In a diary about the Wisconsin delegate being removed after she said she'd support McCain since Clinton lost, route66 also highlighted in a comment another delegate squabble with a Clinton supporter spilling over in Florida.

When reading the comments in the originating Miami Herald article, I noticed a very clear pattern within the anti-Obama sentiments: NObama.

Stick with it just a bit more...

Anyone remember this from in December, 2006?
Anyone?

It was a throw-away comment in a rather wild frontpage story.

Check it out...

I stumbled into dKos in 2004, just another rabid Clarkie that found the dismissive tones of his candidacy disheartening. I preferred the diaries that supported my hopes, and defended Gen. Clark in the diaries that disparaged him.

This year, it was Edwards who stole my political heart and left me behind before I thought the race begun. I've been through the stages of disbelief & grief before - and expect that no candidate that excites me will ever win - so I'm enjoying the primaries from an observers point-of-view.

But today, for whatever reason, the dam has burst. The first twitches of the Clinton campaign's rigor mortis is showing in the diaries this morning...

I need the help of all you Kossacks, since I doubt I can do this on my own.

I am seeking 1 hour of gainful employment.
One single hour.

It's not that I'm unemployed.
Or unemployable.
I work at least 40 hours at my day job and put in another 12 or so on my side projects. But all I'm needing is just 1 more hour of employment.

So can you help a Kossack with another hour of work?
People who know people - make some calls for a friend, eh?
All I need is 1 hour...

....and pocket a cool $3,148,528.

Just one hour collecting the profits from one oil company, please.

The perky automated voice told me the call was for a survey whose results would be on the TV - as if knowing you answered the questions they're showing would change someone's mind to do the survey. Myself, I enjoy seeing what pulse of the country they are trying to gather, with everything going on...

The Plame case being tossed?
The Presidon't commuting Scooter?
Senator Vitter in a diaper?
The all-night Senate session?
Osama's latest demo tape?

Guess the real questions from the fakes on the flip.

No time for cute words - they're closing now and over the next few hours.
Go.

Look.

Bid.

My eBay adventures began nearly seven years ago, when one day I wanted to relive my childhood & bought myself an Atari 2600. With that single act, I unleashed a monster from deep within me that now runs feral with my bank account numbers.

It feeds on my primitive desire to win. (c'mon man, just bid higher)
It rewards me with random surprise packages from the Man in Blue when I return from work. (much love to our civil service workers!)

I buy stuff.
Then I sell that same stuff.
I just can't stop, and today I found something that made it worse.
Much worse.

You'll probably have an eBay problem too - you just didn't know it yet.

The future is here.
Did you notice?

This wasn't what I was told the future would be. No meal in pill form. No autoshower machines. No self-driving hovercars. Not even a damned jetpack. Is that so much to ask? A simple jetpack?

I leave 2006 with a tired heart, and I'm sure the rest will catch up soon. At least I hope so. I plan on joining my wife for a nice nights sleep once I know what I face with 2007.

And here it is. I'll try to describe it to those not quite there, so you know what it feels like.

Here's a hint: it ain't too bad so far.

I'll spare the obvious news recap and get right to the point - while everyone knows The Picture, or at least should - few people know what Saddam said between that picture & Bush War I.

Now, a foreword from Saddam Hussein, 1990:

It is natural to say that the U.S. is not like Britain, for example, with the latter's historic relations with Middle Eastern countries, including Iraq. In addition, there were no relations between Iraq and the U.S. between 1967 and 1984. One can conclude it would be difficult for the U.S. to have a full understanding of many matters in Iraq. When relations were re-established we hoped for a better understanding and for better cooperation because we too do not understand the background of many American decisions.

Ignorance is not strength, but that lesson will wait another decade-and-a-half to prove itself.

More on the flip.

First & foremost, put your sabers away.

This isn't about Sen. Obama measuring the Oval Office for new carpeting.
This isn't about Sen. Obama being questioned for his party loyalty.

This is about Barack Obama, the man.
I'd say this is a great peek into the character of a man quickly stirring this community into a hornets nest. What could possibly be apolitical and still require a public apology, aired on NPR, from a sitting Senator?

Did I mention you'll laugh?

I did a search for this and didn't find any previous diary, so if this is a duplicate lemme know & it'll be gone.

I can't do it.
This article is so overloaded with champ material I simply cannot take the easy shots myself. As a community service, I offer to my fellow Kossacks this warm-up exercise in snark for the humor deficient: Nintendo's gift to the President.

