Um-bah, I've really done it now.  I used a Muslim word. If I had just kept my mouth shut, I could have avoided the inevitable torrent of criticism and invective that is about to reign down on me.  I suppose I should pre-disclaim that I meant no offense towards Muslims.    

And, yeah, the Edwards guys did their own little intifada last fall.  Their surge was just as nasty and bitter.  But Obamaphiles have something better than the Edwards people do.  

They have a Movement.

HI, all!  Congratulations to Hillary for making this a year to remember and to all of the candidates, including Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd and Joe Biden, who debate after debate, presented themselves with such intelligence and wit.  

This is the Clinton Cocktail Hour.  Each week, we put down our poison pens and lift a glass to one another.  Everyone is welcome.  

The bar is located to the right of the door.  Our bartender with flair! is our good friend, Rico.  Tonight's featured cocktail is a *Nevada Cocktail*, but you can order anything you like.  Tonight's entertainment features the talented vocalist of vocalese, Tierney Sutton.  You can get her CD, Dancing in the Dark at iTunes or Amazon.

The topic of the day is "voter fraud".  And here's another piece on it from NPR.

And here's the money quote that should give you chills:

The devil, Smith contends, is in the details of Indiana's law. He cites, for example, the case of a woman who made three trips to the motor vehicle bureau in a vain attempt to get a free voter ID card. Her problem, even after she obtained her birth certificate, was that it was not in her married name. While the state does provide free voter ID cards, Smith observes, voters incur considerable costs in time and money to secure the documents the state requires as a condition for getting the cards.

Scary, eh?  

As a formerly elected member of the school board and long time member of DailyKos, I am fully qualified to analyze and critique the incredible (but ultimately fixable) blunders of the Clinton campaign. (/snark)

So, Hillary, pay attention because I will only give this advice once (a day).  

The NUMERO UNO mistake that Clinton made in this primary season was this:
She completely ignored her internet director's insight into the nexus between internet- traditional press and politician.   She made no use of the Daou triangle.  

I think this quote from Peter is illustrative if you just replace "establishment forces" for Bush Administration:

So, Hill's at a roundtable with a bunch of local ladies and someone says something, um, like totally sympathetic to her.  It's so rare, it really needs to be seen:

As a woman I know it’s hard to get out of the house and get ready," asked Marianne Pernold, a local freelance photographer. "Who does your hair?"

And Hillary could have responded that she used to do it herself but she always got so much product in it that it started looking clumpy.  You know what I mean?  When you put too much layering gel in and it just starts sticking together in a weird way and then it's bad hair day all day long?  

But no.  I guess the question was just so unusual in a plain human way that she said what everyone on this board has been waiting to hear: her reason for running.  

She walks briskly to the stage not in a pantsuit, but in a tailored business suit and heels.  

"Ladies and gentlemen of the press, thanks for coming.  I have a few announcements to make.

I'd like to start with a review of your performance in the past 8 years.  It seems clear, after a lengthy review, that your goals for the country are not aligned with mine or that of the rest of America.  We should all be working towards the same end but for some reason that I can't fathom, you seem determined to undermine our common goals.  

Let's start with the presidential campaign of 2000.  You variously described the very honorable, intelligent and visionary Al Gore as "wooden" and a "serial exaggerator".  

Hi Guys!  Well, we've put Iowa behind us.  Congratulations to the winners, er, that would be all of us.  I swear, I've never seen a finer slate of candidates in all my life.  

This is the Clinton Cocktail Hour.  Everyone is welcome.  To the right of the door is Rico, our Bartender with flair!.  Give him a little wave.  Tonight's featured drink is a *Ginger Apple Martini*  See recipe below. But you can order anything you like.

We have some fantastic entertainment tonight with Jazz pianist and singer, Diana Krall.  She'll be singing from her album The Very Best of Diana Krallwhich you can purchase at iTunes or Amazon.  The waiters will be circulating shortly with some appetizers.  I think there's a little something with Frim-Fram sauce and Chifaufa.  

Our lovely check room attendent Florence will be happy to keep your TR's for you if you find them too heavy to lug around.  Please drink responsibly and remember to tip your wait staff generously.  

And now for a little surprise:

Yesterday, Governor Corzine announced that New Jersey has a budget deficit.  It's the third largest behind NY and CA.  We are in hock up to $3 Billion.  And, to be honest, I'm just scratching my head, trying to wrap my brain around how this could possibly be.  

NJ is a wealthy state.  We make some of the highest salaries in the country.  But we also have a very high cost of living.  And most non-NJ Kossacks would have coronaries at the sight of our property tax bills.  

In spite of all of that, the state is pretty well run.  Budgets are super tight but we're managing.  The roads are in decent shape, bridges get built, the schools in the suburbs have very good teachers and curriculum (except for the gifted kids, but don't get me started).

But if you are the child of a recently laid off engineer with a hefty mortgage payment and you need treatment for some chronic health problem, well, you're SOL.  

Damn!  I was hoping to save my one diary of the day for something profound and influential but here I am writing another essay on Maureen Dowd again.  Fuckity-fuck-fuck-fuck.  

Her latest piece of work, Deign or Reign? has some subtle, esoteric allusions that I just have to point out to the unenlightened in case they miss her cunning wit.  It's clear that MoDo is not writing these columns for the unwashed masses.  She's writing for the literati who for some reason haven't graduated past Senior High School English.  

Oh, she has Obama pegged alright.  She's absolutely correct about the unsubtle threat that Michelle Obama made.  Michelle practically holds a loaded gun to Obama's temple and says, "Vote for him now or you'll never see him run again."

