This man could have been our president:
An excerpt from Al Gore’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech:

When we unite for a moral purpose that is manifestly good and true, the spiritual energy unleashed can transform us. The generation that defeated fascism throughout the world in the 1940s found, in rising to meet their awesome challenge, that they had gained the moral authority and long-term vision to launch the Marshall Plan, the United Nations, and a new level of global cooperation and foresight that unified Europe and facilitated the emergence of democracy and prosperity in Germany, Japan, Italy and much of the world. One of their visionary leaders said, “It is time we steered by the stars and not by the lights of every passing ship.”

…

The great Norwegian playwright, Henrik Ibsen, wrote, “One of these days, the younger generation will come knocking at my door.”

The future is knocking at our door right now. Make no mistake, the next generation will ask us one of two questions. Either they will ask: “What were you thinking; why didn’t you act?”

Or they will ask instead: “How did you find the moral courage to rise and successfully resolve a crisis that so many said was impossible to solve?”

We have everything we need to get started, save perhaps political will, but political will is a renewable resource. So let us renew it, and say together: “We have a purpose. We are many. For this purpose we will rise, and we will act.”

Instead…we got the man who said all of these things:

The following poem is composed entirely of actual quotes from George W. Bush:

Make the Pie Higher

I think we all agree, the past is over.
This is still a dangerous world.
It’s a world of madmen
And uncertainty
And potential mental losses.

Rarely is the question asked
Is our children learning?
Will the highways of the internet
Become more few?
How many hands have I shaked?

They misunderestimate me.
I am a pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity.
I know that the human being and the fish
Can coexist.

Families is where our nation finds hope
Where our wings take dream.
Put food on your family!
Knock down the tollbooth!
Vulcanize society!
Make the pie higher!
Make the pie higher!

And we got him twice.

In a past life, I worked as a Spanish teacher at the Millbrook School in Dutchess County, NY. It was a brief but intense experience, and I have very strong memories of both the people and the campus. Sometimes I wish I had some kind of amazing DVD to commemorate my time there…

…and now I do! Thanks to my friend David Pecchia at the Millbrook development office (and the many people who worked on it), everyone who has fond memories of Millbrook can relive the good ol’ days with “Down School Road,” a DVD commemorating the school’s 75th anniversary. The design of the packaging and the production quality of the DVD itself are gorgeous. From the moment I opened the slick folder to the fade-out of the last bonus feature, I was wowed. Not to mention more than a little bit emotional.

Of course, while the DVD was produced and given to thousands of people in honor of the school’s 75th year, it is also a fund-raising tool. The folder contains an Annual Fund donation form (convenient! although I already gave this year, Dave) and understated shout-outs (if such a thing exists) to major donors throughout the film. Other organizations seeking monetary gifts, such as my old alma mater, could learn much from this DVD.

The main lesson? In the modern age, there is no excuse for shoddy marketing materials. This DVD surely was not cheap to produce (despite the donated time and efforts of Millbrook students, faculty, and alumni) but its quality will be evident and appreciated by everyone who receives it in the mailbox this December. Even though I already gave to Millbrook this year, I was reaching for my checkbook halfway through the film. Imagine what alumns who actually have money will do when they see it! That new sustainable math and science building is as good as built.

*[It was very Youtube.]

The newspaper El Periódico ran an article today about the Republican presidential debate that raised some interesting issues about media control of debate questions and format. If you are so inclined, and you read Catalan, you can read the article here. For the rest, I will summarize the debate debate in a few points.

• Gay ex-general Keith H. Kerr asks Republican candidates why we are still employing the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
• Republican candidates and bloggers have a fit and say the debate was fixed by CNN, a network they consider to be ideologically opposed to their ideas to begin with. (Read: How dare anyone ask us a question that shines light on views that could potentially alientate a gigantic portion of the voter base?)
• Many wonder about the evolving role of the debate moderator in the Web 2.0 era. Should CNN be allowed to select the Youtube videos/questions? And for that matter, should presidential debates include Youtube Adam Sandler wannabes and goofy snowmen asking questions about global warming?

First of all, any political party that lets a cable news network run a debate should not be surprised when it jumps on the chance to use new media and polemic guests to attract viewers. This is just another example of Republican myopia and ignorance. Second, if you are a political candidate, you should be willing to defend any part of your platform publicly. Otherwise, get the hell off the stage. It’s called a debate, gentlemen, not a speech contest.

Candidate Mitt Romney feels that a presidential candidate has better things to do than respond to questions from a snowman. Well, Mitt, you should get used to this and other indignities if you want to reach your younger voters. This is the world you live in now. People (and major cable news networks) are using and abusing technology in new ways every day. Not every gimmick or application will be a success, but it’s not for you to judge in the middle of the debate. Your job is just to answer the damn snowman’s question. Political candidates now face the special challenge of beta testing new uses of technology in front of our very eyes. Ah, watch them sweat. Isn’t it glorious!

Certainly we have to pause to admire the ways that technology is helping us get a thorough picture of our political candidates. For example, you can play with the mind-boggling Transcript Analyzer on the New York Times website, which not only counts every single word spoken by every participant in the debate (including YouTube contributors), but it also maps each utterance on an interactive grid. When you scroll over each one, the precise piece of the transcript you want is revealed. The application will also let you search specific words and phrases and see how much time and how many words each participant contributed on that specific topic. Amazing? Yes! Useful? Moderately so!

Being a successful political candidate in this century is going to take a lot more charisma, flexibility, and balls than in any past era of human civilization. Every corn dog you eat will be blogged. Every comment you make will be content for a Flash application. And yes, you will have to talk to the occasional snowman.