Stop it.

Stop these diaries, these "open letters."  Stop explaining to me where Hillary went wrong as if you are doing me, or any of us, a favor.

And most of all, stop telling me sexism doesn't matter.

Liberals love the Constitution.

Ask anyone on the street.  They'll tell you the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a liberal organization.

I know liberal couples who give each other pocket size copies of the Constitution for Christmas.

Ask liberals to list their top five complaints about the Bush Administration, and they will invariably say the words "shredding" and "Constitution" in the same sentence.  They might also add "Fourth Amendment" and "due process."  It's possible they'll talk about "free speech zones" and "habeus corpus."

There's a good chance they will mention, probably in combination with several FCC-prohibited adjectives, the former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

So.

Liberals love the Constitution.  They especially love the Bill of Rights.  They love all the Amendments.

Except for one: the Second Amendment.

Wow.

Just...wow.

There is a diary on this page right now making fun of Hillary supporters protesting media bias.

It's full of snark and glee.  Look at those stupid protesters.  Look at them whining.  Look at their silly signs.  Their lame slogans.  

Ha ha fucking ha.

What is wrong with this picture?

Two words: Johm McCain.  

Via TPM:

McCain Camp Misspells His Name In Web Ad:

"Johm" McCain, eh? As the irrepressible Instaputz, who first caught this, puts it: "this might explain his problems distinguishing between Iraq and Iran."

   
Some crazy guy who wants war throughout the world -- now and forever  -- and he can't even spell his name right, let alone figure out how to achieve victory in Iraq.  Or is it Iran?  Who knows?  Is he having another senior moment?  Someone quick -- get Joe Lieberman.  Maybe he can whisper the right answer in McCain's good ear.  

Are you getting it yet?

We are not going to lose to that guy.

We're going to win.

I don't know her that well.  

We only met a few months ago, but we clicked instantly.  We like the same things: NPR and the Op-Ed page of the New York Times (well, sometimes, anyway).  David Sedaris and liberal blogs.  The Violent Femmes.  The Blues Brothers.  Socialized healthcare.

We oppose the same things, too.  We both marched against the war way back in 2002.  We both oppose the Bush Administration.  And the whinier side of feminism.  (And we're both women who majored in women's studies in college.)

But there's one big difference between us: In two weeks, I'm hopping a plane to L.A. to celebrate Passover with my family.  

And she is flying to Iraq.

Update: I made the Rec list for the first time.  Thank you, everyone, for your support.  You need only look as far as these comments to know we are going to work it out.

Update 2:  In the comments, eclecticbrotha recognized that having an anti-Hillary sig line (or anti-Obama sig line) was not conducive to the Great Make Up of 2008.  And he/she changed it on the spot.

If you agree with what I'm saying, and what so many of you are saying, then let me ask you to do the same.  If your sig line is an anti-Democratic candidate sig, change it.  Make it about McCain.  Make it something positive about your preferred candidate.  But I think this will actually go a long way toward healing the rift.

So, good on ya, eclecticbrotha.

Okay.

I'm ready.

I'm not taking the Hillary sticker off my car.  Not until she's officially out (and even then, you know, fuck it, I just might leave it there.  'Cause I'm still damned proud of the day I went to my caucus and voted for Hillary Clinton for president.)

But I'm ready to say it.  I'm ready to go there.  

I'm ready to vote for Obama.

(Note: Many people have expressed their dislike of the dream ticket in the general.  Please note that I am not necessarily advocating for such; rather, I am suggesting that between now and when the last primaries take place, they run as if they are running together.  There is a difference.)

I know, I know.  

They hate each other.  We hate each other.  If the other candidate experiences anything other than total, absolute, crushing defeat, we will all sit at home and pout.  Or vote for McCain.  Or vote for Nader.

The goal, as I think we'd all agree, is to kick McCain's sorry old "War 4 Ever!" ass back into the mid-ages from whence he came.

The reason we can't do that just yet is that we haven't decided who should do it.

I know, I know.  Obama.  Yes we can.  Si se puede.  The math.  The will of the people.  More states, red states, delegates, popular vote.  

I know, I know.  

(Heck, I personally conceded a week ago.)  

However...

What has become of the Democratic party?

What happened to tolerance and nuance and respect for the opinions of others?

Hell, what happened to peace-loving hippies?  Or even dirty fucking hippies?

Why have I been called a troll, a Republican, a Lieberman Democrat?

You won.

You supported Obama.  You went to his rallies, donated on his website, made phone calls on his behalf, wore your t-shirts and bumper stickers.

You posted your diaries.

You posted comments in response to pro-Hillary diaries.  Sometimes, you let your passion get the best of you, and you posted really, really, really, really nasty comments.  (Come on, admit it.  You know you did.)

Guess what?  Barack Obama is a politician.  You know what politicians do?  They run for office.  It's called campaigning.  They raise money, they give speeches, and at the end of the day, people vote for them.

That's how campaigns work.

But this campaign season, Obama's supporters -- and even Obama himself -- have argued that voting for Obama is somehow something more than a political campaign.  Obama is leading a movement.  

In public appearances, he often greets the assembled throngs with, "Hello, believers."

Well, I'm sorry, but no.  It is not a movement.  It is a campaign.

One thing is obvious from tonight's victories for Hillary.  And no, it's not about momentum or being the come back kid.  

And it's not about who has more delegates or superdelegates or whether to count Michigan and Florida.

This is about a clear message from the voters: we want to have our cake and eat it too.

We want Hillary and Obama.

After posting my first diary on the subject of why it takes more than a "D" to make me vote for a candidate -- a diary, I might add, that inspired many helpful suggestions as well as a lot of vulgar vitriol -- I'm jumping in for a second attempt.

The ground rules were made clear to me: No praising third parties.  No mention of the third-party N-word.  Preferably, no criticism of the Democratic party.  And, be positive positive positive.

So, keeping those rules in mind, I give you my second attempt:

I start every political season with one basic assumption: I do not like any of the candidates.