My introduction to Studs Terkel was a monologue from Working that I used in high school for college auditions. A cop on the edge who got to say the F-word, just what a 17-year-old boy like myself wanted to scream. I was too young and naive to really appreciate how important those words are.

Moment of silence for Studs Terkel.

The first time I voted, it was absentee because I had just started college. (And I’m not afraid to admit that my first vote, in 1992, included a vote for George H.W. Bush. We live and we learn.) When I did finally step into a voting booth in 1996 — and voted for Clinton because I understood the world a little better — I loved it. I loved the line I stood in, the smell of donuts ordered for the election judges, the little plastic booth, the chad punch. It felt so sacred, so powerful. It’s why since then, I always vote as early as possible. I can’t sleep the night before, like the night before you’re going to Six Flags. I’m waiting in line like I want to scalp front row seats for Lily Allen.

I love love love to vote.

As they say in Chicago, “Vote Early, Vote Often.” This year, you can really vote early. Illinois is one of many states that have an early voting programs. No lines, no pressure, and the peace of mind that whatever BS your chosen candidate explosively excretes in a last-ditch effort to sway a few undecided voters won’t affect your decision. Okay, so you might learn on November 3 that your candidate is a serial killer, but you might find that out on November 5, too. It’s the risk you take.

As they say, all politics are local. In Chicago, that means voting on a crapload of judges and three commissioners for the Water Reclamation District. When was the last time you did research on who will do a better job of cleaning poo out of wastewater and selling it as drinking water to the suburbs? Honestly, even a political junkie like me needs help when it comes to the vast array of candidates on the ballot.

This year, as I do every year, I offer the power of influence over my own judgment to the IVI-IPO. This non-partisan organization cares about the things I care about: justice, honesty, openness, and fairness. In the past, I’ve done my own research on judges and referendums, and every time, my conclusion has been the same as IVI-IPO’s. Thanks to them, I’ve even voted for a Republican or two.

If you want the kind of world I do, check out their endorsements. If you agree, print out their sample ballot. Remember: Election judges cannot stop you from bringing reference materials into the booth.

Remember to vote on by November 4. I’m voting tomorrow, and my heart is already racing.

Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do:

This display of Christianity is not Christianity at all. Jesus sought to bring peace for those who believed in him. Do any of these people seem to have peace? They seem more bloodthirsty to me.

Furthermore, what did Jesus preach if not for tolerance? Jesus brought hope to the poor, to those who were persecuted by the powerful. Hmmm. Sounds pretty liberal to me.

And I’d like to remind Christians of the amount of persecution they’ve received over the last few centuries themselves. How dare you persecute someone else. Your messiah didn’t do it, and you have no right to do it either. Your faith should not be at the expense of truth and tolerance.

There are millions of peaceful, tolerant, real Christians out there. I don’t wish to call them out at all. However, when I consider, “What would Jesus do?” I believe he would tell the people in this video and everyone who agress with them that they’re full of crap.

19 days.

Sidenote: I know this is a clip from Al Jazeera, the Fox News of the Middle East, so it deserves a grain of salt. Bear in mind, though: This is the impression of the United States that the world has about us. So much for leading the world.

(Via Mac genius and fellow progressive John Gruber, who showed far more constraint than I did.)

After reading how AIG spent taxpayers’ money, I wanted to respond to two things folks have said to me about our burgeoning economic nightmare. Be forewarned: I know very little about economics, and I shouldn’t even be talking about this publicly. However, what are blogs for if not to espouse uninformed opinion.

When my father started going off about how Obama is going to raise our taxes and I started going off about how that’s a lie, Dad threw this little bit at me: “Why do the Democrats insist on punishing the rich for being rich? It’s not like the poor pay any taxes anyway.” The government needs to get their money somehow, right? So if it’s not getting it from the people who can afford it, it’s raising fees or selling debt to the Chinese, neither of which is good for anyone. Don’t get me wrong — I understand that if you raise taxes on corporations, that tax money may come out of salaries and benefits. But individuals? If a person making more than $2,500,000 a year has a problem with paying an extra $300,000 a year so that our country isn’t in debt and we can improve our workforce by improving education, then that person should go screw themselves. (Then Dad started saying that Obama is a Muslim, and the conversation ended there.)

A client and friend of mine suggested that the problem is not a need more regulation. The problem is we aren’t enforcing the regulation that already exists. As he put it, “If the animals escape from the barn, don’t lock the door to the barn so they can’t get in.” Well, he has a point, but that barn, though, is collapsing in on itself. Deregulation (like the Commodity Futures Modernization Act and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, both of which, incidentally, were signed by Bill Clinton) opened the door for subprime mortgage securities. There was a reason why FDR only wanted banks to worry about loaning money and let other firms worry about investments.

Other than that, I’m clueless about what’s going on. If economists support Obama 2-to-1, that’s good enough for me.

Update 10/10/08: I really forgot to change the title of this piece after I wrote it. It started out as one thing and became another. Neverthless, this seems like as good a place as any to point out that AIG loves retreats. (Via.)