Settling In

I've been at HomeBase for six weeks now, and it's been awesome.  Having been an intern, it was easy for me to jump right into the work and start taking on responsibility.  It's a bit frustrating to have to study for the bar exam while gearing up in my new job, because I'd love to be able to pour 100% of my energy into work.  But, in another six weeks, the bar exam will be over, and things will really start to fall into place.

The nature of my work is very fast-paced and eclectic, which I love.  In a single day, I might research pending legislation, draft a grant proposal, write a memo on some best practices, or facilitate a meeting with clients to brainstorm how to improve their system.

While most of our work is in the Bay Area, we also have some national technical assistance work for HUD, which takes us all over the country.  Indeed, I will be going to Phoenix for a couple of days next week for some meetings. I am excited by how quickly I've begun to feel like a valuable team member with things to contribute.

Last week, I gave a presentation at our regional steering committee on Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act.  It felt a bit like a "fake it 'til you make it" moment, because I'm by no means an expert on heath care reform, but I think it went well.  I, like most folks in the policy world, am awaiting the Supreme Court's opinion on the ACA with baited breath.  My hope is that they'll leave the entire law in effect, but my prediction is that they'll sever the individual mandate.

Today was lovely, because it was the annual intern hike, which is like our version of a company picnic.  We all carpooled out to the Marin Headlands for some hiking, followed by a BBQ picnic near the beach.  What a fantastic way to spend a Wednesday.

SOPA

Hey, who turned out the lights?

Final Finals, Finally

No more school,

Yet, way more books,

Is the bar exam as hard as it looks?

I had my last class of law school on Friday.  While it wasn't very representative of my classroom experience these past three years, it was delightful: my professor had our fact-finding mission team over to her house for lunch.  We debriefed our year-long seminar, and popped open some champagne to celebrate our hard work.  The fact-finding mission has been one of the best things about law school, so it was a great way to conclude.

Of course, it's not quite over yet...  I'll be working on final exams for the next two weeks.  I have an essay due tomorrow for Nonprofit Organizations, an in-class exam on Thursday for Family Law II, and then self-paced take-home exams for Immigration Law & Policy and Law & Development.  All told, this is actually the easiest final exam period that I will have had in law school, which is nice.

While my take-home exams aren't due until May 17th, my family arrives on the 14th, so my goal is to finish things before they arrive.  I may even be able to finish things sooner than that, depending on my efficiency and diligence.  However, I also want to complete the Early Bar Prep work that Barbri has provided us with to work on before our bar review course begins on the 23rd, so I'll be keeping myself busy one way or another.

Despite outlining and paper writing, I've had some fun during the past week or so.  I attended the Easter Vigil at Holy Trinity last weekend, which was standing room only and a beautiful service that made me both laugh and tear up.  Last Sunday, the CSA had our third annual Easter Brunch, which is always delicious and fun.

On Monday, I had an insightful conversation over dinner (at Busboys and Poets, yum) with a new friend I had met the week prior at the Holy Thursday Mass on main campus.  Isn't it a bummer to make new friends right before one is about to move cross-country?

I spent most of Tuesday at a very interesting Immigration Law & Policy Conference that was hosted by the law school, the Migration Policy Institute, and CLINIC (Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.).  I loved that my Immigration professor told us to skip class to attend the conference instead.  Many of the take-away points were unsurprising: we need comprehensive immigration reform, ICE needs to start using their new PBNDS, and indigent immigrants in the court system should have the right to counsel.  However, I did find the session on 287(g) agreements and Secure Communities to be particularly insightful, because they had the Chief of Police from Prince William County, VA, speak about how they implemented 287(g), and its impact on the community.

Friday night was the Poverty Journal's end-of-year banquet, which was at La Tasca.  We had delicious tapas and sangria, and then hung out at a nearby bar called Redline.  The bar has self-serve beer taps at every table, which was pretty unique.  My Editor-in-Chief, Betsy, gave me a splendidly nerdy mug that says "data are plural," which was an issue we had to address repeatedly during our edits this past year.  Being Managing Editor was a lot of work this year, but I'm going to miss working on the journal.

