Well, whoopdedooo! The MSM loves Obama and hates Clinton — unfortunately, I’m afraid that the MSM doesn’t love Obama as much as McCain. The MSM tried to tell us that “fairy tale” and the drug use that Obama mentioned in his own book were somehow racist. The Jesse Jackson line could be interpreted one or both of two ways — an attempt to downplay the loss (do the new rules now make it racist for losing primary candidates to try to try to minimize primary losses?) or a racial ploy. With Edwards out, I’m still voting for Obama, but I do understand the backlash against media manipulation that led a lot of N.H. voters to for Clinton.

What media manipulation? Keith Olbermann and Eugene Robinson asking why Clinton didn’t say Edwards won S.C. and didn’t get the nomination, instead of Jesse Jackson. First off, since the implementation of the primary system, the S.C. winner has only failed to win the nomination three times — Jackson in 1984 & 1988 and Edwards in 2004. So Clinton didn’t have a lot to choose from in his effort to downplay the importance of S.C. So Olbermann and Robinson ask why he didn’t name Edwards. Why didn’t Clinton take a swipe at somebody whose supporters his wife needs to win over? Do you really think Olbermann and Robinson are that stupid? I don’t, and I don’t appreciate it when intelligent people play stupid to sway viewers.

One other thing, there’s a subtext to the charges about the Clintons that I find dubious at best. On the one hand, we hear about the disciplined Clinton machine that calculates everything it says and does. But we also hear about Bill Clinton the walking id who can’t keep his pants zipped. Two different heads, I know, but there’s usually some correlation. Anyway, we also hear that every statement is calculated when it serves one line of attack, but we hear that Bill Clinton will be a loose cannon who will say all sorts of thing as first husband when it suits another line of attack.

what really sears my steak is the fact that its another republicrat/demican runoff. in this time where the country is begging for change, we’re stuck with imperialists no matter which candidate from which side of the aisle. i’m hoping barak’s perceived imperialism is merely a symptom of his inexperience on the national stage…but i also hoped that my bloody valentine would follow up the “loveless” album.

i think i’m going to pass out clothespins with little felt “feeties” on them this election day, telling voters that “it’ll help to put this on your nose”…

I’d like some specific example of the race baiting by the Clintons that some people are talking about, because most strike me as absurd. Drug use? Get real, if Edwards were the main contender and he had written about cocaine use… Fairy tale? WTF? The only one that seems hard to defend is “Jesse Jackson won S.C. twice” I cringed when I heard it and thought it was incredibly stupid, but it could have been calculated. However, when I heard pundits say that if he was looking for an example of somebody who won S.C. and lost the nomination he could have said Edwards. I wanted to slap them and ask, “are you really stupid, are just playing stupid? The nomination will come down to who gets Edwards voters, and you’re asking why he didn’t piss off Edwards when he was trying to diminish Obama’s victory. Are you kidding me?”

I’ve said it elsewhere, but I’ll say it again here. If Obama gets the nomination, please be prepared to back it up every time you say racism. In my experience, people who admit to a certain level of prejudice and try to correct for it will stop trying when they hear what they consider overdone or unfair charges of racism. I’m not saying subtle or hidden racism should be ignored, but you can view an election as important struggle to win or as an opportunity to educate people. If you try to do the latter, you might sabotage the former.

It doesn’t matter what you call Bush’s policies, conservative or otherwise. The drug benefit benefitted only the drug companies. No Child Left Behind accomplished nothing. And the AIDS and malaria initiatives were underfunded. Of course, compared to rendering the constitution meaningless and killing hundreds of thousands, those matters seem like small potatoes.

Proposals such as No Child Left Behind, the AIDS and malaria initiatives, and the addition of a prescription drug benefit to Medicare…these are not “conservative.” Bush multiplied spending horribly, not even including the war.

And David: veiled racism? Are you talking about the Clintons? I hope so. What they have done to Obama is despicable.