As the afternoon wore on, it really began to feel like the outer edge of a fire zone.  Ash and smoke passed over the eastern portion of the Santa Monica mountains and rolled down into the western section of the Los Angeles basin, casting a reddish-grey, eerie smoky darkness over this area for much of the late afternoon and into the evening.

The sun burned an angry alien red all afternoon until suddenly letting go behind the wall of smoke now hanging over Santa Monica Bay to the west.

I am amazed and thankful that, despite all the damage so far, there appear to be few injuries.  The Los Angeles Times has more, and the LA Fire Department blog is being updated often.

I’m certainly safe where i am for now.  From a personal standpoint, I’m more worried about new fires than I am the Sylmar Fire.  Compounding this worry is that in the last 24 hours, I’ve seen two separate cretins throw lit cigarettes out of their car windows.  Who the fuck are you people??

Senator John McCain’s Call For Unity

Senator McCain’s concession speech was the most gracious and patriotic I have ever heard.  While his crowd seemed to want almost none of it, he - and most of his supporters - are better than that.  This is the man I was excited about in 2000.  Had he run like this - had he been this guy all year - and avoided the neocons who sunk their claws into him, we’d very possibly be looking at a different outcome today.  I continue to believe - as I always have and as I have said publicly loud and often - that John McCain is a good man who wants the best for his nation.  It wasn’t particularly obvious these last few months, and that was tragic.  This speech - and the action that will undoubtedly follow it - serves as a powerful exclamation point on a distinguished career.

Full Circle, But A 180

The summer before I was born, Grant Park in Chicago was the scene of violent political protests against an unpopular war.  Police and youth clashed brutally.  Last night, as a relatively young guy, I felt lucky as hell to witness 150,000 youths gathered in that same park, cheering for a President-Elect who had successfully run against an unpopular war.  We’ve come a long way, baby.

Young People’s Hopes and Dreams

I don’t care how trite it’s become to describe Obama as an inspirational figure; this really cannot be overstated.  I grew up a poor kid in rural America.  I found inspirations where I could - some were real and omnipresent (like my Mom), and some were not.  They are not escapes, nor fantasies - they really do serve as archetypes that help construct one’s internal limits of possibility.  Being able to point to someone in the outside world and say “they did it” - whatever “it” might be - really does give a young person permission to air wild dreams in pleasant company.   To see a black man who came from nothing ascend to the American Presidency is a source of boundless inspiration for millions of American kids - black and white, rich and poor.  Last night, seeing so many young faces lit up by the bright glow of infinite potential - finally letting their mental space expand into the reality that, oh my God, it really can happen; it really did happen - says a lot about America indeed.

Racism Is Dying In America

Sure, it’s not dead yet - but it is gasping its dying breaths.  What we saw last night was the strongest proof yet that the scars of one of America’s great sins continue to fade.

The People Came Through

I often gripe and complain about American apathy and our lack of sociopolitical engagement.  This looks like it will be the highest turnout since 1968.  And it wasn’t just the voting - this election season brought in a new generation of active, engaged citizens who want the best for their nation, and who selflessly invested their elbow grease, their voices, their money and their passion in its pursuit.  I couldn’t be more pleased about being proven wrong.

Our nation is confronting once-in-a-lifetime challenges, so the road ahead is rough.  But this outcome makes us far better equipped to face them.  I’m proud of us, and not just for the choice we made, but for the impressive numbers of people who engaged, spoke up, and turned out.

Shortly, the real work begins - but for now, maybe let’s celebrate a little.  Fireworks have actually erupted here in Venice.

Leading into the MSNBC announcement, Chris Matthews said: “The world will look at us - thank God - with wonder again.” NBC called it at exactly 20:00 PST, with a clearly emotional Keith Olbermann delivering the news:

image by tom.arthur via Flickr

Everyone - please, for the love of all that is holy, get out and vote tomorrow.  If you can vote early (at this point I guess that’s just today), do. Those of you who can’t vote early, please be sure you know where your polling place is, and that you bring anything you may need to bring (some states require ID for first-time voters.)

RockTheVote has a great resource center that helps you figure out where to go and what you need to bring.  Use it.  Now.  And DO IT.

If you receive a phone call or flyer that tells you to vote elsewhere or elsewhen, ignore it.  Go to your designated polling site on Tuesday, November 4, and vote.  If you show up and there’s an issue and they try to prevent you from voting - especially if you know you are registered - demand to vote.  Don’t sheepishly walk out.  Cast a “provisional ballot” if you must, but demand to vote.

Sociologists say it needs to be as uncool to not vote as it is to - I dunno - say, go to the bathroom in public. So, it’s social pressure that’s needed?  Here you go: if you don’t vote - I’m going to think you’re a fat, smelly, terrible, uncool asshole.  And I’m also going to post pictures of you on Facebook - drunk and passed out with writing on your face. And I’m even going to properly tag them!

Seriously - think through the ironies here - we live in a nation where an individual has the most power to change the direction of their country, yet we’re one of the countries where that power is exercised the least.  Young voters are the least likely to show up, yet they have the most at stake.  It’s not right.  So get out there and flex your electoral muscle.  It’ll (hopefully) only take a few minutes.  And if it takes longer, I’m sorry - but your country needs you.

So VOTE on Tuesday, November 4.  You’ll be cool and sexy if you do.  I’ll buy you chocolate.  You can play with my iPhone.  I’ll introduce you to hot chicks.  Whatever it takes.  VOTE.

Here’s an intriguing Halloween week mystery from my home state of Maine.  While the coast of New England is well known for its haunted houses, this one is a bit more obscure; apparently the tides went bezerk earlier this week, with several dramatic back-and-forth shifts of more than eight feet.  The National Weather Service could only describe it as “a mystery.”  Weird enough for me.  [h/t Jim].

Now, let’s back up our talk with action:

Breadlines and Battlecries - a call for you all to get involved in your society today.

A way to fight poverty in Los Angeles.

A way to prevent future poverty everywhere.

A way you might not have thought of to help fight urban poverty and despair: change our nation’s drug policies.

More on my agitate page.

“I expected John McCain to be the first person on his campaign to lose patience with the character attack strategy… you can see him doing that.  He did not expect to be ending his campaign in front of audiences where he had to explain - as we just saw him do - that his opponent, the Democratic nominee, is actually a citizen of the United States and not an Arab.  This is not where John McCain wants to be…”

- Lawrence O’Donnell, on MSNBC tonight

For a moment there, I saw a glimpse of the guy who ran for Prez in 2000…