The teabaggers scare me. Not because they’re passionate. I applaud that. Not because they think the government isn’t working for them anymore. I agree with that. The teabaggers scare me because most of them are idiots with no real ideas and no fundamental understanding of government and society. (“End all taxes!” “Then how will you pay for the roads?”)

Case in point: Thomas Zaleski.

John Gruber retweeted this:

You can see it was retweeted 14 times as of this post.

So then I tweeted:

My short URL link pointed to Mr. Zaleski’s original tweet. No longer. (We’re getting to that.)

So Mr. Zaleski responded to me:

So I responded to him:

So he responded:

So stupid me decides to actually try and engage him in a civil debate:

I haven’t gotten an answer yet. His individual tweets are now protected, so I can no longer link to them:

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not the only person who hammered this guy. I don’t take credit for scaring him away, but it was fun to be a part of the herd.

So let’s review:

1. I called him out for insulting Roger Ebert, a man who can no longer speak or eat.
2. He says something that doesn’t make a lick of sense and asks me to be civil.
3. I accuse him of being less than civil.
4. He claims he didn’t insult Roger Ebert.
5. I ask him a serious question.
6. He runs away.

All in all, a good day.

The CTA Red Line stop at North and Clybourn is awful. Despite being a within a block of a Crate & Barrel, a Restoration Hardware, and other fancy-pants stores, the stop is a filthy mess. It’s falling apart and in a state of disrepair, much like the nearby notorious Cabrini Green housing project.

It also has a place in my heart. The first time I visited Chicago, I stayed with friends on Belmont and took the Red Line from Belmont to North/Clybourn for my internship interview at Steppenwolf. And when I later moved in with those friends after accepting that internship, I made that exact same trip every day. I don’t get off at North/Clybourn very often any more, but despite it’s decrepit state, it still reminds me of when I first moved here 13 years ago.

Today, I read that Apple is planning to spend $4,000,000 to renovate the stop. This is great news. While my nostalgia for those creaking, oddly narrow escalators will never go away, my detest for the station’s appearance compared to the recent upgraded Brown Line stops will finally be erased.

But I’m not writing because I feel wistful. I’m writing because of one tiny part of Apple’s agreement with the city—Apple may get naming rights:

In the agreement approved at an August 19th Chicago Transit Board meeting, in exchange for the improvements the CTA will lease the bus turnaround [behind the stop] to Apple at no cost for 10 years, with options on four, five-year extensions. The CTA will also give Apple “first rights of refusal” for naming the station [my emphasis] and placing advertising within the station, if the CTA later decides to offer those rights.

I know the CTA needs the money. I know that it’s a good investment for Apple to have a shiny new CTA stop adjacent to a shiny new store. (It’s also generous of them to invest in a public project like this.) But naming rights gives me the willies. If the stop becomes something like “Apple Store/North Avenue”, then it will set a precedent. A new Target store is under construction on Broadway not too far from the Wilson Red Line stop. If Target renovates that stop (not a bad idea, really), should it then become the “Target/Wilson” stop? Will all of our stops soon become sponsored by a corporation?

There’s no indication that this is actually going to happen, but the potential is there. It’s a slippery slope:

“Excuse me, sir, how do I get to Chicago and Franklin?”
“Get on the McDonald’s Line at the AT&T stop and take it around the Sony loop. In about four stops, you’ll get off at Procter & Gamble.”

The only potentially untrue thing in that exchange: no one says “Excuse me, sir” anymore.

I’m willing to accept the good with the bad: corporate sponsorship of public works would inject cash in places we need it, like public transportation. But the effect I believe it would have on our already corporate-saturated culture is painful. Too often we express ourselves solely as our advertisers teach us to express ourselves. Sometimes, I’m not sure if I’m seeing a product placement in a movie; it’s more believable to hear an actor order a Heineken or a Pabst Blue Ribbon* than it is to see him belly up to the bar and ask for a “beer.” Such is our culture already. Corporate names for public works crosses the line, I believe.

I would certainly like to think that renaming the North/Clybourn stop “The Apple Store Stop” or, as TUAW put it, “iStop“, would cause an uproar. I, too, would email all my friends to oppose it.

I’d probably email them from my iPhone.

*Apologies to David Lynch.

Updated 10/28/09, 9:37 AM because I realized I used the expression “slippery slope” twice.

I’m a huge fan of The Big Picture, one of the best websites for experiencing photojournalism at its best. The inauguration album is breathtaking. What struck me the most was this juxtaposition of images 9 and 10, demonstrating the enormous advantages we have in this country:

While we have it pretty bad right now, and while Obama represents to many of us a sharp turn from what the previous administration has wrought, let us be mindful that in many parts of the world, they would love to have our problems. To them, President Obama may mean more than a privileged American such as myself may ever understand.

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.)

Because, as mothers always say, if you can’t say anything nice…

John McCain has a fascinating story, and while I don’t agree with his stance on just about everything, I firmly believe that he really does consider himself a public servant. He had the audacity to stand in front of the RNC and vow for more transparency, which was a direct slap to the Bush administration. In fact, lots of slaps to Bush with references to change. To face the Republican party and demand that they reassess their policies to reflect the 21st century was ballsy. Finally, as presidential candidates always do, he threw a few good words to Obama; the words he used, though, were incredibly respectful and came off as honest.

Good for you, John.

Now to put the “dump” in “brain dump.”

I know you’re really only calling for “change” in an effort to steal the word from Obama.

The “Raising McCain” song is just embarrassing. And as I type this, they’re playing “Barracuda.” Not sure I get that one.

What part of Obama will lower taxes for 95% of Americans does he not understand? Or, as Republicans are wont to do, is he only speaking to the richest 5%?

John says I shouldn’t have a bureaucrat standing between me and my doctor. Well, currently, I have a corporation standing between me and my doctor. Either way, it sucks, but at least more people have access to healthcare under one of those scenarios.

McCain’s rhetoric skills are weak. The Obama/McCain debates may be like Kennedy/Nixon.

One thing the RNC and the DNC have in common — lots of white people who can’t dance.

Since when does John McCain know what information technology is?

I also Twittered a few things during McCain’s speech.

Bonus thought!!!

From last night: If Sarah Palin is an advocate for families with special needs children, then why doesn’t she believe in universal healthcare?

Too much is at stake this election, so I’m fighting dirty.

UPDATE: Okay, so it’s not real. I don’t care. But this one is real.