Black and Blue Friday Fatal for Wal-Mart Worker

We all have rules to live by. Some of mine might be called quirks. For instance, I like to vacation during the weeks before or after my destination's busy season. I'd rather work late at night than early in the morning. I cultivate at least six degrees of separation from Wal-Mart, and I never shop on a day named Black Friday. At the risk of being too empathetic, I resent the idea that a friend or family member would have to serve retail customers in the middle of the night. I understand that for doctors, nurses, bakers and the like, those hours are required, but retail? That's a crime. Until yesterday, my expression was figurative. From the New York Daily News:

A Wal-Mart worker died early Friday after an "out-of-control" mob of frenzied shoppers smashed through the Long Island store's front doors and trampled him, police said.

The Black Friday stampede plunged the Valley Stream outlet into chaos, knocking several employees to the ground and sending others scurrying atop vending machines to avoid the horde.

When the madness ended, 34-year-old Jdimytai Damour was dead and four shoppers, including a woman eight months pregnant, were injured.

The tragedy of Mr. Damour's death is magnified by the irony that many of those stampeding shoppers were looking for bargain gifts for a day called Christmas.

Another aspect of the Black Friday ritual is the hype that television news programs contribute. James Walcott captured that thought in his take on the blitz line:

For days preceding Black Friday the local and cable news outfits run item after item about "doorbuster sales," stoking the sense of anticipation and making it seem like family fun, reminiscent of that old game show where contestants raced through a store stocking their cart with anything they could pull from the shelves. [ … ]

The reporters later interview shoppers after they've snared their booty and it's all done with this air of frolic …

Further into Walcott's article, he reveals that he shares my empathy for those retail workers:

What you don't see in these Black Friday updates are interviews with the people who work in these mall chains, who have to show up at even more ungodly hours than do the shoppers in order to stock the shelves and prepare for the store openings. Openings that get nearer to the Thanksgiving meal each year, with some stores opening at midnight on Thanksgiving day and others at 4 AM on Black Friday, forcing workers to cut short their own holiday plans and put in exhausting zombie hours.

There's one gift that the stampeding shoppers couldn't find on Black Friday. It's an item that retail chains don't stock. Evidently, some don't even know that it exists. You would hope that its absence would create a demand. That gift is a moral compass.

A Story That Needs to End

If you read books, you likely have a preference for either fiction or non-fiction. If you're familiar with Michael Bechloss or Frederick Forsyth, you know which author's work will win you a bar bet about the U-2 affair. Both authors use meticulous research to fortify their writing, but Bechloss is a historian, and Forsyth a novelist. Contemporary media doesn't always allow such a clear distinction.

I recently heard of a government attempting to impose policies detrimental to their citizens. Drinking water would be placed at risk for chemical contamination. Workers could be exposed to increased levels of carcinogens. The activities of law-abiding citizens would be subject to surveillance, and various government agencies could share that information. Air pollution restrictions, including discharges of acids, mercury and lead would be loosened. To magnify the insult, unqualified bureaucrats would be given protected jobs in important positions. The docile population, distracted by financial problems, seemed oblivious to the damage being done.

That scenario could be fertile ground for the intrigue of a Frederick Forsyth thriller. The sad fact is that it's a true story that will be documented by someone like Michael Bechloss. That government is the lame duck administration of George W. Bush. There is no limit to the damage that he and his cronies are willing to inflict in the interest of their selfish ideology.

Transparency – Better Than Bipartisanship

ProPublica, “an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest," reports that revised agenda pages have been posted on President-elect Obama's transition website, Change.gov. An excerpt from the technology page:

Create a Transparent and Connected Democracy

• Open Up Government to its Citizens: Use cutting-edge technologies to create a new level of transparency, accountability, and participation for America's citizens.

• Bring Government into the 21st Century: Use technology to reform government and improve the exchange of information between the federal government and citizens while ensuring the security of our networks. Appoint the nation's first Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to ensure the safety of our networks and lead an interagency effort, working with chief technology and chief information officers of each of the federal agencies, to ensure that they use best-in-class technologies and share best practices.

