Today as I waited (one hour!) to see the doctor, I came across a powerful article in this month’s Texas Monthly entitled:  Mission Impossible:  Why we should end the war in Iraq-now, by William Broyles.

I had my “Barack and Michelle” pin attached to my purse, which elicited an interesting conversation with a stranger also patiently waiting.

Come to find out, she was also a Democrat, a former Hillary supporter,  but still held the usual media-fed beliefs about Obama’s weaknesses.  I set her straight (politely) and reminded her how we simply could not afford to elect McCain.  I encouraged her to read the article (she had plenty of time) and I urge everyone here to read it in its entirety, as it is one of the best written articles I’ve come across about Iraq.

This durn bloggin is costing me $11.00 a day for wifi at the Hilton Hotel in Austin.   Guess I'll be contributing to Paris Hilton's inheritance.  I know I should be in on one of the sessions, but I had to eat breakfast, swim laps, and spy on my Hillary friends.  If any of you Kossacks are blogging, please comment here and give your impressions of what's going on with the Hillary folks.  Here's the low down from what I've gleaned from eavesdropping.

For Some Clinton Supporters, Sexism Is the Only Explanation

So reads an article by Russell Goldman from abcnews.com today.

Many Women's Hopes of Seeing First Female President Are Tied to Clinton Going the Distance

As Sen. Hillary Clinton has raced toward the end of what appears to be a losing bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, she has voiced what her most fervent supports have been saying -- her campaign has been dissed and damaged by people "who are nothing but misogynists."

Please do not respond to this diary.  I am posting it again (Previous title:  The Saga Continues) because I wanted to send the link to someone and I wanted to have the scanned letters in the body.  I had to edit the diary and the only way to save it was to publish it again.  Hopefully it will scroll off the diary list soon enough.  I hope this makes sense.  (I finally figured out how to imbed a jpg.

Preferences expressed at precinct caucuses and the county convention are not binding pledges. Sign-in preferences at State, when called for at the convention, are. Your free will and social conscience are called for in the intervening time. It is my hope and prayer that you will join me and many others in embracing the Hillary cause that is America's best Hope. Sign in for Hillary Clinton; the Time is Right.

So reads a letter I received in the mail today.

My Hillary supporter friend warned me that Clinton delegates were launching an all out campaign to get Obama supporters to switch allegiance at the Texas Democratic State Convention June 3-5th.  And they were going to “challenge credentials” again.  

She was right. The letter was from a local professor.  (Without revealing his identity, this man is a well respected community leader who holds public office in our city.)   Actually there were three letters, one of which was extraordinary and stunning.  Here are a few samples of the propaganda:

I apologize for this short diary. I have to go to work, but I just learned that Hillary will be on Countdown tonight.  Here's what I just sent to Keith Olbermann:

In yesterday’s (March 5) local paper (Denton Record Chronicle) a regular column by Lenore Skenazy appeared with this title:

Sen. Obama’s feel-good wave doesn’t appeal to all  

Here's the link

I am getting irritated with so-called journalists who keep spreading this ignorant meme.

Ms. Skenazy makes the case for her superior ability to rise above the Obama hysteria by being one of two of her friends who has not succumbed to the messianic Obama cult.

“People look at him and say, ‘Oh, he’s our savior,’ so I hesitate to say in front of other people that I don’t get that great warm feeling when I look at him,” my friend Marla confessed the other night in her kitchen.

It was such a relief to find another cult member.

The cult of the “he’s smart, he’s nice, but I’m not convinced he’s the Messiah” voter.

Your eyelids are getting heavy.  You WILL follow me below the fold:

Thom Hartmann, brilliant historian and radio show host,  (Air America Radio) has written an  important article about why the “war strategy” in Iraq is a fallacy.  By asking the reader to use his/her imagination, he sets up a scenario in which two major cities in the United States suffer a major catastrophe, then parallels the Bush administration’s Iraq strategy with this scenario.    Entitled:  The Problem With a “War” Strategy

Keith’s special comment tonight brought me to tears.  Tears of rage, of heartbreak--tears of gratitude that there is one courageous voice on television news who speaks for me.  I have heard no one else express with such eloquence and passion the exact sentiment that has preoccupied my very soul since G. Dubya launched his illegal and immoral war on the people of Iraq.

