If You Read ESPN.com, He'd Like to Know

I ran across the blog of Kareem, an ESPN.com employee. Kareem wants to know what people think about the site and specifically about insider:

- If you are not an Insider, why not? Do we need to do a better job of showing you what Insider offers? Or, is there not enough that has compelled you to buy? What content or tools would be worth it to become an Insider?

- If you are an Insider, what do you like about it? What would you like to see more of?

It's nice to see companies embracing the internet and blogs to reach consumers in a real way. Kareem is trying to gain insight from some serious ESPN.com fans and I expect he'll get it.

As for me, I've been an Insider at three different points in the last few years. For me, the most enticing aspect of Insider is the draft coverage and specifically Kiper's commentary. I'm a big football fan and I really like to keep up on what's going on during the offseason (especially because much of the time the offseason provides much more hope for Bears fans than the regular season). At the times when I've ended my Insider subscription it's just been because I decided it wasn't really something I needed. I weighed the expense versus the return and decided it just wasn't worth it. I'm not quite sure what else I would want to become an Insider. I admit that I often am interested in Insider only articles, but I haven't seen anything I absolutely could not live without. I also have chosen not to subscribe again because one time when I tried to end my subscription I had a great deal of trouble ending it. I couldn't get through to anyone at ESPN.com and when I finally did, they never issued me my credit until I called back a second time (not an easy task).

I still see Insider as an impulse buy. If one day I see something on ESPN.com Insider that I absolutely can not live without I could see myself subscribing again, but until then I think the regular, old ESPN.com will be good enough for me. Another thing that might encourage me (or at least the dork in me), is if there were some RSS options to insider. Maybe if I could get the Insider Local articles delivered as a feed I'd be more interested. I must admite that since I started using an RSS aggregator my ESPN.com visits have gone down quite a bit. I have feeds for Bill Simmons and Chris Mortensen and other than that it's just an occaisional visit (down from my 15+ visits a day just a year ago). Hope some of these comments are helpful.

Also, as a side note, ESPN.com should really make its RSS feeds more accessible. I never knew about them until I stumbled upon the RSS page randomly one day, there was no easy to find link on the site.

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Target's Got Trouble a Brewin'

This can be filed under reasons for companies to start blogging. It seems that Target has begun selling some less than mainstream products including:

Anal Massage for $35.96 [image via Eric's Archived Thoughts] and

Marijuana for $25.25 [image via Adam Kalsey].

There is a lot of buzz bubbling up about this (Steve Rubel of Micro Persuasion, InsideGoogle, Adam Kalsey and Eric's Archived Thoughts have all talked about it). According to Adam Kalsey, this is not just some silly kid messing around, it's a problem with the way Amazon runs the Target website:

Apparently this isn’t a test data problem. It’s a problem with not enough product details and the way the ecommerce system’s back end works. The item in question is a book that Amazon carries, but Amazon has no details on the book. Since Target.com is managed by Amazon, many of the products sold by Amazon can be forced to show in the Target.com design; just tack the ASIN from Amazon onto the Target URL. For instance, you buy Isaac Mizrahi cashmere gloves from Target.com even though your local Target isn’t going to carry this item.

When the book is shown on Amazon, it’s obvious that Amazon is selling a book entitled "Marijuana," but when shown through Target’s interface it just looks like they’re selling pot.

Where is Target to fix this problem? I talked about Robert Scoble at Microsoft yesterday, and you could be damn sure that if this were a Microsoft problem he would be online talking about it. Target, however, is a big company without a real face or voice (at least to my knowledge). There's no one out there to talk about the problem and all they can do is pull these pages offline (as they did with the anal massage page). However, it's only a matter of time before someone finds another product that makes Target look bad. Things move incredibly quickly online (and especially in the blogosphere) and if companies don't step up to the plate and join the conversation they leave themselves wide open to these kinds of PR disasters. Take, for example, the video of a Bic pen opening a Kryptonite lock. This video was so widely linked to and distributed that if when you do a Google search for "Kryptonite lock," a link to the Engadget video is the first result. What was Kryptonite's response? They chose to put up an "urgent update" with a short FAQ (the site is down at the moment so I can't link to it). Why wasn't Kryptonite prepared for such a crisis? Imagine how easy it would have been to start a blog and talk to the public directly instead of including this in the FAQ:

Q. I’ve e-mailed several times asking questions and all I’ve got back were auto-responses. When can I expect to have some answers?

A. We understand that you are anxious to receive additional information about the lock exchange program and we are working to answer each inquiry personally. Due to the unusually heavy volume of inquiries at this time, it is taking a bit longer than normal. Hopefully, you will find the answers to some of your questions in this FAQ section.

Companies like Kryptonite didn't (and still don't) understand what's going on online. That lack of understanding bubbled up and bit them in the ass (and it bit them hard). Target needs to address their problem before it gets out of hand (imagine what happens if a television station picks this up?). Other companies need to look at what's going on in both these cases and understand how they can better prepare themselves for the problems that the internet can pose.

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The Power of Blogging

I've been thinking a lot lately about the potential impact of blogging in a corporate enviornment. Whenever anyone asks me to explain corporate blogging I bring up the name of Robert Scoble, a blogging technical evangelist at Microsot. Scoble gives a human face and voice to a huge and seemingly faceless company. I recently ran into an entry from Gapingvoid [via The Mobile Technology Weblog] titled "Scobleized" about Scoble:

Ask me to name what I think is the most brilliant piece of new advertising I've come across in the last 5 years.

My answer would not be some big, funky-dunky campaign from a company like Apple or Volkswagon.

My answer would not be something from some edgy, hipster, in-your-face creative hot-shop in downtown Manhattan or London.

My answer would be Robert Scoble, a regular guy with a regular job who blogs regularly about the company he works for. That company happens to be Microsoft.

I seriously believe Robert, on Microsoft's behalf, is making more advertising history at this very moment than all the creative hot-shops combined. He is changing the game beyond all recognition. The hot-shops are not.

And he's probably doing it at less than 1% of the price the conventional agencies are used to charging.

So if you find yourself working in advertising, you now have two choices:

1. Try to prove folks like me wrong or

2. Get with the program.

A lot of people will opt for Choice Number 1. A lot of them will lose everything.

I don't see Scoble as PR in the traditional sense of the word. There's an honesty to what Scoble says that many PR agents seem to have a great deal of trouble getting across. During my time at American Demographics I ran into any number of PR people trying to pitch me on a multitude of ideas. The only ones I ever listened to were those who had a certain amount of passion in their voice. It wasn't as though they were trying to sell me on something, but rather that they were interested in having a conversation with me. I must admit that in the end I never actually wrote a story from a PR pitch. However, there were a number of stories I wrote because of (or at least influenced by) blogs. A good blog becomes like a friend: It's a trusted source you can communicate with. I never feel like I'm being pitched by Scoble. Rather, I feel as though there's this Microsoft employee who is an admitted geek and likes to tell people about technology and all the other stuff he's interested in (and it just so happens that much of the technology he uses is Microsoft related).

Any amount of advertising by Microsoft wouldn't effect me in the way that Scoble has. While I'm not sold on Microsoft, it gives me faith in the company to know that somebody there gets it. I feel like I know someone at the company and if I ever had a question I could always just write Scoble and ask him (I emailed him an article I wrote about RSS and got a reply within days). Scoble puts his cell phone number, email and IM name up on his site.

I believe Scoble is helping to lead a revolution to change the way that companies deal with consumers. It's about honest and open lines of communication in an increasingly transparent society. I agree with Hugh at Gapingvoid, companies who ignore this trend will fall on their face as consumers use their new digital tools to find another company that does or makes the exact same thing they do.

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More Evidence of the Impact of iPods

Those of you have have been reading for a while will remember me mentioning on multiple occaisions how big an impact I expected the iPod to have on Mac sales ("Will the Tiger Finally Break Windows?", "The Impact of iPod on Mac Sales" and "Apple's New iMac"). Well, here's some more evidence for you from Forbes.com Morning Session:

Piper Jaffray raised estimates and the price target on Apple Computer (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ), citing a "halo effect" from satisfaction from users of Apple's iPod. Piper Jaffray said that in a survey of 200 users, 6% were former PC users who have purchased a Macintosh after buying an iPod, while 7% were former PC users who plan to buy a Macintosh within 12 months. "We believe that the remarkable satisfaction with the iPod creates a word-of-mouth wildfire that generates new customer interest in Apple products," Piper Jaffray said.

While a 200 person survey is hardly scientific (at American Demographics we refused to use anything under 1,000), it's still important that investors are starting to notice a trend. As more and more applications move online, Microsoft's stranglehold will diminish. I count myself in the list of Apple converts. I still use a PC but I can promise you the next computer I buy for myself will be a Mac. I used a G4 at work and after getting used to it I was sold. Panther is an incredibly easy to use, very customizable and well thought out OS. The computer hardly ever had any problems and every program I ever wanted had a Mac version (which isn't all that difficult considering the majority of my time is spent in a browser anyway). I never thought I'd say the words, but after spending some time on a Mac it's clear that they are better machines. Clearly people are happy with their iPods (as evidenced by the ridiculous sales figures we've seen over the last year), so why wouldn't they think about a Mac as their next PC? It's quite possible we'll have a revolution on our hands in the next five years (one of many I hope).

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How to Embrace the Internet

I'm nearing the end of Joe Trippi's fantastic book The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: Democracy, The Internet, and The Overthrow of Everything. (For those who don't know Joe Trippi he was the campaign manager for Howard Dean and is responsible for helping the campaign to embrace the internet and help change how politics in America work.) In chapter 11 Trippi provides seven "basic principles that companies can choose to embrace before it's too late." I couldn't agree more with all of what Trippi has to say and unknowingly I recently suggested many (or maybe all) of them to a company I'm working with. I'm not sure if it's completely legal for me to just copy all seven rules, but in honor of Trippi's anti-establishment stance I've typed them all up for you to read (sans italics). Go buy his book, it helps to restore faith in Democracy. The internet is the perfect medium to help us reclaim the government that has been stolen from us by large corporations with lobbying interests. So without any further ado, here are "The Seven Inviolable, Irrefutable, Ingenious Things Your Business or Institution or Candidate Can Do in the Age of the Internet That Might Keep You from Getting Your Ass Kicked But Then Again Might Not":

1. Be first. There is very little about the internet that is proprietary. I could start an online bookstore tomorrow and do everything Amazon does. And you know what? Amazon would still beat me like a dirty rug. It's about more than branding. The first car company to let people pick the colors, the first beer to let people design the label, the first candidate to embrace people on the Net – the first everything has a head start building a community. Go now. (Rule 1a: If you're not going to be the first mover, you'd better be a hell of a lot better.)

2. Keep it moving. Do not be static. The internet is a liquid medium. It's amazing how many companies spend $100 million on TV advertising while their $64,000-a-year "web division" consists of the CEO's twenty-two-year-old Nintendo geek nephew updating the web site with a new press release once a month. Don't let your website be wallpaper. Your internet presence should be an organic, flowing, daily dialogue with your customers, back and forth. If you aren't regularly e-mailing customers, if you aren't responding to their e-mails, if you don't have a blog, if you're not using your web site to engage the people around you . . . then you are wasting your time on the Net.

3. Use an authentic voice. The blogging expert Dave Winer calls it the essential element of web writing: "the unedited voice of a person." We're not morons. When we get an e-mail from the president of the company, we know it wasn't really written by him. People would rather get a real e-mail from a real guy in the real mailroom than a phony one from the CEO (who we know is vacationing on his yacht anyway). Sacrifice some of the slickness of your web site for the real, sometimes messy quality of the best blogs. And no more autoresponses. Have real people write real stuff.

