Hey, Kossacks.

Things are a little tense around here lately, so in an effort to alleviate some tension, I decided to do a "just for fun" style diary to distract us from all the important work there is to do -- should you choose to participate.

Because, hey, we could all use a breather now and then.

Welcome to Morris, Oklahoma, population 1,319, most of whom live in the same square mile. It's the kind of town where the locals tell highway travelers, "Don't blink -- you'll miss it."

You can be forgiven for having never heard of this place, as even most Oklahomans haven't heard of it. It's what I call a "tornado radar town" because it's one of those towns I only see on the Doppler radar broadcasts during a tornado watch.

As you drive through this town along highway 62 -- possibly on the way from Okmulgee to Muskogee --  you pull your car to a stop the town's only traffic light, which hangs from a wire at the intersection of the other highway that makes up Morris' "main drag."

The only evidence of the presence of government that you can see is the public school and the post office. There's a bank too, with an ATM whose installation warranted a story in the town newsletter. And there are seemingly dozens of churches.

As much as I'd like to cut loose and seek some comfort by writing a fun, apolitical diary full of cats, rainbows and unicorn farts, I just can't do it today. I'd like to see if I can do my part in alleviating some of the tension on this site as some of its users are in full-on panic mode and are consequently saying some very foolish things.

There's quite a few things wrong with the now commonly held assumption that Obama is "moving to the center." Some people say he's doing the politically expedient thing and selling we lefties down the river. Still others insist he was never that progressive to begin with, and has always been a centrist Democrat.

First of all, a person's political ideology is hard to identify in the first place because it's so very subjective. One person's center is another person's far-left.

Second, how is it that we Kossacks, who are normally so sharp when it comes to detecting a manufactured media outrage story, are suddenly so credulous? Are we now listening to the very serious people who are telling us that our nominee is moving to the center?

And finally, even as we ask ourselves whether Obama is moving to the center, he is continuing to fight for progressive ideas -- even though we may not notice it in our current state of limp-noodle mumbling and hem-hawing.

I'm one of those Trusted Users who is slow on the trigger. I almost never us donuts, or zero ratings, or TRs, or HRs, or hydrates, or whatever you prefer to call them.

But I used one last week on a user who was advocating that people stay home on election day. Maybe this is what you'd call a gray area, but I considered the sentiment too hateful to the purposes of this site not to vote to hide the comment.

I believe in voting, and I believe in democracy. It's why I'm a Kossack and a Democrat. And I can't abide people who are so cynical that they would actually encourage people not to vote.

Maybe this makes me a nerd, but I think sometimes we don't take voting rights seriously enough. The right to participate in free and fair elections is something that people have fought and died for. So it's not something we should take lightly.

Of course I don't mean people here. I mean your average voters who watch some news and make attempts to educate themselves on the candidates. Do they know?

I mean it's all so incredible. A man who was himself tortured -- endorsing torture? It is unbelievable in the most literal sense of the word. And yet that's John McCain.

Earlier today when I was piecing this diary together, I asked the community whether people realize McCain is pro-torture. Kossack AnnCetera said that they do not, but added that accurate information might help people see the truth -- so long as it's palatable.

Unfortunately there's nothing palatable about the fact that torture is now a campaign issue in the year 2008 in the United States of America. But what is worse perhaps is people who are against torture voting for a man who is not.

Senator, I love ya. Nobody here is going to doubt that. I considered myself extremely lucky that I got to vote for you once, and now that you're the nominee and I'm going to get a chance to vote for you again, I'm practically beside myself. I'm thrilled.

And I hate to add to the handwringing going on around here (FISA, the public financing of your campaign, etc.) but trust me when I say that I wouldn't do so unless I had a good reason.

This is my good reason.

I'm writing today to pose a question to the community, and it's a question that I don't have an answer for myself. It's also a question that I think has a lot of meaning to the current battle for the White House going on between Barack Obama and John McCain.

The question is this: What happened in late 2007 and early 2008 that allowed John McCain to win the GOP primary?

