Tina Fey Does Sarah Palin

And she is so much like her it's scary.

Hillary at the Convention

Yesterday Hillary spoke. It was long awaited and many felt this was the speech that was needed to unite the party. Everyone seemed concerned about it but I wasn't, she's a pro.

And she absolutely blew the whole place away, her speech absolutely perfect in every detail, the best she's ever given, I think. She not only firmly supported Obama and said he must get into the White House for any of her issues to be addressed, but she managed to blast Bush and McCain, as well as make herself look good. It was as if she wanted to let everyone know what they were missing by not having her as the candidate.

But she was quite clear on her support of Obama, nearly putting it as a betrayal of her to allow McCain to become president. She didn't say it directly but it was a strong under current. Anyone who supported her and will now vote for McCain is an idiot who is beyond redemption.

I feel a little sad, though. The fact is she would have been a great candidate and if she had run at any other time, or if Obama had not been there, she would have been a lock for getting the Democratic presidential nomination. But Obama was there and ran a better campaign than Hillary did. Her's was dysfunctional, his was brilliant.

I'm not sure we ended up with the best candidate, but that's the way it worked out and we have to go forward with what we have.

Birthday Yesterday

Turned 55 yesterday. There is a certain unreality in the concept of me being that old, just doesn't seem right, but there it is. Darcy was feeling better than usual and we went out to dinner for the first time in many months, that was lots of fun. It's amazing how much we can miss the simple things. She also got me the next 2 books in the Dresden series, yum.

Then we went home and watched the Democratic Convention. How thoughtful of them to hold it on my birthday like that. That was a lot of fun too. It was great seeing Teddy Kennedy up there looking strong and coherent, that might be the the last such speech we ever see. I don't remember a thing he said but that really wasn't what was important, now was it?

Then Michelle Obama came on and made her speech. I thought it was bad theater to have her come on after Teddy, how does someone top that? He rocked the room just by showing up. But I didn't need to worry, she was fantastic. Every part of the speech was perfect, I thought. Strong and intelligent, while still being warm and embracing to all those listening. I hope this puts a more human face on the Obama family and even those still nurturing bitterness over Hillary, or nurturing a life long racism, will be able to embrace them, and allow them to vote for Obama for president.

Tomorrow Hillary takes the stage and I sure hope she knocks it out of the park too and brings all her PUMA's into the fold.

IDIOT PUMAS

A PUMA is a rabid Hillary supporter, it stands for Party Unity My Ass. These people are unbelievably stupid if they vote for John McCain Here is an article called When PUMAS Attack by by georgia10:

John McCain's new ad features PUMA extraordinaire, Debra Bartoshevich, proclaiming that she's a "Hillary Clinton Democrat" who will be voting for John McCain:

She claims in the ad that "lots of Democrats will vote McCain" and then tries to assure voters that "it's ok -- really." Bartoshevich, who was a delegate, was stripped of delegate status. This is the second McCain ad targeted to petulant Clinton voters.

Leaving aside the irony of calling yourself a "Hillary Clinton Democrat" and then voting for someone diametrically opposed to what Democrats--including Hillary Clinton--stand for, McCain's attempt to win this race by targeting Clinton voters is quite revealing.

It is simply amazing that anyone who could support Hillary and her positions on the issues could possibly vote for McCain, who doesn't hold ANY of the same positions, who is, in fact, against everything Hillary stands for. So any of these PUMAS who vote for McCain are betraying Hillary. I can't even begin to imagine what these people are thinking.

Here on the ground in Denver, you would be hard pressed to find someone who is willing to vote for John McCain in the fall. Sure, the place is teeming with people who voted for Hillary, but the general consenus here is that we need to get a Democrat into the White House. Period.

That won't stop television reporters from flocking to the rare PUMA in the streets wearing a Hillary or Bust t-shirt. But the force of these individuals here at the convention isn't as compelling as the media make it out to be. While PUMAs may think they're here to roar for Hillary only, in the midst of all of this energy for Obama and the Democratic Party, PUMA whining is nothing more than a barely audible meow.

I've long suspected this whole thing is being created more by the media than something real. Sure, there are nutcases in every situation but they are a small minority. No true Hillary supporter could possibly vote for McCain, no matter how upset they are by her losing.

