keep large enterprise systems up and running.

Generation X is about getting the job done, that being RIGHT is what matters, not your credentials. Hopefully there will be a few picks which demonstrate this clearly.

Change.gov - The Office of the President-elect

Remarks of President-elect Barack Obama
Radio Address on the Economy
December 13, 2008

Good morning.

Earlier this week, we learned that the number of Americans filing their first claim for unemployment insurance rose to a nearly 30-year high. This news reflects the pain that’s been rippling across our entire economy. Jobs are being cut. Wages are being slashed. Credit is tight and people can’t get loans. In cities and towns all across this country, families enter a holiday season with unease and uncertainty.

To end this economic crisis, we must end the mortgage crisis where it began. This all started when Americans took out mortgages they couldn’t afford. Some were reckless, aware of the risks they were accepting, but many were innocent, tricked by lenders out to make a quick buck. With banks creating securities they could not value, and regulators looking the other way, the problem began infecting the whole economy, leading to the crisis we’re now facing.

One in ten families who owns a home is now in some form of distress, the most ever recorded. This is deeply troubling. It not only shakes the foundation of our economy, but the foundation of the American Dream. There is nothing more fundamental than having a home to call your own. It’s not just a place to live or raise your children or return after a hard day’s work -- it’s the cornerstone of a family’s financial security.

To stem the rising tide of foreclosures and strengthen our economy, I’ve asked my economic team to develop a bold plan that will dramatically increase the number of families who can stay in their homes. But this plan will only work with a comprehensive, coordinated federal effort to make it a reality. We need every part of our government working together -- from the Treasury Department to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the agency that protects the money you’ve put in the bank. And few will be more essential to this effort than the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

From providing shelter to those displaced by Katrina to giving help to those facing the loss of a home to revitalizing our cities and communities, HUD’s role has never been more important. Since its founding, HUD has been dedicated to tearing down barriers in access to affordable housing -- in an effort to make America more equal and more just. Too often, these efforts have had mixed results.

That is why we cannot keep doing things the old Washington way. We cannot keep throwing money at the problem, hoping for a different result. We need to approach the old challenge of affordable housing with new energy, new ideas, and a new, efficient style of leadership. We need to understand that the old ways of looking at our cities just won’t do. That means promoting cities as the backbone of regional growth by not only solving the problems in our cities, but seizing the opportunities in our growing suburbs, exurbs, and metropolitan areas. No one knows this better than the outstanding public servant I am announcing today as our next Secretary of Housing and Urban Development -- Shaun Donovan.

As Commissioner of Housing Preservation and Development in New York City, Shaun has led the effort to create the largest housing plan in the nation, helping hundreds of thousands of our citizens buy or rent their homes. Prior to joining Mayor Bloomberg’s administration, Shaun worked both in business, where he was responsible for affordable housing investments, and at one of our nation’s top universities, where he researched and wrote about housing issues. This appointment represents something of a homecoming for Shaun, who worked at HUD in the Clinton administration, leading an effort to help make housing affordable for nearly two million Americans. Trained as an architect, Shaun understands housing down to how homes are designed, built, and wired.

With experience that stretches from the public sector to the private sector to academia, Shaun will bring to this important post fresh thinking, unencumbered by old ideology and outdated ideas. He understands that we need to move past the stale arguments that say low-income Americans shouldn’t even try to own a home or that our mortgage crisis is due solely to a few greedy lenders. He knows that we can put the dream of owning a home within reach for more families, so long as we’re making loans in the right way, and so long as those who buy a home are prepared for the responsibilities of homeownership.

In the end, expanding access to affordable housing isn’t just about caring for the least fortunate among us and strengthening our middle class -- it’s about ending our housing mess, climbing out of our financial crisis, and putting our economy on the path to long-term growth and prosperity. And that is what Shaun and I will work to do together when I am President of the United States.

Thank you.

What do you think about this nominee?

What about the President-elect's economic proposals so far?

What still needs to happen?

