I didn't support Obama in the primaries.

Truth be told, I don't even like him much.  

But that doesn't matter.  He's the Democratic nominee, and I'm going to vote for him in November.  And I'm going to be enthusiastic about it.  

And this is why:

Forget FISA.  Forget Heller.  Forget campaign finance.  Forget comments by Wes Clark and photo-ops with Muslim women.

Obama is still better.

And it's time for those who loved Obama most to remember that.

It must be hard to be a conservative columnist in the waning days of the Bush empire.

It must be hard to be a conservative columnist in the months leading up to what will most likely be a crushing defeat of John McCain.

And it must be very hard to be David Brooks, conservative columnist for the New York Times, trying to salvage your credibility as report after report after report proves that you have spent the better part of the past eight years on the wrong side.

If you're still questioning the righteousness, morality, or constitutionality of the activities at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, President Bush has a message for you:

Stop slandering America.  

What an embarrassment.

An American icon dies, and the country mourns his passing, but a few anonymous assholes in the blogosphere believe they have some sort of duty to remind us all that Tim Russert was -- oh no! -- imperfect.  

Some even feel the need to ridicule the rest of us for having the audacity to show a little respect for Russert and his family and friends (including fellow Kossack Keith Olbermann) by not immediately listing and analyzing all the ways Russert failed as a journalist.

These sad few are a blight on our virtual community.

And it's time for Kos to do something about it.

We didn't always like him.

We didn't always agree with him.

In fact, many of us yelled at him, on television screens if not in person.

But today, an American icon is gone.

It's over.

What started 16 months ago -- or 200 years ago, depending on how you look at it -- has come to an end.

Our party has a nominee, a phenomenal nominee, and it isn't you.  As hard as I worked, as much as I donated, as badly as I wanted it, it didn't happen.

But I want to thank you anyway.

Because you made the impossible possible.

Congratulations.

You did it.  You came from out of nowhere to build a tremendous coalition of all colors, all ages, all religions.

And you won.

There's a difference, you know.

Supporters love their candidate.  They educate themselves about their candidate.  They learn about their candidate's policies, positions, background, voting record.  They work to get their candidate elected -- by voting, by calling, by donating money, by slapping that sign in the front yard and that sticker on their car.

"Supporters", on the other hand, are a little different.  They don't know much about their candidate, but that's because their candidate is irrelevant to them.

They hate the other candidate.  That's their motivation.  They trash the other candidate -- on TV, on blogs, at "rallies" and "protests."  They seek confrontation and do not care if their behavior reflects badly on their candidate, because they don't really care about their candidate to begin with.

If Hillary Clinton is Obama's VP, he'll need a food taster because she will plot to have him killed so she, in conjunction with the military industrial complex, can expand the war in the Middle East.  If you think that's so improbable, watch Oliver Stone's JFK.

Or...

Hillary Clinton is positioning herself to run as VP on McCain's ticket so she can, once and for all, take down the Democratic party.

Or...

Hillary Clinton is trying to destroy Obama so that (a) he'll lose in November and she can run again in 2012, or (b) so that he'll just barely win in November and she can run against him in 2012.

Is it me, or has everyone taken their crazy pills today?

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?