Under the most arbitrary calculations of the raw national vote Clinton taken the lead. Obama still leads if you throw out the Michigan vote, where he was not on the ballot, but Hillary did win 55% of the vote there so even that exclusion is not a true picture. If Hillary can make inroads and convincingly win the popular vote count, as opposed to the delegate count, she may have the winning strategy for a superdelegate victory.

The concern trolls circling around Bill Clinton's campaigning is just too much to bear. The Dallas Morning News wrote yesterday that "there's something disconcerting, even diminishing, about watching a former president get down and dirty on the campaign trail." I didn't know Presidential Images, even his, were so damn valuable, not even to be expended for his Wife or for the future of the Country.

I'm hopefully voting for Clark, but in the interest of edifying the umpteen folks who are screeching for Hillary's attention, I'm jotting down a few words...

While no one was looking I apparently missed Christopher Hitchen's latest smackdown on the Plamegate affair.  Probably because it was on Slate, and since I'll read Drudge before that crap, it took awhile to filter down.  Never one to miss drunk spectacle, I had to catch up on Hitch's triumphant never-too-late unrebutted rationalization.  

The latest in a continuing series trying to make sense of of how or why Republicans have no sense of irony.

Just a quick post in the interest of a laugh. I was looking at Instacracker (yea, yea), seeing what the freaks were linking to today. Turns out that we, er, I mean the Internet, have defeated Al-Qaida in Iraq!

The Feds are in Baton Rouge right now holding a press conference out of the Governor's office and they are going absolutely apeshit. WARNING: RANT-LIKE

All that New Orleans can do is watch:

I saw this story, which at once amused me with its silliness and at the same time made me even a bit more paranoid realizing that these freaks are in control of the United States Government:

WARNING: RIGHT-WING THOUGHT AHEAD!  For those weak of heart, continue on! Hurry! Before it's too late!

A mild rant on the use of the word.

Via Atrios, the Administration begins to rub its eyes and take in just exactly what transpired in those snapshot drunken moments that most call 2001 thru 2005.  Time to face reality:

The goal now is to ensure a constitution that can be easily amended later so Iraq can grow into a democracy, U.S. officials say.

Ah yes...  Juan Cole discusses this, citing such a process to be similar to the United States' conundrum in breeding its own Civil War when writing its Constitution.

Cole is right of course, but I think it's significant that reality is at long last being faced. Iraq never had a chance at Democracy and it was foolish to think otherwise. At least this news signals that perhaps the fools have tired of playing in their own excrement.

If the bar for success has become an Islamic State, Bush can finally "declare victory" and order our boys home.

*UPDATE*: Dr. Tom More dead-pegs the source as Rummy moments before I post this diary (sorry for the overlap Dr. More)

Via the Eggman, who links to something (Yahoo?) - I don't know the guy who wrote it, but he's so batshit crazy that it reduced me to laughter within three lines:

As reported by CNN.  What the fuck kind of "duty" they are talking about?  It's almost as if they are implying he serves this country or something... (WARNING: RANT)

I passed some time on a farm, but perhaps I'm just not considering something...

If you can't take right-wing thought then leave now! Go!  Hurry, while there's still time!

OK, I really didn't want to do this, but Dick Morris has done it to me again! TIN-FOIL HAT ON!

Ahhhh... It's nice to return to pre-November 2nd...  No October surprise, no terror alerts, and Karl Rove just coasting, rather than thrashing, his way into the election...

As I am trying to explain to my wife, I don't don't cope well with failure. It mostly involves me passing time by avoiding any stimulus of any sort (including in this case, my wife heh)(or even worse, prior diaries and comments...). I'm getting better ;)

One last thing I want to say about this election and I can wash my hands of it. 50 Million Dollar Reward for convictions on election fraud. The wording would have to be tight, but I'll leave that to the lawyers... You know what I'm talking about.

C'mon Soros, it's a one-page ad in the Times that no one would ever collect on, right?