EXPLOITING BUSH

Which means Bush exploiting us, his entire run as president has ALL
been about exploitation. He is the reverse Robin Hood, stealing from
the poor (and middle class) and giving to the rich. The amazing part is
how obvious he has been and how few have called him on it. But now we have a caller who doesn't hold back - Hillary! In an article she says:

In the past few years, the number of corporations flocking to places like the Cayman Islands to evade U.S. taxes has exploded. One of these companies, former Halliburton subsidiary KBR, has used offshore tax havens to avoid paying hundreds of millions of dollars in federal taxes. To no one's surprise, instead of cracking down on KBR, the Bush administration has rewarded the company in April of this year with a 10-year, $150 billion contract in Iraq.

Too bad she doesn't mention Halliburton skipping off to Dubai. I think any company that leaves America should no longer get government contracts, but Halliburton still has one that is cost plus 10%. Are you clear on what that means? Halliburton merely has to submit an expense report, they then get all that money plus 10% profit. So their motivation is to spend as much money as they possibly can on every project in order to make more profit. It's the kind of deal every business would dream of.

There appears to be no crisis, tragedy or disaster immune from exploitation under the Bush administration. The examples of the waste, fraud and abuse are legion -- from KBR performing shoddy electrical work in Iraq that has resulted in the electrocution of our military personnel according to Pentagon and Congressional investigators, to the firing of an Army official who dared to refuse a $1 billion payout for questionable charges to the same company.

KBR is responsible for the deaths of over a dozen military men fighting in Iraq by electrocuting them in poor built showers. I am not kidding even though I know that sounds unbelievable, but that is what America has become, the land where corporations rule and can get away with anything. Imagine this during WWII, people would be going to jail. She goes on to talk about how much money we can get back in government coffers simply by putting a stop to this abuse, no need for tax increases at all:

While touting fiscal responsibility, President Bush and his administration have lined the pockets of political cronies like Halliburton and Blackwater. While calling for earmark reform, the president has allowed no-bid and questionable contracting throughout the federal government to dwarf earmark spending by a 10-to-1 ratio.

If we're going to get serious about putting our nation's fiscal house in order, let's talk about putting an end to billions in no-bid contract awards to unaccountable contractors. Let's talk about the number of lucrative contracts and bonuses being paid for duties never performed, promises never fulfilled, and contracts falsely described as complete. And let's talk about reforming the federal contracting system so that we can take on the real waste, fraud and abuse in our federalgovernment.

I won't go into details but everyone should follow the link and read the whole article. As I was reading it I was thinking about how light weight all the VP candidates for Obama are that the press has been batting around. Only Hillary brings serious chops to the table. There has also been a rumor that she is suddenly high up on the short list again, so maybe Obama is starting to see that too. Each candidate might bring in his state, maybe, or white people, maybe. But Hillary is the only candidate who had 18 million people vote for her. This is not a maybe, this is hard fact.

And the traditional role of the VP candidate is as the attack dog that the presidential candidate can't be. We all know Hillary would be great at that. And Obama could give her special projects to take care of so he doesn't need to worry about them. He could hand over the whole health care mess, or set her up to deal with the corruption she talks about in the article. Hell, she can do both. Imagine her as Obama's Dick Cheney, the idea is positively scary.

The more I think about it the more I like it.

Obama Lies Some More!

It was a while ago I told the Obama people to take me off their mailing list and told them it was because of his support for the new FISA bill after promising to filibuster it. So they sent me an answer. Nothing new and still damn pitiful.

Dear Friend,

Thank you for contacting us and sharing your strong feelings about this important issue. Please find a statement from Senator Obama below.

We appreciate hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Obama for America,

---
Given the grave threats that we face, our national security agencies must have the capability to gather intelligence and track down terrorists before they strike, while respecting the rule of law and the privacy and civil liberties of the American people. There is also little doubt that the Bush Administration, with the cooperation of major telecommunications companies, has abused that authority and undermined the Constitution by intercepting the communications of innocent Americans without their knowledge or the required court orders.

There is the key phrase, they did it without the required court orders, they broke the law. And Obama let such law-breaking go without even a slap on the wrist. Instead they rewarded Bush and the telecoms for illegal spying on Americans. But, they will obey the law THIS time. SURE they will.

That is why last year I opposed the so-called Protect America Act, which expanded the surveillance powers of the government without sufficient independent oversight to protect the privacy and civil liberties of innocent Americans. I have also opposed the granting of retroactive immunity to those who were allegedly complicit in acts of illegal spying in the past.

