First off, it's "chihuahuas." I cannot answer for my spelling pre-caffeine.

Now, there's that litany, "Hillary voted for the WAR, Hillary voted for the WAR."

And, all by herself, she convinced George Bush to send troops in and turn Afghanistan and Iraq into parking lots. All by herself, she convinced them (and presumably the inept Hans Blix) that yes, Virginia, there ARE WMDs.

All by herself.

Please set it in context. I was IN New York City on 9/11 and evacuated from my midtown office. I will not forget that, ever. I cannot, anymore than I can forget the pictures flapping from every wall: has anyone seen THIS person, that person, people we would never see again.

The City went mad. The State went mad. The country was...not in good shape. As junior senator from the State of New York and a member of the Armed Services Committee, Hillary could have shot herself into the foot (in the most nonviolent way possible) by joining Jeannette Rankin in opposing war, or she could have followed the wishes of her constituency, including -- sorry to say it -- me.

Until I realized that we'd all been lied to.

The litany's a good one, but when you put it into context, it loses some of its righteousness..

(Fanboyz may recall the Minbari after the death of Dukat. JMS was oddly, tragically prescient.)

Pomeranians? I think you're right. With a few chichuahuas thrown in. It's a big tent.

Sounds like you're facing a crisis of vote: which devil's bargain do you make? Do you vote for McCain, knowing he's anti-choice and likely to replicate the last 8 years? Do you vote for McKinney or the Green Party? It's principled, but in a close election, it could throw it to McCain (okay, I'm a pragmatist). Or do you vote for Obama, despite the 'bots, who are fond of rewriting the past, befouling the past (and I recall that you originally supported Edwards), or simply getting votes confused with conversion?

I will probably vote for Obama for several reasons. 1. Another term like the past two is more than I want to tolerate. 2. If he -is- a genuine progressive, we need him. 3. I can differentiate between voting and conversion, and I suspect he's smart enough to, as well.

There is also something else: the nature of power. Our children's crusade in the early 1970s got derailed and used, and now, every time someone wants a good negative example, they go back to a time I lived through, but don't remember given their highly distorted view. I suspect that Obama and his inner circle are sophisticated enough and entitled enough (it's a perk of Harvard Law) to use this ground-roots support, then do whatever it has a mind to.

I don't think Bush gave the dittoheads a whole lot of warm fuzzies, and I don't think the 'bots will get theirs either. I realize that this sort of class analysis is discouraging and more than a little dirty, but it's what I have to go on.

Note that I draw a distinction. If you don't draw a distinction, you've either got a tin ear or a tin ideology.

People, he's GOT the nomination. He's GOT Hillary's concession speech.

But if you persist in trying to make the voters thus freed to vote for your guy drink the Kool-Aid, there's going to be trouble.

There's a difference between a well-reasoned argument and "but she...and she...and you know she REALLY isn't..."

When offered the choice between grape or lime, I tend to choose neither.

IF you're serious about your candidate, you'll stop yelping and start trying to persuade. You know which you are.

And if you don't, find out before you cost your guy the election.

That is not a threat. That is an observation. I am going to vote for him. I only hope he has the sense to discard the noisier of the ideological Yorkshire terriers who've shown up on the net.

Have you got any proof for your declarative statements, or are you just indulging in a rant?

Monologues are -boring-.

Next time, do please provide an executive summary. I wanted to read it in order to provide a substantive response, but MEGO (translation provided upon request).

Now that we've had a bunch of guys (I hesitate to call them mature men) weigh in on how stupidly women talk, including one rather diabolical imitiation of a man's own mother, forcryingoutloud, where is Linney Uston with a sullen Pronouncement?

Hypocrisy, much?

No problem. I didn't mean to snarl past bearing either.

I didn't -shop- in Italy. The exchange rate purely sucks.

I am not rich. I work my ass off for everything I get.

I grew up going round to truck stops with my father, who was a personal injury lawyer. If I'd showed attitude, I wouldn't have gotten to go anymore. That's stuck with me.

And after 9/11, security guards, firemen and police are some of my favorite people.

Don't let your rich and famous friends try to treat you like a confection. If they do, I swear, I'll bite them myself. You deserve better.

I'm not an altruist, I'm a pragmatist, and I hate waste. Seeing people's abilities being wasted annoys me, male or female. I earned a lot of privileges: that means I owe, big time.

And we are so far from the subject...

Well, maybe not. It's like prices: we are discussing how much we are allowed to have; how much those others are allowed to have; and what it consists of.