In 2009, women make up only 17% of Congress. The US is ranked 72nd among all nations with women in elected office. Despite the many organizations striving to close this gender gap in public office, the percentage of women in government remains unacceptably low. So where do we go from here? Join former Congressional candidate and WCF President/CEO, Siobhan “Sam” Bennett to discuss how we can work to close the public office gender gap in the near future—and why women are essential in building a more Progressive America.”

Many professionals predicted the Minnesota election for Senate between Al Franken and incumbent Norm Coleman would be the closest race of the 2008 cycle. But no one could predict it would take 245 days before the victor would be seated in the US Senate.

No one obsessed more about the election aftermath during those 245 days than a blogger at DailyKos who signed himself “WineRev.” At DailyKos, Markos Moulitsas’ ground-zero website for political progressives, WineRev’s near-daily updates became “must reading.” Whether it was recounters in tears in Austin, county judges talking out loud to paper ballots, or the briefcase brigade arguing law or examining witnesses, WineRev’s reports became a regular fixture on the “Recommended Diaries” list.

For all who want to relive the tense days of recounting, the court dates, the insights, wit and everyone’s mistakes, Recounting Minnesota pulls together WineRev’s diaries, along with trenchant, droll, or exasperated comments from readers, a timeline for every twist, and a foreword by Markos Moulitsas, all served up with a lively, Internet-flavored urgency.

Millions of Americans worked hard to elect Obama. Now they’re asking how do we keep the momentum going? Michael Huttner, founder of ProgressNow, launches his first book “50 Ways You Can Help Obama Change America” here at Netroots. Help him help communities clean up the mess, enact Obama’s core campaign promises, and move this country forward.

In the midst of a career-long quest to separate the smart from the pap, Charles Piece had a defining moment at the Creation Museum in Kentucky, where he observed a dinosaur…wearing a saddle. At that moment he realized idiocy had not only invaded the mainstream, it had taken over.

With IDIOT AMERICA Charles Pierce delivers an acerbically funny, righteously angry lament about the glorification of ignorance in the United States. Throughout his rant, Pierce interweaves the history of the intellectual giants and founders of the United States, specifically James Madison, who prized brains and expertise and sought to protect these virtues from the ever-present absurdity that has haunted our national ideas. They believed in country where ideas could expand and evolve and the public would asses them on their logic and reasoning.