To me there are three things we all should do everyday. Number one is laugh. You should laugh everyday. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. Number three you should have your emotions moved to tears.

[....]

Just think about it. If you laugh and if you think and if you cry that is a full day. That is a heck of a day. Do that seven days a week and you'll have something special.

As a huge, I mean a huge sports fan I can't believe I had never heard this quote from Jim Valvano's 1993 ESPY Speech. Can't believe it. He'd died of cancer, which he knew he had, two months later.

Towards the end they wanted to move him off the stage, you know time stuff. He says:

And that screen up there is flashing :30 seconds. Like I care about that screen right now. I have tumors all over my body and I am worried about some guy in back going :30 seconds.

Often, and I am to fault, the bad is highlighted here 24/7. There is good in this world no matter how bad it seems.

It was 11th grade English with Mr. Turner at Mamaroneck High School.  He was fond of summarizing great works of literature with a single phrase.   And for Macbeth his line was simple:  "Anticipation is greater than realization."   He argued strongly that we invest so much in our goals and dreams that even when we completely achieve them we are inevitably disappointed because "anticipation is greater than realization."  Mr. Turner did not view this as a bad thing, for if we did not look for the big things ahead we would not be motivated sufficiently to take the actions to move us forward even to the lesser achievements we eventually do accomplish. But he also warned us that if we allowed ourselves to be disappointed by what we actually achieved, then we would find nothing satisfactory enough, that our  accomplishments would sour on us, and eventually we would stop trying, because since we never fully realized the fullness of our wildest dreams, the perpetual disappointment could sour us on life.

I have recently been very much reminded of that teaching as I observe the political processes, especially as we explore them here.  And I have finally come to the conclusion that Mr. Turner was at best partly right.

I'll try to keep this one short.  I've got a lot on my mind.

Over the past five or more years since DailyKos was started, there's been many times when we've all done so much to make a real difference.  The efforts to prevent telecom immunity from passing is the most recent example of this.  And it was a big letdown.  

However, every single one of you did your best to stop this thing.  Our efforts did not go unnoticed either - the constant delays were a clear indication of this.  So what do we do now?  Everything we can.

I hope you all had a happy Fourth of July filled with fun adventures. Not all of us have the will power to stay completely on the wagon while we are vacationing and especially on a day that has as one of its major attractions a food eating contest. (Go Mr. Chestnut, go!)

Well shake it off and we need to get back to the swing of things.

The weekly series of talking about wellness and fitness continues after the jump.

I went out of line in discussing Israel and AIPAC. My own misguided notions got me hide-rated and for a good reason.

I just wanted to write a short diary to express my apologies.

Compatriots, we've come so far, but there's much to be done.
Barack wants us to keep our eyes on the prize and to stay focused, fired up and ready to go!

We've learned that Obama will staff every state.

We've learned that Elizabeth Edwards will join Obama on Healthcare.

We've learned that John McCain is indeed a heartless weasel.

But folks, even with all of the above, we've got to stay motivated with a glint in our eyes and a brave spirit. We've got to carry each other across the finish line. It is our responsibility and there ain't no stopp'n us now!

Fitness Monday is a weekly diary series with revolving authors and today I will be writing about motivation and fitness in general.

Today is a memorial day and generally a day off from work. Today is a great day to get some fitness in.

And well I have some thoughts this morning.

Please, Join me on the flip side.

Ok. Here is my take on what has been happening around here.  

First of all, we are all dead tired of this primary campaign.  It has gone on too bloody long, and Democrats' feelings toward each other have started to sour.  As Matt Stoller has said, each primary since February has resulted in the most annoying and inconclusive possible outcome, and there is no reason to believe that this trend will not continue through to June.  Not to mention the fact that the superdelegates very well might not take decisive action after the voting ends, so it is possible that this thing could go all the way to the convention.  

Second of all, and more pertinently, people just went through a roller-coaster with Jeremiah Wright's recent appearances and Obama's interview on Fox News.  Watching the zeitgeist on this site over the past few days has been pretty entertaining, but also troubling....

(Keep reading for the motivational shpiel below)  

It is Thursday, so it must be time for the Dog to ask a question of his fellow Kossacks (please keep the groans of dismay down to a dull roar, eh?). Today the Dog would like to ask what it is that motivates you to be politically active. For the purposes of this question we are going to use a fairly wide open definition of political activism (wouldn’t want to be accused of elitism after all...), if you give money, blog, comment on blogs, volunteer for campaigns, volunteer for issue campaigns, run for office, work as hired staff, write legislation, lurk at political blogs or pretty much anything else with the exception of voting (since that is the real entry level) in more than one election cycle, then for this question you are politically active.

("New Recruits" by Adam Archer, from Upper Deck's Vs. System trading card game.)

I will be the first to admit that my diaries up to this point have been laced with pop culture squeak and seriously lacking in substance.  Today I aim to change that just a bit.  Last night Nina and I had the extreme pleasure to talk politics with my cousin and his wife from Indiana.  They are Republicans who voted for George W. Bush twice.

My cousin's wife brought up the most interesting topic of the long conversation.  She is a sales rep that deals with doctors.  At dinner the previous Friday, they were talking politics with one of her favorite physicians, who happens to be from Nigeria.  He said that a Barack Obama presidency would motivate the black youth of America.  She could not understand why he would say that.