I thought she was just a happy-go-lucky, snarky (where did she get that?), spoiled, self-involved suburban kid.  She liked punk and the Juliana Theory and Boyssetsfire and all kinds of music that set my teeth on edge.  She punted on a 4 year college for the CIA because the skinny twerp loves food.  She's spent the last few years jaunting around the Pacific rim, diploma in hand living the life of Reilly.  Truly a charmed life.  

So, I was completely gobsmacked when I got a call from the National Marrow Donor Program asking to speak to her.  

Wha?  Huh?  She signed up to be a marrow donor several years ago?  Back when I thought she was just another irresponsible semi-adult with a selfish streak she signed up to help someone?  No way.  

Way.

I deeply regret that I haven't read this Lambert guy at Correntewire before but his post from Friday: Obama stump speech strategy of conciliation considered harmful, deserves attention and should be seen by as many eyes as possible before the Iowa caucuses.  

For some time, especially since Obama ducked out of the Lieberman-Kyl vote and chickened out on the MoveOn vote, I've had this little voice of nagging doubt in the corner of my head.  After two disastrous relationships, I have learned to pay particular attention to that little voice.    

My initial thought was:

I was on the verge of concluding that Obama might be too easily flattered into running before his time.  Or that he was a particularly malleable candidate who is somewhat at the mercy of savvy political types, looking for employment in a new administration.  Or that he was a bit too beholden to his wealthy patrons who don't like mandates

Welcome back, ladies and gents.  This is the Clinton Cocktail Hour.  I am your hostess for tonight but I'm sure that all of the Clinton fans will make you feel comfortable.  Everybody is welcome.

We have an open bar just to the right of the door.  Wave to Rico, our Bartender with flair!.  His featured drink for tonight is a *Yale Cocktail*, in honor of our Hillary's law school alma mater but you can order anything you like.  See the drink recipe below.

We are delighted to have Bebel Gilberto and her combo singing for us tonight.  You can find her CD Tanto Tempo at amazon.  

Tonight's topic after the fold:

I was hoping it wouldn't come to this.  My sheets always look dingy.  I just can't get them brilliantly white so they look crisp and fresh in the light of the burning Obama effigy.  

I've tried bleach.  I've tried sun.  But it's never enough.  

Sigh

You know, I was hoping that Hillary's "Southern Strategy" would just stay under the radar and we wouldn't have to pray for an end of the year white sale.  

But those Obama campaign people were right on it.  They spotted a pattern that was soooo subtle, even I missed it.  Chris Cilizza got the skinny from Obama's camp himself:

Hey, Hillary fans, we got royally dissed by our fearless leader this afternoon.  He implied that we are lame because we don't make the rec list very often.  

Well, we might not be trendy but we are smart, witty, funny and friendly.  So, I've reserved this diary for our cocktail hour.  We can get together and mingle, swap stories, discuss the topic of the day and have a cocktail.  

Over there to the right of the door is the open bar with our bartender with flair, Rico.  Tonight's music is by Vince Guraldi and is played by Wynton Marsalis and his band.  You can pick up their CD, Joe Cool's Blues on iTunes or Amazon.  

Tonight's topic over the fold:

I am really sick and tired of people having to go out of their way to defend Obama.  It is absolutely not true that he is a Whiny Ass Titty Baby (WATB).  Yet day after day, it has become necessary for his supporters, those dedicated zealots for Change! (trademarked and patent pending, Obama campaign) to hunt down and destroy any diary or comment that dares to criticize him.  

These poor people must be exhausted.  Little did they know that their incomparable, peerless candidate would be the subject of so much comparison or be subjected to the meritless bragging of other candidates.  No one could have predicted it during a primary election season.  

Why did Obama even trust his opponents to play fairly?  He has too much faith in his fellow human beings.  Surely his goodness and mercy will follow them all the days of their lives.  So, why are they mercilessly attacking him?!

It's just unconscionable.  It's almost like they've been working for this moment for all of their lives- to bring down Barack Obama.

They both saw it 45 years ago during their separate "First Blood" ceremony when they were looking at the goat entrails.  Nevermind that Bill and Hill didn't even know each other back then.  They shared a psychic bond.  

The guts said that a child would be born in the Land of the Flyover who would be black as night and light as day who would bring a woman to her knees.  (Bill misunderstood the small intestine.  There is a certain art to this that he hadn't quite mastered).  

Barack Obama is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful candidate I have ever known in my life.  

In the world of politics, he stands alone.  No one can compare themselves to him.  

Literally.

Any such comparisons are obvious attacks on his peerless character.  

I know, I know.  To some of you, it looks like Mr. Obama is justifiably proud that he overcame drug abuse and sets an example for poor and disenfranchised youth while simultaneously having a fit that anyone would accuse him of drug abuse and this looks like emotional instability.  

But you must not believe it because you would have to contrast that to the levelheadedness of other candidates and this is not allowed.  

Oh my God!  Hillary contrasted herself with Barack Obama!  

Does it get any more negative than that?  What will that villainess think of next?  Dragging out their SAT scores?  Perish the thought!

Watch out, watch out!  I think Obama is going to swoon dead away!  Oh, this is serious.  i have never seen anything so vicious in my entire life as Hillary Clinton merely suggesting that she is a candidate that has no hidden skeletons.  Some of us untutored may see that as a positive affirmation that she has survived the relentless Republican attacks on her character including a $70 million crotch shot of her entire life that turned up very, very little to nail her on.  How naive we all were.  She was really just gearing up to take him down.  

Oh, it may sound innocuous, but look at him freaking out.  He is apoplectic!