These are nice ideas -- I especially like the phrase "God enough for me" -- but I am pretty pessimistic about the idea of using these ideas to somehow bridge the gap between adherents to a traditional understanding of God and atheists. There have been Christian and Jewish groups saying the same type of thing about God for decades (check out Bishop Spong, for an Episcopalian example), and it seems only to add another layer of contention to the issue.

I would suggest that a far more viable alternative is to stop approaching the issue with the idea that there is some imperative to find common intellectual ground about the existence and nature of God. We can work together and enjoy life together and feel awe together without needing to have the same framework for understanding the experience. It is the experience itself that matters, and the actions we take in response to that experience. I work side by side on social justice issues with people whose idea of God (or lack thereof) is totally foreign to me and feel no less fellowship for that disagreement; and I go to church with people who think about God the same way that I do, and this does nothing to guarantee that I will connect with them in any meaningful way.

So I guess my point is that the ideas are a distraction, it's the experiences that ought to be "fellowship enough" for us.

I have no problem with the term "liberal," and I am very happy to use it. I also use the oft-derided term "partisan," since I support a particular political party and believe in the concept of collective action and solidarity in pursuit of a political goal.

But I like "progressive," precisely because of the vision of history it invokes. I really believe it when civil rights leaders tell us that "the arch of history is long, but it bends toward justice." I believe that we have a vital role to play in making that so.

It seems fairly clear to me that there is a tendency on the right to look back to an idealized past and attempt to either recreate it or simply resist any further movement away from it. I want to get as far away from it as possible. Conservatives seem to me be people who already have power (social, political, and/or economic) and are trying to hold on to that power, whole progressives are people who don't have power trying to empower themselves (or trying to empower others). It's certainly not a %100 either-or, past-or-future, powerful-vs-powerless orientation, but it's close enough for the phrase to resonate deeply with me.

The "this is the last straw" posts here are so incredibly predictable. What a typical American pasttime -- build up a celebrity, then wait for a reason to tear him down. God, the man hasn't even taken office yet, and we are already convinced that he will dash our progressive hopes and turn out to be a hawk in .. um ... slightly less hawkish clothing. Who didn't expect this type of backlash the moment he was elected?

We have no idea what the practical significance of Clinton's selection really will be. It is possible she will put her hawkish imprint on foreign policy. It is equally possible that Obama wants a devil's advocate to counterbalance his own views. I suspect that he is perfectly capable of maintaining his own opinion while taking feedback from someone with whom he disagrees.

I agree with concern about losing a progressive voice on domestic policy in the Senate. But we don't yet know who will replace her, so it seems a bit early to handwring overmuch about that.

Seriously, are folks on the right this easily shaken? I would never support blind loyalty to a leader that involves ignoring his mistakes, but sheesh, give the guy a chance to make an actual mistake before you jump ship!

I hated this show at first, but at some point it just started to click with me - the silly, over-the-top-ness of it all - and now I love it. While it's not Six Feet Under or The Sopranos, it is its own thing and I'm starting to think that it really does belong in category with HBO's great series. Besides, it's way too quirky to be on any network other than HBO.

This is high camp, and it does the dual service of deconstructing both the vampire genre and the Southern Gothic setting by showing so many of its tropes to be ridiculous beyond belief (see: Sookie as the Uber-Scarlet) and also being entertaining and engaging in its own right. It's like the point you get to when you go one step beyond the outer boundaries of irony, and you're left with a strange mix of hilarity and earnest melodrama that somehow works.

No, really, I mean it.