I really think Obama is holding his cards here. He knows the more conservatives blather about the lapel pin stuff the worse they look. Obama is biding his time, duking it out with Clinton over the last few states. When he gets the nomination sewed up, as I think he will, he will play it cool for a while, then unload on McCain.

Yeah, Obama is that smart. He is a great orator, a master of proper timing. I bet he has this whole thing timed. You watch. When America is sick of the lapel pin, he is going to come out and say that the Nazis forced citizens to wear the swastika, or something along those lines. Forced patriotism is not patriotism, it is coercion, he will say. He'll be right, and he'll win that argument. I also think he has a Reaganeque "there you go again" moment coming with this issue, where he scolds McCain for implying that being against the war is being a traitor. That's also going to work. Wait and see. It will go something like this:

"There it is, the same old Republican trick. Whenever you are on the ropes, whenever you are about to be whipped in an argument, out it comes. Accusing the other side of being traitors. We are tired of that argument. Maybe you had us after 9/11, but we are in a new century now."

Not that there's anything wrong with that. I like Obama, too. But this article gave the implication in the beginning that there would be a sifting of the facts, then logical conclusions drawn. In fact, I knew from paragraph one that Obama would be the man. It should have been recast as an opinion piece, with the writer stating up front that Obama should be the Brand USA candidate.

Instead, the article pretended there would be a comparison, and almost pulled off this contrivance with the chart. But in the end, the conclusion seemed inevitable, not a real deliberation and conclusion.

Again, the idea isn't bad, the conclusion isn't wrong. I just think the author should have owned up to his prejudices from the beginning.

Everyone occasionally thinks the things Shields has. We all have base jealousy within us, and envy people, even people very close to us, for the things they have.

But we don't write them down.

In the old days, people knew there were things you just didn't say. Because there was no need to say them. Just because you think a thought doesn't mean it belongs on a billboard.

The old guys knew that. The young guys traffic in this "if I feel it I should say it" garbage, and it has the feel of voyeurism rather than art. Voyeurism and pornography are kissing cousins, which explains Shields' willingness to compare his manhood to his father's. I don't need to hear things like this.

I miss the old guys.

What if each NBA team played 58 minutes of, say, 10 games each season, leaving the last 2 minutes to be played later. Then, the last week of the season, the teams could play out the last 2 minutes of the unfinished games all in one day. Ten final scores in 20 minutes. Now that would make for exciting television!

Playoff seedings and births would all be decided in a matter of minutes. Standings would have to be updated every two minutes. It would turn a lot of meaningless November games into events worth seeing. Of course there would be scheduling issues, like getting 10 teams together to play each other. Or, division opponents could delay playing the final 2 minutes of the entire series, then decide all the season series games in a row, on one day.

I don't understand the fear in almost all quarters of a battle to the very end. Why would this hurt the Democrats? The winner of this fight will have been forced to take his or her message to all 50 states, and even Puerto Rico. The winner will have grass roots organization in every Congressional district, and will have spent millions and millions introducing himself or herself to the electorate. This is a good thing.

There has, within the Democratic party, been a fear of conflict that makes no sense. Americans are not stupid. They know people have legitimate differences of opinion and that standing up for what you believe in is more important than just getting along.

What's to be afraid of if the fight goes on until July? That the world will find out that Democrats actually have passions, and real opinions, that they are willing to go to the mat for? That the public is too dumb to believe someone could support Clinton until the very last moment, then switch to Obama in the general election, and still mean it? I will switch if I need to, and can do it wholeheartedly. Neither candidate is a bad choice, and both could enjoy my full support, come general election day. I just think one is slightly better than the other.

Let's re-vote in Florida and Michigan! This is great fun. I'll agree with Michelle Obama: I've never been happier to be an American. For once, Americans really care about an election, and it's in the nick of time. Maybe in time to end the war, save the environment, and save our children from crushing national debt.

And Joan, welcome to New Orleans. You want to go to Mandina's, a hole-in-the-wall restaurant on Canal Street. Best gumbo in town, besides my own. (And no, I have no financial relationship with Mandina's.)