4. Tell the truth. The Internet has an inherent transparency. A strong Internet presence is a way to open the doors of the company. But if you invite people in, you'd better be prepared to have them look in the medicine cabinet. So don't hide anything. Tell them what you want. Don't manipulate. Put what you want up high. Put it on the first page of your web site, at the top of the e-mails.

5. Build a community. Create a commons, a town square, a place where people can come together to talk about their Ford Mustangs, or their Kodak cameras. If you are running the Kodak web site and you don't have an online photo gallery for the people who buy your digital cameras, or an online photo contest . . . then you should give up now. Because someone else is going to do it. Get people involved! This is not top-down, one-to-many anymore. The Internet is side-to-side, up-and-down, many-to-many. Use it that way. It's the dialogue, stupid.

6. Cede control. Once you invite the people in, they're going to want to do more. I know this violates everything they taught you in school, but you have to let go of the old command-and-control style of business. Let the edges blur between customer and company. And remember: We are smarter than you are. If you let us choose the color of Mustang, you'd better be prepared to produce some squash-colored cars.

7. Believe again. The days of condescension toward customers and citizens are over. Have some faith in the American people again. Democracy is based on the principle that if we give the citizens control over their common future, they will choose the best path. The same is true of consumers.

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The Long Tail of Digital Life

Everything is changing in our digital world of endless possibilities.

It's been a couple days since my last posting, which I apologize for. I no longer work at American Demographics and have been kind of busy in my job search. I was in Chicago for two days this week and have had all sorts of phone calls and interviews in the last few days. I learned a ton at American Demographics and made some fantastic contacts and I wouldn't trade the experience for the world. However, it's incredible to think that I could be doing something completely different come next month. My new opportunities are all unique and offer me chances to use all different kinds of skills that I think I possess. In college I studied media, culture and postmodernism. Essentially my interest was in understanding how media and culture interact and why people think the way they think. As long as what I do next allows me the opportunity to think about those kinds of issues then I think it's a good fit. Recently my biggest interest has been how digital technology is shaping the world we live in and the way people think and feel. This also needs to be an aspect of my next job. I am not interested in only talking about analog media because I think in the coming years those media will become increasingly irrelevant in our lives. The possibilities of digital are literally endless as opposed to the limited analog spectrum.

Everything is changing in our digital world of endless possibilities. Gone are the traditional rules associated with analog media and what Chris Anderson refers to as "hit-driven economics" in his Wired article "The Long Tail".

Hit-driven economics is a creation of an age without enough room to carry everything for everybody. Not enough shelf space for all the CDs, DVDs, and games produced. Not enough screens to show all the available movies. Not enough channels to broadcast all the TV programs, not enough radio waves to play all the music created, and not enough hours in the day to squeeze everything out through either of those sets of slots.

There are profound differences associated with the endless opportunities available to us in nearly every part of our lives. No matter what your interest, there's someone on the internet talking about it (most likely there's even a blog about it). Successful internet businesses have taken that model of near-unlimited availability and made huge impacts. No matter what book you want to read, it's only click away thanks to Amazon. No matter what movie you want to rent, it's available on NetFlix. Their catalogs are nearly endless. The world is literally at our fingertips and it's changing traditional economic rules that once only gave shelf space to those titles that 100 people wanted, rather than just one. Because hard drive space is so cheap, iTunes can literally have a song just for you. A meat-space music store can't afford to waste shelf space on a CD that only one person is interested in buying. When every CD is just a series of ones and zeroes, however, who cares if only two people buy it? There is no cost associated with leaving the music up for others to find and buy. In fact, when all those little sales are aggregated, these companies are finding that they're making a pretty penny. Something like shelf space is an analog-world limitation that drove businesses to let hits drive their business plan.

Businesses needed to understand that this is a "hit-driven" economy to survive. Using this model, at least 80 percent of the entertainment industry's output will not be a hit. This is known as the 80-20 rule and Anderson explains it like this in "The Long Tail": "Only 20 percent of major studio films will be hits. Same for TV shows, games, and mass-market books - 20 percent all. The odds are even worse for major-label CDs, where fewer than 10 percent are profitable, according to the Recording Industry Association of America." However, in a digital world where space has virtually no cost, hits are not the only things that make money. While there's no doubt that there's still an elite 20 percent, the other 80 percent is selling when given the chance. Anderson calls the other 80 percent misses:

With no shelf space to pay for and, in the case of purely digital services like iTunes, no manufacturing costs and hardly any distribution fees, a miss sold is just another sale, with the same margins as a hit. A hit and a miss are on equal economic footing, both just entries in a database called up on demand, both equally worthy of being carried. Suddenly, popularity no longer has a monopoly on profitability.

This other 80 percent is what Anderson refers to as "the long tail." Rhapsody is a subscription-based music service with over 735,000 songs. Of those three-quarters of a million tracks, nearly every one is played at least once a month.

Chart Rhapsody's monthly statistics and you get a "power law" demand curve that looks much like any record store's, with huge appeal for the top tracks, tailing off quickly for less popular ones. But a really interesting thing happens once you dig below the top 40,000 tracks, which is about the amount of the fluid inventory (the albums carried that will eventually be sold) of the average real-world record store. Here, the Wal-Marts of the world go to zero - either they don't carry any more CDs, or the few potential local takers for such fringy fare never find it or never even enter the store.

The Rhapsody demand, however, keeps going. Not only is every one of Rhapsody's top 100,000 tracks streamed at least once each month, the same is true for its top 200,000, top 300,000, and top 400,000. As fast as Rhapsody adds tracks to its library, those songs find an audience, even if it's just a few people a month, somewhere in the country.

This is the Long Tail.

This is a profound change in the way we understand and interact with our world. Just think of digital cameras, for example. While you once might not have taken a picture of that sign you thought was funny on the street because you didn't want to waste your film, it's no longer something you worry about. There's little doubt that the majority of your pictures still come from parties or trips where the old film camera would have been used anyway. But look at your pictures and you'll notice that the vast majority are of little random events that start to add up. With space no longer an issue you're capturing more of your life. When you eliminate analog space restraints whole new models emerge. Just look at the explosion of blogging. As people are finally beginning to see that the internet is a two-way medium they're doing more than just reading the New York Times online. By publishing to the web they're creating millions of niche sites. Now everyone has a place to go and communicate. There are a few largely read blogs, but the rest of the blogosphere, which Technorati puts at 4.7 million is made up of little blogs. Read by a few dozen or hundred people a day. What these blogs are providing is the other 80 percent that you're not getting from the mainstream news. Because you can find a blog focused on nearly anything you can get the information that newspapers and magazines can't afford to give space to. Do you think that the New York Times technology section could possibly cover every new gadget in the same way Engadget or Gizmodo can? The internet got closer with sites like CNet, but even they have too wide a focus and too traditional a model to capture the entire segment in the same way a blog can.

These kinds of patterns are visible all over the digital world. But just noticing them isn't enough. Since I'm a strong believer in McLuhan, it's not enough to watch (or use) the internet, but you must understand the people who watch (or use) the internet. What kind of effects does this shift have on their non-digital life? How does it affect friendships when everyone now has the ability, thanks to IM and email, to communicate with those other 80 percent of people they would have lost touch with? What kind of other media will people consume when they lock in on their interests online and get their personal fill of information? Now that we've got this space that exists for us, how will we interact with a government that claims to exist for us? The internet is helping us understand the power of the individual. That's what happened on Howard Dean's campaign. It wasn't the internet that made it a success; it was what the internet taught those involved. It showed millions of people that they can be involved and most likely changed the way politics will work forever. The Dean campaign used the internet to reach the portion of the electorate that hadn't been reached. They figured out that instead of getting a few $2,000 checks from the "hits," that you get a bunch of $20 checks from the "misses."

These trends will only continue. As people continue to be empowered by the internet, the difference between success and failure for many companies is going to be whether they understand the long tail. We're already seeing the effects on bookstores and CD shops that can't compete with the internet's unlimited selection. But there's more to it than just that. The internet is encouraging more independent artists and producers to come out of the woodwork. Thanks to the long tail, the most obscure band can be listed next to U2 and sell. Entrepreneurs can start their own business online without having to fork out the money for retail or office space. These are the places that the long tail really excites me. We have been taught in the past that only 20 percent of ideas will be hits and therefore many people suppress ideas that could be brilliant because of the fear of failure. This knowledge was internalized whether we wish to admit or not. Those who were most successful in the past tending to be able to take risks and look beyond this traditional rule. However, the definitions of success and failure are changing by the minute as the internet teaches people there's always someone else out there who shares your interests.

Sadly, I expect that many institutions will try to suppress this tail out of fear. We consistently hear from the mainstream media that the internet can't be trusted. That it doesn't live by the same ethical standards. Or we see the RIAA suing file sharers, even though there's no proof that swapping songs hurts the music business. Or the government, imposing moral guidelines on television and radio to flex its muscle and show the country that it still runs the place. Now, take a look at the revolutions that are going on to fight these institutions. In response to the mainstream media the blogosphere is exploding as a source of breaking news and commentary as well as a check and balance to their coverage (e.g., Rathergate). In response to the RIAA people are still sharing songs and Wired magazine is putting out a CD of songs with Creative Commons licenses by major artists (Beastie Boys, David Byrne, Spoon, etc.). In response to the government censorship, satellite radio is making a big push to be the new home of radio without the FCC interference. By signing Howard Stern, Sirius signaled to the world that this will be a space where people can speak freely.

This is a battle between old and new, between analog and digital. In the end, I have little doubt that digital will win out. The day will come when people embrace the new rules of the digital world and that suppressed 80 percent begins to emerge. I'm excited for that day.

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Youth in the Booth

On Election Day, the country held it’s collective breath as the numbers rolled in. No one knew exactly how it would turn out, but early exit polls had numbers skewing towards Kerry. Then as the evening progressed it became more and more apparent that those numbers were incorrect as George W. Bush took Florida and Ohio and won the election to become the 44th President of the United States. Early reports indicated that democrats were disappointed in the youth turnout, an important demographic they were apparently relying on to win the election. News broke that only one in ten youth had voted and it looked more and more like 2004 was going to be another disappointed show for young Americans at the polls. However, it appears that these early numbers were simply incorrect.

“It’s pretty simple actually,� says Mark Lopez, research director at The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE). “Some initial press reports had reported that one in ten young people had voted, when in fact initial exit polls said ten percent of all voters were 18-to-24. The numbers were misinterpreted.� In fact, 10.5 million voters under the age of 25 voted this year, according to CIRCLE. This is a 42.3 percent turnout rate, up from 36.5 percent four years ago. What is more, when you look at the numbers for all young people under 30, those rates go up even more. The 21 million 18- to 29-year-olds who voted for the 44th president represents 51.6 percent. That number is up from 42.3 percent just four years ago.

Those 21 million Americans under-30 that voted in the election skewed to the left far more than the general population with 54 percent preferring Senator Kerry over President Bush. While they may have differed in their party affiliations, the most important issue for them was just the same as the general population, with “moral values� topping the list for 22 percent. However, their values clearly differ from the general voting population. When asked whether they favor gay marriage 41 percent said yes versus 25 percent of all voters.