After months of negotiation, the House passed a compromise that, while far from perfect, is a marked improvement over last year's Protect America Act. Under this compromise legislation, an important tool in the fight against terrorism will continue, but the President's illegal program of warrantless surveillance will be over. It restores FISA and existing criminal wiretap statutes as the exclusive means to conduct surveillance - making it clear that the President cannot circumvent the law and disregard the civil liberties of the American people. It also firmly re-establishes basic judicial oversight over all domestic surveillance in the future.

"Cannot circumvent the law" - what complete bullshit. The Bushies ignore the law on a daily basis, why would they suddenly pay attention to this one, especially when they know if they break it they will get immunity for it? Because this time it's really, REALLY illegal?

It does, however, grant retroactive immunity, and I voted in the Senate three times to remove this provision so that we could seek full accountability for past offenses. Unfortunately, these attempts were unsuccessful. But this compromise guarantees a thorough review by the Inspectors General of our national security agencies to determine what took place in the past, and ensures that there will be accountability going forward. By demanding oversight and accountability, a grassroots movement of Americans has helped yield a bill that is far better than the Protect America Act.

And the Inspector General works for who??? Remember Attorney General Mukasey refusing to enforce the subpoenas and contempt charges against those who refused to show up when summoned by Congress? Karl Rove just did that yesterday. The Inspector General will just look the other way and not even fill out any reports. The IG is supposed to keep track of the good and bad the various Federal Attorneys but they haven't bothered to file that report yet. Hell, they keep breaking the law and getting away with it, each time more outrageous than the last, why would they stop now? YOU, Mr. Obama, aren't going to hold any of them accountable, you are going to capitulate and call it compromise.

It is not all that I would want. But given the legitimate threats we face, providing effective intelligence collection tools with appropriate safeguards is too important to delay. So I support the compromise, but do so with a firm pledge that as President, I will carefully monitor the program, review the report by the Inspectors General, and work with the Congress to take any additional steps I deem necessary to protect the lives - and the liberty - of the American people.

I shudder to think how casually you will treat the Constitution and the law when you ARE president, based on your current record. Oh, I get it!! You know it's too late to go after Bush so you want all these special powers in the executive branch for YOURSELF!! It's all so clear now! And we can "trust" you to NOT obey the law because you're a much better person than George Bush ever was, right? You don't need to obey any silly laws that ordinary mortals do. You can be trusted - right?

It should be noted that Hillary voted against this bill, but she had to know such a vote would not make any difference because the bill was going to pass no matter what she did, so I'm not sure she should get any credit for it. And if someone wants to give her credit, so what? What good does that do now? She isn't going to steal the nomination although I bet she's thinking about it. "I wonder if I can push him in front of a car," she thinks. "No, it won't work, too many people around all the time. Could I make it look like an accident? Better not to risk it, must keep thinking."

Clinton disavows VP pressure

Obama and Hillary were said to have met for a discussion tonight but no one knows exactly what was talked about, according to this article on MSNBC. Several of her supporters have been talking publicly about getting petitions signed to make her the VP candidate, in other words, force her down Obama's throat.

In what seems like a rare bit of political savvy from someone who has shown little of it in the last few months, Hillary has totally backed off and thrown full support behind Obama and told her supporters to lay off with the VP pressure, that the decision is Obama's alone.

In an e-mail to supporters, the New York senator said she "will be speaking on Saturday about how together we can rally the party behind Senator Obama. The stakes are too high and the task before us too important to do otherwise."

Clinton expressed the same sentiment in a conference call with 40 members of her national finance committee, whom she urged to begin raising money for Obama and for the Democratic National Committee.

"She was in good spirits and totally supportive, without qualification, of Senator Obama and his campaign," finance co-chairman Alan Patricof said of the call.

In her speech last Tuesday she seemed like she was trying to force Obama to take her on as VP, which was the one thing she could do to make sure he couldn't take her on if he wanted to (which he probably doesn't). He can't look like she forced him to do it, he can't make her VP if it makes him look weak, which is part of the incredible lack of savvy she seems to have displayed lately.

But she appears to have gotten her groove back and is on track and doing the right things. Pretty amazing when she even talks about raising money for Obama. If she throws her full support behind him without reservations then I think most of those angry, middle-aged white-women will vote for him even though they have said they won't. They've been calling in to all the radio talk shows the past 2 days very angry and swearing they will never, NEVER voted for Obama, but when the host asks what, exactly, Obama has done that is so bad it throws them for a second. Then they go on to complain about how badly Hillary has been treated. Many of them talking about things they've read on the blogoshpere that were insulting to her. But not one even tried to come up with something Obama himself had actually done that was so bad, or even at all bad. But the answer is obvious, he had the nerve to beat Hillary.

