Dear Joan,

Racism is worse than sexism because it is inherently immoral. There is no moral basis for descrimination based on race. I think most people of good conscience would agree. Sexism, as I see it, is largely cultural and is the product of one's life experiences. Most men will not stand by and watch a woman struggle to lift 100 pounds off the floor in Costco. I suppose that is sexism in a benign way, but where does one draw the line? Most men will let a woman order first at a restaurant, etc. etc. It's called being polite and respectful. Although this is hardly controversial, it sends powerful messages between people and defines cultural values.

Enter Hillary vs Obama in 2008 and I think the moral and cultural value system has generally held up well despite some snide remarks primarily on the part of the punditocracy. If you noticed, the moment that Bill Clinton crossed the line and used the race card, everybody jumped on his case and he went into hiding. On the other hand, comments about Hillary's pant-suits or make-up have been more or less tolerated. Comments about her strident personality, the bitch-factor and have been less tolerated but they have not costed anyone their job yet.

Having been unable to close the deal in PA and IN looking like a toss-up, HRC may have Obama "on the ropes". Now Howard Dean is saying to the superdelegates that you should vote for the most electable candidate (that is why you are a superdelegate). Plus HRC is favored or at least tied in KY, PR, WV and and just about everywhere place left on the list. Obama is ahead in NC but that is about it for him. MI and FL will resurface again in a few weeks to give HRC the popular vote.

Don't believe for a second that this is all over and that HRC doesn't know when to quit. She isn't quitting because she intends to and expects to win.

Jeremiah Wright says tonight in a major speech (in Detroit NCAAP) that black kids learn differently than white kids and that the educational system is rigged against them because it is "left-brained" oriented and black kids are all "right-brained" driven. That is why they are unruly in the classroom and they aren't destined to be particularly good students ... in the European-American sense.

How in the hell is Obama going to explain all this in the morning?

What did you expect Williams to say: "these guys are in the tank for the Iraq war, the military establishment and their opinions have been purchased by this network"?

Stop wasting our time with silliness.

Sneaky John Edwards is back without saying a single word leading up to the NC primary. He has a lousy 27 pledged delegates under his control but they could become "huge" if the race comes down to Obama with 2,000 delegates and needs 25 to win.

Think about it.

Why hasn't Edwards come out for either candidate?

Although she is the "smartest woman in the world", she must have slept thru Econ 101.

The rarely discussed reason for the higher gas prices is the fact that the US dollar has plummeted against major currencies, such as the Euro. The price of oil on world markets is priced in US dollars (from the well to the gas pump)and with the big-time decline of the dollar against the Euro and others, it now requires fewer and fewer Euros for Europeans to import the same amount of oil as before (everything else being equal). Therefore, Europeans can import MORE oil than before because it seems to be cheaper than before. In the aggregate, total world-wide demand goes up and the price to the US goes up accordingly.

The mind-blowing scenario is what would happen if the price of oil is suddenly denominated in Euros instead of dollars? On top of all the other supply and demand issues that theUS faces, US consumers would have to worry about the exchange rate between the US dollar and the Euro. The implications for NATO and the long-term relationship with Europeans would come apart at the seams as Americans "assume" the Europeans are "screwing" the US. All of the sudden, the shoe is on the other foot. Don't think for a second that some OPEC minister hasn't thought this out in a lot more detail than this.

Hillary is running around saying she is going to "get tough" with OPEC and the oil companies like she's "freakin' Teddy Roosevelt". She needs to first understand the basic economics before she promises things she can't deliver. Maybe, she ain't the smartest woman in the world after all.

Hillary will drop out as candidate as soon as Obama writes her a check for $11 million to make her "whole". Hillary will also want veto power over the VP slot so no woman can leap-frog over her in the national spotlight. In exchange she will start making "nice" and get behind Obama.

If you actually read the "1% Doctrine" book by Suskind, you would realize that all future presidents whether they be Dems or Repugs will have to deal with the reality of post 9/11. So your flip comment about parallel universes suggests a lack of sophistication on these matters.

I guarantee that if Obama is elected, his policies will be unrecognizable from the image that he has created thus far. Now that is a real "parallel universe".

Gore did not even carry his own state, so I am glad he lost. Only moronic candidates for president don't carry their own state.

The hand-wringing over Appalachia and race is nothing compared to the fall election and the painting of Michelle Obama as "scary black". There is just enough innuendo floating about where, unfortunately, many single issue and low-information voters will conclude that this woman is too angry to be First Lady.