The Ross Writ

Guest blogger Flatiron Dante wonders why talented people stay out of politics, particularly in New York:

I have to say that the politicians I have met here in NYC have been some of the most unimpressive politicians I've ever seen. To call them the Junior Varsity is an insult to High School sophomores. Is that because there aren't any talented and idealistic and charismatic people here in NY? Or is it because those people are busy doing other things? Is Barack Obama such an unusual person or is it just that he's one of the few decent people who have decided to get into politics at that level? I admit that he is immensely talented and seems like a like a decent person from my limited interaction with him, but I've met a lot of pretty amazing people in other walks of life who, although they care deeply about what is happening in the world, would never think of running for office. And that's a shame. Maybe we can do something about that.

There's a cable channel I watch that has as one of its ads a scene of a typewriter on a kitchen table. The text says something like "Jane was a lawyer who dreamed of being a novelist . . . " and the next line says "so she took six months off and wrote a book." I am hopeful that this collection of talented and idealistic and charismatic people will become inspired by all of this back and forth to write our "book." Although it seems like an enormous challenge for this small band to reverse decades of decay in the party, I think we would all sleep better if we tried.

"This case is about a bar owner, some bar bouncers he never should have hired, and a big 'ol beating those bar bouncers brought upon a boy named Jackie Junior..." In July, the Stanford Mock Trial team gave Chinese Public Television an example of American courtroom antics. In return, we got these stringy things.