Could you just die?

I'm sure you've seen these, but I had to post them. Sarah Silverman is brilliant. I wish my savta was alive so I could deploy her. The woman would by now have converted the entire population of Century City Pembroke Pines to the cause.

This Israeli video is very touching, I thought. It always maddens me that American Jews are so much more right-wing than Israeli Jews on the issue of peace, the settlements, etc.

So many orders for books4barack poured in, that despite the fact that there are 1000 books in my living room from authors around the country, I'm nearly 500 books short!!! Writers, please, please send me your books. Email me at ayeletwaldman@gmail.com for the address.

Here is the entry that will go up on the site this morning:

When the idea for books4barack first occurred to me, I hoped to raised two or three thousand dollars for Barack Obama's historic campaign. In my wildest dreams I never imagined that the figure would be close to $40,000. Thanks to all of you, this ridiculous project has been a resounding success. We've sold more baskets than we have books, a boggling feat, considering how many books are spilling out of boxes in my living room. We won't be taking anymore book bag donations, but we urge you to please consider donating anyway, even without the books. Writers, keep sending your books in. Please. We need lots more to fulfill the orders we already have.

The response had nothing to do with the idea, or with me, and everything to do with the historic candidacy of Barack Obama. All of us feel a profound sense of urgency. For the first time we can imagine voting not just against a person or a party (although, God knows, there's a lot to vote against), but for someone. For someone who demands of this country that we rise to his example. That we become our best selves.

Since our children were small, Michael and I have been telling them a story about America. We've been telling them that this complicated nation has a complicated history. That just as Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Edison, and the Wright brothers figure in its history, so do slavery, the Trail of Tears, and Korematsu v. United States. We've described our country's history as a heroic struggle for change inspired by leaders like Susan B. Anthony, Medgar Evers, and Chief Tecumseh. Because of their sacrifices, and the sacrifices of ordinary people, America left behind those ugly days, we tell our children, and today we live in a better place. We've told these stories with our fingers crossed behind our backs, because even as we celebrate progress, we think of Guantanamo Bay and Pelican Bay, and even as we celebrate change, we think of the fact that a woman still earns 77 cents to a man's dollar.

On January 21st, my family will be standing on the Mall where the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. gave the speech that inspired generations, watching Barack Obama raise his hand and take the oath of office. At that moment, the America of our myths and stories will come true. At that moment, we will uncross our fingers, raise our hands to the sky and begin another story.

Never thought I'd say this, but God Bless You, George Will. He eviscerates McCain in the Post. Of course there's plenty I disagree with, but check out this money quote:

It is arguable that, because of his inexperience, Obama is not ready for the presidency. It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. Unreadiness can be corrected, although perhaps at great cost, by experience. Can a dismaying temperament be fixed?

No George, a dismaying temperament cannot be fixed. You've got no choice. Endorse Obama. Entire op ed after the jump.

Are you a Northern Californian going to Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, etc. to campaign for Barack? If so, I've got some yard signs for you to take with you. Email me. They're hard to come by, don't you know.

I know you want them. And you can have all I've got.

To everyone else, let me direct your attention to the magnificent piece by Sean Quinn on fivethirtyeight about why you cannot get a yard sign. There's a reason.

Don't worry about your sign. Go walk a precinct. Here's a little contest. First person who emails me with some kind of photographic proof that they walked a precinct in a swing state (preferably Virginia) gets a black HOPE T-shirt. And a book. And a yard sign.

The Mystery books4barack bags are going fast. Check the site and donate or you'll be too late!

Why oh why couldn't I have worn something less hideous?

I spend about 74% of my waking hours working/thinking about the Obama Campaign, and the other 26% working/thinking about my children and husband. (While that proportion is surely out of whack, it puts me ahead of Presidential Candidate (oops, I mean vice presidential candidate) Palin, whose special needs newborn, pregnant teenager, and soldier-son apparently need less maternal attention than the children of any of the rest of us.) This morning, however, I've decided to take a moment to appreciate the member of Congress who represents me: Barbara Lee. Lee is a leader in the House on Darfur divestment, on stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS, and she was the only member of Congress to refuse, after September 11th, to give George Bush a blank check to wage his catastrophic war in Iraq. We threw a party for Ms. Lee early in the summer (hence the photograph of my family with the Congresswoman - notice my unfortunate dress). We raised a little money, but mostly we just thanked her for her courage, her principles, and her devotion to the least advantaged in our society.

Books 4 Barack is live! Go, donate, make my day!

I'm hosting a variety of events for Barack Obama in the New York and the San Francisco areas.

There's a party hosted by Alice Waters and a group of famous Bay Area chefs on September 26. We'll be roasting an entire pig.

There's a literary event featuring Tobias Wolff, Michael Chabon, Anne LaMott, Isabel Allende, and Tamim Ansary.

There's a truly incredible event in New York, with star chefs, world famous artists and writers, and a raffle which will feature works by Chuck Close, David Hammons, Matthew Ritchie, and a whole host of other amazing artists. A $5000 donation gets you a chance to own an original work of art. Astonishing. I'm trying to figure out if I can afford to enter twice. Email me for information.

