On the Upper West Side (UWS) of Manhattan there are several Democratic clubs. I'm a member of Community Free Democrats (CFD), the home club of Rep. Jerrold "Jerry" Nadler. It's hard for me to see a clear path for the evolution of Manhattan political clubs in the digital age. Sometimes I think they need to consolidate. (Dems don't do consolidation well though, do we? grin) In Manhattan, do they adapt or die? Or is that a false dichotomy? Will they continue to be a tool--relatively unadapted--for the sort of block-by-block, electoral district-by-electoral district, utterly volunteer-based/(exploited sometimes?), petition-weilding, storefront/streetcorner-visibility-enhancing, and essentially Party machine-driven entity that primarily, though not ultimately, expends its energy and time and money on backing particular local Dems against OTHER Dems in Party primaries, and not on backing the nominees against Republicans...because Republicans are so rare on the UWS that the General Election is not a real contest! I think CFD and the local clubs ARE still relevant, but they often do a poor job of explaining and promoting the VERY grassroot (asphalt?) work that they do.

Ever notice when energy prices get high the same oilmen sing (to the tune of "Barbara Ann") "Drill drill drill drill drill Offshore?"

Of course they do that. It works well for them! They get more money and power, and we get to keep them in charge and rich beyond belief. (Exxon's second quarter 2008 profit was $1,485.55 per second). Big Oil isn't America's friend. It's our master. And they want to keep it that way!

The Associated Press article, "McCain Hasn’t Ignited the Passions of Evangelicals," offers a glimpse of conservative Christians' rather tepid response in a very Republican region of Iowa to Sen. John McCain's candidacy. Dave Mulder, a retired professor from Northwestern College in Orange City, remarks:

I think people here genuinely believe that George Bush and his Christian faith was very sincere.... People have said that when they talked to him, he took time to let them know how much that Christian belief meant. For McCain, I just don't think there's that same enthusiasm

After the flip: An editorial commentary--and something of a correction to the AP article--from me, who attended Northwestern College:

Robert Kagan, a policy expert who is advising Sen. John McCain has written an essay on American military interventions and American expansionism throughout our republic's history. (The article is no longer available on the World Affairs website, unfortunately.) His prose is excellent and his examination very interesting. Yet, the essay somewhat oversimplifies American attitudes towards military intervention and expansion to extent American influence and power. Kagan identifies American movements for and against, and suggests that the pendulum of dominant policy and public opinion swings back and forth between them.

Stylus in one hand and my Dell PDA in the other, I charged into the awaiting subway car and strode three paces to the rare treat of an empty seat, passing a dark black man in a black jacket nestled knee-to-knee beside what was likely his boyfriend--very fair-skined, blond, goateed, brown leather jacket, silken white shirt, ready with a whisper into the other’s ear. Who knows what was said. I took the seat beside them and continued my digital scribbling. A moment after the train lurched and began accelerating out of the 18th Street station, I looked up to gather my thoughts. If I hadn’t, I’d have missed it.

Well,___ and I got a wee bit carried away tonight, perhaps. I'm a stoic Iowan type, despite the fact that NYC whirls around me like a centrifuge (sp?).  ____ lives next to that building that some NYCers may know was crushed utterly by a collapsing crane recently, killing 7 people tragically, unnecessarily, horribly, disgustingly (unchecked development and gentrification and ritzification of Manhattan; vile). Not because that building has fallen, but because ____ has always had a clear view from her terrace of 2nd Ave all along. And from that terrance we mounted an Obama "yard" sign tonight, belatedly, we admit. Let me tell you, it will be seen by 1,000's over the course of any given day from here on out.

Okay, ___ often works for a Hillary supporter (but perhaps secretly a reluctant one), so we keep her name secret.

Tonight the investigative news program Frontline features the first of the two-part examination, "Bush's War". It draws on the more than 40 reports that Frontline has done on the "war on terror."

It's on right now on many Eastern Time Zone PBS stations.

Crain's NY Business is reporting that sources in Albany say Lt. Gov. Paterson may be sworn in as NY Gov as early as this evening.

I was looking back over the report by Professor Ken Sherrill of Hunter College, "Same-Sex Marriage Initiatives and Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Voters in the 2006 Elections," and wondered just what LGB voters represented, potentially, as a demographic potentially providing a margin of victory in an election.

