Steve you are focusing on the symptom instead of the disease.

The flag pin, the minister, the weather underground guy, the insensitive remarks about angry small towners clinging to guns and religion and "average white persons" are all symptoms of a terminal political disease called "cluelessness". Barack doesn't want to turn on funny old uncle Rev. Wright, I understand that, Baracks grandma said some racially insensitive things that hurt his feelings as young boy, I understand that, A guy who is on a board with him says some anti-American things that seem comfortable with some feelings Barack has about injustice in America and later he offers to have a little fund raiser at his home to help Baracks blossoming political career, understandable, the hand over the heart while singing the National Anthem not mandatory and the refusal to wear the flag pin perfectly understandable, it's a free Country. But this unformed callow youth as President Of The United States Of America? maybe in 15 years after he grows up. Right now he is the hero of the teeny boppers and their gullible parents but there is no way the adults in this country will elect him President.

Rev. Wright has become part of Barrack Obama's political DNA. For 20 years Rev. Wright was woven into Obama's life and character formation. The Reverend inspired Baracks second book "The Audacity Of Hope" and he helped form the way Barrack processes information to make his judgements. His wife Michelle was also part of Wright's influence, evidence of which was manifest in her statement that she first experienced pride in America when her husband started his campaign for President. Barrack and Michelle have grown a whole lot in the last 7 days but voters in Indianna and North Carolina do not have time to wait for their Candidate to mature, the Country can not waste precious time in "on the job training" such as we had the last 8 years. The Democratic Party on the other hand is facinated with public agony, especially the question of disappointing the young voters.The young people will get over it, it's part of growing up just as it is for Barrack and Michelle.

Men love making Boxing analogies out of Political contests. I am fond of them and would liken this contest between Barrack and Hillary to the real knock down bruising fights between Rocky Graziano and Tony Zale for the Middleweight title, they were called Pier Six Brawls because they resembled the fights on the docks between longshoremen. Both cadidates are punching hard and someone is going to get knocked out. Hillary is the toughest and looks to be the eventual winner, begininng in North Carolina and Indianna.

Don't forget that women made up a significant part of combat troops for the Russian Army during WW2. Hillary has all the "testicular fortitude" of a fighter, a woman combat soldier in the Russian Army OR an American Politician.

Democrats are an undisciplined chaotic group not given to rational decision making. It is no suprise then that we are in our quadrennial food fight and no doubt will nominate this years version of Eugene McCarthy Michael Dukakis and George McGovern. Of course the result will follow the pattern and we will end up with 4 more years of Republican rule in the White House. Having lived through those disasters and their aftermath I now view events today in Democratic politics like a vetran soldier who see's enthusiastic new recruits coming up to the battle zone, there are lessons to be learned and hopefully they don't die in the process. As indivduals mature they make mistakes and learn from them but the Democratic party is different in that it depends on young people to provide the energy for it's continued existence and with that enthusiastic energy comes a steep learning curve. Hillary is the embodiment of Lyndon Johnson's idea that Politics is "the art of the possible". Too bad Democrats are not mature enough to recognize that truth, and nominate her.

All you ever need to know about Kennedy's high regard for women can be learned by looking up the Chappaquidick incident, and all you need to know about McCains attitude toward women is contained in his expletive laced tirade where he called his wife a c**t. If these turkeys are our "elder statesmen" God Help Us!

Ted Kennedy's "nobler aspirations" line is astounding to me.

Ted was someone I once admired until that summer day in 1969 when he abandoned Mary Jo Kopechne to drown. His conduct that day was the action of a coward and a moral cripple. Look at the rest of his life, drug use, alcoholism, womanizing, who would listen to him? As for Obama his wife Michelle carries his "testicular fortitude" around in her purse. As for McCain he has courage as evidenced by his torured imprisonment but he now lacks control of his anger to the extent he calls his wife foul names in public. Standing out in this morass of male slime Hillary Clinton has been revealed as an intelligent non-promiscuous woman with compassion and understanding. When this campaign started I was not an admirer of hers but with the passage of time she has evolved to the point where she is the only alternative for this election. Compared to her Obama and McCain look pathetically juvenile.