Watch This: Americans Against Escalation in Iraq - National TAKE A STAND Day

Watch This: Mike Gravel Young Men and Women

“The Office” Politics

Despite rumors of Ricky Gervais backlash, his broadcast spawn is made its way across the pond, onto NBC, and now into the lexicon of political video parodies.

You have a stake in how we talk about the ‘08 Senate campaigns. Help us pick the bumper sticker slogan that sums up what the elections are all about. The winning catchphrase will be the DSCC’s nationwide slogan for our campaign to expand the majority. If you like one of our ideas, make a choice. If you have a better idea, use your voice. Vote on our four suggestions or create one of your own by midnight on August 27. Your idea could be the message stuck to bumpers and splashed across our website through 2008. (DSCC: Bump Up Our Majority)

As much as I love James Carville, he is no Steve Carell. That much is certain. The good folks at Second City Los Angeles give their water cooler vibe to the mess of a situation in Iraq.

Upstaging Blanchett, Russ Feingold Also Plays Bob Dylan

In the wake of recent news that British chameleon Cate Blanchett will be one of three actors to portray Bob Dylan in a new picture by Todd Haynes, Senator Russ Feingold gets in on the action with his take on the famous pre-video for “Subterranean Homesick Blues” - often knocked off in the decades since.

Over at Progressive Patriots Fund (Feingold’s PAC), the Senator gives you a way to join in the action:

Since we formed the Progressive Patriots Fund, we’ve focused on supporting candidates and promoting a progressive reform agenda. As part of those efforts, today we are asking you to use a word or short phrase and tell us a quality you’d like you see in our next president.

Please take a moment to download the ‘My President Will Be…’ sign or make your own. Write down your word or phrase and upload a photo of yourself with your sign using the form below. Stay tuned to www.progressivepatriotsfund.com to see your photo featured on our website in our slideshow of Presidential qualities! Don’t have a digital camera or don’t want your photo online? Click here to send us your word without a picture. (Progressive Patriots Fund: My President Will Be…)

You too can be a music legend.

Zennie was a Friend of Mine: Obama supporter covers the California HillStars program

Okay. I lied. Zennie is not a friend of mine.

I haven’t even met the guy.

I’m guessing after this video, he’ll be no friend of the Clinton campaign (including my old pal Mike Trujillo, their California Field Director).

With all of this, it still pales in comparison to the hundreds of online groups and members of BarackObama.com who are in California. What HillStars is has been in place for a long time, but only recently honed by an effort called “Camp Obama” which is already in motion nationwide. With little effort, the Obama forces could clobber Hillary Clinton in California.

Oh and that Field Poll of “Democratic Voters most likely to vote” that reports Clinton’s “lead” — don’t bet on any poll that has a sample size of just 419 people and talks to a small set folks who voted in the 2004 election. There are several problems with this step, amoung them, YouTube didn’t exist in 2004. So all of these polls of “most likely to vote” Democrats — including the rigged USA Today /Gallup Poll of June 17th — totally miss the new netroots. If a person just turned 18 that year, and didn’t vote, they’re now 22 years old, ready to vote, and consume the majority of their information online.

Senator Clinton, beware! ( Zennie’s Zeitgeist: HillStars - The Detailed Playbook On Senator Clinton’s California Campaign)

Now the tracker/muck-raker/opposition researcher in me wonders where he got the documents? Did he surreptitiously infiltrate one of the many HillStars trainings held so far in California? Trainings like the one in the Clinton blog post below:

Hillary Clinton’s California campaign today drew over 150 new volunteers for a day-long training to become the elite HillStars. These volunteers have committed to work continuously from July to February 5, to identify and to get out to vote 2 million Hillary Clinton supporters in California. HillStars are responsible for holding a house party to recruit, train and manage California Hillary Corps members, who will be talking to millions of California voters. In San Francisco, HillStar volunteers came from as far away as Fresno, Milpitas and Stockton. In Los Angeles, volunteers came from as far away as Santa Barbara and Orange County. (HillaryClinton.com: California Launches Aggressive Field Program)

However he got his hands on them, I’m guessing the next HillStars training will include at least a quick pat-down - if not a body cavity search - to see if any potential moles are doing their best Sandy Berger imitation.

It’s the same YouTube you know and love…only with ads!

In a bizarre turn of events, the good folks at google have decided that they’ll try and make a little money off of YouTube, after paying almost $2 Billion for it a while back.

Imagine that. No. Wait. You don’t have to:

For now, Google will place the ads only on video clips of its content partners — the more than 1,000 small and large media companies that have licensed their videos to YouTube. By doing so, YouTube will avoid the potential liability of having ads appear on copyrighted clips it is not authorized to display. And it will also prevent ads from playing on clips generated by users whose message may not be to the liking of advertisers.

The revenue from the ads will be split between the media partner and YouTube. Ms. Naughton said Google would charge advertisers $20 for every 1,000 times the ads were displayed. Google said the ads would begin appearing today throughout the site. Ms. Naughton also said advertisers would be able to take aim at specific channels and genres, as well as demographic profiles, geography and hour of the day.

If successful, the video ads could persuade more media companies to license their content to YouTube as a way to make money from it, analysts said.

“Today, YouTube is a sunk cost for Google,” said Darren Aftahi, a securities analyst with ThinkEquity Partners. “If they can couple the proper advertising with the proper content, there is a tremendous opportunity for the company.” (New York Times: Google Aims to Make YouTube Profitable With Ads)

Sounds great for YouTube and it’s partners…but what about the viewers? According to the Gray Lady, the banners are very unobtrusive - just a little clickable banner that pops up across the bottom fifth of the screen. Viewers can click on it and be transported to the magic land of happy advertising elves, or ignore it and it will go away.

But, can they ignore it? I’m no eye doctor, but thinking back to an article on eye movements and persistence of vision from an editing course long ago…hmmm…I don’t think they can.

So, even if you ignore it - and in our ad-saturated culture, we’re getting good at it - you’re still seeing it. It’s changing the viewing experience. Will the little banners be enough to wreck the delicate balance of personal interaction we’ve come to expect from YouTube?

Or does it really matter if a little banner covers up part of this.