It's still quite a sad time for me.  I truly dread the day the Republicans show us once again they know  how to win, and remind us how we like to lose.  I hope I am wrong and that somehow Obama's inexperience, radical ties and poor voting record will be ignored by the voting public once the press does a thorough job of reporting on it.  Then again, are Democrats better off with a President who lacks any experience, radical ties and a history of just poor judgment?   I think after George W the last thing we need now is another on the job trainee.  I think the Democrats got it all wrong, an Obama Presidency may actually  better reflect a third term of George W. Bush. 

I hope Yes We Can doesn't quickly evolve into What the F... Did We Do?

So far the message of healing and unity doesn't seem to be working.  I don't think that there is much that can be done to sell that message.  It seems that even with Hillary losing the nomination the press and Obama's supporters seem intent on rubbing salt in her wounds.  They continue to bash her and by doing so continue to push her supporters farther away. (Last count there were nearly 18 million Hillary Clinton supporters)

Barack Obama and his supporters are really underestimating the job they need to do in order to win back some of Hillary's people.  This is not the time to dance in the street and declare victory.  The big game is in November and Obama won't win if he and his supporters continue on the road they are travelling.  Hillary's people are deeply hurt, angered and looking to vent.  This is not the foundation for Unity. 

Don't believe me?  Look how hard people are looking for that alleged Michelle Obama tape.  I'm starting to believe even Indiana Jones couldn't find this thing!  It should be a sure sign to Obama and his people that he may have won this battle but will likely lose the War.

So, Hillary is set to suspend her campaign on Saturday.  It's probably a good thing.  I'm tired of watching her get disrespected.  She did a good thing fighting hard for the nomination.  Women should be proud.  This country should be proud.  It's sad that they are not and that they have chosen to support a person who has yet to prove himself worthy of this country's trust and devotion.

It's strange how the Democratic Party turned on the Clintons.  I am especially surprised at the reaction of African Americans who once embraced Clinton as the "First African American President".  I guess its more about what have you done for me lately, then thanks for the memories.  In the end, race has divided the party that was suppose to be the party where race didn't really matter.  I don't think those wounds will heal in enough time to elect Obama in November.  The Democratic Party is one big Humpty Dumpty right now, and all the kings horses and all the kings men won't be able to put Humpty Dumpty together again.

The Democrats are showing yet again that they are very good at losing the Presidency.  By losing races they should win they are as much to blame for the conditions in this country as the Republicans who now are in power.  You simply have to win the easy races, and the Democrats just can't seem to do it.  The fault seems to lie with leaders who just don't get it.  Leaders who can't figure out that you don't punish voters for wanting to vote early in elections, you nurture them.  After all, getting people excited about elections is a good thing, isn't it?

Leaders who allow charismatic and potentially great candidates to run for the highest office before the public has gotten to know who they are and before they have earned the trust of the people.  This is not good leadership and it will cost the Democrats the Presidency in November.

I'm tired of losing when we should be winning.  I'm not one easily swayed by red, white & blue balloons and great speeches.  I look more for simple things, like experience, trustworthiness and comfort in knowing something about the person.   Barack Obama is still a great big mystery to me.  I imagine he is a big mystery to most people in this country.  Could he be a great President?  Perhaps, but he could also be all talk, something we don't need right now.

In my college years, I knew alot of Barack Obamas.  People who talked a big game and wanted to have everything without putting in the work to get it.  More often than not, when I trusted those people they let me down.  I bought into their enthusiasm and their bullshit, and later found they didn't know a damn thing about what I needed them to do.  In fact, I have often found that the hardest workers, the most experienced workers, talk less and do more.  I'm sure that's not always the case and I hope that if Barack Obama somehow manages to win that he is the exception to the rule.  After all, I live here and want things to get  better, not worse.

I've only had two choices in my lifetime.  Democrat or Republican.  My party has disapointed me by going down the path towards defeat.  I've been down this path too many times now with my party.  I think I will go my own way now and along the way accept one concept from Barack Obama.  Change.  I need a new Party.

Anybody up for a New Party?  One that believes in winning, so that it's agenda can be put forth?  One that lets unknown candidates mature and garner the trust of its members before allowing them to run for the highest office in  the land.  One that respects the vote of all its members.  One that runs it's primaries in a way that reflect the General Election, so that it can get a real sense of the will of the people.  One that doesn't disregard the will of over 17 million votes.  Sounds like a much better deal to me.  Hope to see many of you there!

Interestingly enough, the blogs now seem to be shifting away from tapes and over to issues with Farrakhan.  No doubt this new focus on Obama's connections with Farrakhan will affect the election in November, but it won't help Hillary one bit.  Most people with any kind of common sense know that Obama will lose this thing in November.  We don't know much about him and his friends are helping him very much.  I guess that's why this whole "whitey" tape thing is giving some people a little of that "hope" that Obama talks so much about.  We can only "hope" that Michelle helps save the day, but it has to be now or never.

