Hillary for VP? Just a Repub Lie

If you're interested, I put together a nice post over at All Things Democrat discussing the ghost the conservatives have cobbled together feigning chaos in the Democratic party by insinuating there's a big decision between Biden and Hillary in the works. Spoiler alert: They're lying.

Cicadas..Just Kidding: Politics!

So last night we were looking, waiting to see if Hillary would drop out and she said "Hells no!" Barry-O was to be graceful in supposed victory and he's all "I will be the Democratic candidate fo sho." And John McCain, completely in line with what we have all come to expect, was a lying douchebag.

Let's do a quick rehash using some demonstrative images from their respective speeches.

John McCain



McCain, with his background, now apparently represents the Green Party. But the real star of the show was Smilin' John's Shit-Eating Grin. The speech itself was angering and unenlightening:

• Democrats are baaaaad and hate America
• I love America and won't let'em ruin it
• Show off the wooden teeth and allow the automatons applaud
• Rinse off the poop and repeat.

It was lack of vision, lack of substance, lack of character.

Barack Obama



Expectedly, Obama pulled the necessary delegates and the media drooled and jizzed all over the story and coverage. His speech was strong, decisive, and inspiring. And that's what got him where he is.

I guess the Obama staffers were in a rush to portray the pale white support that Obama has because - I know it's not as good a shot as the television - they had represented everything from strawberry blonde to deep auburn. That's right, Barack Obama has the full support of the redhead coalition:


And finally... Hillary Clinton



Hillary, while a bit reserved in her speech, was overshadowed by her supporters. As opposed to the Obama Redhead Alliance, she was able to pull in a few African-Americans, a questionably Indian gentleman, white men, and the token homosexual male in yellow stripes pictured here.

The best part of the entire speech was immediately after this image was taken: Mr. Flamboyant was optioned by the African-American on his left, at which time his exuberance flatlined and he mouthed "what?" His leash tightened, he was at heel within seconds.

Estimation of the conversation of Hillary supporters behind her back:

Stripes: Woohoo! Yeah! Hillary 4-ev-R!
Dignified African-American (DAA): Dude!
DAA: Dude!!!
Stripes: What?
DAA: You're on fucking national television. Behave yourself.
Stripes: Really? You're --
DAA: Do you want Hillary to lose?
Stripes: Um...no.
DAA: Behave.
Stripes:Um...okay.

Yet Obama still wins...until the convention. Crazy bullshit in play, much politicking to go around, and Batshit McCain to spread more lies. I think we have a long way to go.

The Berate Debate - WTF ABC?

For any of you who watched the debate the other night and thought "WTF?" you are not alone. From MoveOn.org:

Editor & Publisher called this week's ABC presidential debate "perhaps the most embarrassing performance by the media in a major presidential debate in years."

Moderators George Stephanopolous and Charlie Gibson spent the first 50 minutes obsessed with distractions that only political insiders care about--gaffes, polling numbers, the stale Rev. Wright story, and the old-news Bosnia story. And, channelling Karl Rove, they directed a video question to Barack Obama asking if he loves the American flag or not. Seriously.

Rambling: Can Democrats Avoid Criticism?

As my always disclaimer states, I am not a fan of Republicans, but neither am I a mouthpiece for Democrats. I will vote Democrat in November.

That said, we've got Obama's new reason for being attacked:

You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate, and they have not. So it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

Okay, this one doesn't need much background and can't really be explained away. The statement is angering because it's true. It terribly fucking true. I'm listening to Sean Hannity rail right now, How dare anyone claim that the great people of the United States of America are anything less than perfect!

But we are far from perfect. Obama said it concisely: Americans feel helpless because of continually being let down by their elected officials, because of seeing the economy fall apart, because of $4.00/gal gas and they can't do it anymore, they can't feel like they can control anything or have impact on how things are run, so they take refuge in things they can control: their religion, their beliefs, their hate. That's how mob mentality gains a foothold and the last refuge for learned helplessness (which I will attack in my next post).

