Scullying up to someone who can't even vote here and who doesn't (and has never) lived here, and yet opines and offends at will on the USA? Gets my patriotic hackles up. And guess what? I can quote Chaucer and Shakespeare and Eliot and Yeats and Wordsworth and Blake and oh, many of those great American authors as well, and and and.........aaaarrggghhh. SO WHAT??? I'm glad I have a liberal arts education (thank you, Mom & Dad for paying for it.) I also eat arugula. Available at the average every-day grocery store here. It's good for ya. I also crave sushi and make a mean tabbouleh. Does that make me anti-American and elitist? Oh, I make a mean turkey stuffing and mashed potatos and chicken enchiladas, too! Alas, I never learned how to CAN.

I'm actually excited about this convention. I am energized and am looking forward to the speeches and the hooplah and I'm not holding grudges and I hope it goes off without misguided fanfare of any sort (ok, I know, as Joan would say---don't be Pollyanna), but geez....McCain? Ya gotta be kidding.

His name wasn't "Sinbad the Sailor."

Isn't there anything going on over on your side of the pond?

I, for one, am proud of my predominantly Irish-American heritage and I'm not going to let you ruin that for me.

If anybody takes the Clintons to task, on this site, we are bloodied.........even if we are not trying to pick a fight!!!

One story I can tell is from the Democratic Convention in NYC, where I was living at the time. The boyfriend of a friend of mine, he was/is a comic-book illustrator, well-regarded in his field, drew a "Boot Bush" sign and managed to get it to the convention floor. Gore spotted it first, hoisted it to the stage, and it made a Newsweek story photo. I was THRILLED by the Clintons then, and remain grateful.

I'm not so thrilled this time around, and it would take pages to say why. I'm going out on a Salon (attack) limb to say I thought lcr, MissOtis, and Christopher Michael Neill had excellent points to make.

Yeah, I support Obama and I'm pretty darn sure after a couple or three decades that I have my feminism intact. I'm more into "humanism." Any courses out there available on that? Or maybe "nobody's perfect and we shouldn't expect or project that on anybody of any gender?"

But then again, so is this thread (or at least where it's headed).

The ONLY time I ever actually directly called someone the c-word was at a college-age beer party and I directed the term at a a GUY, who all evening had been obnoxious and harrassing to me at best. It had the desired effect. Those in hearing range were shocked I'd said it, and he shut up! (Otherwise, I hate the term enormously and so should everyone, including McShame, toward his own wife?!?)

Anyway, I would never direct that term to any woman, ever. And guess what? I am an Obama supporter. Go figure.

I've been biting my tongue on responding. Couldn't even manage a rhyme sequence.

Can't we even have one day to celebrate without dredging up the concern machine again?

We might do well to heed Rodney King at this point.

I haven't made it through this entire thread, so probably there were answers to the original question along the way. Still, in case not, here goes, because I also have a question.

PUMA (according to their web site POCPUMA.com) stands for: "Party Unity My Ass."

However, could someone explain to me why, when Darragh Murphy, a representative for the PUMA group, appeared on a cable news show, her affiliation was defined as "People United Means Action"?

You've already tried this. You've already been debunked.

I was saving my Lesley Gore lyrics for just the right time, even knowing they'd be unknown to the younger set, and you used them first!

Ah, well, "it's my party and I'll cry if I want to..."

I just don't want to cry this year. Sob, sob, poor pitiful me. Much more so, poor pitiful us/US if McCain fulfills his ambition.

In Germany, I got food poisoning from weiner schnitzel. I blame the restaurant, not the country. In France, I met rude people and nice people...what? nice French people? In London, I had meaningful interactions with a surprisingly low number of Brits, but the round-up of "folks" from other countries was amazing...Algeria, Albania, Canada, Egypt, Australia, Brazil, New Zealand. I've had other travellings, and I do love my homeland for so many reasons, but dare I say that I also like the idea of being a citizen of the world? And dare I say that if I criticize my country in any way that it just may be because I want us to be the best we can possibly be?

I very much believe what you expressed. In peace may we dwell. I was so glad for no more physical or emotional suffering for my mom. Meanwhile, we live. I'm sticking to some real fine memories to keep me going, but also to some real fine people in my life.

Thank you.