In a post on The Huffington Post entitled, "A Religious Landscape Ripe for Revival," Jim Wallis of Sojourners notes the latest Pew survey on religious life seems to indicate that non-denominational churches are growing. He observes that churches offering a personal faith--one that is not deeply doctrinal--are growing. And he believes that such churches include ones offering a "new evangelical agenda." This agenda is one:

focusing on poverty, the environment and climate change, human rights, war and peace, and, yes, the sanctity of human life.... Why pit unborn children against poor children? Rather, let's see them all in the category of the vulnerable that Jesus calls us to defend.

Yes, the agenda sounds good.

Obama's gonna be the nominee.

There is a sweetness in that beyond words. There is the solidifcation of the "vague nimbus of hope."

I hope he does not throw LGBT Americans under the bus.

I love both our candidates!!!!!!!

Last night they both sounded great!!!!!!!!

They sounded like good Democrats!!!!!!!!!

They made the GOP candidates look, if nothing else, simply booooooooooooring!!!!!!!!!!!!

I live in a political bubble on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It's increasingly and distressingly becoming sterilized, boutique-ized, and suburbanized. It is losing too much of its socio-economic diversity. But it's still the "Peoples Republic of the Upper West Side." That much hasn't changed.

And here's the thing . . .

For the purposes of this diary, I will define Sen. Barak Obama as black. That is because to most good-hearted Democrats (who are the VAST majority of Democrats) race honestly doesn't matter compared to bigots--silent or otherwise--for whom Obama is "black enough" to not vote for, to bad-mouth, to work against, to loathe.

I friend in Australia, who teaches frequently in Japan, wrote to me today by e-mail and mentioned that he hoped I'd vote for Obama, not Hillary. My response was honest...more honest than it's been with fellow Dems here on the "homefront."

I thought I'd go out on a limb--seriously so--and publish it here, mainly because I can't believe I'm alone in my thoughts. If there's one thing I've learned in my mere 35 years of life, it's that I'm not extra-ordinary.

From a high school classmate of mine comes this article concerning the resignation of Tom Westerhaus, the schools superintendent of Prior Lake, Minnesota, following the election to the school board there of a disciplined former employee, Chris Lind, who was fired after repeated warnings about talking to students on campus about sexual orientation and telling them it was "National Pick on Lesbians Day."

Sections from the article, additional information and links follow:

The kerfuffle over a Hindu praying before Congress was avoidable easily. The United States Congress should have no chaplaincy.

James Madison wrote in "Detached Memoranda" that: "The establishment of the chaplainship to Congress is a palpable violation of equal rights, as well as of Constitutional principles." This quote can be read in context here.

The republic as our Founders intended was to be as secular as practicable. (Read on: secularism is what safeguards the "unum" in "e pluribus unum . . . ")

I'm watching the refreshingly sane, panic-free, reasonable coverage online on BBC News 24 concerning the failed Glasgow terrorist attack. The Queen was in Edinburgh for the opening of the Scottish Parliament, so the worthless religious buggers aimed their violent piety against a Scottish city. They failed, and the Labour Government under its a new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, is, like the BBC and Britain as a whole, wisely refusing to over-react. No cities closed down, no panic, no major airport delays beyond Glasgow Airport itself.

It has come to my attention that Internet users in Heathrow attempting to access information about gay and lesbian matters--such as the website for Blue Diamond Society Nepal and Gaytimes--might be having access to such sites blocked, the error message appearing is said to read:

"Access Denied. The SiteCoach thinks this website contains content harmful to the young public. This page was blocked. Reason: Domain with forbidden contents."

This would appear possibly to be discrimination on the part of BAA or an affiliated service provider. Nonetheless, my information is secondhand (the e-mail alerting me is below).

I am seeking clarification and an explanation from the BAA/Heathrow or an appropriate Government representative. I enourage you to do the same. You can e-mail Heathrowhere.

The Republican fund-raising machine is back to some old tricks: the bogus, telemarketed "National Leadership Award" pitch/scam dating back to at least 2002 and ethically-challenged former Congressman Tom DeLay.

A friend of mine in the corporate world received this voice mail in mid-March 2007, as related to him by e-mail from his administrative assistant:

Heather Yolan from Congressman Tom Cole’s office called and said they would like to recognize you with a National Leadership Award, and would like to talk to you about a press release ASAP...their number is 1-877-213-0603.