I love Los Angeles. I know a lot of people go there and they see just a huge sprawl of sameness. But when you’re there for a while, you realize that each section has its own mood. The golden age of cinema is still alive there, in the smell of jasmine at night and the beautiful weather. And the light is inspiring and energizing. Even with smog, there’s something about that light that’s not harsh, but bright and smooth. It fills me with the feeling that all possibilites are available. I don’t know why. It’s different from the light in other places. The light in Philadelphia, even in the summer, is not nearly as bright. It was the light that brought everybody to L.A. to make films in the early days. It’s still a beautiful place.

I heard a quote once (was it by Quentin Crisp?) that is spot on: “When an Englishman says ‘America,’ he means ‘New York.’ And when he says, ‘New York,’ he means ‘Manhattan.’ ”

Here’s another favorite quote: “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life” — Samuel Johnson. I’m not tired of London. I’m privileged to live between the two greatest cities in the world. I like them for similar reasons, too. History. Architecture. Resilience. Change. Diversity. Tension. Art. Opportunity. The big difference, I guess, is that New York is always turned up to 11: London with a surge of power on the galactic grid. Vibrant. Exciting. And it never runs out. “When a man is tired of New York, he should go to London to get some sleep.”

In that sense, Lincoln lets its audience off too easy. It’s comforting to feel that we can always find great wisdom in the middle. For the slight cost of waving away those who carry radicalism in their very blood, it reaffirms our great faith in democracy. It’s much more terrifying to consider how democratic compromise can be disastrous and how zealotry can be perceptive. Lincoln should have been harder on us. And I still loved it. And it still left me weepy. And you should still see it.

10. ASK US TO DO SOMETHING…In your 2008 campaign, you were a pioneer in using social media to win the election. Over 15 million of us gave you our cell numbers or email addresses so you could send us texts and emails telling us what needed to be done to win the election. Then, as soon as you won, it was as if you hit the delete button. We never heard from you again. (Until this past year when you kept texting us to send you $25. Inspiring.) Whoever your internet and social media people were should have been given their own office in the West Wing – and we should have heard from you. Constantly. Need a bill passed? Text us and we will mobilize! The Republicans are filibustering? We can stop them! They won’t approve your choice for Secretary of State? We’ll see about that! You say you were a community organizer. Please – START ACTING LIKE ONE

Remember Jimmy Stewart’s classic film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington? I love that movie. That’s what most of us think of when we hear the word “filibuster” — a single passionate senator speaking for hours about legislation they fiercely oppose until they literally collapse with exhaustion.

But that’s not what today’s filibuster looks like. In reality, any senator can make a phone call, say they object to a bill, then head out for the night. In the meantime, business comes to a screeching halt.

Senate Republicans have used this type of filibuster 380 times since the Democrats took over the majority in 2006. We’ve seen filibusters to block judicial nominations, jobs bills, political transparency, ending Big Oil subsidies — you name it, there’s been a filibuster.

We’ve seen filibusters of bills and nominations that ultimately passed with 90 or more votes. Why filibuster something that has that kind of support? Just to slow down the process and keep the Senate from working.

I saw the impact of these filibusters at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Forty-five senators pledged to filibuster any nominee to head that new consumer agency, regardless of that person’s qualifications. After I left the agency, they tried to hold Richard Cordray’s nomination vote hostage until the Senate agreed to weaken the agency to the point where it could no longer hold the big banks and credit card companies accountable.

That’s not open debate — that’s paralyzing progress.