Okay, there are two reasons I love this story in the Orlando Sentinel scrutinizing NASA’s budget: 1) It’s way past time that the federal government bring some accountability to the space program. 2) It’s written by one of my best friends, Mark K. Matthews.

Mark and his colleague Robert Block have been all over the NASA boys (and girls) lately. Last week, they wrote about NASA administrator Michael Griffin’s attempts to stonewall the Obama transition team’s efforts to dig into cost overruns at the agency. Their story about a heated discussion between Griffin and Lori Garver, head of Obama’s space transition team, landed Matthews on Keith Olbermann’s show.

Well, I’ve decided there must be a reason I can’t bring myself to blog. I figure I’m either one of those Obamazombies in that hilarious Onion video or it’s because I’m still trying to get through this fascinating and very long series in Newsweek that takes us behind-the-scenes of the Obama and McCain campaigns (though, I probably should just wait for the movie).

Regardless, I’m sure I’ll snap out of it soon. I’m feeling too good about where this country is headed. Sometimes I have to pinch myself when I read things like how Obama is going to move quickly to reverse the Bush administration’s policies on stem cell research and offshore drilling. Am I dreaming?

Anyways, as Will.i.am says, “It’s a new day.”

There’s nothing I could write tonight that could be more poignant or powerful than the speech President-elect Barack Obama delivered in Chicago’s Grant Park:

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.

It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled – Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.

It’s the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.

I just received a very gracious call from Senator McCain. He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he’s fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him and Governor Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation’s promise in the months ahead.

I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to Delaware, the Vice President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.

I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last sixteen years, the rock of our family and the love of my life, our nation’s next First Lady, Michelle Obama. Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us to the White House. And while she’s no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure.

To my campaign manager David Plouffe, my chief strategist David Axelrod, and the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics – you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you’ve sacrificed to get it done.

But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to – it belongs to you.

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn’t start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington – it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.

It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is your victory.

I know you didn’t do this just to win an election and I know you didn’t do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime – two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they’ll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor’s bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America – I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you – we as a people will get there.

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can’t solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it’s been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years – block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek – it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers – in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.

Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House – a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, “We are not enemies, but friends…though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.” And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn – I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world – our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down – we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security – we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright – tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.

For that is the true genius of America – that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing – Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons – because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America – the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that “We Shall Overcome.” Yes we can.

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves – if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time – to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth – that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:

Yes We Can. Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.

Photo by Joe Newman (Caption: Taken inside the Obama HQ in Salem, Va. These cards were handed to people standing in voting lines. On the back was a message from Barack Obama urging them to stay in line and vote.)

Here’s the question of the day: How did the entire blogosphere and twitterverse know intuitively that Ashley Todd was some imbalanced attention-seeker almost immediately after the story broke but John McCain, Sarah Palin and their top staff did not?

Predictably, the liberal bloggers and tweeters were calling bullshit as soon as they heard Todd’s tale of getting mugged and having a backwards “B” carved scratched into her cheek while she was somewhere on the “wrong side” of Pittsburgh. The B, presumably, was for “Barack.” The mugger, a tallish, thinnish black man (apparently dyslexic) became enraged after he noticed that Todd, a McCain campaign worker, had a McCain bumper sticker on her car.

Of course, everyone knew it was a lie just by looking at the picture of her “disfigured” face posted at Smoking Gun. Why would the mugger carve a backwards B? And why did he take extra care not to break her skin with his knife after violently punching, kicking and throwing her to the ground?

I mean even conservative blogger Michelle Malkin called Todd out with a blog post that thought the story too odd to believe. However, many of Malkin’s conservative cohorts couldn’t resist fanning the flames of racial hysteria. Jay Bookman with the AJC has a roundup of the dimwits hollering about the “thuggery” of Obama’s campaign. They weren’t alone. Some mainstream media outlets were running with the story, despite the fact that the story couldn’t pass the smell test of any first-year journalism student.

Despite the doubts that were burning up the Internet, McCain and Palin both reportedly called Todd and her family to offer their support and sympathy. And lower down on the totem pole, McCain’s Pennsylvania communications director Peter Feldman apparently did his best to make sure the story got mainstream media attention. TPM describes Feldman’s role in pushing the story:

John McCain’s Pennsylvania communications director told reporters in the state an incendiary version of the hoax story about the attack on a McCain volunteer well before the facts of the case were known or established — and even told reporters outright that the “B” carved into the victim’s cheek stood for “Barack,” according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions.

One presumes that the decision for the candidates to call Todd was made at the highest levels of the campaign, though at this point, that might be giving the dysfunctional McCain camp too much credit.