Not only did 18- to 29-year-olds differ in the political leanings from the general population, but also from their older siblings in Generation X. For example, under-30 voters were 12 percentage points more likely to identify themselves as liberal as those between 30 and 39. “Why do we actually see this?� asks Lopez. “It might be the time you’re politically socialized. For 30- to 39-year-olds, some of their first political activities might have revolved around Ronald Reagan and some of the issues that were prevalent in the 1980s. If your formative years were when there was a Republican administration in power that was a well-liked and popular, you’re more than likely going to lean that way later in life. What we think is happening to young people today, the 18-29 year olds, is that they grew up during the Clinton years which is an entirely different time and they may be reflecting that more than their adult counterparts.�

No matter what their political affiliation may be, it’s an important to see young people getting out to vote. It is they who will lead this country in the years to come and early involvement in politics is a positive step.

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Moving On

Just wanted to let everyone know that as of the end of the day today I will no longer be employed by American Demographics. I will write more when I have a chance, but this is very exciting for me and I have some great opportunities on the horizon. If you are a business contact you can email me at nb@noahbrier.com (in fact, if you're anyone you can email me there). When I get a chance I will reflect on what this experience has taught me and I'll make sure to keep everyone informed of developments. Unlike the job, the blog is going nowhere. Thanks for reading and stay tuned.

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It's Fun to Believe (UPDATED)

The Chicago Bears are 4-5 going into week 11. I know this may not seem overly impressive and I also know that I don't normally write about sports, but this is too exciting to pass up. The Chicago Bears of the NFC North are 4-5 after rattling off three wins in a row even with a quarterback whose only pass seems to be a 40 yard bomb to Bernard Berrian. They're 4-5 despite the fact that the offense could only muster three points in yesterday's 19-17 overtime win. They're 4-5 despite being down by 14 points and looking like a dead fish agains the New York Giants in the Meadowlands. They're 4-5 despite losing their starting quarterback in Rex Grossman (not Jewish for those who wondered), their starting safety and captain with hands of glue, Mike Brown and arguably their most exciting young player, shutdown cornerback Charles "Peanut" Tillman.

Despite all this, the Chicago Bears led by Lovie Smith are getting it done on the field. The Bears have won the last three weeks with defense and I just want to throw some public support out for them. Yesterdays game was won with a safety in overtime, only the second time ever. The defensive line of Alex Brown, Tank Johnson, Tommie Harris and Adewale Ogunleye with Michael Haynes and Ian Scott subbing in, have been spectacular. Finally the Bears have a pass rush after years of wondering if it was normal for the opposing teams quarterback to have 10 seconds in the pocket.

Of course, we're coming into a game against the Indianapolis Colts at home. They're the team that throw touchdowns at will, as many as five a game thanks to the arm of Peyton Manning. We probably won't win this week. But at least it's fun to watch again. In sports, isn't that really all you want a team to do? I just want to be excited for Sunday and I definitely am again. I'm trying not to get too excited, but it's hard not to. Jay Mariotti, Chicago Sun-Times sports writer, writes this in his Monday article titled "It's unconventional, but Bears' success is success nonetheless":

So the Bears are official members of the NFL's parity party. If you're a sophisticated fan, you won't be sucked in by a 4-5 record as much as you'll sit back, enjoy the run and realize Peyton Manning is coming next weekend. If you're a goofy fan, you'll start making playoff plans and tell me the rookie quarterback is 3-0.

I'm trying to stay sophisticated, but it's tough. The fact that I spent about three hours on the phone last night breaking down yesterday's game and trying to find any morsel that could swing this Sunday's game against Indy our way. We examined everything from weather to who the states that the Colts won in vote for. Alas, it looks like patterns aren't going to win this one. I understand that most likely nothing will win this one, but it's fun to believe anyway.

UPDATE: I just posted the following call to arms on Craig's List:

Calling all Bears fans. This Sunday the 4-5 Chicago Bears will meet the Indianapolis Colts at Soldier Field. New York Bears fans will be watching the action live at Josie Woods. Be there at 1. Come ready to Bear down and destory Peyton and the Colts. Let's do this. If you've got any questions email me.

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RIP ODB

I go away from computers for a weekend and no one has the decency to inform me that one of my favorite rappers dies. Ol' Dirty Bastard, aged 35, died last night. It's a sad day in the world of hip-hop as one of the founding fathers of Wu Tang, and possibly the most insane man in hip-hop (with late KRS coming in a close second) dies. I don't even know what to say. ODB had a style not like anyone elses and he was great for it. His lyrics were often absurd. As were the constant name changes, from Big Baby Jesus to Dirt McGirt. But in the end, his style was hard not to love. He made people laugh and he will be missed. I'll leave you with a few of my favorite lines from ODB's song "I Can't Wait":

I want to give a shoutout to the Eskimos
I want to give a shoutout to the submarines
I want to give a shoutout to the army, air force, navy marines
KNow what I'm saying? Y'all playing my music
In the submarines and the boats

I want to give a shoutout to ODB. Rest in peace.

(While this may seem like a joke, and a lot of it is fun, I really did like ODB a lot and I hate to see him go).

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Mobile Youth

Just wanted to point everyone to my newest American Demographics article which has been posted over at Looksmart findarticles. The article is titled "Coming of Age" and examines the ways that mobile technology has impacted youth and youth culture. I moved beyond just the simple trends like text messaging and ringtones and tried to look at the bigger impacts on life and relationships. For instance, what will happen as these young people who are getting mobile phones at eight years old have their own homes? Will then get a landline or will they choose to "cut the cord?" Already, we're seeing that 14 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds have cut the cord. But what about the social aspects of a landline? It becomes a community phone, a number that the family shares and helps to advertise a relationship to the world. When these young people grow up and get married what kind of effect will seperate lines have on their relationship? What happens when they have kids and Grandma wants to call the house with no one in particular to talk to? It's something to think about, and if you're interested go read about. I think the article is fairly interesting and worth reading. If you do, feel free to drop me a line or leave a comment and let me know what you think. I'm happy to discuss anything you think about. I'll leave you with a few paragraphs from the article about "cord-cutting" and more:

"For people 5 years old and under, this whole wireless thing will be meaningless because they'll just grow up with them," Lewis says. "It will just be a phone, it won't be a mobile phone or a cell phone." With that said, what happens when it's time for these young people to move into their own house or apartment and they need to make the decision of whether or not they need a land line? Overall, 6 percent of Americans currently use their cell phone as their only phone line reports the Yankee Group. That number skews heavily toward young adults, with 14 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds having already cut the cord.

"The decision to cut the cord is equally split between cost saving and lifestyle issues: 35 percent said cost while 32 percent said they don't need one because they're hardly ever at home," says Barrabee. What's more, an additional 18 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds expect to cut the cord in the next five years. One of the issues associated with this trend is how it will affect relationships among families.

Historically, the home telephone has been something that signifies a relationship; it is a number shared among a group of people. "The land line for voice purposes is seen as the communal phone. A grandparent calls the house and doesn't care who in the family they get," says Mark Page, vice president of management consulting firm A.T. Kearney, which along with Cambridge University released the Mobinet Index 2004, which examines mobile technology trends around the world. "No one has come up with a communal mobile phone yet." So, young people today are able to create their own identity completely outside the control of their families.

"One of the core teen experiences is the process of finding your own identity and separating from parents and learning about your individuality. One of the things that the cell phone can do in such an amazing way is promote that spirit of independence and individuality. It's really not monitored at all by parents," says McKinney. "Parents got smart and moved PCs out of the bedroom and into the kitchen to keep kids off the Internet in dangerous ways and to keep them from IMing all night long. Now, kids have their cell phones and they're doing the same things on them."

I've got a lot going on at the moment, but I'll try to be a little better with the posting. I've got some interesting stuff I've been working on that I'd like to share. Keep checking in and I'll try to give you your fill of whatever it is I write about here.

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Le Vingt-Six: A Bad Restaurant in New York City

Last night I had dinner at Le Vingt-Six restaurant at 41 Madison Ave. in New York City and I had a really bad experience which I felt like sharing with the world. It's especially important for me to share because when you search Google for the restaurant, the only thing that comes up is a link to their menu, no reviews. I figured I might as well help them out in case someone else goes searching for information to no avail (as I did).

Anyway, the food was alright at Le 26. I had lamb chops which were good. They were plenty rare enough and the sauce was fine. The vegetables that accompanied them were rather undercooked and some, like the carrot, was all but raw. The meal came with a side of french fries which tasted fine, but were nothing you couldn't get at your local pub. They also came in a basket, which seemed a little tacky. I started with some fried calamari, which, like the rest of the food, was uninspired. Nothing special and the presentation, again, left something to be desired. If I spend a lot on a meal I expect to be wooed, and while it was all very nice, my impression was not matching the price.

Finally after the meal the waiter brought me the check and I gave him my credit card. I was paying with my New York Times In Good Taste (IGT) card that gives discounts on restaurants listed. The waiter returned shortly after and informed me that they would not take my card and he could not give me my discount. I didn't know what to say and asked to speak to the manager who informed me that the machine was not set up yet. He said he knows they're in the book, but they had done that early and could not do anything for me. I argued for a few moments before handing him my credit card and informing him that I would never return. Anyone who knows anything about the restaurant business knows that you should try to do something for a customer who is unhappy enough to say that. What the manager said, however, was, "I'm sorry you feel that way." Instead of bringing me out a dessert, some drinks, something, he just gave me my bill and no goodbye on the way out.

I think it's inexcusable to treat a customer that way and I wanted to share my story with the world. I hope that the next person who searches for information on the restaurant runs across this post and thinks twice. I hope the restaurant manager and owner run across this post and think twice about their customer service policy. If you do read this and decide not to eat at Le Vingt-Six please leave a comment. That way if those involved in the restaurant do read this one day they'll know about the customers they lost because the manager said, "I'm sorry you feel that way."

Update (6/26/05): Yesterday I walked by and it appears to have shut down. Looks like they got what they deserved.

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"Buzz Giant Poster Boy"

My article from the June issue of American Demographics titled "Buzz Giant Poster Boy" has been posted by Renegade Marketing, one of the companies featured in the piece. For those that haven't read it, the article discusses Shepard Fairey's Obey Giant campaign as a blueprint for understanding how viral/experiential marketing works and succeeds. For those who don't know about Obey Giant, it's all those stickers or stencils you see around cities with the highly stylized picture of Andre the Giant (as you see below).

Credit: Noah Brier

Anyhow, if you're interested you can read the full text of the article on the Renegade site. Here's the conclusion (which I'm most proud of):

For Fairey, it's about connecting with all these people. That's why he says the ultimate goal of a brand "is to be the equivalent of the Beatles. You've got the dumbest guy and the smartest guy in the room singing your song." Fairey continued, "I want something that resonates and affects people on different levels, but connects with everyone." For this reason, most of the products that he designs for his Obey clothing line blur and break traditional cultural rules. "I intentionally make hybrid products," he explained. "We're always trying to flip stuff up." Fairey then revealed his "truth": "If Public Enemy can sample Slayer, I can do that [make hybrid products]." For those not on top of late '80s music, Public Enemy is the archetype for political hip-hop. On their 1988 album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, they sampled the heavy metal band Slayer, fusing two very different styles of music. For Fairey, the crossing of those two genres symbolized the dissolution of boundaries, not just in music, but in all culture.

Fairey grew up in a generation that has consistently rejected traditional limits. Turntables were no longer just tools to play music on, they became instruments with which to make music. Songs of the past became a giant database of samples and inspiration for reconfigured mixes. The Internet, phones and cable were not just means of talking or watching television, but parts of a complex network connecting telescoping groups of individuals, and cultures throughout the world. On top of it all, as Neisser notes, "The fact that kids watch TV, talk on the phone and IM all at the same time is a behavioral change that no marketer can afford to ignore." With access to such a plethora of information, he says, "The mass market is crumbling before our eyes. As a result, you are talking about 280 million individuals."

