We've been kind of busy with other subjects the past few days, so you might have missed the news that rock 'n' roll icon Bo Diddley died Monday, one day short of his 80th birthday.

Imagine you're a bright 17-year-old who's bored by school and has an anti-authoritarian streak a mile wide.

Now imagine you get caught up in a DHS sweep following a terrorist attack on your hometown and the DHS decides to start treating you like a terrorist.

Now imagine that when they finally release you, you find that your hometown has turned into a police state. The DHS is treating everyone like a potential terrorist, but they continue to take a special interest in you.

What do you do?

Well, if you're Marcus Yallow, the hacker hero of Cory Doctorow's new young adult novel Little Brother, you fight back the only two ways you know how. Hard. And by hacking your way to freedom.

Dear Senator Obama:

As you are no doubt aware, the Supreme Court today announced its decision in a controversial case, Crawford vs. Marion County, deciding 6-3 to let stand an Indiana law requiring voters to show official ID cards at the polls. I must admit that my first thought was that this is what happens when a radical Republican gets his hands on the White House and the ability to push his picks for the Supreme Court through. My second thought was that this is why we need to elect someone like you as President in November.

I would like to share my third thought with you.

1. They don't make cardboard refrigerator boxes as roomy as they did back when I was seven.

2. Army surplus peanut butter and saltines for breakfast? Especially World War II Army surplus? Don't go there.

3. The sky has not yet fallen.

But once we get past Mississippi, Pennsylvania looms large on the horizon. It's a tough state, and Obama's opponent Hillary Clinton is favored to win that contest. Pundits have been saying that Obama needs to win one of the big states, to take something away from Hillary (Texas notwithstanding, I guess).

I have an idea how he can do it.

I'm still looking forward to it, but at the same time I'm concerned about the future.

Let me tell you why. I'm probably not telling you anything you don't already know, but I'm going to tell you anyway, because sometimes the things you already know  need to be said out loud.

Today I attended my first caucus. Follow along as I describe the process, from the first time I found out about the caucuses until I got to be . . . well, we'll see what I got to be in a minute.

It's not a story per se. More of an observation. I do hope you enjoy it, though, and maybe it'll make you think of your own Christmas tree in a slightly different way.

Well, Mike is fighting back. He's pressing charges against Senator Macaca.

Warning: You might want to skip this if you're on dialup. In my opinion it's worth the effort, though.

I set up an account on my own mail server to send this from. If I get a reply I will post it, and point the respondent to this diary so they can see the outpouring of support (and catch up with anyone who missed the cutoff -- sorry, but as I said, I wanted to get this out while the incident was fresh in everyone's minds.)

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Update [2006-9-27 19:59:55 by Omir the Storyteller]: Thanks to everyone for the support. I've posted a proposed letter to KO in comment #31 -- please take a look at it and let me know if it conveys your feelings. I would like to get the letter sent off tonight, while the incident is fresh in the collective minds of all concerned.

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This is going to be a short diary based on an idea that came to me while I was reading Steven D's front page post, American Terrorist. If you haven't read it, please go read it now.

Then please come on back because I have a very simple action item I want to propose.

OK, that happens pretty much on a daily basis. This one, however, takes the cake. A petty security official has declared the First Amendment null and void in the security checkpoint area of Milwaukee where he has staked out his fief.

What was the offense? A bomb threat? A hijacking hoax? Declaring that one has illegal substances on or about their person?

Nope. The hapless traveler took the plastic bag the TSA issued him to put his toothpaste and hair gel into, and wrote "Kip Hawley is an idiot" across the front of it.

Kip Hawley, you see, is the secretary of the Transportation Security Agency and, ultimately, this Barney Fife wannabee's boss.