RIP Ted Kennedy

We have lost one of the greatest public servants our country has ever known.

I can’t write anything else and stay coherent.  Goodbye, Senator.  Thank you.

Update: I still can’t stand to write much, but it’s worth noting that today is a year to the day from Senator Kennedy’s speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention where then-Senator Obama was nominated as the Democratic candidate for President; and that it is the 89th anniversary of the 19th Amendment taking effect, designated Women’s Equality Day in 1971.

Quick Hit: Transparency Corps

A while back I posted about a project I highly approve of, the Obameter.

Current Obameter stats:

Obameter Stats as of 2009-06-30

(Hooray for Google Charts!)

Along similar lines, but more participatory, is the Sunlight Foundation’s Transparency Corps project, which aims to enlist internet users en masse (I refuse to use the term “crowdsource”) the tedious work of scrutinizing public, but dense, records to ensure more, well, transparency.  As of this writing, they have only two projects — one to read earmarks and one to exhort Congresspeople to read bills before signing them — but I hope it takes off.  It’s a very good idea.

(Other noteworthy efforts along these lines: the indispensible OpenCongress (also a Sunlight Foundation project); for those of us in Massachusetts, the OpenCongress-inspired OpenMass, run by BMG‘s own Jim Caralis; Filibusted, which as you might guess tracks who filibusters what, how often and for how long; and the unfortunately-named — hey y’all, you might want to notice that they ain’t all men no more — but very handy Know Thy Congressman.  The latter two were the first- and tied-for-third-place winners, respectively, in the Sunlight Foundation’s Apps for America contest, which is also a great idea.)

Well, Here I Am

Following the well-worn path from silent obscurity to the much louder obscurity of the roiling, cacophonous din that is the storied Blog-O-Sphere, I set out with the traditional First Post.

“Hey out there!” I shout, “Listen to me!  I have things to say!”

“You and a million other schmucks,” replies the Web. “Get in line.”

Well, we’ll see how this goes. Real posts to follow, but at least the page isn’t empty now.