To say that times have changed hardly does this transformation justice. Imagine: no future generations will have ever lived in a non-digital world. Marketing to current and future generations will require a continuous reevaluation of strategies to connect with consumers who think and consume media in a completely different way than their parents did.

The ability to connect hip-hop, youth culture and marketing into a magazine article was a proud moment for me. All of a sudden it was like those four years of studying who knows what came together to create this moment of zen. So basically, go read it if you want, I think it's pretty interesting stuff and I'm excited that it's out there and freely available (because I don't feel comfortable posting it myself).

Also, one last note: This doesn't mark the end of the politics on the site. I know that I have a whole lot more people reading the site now than I did before and I don't want to lose you. I will continue to keep a political slant if that's what people want to read, but I will also go back to posting on some other topics that interest me. My line is still open for submissions, though, so if you want to write something for posting email me at writing@noahbrier.com (I maintain the rightto post or not post anything I feel like, please don't be offended if you don't get posted, I will do my best to inform anyone who writes of the reasons they have or have not made the site). If you just have general comments you can email me at nb@noahbrier.com. Thanks to everyone that contributed over the last week and I hope you continue to comment and help build the community that has developed. It's exciting to reach an even larger audience and I hope you all stick around. Thanks for everything.

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An Open Letter to A Very Sad American

By Jeff Hughes

Editor's Note: I was sent a letter from a woman calling herself A Very Sad American outlining why she voted for George W. Bush. She asked me to post her letter and I only chose not to because she refused to give me her real name and I believe that anonymity is counterproductive in debate. It’s hard to take someone’s position completely seriously if they refuse to stand behind it with their real name. I asked Jeff to read and respond to A Very Sad American’s “Open Letter to the Democratic Party.� I urge everyone to go read the letter, it's thoughtful and well written.

Well, in the spirit of Noah Brier, I have decided to address each of the Very Sad American’s points in an attempt to dismantle more “myths� of the Democratic agenda.

First, let me do as she does and explain who I am. I am a 22 year-old musical theatre writer. I won’t be seeing the new Chucky movie. Harry Potter bores me and I don’t really need a car, so the SUV question doesn’t come up. I believe not only do gays deserve the right to be married, but I find the idea of debating the issue physically revolting. How dare we say who can love who? How dare we deny a lover a hospital visit? How dare we do as the president begs and ask the heterosexual world to determine what is right for the homosexual world?

I am pro-choice in all cases at all time. It boggles the mind how a political party can spout a pro-life mantra and then spend the other hours of the day attempting to defeat welfare. I guess it’s better to have poor families and damaged communities then to upset the baby Jesus.

So I’m over there. On the left. And very proud to be there. I don’t have any money. Don’t have a job. Don’t have healthcare. Now you know me.

I’d like to start by saying that I have trouble taking any remarks seriously when they come unsigned. Apply your name to everything you write. For an election so based upon accountability, I find it somewhat disconcerting that you’d take them time to organize your opinions in such a thoughtful manner and not take personal responsibility.

So now, your points. I think they are well-written, intelligent and obviously passionate. However, passion does not make up for what I find to be several fundamental flaws in each of your arguments.

1.You didn't give me clear positions on the issues.

Response: Did John Kerry give clear positions on the issues? Not as clear as I would like, no. But this argument can not be sustained as a reason for choosing George W. Bush over John Kerry. “Flip-flopping� has another name in circles of mature adults: admitting mistakes. John Kerry supported a war we all supported under false pretenses. He then, as you yourself pointed out, voted against an unruly amount of money asked for by a president out of control. I ask you this: Has there been any greater flip-flop in the history of American politics than W’s reasons for the Iraq war? A flip-flop that has cost the lives of a 1,000 American soldiers and – according to the New York Times – 100,000 Iraqi civilians. Would you rather a flip-flopper or a president declaring victory before a war is won? John Kerry’s belief that this is the “wrong war� doesn’t undermine the concept that the war must be completed, hence his plan to send in 40,000 more troops.

2/3. You didn't convince me that you would defend America against the threats of terrorism. / You insulted my intelligence by the constant mantra of Kerry's service in Vietnam.

Response: First, you’re insulting the man if you actually believe John Kerry didn’t understand the ramifications of 9/11. Second, you can not say that Kerry did not prove his ability to defend the nation and then complain that he ran on his war record. You champion a heroic war record when the presidential contest is focused on a counter-terrorism effort and an ongoing war. You make a false claim that Kerry did not believe 9/11 deserved a military response when he – in fact – greatly supported the attack on Afghanistan. You remember that attack? That was when we attacked those responsible. The Bush Administration has continued to flip-flop on the relationship between Iraq and 9/11, best seen in Dick Cheney’s tripping over his own words during the Vice Presidential debate. Cheney said in his opening statements, “and he [Hussein] had an established relationship with Al Qaida. Specifically, look at George Tenet, the CIA director's testimony before the Committee on Foreign Relations two years ago when he talked about a 10-year relationship.� Later in the same conversation, Cheney had this to say: “I have not suggested there's a connection between Iraq and 9/11, but there's clearly an established Iraqi track record with terror.� Being that Al Quida was responsible for the attacks on the Trade Center, doesn’t that reach as contradictory. I don’t blame John Kerry for not understanding a position on Iraq because we have no definitive reason for being in Iraq. As president, he would have been caught between Iraq and a hard place (you like what I did there?).

4. Your constant references to the opinions of the rest of the world scared me, and I'm not talking about the "global test" comment. I don't care what Europeans think about me or my country. I learned in high school that living my life with one eye on the opinions of everyone else leads only to unnecessary turmoil and pointless pain. Why didn't you?

Response: I like the rest of the world. I like the rest of the world a lot. I believe in the ability of America not to be an isolated superpower, but an international leader. You can not cite self-esteem realizations from your high school years. They just don’t apply. When you isolate in international politics, you make yourself a target. There’s a reason the United Nations was created. This is an opinion issue so I can’t call you wrong. But I’d bet you’re not someone who does a great deal of traveling. Because as much as you might not care, it’s disheartening to be so proud of your country and yet feel so embarrassed abroad.

5. You disturbed me with your demonization of the rich.

Response: Liberal democrats do not demonize the rich. We demonize unfair tax breaks given to the rich at the expense of the poor and middle class. John Kerry never hid from being a billionaire and he laughed at the notion of receiving a tax breaks. With so many in this country hungry, lacking health care and out of work – how can any person think it morally correct to give back to someone making a million dollars a year? Maybe I’m just a crazy lefty…

6. I could not stomach to listen to your incessant hatred of President Bush. Bush is stupid, Bush is an idiot, Bush is Hitler, Bush is a Nazi . . . Bush should be impeached, blah blah blah blah blah blah.

Response: Idiot/Dumb. Same thing. Hitler/Nazi. Degrees of the same thing. So basically you’d not like to have Bush called a dumb Nazi. I have never called Bush a Nazi and I don’t know of many non-extremists who have. What Hitler did and what Bush has done are not comparable in any way. Is Bush an idiot? Yes, absolutely. But I have never made this my basis for not voting for him. You should be not be citing extremist liberals in Union Square Park and for that in the same way that I will not cite Mel Gibson or the pulpets of Bible Belt. It’s a give and take. As for the impeachment issue – DON’T GET ME STARTED!!!!!!!!! THESE PEOPLE TRIED TO IMPEACH OUR GUYS A FEW YEARS BACK. FOR WHAT? For a blowjob.

7. I don't think you really want my vote. I actively sought out your perspective. I tuned in regularly, for months, to your biggest media project, your serious effort to get your message out: Air America Radio.

Response: Air America Radio is not our biggest media project. Like it or not, Michael Moore is our biggest media project. Air America radio is a station designed for people of the left. We don’t listen to Bob Grant and Rush Limbaugh. We listen to Al Franken. Air America Radio is not attempt to spread the message but an an attempt to simple give liberals a place where their views can be showcased. Now I do believe that the liberal left has demonized religion a bit but it’s not for the reasons you give. The Right has decided, with the gracefully evil aid of Karl Rove, to attach itself to its base – the Christian Right. We have a separation of church and state – at least for the next few weeks – and this administration has done everything possible to erode that gap. The left sees this as a Constitutional abuse and so we attribute a great deal of animosity to “religion.� I don’t believe we discount the religious, just the power of Fundamental Christians in this administration.

Also, let me ask you this: how many speeches did George W. Bush give in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and California in the last few months. As many as Kerry gave in Georgia? The divide is there and neither side is trying to puncture. This is what the Electoral College creates. When there is so much importance placed on “battleground� states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida, why would candidates waste time in states they have very little chance of winning?

Final Points:
You’re central ideology: I voted for Bush because he has values and doesn’t waffle on them is disheartening and very, very scary. This will upset you and its melodramatic, but would you then have voted for Hitler over Kerry? He had values and didn’t waffle.

John Kerry is a man of conviction. A man who fought in a war and then stood alone in front of his government and testified to the horrific situation in Vietnam. I would love to have your vote, but I want it because you believe this country can be better. I want your vote if you believe George W. Bush has been a disaster as a president and the ramifications of said disaster may not be truly felt for a decade. You ask me to treat the president with respect and I simply can’t. I’m sorry. I can not respect a man who so arrogantly and blatantly destroys the heart of this country. I can not be civil to a man who believes you retaliate for 5,000 deaths by murdering 100,000 civilians in a far-off land. I can not respect a president in bed with the moral underbelly of society: the Christian right. I believe the Bush Administration is fond of manipulation and my respect has to be earned…it can not be manipulated.

I’m sorry to say this but when a gay marriage ban is supported overwhelmingly in 11 out of 11 states, I can not believe this country is in the right place. The religious preach love and vote for intolerance. The red states claim moral vigilance and commit social genocide. If Roe V. Wade is attacked, I will stand in front of the Supreme Court and scream at the top of my lungs until no one will listen.

I believe in America. Just not this America.

Jeff Hughes always takes credit for his work, even though roughly 90 percent of it is offensive.

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Faith Doesn’t Have to Be a Dirty Word

By Alexis Bohan

Editor's Note: This is the 13th in a series of thoughts on the elections. Thanks to all those who submitted and if you want your voice heard email me at writing@noahbrier.com.

There is so much I want to say that it is hard for me to even organize it into a comprehensible mess. I can honestly say that I am heartbroken. I can’t think of anything I’ve believed in so strongly that has failed. And as we all know, belief is what it is all about in this country right now.

I am disturbed by the fact that Bush proclaims his Christianity. I am a Christian who strongly believes in the separation of church and state. His enormous arrogance in aligning himself with Christianity and becoming the poster boy for fundamentalist conservatism has turned not only foreign, but also domestic issues into a ridiculous holy war. In a holy war, you are never wrong. Everything—facts, odds, rational thinking, anything—can be against you but it doesn’t matter. It’s the scariest thing of all. It’s what makes our country so afraid of foreign religious fanatics, and what makes 51% of our country so supportive of domestic religious proponents.