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Secretary of Veterans Affairs nominee, General Eric Shinseki

President-elect Obama is mostly nominating people who were RIGHT. And competent.

Exhibit A: Eric Shinseki.

Not saying everyone is going to be this perfect.

Although I sure do love the leak for Secretary of Energy -- Nobel laureate Steven Chu. Dr. Chu received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997. Currently he is Professor of Physics and Molecular and Cellular Biology of University of California, Berkeley and the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He is directing research in alternative energy sources and ways to reduce greenhouse emissions. He's a senior scientist with enormous administrative experience at the national level, and (if the leak is correct) is going to be nominated to be Secretary of the Department of Energy.

Wow... what a concept. Let's call this Exhibit B.

Again, the President-elect is nominating people who were RIGHT. And COMPETENT.

A few other things I'll point out, in case you missed them.

The Transition Team is operating with a huge commitment to transparency.

1. They're asking for feedback, having people vote on the feedback so the good stuff filters to the top, and then having senior people answer it, including nominees.

Take a look at Join the Discussion where Healthcare was recently on the table.

2. Open for Questions is a pilot project to see what questions matter to us.

Imagine what will happen when OUR questions filter up to White House press conferences. That is where this is likely heading. For reals. With follow-up asked by White House reporters based on how the press secretary, cabinet officers, or the president answers the question.

3. Our Seat at the Table. We have access to all meetings, documents, schedules, everything the team does publicly. Here's the direct link.

We'll keep monitoring the Transition site for you.

But if you believe government can and should work, the Obama team's performance so far is pretty damn cool.

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Obama: Weekly Address

High-resolution, mp4 format available here.

Weekly Address from the President-elect - December 6, 2008

Economy, economy, economy.

Obama's plan starts with public infrastructure.

My only concern is if enough of these middle-class union jobs will go to women.

However as the first portion of a multi-pronged approach, this is good.

Other prongs obviously include:

• health care for everyone, health care as a right.
• green energy: a new grid, a new economy, a new technology.
• a military not fighting two wars; a military building for the future.
• and fundamental issues: no torture, rule of law, voting which is trusted.

I want to see what's next.

I like that Obama is being patient. We only have one president at a time. Yes, obviously that's cliché, but it's true.

Bush as usual, isn't doing anything. Obama can't take over -- he has no authority to do so. It's for Obama to keep planning the transition, making clear to the people of the United States and the world that adults have been elected back into power in the U.S.

And then, we wait. (In reality, Obama keeps planning.)

Change.gov - The Office of the President-elect

Remarks of President-elect Barack Obama
Radio Address on the Economy
December 6, 2008

Good morning.

Yesterday, we received another painful reminder of the serious economic challenge our country is facing when we learned that 533,000 jobs were lost in November alone, the single worst month of job loss in over three decades. That puts the total number of jobs lost in this recession at nearly 2 million.

But this isn’t about numbers. It’s about each of the families those numbers represent. It’s about the rising unease and frustration that so many of you are feeling during this holiday season. Will you be able to put your kids through college? Will you be able to afford health care? Will you be able to retire with dignity and security? Will your job or your husband’s job or your daughter’s or son's job be the next one cut?

These are the questions that keep so many Americans awake at night. But it is not the first time these questions have been asked. We have faced difficult times before, times when our economic destiny seemed to be slipping out of our hands. And at each moment, we have risen to meet the challenge, as one people united by a sense of common purpose. And I know that Americans can rise to the moment once again.

But we need action – and action now. That is why I have asked my economic team to develop an economic recovery plan for both Wall Street and Main Street that will help save or create at least two and a half million jobs, while rebuilding our infrastructure, improving our schools, reducing our dependence on oil, and saving billions of dollars.

We won’t do it the old Washington way. We won’t just throw money at the problem. We’ll measure progress by the reforms we make and the results we achieve -- by the jobs we create, by the energy we save, by whether America is more competitive in the world.