Yesterday, Jess and I, along with our friend and fellow Cal alum Mike, went to the ballpark to watch the Giants beat the Nationals.  I hadn't been to the Nationals park before, and was very impressed by the layout--we were in the cheap seats for the first half of the game, but I still felt like I had a great view.  And, the food was delicious; I had a Ben's chili dog and funnel cake.  The best part of the game was at the end when Brian Wilson closed--I was proud to be wearing my number 38 jersey!

Alas, my blogging study break is officially over.  Back to paper writing!

We Have Liftoff!

Yesterday's report launch was very successful!  Everyone did an amazing job, and I'm so proud of the work we've done this year.  We had well over 50 people attend the launch, plus more who tuned in online.  (I'll post a link to the webcast as soon as I get it.)

My part of the presentation was on the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, and I felt great about how it went.  I was particularly impressed by how my fellow team members fielded questions at the end of the presentation--it was a little unnerving because we couldn't prepare for that and just had to take questions as they came, but we all have particular areas of expertise at this point, so at least one of us had an answer to each question.

Finally, our report is now publicly available as a PDF!  Check it out--if not to read the whole thing (it's quite long), then at least to see how pretty it is, with the professional graphic design.  It's a real, actual, published report!  So surreal.

What's News?

So done. So very done. Just turned in my last paper of 2L year. Huzzah! Now, I get to spend a few days hanging out in D.C., and then I fly home to CA on Saturday! Beautiful.

My last final exam was on Saturday, for Refugee Law and Policy. It was a very fair exam, the sort where the professor presents opportunities for you to demonstrate your knowledge, without any tricks. That's how all exams should be.

After my exam, I went to the Newseum, which is a very modern and interactive museum devoted to the history of news. The exhibits appealed to me both as the former editor-in-chief of my high school's newspaper, and as a hardcore news junkie.

You start on the 6th floor (after taking a ride on one of the world's largest glass hydraulic elevators), where you can walk along the outdoor terrace for an excellent view of Pennsylvania Avenue and the Capitol.  I went to the Newseum on a whim (and left my cellphone in my checked backpack), so I apologize for the lack of photographs. Inside, there is a long hallway with the day's front pages from around the country and the world. It reminded me of the newspapers on display in front of the Free Speech Cafe at Berkeley.

The 5th floor was devoted to the history of news. I spent a lot of time reading about the various phases of news, including the origin of eyewitness reports, the beginnings of female and minority reporters, and even satirical news sources like The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and The Onion! There was also a timeline featuring actual newspapers, so that you could get a feel for the major events of each year. They even had a copy of the San Francisco Chronicle from 1989 about the Loma Prieta earthquake.

The museum emphasizes the freedoms of the First Amendment throughout the exhibits, but the 4th floor had a gallery specifically devoted to each of the five freedoms (religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition). There are computers all over the place with games for children, and, I don't mind telling you, I rocked the First Amendment game. I knew two semesters of Constitutional Law would be good for something. The 4th floor also had a gallery devoted to 9/11, which included front pages from around the world about the event, and a large, mangled piece of the broadcasting antenna that had been at the top of the North Tower.

As I walked through and looked at those photos from the attacks, I couldn't help but to think back to 2001. I was a freshman sophomore in high school, getting ready for the day. We didn't really know what was going on when the first plane crashed--I thought it must have been a terrible accident--but, when I watched the second plane hit on TV, it was clear that this was deliberate. My first class of the day was Journalism, and we rigged up a television in our computer lab so that we could watch the news coverage. We spent English class journaling about how we felt about the attack. It was amazing how, instantaneously, things had changed.

The 3rd floor had some great information about the freedom of the press internationally, and a memorial for journalists who died on the job, in the pursuit of truth. There was a wonderful exhibit devoted to radio, television, and the Internet. I was very impressed by how up-to-date the exhibit was, with information about Twitter and even the iPad. I was amused by an old editorial cartoon they had displayed, in which a bunch of people are standing on a subway, reading the newspaper, except for the guy at the end of the car, who is carrying a massive personal computer in order to read the newspaper online. I wonder what marvelous things the future will bring.