I’m an optimistic person but right now it’s very difficult for me to imagine how this country will turn things around. Of course we will strategize over the next few years and try to figure out how we could possibly have lost this election, and what we can do better next time. The fact that we have a ‘next time’ is encouraging alone. But the crux of it is faith. I hate generalizations, but for the sake of figuring this out I’m going to make some. Knowing that it was “moral� issues that decided the fate of this election, I’m going to assume that for the most part, those who voted for Bush share his faith (meaning they believe he is a good Christian and is doing the right thing). By equating that belief with the Republican Party, he sealed his victory and illuminated America’s diametrically different sides. Republicans (in general) yearn to believe in something—they lead a faith-based existence. Democrats, on the other hand, by nature yearn to question things. Unity is easier through faith, more difficult through doubt. The Republican Party only has to present a few moral tenets and a lot of people who have already organized their hearts and lives around those same tenets jump on. Even more simplistically, for some people it really only takes one word—God—and they will jump on. Democrats, I think, are different (again, my apologies for generalizing). What is the overarching guiding force for the party? Civil liberties? Freedom of religion? Gay rights? I just don’t think there is one. There may be a Democratic mindset, but it’s nowhere near as strong as a religion that is 2000 years in the making.

As long as Bush aligns himself with the Christian viewpoint on the “moral� issues that decided the outcome of this election, those believers will stand by him, despite all of the things horribly wrong with his leadership. They will not waver. It’s extremely demoralizing to me, because I know some of these people very well. A lot of them are good people. And although apparently they (and Bush) believe in the same God I do, I have never felt more different from them. I desperately want to understand how we could hold the same things so dear and yet come to such a different conclusion when it comes to Bush, or politics in general.

I hate to bemoan a problem without offering an attempt at a solution. I’m not sure what we, the defeated, should do right now. I know we can’t be discouraged to the point of hopelessness. I don’t mean to suggest by all of this that the conservative Christian majority will always dominate politics with Republican policy. I’m a Christian, and not a Republican. There are other people like me in this country (yes we do exist). So obviously it doesn’t have to be an automatic association. But people think it is. How many times have people learned I was a Christian and gave me an indignant “So you like Bush?� Thankfully I could reply with an emphatic “No�, but despite my answer, the condescension and haughtiness was already present. You will never win people over like this. You will never succeed in trying to convince people that their religion is bullshit. And, if you truly do believe in the freedom of religion, you wouldn’t even try.

To me, the Democratic Party is supposed to be one of inclusion, not exclusion. This means everyone should be welcomed regardless of race, creed, religion, etc. It’s about not letting talking heads divide us through our differences. This party needs to be the living example that people who may seem extremely different from, or even polar opposites of, each other (Atheist and Christian, for example) can coexist in a mutually respectful, positive way. I honestly believe this is possible, and I hope that we as a party really do too. Beliefs aren’t just about religion. As Democrats we should never stop asking questions, but we should never be afraid to believe passionately in something either. The most powerless thing in a nation of believers is a faithless party.

Alexis Bohan maintained morals despite four years of business school and now has "tipping point" in her job title.

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An Argument: My Reponse

Below you will find a point-by-point breakdown of Josh's statements followed by my responses.

1. Don't blame the republicans because the world hates us. The world hates us because they are jealous of what we have.

Response: This is silly and naive. What do we have that Europe does not? Their money is worth more than ours. They have free speech and democracy. They are not jealous, they hate us because we have, thanks to the policies of George W. Bush, become an egotistical nation who believes they can take on the world without any help. Going into Iraq without any coalition was a huge mistake (and yes I know about Poland). We have alienated our allies at a time when they were behind us completely (after September 11th when we invaded Afghanistan the world stood by our side).

2. As far as the Arab world is concerned, they will always hate us as long as we support Israel.

Response: While part of the disdain for America comes from our relationship with Israel, that is not why the whole Arab world hates us. In fact, before September 11th, there was only a small faction of radical Muslims that truly hated us and instead of killing them (Osama bin Laden is still at large), we decided to begin the process of bringing democracy to the Muslim world.

3. The best way to undermine that hate is with education.

Response: I don't completely disagree with your point on education. But what about us? Maybe if we had a better understanding of their religion and culture we'd be able to get along better. How much do you know about Islam?

4. The main problem is that the Arab people have been secluded from the rest of the world.

Response: Josh, we are secluded from the rest of the world as well. Have you noticed? We have alienated our allies and we essentially stand alone at this point in our beliefs.

5. Once they are exposed to modern culture they will adapt and embrace it. When you have a group of people that is born to hate, you need to do something.

Response: It is not our duty to expose other cultures to modernity. They will not adapt and embrace it because it is a foreigner coming in and telling them how to think. Don't you understand that this is just how extremists feel? They are trying to bring Islam to the uncultured world (America). What right does either side have? Why are you right and they're not? They believe they've got God on their side too.

6. As far as you worrying about your safety in New York, we probably have never been safer.

Response: First off, do me a favor and don't tell me how safe I feel. I am more scared to be living here now than I have at any other point. I live here, I saw September 11th and I don't feel safe. If I didn't love this place so much, I probably wouldn't be here.

7. The reason 9-11 happened is because the previous administration was far too passive in dealing with the terrorist threat. You can't tell me that 9-11 was Bush's fault.

Response: There are a lot of reasons that September 11th happened. I am not putting all the blame on Bush. Osama bin Laden was given weapons by the United States in the 1980s (Reagan's reign) to fight the Soviet Union. That is part of the problem. However, Bush ignored evidence that there was going to be an attack. It says so in the 9/11 Commission Report.

8. He is the perfect remedy. The only thing the Arab world has understood up to this point is force, so force they will get until it is safe in the world. You can't sit back and hope that peaceful diplomatic solutions will work. You need to be on the offensive, and John Kerry was not the leader to do that.

Response: What evidence do you have that the Arab world has understood force? There are suicide bombers blowing themselves up practically everyday, what do they care about force? Why do you think young people in the middle east are willing to blow themselves up?

9. Since 9-11 there has not been a strike here at home. That is a promising thing.

Response: Between Pearl Harbor in 1941 and September 11th in 2001 there had not been an attack on American soil. You're celebrating that we've gone three years without one? What about the attacks around the rest of the world? In Spain, for example, where 191 people died in an attack on a train by Muslim extremists. This world is a more dangerous place and it's just a matter of time before they come back to get us.

10. After a few years of introducing democracy in the Middle East and education, things will be much safer.

Response: I disagree that bringing democracy to the Middle East is the answer. I believe that this will only bring more resentment and create an even more dangerous atmosphere for Americans, both at home and abroad.

11. There is no quick fix, it is a process and will take time.

Response: Finally, we agree. Although I don't agree with the way you believe it should be handled, there is no quick fix to terrorism and thanks to the situation that Bush worsened, it is a long road ahead.

12. Our country and our interests world wide will be better off because of this war.

Response: Our country and our interests will be in great dangers because of this war. Also, while we're on this war, why is it justified? Iraq was not a Muslim nation, in fact Saddam Hussein fought to keep his country non-secular. Now what we've done is create a place for Muslim extremist to congregate and fight an enemy they hate even more than they did before.

13. If the rest of the world doesn't like it they can fuck off.

Response: Have you ever left the country? Do you know how it feels to have someone walk up to you and ask you who your country thinks they are and have to explain that you didn't vote for George W. Bush? I do. I love traveling the world, seeing other places and now that is harder than ever because of the image we've created for ourself abroad. Moving on from my personal problems here, telling the world to fuck off is not a smart political move. We hardly have enough troops to fight the war we've started in Iraq, how do you propose we fight all these other countries? We need the world on our side to fight terrorism and they would be if we weren't so busy being missionaries.

14. We should also pull any aide that we provide to them as well.

Response: First off, we don't need to piss anyone off any more than we already have. Pulling aid would be political suicide, not to mention the effects it would have on our economy when they retaliated with their wallets.

15. They don't seem to mind when we interject to assist them, but when it comes to freeing a people of a murderous dictator people get their panties in a wad.

Response: They were not behind us in Iraq because we had no right to be there. It was never our foreign policy to strike first and then we lied about our reasons for doing it. Hussein never had nuclear capabilities and we knew that. I understand that Hussein was a murderous dictator, but that was not the reason we attacked Iraq. Whatever you say, the official reason given for attacking was that we were in danger, which has since been proven to be a complete lie.

16. All the democrats did this election was complain about what is wrong with this country. You know what is wrong with this country?? Too many people complaining and not enough people doing something to change it.

Response: Josh, I am not going to argue that this campaign was run perfectly by the Democrats. I have said myself that they needed to state their policies and intentions more explicitly. However, saying that the problem with this country is too many people complaining is absurd. All these people are complaining about the things that George W. Bush is doing throughout the world. They have a right to complain and we did our best to change things by changing leaders. Unfortunately, when it came time to choose a leader a large portion of people let their religion guide their choice, despite this country's constitutionally mandated 'separation of church and state.'

17. If anything Bush has set forth what he believes will solve some of the country's problems, Kerry just pinpointed what the republicans were doing wrong.

Response: I agree that Kerry may not have set forth enough strategies, however, many of his plans were to reverse the damage that Bush had done. Yes he pinpointed what Republicans were doing wrong, but that was so that he could fix it. Kerry saw the problem, Bush didn't. When asked if he would invade Iraq again, knowing what he knows now, he said yes. How can you explain that?

18. If you don't like the way things are in this country I hear that Fallujah is nice this time of year. Just remember that the people over there this time a few years ago had no influence on who ran their government, now they are having elections. I'd say those are some impressive strides for a country that has been supressed for several decades. If that is not progress in the right direction I don't know what is.

Response: Thanks, I'll go check out Fallujah, I appreciate the open invitation. As for the elections, they are hardly legitimate, at best. Iraq is in far worse shape then it was before we went in there. That's not to mention the over 100,000 civilians that have been killed at the hands of the United States. I'm not going to disagree that Saddam Hussein was a dictator and a murderer, as well as a very evil man. However, we have made that country a more dangerous place and it doesn't seem to be getting any better. How do you propose we finish this? If we leave there and pull our troops the situation will deteriorate more quickly than it is now. If we stay, extremist from around the Arab world will continue to travel to Iraq because we've created a place to fight against America. Don't you get it? We've made this situation worse.

19. A toast to four more years of moving in the right direction.

Response: I'm sorry that you believe this is the right direction because I believe the opposite. On November 2nd the United States had a chance to reverse our course and try to find the right direction but the wrong man was elected. Now we find ourselves heading down a long and dangerous path without the assistance of anyone. We stand alone and I fear our safety. To quote something my mother wrote, "I'm beginning to think that our history of wealth and power has blinded our citizenry to the kinds of immorality that bring down civilizations." We can't afford to be a nation of chest thumping cowboys anymore because there are a lot of people in this world with a lot less fear of death than we have.

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An Argument

After some baiting by my Floridian cousin, a Bush supporter, I decided to post this on our fantasy football message board:

Here's a democrat who's pissed off about the election. I'm pissed off that I live in a country that believes it's more important that gay people aren't allowed to get married than it is that the government is taking away our personal freedoms. I'm pissed off that I live in a country that believes it's okay to change foreign policy on a whim and in turn piss off the rest of the world. I'm pissed off that I live in a country where we kill 100,000 innocent civilians because they were ruled by a dictator who was barely hanging on in his own country and certainly had no time or means to come attack us. I'm pissed off I live in the country where it's more important to have an entrance strategy than an exit strategy. I'm pissed off that I live in a country where only half the people get off their asses to vote. I'm pissed off that I live in a country where only 10 percent of young people can stop playing video games for an hour to vote. I'm pissed off that I live in New York City and that I'm going to get attacked for the president that the rest of the country elected.

