Bill Maher's Real Time panel on keeping terrorism in perspective

Do any GOP pols watch this show, much less the McCain gang?

making himself clear

Isn't it great that Obama is willing to call the press back to clarify his position as much as possible when there's a question?

Seems that McCain is going to have a little more trouble getting too much momentum with the Spin Machine, at this rate.

Pluralism

Mr. McCain: please look up "pluralism" in the dictionary. Please also check with an eminent Constitutional scholar about the origins of our nation. You could start with Mr. Obama, but there are certainly others around if you'd prefer.

a mom's memo to McCain

"I'm voting Republican" 8^)

McCain's Ohio Disconnect

From the LA Times:

Republican Party machinery in the state helped get President Bush into office, but it's not firing yet on McCain's behalf.
By Peter Wallsten, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

As the architect of Ohio's ballot measure against gay marriage, Phil Burress helped draw thousands of conservative voters to the polls in 2004, most of whom also cast ballots to reelect President Bush. So Burress was not surprised when two high-level staffers from John McCain's campaign dropped by his office, asking for his help this fall.

What surprised Burress was how badly the meeting went. He says he tried but failed to make the McCain team understand how much work remained to overcome the skepticism of social conservatives. Burress ended up cutting off the campaign officials as they spoke. "He doesn't want to associate with us," Burress now says of McCain, "and we don't want to associate with him."

Read more here.

the unhappy warrior

closing the circle...with grace

Thank you so very much, Sen. Clinton, for your kind and insightful words today!

She's gone all out: check out the new splash page on HRC.com.

Please send a note of thanks to Sen. Clinton via the Obama campaign site.

Sen. Clinton's speech:



And MSNBC's analysis:

What McCain meant to say on Tuesday Night

downtime

From The LA Times Top of the Ticket:

Barack Obama to yield spotlight to Hillary Clinton ... one last time

After tending to one last bit of pressing business -- an unpublicized visit Thursday night with Hillary Clinton in Washington for a chat the entire political universe would have killed to overhear -- Barack Obama headed to his Chicago home for what his schedule listed as three days of downtime.

Cant' say the fellow didn't earn a long weekend. It was roughly 17 months ago that he began the quest that ended successfully this week for the Democratic presidential nomination; his schedule has been mostly non-stop over that period. And he routinely notes that the biggest negative about aspiring to become the leader of the free world has been the long stretches he's away from his two young daughters.

Still, his timing also happens to be politically perfect.

Clinton, after doing her best to pretend not to have noticed that Obama beat her to the delegate majority finish-line Tuesday night, carved out Saturday for a farewell bow as a presidential candidate (at least in '08). It's unorthodox -- most vanquished candidates don't linger in their also-ran status quite so long, nor finally pull the plug with quite so much grandeur.

But Clinton was no ordinary candidate and she ran no ordinary campaign (as she will no doubt point out -- frequently -- on Saturday).

So if you're Barack Obama -- and you need a break anyway -- why not stand down.

We don't imagine, though, that he'll stray too far from a television as Clinton prepares to take the stage.

Does Sen. Clinton even want the VP slot?

If not, then this could be a lot simpler than had been previously thought.

From MSNBC's First Read:

The New York Times' Nagourney is reporting that the Clinton campaign has released a statement publicly disavowing the campaign by some of her supporters to force Obama to choose her as his running mate.

“While Sen. Clinton has made clear throughout this process that she will do whatever she can to elect a Democrat to the White House, she is not seeking the vice presidency, and no one speaks for her but her,” communications director Howard Wolfson said in a statement to the Times. “The choice here is Sen. Obama’s and his alone.”

More from Nagourney's piece: "The apparent campaign to push Mrs. Clinton onto the ticket was, in its directness, unusual and several Democrats said arguably counterproductive. Aides to Mr. Obama said they were unhappy with the effort and some Democrats outside the campaign said that Mr. Obama could be portrayed to bowing to pressure should he choose Mrs. Clinton to run with him."

And from Time's The Page:

“She knows that the choice is his and his alone. If he offers it to her it will be his choice and if he doesn’t that will be solely his choice. Whatever he wants she will do….

She will do whatever she can and is asked to do to help elect him, but it would be be totally inappropriate for her to campaign for or seek the job. She is exhausted, she has been first lady for 8 years, she loves the Senate, and the choice is his.”

Check out "The View"

These ladies have changed their tune...they are definitely calling a spade a spade about the way Sen. Clinton seems to be flogging her supporters, rather than conceding defeat with grace and urging her supporters to make the shift to Obama.

Unfortunately, the video won't embed, so just click on the link.

He's no Johnny one-note, at least

How to run a convention on a record of failure

Just check out 2004, that's how!

less jobs, more wars

(MSNBC: that should be "fewer jobs").

Goodnight, Bush!

Goodnight Bush is a send-up of the classic children's book Goodnight Moon. It's about the rapidly-approaching end of the Bush Administration.

Click on the link and look inside the book for a preview.

Advice from an '04 veteran

From the Daily Kos:

An excerpt:

Please, Clinton supporters, take a lesson from a guy who's been there.

As a perfect-stormer Deaniac who ultimately failed to fully support John Kerry, I deeply appreciate what you are going through.

We can go on and on about the differences between Dean '04 and Clinton '08. Ultimately, you and I both face the effective conclusion of our candidate's campaigns before he or she concedes, and certainly before the rules say we must stop.

The heart says go on. Believe me, I know the feeling.

And then, when we are forced to stop, the viciousness, anger, bitterness, and spite boil up.

What comes next? I can tell you.

Keepin' It Real

Please, Mr. Ickes...could you go on a vacation now?

Identical McCousins!

Olbermann's interview with Scott McClellan

This Week With Barack Obama has all of Keith Olbermann's interview with former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan. A crystal-clear indictment of the Bush presidency.