First Post -- the things on the New World Mind

Who am I? Why am I here? Existential questions, of course, but that's not what I was thinking about with those words. Ever see Phil Hartman's goof on ill-fated 1992 vice presidential candidate James Stockdale? Now you've got it. Just a little SNL history.

This is my first post, so for the sake of saying so and little else, I'll tell you that the title of this blog comes from the title of a song by a band I like quite a bit. Bonus points for you if you know them. The song opens with the line:

He's a rebel and a runner
He's a signal turning green
He's a restless young romantic
Wants to run the big machine

OK, enough middle-schoolish quoting of the lyrics. I don't know if I am any of those things, but here's what I can tell you for sure. I'm a thinker. A liberal. A progressive. An open mind. A news junkie. A sports fan. A dog lover. A poor man's stand-up comic. A sucker for gadgets and technology and all things digital. And so that's what you'll find here -- a little bit of all those things.

It is January 31, 2006, and as I write I'm watching the "pregame show" of the State of the Union Address. George W. Bush. Eight years. What are we going to think of him years from now once his term is over? CNN is reporting that infamous war protestor Cindy Sheehan has just been arrested on Capitol Hill. How did we get here?

The other night, I somehow ended up watching Prime Minister's Questions on C-SPAN. Every week the British prime minister has to go before the House of Commons and answer questions from the members. I think I'm going to form a new political party, and the sole purpose, the sole platform will be to amend the U.S. Constitution to require the president to answer questions on the floor of Congress once a week. Can you imagine 'W' in that setting?

'Course we're gonna do somethin' bout education!

'Course we're gonna do somethin' bout Social Security!

But first we have to beat the terrorists. First we have to get the evil do-ers!

'Course we're gonna do somethin' bout robotic research! You think I wanna be without Dick Cheney?

So that's where my mind is tonight. The State of the Union is pre-empting a show about a fictional White House, Commander in Chief. And my vote is for Gena Davis.