Today, I am announcing a few key parts of my plan. First, we will launch a massive effort to make public buildings more energy-efficient. Our government now pays the highest energy bill in the world. We need to change that. We need to upgrade our federal buildings by replacing old heating systems and installing efficient light bulbs. That won’t just save you, the American taxpayer, billions of dollars each year. It will put people back to work.

Second, we will create millions of jobs by making the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s. We’ll invest your precious tax dollars in new and smarter ways, and we’ll set a simple rule – use it or lose it. If a state doesn’t act quickly to invest in roads and bridges in their communities, they’ll lose the money.

Third, my economic recovery plan will launch the most sweeping effort to modernize and upgrade school buildings that this country has ever seen. We will repair broken schools, make them energy-efficient, and put new computers in our classrooms. Because to help our children compete in a 21st century economy, we need to send them to 21st century schools.

As we renew our schools and highways, we’ll also renew our information superhighway. It is unacceptable that the United States ranks 15th in the world in broadband adoption. Here, in the country that invented the internet, every child should have the chance to get online, and they’ll get that chance when I’m President – because that’s how we’ll strengthen America’s competitiveness in the world.

In addition to connecting our libraries and schools to the internet, we must also ensure that our hospitals are connected to each other through the internet. That is why the economic recovery plan I’m proposing will help modernize our health care system – and that won’t just save jobs, it will save lives. We will make sure that every doctor’s office and hospital in this country is using cutting edge technology and electronic medical records so that we can cut red tape, prevent medical mistakes, and help save billions of dollars each year.

These are a few parts of the economic recovery plan that I will be rolling out in the coming weeks. When Congress reconvenes in January, I look forward to working with them to pass a plan immediately. We need to act with the urgency this moment demands to save or create at least two and a half million jobs so that the nearly two million Americans who’ve lost them know that they have a future. And that’s exactly what I intend to do as President of the United States.

Thanks for listening.

What do you think should happen next?

What do you support?

What's missing from this proposal and what is right on?

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Obama: Barbara Walters Interview

Barbara Walters Interview with
President-elect Barack Obama and Mrs. Michelle Obama
November 26, 2008


Part 1 - President-elect Obama


Part 2 - President-elect Obama


Part 3 - President-elect and Mrs. Obama


Part 4 - President-elect and Mrs. Obama


Part 5 - President-elect and Mrs. Obama


Part 6 - President-elect and Mrs. Obama

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Obama: Press Conference

Press Conference with the President-Elect - November 25, 2008

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Sunday Open Thread

What ONE QUESTION would you ask the President-Elect?

• In public at a press conference.
• In private just the two of you.
• Or if you like, you, Obama, and the First-Lady to be. (You can double-date. Heck, bring the kids.)

What ONE CHANGE would you have the President-Elect make?

• That everyone knows.
• Privately (Must be a change that can be done in private.)

What ONE POSITION would you take in President Obama's Administration?

• That you're qualified for. (By experience. College isn't an issue.)
• Your dream job. (Don't worry about vetting...and spoil your dream?)
• What's your Fantasy job? Chief of Staff, Secretary of State or Ambassador to the Court of St. James. Secretary of Defense or the President's Body Man. First Lady's Chief of Staff. Secret Service Agent. Head of the President's Detail. Or even the Undersecretary of Agriculture who gets stranded in Iowa and meets a corn-fed blond twenty-something farmer's daughter who is (as Aaron Sorkin put it) "wholesome but not too wholesome..."
  
• What is your fantasy job in the Obama Administration... and WHY? *grins*

What ONE BRIEF SENTENCE/PARAGRAPH would you send the Transition Team?

Also, Open Thread on Sunday food.

I'm going to go have waffles, bacon and a Coke Cola. In a little while. And probably a BLT and a quart of potato salad for dinner. Hopefully with pie. The lemon pie I had yesterday was delicious. Mmmmm. (I had two slices.) Yummy.

First however, you should know I've been trying to post this since 8 am pacific, and keep falling asleep, four or five times at least. I'm going to publish it quickly, even if I'm not sure I have all the typo's out or have it quite right yet, because I just can't seem to stay awake.