The 2nd floor had a ton of computers with games for children to grapple with journalistic ethics. I played a couple of the games out of curiosity, and thought they did a good job of covering a wide array of issues--manipulation of photographs for dramatic effect, taking a photo of a person who needs help, going undercover at an insane asylum to get the inside scoop, and others. There was also a bank of video cameras and green screens where you could try your hand at reporting. I kind of wanted to do it, but not alone. Oh, well, next time.

The 1st floor was basically just the lobby, though they did have a little gallery with Pulitzer Prize photographs, which were all incredible. I especially loved the photographs of Barack Obama's presidential campaign by Damon Winter. There was also an absurd "4-D" theatre with 3-D glasses and moving seats, which showed a 20-minute film about important reporters in history, including Edward R. Murrow and Nellie Bly. Don't get me wrong--the film was great, but I just don't think that a film about the history of news needs to be in 3-D with moving chairs. Then again, perhaps I overestimate the attention span of middle schoolers.

Finally, on the Concourse level, there were eight sections of the Berlin Wall and one of the East German guard towers on display. It was strange to see in a museum. Part of me was grappling with the historical significance, but another part of me was appreciating the graffiti as art. There were also a couple of temporary exhibits, one on sports photography, and one on "g-men" (the FBI). And, for what it's worth, they have a very nice food court, if a bit pricey. (Then again, I have yet to find a museum in D.C. that serves reasonably priced food.)

The building design is very aesthetically pleasing, both inside and out. I have always loved the text of the First Amendment on the outside of the building. All told, I spent over three hours at the Newseum. I highly recommend it, even though it's one of the few museums in D.C. where you have to pay to get in ($20, ouch).

Spring Has Sprung

As a certain friend somewhere west of the 405 has mentioned (or at least alluded to) repeatedly, I've been rather absent from the blogosphere since late February. What can I say? Life, especially post-Spring Break, has been hurtling along at breakneck speed.

Academic rigors aside, a ton of fun and interesting things have happened in the past few weeks. However, you don't want to read an absurdly long post, and, to be frank, I don't have time to write it! So, here's my compromise: for each of the major fun things that have happened, I'll write a tweet-length commentary. An experiment in brevity could do me some good.

I went chocolate tasting with the DC Cal Alumni Association at the U.S. Botanic Gardens, and discovered that I like quality dark chocolate.

I did Phase II of the Prayer in Daily Life Retreat, focused on major life events. I learned that 2004 - 2005 were especially formative.

Spring Break to California was a relaxing visit with my family, and I helped Robert pick out a ukulele. Wish I had visited Berkeley, though.

I attended a daylong Refugee Act Conference at school, which greatly complemented the Refugee Law and Policy class I'm taking this semester.

I had the second (and final) full weekend of my negotiations seminar. Possibly the best class I've taken at Georgetown Law.

Fr. Orsy gave an interesting lecture on the historical origins of international human rights, examining the works of Francisco de Vitoria.

I saw the Hoya Lawyas (Georgetown law professors) beat the Hills Angels (U.S. Representatives) at the Home Court charity basketball game.

David spontaneously visited me in DC! We saw, well, everything. We also attended a great play at the Kennedy Center called Master Class.

Amanda J. was in town to visit grad schools! I finally saw Arlington Cemetery, which is gorgeous this time of year with the cherry blossoms.

I went with some friends to Bach's Mass in B Minor at the Kennedy Center. It was incredible, especially the credo. The tenors were spirited.

I attended Easter Vigil on main campus, and was deeply moved by the baptisms. Incredibly, the two-and-a-half hours flew by. So joyous!

I organized the CSA's second-annual Easter Brunch, which was delicious and well-attended. We surprised the security guards with leftovers.

It's snowing!

Good weather for studying with a mug of hot apple cider--which, incidentally, is good, as there is much studying to be done. Final exams on Wednesday (Tax), Friday (Corporations), and the following Monday (Professional Responsibility), plus a paper due on the 18th; keep me in your prayers.



