After watching the clips from the news services all I can say is "should woulda coulda"

Barack:

Shoulda never gone into his church

Woulda been nice to know this before his campaign started

He made one really good observation: "many of you must be new to politics"

Everyone, or most everyone, keeps talking about Obama's relationship with Wright as his pastor. Obama says that he hasn't heard Wright's controversial views, but always, from what I remember, in that context.

But what about as a mentor.  Doesn't that suggest a more personal relationship? I actually looked up the word mentor and the first defination says a wise and trusted counselor or teacher.

How would it be possible, under that defination and if Wright was in fact his mentor, for Obama not to have heard Wright's rants. It seems to me that in this context Obama would be quite familar with Wright's positions.

For me, the mentor relationship, if it was as defined above, bothers me more than the pastor relationship.

Still thinking it thru.

My perspective on the gas price supply/demand conservation issue is still something that I think isn't represented on leftist/progressive blogs.  What I feel is the bottom line is that all the people who overconsume gas won't be affected by even 5 or 6 dollar a gallon gas.  They're already part of the America that Edwards refers to that can very easily absorb another 50 bucks per week either way.  Yeah.  They'll be annoyed.  But it really won't change their behavior.  But it will hurt people with less money, who do have to a different set of decisions in their lives.

So I should re-establish a different point, the gas tax holiday is not a solution, and it may even be bad policy (most especially so if it was implemented long term), but I don't think hurting poor people is the solution here either.

I thought progressives were committed to finding solutions that make rich people pay their fair share and expand opportunity for the more economically disadvantaged out there.

People can educate me more about why gas taxes are necessary for a long term solution, but you're never going to convince me that that sort of solution, while it might curtail gas consumption by sheer brute force of will, that that solution isn't regressive.

It is regressive.

Now, it so happens that, even though I'm very pro-Hillary and becoming evermore anti-Obama, I think the whole Wright thing is a bum deal. It's guilt by association and nothing he's said (that I've heard) hasn't been said by leftists before going back at least to Vietnam.  So old lefties should examine their consciences.

What impresses me is that there are even some talking heads defending Obama. If this had been Hillary's pastor, well, one can only imagine what would be coming her way.

Sorry, Obama fans, but he still has to earn voters on his own and he's not nearly as Charismatic (tm) or Inspiring (tm) as is required.

His magical speeches are mad-libs from better people who worked for their reputations and suffered for their causes. They don't deserve to have their work and their words chop shopped for slogans to draw traffic into Obama's concession tent at the fair.

Obama and his fans are all about entitlement before work. Even his kingmakers in the blogs, Dems and media are more about trying to work the spigots of the tasty stuff rather than keeping an eye on why the "endless" flow got down to a trickle.

Now the whine is going up that Clinton "ruined" Obama's chances by not giving over her hard-earned juice and the panicky people who have seen what's happening are trying Operation Transfusion one more time before it's apparent to everyone.

So: they blow off the Kososphere with that Faux News thing. They resurrect a crucified Wright; "We can't control him!"  And, for good measure, they oppose the gas tax hiatus supported by McCain and Hillary.  (This last one has nothing to do with being right or wrong, just playing into the elitist meme -- "we don't feel your pain, see?")

Suddenly, in a week Obama's 10 points down just in time for Indiana and NC.  A week later, a humble Obama announces that his campaign will be "suspended" until the convention.

(And then the fat lady starts singing.)

There is no other way to interpret the last 72 hours of political events.