I just wanted to watch the hockey game tonight without interruption.  Commercials are okay, I can deal with them.   Once in a while an advertisement will help me make decision on the best choice when shopping or what car insurance company to choose next time.  All of that is fine and dandy, no problem.  Unfortunately my television viewing experience keeps being interrupted by impotent men that require prescription drugs to achieve a hard-on.  

It helps when I go to bed if there is a cat snuggling up next to me but if there isn't, thats fine.   That's not a requirement but its normal that I leave a single bright incandescent glowing in the corner and the television running.   The volume is not high enough to keep my attention but just raised enough to let me know that its still there.   Just enough volume that when I wake up in the morning I can hear the flapping of the pundits lips from the background noise.

I'm imagining the conversation in the Hillary "war room" right now..

"okay, so the only argument we have left is the popular vote? "

" Yep. Yep.  But that will be enough to win us the nomination.  Trust me."

" What about the pledged delegate count?  Don't you think the media bring that up?"

" Not to worry.  We need to make this about the popular vote.. our allies in the media will frame this debate around the popular vote and our base will forget about the delegate count if they ever knew it existed in the first place."

" Great point, but"

" But what ?

" Well... the superdelegates are not ordinary joe-six-pack voters and need to be convinced that popular vote means something... otherwise we lose the nomination."

" The superdelegates......

I'm guessing there aren't too many fans of Curling around these parts but it was on my mind.   I love watching a good curling match and a few weeks ago something occurred to me.   It doesn't matter if I'm watching men or women compete.  It's one of those sports where women are not disadvantaged position because of physical traits.  

Yet men and women in curling compete in their own divisions.   IMHO, this seperation of the sexes in curling should be done away with.   It's as ridiculous as black & white skinned curlers forming their own leagues.  Of course there are only 5 or 6 black people up in here in Canada so that argument doesn't hold up. heh.

I've read that chess is considered a sport in India.. I wonder if women and men play in seperate chess leagues.   Which would be total horseshit but it wouldn't surprise me..

Is anybody else here addicted to the Antiques Roadshow on PBS?  Great show, period.   On the other hand CSI: Miami just scares me.   What's with the blank and obsessive stare on the actors of the show?  And David Caruso, does he think he's some sort of new-age romantic with that goofy voice.. what's his deal?  Gimme a break.   Off-topic, word to Leelee Sobieski.. I'm totally impressed by that pair of... eyebrows.. of yours.

Is everybody else seeing what I'm seeing at the top of DK right now?  LAUGH...  A delegate counter?  What good does that do?   The math is impossible because it doesn't factor in the size of the state or whether or not Barack lost.   The latter is important because if this contest were held under the same rules the republican use than Hillary would be ahead by 78 thousand delegates at this point.   Some of you may not agree but you probably think Wright is an american.

Hi Hillary, did I get your attention?   I feel like you're making a big mistake participating in the Indiana & North Carolina primaries and it will be your undoing in the general election.     Should I explain why?  Okay, follow me below.

Just caught this bit of news on cnnmoney.com

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to extend tax credits for wind-power and solar-energy projects, but the measure is unlikely to become law in its current form due to concern it would add to the nation's deficit.

I understand, thats washington.. a place where good ideas go to die.. carry on.

Good morning to you!  Maybe not so good if you're stuck in Iraq on your fifth tour? (never saw that coming did you?)  Today, in Washington, the usual suspects will hootin' and hollerin' about the middle-east.  All of them claiming to be advocates of your cause, make of that what you will.   I personally don't believe that the Petreus testimony will change much.   It didn't last time around so why would this be any different?   I'm trying to cut through the noise and all I see are elected grey hairs desperately anxious for these media events to impress their constituents with lots of grandstanding.  

As everybody already knows Obama has failed the commander-in-chief test.   On the other hand John McCain & Hillary Clinton have passed that test with flying colors.   Voters agree.

Also, Obama cannot pass the steward-of-the-economy test, nor the Keystone Test.  But Mr. Obama ignores all of the these important tests and continues on with his doomed candidacy.

More news is coming out today that Mr. Obama has failed another key test that all candidates must pass .

Let's deal with a few things that I honestly believe both Obama and Hillary supporters can agree on.    Lets start out with a few points on how this race started last year..

Hillary Clinton

- 100% name recognition (in the u.s. and the world.)
-  Head of the "feared" clinton political machine, 
- loyal friends and institutional support covering the entire country
- campaign money that was off the charts
- a husband who just happens to be a popular former president.
- the "heir of inevitability" .. people naturally assumed she would be the nominee

i don't know anybody that can be honest with themselves and disagree that any of those points not being true at the time this race started.    I believe this context of the race is too easily forgotten.    Hillary had a LOT going in her favor.    I dont have the polling numbers but I would guess most people assumed she would win the nomination back in October of 2007.  

[disclosure: I've not been or am I now on the bandwagon for impeaching george bush.  That isn't to say I'm not anxious to see him go but agree with the Pelosi political strategy to keep him on board all through the 2008 election cycle.]

I stumbled across something interesting tonight that I thought worth throwing out there, a little bit of red meat for those in the impeachment camp.

Flipping through the channels tonight I happened across Bill O'reilly interviewing a Hillary supporter named Jehmu Green (here is her blog.)  The gist of the conversation centered on the usual O'Reilly nonsense about the extreme & dangerous culture of Dailykos.    This site exists to nurture america's marxists, communists and america hating leftists, yada yada yada... and Jehmu sits there nodding her head at BillO's fair & balanced assessment of Dailykos.    

When its her turn to speak she launches into a strangely personal diatribe of hurt feelings and childhood innocence lost in the tubes of the internets.  I lost focus and have no idea what she was yammering about and I really don't care.   But it did strike me as a little bit odd that a blogger supporting Hillary would use O'Reilly's show to vent their frustration.    

"Enough with the speeches and the big rallies" - Hillary Clinton, 2008.

I'd like to share a few thoughts tonight that I have concerning the convention battle that will take place this August.   Also, in the interest of transparency I should disclose my personal support for Mr. Barack Obama.   I'm an independent voter but normally I pick the democratic candidate and in this election it will definitely be Obama (even if circumstances force me to write his name in.)   But the one thing you'll never catch me doing is penciling in that "straight party ticket" circle, absolutely never.  What sort of cowardly and ignorant option is that to have on a voting ballot?  (If I were dictator the first order of business would be to reword the "straight party" option to say, "What the fuck am I doing here?")  

So, you're known as Mr. Transparency around these parts of the internet.     Mr. Obama you say that you want to shine light on government activity.    That's fine and dandy, your website even has a few details about these plans.   I listened to the full interview you granted to the Chicago Tribune yesterday, you want an "i-pod government".. the user-friendly kind...  There are even more plans on your website describing "transparent and connected democracy"  Big words there, big ideas.. very catchy but your promises do NOT go far enough!  You know this to be true but hold yourself back on truly embracing open government.

Follow the will of the people?   I've heard that phrase used countless times but I'm not really sure what that means.    Which people are we talking about?    

- The voters of the district they represent, maybe.
  - Maybe they should follow the people of the state (to whichever candidate won)

- Maybe they should follow the will of voters of the nation.. but does this mean choosing the candidate that won the popular vote or the delegate count?

And there are some other problems,

I haven't watched television at all tonight so I've been relying on the blogs for my news.     The mood seems to be down and out right now but I'm fine with the results.   Obama won Texas & Vermont, Hillary snuck away with Ohio & Rhode Island.. a nice split.     Not sure who will win the delegate prize tonight but either way it won't be big for either candidate.