You almost can’t blame McCain or Palin for making the call. They have extreme demands on their time and they certainly don’t have time to be surfing the web and reading all the back and forth discussion that was taking place about this story. I’m assuming that they wouldn’t call Todd without first getting briefed by chief strategist Steve Schmidt or campaign manager Rick Davis, or at the very least, one of their top lieutenants. This is a situation where you trust that your staff has vetted Todd’s story and realizes the potential blowback if it turns out she’s a psychologically-troubled young lady with a history of making things up.

Once again, team McCain failed. Perhaps not an Epic Fail (Fox News Executive VP John Moody, in an otherwise ridiculous attempt to link Obama politically to the alleged incident, went so far to say if the incident was a hoax, it was game over for McCain) but an embarrassing moment, nonetheless, which adds just another unwanted distraction to an already chaotic campaign.

Here’s what some other bloggers are saying:

Kos @ The Daily Kos:

The story was instantly suspect, as the pictures of her supposed beating, her Twitter account, and her timelines all patently contradicted themselves. But the wingnutosphere, with the healthy assist from Fox News, piled on anyway, letting their ideological blinders get in the way of reality. As usual.

And now they look like idiots. As usual.

As for Ms. Ashley Todd, being a liar and race-baiter is par for the course for College Republicans.

Clinical psychologist Alan J. Lipman @ Head of State:

Anyone who understands the diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder is well aware of what happened here. Extreme needs for attention combine with physically destructive behavior–most often seen in cutting one’s own skin–in an act meant to bring outer love and attention as it attacks inner self-hatred.

Shawn Williams @ Dallas South:

Introduce a black man to the story and you automatically get sympathy. That’s what happened to Ashley Todd as she was contacted by McCain, Palin, and apparently the Obama staff. This is the race baiting that McCain has chosen to align himself. Race voting and fear mongering are his only chances for the White House.

B-Serious @ Jack and Jill Politics:

Thankfully, her lies didn’t work. But if they had . . . if she never confessed to the hoax . . . Pennsylvania voters would surely have been inundated with questions and imagery that stir some of the deepest and darkest emotions this country has ever known regarding race. I doubt it would have been enough to flip the state. But it could have made things a lot closer.

I understand that she may have acted completely on her own. But I’m sure I’m not the only one with a few questions.

Barack Obama was on The Ellen DeGeneres Show the other day, telling Ellen he might not be able to dance better than his wife, but he was pretty sure he could out dance John McCain. After watching this video, I’d call it a tie. Though I have to admit, I’m not sure Obama has an answer to that move where McCain bounces across the floor on his back (via RyanColesy).

The picture above of Elsheba Khan appeared in the New Yorker. It’s the picture that former Secretary of State Colin Powell invoked in this stirring endorsement of Barack Obama:

I’m also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to be said such things as, “Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.” Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he’s a Christian. He’s always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is no. That’s not America. Is there something wrong with a seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing he or she could be president? Yet I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion that he is a Muslim and might have an association with terrorists. This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

I feel particularly strong about this because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay, was of a mother at Arlington Cemetery and she had her head on the headstone of her son’s grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone, and it gave his awards – Purple Heart, Bronze Star – showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death, he was 20 years old. And then at the very top of the head stone, it didn’t have a Christian cross. It didn’t have a Star of David. It has a crescent and star of the Islamic faith.

And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan. And he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was fourteen years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he could serve his country and he gave his life. Now, we have got to stop polarizing ourself in this way. And John McCain is as nondiscriminatory as anyone I know. But I’m troubled about the fact that, within the party, we have these kinds of expressions.

So, when I look at all of this and I think back to my Army career, we’ve got two individuals, either one of them could be a good president. But which is the president that we need now? Which is the individual that serves the needs of the nation for the next period of time? And I come to the conclusion that because of his ability to inspire, because of the inclusive nature of his campaign, because he is reaching out all across America, because of who he is and his rhetorical abilities–and we have to take that into account–as well as his substance–he has both style and substance–he has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president. I think he is a transformational figure. He is a new generation coming into the world–onto the world stage, onto the American stage, and for that reason I’ll be voting for Senator Barack Obama.

Photo by Platon for The New Yorker

Now it gets exciting. Sources in John McCain’s camp spent the last several days telling reporters that the campaign was about to go hard negative against Barack Obama on the character issue. It was the best way, they said, to move the national discussion off of the economy.