Sorry, ladies, he did it fair and square. He's a young, skinny guy who came out of nowhere to take on the Clinton Political Machine, and did it with absolute brilliance and succeeded. If he can do that as president we are really going to see something.

As far as VP the best I can think of is John Edwards, but after him I can't think of anyone who has the political weight to be on the ticket except for Hillary. I wonder if Obama will reach that conclusion as well. Probably not since there is the massive baggage she carries named Bill. Ed Schultz said one of his Washington connections told him that ever since Bill left office they've had to keep a close eye on him to make sure he doesn't get into trouble, especially in hotel rooms. Then there is the fact that he doesn't want any info given out on who has contributed to his library and how much. Which would need to come out in the vetting process.

So my guess is Ted Strickland, Governor of Ohio will be the Veep. He brings in the one thing no one else can - OHIO!

Hillary To Concede

Keith Olbermann's lead story was Breaking News where he didn't even ask which of these stories will we be talking about tomorrow, he just went right in to the fact that Hillary will be conceding on Friday and endorsing Obama. Whew, at last.

Apparently, all the people she thought were supporting her in Washington called her up (literally a conference call with about 2 dozen congressmen) and said What the hell are you doing??! They convinced her she needed to give it up if she hoped to have a career after this.

It's thought she really does want to be VP but then heard that Obama's people would insist on a full vetting of any candidate, even her. And they especially wanted to know who was making donations to Bill's library, that's when she decided she didn't REALLY want to be VP after all.

I saw this after just hearing Rachel Maddow and her political mentor David Bender talk about how Hillary had just blown any chance of being VP with her speech last night. She pretty much took the 18 million people who voted for her and tried to beat Obama over the head with them, thinking to force the VP position from him. But David said that was the one thing that would make sure Obama would not make her VP because it would look like she forced him into it.

She misread Obama, thought he was weak, and misread her top level supporters who were horrified by her speech last night. Turns out some of her top advisors were on the phones to the congress people begging them to talk her down. They all just wanted it to end. Everyone says she's a shrewd politician but it sure doesn't look that way to me, she pretty much misread everyone and made all the wrong moves and people had to come in and stop her, it had gotten so bad. I sure wish I could have been in on the conference call.

But Hillary is now out of the race and VERY unlikely to be the VP candidate. Obama made it sound like he wanted to take his time in this choice so we just have to be patient. My choice is John Edwards, but then he was my first choice for president too, and was in 2004 as well. I kind of like Jim Webb but he's a bit conservative and inexperienced and Obama can probably take Virginia by himself anyway. My guess would be the governor of Ohio, Ted Strickland, because Ohio will be a very important swing state. Bill Richardson wouldn't be bad, I think that would bring all the Hispanics over to Obama but is it too non-white a ticket? Is America ready for that yet? I'd sure as hell vote for them.

But Richardson would also make a good Secretary of State, and Edwards a good Attorney General. All Gore as the Energy Secretary charged with developing viable alternatives to gas and oil, Hillary as the Heath Care Czar. Talk about a dream ticket.

After all these years of Bush and his evil cadre I'm starting to have wet dreams about liberal Democrats.

Is It Over #3?

The simple answer is yes, it's over, Obama has the nomination. But Hillary did not concede and did not congratulate Obama on his win. At this point it doesn't matter what she does, Obama is the nominee and she is kind of irrelevant.

But let's take a moment and contemplate what has happened; a black man has won the nomination of the democratic party for President of the United States. This is truly historical, history unfolding before our very eyes. I would love to be able to go back in time and ask Lincoln and Jefferson for their opinions.

One pundit says his sources tell him that Hillary wants to be VP and that is the reason for all this. Another pundit says his sources tell him she doesn't want to be VP and Obama doesn't want to give it to her, and in fact will only offer it if he has assurances she will decline. They are supposed to be having a meeting tomorrow but I wonder how long until we know what happens.

My guess is she doesn't want to be VP and Obama doesn't want her to be. The question is what does she want? She's a power broker and she's come all this way because she wants something, a cabinet position? Secretary of State? Health Care czar? Does she just want the satisfaction of Obama asking for her help in giving him her votes in the general election? She still has lots of pull with women over 50 (who have become crazed maniacs over this), Hispanics and uneducated white workers. I think if she campaigns for Obama with the same determination that she campaigned for herself he's got the election sewn up. Best to leave Bill at home, though.

