Apparently there is talk of Obama and McCain joining up for multiple town hall events, and both of them are open to the idea. This is not the same as sponsored debates. You can read more about it here.

I had this conversation last night with my SO - he's British.  And he doesn't understand why the US Constitution is considered sacrosanct and 'not amendable.'

I'm not the best person to ask this of, because I don't believe it is.  After all, we've added and repealed Amendments, including the Civil Rights Act in 1964, etc.  Clearly it is amendable.  If we want it to be.  But we don't seem to often want it to be.

What amendments are okay?  Additions only?  Subtractions?  Are we able to look back over the Constitution and see items that are in need of amending to currently reflect society's values?  

"Wisdom is a gift; you can't train for it, inherit it, learn it in a class, or earn it in the workplace--that access can foster the acquisition of knowledge, but not wisdom." - Toni Morrison

Shouldn't Dr. Maya Angelou be part of Hillary's dialog on race?

Some have wondered why there are blacks who consider Dr. Maya Angelou a 'traitor' to her black race. I don't know if I put her there just yet. But her past words create questions as to why she has not spoken up about her friend Hillary Clinton's need to inject racism and Reverend Jeremiah Wright into this campaign in the many ways Hillary has.

Here, she is speaking to the American Academy of Achievement in January, 1997. She covers many topics still relevant to today, so as you read through this interview, remember it's eleven years old.

It's as if she's predicting an Obama candidacy.

Before Reverend Wright's sequel hit the small screen last week, the world of punditry had begun building an elegant narrative over Hillary's gutsy "Lincoln-Douglas" smack-down challenge. By issuing her bold proposal for a back-of-a-pickup tete-a-tete with Obama, the scrappy junior senator from New York was showing toughness, grit, and working class moxie. She had just trounced her opponent in one debate, in which she showed off her commander-in-chief bona fides by issuing a pre-emptive fatwa on the people of Iran if they don't start voting better. Her opponent, at the end of it, had lain bloodied and battered on the ropes, unable to deliver Joe Scarborough's preferred excuse for why he doesn't wear a flag pin. And with a new gauntlet on the floor before him, the cowardly junior senator from Illinois was hiding behind a wheel of brie waiting for the "clock to run out".

Oh yes, the media was revving up for a whole mess of righteous indignation. Pat Buchanan started testing catch phrases variants on "Close the deal", FOX dug up their archive photo of Frederick Douglas, and Andrea Mitchell began figuring out what proportions of skepticism and ennui to use in covering the story.

Yesterday at the one and only NC Democratic Primary Debate for Senate, Kay Hagan had to be reminded twice, once by opponent Jim Neal and again by the moderator, that the election had not happened yet as she continued to say that she was "running against Dole". Then she basically guarantees victory a week before primary.

Here is the second part of the epic face off between Hillary Clinton and Bill "Culture Warrior" O'Reilly. They have a pretty passionate exchange about torture and foreign policy with regards to Iran, terrorism etc.

In the second part he asks the Senator about water boarding and torture, with O'Reilly bullying Clinton into trying to admit torture is the obvious solution. While I'm not a Hillary Clinton supporter I found myself cheering her on and think she did well. Much of that might have to do with the fact that O'Reilly is a douche.

I wonder if it sets the wrong precedent going on his show, since she chose to be interviewed on O'Reilly while she's yet to appear on a lot of other good shows. FOX News is probably pretty happy with themselves.

The thought of Hillary's upcoming town hall with Clinton stooge George Stephenopoulos makes my stomach churn. Obviously ABC/Disney News has it out for the Obama campaign, if not for all progressive politics in general, and has decided to abandon even the pretense of integrity in their zeal to stifle change.

That said, Obama shouldn't allow ABC to tilt the playing field by giving Clinton a free nationally televised pep rally on the eve of the crucial North Carolina and Indiana primaries. Yet, in the wake of the shameful "flag pin" debate debacle, can Obama even go on the Micky Mouse network without being ambushed by Nash McCabe and "former" members of the Clinton inner circle.

Yes he can. There is still one real journalist on staff at ABC. His name is Sam Donaldson. Barack should demand Donaldson moderate a "town-hall-style" love fest on ABC for the Obama campaign.

Over the weekend FOX News' anti-intellectual haven known as "FOX & Friends" displayed a graphic of the Lincoln - Douglas debates. The only problem was that instead of showing Stephen A. Douglas they instead put up (side by side) Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist Frederick Douglass...

Amazingly, nobody seemed to notice the error because they were too busy laughing about their intern trying to find video of the event. It's ironic that they were unable to spot such a glaring historical error all the while joking about someone else's lack of historical knowledge.

Oh FOX, is there even a bar TO lower?