Yes, my sleep schedule is weird. If you're going to call me today however don't worry, just go ahead and call anyway; I wake up quickly.

There's more...

Obama: Weekly Address

Weekly Address from the President-Elect - November 22, 2008

I love that President-Elect Obama speaks to us through this new-fangled Intertubes and not that Marconi device.

He's so dreamy. And techno-hip.

Although he doesn't have to give up his Blackberry. What's that you say?

MSNBC and The New York Times/AP say President-Elect Obama is concerned he will not be able to use his Blackberry once he is President, due to the Presidential Records Act.

This isn't an issue.

I have over a quarter-century experience in Enterprise IT Messaging. (It's not as much fun as being a paramedic was, so I don't talk about it as much. *smiles*) Once President-Elect Obama is President, he can use a Blackberry to:

• Send and receive phone calls integrated with the White House PBX, with regulatory data captured for archiving purposes,
• Send and receive secure emails which are captured back in the White House data center and archived as required,
• Send and receive from his personal email address (if for example it's Gmail as mine is), personal emails which are NOT archived.

I'm one of the technical experts which Mother Jones magazine used to vet their series of stories about the Bush Administration email problems. I read ALL the depositions on the current White House messaging system setup for the Executive Office of the President.

Bottom line: The President-Elect does NOT have to give up his Blackberry. Anyone who tells him otherwise is incompetent. Any competent senior-level IT team could handle this routinely.

Obama has said he's going to appoint a CTO.

Who should the CTO be and what should be her priorities?

And what about today's Weekly Address, hmmm?

I'm off to breakfast. So feel free to talk about food and the weekend also.

Ah hell, just call this the SATURDAY OPEN THREAD.

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Obama Job Application Crosses The Line

Powder Cocaine. Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory, State of Alaska, June, 2008. Photographer unknown.

“Take This Job and Shove It”

The 63 question job application from the Obama team is insane.

Graphic The New York Times.

Raw Story

"If you have ever sent an electronic communication, including but, not limited to an email, text message or instant message that could suggest a conflict of interest or be a possible source of embarrassment to you, your family, or the president-elect if it were made public, please describe."

Potential applicants are also asked to detail every speech, newspaper column or blog post they have written and must even provide the URL of any websites in which they feature including Facebook or MySpace.

They must also list every cohabitant for the last 10 years and say whether they have ever owned a gun.

Obama has also published stringent new rules governing the terms under which lobbyists who petition the federal government can work on his transition.

If they are not put off by the stringent personal disclosures required, potential government workers can pore through the "Plum Book," a listing of over 7,000 senior level government jobs released on Wednesday.

Four thousand of the jobs are political appointments, and 1,100 require confirmation by the Senate.

The listings by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee -- of which Obama is a member -- include such top jobs as US Representative to the United Nations and administrator for the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The tough posting of US coordinator for Afghanistan is listed as vacant, as Obama insists that the United States must refocus its military strategy on battling Taliban and Al-Qaeda remnants.

But there are also more obscure appointments up for grabs.

Someone is wanted for the post of deputy assistant director for endangered species in the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

There's more...

The New York Times

The questionnaire includes 63 requests for personal and professional records, some covering applicants’ spouses and grown children as well, that are forcing job-seekers to rummage from basements to attics, in shoe boxes, diaries and computer archives to document both their achievements and missteps.

Only the smallest details are excluded; traffic tickets carrying fines of less than $50 need not be reported, the application says. Applicants are asked whether they or anyone in their family owns a gun. They must include any e-mail that might embarrass the president-elect, along with any blog posts and links to their Facebook pages.

The application also asks applicants to “please list all aliases or ‘handles’ you have used to communicate on the Internet.”

The first question asks applicants not just for a résumé, but for every résumé and biographical statement issued by them or others for the past 10 years — a likely safeguard against résumé falsehoods, one Clinton administration veteran said.

