Just Released – Unedited, unfiltered interview with Helen Thomas about the health care debate. With more than 60 years of White House experience, Thomas dissects the interests against a “public option” in the health care debate: “Profiteering,” “Misinformation” and an “atmosphere of hate.”

This interview was recorded on Wednesday, August 19, 2009.

(I drafted the first half of the post while I waited for About Our Children, a live special on MSNBC to start.)

I’m currently sitting in Howard University’s Ira Aldridge Theater. The auditorium is buzzing. MSNBC’s production team is doing sound checks and testing the teleprompter. Chris Matthews, who seems to be here on his own time, is walking around backstage. The team from the Independent Women’s Forum (IWF), the non-profit that pulled the show together, are filing students into seats. This is the moment many of them have been waiting for.

And here I am, sitting in the second row, taking it all in. About three weeks ago, I was asked to help produce a series of web videos for the show’s companion web site. Over the course of three weekends I sat at the Dell MTV bequeathed to me during Street Team ‘08, and produced. But what is more important than what I put out, is what I took in.

Here are three of my favorite take aways from my time on the About Our Children project.

1. There is no problem Craigslist can’t solve. I came across a problem with Premier Pro (editing software) that had me ready to pull my hair out. I ran through my personal network and couldn’t find the answer – so I posted an “Advice Needed” ad on Craigslist. I got a half dozen responses, and the next day a young Peruvian kid came over. For a hour, he provided me with a ton of tips and solutions I never would have found on my own. But for the record, I gave my neighbor a heads up that I was hosting someone from Craigslist  – and I am happy to report he was perfectly behaved. Read the rest of this entry…

Nine months ago millions descended on the national mall to inaugurate the first black President.  Little did I know on that cold January day that this demonstration would be the start of America’s awakening to Washington and the right to peacefully assemble.

Last week for better and for worse, millions of Americans descended on Washington. Yet the scene was much different from the Inauguration.

An estimated 700,000 Americans were bussed in from across the country to send such constructive messages (sarcasm) as “You Aren’t Really a citizen,” “You are more dangerous than Osama “and told cameras that Obama “intends on doing what Hitler never could do…destroy America” from the inside.

The Taxed Enough Already (TEA) party was organized by the Freedom Works Foundation.

I’m sorry I couldn’t be at the tea party, due to other freelance commitments, but I’m so glad Max Blumenthal was. Check out this excellent citizen journalism report.