Wednesday's farcical proceedings in Philadelphia have prompted me to send this entreaty to all the Democratic voters in Pittsburgh, my hometown.

I'm the son of a sheet-metal worker and a remarkable woman who raised seven kids in a tiny two-story, three-bedroom home in Carrick. My dad died last year at 82; we honored my mom with a surprise party on her 80th birthday just last month.

Although work and wanderlust have taken me to California, I love my birthplace, its history, and, most important, its people. Specifically, I love Pittsburghers' reputation for neighborliness and plain speaking (albeit with the filigree of that distinctive accent).

It is our innate desire to dispense with humbug that I appeal to here. With this reputation in mind, I feel certain that you are as appalled as I am about the wasted opportunity that was Wednesday's "debate."

Those of us living outside my home state have some recourse; me, I'm sitting here in my Pirates jersey writing to you. However, unlike those of us in California who have already voted, you have a more direct course of action. You can send a strong message at the ballot box next Tuesday.

By voting for Obama you will accomplish two important goals. One, you will be voting for the next President of the United States. Two, you will be emphatically stating to ABC News, the rest of the media, and cynics in both parties that you reject having your intelligence insulted and more important concerns about gas prices, Social Security, the Iraq war, and education tossed aside in the superficial pursuit of pins and preachers.

Make me proud. Make yourselves proud.

In a front-page story in today's L.A. Times, staff writer Faye Fiore captures the frustration--and barely concealed racism--of some of Hillary Clinton's female supporters in West Virginia.

Writing of the dismay many women are feeling over Clinton's doomed campaign, here's Fiore describing one Clinton backer:

Now, though, their faith is fraying.

"She could turn it around--I hope," Mary Beth Jester, 41, of Morgantown, equivocated, walking across the parking lot of an IHOP with her two big sisters--three coal miner's daughers, all for Clinton.

Jester unwrapped the cellophane from a pink pack of Misty cigarettes and lighted up. "Frankly, I think she's got more--let's just say chutzpah--than Obama," Jester said, uttering the line she likes to give when people respond to her button: 'I'm for Hillary/Ask Me Why!'"

(snip)

Many were reluctant to consider the prospect that the nomination fight was ending. But when pressed, they said they didn't believe they could vote for anybody else, despite the calls for party unity. And to many, a so-called dream ticket with Clinton in the vice presdiential spot is no comfort.

"I'm going to write in Hillary on the ballot," Jester said outside the IHOP, crushing her half-smoked cigarette. "I want to see a woman in there before I see a..." She stopped, and her sister finished the sentence with: "a man of color."

(end of excerpt)

Geez, if Jester's sister hadn't interjected, it makes you wonder what word Mary Beth was about to use.

I've linked the full story here:

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-women13-2008may13,0,1137121.story

In a front-page story in today's L.A. Times, staff writer Faye Fiore captures the frustration--and barely concealed racism--of some of Hillary Clinton's female supporters in West Virginia.

Writing of the dismay many women are feeling over Clinton's doomed campaign, Fiore describes one Clinton backer this way:

Now, though, their faith is fraying.

"She could turn it around--I hope," Mary Beth Jester, 41, of Morgantown, equivocated, walking across the parking lot of an IHOP with her two big sisters--three coal miner's daughers, all for Clinton.

Jester unwrapped the cellophane from a pink pack of Misty cigarettes and lighted up. "Frankly, I think she's got more--let's just say chutzpah--than Obama," Jester said, uttering the line she likes to give when people respond to her button: 'I'm for Hillary/Ask Me Why!'"

(snip)

Many were reluctant to consider the prospect that the nomination fight was ending. But when pressed, they said they didn't believe they could vote for anybody else, despite the calls for party unity. And to many, a so-called dream ticket with Clinton in the vice presdiential spot is no comfort.

"I'm going to write in Hillary on the ballot," Jester said outside the IHOP, crushing her half-smoked cigarette. "I want to see a woman in there before I see a..." She stopped, and her sister finished the sentence with: "a man of color."

(end of excerpt)

Geez, if Jester's sister hadn't interjected, it makes you wonder what word Mary Beth was about to use.

I've linked the full story here:

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-women13-2008may13,0,1137121.story

I think the site you want for your loony rants is freerepublic.org.

Have fun.