Is It Over #2?

Well, the Associated Press is calling it for Obama, saying he has enough delegates to win the nomination. I think that's a little premature but I'm sure that will be true later tonight or tomorrow, after all it's only 2:11 pm here in California.

Word from the Clinton campaign is that she will not concede or suspend her campaign tonight. Doesn't matter what her official pronouncement is because there are no states left to campaign in. Really, there is nothing she can do one way or another. She and Bill can try and strong arm the Super Delegates to change their votes but that wouldn't last long before the SD's get pissed off. If anything it might cause some of her delegates to switch to Obama.

And the second word from her campaign is that she would consider the VP position. Anyone but me see a contradiction here?

Is It Over?

All indicators say it is. My favorite is Bill saying yesterday in a speech that today (yesterday) might be the last day he ever campaigns like this. That can only mean that Hillary is giving up. The disturbing part is that sounds like he ISN'T going to be campaigning for Obama but considering the results of his campaign for Hillary it might be better if he sits it out for a while. It's sad that the only thing he has succeeded in doing is tarnish his own reputation.

The strongest indicator is the fact that she is dismissing her campaign staff. She is heading back to New York, has a speech scheduled for tonight and she has told all her top supporters (which means the ones with money) to be there. She has offered her staff a plane ticket that can either take them home or to New York to what looks to be a big party. If they do go to New York, however, they then have to pay their way home themselves. All are supposed to go home and await further, if any, instructions and to get all their expense reports in by Friday.

There is simply no other way to interpret that except that it's over. We will see tonight.

I have to say that now that it seems over a great deal of my animosity toward her is passing, hopefully all animosity on both sides will fade away as well and we will have a united Democratic party. Some of her supporters have proven to be downright scary. They all seem to be white women in their 50's and 60's and they are raging like it's the end of the world. They are accusing the media and the Democratic party of lying and cheating to push her out of the race when the truth is Hillary is the one who has lied extensively and is still lying today when she says she has the popular vote. The level of anger is just plain weird, and it seems that those who say they will not vote for Obama in November aren't mad at him or even think he's a bad candidate they are just too angry about Hillary not getting the nomination.

It seems to me that all these women see Hillary as themselves and are angry not at this election but at all the indignities they have suffered in their lives. Make no mistake about it, misogyny is alive and well and in my opinion is worse than racism in this country. And this generation of women have it especially hard because they grew up in a time where it looked like women would gain equal rights at last but didn't experience those rights themselves because these things take time. The generations that follow them are having an easier time of it. I think it's a lifetime of anger coming out right now and it's hard to find fault in that. Hell, they should be angry but they shouldn't displace that anger and put it all into this primary.

Barack has been nothing but respectful to Hillary. There were numerous opportunities he had to attack her the way she did him but he refrained. The last few weeks he has done nothing but praise her as a terrific campaigner and public servant. I've actually been a little pissed off that he didn't fight back harder against all the bullshit Hillary was throwing out but the most he would do is correct her when she was lying and not even say she was lying. One black guy called in to the Ed Schultz show and said Obama is doing that because a black man attacking a white woman is a HUGE taboo. I was kind of stunned to hear that but on reflection he might be right. Add to that the fact that the Clintons are highly respected in the democratic party and still wield a lot of power, so he didn't want to antagonize anyone too much. Fortunately, he seems to have no reluctance to attack McCain.

And hopefully we can all turn to the business of attacking McCain after tomorrow. I think a lot of the Super Delegates will come out for Obama after today's primaries tonight or tomorrow morning.

Hillary: Unforgivable

I've been angry at all the crap that Hillary and Bill and have pulled during this election, her desire to win at all costs, even if she destroys the party in the process. Her desire to win clearly moving into desperation. But today she went too far, way too far. In answering a question about why everyone wants to push her out of the race she said this:

My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don't understand it.

Her meaning couldn't be more clear, she's hoping Obama gets shot so she can step in and be president. Everyone is saying it's just a gaff, she really didn't mean that, but I disagree. Sure, it was a gaff, but something like that doesn't come out at a press conference unless that thought is very much on her mind. I'd be willing to bet it's even been discussed behind closed doors at her campaign. I've wondered why she hasn't dropped out before now, her continuing at this stage is just insane. Now we know, she's hoping for the worst, because it would be the best for her.

