Wednesday, February 25, 2004

The Dean machine, or some part of it, pledges to fight on. Joe Trippi today announced the formation -- or continuation -- of a national movement. If this thing hangs together and starts to grow, it could be a force to be reckoned with. Names I recognized on the list of founding members included the Dean campaign's Internet communications chief Matt Gross, webmaster Nicco Mele, and Meetup coordinator Michael Silberman, among others. One question: where does Howard Dean fit in? From the somewhat grandly-named founding document, the Cold Creek Compact: Change for America will be a national organization that unites progressive communities and sets an agenda of meaningful reform... Our immediate path is clear: we must defeat George W. Bush and elect a new president, we must infuse elections at every level with the same commitment that built this movement—and you must decide how to do it. Two weeks from now, our movement will come together in a series of summits across the country, convening in Boston, New York, Washington, Atlanta, Houston, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Minneapolis and Denver." 4:36:26 PM    comment []

"What happened to the good old days of college football, when you never heard about things like this happening, even though they were going on?" Colorado football scandals as covered by The Onion. 4:00:24 PM    comment []

Correct politicalness at Chapel Hill. UNC has come under fire in recent years for asking freshmen to read books that might make them think, including one about the Koran (gasp) and one that makes the unremarkable argument that American capitalism ain't floating everybody's boat. This year, the choice came down to "Absolutely American," a book about life at West Point by David Lipsky, and a contemplation of the dangers of technology, "Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age," by Bill McKibben. The decision was made this morning to go with "Absolutely American." That's the one I would have chosen -- it's supposed to be a good book, it's timely, and it will piss off a different group than its predecessors and its rival. Even better, the nation's first public university struck a blow for public discourse. Daily Tar Heel: "This year the process for selecting those books was open to the public. Chancellor James Moeser went against the legal advice of the University attorney and against the suggestions of his cabinet members to open the meetings after a request by The Daily Tar Heel." 3:53:21 PM    comment []

Lisa and I are going to see The Passion of the Christ this evening with my office neighbor and friend, Alex McFarland. I'll file a column about it for the Sunday N&R -- they've stretched my deadline to make that possible, which is cool --and of course I'll post notes here in the meantime. 8:57:01 AM    comment []

I abhor the codification of discrimination, and I'm conservative in general about mucking with the supreme law of the land, but sometimes change is good. Thus, my favorite amendments to the Constitution: I-X, with a special shout out to I and II, a nod to IX, and a sympathy card to poor old forgotten X. XIII, XIV, and XV -- and justice for all, baybee. XIX -- although sometimes I think it should have said that only women should vote. XXI -- with all the grandstanding and moralizing in DC, I really could use a drink. Hmm, a common thread emerges...my faves are all about liberty, not restriction. 8:00:45 AM    comment []