I added a (rather large) widget to the site, Slate's change-o-meter, which purports to track Obama's success in actually changing the tone in Washington.
Especially for my 2302s, the addition should help us come to a fuller understanding of how the three branches actually work (if work is the appropriate verb).
My 2301s might benefit from the discussion of politics implicit in its content.
One two-fold question we may want to ask is whether Obama can in fact change the tone in Washington (are its behaviors sown in its nature-as Madison might say?) of if we really want the tone changed. We tend to criticize how Washington acts without really determining whether another way is truly better, and if so how?
This could be a good discussion question for ning.