Dear President Bush:
Happy Birthday!
Don't worry, turning 60 is an exciting milestone. As you know, you've joined millions of other baby boomers in an invigorating new decade of your life. And, like many boomers, you may be looking for ways to keep your mind sharp. That's where we come in.

That's just the beginning... More warm-up waiting in the snark t-ball game I've put together on the flip.

Seriously, you need to move and move fast. Like right now, progressive.

Why?
History is about to pass you by at speeds you cannot imagine, and you only have hours left to catch a piece for yourself!

Dukakis cigarettes?!?
Democratic donkey whiskey?
What the hell am I talking about?

<more down below>

In my world, I troubleshoot complex communications systems that require a slow, methodical problem-solving technique. A system is configured to work specifically, as it has for years, but suddenly malfunctions as a result of some problem trigger event. Because I know every different response button X will give, even if it is a triggered unexpected reaction I can identify what is actually happening by the response output.

I know the possible outcomes which leads me to finding the triggers. But what if it was the other way around, and you only know the trigger? Then what would it look like building the test environment around that information?

Greetings from soggy Massachusetts! After a week of straight rain, the landscape has changed. Nature has been leaving its mark on the ground, in the trees, and in buildings, but also made a political point within the unrelenting deluge.

A billboard faded from the rains resulting in a juxtaposition of two advertisements that delivers a message that could never, ever, EVER be shown on a ClearChannel billboard.

See for yourself below.                            

"This is bureaucracy at its worse, and the citizens of the Gulf Coast are suffering for it."
- Rep. Henry Waxman

Today we have another example of complete idiocy on behalf of our government when facing the worst natural disaster of our time (so far). Not only does this article detail the confusion regarding accepting foreign donations & aid, it mentioned other problems I had not previously known.

So about that audit thingy...

Federal auditors on Thursday laid out a scenario of omissions, missteps and bureaucratic nightmares that caused a loss of money and other donations sent from abroad to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Lawmakers at a congressional hearing on the subject reacted harshly to a Government Accountability Office report that attributed the errors, which involved as many as eight government agencies, to the United States' lack of experience as a recipient of huge amounts of aid from others.

Quotes from both sides down in the subcockle region of the diary...

Updated: 70 MPG is imperial gallons. 1.2 US gallons is only 1 imperial gallons. Thanks to DrSpalding for pointing out my errors. Suddenly, I wonder why we hate the metric system... but I digress.

"Ford: Driving American Innovation"

That's what their damned radio commercial on my local Air America affiliate tells me. It actually says this several times during that 30-second spot. Shit, I've heard them enough to think they may actually know something about innovation. I'm thinking Ford may actually be working on an ion engine for the 2007 Focus because they are driving American innovation. C'mon, hovercar!

So what was that innovation they keep touting?

Was it the nearly 60 mpg vehicle they produce?
Nah. The commercial didn't mention that.

Perhaps it was their Flexible Fuel Vehicle (FFV) that allows bioethanol to be mixed with petrol in any combination?
But it wasn't that either.

So how is Ford "Driving American Innovation?"

I haven't seen this up yet, but it appears another crony of the Presidon't has stepped down. Besides the obvious good news of another unqualified chum stepping down, in a crisis, thousands upon thousands of lives would depend on his decisions.

He is Stewart Simonson, the Assistant Secretary for Public Health Emergency Preparedness at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services., and a backer of Project Bioshield.

A few tidbits I noticed on the flip...

As I sat self-loathing over the cigarette I wish I wasn't smoking, two planes pulling banners approached. "JUDGES TIED 3-TO-3 ON GAY MARRIAGE - REMOVE MARSHALL! the first one read. Obviously this was referring to Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall, the 4th vote which allowed passage of the historic legislation some two years ago.

The message continued on the second plane. "WE CAN STOP GAY MARRIAGE NOW! CALL 617-722-2500" This one was a tough one to figure out, simply because the orientation of the planes had their messages backwards from my point of view - after the first banner, I expected this message.

Being the progressive pain-in-the-ass I am, I called to see who I'd find on the other end of the line. The woman answered "<somebody's inaudible name>'s Office - how can I help you?"

"Good afternoon, ma'am! I saw your number on an airplane banner, and was calling as requested."

 "Yes... " The hesitation in her voice made me believe I'm not the first caller.
And I wasn't.