Most information must cover at least the past decade, including the names of anyone applicants lived with; a chronological list of activities for which applicants were paid; real estate and loans over $10,000, and their terms, for applicants and spouses; net worth statements submitted for loans, and organization memberships — in particular, memberships in groups that have discriminated on the basis of race, sex, disability, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation.

There are no time limits for some information, including liens, tax audits, lawsuits, legal charges, bankruptcies or arrests. Applicants must report all businesses with which they and their spouses have been affiliated or in which they have had a financial stake of more than 5 percent. All gifts over $50 that they and their spouses have received from anyone other than close friends or relatives must be identified.

Just in case the previous 62 questions do not ferret out any potential controversy, the 63rd is all-encompassing: “Please provide any other information, including information about other members of your family, that could suggest a conflict of interest or be a possible source of embarrassment to you, your family, or the president-elect.”

The answer could duplicate the response to Question 8: “Briefly describe the most controversial matters you have been involved with during the course of your career.”

For those who clear all the hurdles, the reward could be the job they wanted. But first there will be more forms, for security and ethics clearances from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Office of Government Ethics.

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This is bullshit.

Is this job application legal?

It goes WAY over the line.

Let's distinguish between Security Clearances and Political Vetting.

I'll tell the FBI, NSA, or Secret Service, anything they want to know. Their clearance processes work and they keep their files secure. If someone leaks a file, it's a felony.

That's not this.

The Obama team is vetting prior to hiring. To cover their political asses, they're saying, "Tell us ALL your deepest, darkest secrets; we'll tell you if we're hiring you."

Yeah... Right.

Like it makes sense to give professional political operatives, HR people no less, your deepest, darkest, most personal secrets, along with your medical and tax records going back years. Then TRUST THEM. Because they work for the President-Elect, so they won't fuck you over, no Sir, nuh-uh.

Other than the on the transition website, which goes further than the Bush Administration's, there's no assurance, absolutely none that they won't use everything you tell them to fuck you, your mother, your wife and husband, sons and daughters, your dog, and get you fired from your current job as well.

Some of the people on the transition team may have political grudges against you or may see an opportunity to fuck you or your organization over in order to gain points with some other political faction. And you'll never know who screwed you.

It isn't as if your Obama job application is a Top Secret FBI file with felony charges for violating national security. Because it's just a job application for political vetting, not a FBI security file; that only comes later AFTER you're hired.

So go ahead, hand some 20-30 year old political staff the political equivalent of blackmail video-tapes of you having a torrid affair with Bill O'Reilly, surrounded by luffas and candy you stole from children.

Do you even know if the Obama team's IT system is secure? The FBI system is. Any system the Obama team just designed, arguably is not. I'm just saying.

Do I really think the transition team is going to screw people over on this stuff? No, I actually don't. There are people on the transition team I know and trust. Trust deeply, actually. *waves*

But my point here is about CHECKS AND BALANCES. No one should be forced to submit to political vetting (and trust their public identity to non-existent assurances that their identity won't be destroyed by a trial balloon or a tactical leak for political purposes by the Obama team) on hiring decisions PRIOR to initial hiring.

Instead, the Obama team should make a conditional offer to folks, contingent on their being vetted successfully. It's also fine if people choose to be vetted in advance to speed things along, however these questions simply can not be taken for granted as just a step in the process; the questions are too intrusive, too personal, and the people reading them are too untrained -- this is the first Obama Administration. It isn't like the FBI who has been around a long, long time.

During the heyday of the Internet Boom in the 90s, kids in Silicon Valley used to think they should work 80-100 hour work weeks because they were building a new, brighter future. Their boss would bring in a foosball table, a cook, and all the Jolt Cola and pizza they could handle. Oh... and sometimes, their pay would be late. But what the heck; they were building a bigger, brighter future for the world. Most of those companies are still talked of... at fuckedcompany.com.

Same thing happened during the heyday of the Consciousness raising period in the 70s & 80s at est, at Lifespring, Mind Dynamics, Scientology, and hundreds more. People with good intentions volunteered collectively many thousands of hours...and the parent organization made a bundle, because the volunteers failed to distinguish between contributing to others and contributing to the stockholders. The volunteers weren't stockholders, you see. But to this day, almost all of the volunteers still talk about the "value" they got out of volunteering. The stockholders (if you can find one; they're rare) talk about all the damn money they made out of the volunteers. Amazing how that works. Except when they're around the volunteers. Then the stockholders talk about how much value they got out of their relationship with the volunteers. *laughs*

The Millennials have been raised that nothing is off limits, that there is no privacy, and that has impacted all of us who are now alive. They're wrong, and those of us who are middle-aged, know it. Lots of things are off limits, outside of family or a valid security or criminal investigation. Applying for a job should NEVER be an invitation to open up someone like a book.

To ask these questions of anyone in the context of a job interview is massively arrogant. Make a preliminary offer first, then run them through poltical vetting. But to demand all of this before making the offer bespeaks arrogance which is beneath Obama. (I'm betting this does not personally have his hand on it. Oh yes, he is that arrogant; he'd just never have set it up this stupidly. The process lacks elegance, it lacks taking care of people. It lacks Obama's personal touch. This was set up by staff who don't quite get his vision.)

There are incidents, issues, and areas in life which people have spent years to decades closing behind them, making the nightmares STOP. To have to rip all that open again for a jumped-up HR department, just so they can see if they are interested? Fuck them.

Is this even legal? I know it wouldn't be anywhere else. Or is this another one of those bullshit situations where the Executive and Congress have exempted themselves from the same laws the rest of the United States must live under. Because if I were hiring people for GNB, I sure as shit couldn't ask a potential hire these questions and base hiring decisions on them. I'd get my ass sued and rightly so.

Pretense, Social Hypocrisy, in pursuit of looking good, ass-covering, and Style over Substance... That is what REPUBLICANS do. It is what Joe Lieberman specializes in.

Obama was elected to knock this crap off.

An ENORMOUS number of the best people in the United States are too adult to EVER submit to this type of childish game playing.

I won't.

If this means I'll never work for the President, well, fuck it.

If President-Elect Obama with his cocaine use is too much of a chicken-shit to use me and grownups like me, then really, he and the transition team can shove it up their hypocritical asses.

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Hillary on the List for Secretary of State

Talk is coming and going about the cabinet. Both last week and yesterday Hillary's name has come up for Sec. of State. I think she would do a good job in this post, though I was really hoping it would go to Bill Richardson. As an American Abroad I also feel a new face on our foreign relations would be better. The Clintons do come with a HUGE presence that is not always helpful.

CHICAGO (AP) -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is among the candidates that President-elect Barack Obama is considering for secretary of state, according to two Democratic officials in close contact with the Obama transition team.

Clinton, the former first lady who pushed Obama hard for the Democratic presidential nomination, was rumored to be a contender for the job last week, but the talk died down as party activists questioned whether she was best-suited to be the nation's top diplomat in an Obama administration.

The talk resumed in Washington and elsewhere Thursday, a day after Obama named several former aides to President Bill Clinton to help run his transition effort.

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Headlines Around the World

What a gorgeous collection. It truly is the coming of a new era.

crosspost from FL

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Presidential Pupp-eh Preditction Open Thread

So, What kind of dog do you think Malia and Sasha are going to choose?

My guess is not tiny or toy, not huge. Something about springer spaniel size. English Springer Spaniel. (or maybe a Dalmatian)

But, my real question is, since I worked hard on this campaign... can I get a puppy too? I want a French Bulldog, or a Chocolate Lab.

(Prize of dog related computer gear from Tokyo for the first person who turns out to be correct)

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The Next President In Action, Transparency and Citizen Participation

Out of the starting gate! The transition team of President Elect Barack Obama launched Change.gov

Asking for citizens to apply to work for the administration. Amazing.

AND they also put the whole transition guideline document on line so that people can learn what happens how it happens and why!

Share your vision of America here.