I've long remembered a stand up routine Eddie Murphy did back in the 80's, talking about Jesse Jackson. Eddie imitated the first black man to run for president, he ran all over the stage, pretending to dodge bullets. I didn't think it was funny and the feeling I got was that Eddie didn't either, there was a real edge to him that night. When Barack first started running I remembered that Eddie Murphy show with dread and have often thought that I hope Barack is taking his security seriously.

Bobby Kennedy was the hope of change for his time and was brutally killed. I was 14 at the time and I was as shocked and saddened as I had ever been in my young life. How dare Hillary say what she did, how dare she even hope for Obama's assassination even for a second.

I think she not only ended her presidential campaign today but ended her political career as well. No chance now she will be VP, no chance of anything except maybe being able to hold on to her senate seat. But don't count on it.

Update: I was looking for some stories on this and was surprised at how many people saw nothing wrong in her comments, but then something else leaped out at me. She's said this same thing 2 or 3 times before over the past few months. Keith lists them in his Special Comment but that really didn't register with me but now I get it. This was no gaffe, she is trying to say that people should vote for her because there is too good a chance of Obama being assassinated. This is far worse than I first thought it was, this is absolutely deplorable as a campaign tactic. I'm beyond angry now.

Keith Olbermann was almost too angry to speak when he did his special comment on this tonight.

Hillary is Lying

One of my pet peeves of the media today is they don't give the facts, they just repeat sound bites. If it takes a bit of effort to explain the situation then they won't do it. This even includes Olbermann and Matthews last night on election coverage, I thought those guys would educate, but no. They actually spent more time talking about how complicated it all is than it would have taken to explain it.

What is Hillary's big lie? She keeps saying she has won the popular vote and this is flat out false in many ways. And not only false it involves going back on the rules of the Democratic Party that both candidates signed an agreement to when all this started. Haven't we seen enough lies and going back on their word from the Bushies? We don't need another president who does this.

She gets more votes when she adds in Michigan and Florida, which they both agreed would not be counted. Those states broke the rules and to keep order the DNC had to give them some consequences for it or everyone would break the rules and we'd have chaos. Nobody campaigned in either state and Obama's name wasn't even on the ballot in Michigan and their rules don't allow them to count write in votes. Hillary won those states quite unfairly and she knows it but wants to count them now.

But there is more. Caucus states don't count the popular vote only the delegates. Weird, I know, but that's how it works. If we don't like the system then let's try and change it at some point in the future but not in the middle of the primary season. If we were to get all the numbers from all the caucus states, Obama won the popular vote by quite a substantial amount even if Hillary adds in Michigan and Florida. Another rule is that we count delegates, not popular votes, which is why the caucuses don't need to count the popular vote. So popular vote is irrelevant anyway.

So, to summarize, Hillary only appears to have the popular vote if she cheats in several ways and goes against the rules she signed her name to. I am not amused by these baldfaced lies from her nor by the media failing to explain the real situation. I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who don't follow this stuff closely who think maybe Hillary should get the nomination if she has more of the popular vote, and that is just wrong. People need to know that Obama has won by every measure we have and Hillary is acting like George Bush trying to start a war in Iraq and I've had more than my fill of those kinds of lies.

Hillary on SNL

They opened with Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton. This speech is incredibly funny because it's incredibly true. These are the things everyone is thinking but won't say, three reason why she should be the candidate instead of Obama:

I'm a sore loser

My supporters are racist

Unlike Obama I have no ethical standards.

PS: The first video disappeared so I had to find a replacement.

Super Delegates

Now Obama has taken the lead in Super Delegates, having gained 12 since the Tuesday elections while Hillary has only gotten 2, but she also lost 2 who jumped ship to Obama.

Sen. Obama, D-Ill., picked up two superdelegates this morning giving him a new metric to tout in addition to his current commanding leads in pledged delegates, popular votes, states won, and money raised.

So he leads in just about every category, I can't think of any others to add in there, except of course among hard working uneducated white people (I'm going to fume over that for a looong time). Eugene Robinson, my favorite commentator on Countdown after Rachel Madow, also said he was incensed when he heard what Hillary said.

As a statement of fact, that's debatable at best. As a rationale for why Democratic Party superdelegates should pick her over Obama, it's a slap in the face to the party's most loyal constituency -- African Americans -- and a repudiation of principles the party claims to stand for. Here's what she's really saying to party leaders: There's no way that white people are going to vote for the black guy. Come November, you'll be sorry.

How silly of me. I thought the Democratic Party believed in a colorblind America.

You tell 'em, my black brother! This 54 year old hard working white guy is with you 100%. Hillary sounds more like a republican every day. She really ought to just quit before she damages herself even further.

