Obama supporters have long suffered the patronizing slings and arrows of HRC supporters, who brand us idealistic, unrealistic and blind to the realities of both our candidate and to the world at large. But it seems now--on this thread and in the larger public sphere--that it is the Clinton supporters who tilt at windmills and resist all fact, logic or history where the candidates are concerned. HRC's electability is discredited, her campaign turned nasty, her lobbyist donors run dry. The rats are away, leaving only fools and true believers (is there any difference?) to greet the rising waters. And for whom? A cunning corporate lawyer who would and has sold her soul for power.

Good luck with that, kids.

Great meta-analysis of Will Ferrell's career. But how was "Semi Pro"? You never say.

I agree that the Clinton campaign probably chose the "Hanging Rock" context for a reason, but I suspect it was not a comment on the precarious state of her candidacy. Rather, they were probably attempting to prime the association with our national situation--we are hanging on the edge in terms of physical and economic security. The overuse of the word "Safe" is probably a Mark Penn tested way to enhance the subtext.

Yes, this really is the way marketers think and operate...

Where can we get it?

This ongoing disparaging of Obama supporters as religious zealots is cynical, patronizing and smacks of desperation. From the start, his strongest support has skewed higher educated and better informed--not exactly the target audience for a tent revival. You'll excuse us if we cheer a bit loudly, but after being fed twenty five years of tepid, triangulating losers by the party establishment, it is nice to see a candidate with substance and charisma and who knows better than to listen to the likes of Penn, Shrum and the DLC.

Having taught college courses to undergrads and grad students, and having had the unfortunate responsibility to bust people for plagiarism, I will go on record as saying that this does NOT constitute plagiarism. If he was handing in a term paper in school, yes, but borrowing a snippet of rhetoric from his friend’s speech on the campaign trail with his permission, no.

That having been said, I think this is a useful media event for two reasons:

A. It shows how desperate the HRC campaign is getting, trying anything in their power to lower the margins of victory in the next primaries and slow Obama’s ascendency in Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

B. It is good practice for Obama. The Republicans will be playing this very game and worse come November. Get ready to hear a whispering campaign about Obama being a secret Muslim and get ready to hear his middle name mentioned 700 times by the likes of Rush, Robertson and their ilk.

Every time I see Father Time on the TV he's busting out these terrible jokes like he was running for a headlining spot on the Borscht Belt rather than President. "What's the difference between a catfish and a lawyer?" Are you frickin' kidding me? As soon as HRC is out of the picture (and it is only a matter of weeks at this point), Obama is going to mop the floor with this guy. Big time.

Yes, I think we may, for ugly reasons, prefer the fall of women to the fall of men, though I think Paris Hilton does not fit neatly into that dynamic. In her case she is rich and talentless first and a woman second. The audience wants to see someone who has been so insulated and so elevated brought down to a base level of humanity. This is the very formula her TV show is predicated on. The gender issue is incidental (or at least ancillary) to that; look at the attention her brother recently got for a similar DUI. I didn't even know she HAD a brother before that story.

But mostly I'm just glad you used the word "schadenfreude".

1. More recommendations please.

2. "Oozing skull" sounds cool but isn't on Netflix. That makes things difficult. I want to rent not buy!

3. Why was "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Traitor Robert Ford" the screenshot but not in the segment.

4. In an earlier article, SZ mentioned that she is from from upstate NY. Where?

I hope they haven't given his desk away at Salon.

Sydney, we'll have you back--no hard feelings, ok? Maybe a little snark for the first week or two though.

Yeah right, do you just paste the talking points from her campaign website? This women and children meme is despicable. As a WalMart Board member Hillary Clinton helped children to work in oversees sweatshops and helped women to labor beneath America’s largest and lowest glass ceiling. There is a great article by union leader Jonathan Tasini on this topic here:

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0207-34.htm

While Obama is certainly more centrist than Edwards (at least as Edwards framed himself in in this primary), how could the Edwards camp even be considering a Clinton endorsement? Obama is CLEARLY closer to Edwards' positions on the war and, most importantly, on the financing of his campaign. Since Edwards based his campaign largely on the fact that he wasn't imdebted to lobbyists, how could he endorse the candidate who takes lobbyist money (Clinton) over the one who doesn't (Obama)?

If you are looking for other theatrically released documentaries about the 1960’s and activism in recent years, there have been a number of really good ones. For instance:

The U.S. vs. John Lennon, The Weather Underground, Berkeley in the Sixties, The Fog of War, The Camden 28. All are well worth checking out.

Best. Movie. Poster. Ever.

He didn't come right out and say it, but it is clear that the Mayor of Lake Wobegon endorses Barack Obama. And California notwithstanding, it appears that the nation as a whole tends to agree with him.