Is it just me, or is the news media really, really off their nuts this week? Is it just me, or doesn't the stuff being spewed by Pat Buchanan, Joe Scarborough, Chris Matthews and the rest of them about the PA Democratic primary result really simply miss the point?

It was, specifically, Pat Buchanan who shot the steam out of my ears and sensitized me to hearing the meme from the rest of them.

He was acting as if this was the general election, and Obama had lost.

He ignored the fact, clear as the nose on his own face, that THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY, which, yes, ran two candidates in its primary, HAD WON. It was, gasp, gasp, a Democratic party primary. All these people voting were registered DEMOCRATS!

Is it rational to think that Republicans, creators of a failed economy, a dead dollar, and a never-ending war, will really steal away so many of those Democratic voters, come November?

Below the fold I rant some more.

I had a phone call today from a good friend who lives overseas, a Haitian refugee who still lives in the Caribbean. He and his family have suffered in their lives as we here can hardly have known. His father died recently and my friend had to buy a man a boat ticket to Haiti so that the man could carry to Haiti the money to pay for the father's coffin; my friend would have lost his job and risked not being able to get back into the country of his current residence (not the U.S.) if he had gone himself. (He has legal residence status but at some borders that doesn't matter; if an immigration officer decides he doesn't like you, you go back on the plane for the return trip.) And if his money had not gotten there, the father's body would simply have been thrown into a hole in the ground.

Follow me below the fold to find out why this man, my friend, matters to dailykos.

So instead of running for us, Al's chosen to run with the VCs.

The more I thought about  it, the worse I felt. I was stunned to read only two diaries here on Kos, and relatively few comments, about the fact that, instead of taking us up on our pleas to bring the U.S. back to the nation we could respect and love, to lead our nation into the future as an example of truth, justice, the American way, and green energy, Al Gore has decided that the best thing he could do with his time, energy, and effort is to join a group of venture capitalists. Not as an advisor, but as a full partner.

Oh, yeah, sure, they're high-class venture capitalists, very successful and  well-connected venture capitalists, probably the number one venture capitalists in the history of entrepreneurship, but excuse me, this is going to be better for Al than for the rest of us.

Enjoy the perks of being a high-class VC, Al. The rest of us will just struggle along.

This is not a big deal for Kosians?

Is anyone else seeing more and more evidence that corporatism, whether Bush style or Clinton (and now Gore) style, is a major problem for both parties?

More below the fold.  

I just ran across something that puts a bit of definition into some of the things that bother me about Hillary Clinton. It's always been sort of the Hillary version of restless leg syndrome for me, cause I just can't get settled down with her.

On the face of it, she should be my ideal candidate.

She's a woman.

She's smart.

She supports liberal social causes.

She's tough.

So what bothers me? I find it's the same thing that bothers me about Bill.

Why do we keep getting sold out? Because we were sold out.

If like me you're wondering how we keep being deflected and defused from any serious accomplishments on the war in Congress when our progressive ire as an electorate has been so up for so long, and we supposedly did so well in the last Congressional election, jump with me below the fold to a dismal story, covered in excellent reporting on truthout.org. You've heard parts of the story before, but never like this.