So, do you think Ms. Obama was aiming at Hillary Clinton?

unless ms. obama isn't as smart as everyone gives her credit for. she was quite clearly taking aim at the republicans in both the white house and congress, if she was aiming at anyone.

semidi, sen. clinton can't possibly be a republican, masquerading as a democrat, she hasn't been outed as a closet queen, reformed alcoholic/drug abuser, or been married multiple times. ok, there is that small matter of the 1,000's she murdered in arkansas, but hey, everyone needs a hobby!

So let's turn the Democratic Party into the Republican Party, where everyone works together for common goal whether they like it or not, and the people of the United States are left without any genuine representation whatsoever in their own government.  Let's ignore the fact that Musharraf is a Saddam Hussein in waiting, a man who has done everything in his power to suppress the political opposition, and has also allowed Al Qaeda a safe haven within his country's borders, while the Bush administration all but gives them a free pass, because Musharraf supposedly stands against Islamic fundamentalism.  We played this game in Iran, then Iraq and we continue to play it in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and look what it's getting us, the exact opposite of what we had hoped.  Islamic fundamentalism is growing and taking root all around the world, to stand in opposition to US and Western manipulation of Middle Eastern countries.  

The people of the Middle East are being forced to make a choice, support a sectarian government which suppresses political dissent, or embrace a form of government that is founded on Islamic unity, where civil rights and freedoms are limited, but at least the people have a genuine say in their government.  If I were them, I know the choice that I would make, I would embrace a government where my voice is at least heard, even if I don't have the right to speak freely, because in that kind of government I have at least the chance at reform.  In Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt etc. this is the choice that are being forced to make.  And each day more and more of them are deciding that Islamic rule is far more preferable than the rule of puppet dictators supported by the West.  The people of Iraq are making this choice as well, and I'd say it's pretty obvious that they're not going to allow a government created by the Bush administration to stand for much longer.

Few if any in the Democratic camp want to talk about these things, CNN is content to play the fear card every day highlighting the dangers of religious fundamentalism with Christiane Amanpour's series where everyone agrees that religious fundamentalism is on the rise all around the world, including here in the United States, yet she fails to take the next logical step and honestly addressed the question of why this is a global movement.  Nor does this continuing and growing dilemma seem to be a popular subject of discussion among the so-called progressive blogs or net root organizations.  Ignoring it or using it as propaganda is a tragic mistake, one we seem content to continue making.

So what the Democratic candidates are left with is the same old politics as usual, personal attacks, fear mongering, and going along to get along for the sake of party unity.  Markos over at the daily Kos is already working on how the Democrats can make gains in the 2010 elections.  He seems painfully unaware that placing all the power in the hands of the Democratic Party is not necessarily going to make things significantly better for the American people or our nation and the world stage, and considering the changes in 2006, and the approval rating of Congress, it surely hasn't up to this point.  I think perhaps Markos has been so taken with his success, that he may have lost sight of who and what he's been fighting for, assuming his primary concern is with the well-being of the American people and not the Democratic Party.  I must admit, I've always seen a lack of understanding in him when it comes to the larger picture.

CNN in many ways has devolved into the kinder gentler version of Fox news which provides a wealth of distraction and entertainment disguised as news, citing ratings in defense of their format changes.  Today they've got Soledad O'Brien of their "Special Investigations Unit" doing a vitally important exposé of Princess Diana, Growing up Diana, a dead person who has absolutely no impact on anything in America or anywhere else in the world, nor did she ever have any genuine political impact on anything of importance in her lifetime.  Soledad is interviewing reporters from The Sun to get her story.  This is the third half hour long Diana report I've seen on CNN in the last month.

Apparently CNN is playing up to those American sensibilities which idealize all things imperial, they obviously realized that most Americans, disgusted with the drudgery of an endless string of menial dead-end jobs, secretly longed to have a life where they are catered to by an army of in slave peasantry, and CNN is just giving us what we want to see.

edwards: nice guy, good personal injury attorney, pulled himself up by his bootstraps kind of guy. little or no real experience, prior to becoming kerry's running mate.

obama: nice guy, clearly intelligent, articulate, empathetic. also pulled himself up kind of guy. also, little to no real experience.

if i'm getting a quadruple by-pass (which i've had), i want the guy who's successfully done a lot of them, not the guy who's doing his first one or two. he can assist.

John Edwards is the only candidate to take on Big Coal. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both support the "coal liquefication" scam that will create bigger environmental messes.