And true to their word, VP candidate Sara Palin came out firing over the weekend, repeatedly bringing up Obama’s association with radical anti-war activst Bill Ayers, while talking about the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr with NYT columnist Bill Kristol, despite earlier pronouncements from McCain that Wright was “off limits.”

But a funny thing happened on the way to the mud pit. Obama’s camp let loose with its toughest offensive of the campaign — launching what they’re calling “Keating Economics,” an effort to remind voters of McCain’s ties to convicted S&L swindler Charles Keating.

The difference in the McCain attacks and the Obama counter is that while McCain is trying to paint Obama as guilty by association, McCain’s ties to Keating go much deeper than sharing a seat on a nonprofit board or being a member of a radical preacher’s congregation.

See Obama, despite Palin’s ludicrous assertions, has never been close friends to Ayers, who made a small donation to Obama’s campaign for the state Legislature and served on the board of directors of a Chicago charity with him for two years. And while Obama attended Wright’s church for many years, he has since repudiated Wright’s remarks on race, no matter that they have a ring of truth to them.

Meanwhile, McCain is going to have a little tougher time extricating himself from his close relationship with Keating, a McCain benefactor who called upon the Arizona senator to act as a buffer between federal banking regulators. These are the undeniable facts:

* Keating gave more than $1 million in contributions and gifts to the senators known as the “Keating Five,” which included McCain, Dennis DeConcini, Alan Cranston, John Glenn and Don Riegle.

* Keating gave McCain $112,000 in contributions, as well as what the WaPo describes as “lavish gifts.”

* Keating was business partners with Cindy McCain.

* McCain, on Keating’s behalf, tried to intervene with banking regulators investigating Keating.

* Keating was convicted of fraud, racketeering and conspiracy and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

* McCain opposed federal regulation of the savings & loan industry, in effect allowing Keating and others to continue making risky, uninsured investments with their customers’ money.

* The Senate Ethics Committee reprimanded McCain for his role in the Keating influence-peddling scandal.

* The S&L crisis and bailout that resulted from the deregulation of the S&L’s cost the U.S. government $160 billion.

Is it fair to resurrect the Keating episode? As one member of the Republican ticket might say, you betcha.

If the Democrats have learned anything from their recent ineptitude in national campaigns, it’s that they must respond to Republican attacks and do so forcefully.

Remember that scene in “The Untouchables” where Sean Connery’s character Jim Malone asks Kevin Costner’s Eliot Ness if he has what it takes to go after Al Capone?

Malone: You said you wanted to get Capone. Do you really wanna get him? You see what I’m saying is, what are you prepared to do?
Ness: Anything within the law.
Malone: And *then* what are you prepared to do? If you open the can on these worms you must be prepared to go all the way. Because they’re not gonna give up the fight, until one of you is dead.
Ness: I want to get Capone! I don’t know how to do it.
Malone: You wanna know how to get Capone? They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. *That’s* the *Chicago* way! And that’s how you get Capone. Now do you want to do that? Are you ready to do that? I’m offering you a deal. Do you want this deal?

Is Obama ready to answer McCain attack ad for attack ad? Will he stare him down and bring the heat in Tuesday’s debate? Or will he agree with him over and over again like he did in their first meeting?

Let McCain throw the lies and innuendo. There’s enough real ammo to throw against McCain that Obama doesn’t have to resort to the same despicable tactics. However, with less than month until the final bell rings, Obama needs to let the truth fly and swing for the fences.

He does not want this decision to go the judges. They’ve already stolen one presidential election. He needs a knockout.

Here’s what other bloggers are saying:

Budsimmons @ Thoughts of a Conservative Christian builds a case against Obama as he points out that “Obama’s Connections With Bill Ayers Are Much More Extensive Than He Or His Campaign Staff Is Willing To Admit.”

@ The Confederate Yankee:

“The ties between Barack Obama and terrorists Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn go back over 21 years.

The long and short of it? Barack Obama knew, and knew well, that Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn were terrorists when he met them. He just didn’t care.”

@ Four Brothers Debate Politics:

John McCain and Sarah Palin need to take a refresher course in logic. Perhaps one of the six colleges Sarah attended while earning her one four year degree will send a professor out on the campaign trail to help them improve their ability to connect the dots in a way that does not insult the intelligence of the American voter.

Jazz Shaw @ The Moderate Voice:

Why are McCain and Palin talking about Ayers right now?

The story was predictable and obvious. I’m seeing it in newspaper headlines and television shows morning, noon and night. Nobody is asking why Obama was involved in any sense with Ayers. They are asking if McCain is looking to turn the page from the economic meltdown? Are they getting desperate because they are behind? Is this a distraction?