I believe that a commitment to transparency, accountability, and participation is more important than a pledge of bipartisanship. Will that be enough to temper the premature criticism from those on the left and right political fringes? Will citizens respond to this opportunity to help remake good government?

Howard Dean Gave Democrats a Future Edge

Sixteen years ago, Joel Arthur Barker created a modern definition of pioneers in his highly regarded book, Future Edge. He wrote that “pioneers take the risk, go out early, and make the new territory safe," and that paradigm pioneers “are the first to follow the rough pathway that paradigm shifters have uncovered."

Barack Obama's campaign, with his successful internet organizing and fund raising, 10 million address email list, and record setting get-out-the-vote effort, is a paradigm pioneer.

Howard Dean is a paradigm shifter. His failed presidential bid in 2004 was the first political campaign to make functional use of the internet. In 2005, he was elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Dean did not always follow party orthodoxy. He created a 50-state strategy, with the goal of organizing Democrats in every voting precinct in America. In 2006, some party leaders urged him to pull funds from traditional red states. They wanted to spend that money to increase the chances for gains in the midterm congressional elections. Howard Dean refused.

Dean's 2004 internet model was the rough pathway for Obama's internet campaign. Dean energized young voters using tools like Meetup.com. He was vehemently opposed to invading Iraq. Chairman Dean's 50-state strategy enabled Obama's GOTV success. When Barack Obama announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate, Howard Dean was one of the first to endorse him.

Governor Dean's DNC chairmanship expires in January of 2009. He will not pursue another term. The paradigm shifter has redefined Democratic politics.

Edited 11-13-08 at 6:18 pm.

Rust Belt Bloggers Neighborhood Walk

A conversation about governance, media, business and politics only matters if it makes life better. Outside of your home, the best place to measure that is in your community.

Last month, at Podcamp Pittsburgh 3, a project was born in a Rust Belt Bloggers discussion session. The result was posted today. Bloggers photographed, shot videos, and wrote about their neighborhood. The links are here. There are about 20 communities to visit. Take a look, and if you're inspired, leave a comment.

GAO Lists Priorities for the Next President

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued its post-presidential election transition report. Operating under the purview of Congress, the GAO is a non-partisan agency that audits, analyzes, investigates and reports on programs, policies and operations of the federal government that involve spending taxpayer's dollars.

The 2009 transition report identifies 13 issues that it considers urgent:

• oversight of financial institutions and markets
• U.S. efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan
• protecting the homeland
• undisciplined defense spending
• improving the U.S. image abroad
• finalizing plans for the 2010 Census
• caring for service members
• preparing for public health emergencies
• revamping oversight of food safety
• restructuring the approach to surface transportation
• retirement of the Space Shuttle
• ensuring an effective transition to digital TV
• rebuilding military readiness

Because it is the federal government's independent auditor, the GAO's long term fiscal outlook should be of particular interest. From the report:

Over the next few decades, the nation's fiscal outlook will be shaped largely by demographics and health care costs. As the baby boom generation retires, federal spending on retirement and health programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid will grow dramatically. A range of other federal fiscal commitments, some explicit and some representing implicit public expectations, also bind the nation's fiscal future. Absent policy change, a growing imbalance between expected federal spending and tax revenues will mean escalating and ultimately unsustainable federal deficits and debt.

That's not exactly news, but it does point to how important reform is. Medicare and Medicaid are likely to be the real revenue drainers. The entire GAO transition report is here.

A Web of Democracy

Expectations for President-elect Obama are framed, to a large degree, by the perceived performance of President Bush. The current president's low approval ratings hardly measure the level of opprobrium many voters feel toward George W. Bush. In recent months, acquaintances my age, many of whom rarely spoke about politics, were saying that they hadn't contributed to a candidate before, but … , or they never volunteered for a campaign before, but … . One qualifier was a version of the same perception; the country is headed in the wrong direction, or worse – because of Bush, America is headed into decline. The other qualifier was unanimous; Barack Obama offers hope, competence, and a renewed pride in our democracy. In other words, an antidote.

