Quick Update

Well, my computer crashed two days away from turning in 40 or 50 pages of carefully written and researched work. I was across the country at the time, so have been computerless for the last week and won't find out until Monday at least whether anything's recoverable. Poor timing on every level.

In the meantime, I think it's pretty fantastic that "Senator Obama – Please Vote NO on Telecom Immunity – Get FISA Right" is now the largest group on my.barackobama.com by a wide margin (currently more than 19,000 members total, about 5,500 more than the next contender). And while we lost that issue badly, progressive efforts did seem to make an impression on the campaign: I think they listened, even if they didn't get it. Perhaps just as important, on the strategy level, I think they handled the criticism quickly and well.

On that note, a quick comment on vocal Obama criticism in general: Yes, it may hurt him in the general. Really, I think it might. It depends on how the media covers it and how people are affected by drawn-out arguments about his political strategy. But the consequences of choosing not to criticize him on issues we care about, of keeping our mouths shut for no better reason than the appearance of unity, is to relinquish all hope in the American political system. Period.