Most of all, though, I'm pissed off that conservatives like Josh are out gloating about a president who is likely to do unrepairable damage to the country we live in. Instead of taking time to think about this election, weigh all the facts and tell me why you voted for George W. Bush you make little snide remarks. I hope you enjoy four more years of your president and I hope that you prepare the apology for your children and grandchildren, because it's them who won't be able to travel the world without encountering people who hate Americans. It's them who will have to live in fear of a Muslim world that has been taught to hate America becaue it tried to come into their country and tell them how to live. It's them who will have to deal with the deficit, the lack of social secuirty, the loss of a woman's right to choose and a destroyed enviornment. I'm going to start writing my letter today

Today he posted his reply. I am currently writing my reply to his, but I wanted to post this off because I find the ignorance enraging. It provides a great understanding of why people would vote for this man and obviously Josh has given this some thought. However, if this is the attitude of a majority of Bush voters (and a majority of the nation), then we have moved in to an even more dangerous place in American history than I could have imagined.

Don't blame the republicans because the world hates us. The world hates us because they are jealous of what we have. As far as the Arab world is concerned, they will always hate us as long as we support Israel. The best way to undermine that hate is with education. The main problem is that the Arab people have been secluded from the rest of the world. Once they are exposed to modern culture they will adapt and embrace it. When you have a group of people that is born to hate, you need to do something. As far as you worrying about your safety in New York, we probably have never been safer. The reason 9-11 happened is because the previous administration was far too passive in dealing with the terrorist threat. You can't tell me that 9-11 was Bush's fault. He is the perfect remedy. The only thing the Arab world has understood up to this point is force, so force they will get until it is safe in the world. You can't sit back and hope that peaceful diplomatic solutions will work. You need to be on the offensive, and John Kerry was not the leader to do that. Since 9-11 there has not been a strike here at home. That is a promising thing. After a few years of introducing democracy in the Middle East and education, things will be much safer. There is no quick fix, it is a process and will take time. Our country and our interests world wide will be better off because of this war. If the rest of the world doesn't like it they can fuck off. We should also pull any aide that we provide to them as well. They don't seem to mind when we interject to assist them, but when it comes to freeing a people of a murderous dictator people get their panties in a wad. All the democrats did this election was complain about what is wrong with this country. You know what is wrong with this country?? Too many people complaining and not enough people doing something to change it. If anything Bush has set forth what he believes will solve some of the country's problems, Kerry just pinpointed what the republicans were doing wrong. If you don't like the way things are in this country I hear that Fallujah is nice this time of year. Just remember that the people over there this time a few years ago had no influence on who ran their government, now they are having elections. I'd say those are some impressive strides for a country that has been supressed for several decades. If that is not progress in the right direction I don't know what is. A toast to four more years of moving in the right direction.

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Lost in a Sea of Conservatives

By Amy Brancato

Unless you're here for the first time you realize this is one in a series of many people's reactions to the election, but I'll mention it anyway. If you'd like to add your own thoughts email them to writing@noahbrier.com.

I think I want to start this post by telling you all a little bit about myself. I am a 22-year-old female, who proudly thinks of herself as a Feminist (and by Feminist, I want things equal for women, not better). I also strive to be a Humanist, as I want all people to be viewed as equals, treated fairly, and not judged by their color, religion, or sexual preference. I’ve attended two peaceful protests in Washington D.C. (Spring 2003-against the War, April 2004- March for Women’s Lives), and I’ve made a vow to myself to attend one protest that I believe in every year for the rest of my life. I’m registered as an Independent. In 2000 I voted for Nader (I felt it was worth a shot), and the minute my younger cousins turned 18 I reminded them to register to vote. I just graduated in May, and once I settle down with a career, I want to design for a nonprofit organization.

That being said, and me visiting this website in the first place, I’m sure we can all assume who I voted for (hint: not Nader). But, I’m not going to lie, when I first became a Kerry fan, it was only because I was a Bush hater (“Kerry sucks less�). But then, I decided to get more involved, and actually educate myself on my options. Well, after some researching, self-discovery, and the first Presidential debate, I became a diehard Kerry fan.

Well, it’s been a couple of days now since the devastating let down -- I mean, outcome, of the election. I like to consider myself a very open-minded and rational person, but I have been a complete basket case since Tuesday. I’ve been debating/fighting with anyone who’s willing, I’ve been insulting Bush and the Republicans every time I open my mouth, and worst of all is I’ve been contemplating friendships with people who actually voted for Bush. I don’t like how I’ve been acting, or even thinking (I filled something out on line to see if I could get a work visa in New Zealand, ya know-for 4 years…I can’t). But I can’t help it, in fact there’s a lot of things I can’t do right now:

I can’t believe Bush won.
I can’t believe SO MANY people actually support Bush….nor can I believe that they believe he should continue to lead this country, especially with how things have been these past 4 years.
I can’t believe how many states were colored in RED.
I can’t believe my Mom (and I think my Dad too) voted for Bush….my parents who were hippies in the 60s, and even went to Woodstock!!
I can’t believe that the Republicans are now in control of the House and Senate, and soon enough the Supreme Court.
I CAN’T BELIEVE that it is only a matter of time before Bush puts 3 right wing religious fanatics in the Supreme Court, and I am going to LOSE my right to choose what to do with MY body. Which leads me to my next disbelief:
I can’t believe that a man who thinks it is morally wrong to kill cells in the name of research, has NO PROBLEM with sending live humans overseas to war…to kill other living humans. What?!?!
I can’t believe that if my boyfriend happened to be a girl, I wouldn’t be allowed to marry her, b/c the Bible (which, contrary to Bush and other Conservatives’ beliefs, is NOT our Constitution) doesn’t approve.
I can’t believe that people don’t realize that by voting for Bush, they’ve voted to reverse a core belief that America was created on: Separation of Church and State.

I really don’t mean to, or want to, be so negative. This is not a proud time for me, and as much as I don’t want to say it, I don’t think it’s a proud time for America. I feel very stuck, and scared. I literally cannot find it in myself to respect anyone who voted for Bush-and that makes me feel like an awful person. I must say-it was very comforting to read what everyone else here had to say, it made me feel a little better.

But now what?? The only silver lining I’ve been able to see is that I’ll have PLENTY of protests to attend in the next 4 yrs, and you better believe I’ll be there. But will I ever get over these negative feelings?? Will the disappointment I feel towards my friends/family members/fellow Americans/country go away?? Is Bush going to F up things even more…can he?!?! Will America ever be respected again as the great country that it once was?? Will America ever be the great country that it once was?? I don’t know. I appreciate that some of you tried to remain positive, and hopeful, and I’m very sorry that I could not do the same. I just felt this was just my opportunity to vent about a situation I feel very strongly about.

I guess this is a turning point for me, an opportunity for me to grow. I will not leave America-as much as I disagree with and do not respect the majority of people and government of this country. Bush hasn’t taken my Freedom of Speech…yet. So, Activism it is!! I vow to remain involved, and refuse to back down. I’ve done my part as a citizen, and voted. But, I (we) can’t stop there. I like Benjamin’s idea-each one of us trying to open the eyes of those on the other side. I will also vow to attempt to stop being so negative about this situation, and instead, use that energy to be proactive.

Thank you all for your time, and thank you Noah for this space to vent. It gave me an opportunity to gather my thoughts, and I feel a lot better.

Amy Brancato is a graphic designer and laughs at really bad jokes about lobsters.

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Steps to Taking Back Our Country

After Ben's fantastic post, I wanted to post something positive. I've been trying to think about what we learned from this election and here are four points. I also want to ask one thing, if you're going to write something please try to refrain from stereotyping. People stop listening when you start stereotyping, however you may feel about those people that voted for George W. Bush, it helps no one to call them stupid. We all know and respect someone that voted for Bush. They obviously saw this whole thing differently. Everyone's vote is worth the same and they chose differently than you did. While I'm not claiming to understand them, name-calling towards anyone, including Bush, is not productive. Let's keep this civil and try to understand that they are people too, they just happen to be people who prioritize things differently.

With that said here are four points. Please feel free to comment and add anything you think I may have missed, let's start trying to get positive.

1. Continue to organize: Let's use what we have built here and not give up. We lost this one, but for the first time we have an infrastructure online that can do things like raise $173,000 in less than two hours. This whole online Democratic community is less than two years old. Of course the Republicans have four years to figure out how to build their own, but we've got a head-start, so let's take advantage of it.

2. Get the youth to vote: The lesson we've learned here is that 18- to 29-year-olds are full of it. They talked a lot of game, but when it came time to actually get in that booth they didn't carry through. How do we do better next time? This is a digital generation, maybe we need to try to make it easier to register and vote. How about we start pushing digital registration? Email voting? Don't know if these are possibilities, but let's start thinking. Clearly for those youth who got most involved, especially first-time voters, this loss is going to be a huge hit. Let's make sure they all stay involved and stay interested. We can't let Republicans do this better than we do.

3. Unite: Let's put our differences aside and unite as a party. We need to decide what we stand for (not against) and start standing for it. That means we need to stop all these useless protests where people show up for 2,000 different causes. If you want to make an impact, protest with one message. Show your solidarity. I know you all believe in lots of different things, but if it's an Iraq war protest leave the Palestinean flags at home. OK?

4. Define our position: This is the most important of the steps. I've written about it before. We need to stop being the anti-Republican party and become the Democratic party. Let's define our positions and tell the world. Let's be strong and resolute. Let's stand up for what we believe in. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Let's decide who we are.

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My Two Cents

By Benjamin G. Joseloff

Editor's Note: This is part of a series of reactions to the elections. Thanks to all involved. If you'd like to add your two cents email them to me at writing@noahbrier.com.

I want to thank everyone for writing these pieces and Noah for posting them. Reading everyone’s thoughts is an enlightening and heartening process.

In reading the reactions I have found a lot that I agree with, and a few things I don’t. In the interest of dialogue, here’s my two cents.

I woke up Wednesday morning and could not believe the presidential results. Throughout this election season I was really convinced that Senator Kerry would prevail. I was impressed by his agenda, impressed by his specific points of contention with the president, and impressed by the way he campaigned and debated. When I realized that the senator would not be the next president, I was dismayed and disappointed.

But here’s where I disagree with some of the previous authors. Has the fact that more than half the people living in this country disagree with me made me embarrassed to be an American? Absolutely not. While I am afraid the president will lead our country in the wrong direction over the next four years, I still believe we live in the greatest country in the world. Call it blind optimism or youthful naiveté or whatever you want, but I believe in my heart that we, as a nation, will be able to reverse any damage the policies of this president will do. Will it all be better the second George W. Bush leaves office in 2009? Of course not. It will take time, but I believe in democracy and I believe that Americans are fundamentally good.

Does this mean complacency? Hell no. There is a reason the majority of Americans voted they way they did and I consider it a wake-up call for the rest of us to do something differently in convincing them they shouldn’t have. Unlike some of the other writers who expressed bewilderment because they don’t personally know anyone who voted for the president, I know-—and happen to be related to-—a great number who did. I will consider it my job to convince them by 2008 that the far-right agenda is not what is best for this country. If each one of us who supports center or left-leaning politics convinces one person who voted for the president, there’s no way we can lose next time.

So, I guess all I’m trying to say is that yes I am shocked, yes I am angry, yes I am disappointed. But I also believe my mission from here on cannot be one of anger and fear, it has to be one of optimism, no matter how cliché that sounds. I will continue to support candidates I believe in, I will continue to argue against things I think are wrong, and I will continue to learn about politics and the political process in order to better understand the system. But most importantly, I will continue to be proud to be an American.

Benjamin G. Joseloff will be running for president in 2028 whether he wants to or not.

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Even My Friends?

