While the intense focus on politics before the election is unerstandable, currently Slog is like totally ignoring national politics, basically.

Good stories in NYT today about influence of lobbysits.

Valerie Jarett in the white house, cool, will head up that Pbulic Liaison office. Like I said, holy shit President Obama's going to have like 50 million e mails and you can sign up and this will revolutionize the power of the presidency.

Lots more clintonistas being considered for various things, too. Slog's total silence on this is quite a mystery. Oh wait, no it isn't,it would be embarassing to admit Clintonism was actually pretty good, and that all that anti Clinton talk in the primary was mainly campaign bsloney.

Meanwhile, the Alaska seat looks liek it's ours and sadly, there's nothing on Slog about the race in Georgia in which you, Mr. and Ms. pro Obama folks, can make a difference if you go right now and make a donation.

Andif we are focusing on marriage equality--um--where's President Obama on that one again?

Should he come out for it? Let it go? Ignore all these ani gay votes in several states? Should he keep saying it's wrong to ban civil unions or gay marriage but he's not exactly for gay marriage and it should be a state issue?

Should it be a state issue?

And what about school choice. President Obama seems to be sort of against charter schools, yet he is going to send his kids to a private fancy school instead of the horrible, ghastly, disastrous, crime ridden, failing DC public schools. Very odd but the same pals of mine who would rip a new one for any Seattle politician who was so "racist" as to "abandon" the public schools here, instinctively defends Obama on this one, without knowing any facts or giving it any thought. "All presidents send their kids to private schools in DC" was the comment today, which, as you know, just isn't true.

You want him to be an Urban president? You want the urban archipelago to have the pwoer and influence we deserve?

How about having some kind of opinion on the failing public schools, what do we need, more moeny, more protection for teacher tenure, yes on charter shcools, no on charter schoos, hooray for President Obama giving those DC public schools the finger, god damn that President Obama for abandoning public schools, do the progressive Democrats have an opinion on this issue?

The silence speaks volumes. It's a tough issue, so let's hsut up about it, eg, who really gives a fuck about all those kids left to rot in the failing public schools in DC and certain other big cities. That's real racism, folks, the benign indifference of Nixon, only you won't admit you're doing it.

I guarantee you this. IF fucking Cindy McCain were first lady and had kids in the K-12 range and if she were shopping to put her kids at Georgetown Fucking "Country Day" School or whatever it psseudo-aristocratic anglophile name is, you guys would be screaming all over Slog about how out of touch the McCains are.

And if Palin moved to DC and didn't send her kids to public schools, you betcha there would be cries of racism racism racism.

Washington Post editorial today:

"MICHELLE OBAMA'S visits to two private schools and her inquiries about Washington's public schools have sparked the inevitable public vs. private debate. We ... as President-elect Barack Obama and his wife decide what's right for Malia and Sasha, Mr. Obama might want to think about the families that he would deny this precious freedom of choice.

During the just-concluded campaign, Mr. Obama spoke dismissively of the federally funded voucher program that gives poor D.C. families access to the kind of educational opportunities his family is fortunate to have. The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program gives low-income families up to $7,500 per child for their children to escape failed public schools and attend private schools. Some 1,900 children receive vouchers, and many more are clamoring to join the program."

N.B.: money can't be blamed this time, as DC public schools spend about $13K per pupil.

Democrats need a better way to address urban public school systems. What we got, ain't working, and we are not gonna compete globally if 25% of our schoolforce is in failing schools.

We need everyone to graduate HS and be able to move on to college or else we will just fall behind all the other nations which seem to be outpacing us in education.