Greg Palast reports that this is not the first time Harriet Miers fired investigators to protect her god, George W. Bush.  In 1997, Ms. Miers was responsible for granting a contract to handle the Texas Lottery.  Even though a winner (via bids) was already announced, Miers gave the multibillion dollar contract to GTech--- at the secret request of then Governor George W. Bush.  G-Tech didn’t even submit a bid.  In order to carry out this little deed,  Miers fired the director of the Lottery who had discouraged GTech from bidding because of its history of corruption.

More below...

Why does this shrew get even one iota of attention from the corporate media?  Oh yeah, I forgot.  It’s Corporate media.  Our local rag, the Denton Record Chronicle, (Texas) just can’t get enough of this witch. Not only do they carry her obnoxious column, but they were ecstatic to cover her speech at the local Republic’s Annual Dinner.

I thought I would go back to last year’s SOTU address to refresh my memory of the President’s lies to the nation.  Be sure to have on hand some anti-nausea medicine should you attempt to read through the whole pathetic thing:

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/...

Same old same old. Lies, lies, lies. Yawn.

Then, I found a nifty website http://www.drinkinggame.us/  “The State of the Union Drinking Game,” to provide needed relief for those masochistic enough to watch this year.

“The general rules of this game are no different from any other drinking game. A drink is either a shot or a good gulp from a beer (or cider). Different events call for different numbers of drinks and all you do is watch the speech and play along. If all goes well, you'll be unconscious by the time they show the other party's response.”

Jump down por favor:

   

Just wanted to give you all an update on Kati and James Kim who have been missing  since Saturday, November 25th.   Katie and the Kims' two little girls, Penelope, age 4 and Sabine, age 7 months,  were found alive and well today.  James is still missing.

More....

Dear Fellow Kossacks

I am asking for your prayers and help.  James and Kati Kim and their two children, Penelope, age 4 and Sabine, age 7 months, are missing.  They were traveling in the Eugene, Portland, Salem Oregon area this past Saturday, November, 25.  

I came across this article from Op-Ed News which crystallizes the resolution of polarization.  This article provides a cogent discussion of the dynamics of polarization as well as how to integrate diverging cultural beliefs beyond just reaching a hollow, unsatisfying compromise.  Since I am often engaged in debate with my conservative friends, I found Andrew Bard Schmookler's almost decade-old editorial about understanding the dynamics of polarization quite helpful.  

The Dance of Polarization
How a Culture Breaks Down into Warring Half-Truths
by Andrew Bard Schmookler

http://www.opednews.com/...

Continues...

Mr. Mackey Counsels Barbara Bush

Setting:  Mr. Mackey's office.  Mr. Mackey is pointing to a chart on the wall.

Mr. Mackey:  Mrs. Bush, here's something we call the Bell Shaped Curve. Umkay?  Most people when tested fall within this range here.  It's called the Average Range.  A smaller percentage of people fall outside the Average.  Some above, and some below.  Mrs. Bush, your son, Dumbya, well, his test scores fall down here in the Below Average range. Umkay?

Babs: This is just preposterous.  My boy's going to Yale. I don't care what you say.

The One Act Play continues....

Seems that Texas Republican Senator Cornyn (lovingly nicknamed Corndog by his good Buddy Dumbya) is getting some of the Abramoff/Reed fecal matter all over his smug self righteousness.  In a recent Associated Press article:  

http://www.mysanantonio.com/...

Cornyn?  In cahoots with Abramoff?  See below

Elizabeth De La Vega has written an excellent summation of the Bush/Cheney lies about Iraq in an article in the most recent The Nation magazine. Much of the information is known, but she lines up the facts and makes a convincing case of outright fraud as only a federal prosecutor with more than 20 years' experience can.

More on the flip: