So according to the more recent fashion trends among today's youth (which I'm apparently not a part of anymore), we're currently re-living 1987. Once wasn't enough?

For several weeks I've been listening to Tucker Carlson and Wolf Blitzer and other media pundits tell me that the Democratic race is tied, and that Hillary Clinton can win. Like Markos, I believe the only way Clinton can win at this point is "via coup by super delegate." And yet, the media seems to have made a decision to ignore the facts and instead create a different narrative, one where Obama will be brought down by 20 second sound-bytes of Reverend Wright that they play over and over again.

They've covered Hillary's Bosnia lie, but already that story seems to be dying down - and at least twice I've seen this reported on CNN as being similar to the Wright "scandal", but you know, Wright somehow shows Obama has bad judgment, while the Bosnia lie shows that Hillary just misspoke.

TPMtv provides us with a compilation video, diaried last night by Virginia Dem.

Blue Majority added a candidate to its list today - and that candidate is Barack Obama! (Yay! Cheers & Applause all around!)

Why Obama? Chris Bowers explains:

First, Barack Obama opposed the invasion of Iraq from the start, and rejected the neoconservative principle of pre-emptive warfare as one of his main reasons for opposing the war. Being able to identify the invasion of Iraq as a colossal mistake makes Barack Obama far more qualified to lead our country than candidates who both were, and still are, unable to recognize why the war was such a bad idea. Comparing Obama's and Clinton's statements on the death of 4,000 American soldiers in Iraq, it seems clear that Hillary Clinton still believes in the neoconservative vision for Iraq, while Barack Obama does not. The second ideological marker is the Democratic Leadership Council, an organization formed to push the Democratic Party and the national political debate to the right on a variety of issues. While Hillary Clinton is a member of the DLC's leadership, Barack Obama has repeated refuses to be associated with the group.

Let's pretend we're watching MTV - in the 80s - you know, back when they actually played music? If I could have 30 minutes to be a VJ, my playlist might go something like this:

REM - The One I Love

Sit back, put up your feet, and grab yourself a Guinness in honor of St. Paddy's Day!

Before you get too tipsy, please sign the petition to make St. Patrick's Day an official US Holiday! (It's um...a bit too late for this year - but maybe we can shoot for a million signatures by 3/17/09 instead!!)

Check out this hilarious video:

Apparently Hillary Clinton believes that Democratic voters are like children. We are allowed to ask for her tax information, for information on who donated to the Clinton Library Fund, and for Bill Clinton's business dealings post-Presidency, but we're not actually going to get any answers. That information is apparently beyond what Democratic voters need to know when we're making our choices this primary season.

But what happens when voters have questions and are asking those questions and we're not getting any responses?

We're left to fill in that blank space ourselves. There are so many possible reasons as to why Hillary won't release this information. Since she won't give us the answers, I suppose all we can do is try to supply our own answers given the information we do have.

While we speculate, we can also join this Facebook group, Hillary, Release Your Tax Returns!

I've spent years of my life with my nose buried in books. The most recent book I've opened is by Eileen Favorite, The Heroines. This novel is about a young girl - 13 - growing up in Prairie Bluff, Illinois. This isn't that far from where I am right now, but the reality of the story is quite different from our own reality. In this story, Penny deals with the fact that her mom, owner of a Bed & Breakfast, is hostess and friend to the heroines of many famous novels.

They appear at all hours of the day and in all manners of distress. A lovesick Madame Bovary languishes in their hammock after Rodolphe has abandoned her, and Scarlett O'Hara's emotions are not easily tempered by tea and eiderdowns. These visitors long for comfort, consolation, and sometimes for more attention than the adolescent Penny wants her mother to give.

Knowing that to interfere with their stories would cause mayhem in literature, Anne-Marie does her best to make each Heroine feel at home, with a roof over her head and a shoulder to cry on. But when Penny begins to feel overshadowed by her mother's indulgence of each and every Heroine, havoc ensues, and the thirteen year old embarks on her own memorable tale."

So my sister asked me yesterday to list some "bad 90's songs". It took me a minute or two, but after some quick thought I had a hard time stemming the flow of memories to all those bad 90's songs I wished had never been written. Haddaway, "What is Love" was the winner last night for me. Give me some of your favorite bad songs from the 90's.

I received a very important email yesterday - and I'm guessing some of you received the very same email. I'm sharing it today for several reasons -

1. It's imperative that we follow the instructions in this email immediately if we intend to actually see any change in our country in the next few years.

2. Kath25, lirtydies, and hekebolos asked me to post a diary today on this topic - because they're busy canvassing today in TX and they need us to help them.

On September 6, 2006, the Senate voted on S.Amdt. 4882 to H.R. 5631. What was the purpose of this bill?

To protect civilian lives from unexploded cluster munitions.

This amendment would have banned the use of cluster bombs in civilian areas and refugee camps. Senator Obama voted to ban the use of cluster bombs. Senator Clinton voted to preserve the use of cluster bombs in civilian areas and refugee camps. One candidate did the right thing, the other did not. We have seen Senator Clinton vote the wrong way on bills before - Iraq, Kyl-Lieberman, the Bankruptcy Bill, etc. Each time she has responded with an excuse - she's given us her reasoning for her votes. In my opinion her excuses have been poor, her reasoning faulty. But what excuse could Senator Clinton possibly give us for voting to preserve the use of cluster bombs?

None.

what are you reading?

Me? I've got a few books on my plate at the moment.

I was lucky enough to get an Advance Reading Copy of Frank Luntz's new book, Words That Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear. Why is this lucky, you ask? Well, obviously because it means I don't have to actually give Frank Luntz any money. And of course I get to read it early...and that's always fun. Actually, I'm not really reading it early. I've had it for a few weeks but I just started the other evening.

What else am I reading?

I haven't started it yet - but The Elegant Universe, by Brian Greene.

Tell me what you're reading...perhaps I'll add it to my ever-growing list!

Consider this a Feminisms open thread. I haven't had the time lately to actually write a Feminisms - or even think about a Feminisms topic, actually. Too much work - too much traveling.

Anyway, talk about what's on your mind...

I think we would all appreciate it if we could keep the candidate stuff in the candidate diaries, so if you've got comments on the primary, please take them to one of the hundred or so recent diaries on the primary. I assure you the discussion is flourishing there.

Can I just say that I am practically giddy with the prospect of running against John McCain in November. McCain has provided us with so much fodder that I can hardly believe Republicans have pretty much handed them the nomination. I can't wait for the ads...but in the meantime, we've got plenty of YouTube videos to watch! Here are a few of my favorite McCain-related You Tubes...show me your favorites in the comments!

When I got back from a week of volunteering prior to the caucus in Iowa, I posted this diary (same title as this one) with the goal of giving folks tips on phone banking -- both in general and specifically for Barack Obama. I've revised that diary tonight because we have a very short time before voting and caucusing begin on Tuesday - and it's imperative to make calls to HI right now, and to WI and HI all day and night tomorrow.

Relevant info from the previous diary about my odd affection for phone banking:  

I like talking to people, persuading them to support a candidate or cause, and motivating them to get involved and invested in their candidates, causes, or communities.

There are few other things in the world that make me as happy as I am when I'm pounding the pavement or calling folks to talk politics or issues.

The good news for you - you don't have to love, or even like, phone banking. The potential bad news for you - you have to do it now whether you like it or not - because if you don't get on that phone and convince people to support Obama, we could lose WI and HI on Tuesday.

Which five letter word?

Tips to Kath25 for accessing the OED and for the photos! I couldn't have done it without her!

When I was a little girl and it snowed my father used to take us (me and my younger sisters) out in the snow. We'd have a snowball fight or we'd go sledding at the nearby golf course. I don't recall it snowing as much then as it is this year. Apparently this has been Chicago's 4th snowiest winter in 25 years.

We added a bit more this evening - making the roads incredibly dangerous right around rush hour - and they weren't expecting that much this early, so there weren't salt trucks out or anything. Sliding around on an interstate is really great when there are huge trucks barreling down on you. Luckily I made it home safely. Hopefully everyone else did!

As primary season has moved along - more and more Kossacks have decided on a candidate. At this point, we're down to two (plus the Gravelanche), and I've noticed lately that there are a lot of Kossacks who are supporting my favorite candidate, Barack Obama. There are three things I need from Obama supporters this evening.

My guess is that you know what one of my requests is going to be...but what are the other two? Well, stop the head-scratching and read on!

There's a new book out about Hillary Clinton, Thirty Ways Of Looking At Hillary: Reflections By Women Writers. Susan Faludi reviews the book here. I had no intention of reading this book, and now that I've read Faludi's review of it, I'm feeling like my instincts were right.

This Faludi quote sums up why I'm avoiding this book:

Reading through these pages, I wished for a companion volume, Thirty Ways of Looking at Women Looking at Hillary, which answered this question: Why do so many of these women writers—who have shown themselves to be graceful essayists and well-reasoned analysts in other contexts—resort to unfactual and illogical thinking and, in many cases, downright 13-year-old cattiness when the topic is Hillary?

When I first saw the title of the book, I thought - "hrm, I'm guessing these are mostly personal opinion pieces, but I wonder what it would actually be like to look at someone 30 different ways."