Michael Brown taught us that vital national positions must be filled with qualified candidates, not political friends with little experience.

We thought that the Internet was going to connect us all together. As a young geek in rural Maine, I got excited about the Internet because it seemed that I could be connected to the world. What it's looking like increasingly is that the Web is connecting us back to ourselves.

I think it's easier than ever to hear only what you want to hear. That doesn't make a good citizen.

[On Thursday, however, MoveOn Executive Director Eli Pariser said the group has] no plans, and ... never had plans, to produce such an ad. ... we regret any misunderstanding that may have arisen because of anything that our staff member might have told USA TODAY's reporter.

It feels great to have your own views reflected back to you, and you feel so right, but actually it's very dangerous. Because to make good decisions, you need to have a clear view of what all the options are.

To be a good citizen, it's important to be able to put yourself in other people's shoes and see the big picture. If everything you see is rooted in your own identity, that becomes difficult or impossible.