In a double-wide trailer beside a dusty road that cut through fields of waving wheat, I sat down on a second-hand couch to talk to her. I knew it would not be an easy conversation.

I asked her for her blessing because I wanted to marry her daughter. Then the criticisms began.

"How will you get a job after college?" "Why not wait until you graduate?" "Where will you live?" "How much money do reporters make starting off?" "What about children?" "Will she be able to stay at home to raise kids if she wants?"

We had a strained relationship. It was almost as bad as the relationship she had with the woman I married.

And yesterday she died, never really having reached a peace with either of us.

When I was little, my Dad taught me never to be the one to start a fight -- but if necessary, to be able to be the one who finishes it.

What we are in right now is a struggle that will involve ourselves, and our children and quite possibly their children too. Calling it "the long haul" is a bit of an understatement.

As Americans, we tend to look at things as being on a relatively short timeline. Jimi Hendrix lived a long time ago to most of us. His music is "classic rock."

Well what about Herbert Hoover vs. Franklin Roosevelt? What about the abolitionists vs. the anti-abolitionists? That's the kind of long, protracted battle I'm talking about.

One of the lines of argument during the primary that was pro-Obama was that the right wing knows how to attack a Clinton, but they don't know how to attack an Obama.

And now that the party has a nominee and polls reveal we are starting to unite behind him, this argument is proving true -- particularly when you pay attention to what people on the right are saying about Obama.

This tornado season is shaping up to be the worst of the past few years. I know this is a bit of a departure from the purpose of the site, but I want to know that everyone out there is doing everything they can to keep themselves and their families safe.

When that sky turns green, you need to be prepared no matter where you are. Here's what some of the experts say about tornado preparedness.

Hi.

I guess you're wondering why you're here.

Well, when we put this thing together, we didn't want to use the word "intervention." It sounds so confrontational -- No, wait! Sit down.

I'm sorry I had to lie, and bring you in here on false pretenses, but this is important and I couldn't think of any other way to get your attention. The thing is, your addiction has made you very difficult to talk to.

But we have to talk.

The impetus for me writing today is the community reaction to our much-beloved Jon Stewart and his frequent joking about Barack Obama's full name. But I wanted to make a larger point as well about having a sense of humor and being willing to laugh at our leaders -- even the ones we like.

Stewart has joked about Obama's name, calling him "Barack Hussein Osama Pol Pot Obama," etc. And I've been amazed at how many Kossacks were offended by this when the joke was first made (at the Oscars, I believe).

This may be a poor example for the point I'm attempting to make here, because Stewart's joke was not aimed at Obama. It targeted instead the pundits and media personalities who are making an issue of the Senator's last name.

It's silly, and Stewart is treating it with the seriousness that it deserves -- none whatsoever.

As the sun rose this morning after I had my coffee, I walked out to the driveway and attached an American flag to my home.

It's not as though I had bought it for the occasion -- it was a gift from my parents for Memorial Day, kept in an oblong box in the trunk of my car. When it was given to me, I wasn't sure what I'd do with it.

Just a smallish flag flapping in Oklahoma's bright early morning sun, mounted on an aluminum pole next to my garage. But I haven't felt pride like this for years.

My wife's grandparents, a pair of Okies from Muskogee, said they plan to vote for Barack Obama in the general.

When my wife asked them how they came to this conclusion, they said they had originally backed Hillary Clinton, but they added that they were turned off by some of the campaign tactics she had used.

Those little round assholes at the end of every sentence are pissing me off. I mean who do they think they are?

A sentence is a powerful thing. Think of some of the great sentences ever written in history...

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

"The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't."

Those are some badass collections of words, brought together to make a statement. And they end, rather anticlimactically in my view, with a tiny little dot?

This guy.

I am beyond ready to talk about the general election, actually. It feels good. You know that shower you take after mowing the lawn in August? That's how good this feels.

It feels like a tall, frosty glass of lemonade -- or if you prefer, a Tanqueray and tonic -- after busting your ass for that ingrate of a boss all week.

And other things as well. Point is, I'm ready to talk about it. Wanna join me?