But people - especially people who he is talking about - don't want to hear it; people like Sean Hannity who make their career on making themselves out to be the salt of the Earth like every good, hard-working, abused, and down-trodden American won't hear of it. Because from the Republican perspective, hard-working Americans with low-paying jobs in small towns are tough-livin' freedom fighters, but hard-working Americans with low-paying jobs in urban areas are lazy porch monkeys who don't know how to better themselves.

So Obama said something true about Middle America and everyone's outraged. I don't think he should've said it, but he did. He deserves to hear about it, but not from the angle that right-wing radio's running.

On the other hand, we've got Hillary doing shots in a bar in order to "connect" with Middle America. Crown Royal, to be specific. There are a very few points to make on this drinking op:

• Most Middle Americans do not buy Crown Royal because it's a touch fucking expensive. They drink Jack Daniels, Jim Beam, and Wild Turkey. Perhaps even Paramount or another well brand. I drink Jameson, but that's because I'm an elitist prat who's not simply scraping by.


• Crown Royal is not an American, but Canadian, whiskey. (It's better than American whiskeys because America has a rule that does not allow the aging of liquor in previously-used barrels; Crown Royal is aged in oak barrels previously used to age cognac, enriching and complicating the flavor.)

This incident is not a huge deal, but I've heard many a parody today on the right side of the dial.

So Hillary, in trying to connect to Middle America, was unable to get it 100% right.

I guess I'm tired of hearing all this prattle about our Democratic candidates on poor word choice or whiskey choice or church choice or gun choice. John McCain being elected will lead directly to the deaths of thousands of Americans and thousands of non-Americans, if not just in Iraq and Afghanistan, then in Iran, and maybe a couple other countries that could exacerbate the rest of the world balance, knocking us into a World War with ...well, everybody.

To the right: shut up about the nuance; the only true threat to our freedom is the possible election of John McCain.

Political Snypa: Intimidation, Under Fire

I am troubled.

I'm all for either Hillary or Obama over Maddog McCain, but the back-and-forth insanity of negative campaigning and which Democratic candidate is less desirable is starting to grate on my nerves. In my opinion, attacks on Clinton and Obama by the right wing and each other have been blown out of proportion.

And then this happened:

In a March 17 speech, Clinton said, "I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base."

That account was still posted on her campaign Web site yesterday.
Clinton told CNN last week, "There was no greeting ceremony, and we basically were told to run to our cars. Now, that is what happened."

WTF? I'm not by any means trying to push an agenda, but I find this disheartening. There is a HUGE fucking difference between the-

Story: Under sniper fire and at the risk of my own an my daughter's life, we ran from the plane, ducked down, and hurried into the armored vehicles.

and the Reality: We waltzed off the plane, sans body armor, with motherfucking Sinbad, and listened to a little girl recite a poem.

I cannot reconcile the two. I cannot believe that is mis-remembering - two separate times misremembering and misremembering again when she authorized that it go up on the website. I do believe when she talks about sleep deprivation clouding her judgment, it was not her memory that was clouded, but the thought process that would have censored her and said in her head "Um, don't you think they have video of this? Do you really think you can get away with this story?"

And then this happened:

20 "top fundraisers" for Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign yesterday "upbraided" House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for suggesting last week that Democratic superdelegates "should back the candidate with the most pledged delegates and urged her to respect the right of those delegates to back whomever they choose at the end of the primary season." The AP reports that in a letter to Pelosi, Clinton's supporters "said superdelegates 'must look to not one criterion but to the full panoply of factors that will help them assess who will be the party's strongest nominee in the general election.'"

The New York Times adds that the letter, "which carried threatening overtones in noting that many signatories were major Democratic donors, highlighted the deepening rift inside the party among supporters for Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama." Roll Call reports the "donors also pointedly noted their own contributions to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. 'We have been strong supporters of the DCCC. We therefore urge you to clarify your position on super-delegates and reflect in your comments a more open view to the optional independent actions of each of the delegates at the National Convention in August.'"