Oh, and while we're on the topic of weather, I must share this with you: http://obama-weather.com/Obama/s/20001. Obama shows you how to dress for the week's weather! Hilarious, and makes checking the forecast so much less mundane.

Potpourri

There were a lot of random things going on this week that I want to share. I think I'll just go through the week chronologically...

Sunday: Snail Soup
As a part of DC's annual Restaurant Week (during which you can eat at fancy restaurants off of a prix fixe menu), I went to 1789, a restaurant in Georgetown. I had a snail and broccoli soup, steak, cauliflower au gratin, and a brandied cherry chocolate cake. Delicious!

Monday: King's Cake
I traveled by Metro all the way to Maryland for cake! King's Cake, that is. Catholic Forum decided to give out free King's Cake for Mardi Gras, but the nearest bakery offering King's Cake was 25 miles away in Rockville. The most difficult part was Mike and I each carrying four cakes on the mile-long walk back to the Metro station in 35-degree weather with 40-mph gusts of wind. I am still amazed that neither of us dropped any cakes.

Tuesday: Obama's Address
I enjoyed watching President Obama's address to Congress. For one thing, it's always exciting for me when something is going on at the Capitol, because I live a half-mile away, which is just ridiculously cool. Also, I was thrilled to see Justice Ginsburg there, in light of her recent pancreatic cancer surgery. She is so tough! I think my favorite sentiment from Obama's speech was what he had to say about education: "And dropping out of high school is no longer an option. It's not just quitting on yourself; it's quitting on your country. And this country needs and values the talents of every American." Absolutely.

Wednesday: Ash Wednesday
Lent is my favorite liturgical season, so Ash Wednesday always means a lot to me. I went to Mass at the National Shrine, which was beautiful. I am dust and to dust I shall return (Genesis 3:19). Amen.

Thursday: Uncertainty
I went to Professor Goldberg's inauguration as a new endowed chair for law and religion on Thursday afternoon. I had Prof. Goldberg as my Constitutional Law professor last semester, and he was fantastic, so I was very curious to hear his address on "The Book of Job and the Role of Uncertainty in Religion and Law." The take-away point was that, just as there is much uncertainty in our understanding of our relationship with God, so also must we embrace the uncertainty of the law. It takes the quintessential question of Job--why bad things happen to good people--to the next level. And, here I thought that going to law school would increase my knowledge of the law, rather than increasing my awareness of how little I really know. Go figure.

Friday: Dodgeball
I participated in the annual Georgetown Law dodgeball tournament with some friends from my section. I was a bit dubious about joining the team at first because I had never played "real" dodgeball before, but my teammates allayed my concerns by pointing out that all I really had to do was, well, dodge the ball. (We played by the National Amateur Dodgeball Association rules, in case you were wondering.) My team actually won its first round, which culminated in a spectacular show of force by Brad, in which he single-handedly eliminated the four opponents that he faced alone at the end of the second match. Truly, the stuff of legends.

Saturday: Library of Congress
I got to check off another item from my DC to-do list: getting a Library of Congress reader identification card! You have to go to the Madison Building to register for the card, and then you're allowed to go into all of the Library of Congress reading rooms! How cool is that?! Very cool, let me tell you. Well, before studying at the Library of Congress main reading room (in the Jefferson Building; see photo below), I decided to check out the Law Library of Congress reading room, since it was also in the Madison Building. Boy, was it ugly. I will never study there again, unless I legitimately have research needs that take me there. Also, if you ever want to see the most intense people on Earth, check out the people who show up at the Law Library of Congress on a Saturday morning. Wow.

Anyhow, after a break for lunch and a brief promenade around Eastern Market, I headed over to the Library of Congress main reading room. I had to go down a series of hallways marked for "Staff and Researchers," which eventually led me to the cloakroom, where I had to check basically everything except for my reading materials. Then, one flight of stairs, another hallway, I signed in, nodded to the security guard, and... I was there! It was breathtaking. I tried not to stare at the ceiling too much while I was there because I didn't want to look like a newbie, but I failed miserably. Oh, well. It was so exciting to be in the largest library in the world, studying hard, President Obama's words echoing in my head:

"In a global economy, where the most valuable skill you can sell is your knowledge, a good education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity. It is a pre-requisite. [...] It is our responsibility as lawmakers and as educators to make this system work, but it is the responsibility of every citizen to participate in it."

