Catherine Crier, writing on Huffpo, lambasts the media coverage of the election. Whichever candidate you support, she's right. The pundits are little more than shills for their candidate and the anchors display excessive bias.

I think viewers should revolt as well as journalists. But, what to watch? Despite the end of the writers' strike, my favorite shows have not had new episodes in weeks. There's really nothing on.

A good friend (and ardent Obama supporter)waxed eloquently yesterday about HBO's In Treatment. I'd never even heard of it. Gabriel Byrne is the "star" and it's on for a half hour Monday through Friday nights. With On Demand to replay the episodes to date, it may be a way to avoid the cable news until Pennsylvania.

Any other ideas out there?

CBS has released a new poll on how Barack Obama's recent speech on Jeremiah Wright and race affected voters' views of him. Full poll results are here (pdf.)

69% said the speech favorably addressed race relations, 71% said it adequately expressed his relationship with Rev. Wright and 63% agreed with him. But,

When registered voters were asked if Obama would unite the country, however, 52 percent said yes - down from 67 percent last month.

Maybe he needs to stick to change and give up the unity theme. Someone should tell Bill Richardson, who seems to be a day late and a dollar short on unity as being a major reason for his endorsement.

His favorability rating: 43%. As to who was polled,

For this poll, CBS News re-interviewed voters who were first surveyed between March 15th and 18th, 2008, in the midst of the Wright controversy and mostly before Obama’s speech on race. The goal was to gauge their reactions to Tuesday’s speech and the continuing controversy over Wright’s comments. The poll was conducted on the night of March 20th.

In what is believed to be the first such ruling in the country, the Colorado Court of Appeals has held that no smoking laws apply to actors on stage.

A Colorado appeals court ruled on Thursday that smoking by an actor on stage, while possibly important to character and theatrical message, is still banned by the state’s two-year-old indoor smoking law.

“The smoking ban was not intended to prevent actors from expressing emotion, setting a mood, illustrating a character trait, emphasizing a plot twist or making a political statement,” a three-member panel of the Colorado Court of Appeals said in its unanimous ruling, upholding a lower court’s verdict.

But, the court added, “smoking, by itself, is not sufficiently expressive to qualify for First Amendment protection.”

My reaction below:

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

I think most readers of Talk Left know that it is my opinion that because Florida and Michigan will not have a revote, Hillary Clinton's chances to win the nomination are slim at best. The key point here is it is my opinion, not a fact. And it does not become a fact because 3 other bloggers, Politico and NBC have the same opinion. You know what it is? Conventional wisdom. Conventional wisdom is usually right. Sometimes it is not. It is not a fact. It is an opinion. Yesterday I wrote:

Leonard Cohen ( I actually prefer Don Henley's version but I couldn't find a video for it.)

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded

Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
That's how it goes

[More...]

I'm back from court and an exhausting four hour hearing. Now I'm off to the grocery store.

You've filled up three open threads today, what's one more till I get back? Big Tent says he's out for the day as well.

When I return I'll probably be more interested in Kathleen Soliah's release from prison (I agree with her lawyer that "For someone who was not a danger or a threat to society, it was six years too long") and the release of Willie Green after serving 25 years for a murder he didn't commit than in politics, but don't let that stop the rest of you.

As well as the BOP's denial of a furlough so a meth inmate with a year left on his sentence can see his 10 year old before she dies of cancer.

Got more to say? All topics open here.

Condi Rice struggles for answers:

At least four State Department workers pried into the supposedly secure passport files of presidential contenders Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain, abashed officials admitted Friday in a revelation that had Condoleezza Rice promising a full investigation and telephoning the candidates to personally apologize. ....The State Department's inspector general was probing, with the Justice Department monitoring the effort, but Obama said that was not enough. He urged congressional involvement "so it's not simply an internal matter."

The company that hired the snoopers is believed to be Stanley, Inc. As to the breach of Hillary's records:

In Clinton's case, someone accessed her file last summer as part of a training session involving another State Department worker. McCormack said the violation was immediately recognized and the person was admonished. That person was not involved in the later incidents, meaning four people were involved in all.

As to what's in a passport file, it's identifying information and a list of the countries one has traveled to, not state secrets: [More...]

By Big Tent Democrat

More thread.

By Big Tent Democrat

Your turn.

Note, comments closed.

By Big Tent Democrat

Ben Smith of Politico thinks it will be very difficult for Hillary Clinton to catch Barack Obama in a universally accepted popular vote count in the Democratic Presidential nomination contest since Florida and Michigan will not revote (So do I). Since neither Obama nor Clinton will have the necessary number of delegates to capture the nomination without Super Delegate support, the popular vote contest, though unofficial, becomes significant. Smith cites Bill Clinton:

I hear some people have the day off today. Not me, I'm headed to court. Here's an open thread for you. What's on your minds?

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson will appear with Barack Obama in Oregon Friday and provide his endorsement to him.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, the nation's only Hispanic governor, is endorsing Sen. Barack Obama for president, calling him a "once-in-a- lifetime leader" who can unite the nation and restore America's international leadership.

"I believe he is the kind of once-in-a-lifetime leader that can bring our nation together and restore America's moral leadership in the world," Richardson said in a statement obtained by the AP. "As a presidential candidate, I know full well Sen. Obama's unique moral ability to inspire the American people to confront our urgent challenges at home and abroad in a spirit of bipartisanship and reconciliation."

Richardson could be angling for the V.P. Spot. He could also take Hispanic votes from Hillary. [More...]