The theories abound on the right about the crazy strong-arm, knife-fight tactics the Clintons will use to - under any circumstances - secure the nomination. I would like to believe the best candidate, the majority candidate (or Al Gore) will win the nomination. Then her supporters decide to play political meathooks and knock Pelosi around a little bit.

And Hillary Clinton distances herself from the letter while allowing the threat to remain attached to her name.

For this week, I'm a little down on Hillary. And when it's starting to become clear that Obama is like Teflon on the pastor issue (foreshadowing future Teflon...ism), disillusionment of my "support both until the convention" idealism is slowly being revealed like the gummy center of a Blow Pop.

But, for the record, even if the selection rapes the process all to hell, while I'll be angry and rant swear to abundance, either Democratic candidate is better for our country than John McCain. Unless, of course, you fancy a row with Iran?

Obama Makes Speech in PA, Conservatives Make Doody in Pants

Over the last 20 years, the recently retired pastor of Barack Obama's church, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, has gone a little overboard - from the perspective of many Americans - in a whole hoopla of comments about the generalized and endemic racism inherent in White (Devil) America, Judiasm being an awful religion, and the plight of the Black American. Did Right Reverend Wright say this crap all the time over the several decades he preached at the church? No one knows, but the Right Wing's got about 5 clips that haven't stopped playing on FOX or talk radio for the last 3 weeks.

To make my position clear: the language and ideas used in those excerpts (and I'm serious - turn on the AM dial and you'll hear a montage in 5 minutes or less) is understandably used in an effort to evoke reactionary solidarity amongst the black population of that church, but it is misdirected and divisive and right now it's working directly against what would be one of the beautiful outcomes: get folks fired up and get an African American in the White House.

Is Rev. Wright the same person as Barack Obama? No. Just like Televangelist Rod Parsley is not John McCain:

Senator John McCain hailed as a spiritual adviser an Ohio megachurch pastor who has called upon Christians to wage a "war" against the "false religion" of Islam with the aim of destroying it.

Who's pitching a fit about that one? No one. Why? Because, realistically, we all realize that McCain pretty much believes the same thing.

So today, Barack Obama gave an extensive speech, primarily about race and overcoming our differences, but also to address the limited examples of these words and ideas and to denounce them. And that's what he did.

But the right wingnut radio syndicate is planting steamers in their boxers left and right because OMG he didn't denounce the man; he didn't stand up before the American people and shout at the top of his lungs "You're dead to me!" Dozens of alleged Christians, in their own words, on their own radio programs, are saying he must hate the sin and the sinner, must denounce the words and the man.

In all actuality, Limbaugh and Wilkow and Hannity and the rest are actually shitting themselves because they see this not sticking. And you know what? They're right. The immediate result and interviews and call-ins I heard have this result: those people who would not vote for Barack Obama before are still not going to vote for him. Everyone else is lauding the speech as brilliant and calling out the attacks as ugly politics.

And they're shitting their pants a second time because they realize that if they can't push this hard enough to stick, if they can't get anyone to believe the bullshit line I heard today that "he's falling apart," then they've got a huge problem should he become the nominee: Nothing will stick. (see: He says he denounces it? He's lying! Hussein! Michelle's an Angry Black Woman!)

And this just-about-failed attempt at race-baiting is a clear indication of just how difficult running John "them gooks" McCain against Barack Obama will be: you can only get so positive on McCain, they have no problem practically calling Hillary a "cunt" at this stage of the game, but if they're up against Obama, they're dealing with race. All the time. Because no matter what, they're dealing with an established presumption that Republicans don't like brown people, and if the attack is about race, they'll catch hell, and if it's not about race, it's coming from that direction because they really wanted to attack his race but couldn't.

Time to give up, take a breath, and regroup. Racists.

Primary Pundits: Shut the Hell Up

It's almost 5pm here in Southern Ohio. The polls don't even close for two and a half hours here. But I've been listening to who and what and how and what if since 7am this morning. And it's only going to get worse.