By Jarrett DeMent

Editor's Note: This is the tenth in a series of reactions to the election. Thanks so much to everyone that's gotten involved and sent me their thoughts. If you'd like to add your own email me at writing@noahbrier.com.

I have been reading a bunch of reactions to this past election.  I have also talked to friends, family, coworkers and just about anyone else who wanted to talk.  I have received invitations to move to Canada or New Zealand. One thing that can be said about this election is that there is plenty to talk about.  I'm not going to talk about how disappointed I am. I'm not going to talk about how W's crazy eyes scare the hell out of me.  I'm not going to talk about how I'm 0-2 in presidential elections.  I'm not going talk about how when I woke up on Wednesday and found out Kerry was losing, my first thought was, " goddamn redneck, bible belt, southerners/Midwesterners, with 3 teeth, mullets, and belt buckles the size of dinner plates, voting because of their religion!!!  Get you damn religion out of my government!!!" I am going to talk about how this election has affected my friendships. Prior to this election, I had no idea I was friends with so many Bush supporters.  (I call them Bush supporters rather than Republicans because, while I supported Kerry in this election, I do not consider myself a Democrat.  I don't want to label them Republicans if they were just supporting Bush.)  I was disturbed by this discovery.  I had no idea that people who I considered close friends did not feel the same way I did.  Granted, I don't expect my friends to agree with me on everything.  I don't expect them to agree with me on every individual issue.  I didn't even expect them to believe Kerry was the right man for the job.  I just assumed that they would have to agree that Bush was the wrong man.

Now don't get me wrong, I am not ending my friendship with these people.  I am not that type of person.  Although, my view of them has changed.  I can't look at them the same way.  It's not a bad view, just different.  There is always going to be this thought in the back of my head, "how could you vote for him?"

The part I don't get is why they supported Bush.  I attend a small, liberal arts school in central PA.  None of my friends are CEO's of major corporations, nor are my friends very religious.  Actually, most of them aren't very religious at all.  I can't figure out why they would support Bush.

It's possible I'm letting this get to me too much but I can't help it.  Think of a time when a friend of yours has let you down.  I feel like all of these people I know who voted for Bush have let me down. Hopefully I can control my disappointment.  I really do like these people.  I don't want to lose their friendship.  I hope that in the next few weeks, I can interact with these people like I used to.  But, in the back of my mind, there will always be this feeling that they let me, and the rest of the country, down.

Jarrett DeMent is going be a high school teacher and teach his students the things that matter.

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Sad Day

By Anonymous

Update (9/2/05): At the authors request I have changed the byline to "anonymous." Let it be known that this is not something I agree with. I don't believe in posting any writing by an anonymous author because if you're not willing to put your name behind your work there's a serious lack of credibility. I understand that these are somewhat special circumstances, however, and since this had already been posted with a proper byline I have made the change.

Update (3/23/07):Got rid of additional references to author's name.

Editor's Note: This is the ninth in a series of political writings on the election. If you'd like to write one email me at writing@noahbrier.com.

Well Folks,

The fat lady has sung and that bitch was a conservative, SUV Driving, born-again homophobe. The only concession of the night is the new senate member, Barak Obama, the nice black fellow from the great liberal state of Illinois. It's a sad and scary day for our country because not only has Bush won, but he also now has the support of both the house and senate. Lets not forget about the 11 states that put a ban on gay marriage. The next four years will be a conservative Candyland and the rest of us will be stuck in the chocolate bog.

What now? We must not forget that this is our country too. Bush did not win in a landslide. We must continue to support groups like the ACLU, Amnesty International, MoveOn and all of our other lefty friends, and we must not forget about our own moral values like equality, freedom of expression and RATIONALITY! Hang on friends, its going to be a turbulent four years but we will perservere.

In Clinton We Trust,

[AUTHOR'S NAME REMOVED]

P.S. At least we still have Jon Stewart

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Open Thread (an Experiment)

This is an open thread. That means anyone who wants to talk about anything is welcome to comment and hopefully a dialogue will start. Hope this is a useful experiment and that everyone takes advantage of it. To comment you can just click the comments link. Enjoy!

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Election Protection

By Elenor Denker

Editor's Note: This is eighth in a series of writings on the election. Thanks to everyone who has participated and if you are interested in having your thoughts published email them to writing@noahbrier.com.

I spent Election Day protecting citizens' rights to vote – granted, I was in a heavily Democratic precinct in Fort Lauderdale Florida. Generally I live in NYC, and have participated in this election season mostly by computer, often with my credit card handy.

It was a very warm, sunny day in Fort Lauderdale. We be-friended Diane, the Kerry poll worker, a grandmother and fervent Democrat; and Mike, the school official, also part of the local DNC, and an Israeli; and Eduardo, the Supervisor of the Precinct, who explained how all machines in Florida are cleared to zero when they reach the site, and that those tapes are printed and taped to the wall at the beginning of the day and the end of the day. I wore the red shirt which said "Usted tiene el derecho de votar" – (You have the right to vote) and I was available to help English speaking voters and Spanish speaking voters.

Diana was the first person I helped. She had gone into the poll (where I was not permitted, except by invitation of a voter), and they couldn't find her name on the list of registered voters for that precinct. There was one poll worker who, on a cell phone, called into Ft. Lauderdale headquarters to someone who was looking at the official list. Once the voter was found, s/he was told the correct precinct and went off to vote there (hopefully). However, Diana wasn't found on the county list either. I knew, from my training the night before in Miami, that Diana should have been permitted to fill out an affidavit about where she lived, and then permitted to fill out a provisional ballot. I called 1-800-OUR-VOTE, and Diana spoke with an attorney (Spanish-speaking), who told her the same thing. The attorney told her to invite me to go back into the poll and help her. So I put my light blue t-shirt over the bright red Election Protection shirt (no campaigning inside), and we went back in. We got on the line and after about 10 minutes, two Election Protection attorneys who were in a roving crew, showed up.

It took over an hour, but I am proud to say that Diana eventually was able to complete her provisional ballot. She will find out in a week or two whether her vote was accepted. She knows who she voted for – I don't. But I hope she is as devastated as I am with the results of this election.

Elenor Denker is a Human Resources VP and a card-carrying liberal activist of many decades, beginning with her years in the Peace Corps. There are few people in the world who give better advice on anything and everything.

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Repugnant Republic

By Pam Grossman

Editor's Note: Here's another in the series, this one's not an essay but it's still a reaction. Send yours to writing@noahbrier.com

You cut your wrists and ooze Coca-cola
You scrub your mouths TV-clean with Ivory soap
Your bibles are filled with dollar bills and candy bars
You snack on our safety

You measure our morality in increments of your dick size
You protect the lives of my unborn fetuses and send me
Into a sick world with no medicine,
A poisoncloud with no gasmask,
A chaos sea with no liferaft,
A bloodroom with no heart.

Oh monsters, monsters all, with golden lancets
And hexing prayers
A jubilation of damnation
A declaration of better-than-ness.

My strong, lamenting brothers,
my fierce and aching sisters,
I, too, have a dream:
The ones who will topple head-first into Hades
Are those who stand on tiptoes to be closest to God’s face.

Pam Grossman is a little person who is too creative for her own good.

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Eighteen in Washington DC

By Leah Rebecca Brier

This is the sixth in a series of essays by family/friends/the rest of the world about the election on November 2nd. If you'd like to add your own thoughts email them to writing@noahbrier.com

Being in Washington DC, during what could be called the biggest and most important election of my lifetime, has made this whole ordeal that much harder to stomach. I have sat down between classes today in complete shock and total confusion.

The thing that I absolutely cant wrap my mind around is idea that the things that I think are horrible and terrifying about the man we are calling our president and all the problems that occurred in his past presidency, are completely overlooked and fine with a huge number of my peers and fellow Americans. How is that possible? I may have, what some consider, liberal views on some of the issues of this election, but who doesn’t think that killing our soldiers for apparently no reason is not ok? Who thinks that its ok to not allow people to marry the people they love? How can it be that 2.8 million people don’t see that this man, and his administration, is a threat to our nation’s security? With this reelection I am terrified of the fact that we are just waiting to see all of our civil liberties along with everything our country stands for, completely fall to pieces.

My second concern is bigger than just this election. For me, the reelection of George W. Bush paints the US’s citizens in an awful light. What is it going to take for Americans to be both aware and educated to not make the same mistake twice? Unlike Bush I am going to get this colloquialism correct, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. While that couldn’t ring more true this situation, what does it mean? Shame on the United States for making the decision they did, but that doesn’t make me feel any better. I can’t just point a finger and then relax knowing what could potentially happen to my country. I am completely dumbfounded. And what’s worse than just being upset, is that I am really not sure what I can do. Negative I know, but I have lost more faith in the decision-making skills of the people of the United States, than I even thought I had.

With all my confusion and shock, I have made a couple vows to myself. Number one, I can’t bare the weight of the mistake that has been made for the entirety of the next four years. Therefore I am willing to suspend my view of reality, and not think about this until January when the reelection comes to fruition! More than that, my second vow is to, for my own sanity; refrain from directly insulting the president. In my opinion, openly admitting that the president of my country is a complete imbecile only makes the situation worse. While not insulting him, I do however vow to continue to criticize the policies, decisions, and safety strategies implemented to “protect my freedom.�

Leah Rebecca Brier is a freshman at The George Washington University and a young woman that makes her brother proud when she writes something like this.

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Random Thoughts and Fears on the Re-Election of George W. Bush

By Michael Brier

Editor's Note: Not sure if I need to keep mentioning this, but this is an essay in a series from people who want to tell the world how they feel about the re-election of George W. Bush. If you'd like to add your thoughts to the mix, send them to writing@noahbrier.com.

It seems to me that I would have a difficult time in finding 10 people that I know (not necessarily even 10 people I like) who would admit to voting for George W. Bush and giving the Republicans full power in the House and Senate. Is it that I live in a time and space where my views and beliefs are so far to either side of the norm that I can't figure out why people would even contemplate voting for this man? I have attempted to list a few key strengths that I believe those people identified with and want to let them know what I believe:

1. Strong Defense Policies - His defense is to attack before being attacked. Alienate thy neighbor before he alienates you. Build a coalition of a few nations in the name of many and lie about its strength. Concentrate on a single enemy and make him out to be our biggest threat (the Boogie Man Syndrome). Ignore the opinions of our allies and don't even pretend to be listening. (I am not suggesting that if attacked wait for your friends to go to your aid, although it wouldn't hurt. I agree with what we did in Afghanistan.) It is going to take many years for us to re-establish ourselves as a country to respect and trust. I hope I am around long enough to even see the beginnings of that.

2. Strong Economic Policies - The deficit is getting to be so large that my Great-Grandchildren will be paying for it (that's a long time away). It has given me a tax break that I did not want or deserve. Big companies control the Republican Party and the Republic Party controls big companies (ala Halliburton).

3. Protection of Civil Liberties, Gay Rights & Women's Rights - The Constitutional rights of these groups will likely be taken away from them in the name of National Security and/or fear of changing what Bush considers to be his norm. His strong religious beliefs will also be an even more controlling factor in our soon to change laws.

4. Last but not least, George W. Bush's real agenda is to make the separation of Church and State a much much smaller gap. His real purpose is to put people in power (especially the Supreme Court) that can take these previously granted rights away from us with a mere smirk of his face. This country's basic foundation of tolerance will continue to erode under this newly re-elected President unless we speak up.

I hope we all remember how we feel today and not let this sense of failure control our need to keep our true beliefs from being compromised.

Michael Brier is a COO and a damn good father.