This is my first post here, though I've been lurking for the past couple years.  I've working over these ideas in my head for a while and I hope you find them useful/interesting/whatever.  It's more personal, than policy so be forwarned.

My roommate Cam made an excellent point a few months ago that has kind of thrown me for a loop and has taken me some time to figure out.  We were talking about something and he pointed out that a lot of our political beliefs are based on outrage.  Something is pissing us off and we want to fix it.  It’s an inherently negative position to come from, as everything stems from having some problem, so you start to view politics as the profession of having to fix things; everything carried out by the government is an obligation, to yourself or your constituents, to correct some error or injustice.  That’s the way I’ve looked at it, knowingly or not, for a long time and definitely the way a lot of other people have looked at it.

I'm just writing this diary because 2008 should be a hell of a year.

I like reflecting on my life and what I've observed as well and I'll do that with this diary.

Why should anyone look forward to 2008? I'll give you some reasons.

As our country amply illustrates, energy is the coin of the realm in the Kingdom of Life.  This is true whether you are a modern "civilized" industrial nation, an ant, or a blade of grass.  The math on this is pretty simple: If you fail to eat, you die.  Therefore, all organisms go to extreme lengths to eat.  In humans (and other vertebrates) the same system that gives rise to stress and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is also the body’s main defense against starvation.  I believe it is no small coincidence that the reason so many combat veterans are being physically and mentally shattered by stress on the plains of Iraq is because we as a nation are physically-dependent on energy consumption, the American way of life, which we have been told is not negotiable.  But before we delve into stress as most people think about it, much less PTSD, let’s take a look at how the stress system behaves in more tranquil times, when bringing wood to the fire, while still effortful work, doesn't necessarily feel stressful.

That being "Perfection".

So another Saturday, the one after Valentine's Day, or as I referred to it:  Wednesday.

I face two fronts on which Perfection is the enemy of the Good.

Having been single for the last decade (yeah, I said decade), and unhappily married to Bill - Bill Z. Bubb (anyone know him?) before that, I finally started seeing someone.

Nice guy.

Only . . . wow, I couldn't bring myself to place him anywhere in my life.  I basically ignored him until he went away.

Have I been alone so long I prefer it?  Am I just out of practice?  

Or is it that Enemy of Good?

And I'm trying to "be a writer".  In other words, I've been trying to bring myself to sit down and write again for weeks now.  I haven't been able to do it, though my mind brims with ideas.  It's all in there, screaming to be let out.  But . . . what if it's not, you know, perfect?

The Enemy of Good again.  

In my most recent piece on dishonesty I compared politicians and used car salesmen. What I was trying to communicate in the piece is that dishonesty is not a "black and white" thing. As Americans we accept the fact that a salesman, regardless of what he or she is selling will put their product in the most favorable light. We know this and accept it as a fact. Putting a product in a favorable light may or may not be deception. And, it may or may not be dishonest. I tried to be clear, but one reader told me that Bill Clinton’s father was a used car salesman. I assume that is a fact, but I don’t know anything about Bill Clinton’s father so I can’t really comment one way or the other.

But, what difference does it make whether Bill Clinton’s father was a used car salesman? I know that the reader didn’t like what I wrote, so I assume that he was trying to point out the fact that I must have liked Bill Clinton, therefore the guy I liked was fathered by someone I didn’t like, namely a used car salesman.

free·dom [free-duhm] –noun: the condition of being free; the power to act or speak or think without externally imposed restraints.

I was talking to my boyfriend in the car on the way back to DC from his house in Baltimore on Tuesday night, and he commented that he was amazed that I was always able to remain optimistic about the bigger picture and see the potential for good in the world around me.  The conversation that started took me back to a sermon I once heard at All Souls Unitarian Church in Washington, DC, given by Rev. Shana Lynngood.

I've found my thoughts returning to that sermon many times since I heard it, and I remember it as one of the most empowering sermons I've heard in my years attending Unitarian churches.  It led me to ask what is freedom really, and how can I best use it?  How do we ensure that we don't lose it?  What can it do for the world?

While doing a Google search on something entirely unrelated to anything being discussed on this site, I came across a quote from Herman Melville's Moby-Dick.  To me, it speaks to human motivation and social dynamics much generally; I would not limit it to any single analogy.  And surely there are arguments on both sides of this brief debate; I just think Melville presents them especially well.  I offer it to your collective attention without further comment.

Every first and third Sunday under the east side of the Hawthorne Bridge here in beautiful downtown lil` Beirut tribal drummers gather with fire dancers and to perform for all those who gather to watch.  There are no upturned hats or open cases seeking donation at this performance.   I was there, as I always find myself every six to eight weeks, in need of clarity and focus.  It is also, as it turns out,it a good place to network with other dissident factions in the city.  One of the more commonly attending drummers works with Hart Mind and Soul some of the cities most hard core anti-government propavandelizers (my word).  The drummers who march with Portland Peaceful  Response Coalition  (PPRC) every Friday they practice about a block away under a nearby overpass on Sundays as well.  When the dancers arrive and the air becomes thick with kerosene and various smoking material the networking fades away and all I can think of is how alike freedom is to fire.