Today's Ohio's Primary (along with Texas, Vermont, and Rhode Island).

In general, the right wing radio nuts are all over the place criticizing Obama and Hillary and McCain, with lots of "what's wrong" and not so much on the "here's what we need to do." I've heard their listeners admit to voting Hillary, Obama, Ron Paul, Thompson, and even Zell Miller. Heads in asses, all of them, and what will be the root cause of much poll reading confusion later in the evening.

Us crazy Liberals are split between Obama and Hillary. Advantages, disadvantages, meh. It's probably going to swell in one direction or the other, but which way it will go depends on thousands of undecideds across the state of Ohio making that decision while standing in the booth, based on some mix of psychology of what font the names are printed in matched with memories of their last impression of each candidate.

Point being, everyone has an opinion about how to read what's going to happen tonight. But there are too many variables. And while I secretly salivate at the potentials and permutations in reality that this evening may bring, it's all gibberish. I would get as much insight to the process and results as if I glued myself to the PS2 for the next 3 hours.

Anyway, it's about 5pm right now. Time to watch that ass clown Tim Russert. Cheers!

Playing Catch-up With Firefox, Hillary, Obama, ACLU Real Live Porn, and Movies

As I mentioned earlier this week, I downloaded a Firefox extension called "Read it Later" and it's a double-edged sword. On one hand, I'm able to keep track of interesting bits I'd like to blog about, but on the other hand, I quickly garner 20+ links I want to blog about. And you can't delete the bookmarks from the Read it Later interface, but have to go into Bookmarks to do it. S'okay, it's in Beta, and is more good than bad.

This post is about catching up.

Anti-Hillary Film and SCOTUS

I flagged this one at the first mention from the AP about the film Hillary: The Movie (those Repubs are so clever in their titling):

The early reviews are in, and three federal judges appeared in agreement Thursday that a movie lambasting Hillary Rodham Clinton seemed an awful lot like a 90-minute campaign advertisement.

This is problematic from the perspective of, ironically, a campaign finance law partially named after the man they're now left to elect: McCain-Feingold. The federal judges shut David Bossie down and he's now going to SCOTUS to appeal. The sticking point is still that campaign finance law, like a drunken juggalo blocking the keg:

But one provision of McCain-Feingold makes it illegal to use corporate or union money for "any broadcast, cable or satellite communication" if it "refers to a clearly identified candidate for federal office" within 30 days of a primary election or a convention or within 60 days of a general election.

If they feel like listening, this will be a huge ruling, and define legal pre-election free-for-all as financing a DVD slamming your opponent. Damned juggalos.

FDA Says Cloned Meat OK

FDA says it's okay? Honestly, I understand the science, but I'll be fucked if I think there's still not something hinky about pulling some DNA from a hot London Broil and making another cow.

Problem? You betcha. FDA said it's okay. Expect unlabeled samples in your Kroger/Giant Eagle/Piggly Wiggly soon.

Advice? Shop at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's. At least for your meat.

ACLU: Larry Craig is Right!

The ACLU stood up for failed human being Larry Craig, stating that a bathroom stall is a private place and there is an expectation of privacy in such a place, even if you're soaping the balls of a stranger through a glory hole.

ACLU: I love you, but no. This is just way the fuck off base. If Seabass accidentally meets me at 3am in the wrong stall and decides to violate me, is that, too, a private place?

"Find a happy place, find a happy place."

Killing an ... Obama?

After Senator Kennedy endorsed Barack Obama and insinuated that he was the next JFK, Harry Smith, on the CBS Early Show pushed the button five steps beyond what everyone was thinking: So, um, do you think Obama will be assassinated just like your brother? Okay, he put it more mildly:



Let Your Movies Define You

And if you didn't have enough social networking sites yet, check out Cinescopes. They'll take your Top Ten movies of all time and translate them into insights about yourself, match you to friends, and all those other good things they can do on this newfangled Internets 2.0.

