Jeff, you said:

Civility, the core Obama principle that excites folks like Andrew Sullivan, is important only as much as incivility is a sign of torpor or lack of imagination. But transformation is not a civil thing. I like transformation more than propriety.

I couldn't agree with you more.  George Bush has been one of more "civil" presidents in this nation's history.  Articles abound about how works a room charming everyone with whom he comes in contact.   Civility has for much of Bush's political and professional career masked not only his ineptitude, but also the degrees to which he feels beholden to macabre influences like Dick Cheney. 

Obama's civility has been overplayed.  Many African Americans think it helps make white's feel that he's safe, a sensibility that is reiteratated time and again when articles run about him being less confrontational than politicians who had racial justice at the fore of their platforms.  This is not to suggest that Obama is not civil or a safe bet in some regards, but to fully engage in this campaign as it is being presented requires a serious dose of historical amnesia. 

I remain unconvinced whether transformation can occur in the oval office because presidents are hamstrung so quickly by congress these days, that bi-partisanship is a nice, but not entirely necessary goal. Implied in Obama's  rhetoric is the type of change that this country has been resisting for over a century, and which it has been politically particularly determined not to engender for the last  40 years.  Obama is trying to do along the campaign trail what New Gingrich accomplished for the republicans from the house speaker's position.  Strangely enough, I think Obama will have an easier chance winning over republicans than he does democrats.  Republicans know that their constituents are often misguided, and realize that it's in their best interests to band together against an impending republican oligarchy.  That memo has not gotten to democrats just yet, and there's no other way of putting this, but white democrats have underutilized their black counterparts for so long, they will not know how to respond to Obama. 

The incivility of transformation requires relinquishing faith in false icons on both sides of the aisle.  Invoking Kennedy is no less impudent than invoking Reagan, and what Obama will bring is not a resolution to conflicts of the 60s, but rather pushing open doors to engaging problems of this era. 

In other news, Mitt Romney needs to disassociate himself from whoever told him it was a good idea to run for President. 

And, we're only three years away from George Pataki being less salty about Rudy Giuliani stealing his shine.