This was intended to be a short piece about how Chip Saltsman distributed a CD with the political parody "Barack the Magic Negro" set to the tune of "Puff the Magic Dragon," and how people were angry at him and Mike Duncan at the RNC got his days-of-the-week panties in a bunch, but I decided that to write something short and sweet was a) impossible for me to do and b) an insult to the intellectual integrity of this issue.

I have my own personal concerns about this topic, many of which match those of others, but I wanted to let some of these conservative bloggers and Twitterers speak out for themselves. 

It's possible, if you've been busy with holiday shopping and preparing to bid 2008 farewell, that you missed news footage of an Iraqi journalist hurling shoes at President George W. Bush during a news conference in Iraq Sunday. If you admire President Bush and possibly if you don't admire him but fully support reasonable decorum even in protest, the journalist's behavior may have appalled you: "How dare anyone throw anything at the President of the United States!"

Okay BlogHer readers, I need your input for a podcast interview I'm doing on December 22nd with comedians Tim Reid and Tom Dreesen. You might remember Tim Reid as the oh, so fly, Venus Flytrap on television in "WKRP in Cincinnati" or the star and executive producer of the critically acclaimed show "Frank's Place."  You might remember Tom Dreesen as the comic who opened for Frank Sinatra for years or as the standup comedian who was a fixture on "The Tonight Show." But do you remember that Tim and Tom did an interracial standup act for years in the late sixties and early seventies? 

This morning President-elect Barack Obama reaffirmed his strong commitment to health care reform. The United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) believes that breastfeeding is an "essential public health issue" and should be a high priority for the incoming administration. In light of this, the USBC has created a petition urging President-elect Obama to make breastfeeding a high priority.

Depends on who you ask. I've heard from more Democrats than I can count that Barack Obama's numerous appointments of centrist Clinton remnants have them feeling baited and switched; I've heard from multitudes of conservatives who feel disenfranchised that the only Republican in the promised bi-partisan is hold-ever Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates - who is neither a yardstick for Republicans or guaranteed to keep his job for the first year. (It has been said that Chuck Hagel is in the running for an appointment as well.)

Hang on folks 'cause we're about to have a "YouTube President" in the White House.  Yes, it's true he may now have to give up his BlackBerry, but that doesn't mean his administration won't use the media and the internet in ways that have only been imagined in politics before.Last night President-elect Barack Obama did his first televised interview since the election with Steve Kroft of "60 Minutes." And though interviews by new presidents on "60 Minutes" are not new, the way Mr. Obama has used the media to his advantage rivals that of The Great Communicator himself, the late President Ronald Reagan.

By the time dusk fell on the evening of November 4th, the GOP party looked at their Reaganite ideal of a "shining city on a hill" now dust under their feet. History was made, in more ways than one.

Halleluljah! The 2008 election is almost over. It's been exciting, inspiring, historic and incredibly contentious. Soon we won't be hearing anymore about John "Mr. Grumpy Puss" McCain and Barack "Mr. Tax and Spend" Obama or Sarah "We're Mavericks" Palin or Joe "I"m From Scranton" Biden. But before we move on to the next act in this political drama, let's take a look back from a media standpoint. In a campaign year when many Americans got their news from the internet: YouTube, Facebook, campaign websites and hundreds of blogs on the internet that helped shape public opinion and motivate voters, it would be a mistake to forget the power the mainstream media (MSM) still holds over shaping a candidate's image. Here are some Election 2008 MSM highs and lows.

Around this time of year, I often expect to see spooky decorations for Halloween. Hanged figures are not cool in general but what is never acceptable is hanged figures that represent political candidates. While hanging an effigy is technically protected political speech, it is also marred by the very ugly history of violence perpetrated against people of color and women who transgressed against prescribed social roles and were maimed and killed for it. The outcry over hanged effigies of Barack Obama and Sarah Palin is loud, appropriate, and necessary.

Grab some coffee or a big glass of wine or a liter of water. Because I have something to say and it's going to take a while. As a child, I was often told that I was "too sensitive." I remember feeling, when people said that, that I didn't know what they meant. It wasn't that I didn't know the meaning of the word itself, but I didn't understand how it was being applied to me.

The other day I happened upon a fantastic post that Lizzi at The Bitten Word published regarding Barack Obama’s tax plan, something that has been worrying conservative bloggers (like Ally) across the Web. Lizzi (like my husband and myself), is a small business owner.