Take your time, but you can always change it up later. I'm still sticking with my original 10, in alphabetical order, but will probably need some revisions in the future:

12 Monkeys
28 Days Later
Playing By Heart
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Pi
Mirrormask
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
Lost in Translation
Shaun of the Dead
True Romance

cough! nerd! cough!



And that's about it for the update. Now I can delete all those bookmarks. Cheers!

Notes on the Nevada Democratic Debate

The more the pool of NBC-sanctioned candidates shrinks, the more tragically boring the debates get. I'd write a mathematical equation, but let's just say that this one sucked the most so far.

Short summary: Kucinich was punked, Everybody loves each other, no one has a true weakness, Hillary uses ninja attack once, and Chris Matthews is still an asshat.

Let's itemize, shall we?

• Kucinich drama summary: NBC says "Hey, join us!" then says "Oops, hey forget about that thing we said." Dennis sues and appeals court says "Heck yeah you should be there" and minutes before the debate the Nevada Supreme Court says "No dice." NBC should be ashamed; the American people (and maybe the other candidates?) should at least act like they care.


• Everyone plays nice: the media-spewed race issue is no longer an issue. Yay! But toned-down issue foreshadowing of excitement level of rest of 2 hours. Boo.


• The people will elect whomever will effect change and says No to lobbyists and everyone on stage likes each other and "I agree" and "I respect" and - can we cut the damned oral sex daisy chain and maybe discuss why one of you is better than the other?


• Obama started the debate with his signature "Uhm"s but softened it towards Hillary's "ah" pronunciation by the end.


• Edwards was dang proud of flapping his arms to conjure up the word "fervently." It was tremendous.


• Edwards states that thousands of Americans come to Nevada every day to find the Promise of America. Gambling on a shot at unearned cash winnings is the American Dream? He later claims he meant people looking for work, moving to Nevada, but if population growth from 2000 to 2006 is any indication, daily average increase was a little over 200 people. So he was wrong, or he meant gambling. Or hookers.


• John Edwards constantly wears an obnoxiously large black K-Mart watch that, in its enormity, refuses to be hidden under his clothing. What the hell?


• Obama's greatest weakness is that he has a messy desk, Edwards cares too much, and Hillary pushes too hard. Were these answers given at a job interview, the interviewer would've replied "Okay, thanks. We'll let you know." Wait; this is a job interview.


• Hillary takes a double whack at Obama and Edwards on Yucca Mountain, attacking like a ninja; Obama is afraid to hit a girl; Edwards attacks, but amidst cries for relevance, appears to be tossing cream pies. Yes, I just called John Edwards a clown. And yes, he amuses me.


• Hillary is "against illegal guns." That's probably a good thing. For all things that are illegal.


• Post debate: Chris Matthews exploded onto the screen declaring Hillary the hands-down winner, amazed at her performance, talking like she's already the Democratic candidate, and "playing on the varsity team." The rest of the MSNBC team tried to calm him down, to no avail (at least poor Olbermann didn't have to be in the same room with him this round). Why is this disaster still on television?

I was bored. I was tired. And nothing happened. As soon as one candidate picked up on a topic, the others picked up and agreed. Iraq was equalized between them on nuance, everyone's for the economy, against the current administration and all the Republican candidates. So how to decide?

Personally, I think I'm still pushing for Dennis through the primary (Kate and I are voting on the same day - how fun!), but you've got three choices.

1. Stick to your original, gut reaction, even if they're not going to win the primary in your state.


2. Base your choice on experience, once you define for yourself what type of experience matters and how much of that experience each candidate has.


3. If you're looking for most presidential, while the misguided, obnoxious rantings of Matthews were unprofessional, he was not entirely off base: last night, Hillary looked and spoke like the leader, flanked by her seconds.


4. Base your choice on the woman, the African-American, or the rich white guy who was poor as a kid.

Cheers!

