Sometimes one really has to wonder. Why are so many stories which reflect negatively on Obama available only through media located outside U.S. borders? At least The Nation fielded this one on Obama's NAFTA sleight of hand (or perhaps mouth):

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?bid=1&pid=293120

More good thoughts: Why couldn't we sell naming rights to the Declaration of Independence (I mean, Russia's swimming in rubles or whatever), come up with a catchy slogan for the Bill of Rights, redo the whole Constitution to give it a little more juice (I mean, no visuals - what's up with that?). Then we could ditch the messy primaries and generals and stuff and do an American Idol instead. (Wait, we're already doing that - duh.) I mean, like, this might help us look way cooler in the eyes of world. Let's see, we need a catchy slogan too, something like, "Land of the Freebie, Home of the Craven". (Okay, okay, so it needs a little work...)

If there is any justice whatsoever in this election, Hillary Clinton will have her rightful chance to make her case all the way to the Democratic convention.

I went to a Clinton rally tonight in south Austin, TX. It was the candidate's second appearance in Austin this evening, after a morning of campaigning in Ohio. I couldn't begin to imagine the exhaustion this must entail, but when Clinton appeared, she was filled with energy and enthusiasm. The very large audience she greeted was composed of 'ordinary' people and Clinton was accompanied into the large venue by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston, a terrific plus and rather telling.

Hillary Clinton, to put it simply, was a knock out. I simply cannot imagine a more dedicated, savvy, and genuine Democratic candidate. I started this primary season feeling rather skeptical of the senator, then gradually warmed up until I decided she was the best of the field. After seeing her in person tonight, I have absolutely no reservations about this woman's ability, her desire to serve as the best president possible for all Americans. It's clear that the media have done her a tremendous injustice, meanwhile all but worshiping her opponent and simultaneously obscuring his short and rather questionable political history. In short, ever since South Carolina, this campaign has felt little short of stacked and rigged.

When I read the sniping, oh so sophisticated, often downright nasty attacks on Clinton here on salon.com, it makes me heartsick. How to explain such narrowness, even ignorance among the, uh, 'educated' classes? Not to mention the self importance.

Tell you what. The real world contains people without degrees of any kind who are decent and wondering where their next meal will come from. It contains people who are alone and sick and in despair. It contains people who've undergone one too many rounds of bad luck - you can see them shuffling through any Wal-Mart. It contains cynics who prey on the unwitting, elderly without means for basic dignity, children without real parenting, whole cities whose cores are crumbling beneath them, military vets living under bridges.

If you think Barack Obama really, truly cares about these people, go ahead, vote for him. But something in my gut tells me that, beneath all the gussied up sentences and preacher cadences, Obama simply wants to seize the golden ring and glue it to his resume. Sure, Hillary Clinton is a politician fond of winning, but something in my gut tells me she actually cares if others win, too.

I really don't understand what you're trying to say here; perhaps if I did, I might have a little more insight into the Obama message I'm simply not getting.

In part, what you seem to be saying is that people 'without an education' gave us Bush. My impression is that it was largely monied interests allied with disaffected southern Democrats who gave us both Reagan and Bush. By 'disaffected', I mean primarily blue collar workers whose motivation, I am convinced, was the desire, however misguided, to move a notch up the status ladder by aligning themselves with the Republican party; in other words, this move made them emphatically 'not black' - pretty much a class-based, 'shoot yourself in the foot' strategy which played right into the hands of those who didn't really need more power.

So what am I missing here, and how does Obama fit into this?

Since there's no other thread on which to post this at the moment, I'm posting it here. It seems the Obama camp DID give a wink to the Canadians re the candidate's campaign rhetoric on NAFTA. Unfortunately, this is another instance in which truthiness seems to have surfaced:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/us/politics/04nafta.html?ref=politics

You say: "They're that afraid of a black president? Good riddance to them."

I say: Exhibit A. Or: "why I'm so completely and totally turned off by Obama's campaign."

And now back to throwing beer cans out the window of our trailer, as my toothless husband stares vacantly at his comic books and the dang grandkids chase coon dogs through the busted screen door.

Okay, I'll just drop all pretense of sophistication here and admit I have tears in my eyes at the news that Hillary Clinton has won Ohio and is doing really well in Texas. I am so flipping proud of this woman for her strength and perseverance and determination, I could, I could, I could just, well, cry. I'm Hillary's age exactly and what I'm seeing is a kind of history I could never have imagined growing up in Illinois, not a hundred miles from the Clinton household. Senator Clinton was born at a time when classified ads for employment were segregated by gender and no one I knew thought anything of it. So godspeed to you, Senator Clinton, and just keep going!