Hillary has fought a valiant fight.  She should be very proud of her efforts.  However, as each hour goes by today without the video hitting the airwaves, I am becoming more skeptical about its existence.  Well, I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Political consultant Victor DiMaio and his lawyer Michael Steinberg had compared the party's decision to earlier prohibitions against allowing African-Americans to vote and invoked the trauma of the Florida recount in the 2000 contest between Al Gore and George W. Bush, both arguments also used by Hillary Clinton to support the seating of the state’s delegates.

"This is nuts. This is not right. How can they remove Florida after all the things that Florida has suffered through– hanging chads, through Bush v Gore, and they're sticking it to us again," DiMaio said before the hearing.

Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean says the situations are not comparable.

"You cannot violate the rules of the process and then expect to get forgiven for it," he said.

Judge Richard Lazarra sided with the party, saying political parties have the right to make their own rules.

DiMaio's is the second Florida lawsuit protesting the Democratic Party's decision to be thrown out of court. An earlier one filed by Sen. Bill Nelson and Rep. Alcee Hastings, both Florida Democrats, was also dismissed.

After watching Recount on HBO this weekend it amazes me that the Democratic Party has forgotten the lessons of 2000.  They lost the Florida vote then and it cost them the Presidency.  They are poised to do it again.  As I watched the film, I kept hoping for a happy ending, even though I knew that it would not happen.  This time around there is still time for a happy ending.  An ending where a court of law stands up for the right of every voter to have their vote counted.  Anyone who is against counting votes should be ashamed of themselves for putting their own selfish interests above the will of the people.

Yes, I have heard the arguments.  They didn't campaign and Obama took his name off the ballot in Michigan.  So what!  People voted and their votes should count!  In fact that's the law and the very foundation of this country.  We count votes! 

The Democratic Party is showing that it is just plain stupid.  In fact, each and every day that I watch this fiasco unfold it makes me sick to my stomach, very much the same way I felt the other night when I watched the film Recount.  We should have run into the streets with outrage in 2000 and we should be prepared to do the same this year if every vote is not counted.  To do any less is too surrender our democracy to those who are prepared to just take it away.  It is sad that people in the Democratic Party have suddenly forgotten how important it is to count votes, when just eight years ago many of the very same people where praying that the United States Supreme Court would allow the votes to be counted in Florida. 

So, who will be the good people who file those lawsuits? 

His supporters don't help his cause much.  They call Hillary supporters names like "racists" and "imbreds", yet they can't tell us anything about their candidate to support their beliefs.  They compare him to great Democrats like John F. Kennedy, yet they ignore that as a State Senator he did nothing and they ignore that as a United States Senator he has done nothing, except run for President.   No, Senator you are no Jack Kennedy, you're not even a Dan Quayle.

So, the Coronation got delayed because not everyone drank the Kool-aid.   Good people are voting and making their choices based on what matters, issues that affect us.  In Puerto Rico, Hillary Clinton will finally put an end to this popular vote thing.  As I have said in prior entries, expect millions to turn out and expect her to win by a large percentage.  Then the question will become whether our Superdelegates ignore their duty to this party and pick the candidate that is most likely to win.  There is no doubt that Republicans prefer Perrier over Kool-Aid.

I'm still hopeful that when all the votes are counted, especially the blowout Hillary will have in Puerto Rico, a winner will be chosen.  If not, then I will have to serious rethink my commitment to a Party that doesn't know how to win and snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.

Listen, I'm all for an African American President when this country is ready for it, and when we have the right candidate.  This country is not yet ready for an African American President and Barack Obama is not ready for the job.  He talks a big game, but let's face it, he's a rookie national politician and we can't afford rookie mistakes right now.

Hope is a good thing.  It's always great to dream about great things to come.  The problem is when your dreams turn into nightmares.  Barack Obama needs to work harder and learn his way around Washington.  In a few years, he may very well be President.   If he fails to spend a few years learning his trade and the superdelegates don't do their job, Barack Obama's messages of hope will be lost this year.  He will lose in November and for the Democrats the nightmare will begin, yet again. 

1.  When was the last time you used drugs?

2.  Did you ever sell drugs?

3.  Did you ever give someone drugs?

You have been candid about your drug use and by doing so, you have opened the door with regard to this topic.

Everyday people applying for jobs with the Federal Government are asked about their past drug use.  For example, according to the Washington Post:

The CIA, for example, requires that applicants have not used illegal drugs within the past 12 months, although "illegal drug use prior to 12 months ago is carefully evaluated during the medical and security processing," according to an agency advisory.

Even the DEA leaves open the possibility of hiring employees who admit to "youthful and experimental use of marijuana."

"Such applicants may be considered for employment if there is no evidence of regular, confirmed usage and the full-field background investigation and result of the other steps in the process are otherwise favorable," according to the DEA's Web site.

At the FBI,  new rules allow the bureau to consider "all relevant facts, including the frequency of use," in deciding whether someone's drug history should bar a candidate from becoming an FBI employee.

If the average citizen is subject to these questions, certainly they should apply to those seeking the Office of Commander and Chief.