Limbaugh, Liberals, Race, and Ron Paul

Today on his show, that preternaturally epic bag of douche, Rush Limbaugh, was in a tizzy. He attempted to veil it, but his shouts that something happened, he didn't know what, but Democrats better find out what it was rang only of "The polls said Hillary wouldn't win! Kryptonite! Somebody whine with me!" And his manhood, it shrunk - two more sizes - that day.

Rush then went on to explain to his attentive sheep that the liberals are horribly disorganized and completely terrified that there might actually be a "woman" or "black" nominated for the presidency. Why would Rush say such a thing? According to the El-Rusho, Conservatives are the inclusive folks, and us Liberals are the real closet racists and sexists. And according to him, we're scared as hell that a woman or black might get the nomination. Incidentally, we also don't believe that elections are about issues, but about posturing and marketing. And we killed Baby Jesus (no, he didn't say that).

Mr. Limbaugh then vaulted into Hillary getting teary-eyed, how calculated it was, and the Oprahization of the country, a term he apparently coined along with every other pop culture reference.

But the segue here departs from the tirades of the over-medicated conservative medium to the issue of race and how it applies to Ron Paul, the net-roots juggernaut candidate of the Republican Party. As James Kirchick of The New Republic states, "If you are a critic of the Bush administration, chances are that, at some point over the past six months, Ron Paul has said something that appealed to you."

Well, he does want to end the illegal war against Iraq...

But before Ron Paul entered the world of politics, he published many, many newsletters, newsletters that "were published under a banner containing Paul's name, and the articles (except for one special edition of a newsletter that contained the byline of another writer) seem designed to create the impression that they were written by him."

Who wants excerpts?

• On the LA Riots: "Order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks three days after rioting began."


• "America's number one need is an unlimited white checking account for underclass blacks."


• 1992 Bulls Celebration: "blacks poured into the streets of Chicago in celebration. How to celebrate? How else? They broke the windows of stores to loot."


• On MLK Day: "What an infamy Ronald Reagan approved it!" one newsletter complained in 1990. "We can thank him for our annual Hate Whitey Day."


• "One newsletter ridiculed black activists who wanted to rename New York City after King, suggesting that 'Welfaria,' 'Zooville,' 'Rapetown,' 'Dirtburg,' and 'Lazyopolis' were better alternatives."

I think that's enough.

Please read the article for the rest of the foul story. And never again equate Ron Paul with the ideals of Dennis Kucinich or anyone else who actually has the welfare of all people in America in their heart.

Jesus Has Nads!

Yesterday I focused on a talented group of people making art out of balloons in the name of Christ. Today I show you why we can't have anything nice.



Yes, I just did that.

And even Hillary is talking about it.

Hillary Knew

I'm not against Hillary Clinton, but this video is well-produced, raises a good point and it's put together by Democrats. Warning: explicit language and violent (war) images.

Notes on the Democratic Debate

The CNN/YouTube Democratic Debate was, well, watchable. It spurred debate between myself and Mrs. Shambles, for sure. CNN's Headline News this morning has been pissing all over itself with joy of the wondrous success it was.

The following are notes I collected during the watching. For the most part, they're in chronological order. The first note is what made me realize I was going to have some serious feedback on the event:

• Obama: Did the only African-American candidate for president just come out in favor of "Separate but equal" for the treatment of homosexuals and marriage? I do believe he did. Irony hash mark so flaming it need not be commented upon. Shit. My first thought:
  [alt audio link]


• Edwards: Video: Hair? Not funny. While watching, drinking our Miller Lite, we'd like to forget how much you paid to have your ears lowered, and that song hearkens back to a time of revolution and innovation; you embody neither.


• Hillary: Video: Intermittently readable. Note to CNN and Hillary - not everyone has a 72" Plasma.


• Biden: I know you heard it from U.S. military officials in Europe, but do you really think 2500 U.S. troops could fix Darfur?


• Biden: 1 year most probable for actual pullout. NOW is nice, but that makes a lot of sense.


