I rarely blog anymore and I notice a lot of others cutting back too. When I'd get sick of the politics I'd devote myself to jazz blogging. Lots more fun.

I do not think Obama is smart, savvy, or quite frankly, deep down really cares about getting important policies passed.

He cares mostly about becoming president for his own ego.  

I honestly believe that Clinton cared about the issues.

I had a friend say to me the other day, "I am supporting Obama because he is cool enough that he will go meet with all the other political leaders across the world and America will finally be respected again."

If people are sick of things like this and the kinds of discussions it generates, then I can certainly agree but I can also point out that at some point we've all been complicit.

It's time to do a better job of speaking out against and rejecting the narrative gestapo.  Those who have so internalized the idea that an election is about competing narratives -- NOT competing ideas --  NOT competing values -- NOT assessing results that they end up producing such dreck that one can only be infuriated, gag, depressed or just flabbergasted at the inanity of it all.

Now of course you can build narratives around ideas and such, maybe that's a good thing.

But this is different.  What it comes down is taking moments that have destroyed certain people.  The last actual REAL moment like that is George Allen's Macaca moment.  That was real.

Everything else is someone's totally pathetic transparent attempt to manufacture moments like that.  Which puts the rest of us in a position of either playing along with a lie or being smeared as someone who "doesn't get it" or someone who is "with the other side."

And that's when the real exasperation comes into play.  That's when things start turning truly vile.

All a Democrat can do is hope November comes quickly and our candidate wins, so we can get on with the business of fixing health care, ending the parade of right-wing ideologues as nominees for federal judgeships, preserve the independence of our Supreme Court, get out of one war (hopefully without getting back into another) and, fingers crossed, start to empty our prisons of non-violent offenders.

if you seriously believe a pres. obama is going to do any of these things, i have shares for sale in a ny bridge, below par. i only take cash, gold bullion, or unset diamonds as payment.

Obama is just not as exciting to cover as he was when he had Democrats as competitors and McCain would put anyone to sleep.

It's been a dreadful year and a half, up to our necks in clueless Democrats and no evidence of any change anybody can believe in.

Too much hype on both sides, little substance and no real  "change", just re-packaging.  

Democracy in America has failed on a scale that staggers the imagination, and the Information Age has made us collectively dumber.

Although it's been a long time and the memory isn't sharp (I was in college - I can't even recall all the substances that helped cloud the memories) I recall being not sold on one William Jefferson Clinton. A lot of my friends weren't either. Tons of doubt abounded. No one knew him well, his wife was a power player and not a "just say no" type, Al Gore's wife was against filthy rock music, etc.