Amazing. I didn't expect this so quickly.

Yes.We.Did.
Yes.We.Will.

I will gladly serve at the pleasure of this president.

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Cabinet Wish List

Who is on your wish list for the cabinet of the 44th President of The USA?

One MUST have for me, is a terrific post for Gov. Howard Dean! Health and Human Services?

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Open Letter From Alice Walker

I think I will frame this and keep it in my office. This is pure, shining wisdom of the best and most profound kind. (photo by Curt Richter)

An Open Letter to Barack Obama
By Alice Walker | TheRoot.com
Nov. 5, 2008

Dear Brother Obama,

You have no idea, really, of how profound this moment is for us. Us being the black people of the Southern United States. You think you know, because you are thoughtful, and you have studied our history. But seeing you deliver the torch so many others before you carried, year after year, decade after decade, century after century, only to be struck down before igniting the flame of justice and of law, is almost more than the heart can bear. And yet, this observation is not intended to burden you, for you are of a different time, and, indeed, because of all the relay runners before you, North America is a different place. It is really only to say: Well done. We knew, through all the generations, that you were with us, in us, the best of the spirit of Africa and of the Americas. Knowing this, that you would actually appear, someday, was part of our strength. Seeing you take your rightful place, based solely on your wisdom, stamina and character, is a balm for the weary warriors of hope, previously only sung about.

I would advise you to remember that you did not create the disaster that the world is experiencing, and you alone are not responsible for bringing the world back to balance. A primary responsibility that you do have, however, is to cultivate happiness in your own life. To make a schedule that permits sufficient time of rest and play with your gorgeous wife and lovely daughters. And so on.

One gathers that your family is large. We are used to seeing men in the White House soon become juiceless and as white-haired as the building; we notice their wives and children looking strained and stressed. They soon have smiles so lacking in joy that they remind us of scissors. This is no way to lead. Nor does your family deserve this fate. One way of thinking about all this is: It is so bad now that there is no excuse not to relax. From your happy, relaxed state, you can model real success, which is all that so many people in the world really want. They may buy endless cars and houses and furs and gobble up all the attention and space they can manage, or barely manage, but this is because it is not yet clear to them that success is truly an inside job. That it is within the reach of almost everyone.

I would further advise you not to take on other people's enemies. Most damage that others do to us is out of fear, humiliation and pain. Those feelings occur in all of us, not just in those of us who profess a certain religious or racial devotion. We must learn actually not to have enemies, but only confused adversaries who are ourselves in disguise. It is understood by all that you are commander in chief of the United States and are sworn to protect our beloved country; this we understand, completely. However, as my mother used to say, quoting a Bible with which I often fought, "hate the sin, but love the sinner." There must be no more crushing of whole communities, no more torture, no more dehumanizing as a means of ruling a people's spirit. This has already happened to people of color, poor people, women, children. We see where this leads, where it has led.

A good model of how to "work with the enemy" internally is presented by the Dalai Lama, in his endless caretaking of his soul as he confronts the Chinese government that invaded Tibet. Because, finally, it is the soul that must be reserved, if one is to remain a credible leader. All else might be lost; but when the soul dies, the connection to earth, to peoples, to animals, to rivers, to mountain ranges, purple and majestic, also dies. And your smile, with which we watch you do gracious battle with unjust characterizations, distortions and lies, is that expression of healthy self-worth, spirit and soul, that, kept happy and free and relaxed, can find an answering smile in all of us, lighting our way, and brightening the world.

We are the ones we have been waiting for.

In Peace and Joy,
Alice Walker

Indeed.

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Happy Thoughts-- Post Election Open Thread

AP Photo

I know we've got work to do.

I know we lost some that we should have won.

I know many of us have hangovers.

But let's let our hearts and souls celebrate a wee bit longer before we get too deep into the next "What's next."

Happy thread here...

Tell us how you celebrated.
What your hopes are.
Nice election stories.
Inspiriting volunteer tales.
What you want to do to celebrate inauguration day on 1/20/09.