• Kucinich: "Text Peace" - You have a great message; stick to it. As Anderson said, "Yes, we'll see your video."


• Obama: Did troops in Viet Nam die in vein? Blub-u-blub-a-blubba


• Edwards: Should women register for Selective Service? Question dodged, Anderson skipped callout.


• Hillary: Women in Muslim countries. Of course leaders will listen; they already do. Good answer. Stupid question.


• Obama: General - get with the speech coach; the "ah"s are painful, like focusing on the breath intake of a news anchor, and you sound uncertain in everything you say.


• Richardson: Scrap NCLB! Yay!


• Dodd & Obama & Hillary: Elbow-whored their way into the public school question; we want to hear about public school kids (Yay Kucinich!), not why private school was necessary or unavoidable.


• Kucinich: Energy reformation - total revamping, good show.


• Richardson: Apparently supports "touchtone" voting. Those crazy newfangled kids and their touchtone voting. "Stop chewin' my shorts and let's go to the rave music fest," he quickly added.


• Biden: Video: Isn't the purpose of this format to not show traditional campaign videos? For shame.


• Kucinich: Video: Text PEACE. Okay. It happened a little quickly and maybe I should've had a do-over. I get the idea, it's innovative, but is that the best format for this? Um, universal health care?


• Dennis Kucinich is the only candidate for 2008 that supports universal not-for-profit health care for life, yet as the only candidate with a real, non-corporate, non-insurance stance, he was completely excluded from the health care discussion. More like Anderson Pooper. Sorry. That was poor.


• Gravel: At any point in the evening: Shut up! Okay, "follow the money," but the disheveled hair, the sometimes-spittle that fired past the mic, the man is like the infirm, drunk "you don't know me!" uncle at the family reunion. And we're all a little embarrassed.


• Biden: Gun control: Dude. I know we were all thinking that the guy who called his big-ass gun his "baby" was a little nutty, but you called him "mentally imbalanced" and then quipped "hope he doesn't come lookin' for me." There's a reason the phrase "gunnin' for 'em" exists. Faux pas, voter block alienation on insult, not principle.


• Richardson: Final comment: Any of these candidates would do great in the White House...as my VP. Snap!


• Edwards: Final comment: I liked Hillary's jacket. Dick.


• Biden: Final comment: "Dennis, the thing I like best about you is your wife." Did you actually just say that?


• Kucinich: Final comment: Used opportunity to lash at Anderson, missed opportunity at "right hand man/woman" quip.

That's about it, the stuff that stuck, anyway. I missed about 12 minutes in the middle because I hit the channel up instead of the volume up and killed the DVR cache from potty breaks, etc., but I think it went well.

Hillary's a strong candidate, and I didn't have much to say about her, but I was impressed overall. For as much speaking time as she got, it was all done professionally.

I had Obama on the back burner until last night; he's a little blubbery and the "separate but equal" really killed him in my mind.

Kucinich not enough, Gravel too much, and the rest: meh.

I support a drastic overhaul of the system. I support an uprooting of corruption. I support universal not-for-profit health care. I support Dennis Kucinich.

UPDATE: In slo-mo replay of the "Who came in a private jet" question I caught during the still-ongoing CNN circle jerk, we had some "Hell yeah"s, some "Um, I don't know, Sean Hannity might make fun of me"s, and a single, chuckling Kucinich in the foreground, his hand decidedly DOWN. Hell yeah.

Kucinich 2008

I'm getting more and more focused on the beauty of the Kucinich campaign, the real confrontations on the real issues, the "look at the root" as opposed to the dance-around and "let's treat the symptoms" talk, the anti-monarchy mentality that, well, Clinton and Edwards exhibit so wonderfully here (h/t to Blue Gal for this gem):



I've added a banner on my left (your left too) to nail home the point.

Put Kucinich on your list. He doesn't get off on this stop. We need him.

"I'm the kind of guy who believes I can win a rigged game."

You go, Dennis.