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Avoiding Complexity?

By Barbara Rubin Brier

Editor's Note: This is the fourth in what will hopefully be a long series of essays about the election. Feel free to send me your own thougts at writing@noahbrier.com.

I fell asleep with the TV on last night, worried, but still hopeful that Ohio would go to Kerry.  I slept fitfully, finally giving in to the urge to learn the truth just after 5 AM.  I didn't want to put on the TV.  Something must have told me the news wouldn't be good. I don't think I wanted to hear it from some self-satisfied TV anchor, proud to have held back on the call, proud to have gotten it right, proud to have stayed up all night. In spite of his purported liberal bias, I knew Tom Brokaw wouldn't admit his disappointment with the outcome.  All I'd hear was about 'democracy in action,'  the huge turnout, the decisive victory.  All I could think about was that a Bush victory would be the beginning of the end.  I logged on, scanned the page quickly, and went back to bed, knowing full well that sleep was out of the question.

I wanted to blame someone.  Those damn 18 to 29 year old's, not turning out as needed ... someone. I wanted to blame Bush and his band of thieves.  But I realized that it was more than that, I had to blame the American myth, the swaggering cowboy who shoots from the hip and sees the world in black and white.  There were millions of people who didn't see what I saw in this election. There were million of people who wanted this born again cowboy to lead them. It scares me to death.

I fear a world where people prefer to avoid complexity.  I fear the 'ends justify the means' philosophy of the Bush administration as much as I fear terrorism. I fear their paternalistic arrogance, which smacks of totalitarianism.  My sense is that Bush, and even more so, Cheney and Rumsfeld, believe that they know what's best for each and every American citizen and therefore should be empowered to make decisions without consulting us.

I am scared America!  Scared that we have allowed our principles to be eroded. Appalled that we have relinquished the high moral ground. Devastated that I am embarrassed to be an American.  We have frittered away the world's good will.  We have frittered away our children's financial security.  We have frittered away the wisdom of the founding fathers.

I want to believe that we can make it through the next four years without irreparable damage to the future of American democracy, but my heart's not in it. I'm beginning to think that our history of wealth and power has blinded our citizenry to the kinds of immorality that bring down civilizations.  I know that sounds overly dramatic, but I can't get past that 'Nero fiddled while Rome burned' feeling.  Perhaps it will fade with time.  I went to work today.  I did what I had to do.  I put one foot in front of the other. I expect I'll do the same tomorrow.

But it will be with a heavy heart.

Barbara Rubin Brier is a former journalist and currently works as an educational change consultant. She also happens to be a very smart lady and a good mother.

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Apparently I Was Wrong

By David Kienzler

Editor's note: This is the third in a series of essays about last night's election. Feel free to submit your own at writing@noahbrier.com.

I was in Boston yesterday in the ballroom of the Copley Square Westin Hotel. My presence there was a last minute thing because, for better or worse, I had wanted to see the end with the people who had gone through it with me. This was to be Kerry's big victory party, but it ended up reminding me a lot more of the one in Poe's Masque of Death. I got up there late, but still early enough to see the heady optimism of people expecting victory. Florida was slipping away, but hey, we have Ohio. But as the evening progressed and it grew increasingly bleak, you could see the panic behind people's eyes. By 2am Poe's Red Death had overwhelmed the maps on the dozens of TVs and dreams were dying left and right.

I haven't seen people so shocked and gutted, crushed really, nor been so myself, since a little over three years ago. I've always considered myself if not a pessimist, at least a mood equalizer. And I was definitely less optimistic than most people there when the evening started. But even I really didn't think this was gonna happen. When you're a kid and you think there's a monster in your closet, you let yourself be scared but you know deep down inside that monsters don't really exist. In the same way I knew deep down inside that we would win this. We had to. The stakes were too high, the opponent that bad, the American people too smart.

I was wrong about that. I was also apparently wrong about preemptive military action, the need for exit strategies, and the importance of a true international coalition. Apparently I was wrong about the separation of church and state, gay rights, gay marriage, health care, abortion, social security, tax cuts for the rich and the deficit. Apparently I was wrong to think job losses are bad and Osama should be captured. Apparently I was wrong about global warming, the international criminal tribunal and missile defense systems.

I thought I could never be more embarrassed to call myself an American than I was for the last four years. I was wrong there too.

About the only thing I can still say with certainty: I'm scared for the future.

David Kienzler is an angry, Birkenstock-wearing hippie who worked on the Kerry campaign.

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State of Shock

By Noah Brier

Editor's Note: This is the second in a series of essays from anyone who feels like writing one about the election. If you want to share, email me at writing@noahbrier.com.

I was just told that Kerry officially conceded. I'm proud of him for doing the right thing and not dragging this out. That would have only made this whole situation worse. It's clear that Kerry didn't have the numbers he needed in Ohio, with or without provisional ballots. So now it's all over and George W. Bush is the 44th president of the United States of America and I'm stuck here trying to capture my emotions at the moment of impact (a term that seems strikingly fitting).

Let me begin by saying that I believe this is the biggest disappointment of my lifetime. I am more political today than I have ever been and I just witnessed my party lose what many called the 'most important election of a lifetime.' I'm having a great deal of trouble finding the words to describe how I feel right now. My walk to work this morning was a slow one as I tried to find some positivity in what happened last night.

At least Bush has to try to clean up his mess now (something I believe he has no shot at achieving). At least he can't run again (unless he gets enough new judges in the supreme court to overturn those pesky term limits). At least . . . nothing.

I just can't believe that so many people can disagree with me. George W. Bush is a man that I see as an unquestionably awful president. I believe he has hurt this country far more than he has helped it and I'm not sure we'll ever be able to recover from the damage he's done. Clearly, though, a majority of this country (at least a majority of voters) don't see eye-to-eye with me. To them, George W. Bush represents the strength that a president should have. He's the man that climbed on top of the rubble with a bullhorn and promised to go after the people that were responsible for that terrible event and make them pay. He's the man that had the balls to go in and take out Saddam Hussein, a man everyone agrees is quite evil. He's a cowboy and a Christian and clearly he has what people like in a president.

I was there that day. I watched the buildings fall out my window and I don't want it to happen again. I don't want any generation to have to see what I saw that day. Unfortunately, I believe the way we're alienating the rest of the world under this president is setting us up to be the most hated nation in the world. (Even more hated than we are already.)

It's all just hard for me to swallow. I'm not a cowboy (nor am I Christian, for that matter). I believe that gay people should be able to get married if they want and that Muslims have a right to be Muslim. I worry about how the rest of the world sees us and I don't believe in striking first. I didn't vote for George W. Bush because I want to be proud to be an American. Right now I'm not. I believe in the ideals of America and I believe that this president has turned his back on them. With that said, I can't stand that I'm part of a nation that reelected a man that I feel so negative about. I just don't understand what I'm not seeing.

I'm in shock.

Noah Brier is a professional journalist who doesn't know what to say.

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What We Are

By Jeff Hughes

Editor's Note: Hopefully, this is the first in a series of essays by readers/friends/anyone who has something to say about the election.

New York City. Los Angeles. Detroit. Boston. Seattle. St. Louis. San Francisco. Washington D.C. Miami. Cleveland. Cincinnati.

Not a single one of these cities voted for George W. Bush. Not a single one was even close. And yet we’re about to allow W to sit on his Throne of Good in the White House for the next four years. The Republicans have the Congress. The Republicans have the White House. The Republicans are about to dominate the Supreme Court. You might want to check those balances – there may be a little more weight on one side.

Rural America has their president. A devout Christian cowboy who speaks in their black-and-white language and believes it is America’s duty to dominate. It didn’t matter that the economy is a disaster. It didn’t matter that he not only waged a false war but failed in almost every way to achieve any of the set goals. It didn’t matter that Ohio lost a quarter of million jobs…at least not to the people of Ohio.

He won. No, I take that back. He didn’t just win. He won a majority of the vote (over 50%) for the first time since 1988. He beat John Kerry in the popular vote by almost four million votes. And I know the turnout was overwhelming, but George W. Bush received more votes in this election than any president in the history of this country. Please go back and read this paragraph.

This is what we are. This is who we are. And I’m trying everything in my power not to plunge into complacency. We don’t have the “but he DIDN’T win� excuse anymore. That’s out the window. This won makes 2000 a memory, the way the Red Sox 3-0 comeback makes Aaron Boone just another in a line of Yankees third basemen. Michael Moore’s “fictitious president� just suddenly took a leap across the Barnes & Noble aisle into New Non-Fiction. George W. Bush is not only the president. He’s popular.

I’m not going to play the blame game right now. There’s plenty to go around. For now, I’m going to sit around and worry about the draft and being despised in every country I visit. (I wonder how many of those rural voters consider an issue like that.) John Kerry didn’t run as John Kerry. He ran as not-George W. Bush.

Guess what, John? The people seem to like George W. Bush a whole lot more than we all thought.

Jeff Hughes is not happy right now . . . at least the Bears beat the 49ers.

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The Day After (and a Call for Submissions)

As you can see by the last entry, I tried to keep up with last night's election online until it got out of hand and I was refreshing about 30 websites every minute. I went to bed with Kerry down by 100,000 in Ohio and the hope of provisional ballots saving him, only to wake up down by 150,000. I'm going to try and write something today about how I feel right now and I'd like to ask anyone else reading this to do the same and email it to me at: writing@noahbrier.com. As long as they're clean and thoughtful I'll post them. I'm really interested to see how others are feeling right now because I'm not quite sure how I should be.

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Election Night

12:51pm - Fox has announced Ohio for Bush. Kerry is 140,000 votes behind. It's pretty much all over. I don't know what to say.

8:14pm - CNN and MSNBC reporting:
Kerry: Mass., Conn., NJ, Del., MD, DC, Ill. (77)
Bush: Okla., Ga., Tenn., KY, WV, Ind. (66)

7:53pm - With 61.5 percent reporting in Kentucky the democratic senate candidate Daniel Mongiardo is up on Jim Bunning, the incumbent.

I think I'm going to try to get some updates in during the evening while we wait to see who our next president will be.

First off, Zogby has projected Kerry winning the election with 311 electoral votes to Bush's 213. It's a poll of 955 likely voters with a margin of error of +/-3.2. It's not a huge group and it's a fairly high MOE, but here's to hoping Zogby's correct.

Here are the Wonkette exit poll numbers

K/B: FL 51 49
NC 48 52
OH 51 49
Missouri 46 54
Ark 47 53
Mich 51 47
NM 50 49
LA 43 56
CO 48 51
AZ 45 55
Minn 54 44
Wisc 52 47
IA 49 49

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Voting (UPDATED)

Well, I'm off to vote. Kind of hard to comprehend the importance I think this day has. I remember the day two years ago when we went to war in Iraq and my mom told me she thought it was the beginnning of the downfall of America. I think this is our chance to get back up, brush ourselves off and start over. Maybe John Kerry won't be the best president ever (although I must admit that I have become more and more of a fan), but at the very least he will restore respect to America in the eyes of the world. I, as everyone else in the country, plan on watching very closely (and hopefully doing a bit of writing as it goes on tonight). After tonight hopefully the political talk will end and I can get back to the excitment of such topics as RSS. I'll keep my fingers crossed. In the mean time, though, here's my pictures from Halloween of another president (I apologize to anyone who may be offended). Enjoy the pictures and, to quote P. Diddy, "Vote or Die" (what kind of slogan is that anyway?).

UPDATE: Technorati is tracking votes from blogs. I am casting my ballot for John Kerry and against George Bush.

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