I believe that Senator Obama should debate Senator Clinton this week. It would definitely be a gamble. Another bad performance could set the stage for possible defeat for the nomination, not to mention a loss in November. But a debate win, especially in a wide open "Lincoln-Douglas" type debate that has been proposed, should stem the bleeding and silence the chatter about Reverend Wright, which has just burried Senator Obama for the past few weeks and promises to continue until he breaks the news cycle with something more important.

It's clear at this point that Obama needs to do something to change the media narrative. Right now the MSM is busy playing up Hillary's campaign, making things seem close, and circling Wright like a bunch of sharks around a wounded seal. This is only going to get worse if Hillary takes Indiana and makes North Carolina close. Even though she can't win without a riot, she can continue to tarnish Obama and make things look bad. So how does Obama change the narrative?

He challenges McCain to a debate. Just him and McCain, no Hillary.

First, thanks to Kossack sir for letting me know about CNN's latest "Quick Vote" on the issue of Hillary's demand for a Lincoln-Douglas style debate with Obama. I thought it warranted a diary entry. More debates? That is the last thing we need.

Hillary Clinton and her surrogates are constantly pushing for more debates with Barack Obama before the Indiana and North Carolina primaries.  Her latest push has been to offer taking him on with a Lincoln vs. Douglas type of debate, just the two of them with no commentators.

We need a reality check here.

WHY AM I AN OBAMATON?  WHY!!??

99% of us did it.  The other 1% lied about it.  No, I'm not talking about peeing in the shower.  I'm talking about a history of taking on the role of trusty Clinton Apologists for 16 years with no other viable choice out there.  In 1992 it began with Flowers all the way to erasing the part of my cerebral hard drive which held that disbarment stuff.  HRC, true to form, has been spewing Tuzlian crap from the get-go.  It was put best by a die-hard Clinton supporter who, upon observing her tactics, stated "At the end of the day, all she had to do was open her mouth for me not to believe her...". Louis-Dreyfus'S plight, like ours, makes the Iranian Hostage Crisis look like a cake walk.

That is what is so powerful about Obama - me and my people have the chance to be FREE.  And we are not walking away or jogging away - we are sprinting!  No longer having to suffer their crap, their lies, their finger wagging, and their centralist pathetic policies.  This my friends is what Clintons and her imprisoned remains don't get - IT'S GREAT TO BE FREE!    

McCarthyism has made an unexpected comeback in the guise of repeated questions ad nauseum about Barrack Obama’s “patriotism” and related accusations of “guilt by association” involving various figures such as his ex-pastor Reverend Jeremiah Wright and former Weather Underground member, William Ayers.  For weeks, we’ve heard this kind of paranoid chauvinistic drivel especially from the conservative media – Sean Hannity of Fox News in particular.  But at the last debate, sponsored by ABC News, such neo-McCarthy-style tactics reached a new low in the guise of moderators Charley Gibson and George Stephanopoulos.    

First off - I'm a passionate, active Obama supporter. I voted for him twice (Texas has some fun electoral wrinkles, outside the general sucking of its voting overall).

But second - this Hillary call for a debate is not a bad one. Sure, she's obnoxious, but even better, likely to be obnoxious in a Lincoln/Douglass - Hillary/Barack debate (note that he goes second because Lincoln lost that race to Douglass, as Hillary will to Barack).

(P.S. - I was right about the whole "race" speech thing in a diary almost no one read. And those who read it said 'no, he shouldn't give a speech on race' before he did. But I'm not saying to listen to me because of that. I'm wrong sometimes, too, and sometimes people listen to me when I'm wrong, which is bad. Not saying it, but strongly hinting it, which is shameless. Sorry.)

Heya folks; this'll be quick and dirty. Over at MyDD, we're hosting an Obama/Clinton supporter debate in order to bridge or seal some of the rifts on that site that have emerged from this contentious primary debate. I know some of you lurk or frequent the forum over there; please drop by and offer input if you've got any.

http://www.mydd.com/...

It's scheduled for next week Sunday, tentatively. At the least, it will be great fun. It seems that some of the heavy-hitters on MyDD that left Kos are, ahem, a little reticent to engage in such a debate, which I find a little amusing, but nonetheless- this is for furthering the dialog and hopefully doing something to mend the rift between our camps.

"Barack, if you have the guts, meet me at the Mall in DC on May 1 at high noon, and bring your favorite pistol. - Hillary"

My cash is low, The math is bad
I've lost the best donors I had.

Debates give me free airtime now
with great aplomb, I make this vow

I will debate you in a car
I will debate you at a bar

I will debate you in the fall
I will debate you at the mall

I will debate you on the stump
I will debate you at the pump

Lincon-style if you admire
Even under sniper fire,

Bowling, flag pin, Hands on heart,
Reverand Wright, its ala carte!

I will debate you by a brook,
I will debate you while we cook

I will debate you here or there,
I will debate you anywhere

I will debate you, please say yes,
I'm desperate, I must confess.

Barack, oh please debate with me,
So I can get my free TV...