If that isn't motivation to work hard as a student, I don't know what is.

The Library of Congress main reading room. How cool is it to study there? Very.
(Photo courtesy of Urch.)

Inauguration Weekend, Part II

Click photo to access more on Facebook from "Inauguration Weekend, Part II."

So, here is what Alissa and I have done since Sunday: attended the Lincoln Memorial "We Are One" concert, visited the National Museum of American History, explored the National Mall, waited in line for 5 hours for the Inauguration, checked out the National Gallery, visited the FDR and Jefferson memorials, and went to the top of the Washington Monument. In spite of attending classes on Wednesday and Thursday, it has felt like I've been taking a vacation this week, acting as a tourist (albeit, with Metro savvy).

The one disappointment was the Inauguration itself, I'm afraid. Alissa and I walked over to the line labeled "TO NATIONAL MALL" on 3rd Street, NW between D and C Street at 4 o'clock in the morning, and stood in line for five hours to get through security, only to have our hopes dashed--the checkpoint closed its Mall access, and was only open to the parade route. From the parade route, the ceremony could neither be seen nor heard, due to the lack of Jumbotrons and speakers. What a bummer! We stood on the parade route for a couple of hours, but decided to go home around 11 am because we were freezing and weren't really getting much out of standing there.

In fact, we were beginning to exhibit symptoms of hypothermia in our feet, which was really scary; as Wikipedia describes of Stage 1 hypothermia, "often, a person will experience a warm sensation, as if they have recovered, but they are in fact heading into Stage 2." Our feet had progressed from cold, to painfully cold, to numb, to feeling oddly warm. No good. Once we got back to my apartment, it took us nearly two hours before we felt normal... even with the heat blasting and while under multiple blankets. Yikes!

My roommate Betsy was similarly foiled by the disastrous management of the security checkpoints, and didn't make it onto the Mall, either. She baked cinnamon rolls for all of us, and we streamed the inauguration on my laptop. It felt pretty lame to watch it on my laptop when we were literally a half-mile away from the event, but it was the best we could do.

I loved the performance of "Air and Simple Gifts." (I also love Stephen Colbert's theory that Yo-Yo Ma is technically the President of the United States because he was on camera at 12 o'clock noon.) I'm really upset with Chief Justice Roberts for messing up the oath, though. What the heck, Roberts?! It just tainted the whole ceremony. Oh, well. I thought President Obama's speech was fine, though I still believe that his best speech was his keynote address at the 2004 DNC. The parade was fun to watch. I loved it when Barack and Michelle got out of the limo (apparently nicknamed "the Beast," which I find rather fitting), and walked along Pennsylvania Ave. They are so charismatic.

Now that Alissa has headed back to California, it is back to law school for me. Homework and job applications are my prevalent concerns at the moment. Also, applications to become a Resident Fellow for Gewirz open on Monday. Resident Fellows, or RFs, are the five students that live in Gewirz, Georgetown Law's dorm (where I currently live), and serve the dorm by fostering community, helping with security and emergencies, and providing counsel to the residents. I really, really want to be an RF, for several reasons: I would get to live in Gewirz for the next two years, I would get free rent, and I would be able to reach out to first-years. I've always loved working as a mentor to younger students, and I think being an RF would be a great experience. There are only three spots open for next year, so we'll see what happens!

Inauguration Weekend, Part I

The past couple of days, I have been touring D.C. frenetically with my friend Alissa, whom I've known since middle school. (Alissa is crashing with me this week for the Inauguration.) So far, we have managed to see the Capitol, Congressional office buildings, the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court, the parade route, and the National Archives... all in two days! Click on the photo of the Capitol below to be taken to a Facebook album of the photos I have taken along the way.


The tough thing about the past couple of days is how cold it has been! Seriously, it was 12 degrees on Friday, with wind chill bringing it down to 1 degree--the coldest it has been in five years! Not the best day to be walking all over the city, to say the least. The only good thing about it was that the weather scared off a lot of would-be tourists, such that we didn't wait in a line all day! That being said, I'm looking forward to the return of temperatures in the 30s. Never thought I'd say that.

