(Forgive the meta, it's Friday afternoon.)

Shai Sachs at MyDD has been doing an interesting series on diversity in the blogosphere that's worth checking out.

I'm sure it's no surprise to liberal blog readers to know that bloggers are unfortunately disproportionately all of the things that American elites disproportionately are: straight, white, male, educated, wealthy (there's lots more nuance here, but you get the idea). While it's a serious problem in general (what's a representative government without a representative dialogue, after all?), it's a particular problem for the netroots because, well, progressives are supposed to care about that stuff. (And believe me, TPMCafe has the same problem, so I don't speak from any moral higher ground).

But it's also a problem because it exposes the significant divide that exists between netroots and grassroots. Not a newsflash, I know, but it's worth looking at so that we don't lose sight of the offline world.

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Coffee Houser Ed Kilgore is moving from his New Donkey digs over to edit and blog at The Democratic Strategist.  You know him, you love him, get more of him there.

What blogs are  you reading that Cafe denizens would like?  The thread is yours.

John Edwards is bringing back his "two Americas" refrain tonight in a major policy speech here in New York City.

The policy centerpiece of his proposal? Longtime TPMCafe regular Elizabeth Warren's "Family Savings and Credit Commission."

Warren offers her thoughts here.

I think Ezra Klein did a pretty good job getting to the crux of the progressive choice between Edwards and Obama yesterday when, after summing up their speeches at the activist Take Back America conference, he wrote "... where Obama promised to radically change our politics, Edwards promised to radically change our policies."

Obama's emphasis is on changing our conversation and civic culture. He talks about the smallness of modern politics and "hope-mongers" to get people to believe again. Edwards, in contrast, champions liberal causes like health care, poverty and net neutrality. He plays the part of committed activist while Obama plays the part of civic savior.

I think there's more to this than a difference in campaign tactics and rhetoric, though. Each man is laying out a progress narrative that moves along a different axis.

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David Rieff reacts to Anne-Marie Slaughter's case for values in American foreign policy:

Anne-Marie may be right (I am not at all sure) that values play a particularly important role in the American national psyche, but psycho-history is not history, just as self-love is not real love.

What will America stand for in the world in the Post-Bush Era?

In The Idea that Is America, Princeton Dean and TPMCafe regular Anne-Marie Slaughter argues that we cannot give up the idea of a values-based foreign policy and must reengage the America traditions of liberty, democracy, equality, tolerance, faith, justice, and humility. By reconnecting with those American and universal values we can reclaim our moral standing on the global stage.

She'll be discussing the argument in TPMCafe's Book Club this week with Rachel Kleinfeld, Bruce Jentleson, David Shorr, Suzanne Nossel, Lee Feinstein, Michael Levy and David Rieff. Check it out.

Welcome to the TPMCafe Book Club! This is where we regularly invite authors to come and discuss their most recent works with readers and invited commentators. Past Book Club authors include Thomas Frank, Anthony Shadid, Larry Diamond, George Packer, Ivo Daalder/James Lindsay, Robert Dreyfuss, Chris Mooney, Gene Sperling, Gershom Gorenberg, Peter Beinart, Kevin Phillips, Sidney Blumenthal, Reed Hundt, Anne-Marie Slaughter/John Ikenberry, Jonathan Cohn, Daniel Gross, Steven Cook, and Chris Hayes.

This week we'll be discussing Anne-Marie Slaughter's The Idea that Is America.

In the book, Professor Slaughter outlines what she believes are the core values that have guided America thus far and must inspire American foreign policy in the future: liberty, democracy, equality, tolerance, faith, justice, and humility. This week, we will discuss Slaughter's argument that because these values are universal, acting in the world with them in mind is not tantamount, as some of the left would argue, American exceptionalism.

Joining the conversation will be Rachel Kleinfeld, Bruce Jentleson, David Shorr, Suzanne Nossel, Lee Feinstein, Michael Levi and David Rieff.

-ahg