Sorry, but I can just see all the girls who write for Broadsheet (should I have used "broads?" Cause that's offensive to me - seriously) rolling dice to see which one of you had to feign indignation on behalf of your wronged gender.

Ms. Traister wrote 99 reasons why it was unimportant and then tips the scale over with a quote from Tootsie?!

Give me a break. To imply that Barack Obama was being bigoted in any way whatsoever is what's offensive here. You owe him an apology.

I'd write all of the reasons why it's not offensive, but ironically, YOU'VE ALREADY DONE SO IN THIS POST. What's in his heart? Is he a misogynist? Sexist? I can't believe that even Hillary's most die-hard fans would smear Obama with those labels or ever believe them to be true.

This should be retracted, or you should rename the blog Sweetiesheet. I'm not kidding (well, I am about "sweetiesheet") and I think along with a retraction, you should have Joan Walsh on here ASAP apologizing for this crap.

Crying wolf huh? That's the least of your concerns. Being flat out wrong and smearing an innocent man with the sexism label is why you should apologize.

I was pretty angry when I saw this attack on Obama (see my previous post) which I believe in my heart to be making something out of not only nothing - but an actual kind thing to say.

Then I realized that Obama and I come from the same part of the country, and I'm wondering if my exacerbation over the anti-"sweetie" bruhaha isn't in part because I simply can't fathom this being anything other than a kind thing to say to someone. And maybe that's an Illinois/Chicago area thing. A regional colloquialism.

She accused him of perpetuating sexism through use of a sexist term... but she didn't outright write the phrase "Obama is a sexist." Don't split hairs.

And I need to shower before I go out in half an hour... gotta fly so I won't be on for anymore indignation tonight.

I was at the rally yesterday, and I didn't see anyone stoned or strung out, or drunk, or swooning, or screaming sexist crap or proposing that we join a religion with an obama-diety... I saw very few hippies, lots of African Americans (for Portland, at least) and people of all ages. There were many people 50+ and 60+ in the crowd. Many of them were ladies in sunhats. Some of them may have even worked hard from time to time. But I'll grant that lots of us drink lattes.

To listen to the cynics and nay-sayers, you'd think it was a cult gathering of some type. Far from it. People were friendly and courteous to each other, applauded nicely for the Decemberists (who were done about 45 minutes before the Obama family showed up), and generally laughed with each other as we were shoulder to shoulder under the relentless Sun. If anything, I'd say the crowd was far less raucus than I expected.

Portland's just a very politically minded city and it was a gorgeous day. And yes, we're probably going 3-1 for Obama (or something like that) in the city proper. The suburbs and rural areas... who knows what we'll get there.

On Senator Clinton, Obama once again spent serious time in his speech heaping praise on her and the campaign she's run. He talked about how wonderful and passionate her supporters were. And these remarks drew heavy applause from the crowd. There were no digs at her at all. Not a single anti-clinton (veiled or otherwise) remark in his entire speech.

His message was primarily about the Process. It's how Washington works that he wants to change. He foresees a government that's open & honest. One that has power with citizens rather than interest groups and lobbyists.

But he didn't hesitate to speak about which sides of the issues he was on. He had several concrete proposals (if you've never seen him speak and just read about his speeches or seen short news clips, you might be under the impression he sits up there and spouts meaningless slogans repeatedly for 30 minutes, perhaps while swinging a pocketwatch) and had a lot of criticism for how things are being done in the current administration.

It was a beautiful afternoon, and it made me (once again!) proud to be a Portlander and an American.

I think at most outdoor gatherings in Oregon, you're bound to catch a whif of weed in the air, but not yesterday. In fact, it doesn't happen at political rallies. Perhaps the enormous amount of law enforcement and the airport like security has something to do with that? Think man. This wasn't a Phish concert.

And the people mostly smelled of sunscreen. The hippies were elsewhere.

"Kentucky is like Florida, and West Virginia, and Ohio, and Pennsylvania, and Michigan....Hillary has a better shot to win them in a general than Obama.

Well, I think Obama has a better chance than Clinton since he'll be on the ballot and she won't. That's not meant to be snarky. I'm just pointing out the realities of the race and that maybe it's time to put our Clinton/Obama differences aside and go after McCain, who truly deserves our scorn.

"@sagcat

My apologies. I didn't realize you waited until AFTERWARDS to get toasted."

Apology accepted. It was a nice, sunny day and I was feeling great about the future of my government, so I came home and had several Gin & Tonics and read the "75,000" headlines with glee.

I didn't have any weed, though. I'm sure lots of Oregon did. We Oregonians do like our high quality, locally grown produce.