Personally, I am walking on sunshine.

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Obama: Victory Speech

President Elect Barack Obama
Victory Speech
November 4, 2008
Grant Park, Chicago

The New York Times

The following is a transcript of Senator Barack Obama’s victory speech in Chicago, as provided by Federal News Service.

SENATOR BARACK OBAMA: (Cheers, applause.) Hello, Chicago. (Cheers, applause.)

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our Founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer. (Cheers, applause.)

It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.

It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled -- (cheers) -- Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states; we are and always will be the United States of America. (Cheers, applause.)

It's the answer that -- that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day. It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America. (Cheers, applause.)

A little bit earlier this evening, I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Senator McCain. (Cheers, applause.) Senator McCain fought long and hard in this campaign, and he's fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. (Applause.) I congratulate him, I congratulate Governor Palin for all they've achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead. (Cheers, applause.)

I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton, and rode with on the train home to Delaware, the vice president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden. (Cheers, applause.)

And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years, the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation's next first lady, Michelle Obama. (Cheers, applause.)

Sasha and Malia, I love you both more than you can imagine, and you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House. (Cheers, applause.)

And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure.

To my sister Maya, my sister Auma, all my other brothers and sisters, thank you so much for all the support that you've given to me. I am grateful to them. (Cheers, applause.)

And to my campaign manager, David Plouffe -- (cheers, applause) -- the unsung hero of this campaign who built the best -- (cheers) -- the best political campaign I think in the history of the United States of America -- (cheers, applause) -- to my chief strategist, David Axelrod -- (cheers, applause) -- who has been a partner with me every step of the way, to the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics -- (cheers) -- you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done. (Cheers, applause.)

But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. (Cheers, applause.) It belongs to you. (Cheers.)

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington; it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston. It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the cause. (Cheers, applause.) It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy -- (cheers) -- who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep. It drew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers, and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from the Earth. This is your victory. (Cheers, applause.)

Now, I know you didn't do this just to win an election, and I know you didn't do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime: two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage or pay their doctors' bills or save enough for their child's college education.

There's new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair.

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term, but America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you: We as a people will get there. (Cheers, applause.)

AUDIENCE: Yes, we can! Yes, we can! Yes, we can! Yes, we can! Yes, we can!

MR. OBAMA: There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president, and we know the government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it's been done in America for 221 years -- block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek; it is only the chance for us to make that change.

And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice. So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other.

Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers. In this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.

Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let's remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House -- a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity. Those are values we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. (Cheers, applause.)

As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, "We are not enemies, but friends -- though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection." And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your president too. (Cheers, applause.)

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. (Cheers, applause.) To those -- to those who would tear the world down: we will defeat you. (Cheers, applause.) To those who seek peace and security: we support you. (Cheers, applause.) And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals -- democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope. (Cheers, applause.)

That's the true genius of America, that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight's about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She is a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election, except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old. (Cheers, applause.)

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons, because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin. And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America: the heartache and the hope, the struggle and the progress, the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed, yes we can.

At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

When there was despair in the Dust Bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can!

MR. OBAMA: When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can!

MR. OBAMA: She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We shall overcome." Yes we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can!

MR. OBAMA: A man touched down on the Moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change.

Yes, we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes, we can.

MR. OBAMA: America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there's so much more to do. So tonight let us ask ourselves, if our children should live to see the next century, if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time -- to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope; and where we are met with cynicism and doubt and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes, we can.

MR. OBAMA: Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America. (Cheers, applause.)

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Joy as Election Called for Obama

One-hundred forty-five years ago a President said:

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Forty-five years ago a Preacher said:

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

All across the United States, all across the world, people wept, people rejoiced, and people celebrated -- as in a giant wave of change, a promise for the the future, a hope for a better tomorrow and a world of people united in a common understanding of our mutual inter-relatedness -- the election was called for Barack Obama as President Elect of the United States of America.

Rejoice.

Joy cometh in the morning.

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