Other events in the works include a Jewish writers event in D.C., a fashion show in Oakland, and more and more. Details will follow.

I just finished the copyedits on my new book Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities and Occasional Moments of Grace, which I wrote primarily to keep pissing off the shrews on the urbanbaby message boards.

And guess what I will not be watching tonight? A free book to the first person who emails me with the answer.

The blog Mudflats:Tiptoeing Through the Muck of Alaskan Politics has this description of a huge (by Alaskan standards) anti-Palin rally.

Check this out. This piece from the Seattle Times is, I think, what a lot of mothers in situations similar to Palin's are thinking.

Reflections on Palin from a Christian in Wasilla

Alaksa Gov. Sarah Palin positions herself as a "family values" candidate. But as the Republican candidate for vice president, is she putting her political ambitions ahead of her family, which includes a baby with Down syndrome?

By Dena Fox

I got a phone call from a reporter acquaintance from the Lower 48 before the official announcement of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's nomination to be Republican presidential candidate John McCain's running mate was even made.

He knew I was an evangelical Christian, live in Wasilla, and that like Palin, have a son with Down syndrome.

"What do you think of all this?" he asked.

I was uncertain. As governor, Sarah Palin has had high approval ratings, but the closest I'd followed her in the news had been in regard to the birth of her son in April.

I told the reporter that I felt conflicted. In her position, I would have a hard time justifying the amount of time such a role would take from my family — but I told him not to quote me.

Five days later, the Sarah Palin story is huge, and it seems evangelicals are unanimous in commending Palin's "pro-life and pro-family values."

Surprisingly, the controversy surrounding Palin's teenage daughter Bristol has only heightened the praise.

I am bewildered by these "defenders of the faith." Certainly, evangelicals traditionally associate themselves with pro-life candidates, but so far neither campaign has indicated any interest in addressing abortion issues. McCain, in particular, has made no promises on that front, even if Sarah Palin is fervent and consistent in that position.

This is a letter I sent out to people after Michael and I returned from Denver...in those halcyon pre-Palin days.

This morning, Michael and I returned from four incredible days at the Democratic National Convention. I was (thanks to many of you) a delegate from Congressional District 9, Barbara Lee's district. Michael finagled press credentials from the New York Review of Books. Stay tuned for his report, due out in its pages sometime in the next month.

So much happened over these four days. We learned a tremendous amount, but more importantly we came away inspired. I wrote up some of my experiences for New York Magazine, and you can read about them here.

But with you guys I want to share other, more intimate moments. Like the birthday party for Nancy Pelosi at which James Taylor sang. Imagine, if you will, a room full of women my age, bellowing out the words, "You just call out my name, And you know where ever I am, I'll come running, oh yeah baby, To see you again." I tried to get Michael to slow dance with me, but for some mysterious reason he was less interested in reliving seventh grade than I was. At least not in front of Cornel West and Tavis Smiley. Tony Bennett rocked the house after James Taylor, and you probably won't believe it, but I swear to God that they sang a duet of "Put on a Happy Face."

Well, after years of not blogging, I find myself suddenly with something to say.

I've been an avid Obama volunteer since the very beginning of this revolutionary campaign. I've made phone calls, raised money, traveled to Texas, South Carolina, and Nevada, run Northern California's voter protection boiler-room out of my kitchen, and on and on. I was a pledged Obama delegate to the Convention in Denver, and I'm off to Chicago on October 10 and 11 for the National Women's Leadership conference, a gathering of women from all fifty states to discuss polity and the campaign. Barack and Michelle will both be at that conference, as will a whole variety of other experts in various fields. If you don't know what the Bush Doctrine is, say, and you want to know, it's a great opportunity. I'll be there (I'll be easy to find. Just look for the Shih Tzu in the pale pink lip gloss). Join me.

I'm also organizing a series of fundraisers in the Bay Area, including one hosted by Alice Waters in Berkeley, where I live. My friend Deborah Rappaport had a nifty idea. Why not organize a book basket to auction at our fundraiser? So, I sent a typo-and-profanity-laced email to a few friends asking for signed books. Well, the thing went completely viral. I have hundreds of books in my living room. We're so far beyond book baskets. I've got signed first editions from Stephen King, Amy Tan, Anne Tyler, Russel Banks, Judy Blume (a first of Wifey!!), Chris Bohjalian, Billy Collins, Jamie Lee Curtis,Liza Dalby, Karen Joy Fowler, Nora Ephron, Khaled Hosseini, Steve Martin, Greil Marcus, Jodi Picoult, and those are only the ones I can see at the top of the piles!!! This whole thing is mind-boggling.

Seems that there are lots of writers who, like me, think that a Palin/McCain presidency (and I use that order on purpose; who in their right mind thinks he's the driving force of that ticket?) would be a colossal nightmare for the entire world. You don't have to be in the intellectual elite to know what's coming if those jokers win the election.

By the way, check out my blogging from the Convention.

And check out Michael's and my Obama site.