McCain said Obama was the favorite candidate of Hamas. Do we need any more evidence that he is a stupid old man? Doesn't matter, Obama had no chance with the stupid, white, old man vote. Most of them would have trouble getting those hoods off in time to vote anyway. Obama came back and said McCain has lost his bearings. Now isn't that just a fine put-down? It's hard to even be insulted by that, the guy just has class and style. The McCain people said it was a barb about McCain's very advanced age. I guess you would have to be a stupid, old white guy to have made that connection, and an even stupider, old white guy to think bringing up McCains' VERY advanced age was a good idea.

Did I mention that if he is elected he will be the OLDEST guy ever elected to the office?

Life In America

Every once in a while there are lots of things I want to write a little comment on instead of a whole post, in the past I've called it Tidbits.
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Apparently, Lindsey Lohan stole a coat from a night club and then returned it. The owner is suing her for $10,000 for unauthorized rental.

I know I talk about politics, atheism and Mac, and I often am incensed at the amount of coverage this kind of crap gets - - - but this one is just TOO funny.

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Bill and Hillary from many, many years ago. I wonder if they were starry eyed idealists back then, hippies looking for love and peace? I wonder if they had any inkling of where their lives would be today back then? Probably not. Life is pretty bizarre, isn't it?

Too bad she won't ever be president, I think she'd most likely make a good one, although I'm a bit afraid of her right wing leanings. I hope her and Obama can work something out and she becomes his VP. He can set her on one task - reforming medical care.
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Most likely this is our next president, get used to it. I just hope he lives up to the possibility I see in him of being the next FDR. I'm pretty relieved to see an end to the Bush/Clinton Oligarchy.

As VP I'd like to see Jim Webb (if he can't get Hillary). Webb would be good as the southern white guy who has a strong military background. Bill Richardson as Secretary of State, Al Gore as Secretary of Energy with a mandate to get us off oil as much as possible. John Edwards as Attorney General, set him off to clean up the Justice Dept like a bulldog going in for the kill.
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In Florida a teacher was fired for doing a magic trick in class. What was it? He made a toothpick disappear - this got him fired with the charge of - wait for it - - - WIZARDRY!! No, that is not a typo, he was fired for wizardry, and by people who run a school! What century is this anyway? Stay out of Florida or you might get burned at the stake.
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Hillary said today that it was the hard working white Americans who voted for her. Does that mean it's only the lazy-assed blacks who voted for Obama? Imagine if Obama had even mentioned getting the black vote, the press would be all over him, but that's OK, Hillary is white so she can get away with it.

This whole campaign is showing just how bigoted America really is and just how low Hillary can sink. Forget her as VP, let's have Richardson as VP. A black man and a Hispanic on one ticket, gotta love it and why not? The bigots aren't going to vote for him anyway but this way he will get the Hispanic vote, imagine turning all those Cubans in Miami into democrats?

Indiana and North Carolina

Yesterday I said I thought Hillary's Gas Tax Holiday stupidity would win the day over Obama telling the truth.

I was wrong! Obama won by 14% in North Dakota and only lost by 2% in Indiana, that's a damn good showing. It's nice to know that Hillary's blatant vote pandering with something she knew she could never get done and wouldn't help anyone if she could, didn't work. This shows that Obama can win by treating Americans as adults, really quite amazing and unexpected.

And, it appears, the Rev Wright didn't have much affect either, or perhaps it went the other way, people voted for him because he was being picked on by the media over something he had no control over.

People, especially the Super Delegates, were beginning to get nervous about Obama, he seemed to be reeling from some heavy punches and all were doubting if he really was the guy. But this decisive victory today shows he is still the man.

I still feel sorry for Hillary, she is a great campaigner and would most likely have blown away anybody but Obama. She just ran at the wrong time but had no way to know it would be the wrong time. Who could have guessed Obama would have this kind of impact so quickly? Notr me and not anybody. I'm thinking again that an Obama/Hillary ticket could be a good thing. Both have brought in new voters and got people excited enough to vote in record numbers. With Hillary on the ticket Obama could pull in all of her supporters, 40% of whom say they will not vote for Obama if he gets the nomination. It would pull the two sides together and also guarantee Hillary using her formidable campaigning skills for Obama in the general election at full strength.

The Gas Tax

Hillary is going to town on this gas tax holiday thing, stealing the idea directly from McCain. She likes it so much she has even run a TV ad making it look like Obama is not interested in helping people out.