Vendors in the Vicinity

I just read that the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs announced where the street vendors for the inauguration are going to be located. I must say, I was a little surprised as to where they decided to put 138 of the 716 vendors (indicated by the black lines inside the red box):


What the... I mean, seriously, that vertical line of vendors is the eastern edge of the Georgetown Law campus! Why here?! It doesn't bother me--in fact, I think it ought to be fun--but it does confuse me. There's nothing else here. It's not along a logical path to the Mall from any major public transportation. Sure, we're close to Union Station, but you wouldn't walk over here to get to the Mall, because it'd be out of your way. If it were me, I would simply walk down Louisiana. Maybe that's the point--to divert some of the pedestrian traffic?

All I can say is, this place is going to be an absolute maelstrom during the week of the inauguration. Wow.

Fingers Crossed

I had requested tickets to the Inauguration right after the election from Rep. Anna Eshoo, who is my representative for California's 14th Congressional District, hoping against hope that I might get a ticket. (Obama is all about hope, after all.)

Well, I got an email this evening from Eshoo announcing that she will be conducting a lottery for the tickets. Only those that submitted requests between July and November are eligible, and each lottery winner will receive only one ticket. To enter in the lottery, we have to fill out a new form on Eshoo's website by Monday, and she'll email the winners on Friday. Eshoo said that she had received 3,289 requests. With each congressperson getting 200 tickets, that gives me about a 6% chance of getting a ticket.

Actually, I think my odds are a little better than that, for several reasons: (1) some people won't bother filling out the form, (2) some people will give up because it is impossible to book a hotel room in D.C. at this point, (3) some people won't want to go alone with only one ticket per winner, and (4) some people won't be able to pick up the tickets at Eshoo's D.C. office in person with a photo ID before the Inauguration, which is required. So, we'll see what happens!

O Christmas Tree

I took a study break this evening and headed over to the West Lawn of the Capitol to see the Capitol Christmas Tree-Lighting Ceremony. The 78-foot tree, as we were reminded every sixty seconds throughout the ceremony, was provided by the great state of Montana. Seriously, I have never heard so much about Montana in my entire life as I did in the course of that 45-minute ceremony. The tree is estimated to be 140 years old, which is mind-boggling... It's as old as UC Berkeley!

The area around the tree was fenced off, and only important people (e.g., senators, the press, people from Montana) were allowed within the perimeter, but I found a pretty good spot behind the fence with an unobstructed view. An a cappella group from Montana sang Christmas carols before and after the ceremony, which was pleasant, as were the tunes by the Air Force Band. Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke, which made me happy, and proud for California. I thought it was cute that she invited all of the children from the audience to come forward and "help" her light the tree. The lights are LEDs, as a part of Pelosi's Green the Capitol campaign.

Behind the tree, I could see the half-constructed viewing area for the inauguration. It was pretty chilly--about 42-degrees with a slight breeze--which gave me a taste of what it will be like to stand out there on Jan. 20, though it'll probably be at least five degrees cooler, and precipitation is quite plausible. Brr. I'm asking for thermal underwear and hand warmers for Christmas.

Show, Don't Tell

As I looked from face to face, the joy was universal. Perfect strangers grinned widely at me, and I grinned right back at them. Choruses of "O-BA-MA!" and "YES, WE CAN!" rang out along H Street, echoing off of the tall buildings that surrounded us. No one seemed to mind the steady drizzle of rain--nothing could dampen our spirits on this night.

The streets were packed with bands of people walking every which way, pouring in and out of bars and apartments, taxis and subways. Each red traffic light was an invitation to dance in the street, and dance we did to the rhythm of the chants, barely noticing the lines demarcating the crosswalks.

I clapped. I shouted. I debated universal health insurance. I laughed. I high-fived. I hugged. I stood in a bar, surrounded by students and professionals, men and women, blacks and whites (and everything in between), and I did not stand alone.