Young voters favored Obama by a lopsided margin. According to Future Majority, counting only those age 18-29, the President-elect tallied 455 electoral college votes to Sen. McCain's 57 (additionally, there was no data for 20 votes and 6 were tied). Those numbers continue an age group preference for Democratic presidential candidates that began in 1992. Their political memories contrast the presidency of George W. Bush to that of Bill Clinton. They typically reject the hot-button social issues that motivate many Republican voters. Obama was the natural choice for this race-blind, ethnically diverse generation.

The challenges facing the new president present huge opportunities. Leaders are measured by how they deal with big problems. Those problems also present great risk. The conflict in Afghanistan is likely to escalate. Pakistan, their nuclear-armed neighbor, is in crisis. The financial market mess is on everyone's front page. Barack Obama will need a long grace period, and we will need some good news.

The key to extending the electorate's patience is transparency and participation. As he did in his campaign, President-elect Obama is expected to use the web to inform and involve citizens. The first step in that transition is the new site, Change.gov.

Obama's campaign email database is estimated to exceed 10 million addresses. Over 125 million people voted in the presidential election. Participation creates accountability. Will citizens become the biggest special interest group in America?

The possibility is more than a maverick could imagine: everyone wired, everyone welcome.

Tonight is Your Answer

The Bradley effect has become a footnote in history. Future conversations will marvel about the Obama effect. At 11:00 pm, the major television networks declared that Barack Obama is the President-elect of the United States. The work of a long campaign is done. Now, the work begins.

Update: Forbes.com has posted the text of President-elect Obama's victory speech.

Rubbing Two Sticks Together – A Robocall Chronicle

While Barack Obama chooses YouTube and Web 2.0 to extend his reach, the McCain campaign is using a century-old technology to contact selected voters in Western Pennsylvania: the telephone.

I vote. I'm in the phone book. They found me.

The calls began on a Wednesday, near the end of October. John McCain, Sarah Palin and the Republican National Committee dispatched an unidentified male voice to let me know that “elitist Democrats say they understand us, but Barack Obama and Joe Biden say (in Biden's voice), ‘No coal plants here in America. Build them, if they're gonna build them over there …'."

On Thursday, Gov. Tom Ridge let me know that “if the Democrats win full control of government, they would want to give traditional civil rights to terrorists and talk unconditionally to dictators and state sponsors of terror. Barack Obama and his Democrat allies lack the experience and judgment to lead America."

Saturday brought Hank Williams, Jr., into my living room to warn me that “Elitist Democrats in Washington talk a lot about feeling the pain on ‘Main Street,' but it was their ties to greed and corruption on Wall Street that cost good, honest, American jobs. With values like these, we can't trust Barack Obama and his elitist liberal allies to represent us for the next 4 years." Hank virtually spit the last sentence out.

Silence for a week; then, the unidentified male was back to inform me that “there's more to Obama's record on the 2nd Amendment than he wants you to know. Barack Obama says he stands with gun owners, but his record says something different. Obama has supported a complete ban on handgun ownership, opposes concealed carry permits, and even voted to strip legal protection, freezing firearms for self-defense at home."

That Sunday, the RNC had Hillary Clinton interrupt my dinner. The recording, excised from the notorious 3:oo am phone call speech that she gave in March, 2008, went like this: “In the White House there is no time for speeches and on the job training. Senator McCain will bring a lifetime of experience to the campaign, and Senator Obama will bring a speech he gave in 2002. I think that is a significant difference."

Just in time for dessert, the phone rang again. “I'm calling on behalf of John McCain," a female voice announced, “to tell you that coal jobs, which are so important to our community, are in jeopardy. Listen to Barack Obama's plans to bankrupt the coal industry." An Obama clip, out of context, plays: “So, if somebody wants to build a coal -powered plant they can. It's just that it will bankrupt them because they're (unintelligible) be charged a huge sum for all that, ah, greenhouse gas that's being emitted."

The most striking thing about all this inflammatory rhetoric, unsubstantiated assertions and out of context quotes, was the last call. Bankrupt is there twice. It's the word I remember, and associate with the campaign. That's called a takeaway. John McCain's robocalls, bankrupt.