The truth is she is never going to make this happen this summer as she says, and she damn well knows it. Even if it got through congress - and not even democrats want to vote for it - Bush will veto it. And Obama has said it's pure political pandering, he even had good reasons for thinking that because they did this very thing in Illinois. They dropped the state gas tax while Obama was in the state legislation and he voted for it. When they looked at it a year later they discovered that the gas at the pump never got lowered, the oil companies just pocketed the extra money. It was a free givaway to them, and Hillary is smart enough to know this.

So the truth of it is Hillary intends to give nothing at all to the people, she is just trying to make it look like she is and whore for votes. But as we all know, perceptions are far more important than facts in politics. Obama spoke to the voters like they were adults and could understand the concepts involved, Hillary treated them like little kids who will get all excited and never bother to look behind the curtain for the real Oz. Of course, Hillary's is the better campaign strategy. It also shows that Obama really does have hope that the American public isn't stupid.

And then there is all the Republicans sneaking over to the Democratic primaries to vote for Hillary because Rush told them to. If it wasn't for Rush pushing this I think Hillary would have lost this whole thing back during the Texas/Ohio primaries. And all the Democrats voting for Hillary are helping the Republicans.

Hillary Clinton: Fork Her, She's Done

It was quite a while ago I said to stick a fork in Hillary, she's done. She hasn't followed my advice, sad to say. Now she is REALLY done. She would have to win 67% of the 9 remaining primaries to take the lead in popular vote or delegates. If she won 50% of the next 2 primaries, Indiana and North Carolina, she'd need 85% of the vote of all remaining primaries. And it would be a minor miracle if she pulled off 50% in those two states since Obama is in the lead in both, into double digits in North Carolina.

She is doing a "win at any cost" strategy and flinging out negative ads like crazy, all in the hope that Obama will make some kind of major blunder - something far worse than anything that's happened so far - or that she can convince the Super Delegates that she stands a better chance in November against John McCain. I figure the odds are better for me winning the Lotto.

This has become very sad. When all this started I was excited to see Hillary campaigning for president. John Edwards was my guy but I would have been happy to vote for any of the top three, in fact, ANY of the Democratic candidates, except maybe Mike Gravel. Now I don't like her and don't want to vote for her at all. I think she has gone so far into the negative that she has hurt herself more than Obama and has damaged her standing in the party. If she quits now she might have a chance at top party leadership in the future, like Senate Majority Leader, but the longer this goes on the less chance she will even have a political career.

But let me make one think very, very clear: If she does manage to get the Democratic nomination I WILL vote for her in November. Nothing can be worse than McCain being president, that cannot be allowed to happen. And we know the pubs are going to cheat and try and steal the election like they have in the past, the only way to stop them is show up and vote for the Democratic candidate in overwhelming numbers. So all of us MUST vote for whoever that candidate is, no matter what. And when it comes down to it I actually do think Hillary would make a good president, I just wish she knew when to quit.

My Vote's for Obama (if I could vote) ...by Michael Moore

On Michael Moore's website he has a letter about why he is supporting Obama over Clinton. It's a damn good letter and I agree with him 100%.

There are those who say Obama isn't ready, or he's voted wrong on this or that. But that's looking at the trees and not the forest. What we are witnessing is not just a candidate but a profound, massive public movement for change. My endorsement is more for Obama The Movement than it is for Obama the candidate.

That is not to take anything away from this exceptional man. But what's going on is bigger than him at this point, and that's a good thing for the country. Because, when he wins in November, that Obama Movement is going to have to stay alert and active. Corporate America is not going to give up their hold on our government just because we say so. President Obama is going to need a nation of millions to stand behind him.

It's an interesting notion that he is voting for Obama The Movement. I wouldn't say I really thought it out that clearly myself but some of that has been in the back of my mind that influenced my support for Obama. But this next segment is even more telling:

Finally, I want to say a word about the basic decency I have seen in Mr. Obama. Mrs. Clinton continues to throw the Rev. Wright up in his face as part of her mission to keep stoking the fears of White America. Every time she does this I shout at the TV, "Say it, Obama! Say that when she and her husband were having marital difficulties regarding Monica Lewinsky, who did she and Bill bring to the White House for 'spiritual counseling?' THE REVEREND JEREMIAH WRIGHT!"

This is something I have been pissed off about for some time. How dare Hillary attack Obama over Rev. Wright when Bill called him in as a spiritual advisor back in the 90's. Read the whole letter, it will be worth your while.