...But finding a constructive way for Mrs. Clinton's seriously aggrieved loyalists to channel their anger and disappointment could wind up being the path of less destruction for Mr. Obama's campaign. Plus, it's the right thing to do.

You don't have to be a die-hard Clintonite, or even much of a feminist, to be moved by the significance of her presidential campaign.

<snip>

Giving them the chance to see their beloved candidate honored in a highly public forum could, just maybe, help release a little steam from the pressure cooker. Beyond that, there could be other, more direct benefits for Mr. Obama's candidacy.

A roll-call vote for Mrs. Clinton could help Mr. Obama look magnanimous instead of messianic....

Religion and spirituality are not based on any sort of rational methods. That's why Popper would put them as far away from the realm of scientific theory as is humanly possible.

Science, however, is.

LINK

In 2003, he mounted his first campaign for president. A strong showing earned him a spot as Kerry's running mate in 2004.

Shrum, then a Kerry advisor, said in a 2007 book that Kerry had qualms. Edwards, he wrote, told Kerry he was going to confide something he'd never told a soul: that after his son Wade had died, "he climbed onto the slab at the funeral home, laid there and hugged his body, and promised that he'd do all he could to make life better for people, to live up to Wade's ideals of service ...

"Kerry was stunned, not moved," Shrum wrote. "As he told me later, Edwards had recounted the exact story to him, almost in the exact same words, a year or two before - and with the same preface, that he'd never shared the memory with anyone else."

"I believe he gave into a very human tendency," Shrum says. "He wanted to be vice president and said what he had to."

Obama gave the Dems weekly radio address and said this  LINK:

Obama, giving the weekly Democratic radio address, says that this week there have been "two stark examples of exactly what's wrong with Washington."

"First, we learned that the federal budget deficit could reach nearly half a trillion dollars next year. Eight years after we had a record surplus, we're now faced with record deficits. This mortgaging of our children's future is a direct result of the Bush Administration's dangerously failed fiscal policies," Obama says, asserting that McCain would continue Bush's unfair tax policies by extending tax cuts for the wealthy.

"The second thing we learned this week was that the Iraqi government now has a $79 billion budget surplus thanks to their windfall oil profits," Obama continues. "And while this Iraqi money sits in American banks, American taxpayers continue to spend $10 billion a month to defend and rebuild Iraq.

"That's right. America faces a huge budget deficit. Iraq has a surplus. Now, Senator McCain promises to continue President Bush's open-ended commitment to the war in Iraq, while refusing to pressure Iraqis to take responsibility for their own country."

Then McCain said this in his own weekly address:

"As you may know, the Democratic National Convention is just a couple of weeks away. It was four years ago, at the same gathering, that America heard a fine speech from an Illinois state senator named Barack Obama. He's done pretty well for himself since then. And the smart money in Denver is on another celebrated performance," McCain says. "But even the most stirring speeches are easily forgotten when they're short on content. Taking in my opponent's performances is a little like watching a big summer blockbuster, and an hour in realizing that all the best scenes were in the trailer you saw last fall. In the way of running mates, Senator Obama should consider someone with a knack for brevity and directness, to balance the ticket."

"In the meantime, let me take a stab at a plot summary of the Obama campaign: America is finally winning in Iraq, and he wants to forfeit. Government is too big, and he wants to grow it. Taxes are too high, and he wants to raise them. Congress spends too much, and he proposes more. We need more energy, and he's against producing it."

In a previous commentary, I pointed out that Georges Bush, Senior and Junior; Dick Cheney; David Addington; along with the entire Carlyle Group; are on the same payroll as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Nouri Maliki, and Muqtada al-Sadr.   I omitted several other names from that list including those of Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev.  When one examines recent history, one must consider the following:  the former Soviet Union began implementing a free market economic system in 1983.  A mere 25 years later, Moscow boasts of having the most billionaires in residence of any city in the world, among them Wally Putin.  When this Muscovite consortium of oil billionaires challenged the management authority of British Petroleum in Russia, Putin, overnight, went from being the face of modern Russia to a throwback to the Brezhnev years.  In response to Putin's rejection of western influence over his new cash cow, the United States and Western Europe formed political and economic alliances with neighboring Georgia and launched an effort to enroll this `pro-democracy' state into NATO.  Thus began the current conflict.  

Obama