We stood and we watched the speech. The inspiration. The reassurance. The potential. We smiled at the thought of the Obama daughters' new puppy. We clapped for David Plouffe, and we admitted sheepishly that we were happy he would stop emailing us, now. We looked at the faces in the Chicago crowds, and we were moved, and maybe even shed a tear ourselves.

I walked home. My apartment was dark, quiet, calm. I breathed a sigh of relief as I snuggled into my bed, and prayed a little prayer of thanksgiving. I closed my eyes, and looked forward to tomorrow's dawn.

There are very few countries that live up to their creed, that live up to the documents of their founding, that all men are created equal. And, tonight, America has proven itself on a world stage as a show country, not a tell country. They have shown that we have lived up to our creed. That we are what we say we are. And there's not a lot of countries [...] that can say that. [...] America, tonight, lives up to its promise.

- Jon Stewart, Indecision 2008, Nov. 4, 2008

The Countdown

In tribute to SNL's parody of Keith Olbermann, I welcome you to The Countdown with Amanda Stempson. (N.B. Diction borrowed liberally from both the parody and from Olbermann himself.)

Edit: To see/hear an audio version of this blog, check out the YouTube video that I created:

5: Comedy or Commentary?

We turn now to our fifth story on The Countdown: the brilliant portrayal of Keith Olbermann by Ben Affleck on the Nov. 1 edition of Saturday Night Live, Tina Fey's parody of Sarah Palin notwithstanding. The in-character Affleck said, quote,

It is a fear, sir, and a tyranny up with which we dare no longer put.

This sketch is long overdue and is, by far, one of the best SNL pieces to come out of this season. Affleck's pompous verbosity, rapid enunciation, and gratuitous outrage were simply superb! I was particularly delighted by his refusal to end a sentence with a preposition, even when resulting in absurd sentence constructions (such as the above quote).

I find Olbermann's show entertaining, if uninformative, mostly because he is so ostentatious. So, to see a grandiloquent parody of The Countdown made my day. Should not, indeed, Stephen Colbert consider the hiring of a co-anchor to aid him in the Report's pursuit of truthiness?

4: Truants for Change

Number four on the Countdown tonight, the supportive efforts of Georgetown Law to enable students to be involved with the 2008 presidential election. The Student Bar Association, the student government of the law school, passed a resolution requesting that professors either cancel class on Nov. 4, or provide an audio recording of the class. The purpose? To allow students to more fully participate in the plethora of voter protection projects happening in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.

As of last week, I discovered that my own classes for Election Day will be canceled. Although my availability was last-minute, I was able to sign up for homeless voter protection at a nearby polling place. My job will be to help homeless people who are denied their right to vote. I will do that all morning, and then walk to the Obama campaign headquarters to do some "last call for change" phone banking. I highly encourage anyone who has any spare time on Election Day to work for non-partisan voter protection or for the Obama campaign directly. And, for the love of America, VOTE!

3: Viva la Vida

Our number three story: Coldplay was in D.C. on Halloween night, playing to a sold-out Verizon Center. I had the good fortune of attending said concert with Donna, and was much impressed by Coldplay's high-energy performance, resplendent with over-the-top light effects.

Chris Martin, lead singer for the band, played the piano in a manner that one can only describe as the seeming efforts of a tortured genius. (That is not to say that Mr. Martin is a tortured genius, but rather that he is capable of portraying one on stage.)

I attended the concert technically dressed as a punk poseur. My initial thought was to attend the concert dressed as a punk, but, acknowledging that I wouldn't necessarily be able to pull this off authentically, I amended my costume conceptually. Some of my classmates argued that this was somewhat esoteric, and I concede that they had a point. Fortunately, Donna later helped me to improve my costume by rolling up my pant legs, applying copious amounts of eyeliner, and coaching me in facial expressions and attitudes that were categorically emo, to great effect.

2: World's Worst

And now, Countdown's Worst Person in the World! To: Michael Powell, New York Times reporter. Mr. Powell recently wrote an article that ostensibly jinxes the entirety of the Obama campaign and its supporters. Entitled "Obama Is Up, and Fans Fear That Jinxes It," Mr. Powell maintains that, quote

To talk with left-leaning Democrats in New Hope, San Francisco or Miami Beach, to drill deep into their id, is to stand at the intersection of Liberal and High Anxiety.

