Part 1

Part 2

Things in my WHCD Swag Bag:

1 Warrantless Baby Monitor

1 copy of new suspense novel from Newt Gingrich, “Romancing the Shabu Shabu.”

1 copy of “Organize Your Closet, Organize Your Life” by Gov. Charlie Crist

1 Reversible Windbreaker – jointly donated by Sen. Arlen Specter and Scott McClellan

1 Jumbo Tea Bag – donated by Fox News Channel

1 Jay Rosen voodoo doll

Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” – autographed by Eric Cantor

1 tube of “Empathy” skin cream, with application instructions from Michael Steele

1 official WHPC whoopee cushion (use when the WHPC unexpectedly stands)

1 Caldera-autographed photo of AF1

1 can of Axe Body Tan Spray donated by John Boehner

1 bottle of Rasberry Wasabi Honey Mustard from Ray’s Hell Burger

1 copy of “Dick Cheney’s Waterboard Abs in 1 Month!” – the 183-step workout video

1 trial subscription to “Somali Pirate Booty” (discreetly enclosed in brown paper)

In case it’s not working for you, try this link.

After an unprecedented political campaign where Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were used in novel ways to open up the presidential election process, and with the election of a president who has ushered in new levels of governmental transparency, wouldn’t it be great if we could push the envelope and have regular folks ask the president questions using some of these new tools?

Wouldn’t that be better than relying on the hope that White House correspondents might ask what those of us outside the Beltway really care about?  Too often we’re left disappointed by the White House press corps’ focus on the tired “who’s up, who’s down” DC game instead of bread and butter issues, and other concerns, such as the protection of civil liberties in a post-9/11 world.

Well, thanks to a new initiative by The Nation, together with a broad coalition, including Personal Democracy Forum and The Washington Times, you may have an opportunity to ask the president.  This is very exciting, and is really just the first step of opening the process.  Ideally, some day we won’t need to rely solely on White House correspondents to act as a filter for our democracy – -we’ll be able to directly ask questions of our leaders and hold them accountable.

The only trick is to get the president to agree to this.  But with significant grassroots support, how can he say no?

Check it out here.  Also, here’s a great article with more details about the whole thing by one of the visionaries behind this baby, Ari Melber.

#AskPres

Some of you may have noticed that this blog has became much quieter after the election of Barack Obama.  For those who used to enjoy the “Daily Tidbits” and multiple daily posts here, my apologies for being such a slacker.

Post-election, I’ve tried to restore a better balance to my life, which has meant a reduction in blogging time.  I’ve also been less inspired by the post-election news to fire off long form blog posts.  At the same time, I’ve found Twitter’s short format a better fit, and a blast.  I love the immediacy of Twitter, the responsiveness, the sense of community, and the quality of discourse.  There are a ton of very funny, well informed, brilliant people using Twitter, and it’s great fun to see how they react to events of the day.  You also typically get breaking news sooner, including commentary on from a variety of thoughtful perspectives, well before the MSM tackles the same topics, if at all.  And Twitter is a great place to learn about new technology developments, devices and services.

Since short Twitter updates are created faster and more frequently than blog posts, the quality of tweets can be fairly uneven (including my own), but somehow its much more tolerable and natural in the context of the fleeting moment, and often shared experience (e.g., live Twittering of political and sports events, tech conferences, award shows, etc.).

If you’re not on Twitter, I highly recommend it, and hope you follow me there (@roadkillrefugee or http://www.twitter.com/roadkillrefugee).  Here is a great Daily Kos post today from a recent convert explaining why he loves it.

Here at this blog, I will still post long form missives and video, but probably not more than 3 or 4 times a week.

President Obama discusses the importance of food safety and announces his appointments of the FDA Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner.

Love the food story at the end.