Well, Mr. Powell, if the Dems weren't thinking this before you wrote your pessimistic malediction, they certainly are now! Mr. Powell, you of all people must know of the enormous influence that the New York Times has on liberal thought. To write such inane blather, and then make this claim, is circular logic, indeed! This piece is little more than a self-fulfilling prophecy based on a cruel tautology that may cost Mr. Obama the election!

Mr. Powell, sir, if you yet retain any trace of honor, you must at once resign from the New York Times. Indeed, sir, justice and dignity demand you so to do!

1: ADR & HSM

Turning, now, to our number one story tonight: Disney's High School Musical has infiltrated the hallowed halls of Georgetown Law. In Civil Procedure on Friday, in a discussion of alternative dispute resolution, my professor was explaining the cooperative efforts of resolution as related to sociologist Talcott Parsons' four elements of therapy. Specifically, dispute resolution plays out as a sort of psychotherapy for all parties involved. My professor's way of succinctly encapsulating this point? Quote,

We're all in this together.

My professor acknowledged that he has a 12-year-old daughter, and has thus seen High School Musical on multiple occasions. He even went on to make sardonic comments about Sharpay. Quite simply, sir, it was one of the most surprising moments of your class to date.

And that's the Countdown for this: the six-hundred thirty-second day since Barack Obama announced his candidacy for President of the United States.

Good night, and good luck.

The Situation Room

Last night, I was in the Situation Room! Well, sort of. I was in Hart Auditorium here on the Georgetown Law campus, but Wolf Blitzer declared that we were all in the Situation Room, implying, for all intents and purposes, that the Situation Room is wherever Blitzer happens to be at the time. I attended a symposium called "Decision 2008: November 4th and Beyond," which was moderated by Blitzer. So cool! The panelists were E.J. Dionne (Washington Post columnist, Georgetown Public Policy Institute professor), Charles Krauthammer (Pulitzer Prize winner, conservative syndicated columnist), Celinda Lake (pollster, Democratic political strategist), Clarence Page (Chicago Tribune syndicated columnist), and Byron York (National Review White House correspondent). It was a pretty interesting panel discussion, because of the diversity of opinions on issues such as whether McCain still has a chance, whether the Bradley effect exists, the effect of Sarah Palin, how negative campaigning affects credibility, and the ways in which the economy has impacted campaign messages. This is one of those events that reminds me of the awesome opportunities I have by being in D.C., and specifically by being at Georgetown Law.

Unfortunately, the symposium was scheduled at the same time as my small group Bible study, which crushed our attendance (i.e., no one came). Mike and I waited for fifteen minutes, and then decided to attend the symposium ourselves. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right? Hopefully we'll have better attendance next week when we aren't competing with a popular head anchor of a major news network.

It's crazy to think that this election is finally coming to a close. I can remember when I first took notice of then-Senate-hopeful Obama during his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in 2004, and got goosebumps from his vision for a unified America. I remember when I first considered Obama as a viable presidential candidate, upon reading a Time magazine cover story in 2006 on why he could be the next president. I wondered to myself whether the United States would even be willing to elect an African-American as president, yet I found within myself a burgeoning hope that America had reached that point. I have followed Obama's campaign for nearly 22 months with ever-increasing attentiveness since he declared his candidacy in February of 2007. I fell in love with Obama's rhetoric and charisma when I attended a huge rally for him in Oakland with Cindy on St. Patrick's Day last year, delighting in green t-shirts supporting "O'Bama." I have watched the debates, I have followed the controversies, I have read dozens upon dozens of articles about the campaign. Quite frankly, Obama has been an integral part of my fascination with politics for years, and I wonder how things will be on November 5. Hold onto your seats, folks.

I received in the mail today my District of Columbia Voter's Guide, which was exciting. I absolutely adore the graphic that the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics put on the front cover of the guide:


It is so delightfully saccharine. "You complete us." I love it.