Dear Senator Obama,

I am and have been an ardent supporter of yours since late December.  I have had the distinct pleasure of voting for your three times now; as my party's nominee for Senate and then again to make you my Senator - and yet again this past February.

I was deeply moved by your speech on Tuesday and impressed by your courage in trusting America -- that we CAN see shades of gray, that we don't need to have our opinions spoonfed to us, that we will see and hear nuance if only someone would be brave enough to give it to us.

Ordinarily, this would be the type of thing I'd roll my eyes about -- part and parcel of the "silly season".

However, we do not reside in ordinary times.  We're faced with a close primary and we're increasingly finding ourselves arguing over the seemingly small things.  Even though I'm an Obama supporter, I do believe that at least part of the reason we argue over the small things is because the candidates are so closely matched on their potential for providing America with a new, better direction.

Soooo... if you'll indulge me, follow the flip and we'll examine my contributions to the silly season for what they're worth.

With the unfortunate disclosure from Barack Obama that -- despite actually being an urban community organizer working street level opposition to Ronald Reagan -- he respects the political accomplishments of the man, is it time that we purge our ranks of all closet Reagan lovers?

I have to admit - despite being a hardcore supporter of Senator Obama's campaign, his desire to make sweet, sweet love to the corpse of Ronald Reagan has given me pause.

What's worse - my intrepid detective work has uncovered -- gasp! -- even more foul Reaganites among us.

The answer is simple.

Make peace with the fact that you're NOT GOING TO convince Edwards supporters to jump ship.

If you back Senator Barack Obama like I do - I'm sure you've probably scratched your head and decided to take a look at how you can crack that toughest of nuts... the seemingly unbreakable support John Edwards receives from his supporters.  

More below the flip

My heart is heavy tonight.

I have a truly unimaginable task facing me - and I'm just not certain if I can follow through on it.  Me - a Deaniac.  A liberal.  A progressive.  A Kossak.  A Kossak with a 4 digit userID, fer chrissakes... with a bona fide conservative father.

I ask no one's pity, no one sympathy - though yes, I am a little bit choked up.  Still - I knew full well the risks of joining DailyKos.  I understood what sacrifices might be required were I to align myself with the glorious liberal movement to subjugate non-liberal people.

Sadly, I must kill my father.

Friends, Democrats, Kossaks, lend me your eyes;
I come not to bash Barack Obama, but to praise him.

Please don't get me wrong - Barack Obama is wonderful man, with tremendous qualities, smart as a whip, a soaring public speaker and even a good progressive... but if we select him, we are making the biggest mistake since the Edsel, New Coke, George McGovern, and dot coms rolled into one.

If he is the nominee I will happily vote for him - but then I will slit my wrists immediately afterwards because we are DOOMED!

DOOOMMMEEEDDDD!!! Do you hear me?  If Barack Obama is our nominee, Karl Rove will feast on your children, the Ku Klux Klan will win enough congressional seats to form a coalition government with the remnants of the GOP, and I'm fairly certain Senator Obama will finish a distant 4th in the general election to whatever Republican is still standing, Ralph Wiggum, and Al Qaeda write-ins.

Yes.  We. Are. So. Fucking. Doomed!

less snark, more substance after the flip

With the Washington Post bravely setting out to uncover the truth about "things that show up in your inbox" - I'm hopeful this ignored story will begin to gain traction.

To Whom it May Concern:

I was both excited and gratified to see the Washington Post turn its considerable investigative powers towards the too-often ignored internet rumor mill and forwarded e-mail messages.  Ever since I discovered the internets, I've found myself inundated with seemingly important financial, medical, and national news that often goes unreported by the liberal media - I'm thrilled to see that the Washington Post has decided to lend its page space and reporters to uncovering the truth behind what I feel are important, but under-reported stories.

...keep going... or you'll miss the DK record for "penis" mentions!

Imagine you're a Supreme Court Justice.  Imagine you've been a Supreme Court justice for nearly 2 decades.  Think of the cases you've presided over, the laws you've struck, the rights you've either secured or diminished.

What would your "proudest moment" in such a prestigious and important position be?

It's a veritable Christmas miracle, I tells ya...

Despite its reputation for Rockefeller Republican delusion maintenance- the Chicago Tribune's editorial page delivered not one, but two barrels of insolent buckshot into the gut of unchecked presidential power.  

I call your attention to two separate columns, both published Christmas day - that are so spot on, so devoid of even the slightest nod to the Wurlitzer inspired talking points, they deserve a wider audience than what they likely had over the Holiday weekend.

If I didn't know any better - I'd suspect both Steve Chapman and Clarence Page were upset at not being chosen as Kos front-pagers, and are working extra hard to brush up on their street cred for next year.

Chicago Tribune public editor Don Wycliff has a tough job - he's the man largely responsible for fielding reader complaints - and no doubt, probably gets a higher percentage of stream of consciousness rants laced with insults and profanity than anyone at the paper (besides maybe John Kass).  I've always found him to be a reasonable professional and a man that generally avoids knee jerk conventional wisdom, at least, not without giving it some thought first.

Still -- when the man steps in it, someone needs to tell him to wipe the shit from his shoes, lest he get used to the smell.

OK... not really (at least -- not that we know of!)
Hoping against all hope that this doesn't get lost in a busy day of Fitzmas celebrations, Miers/SCOTUS opinions, etc ---

I've got a good friend that could use your help, and as a bonus, in a cause I think all of us can appreciate.

You might remember near the height of the 2004 election, Sinclair broadcasting, which owns dozens of mid-market TV stations across the nation, chose to run a Bushie Infomercial/political hack piece and give the Swift Bobbleheads a whole hour to savage John Kerry with all manner of psycho-babble about the reasons behind Kerry's service in Vietnam.

Please sir, I want some more.

In today's Chicago Tribune, Donna Brazile contributes a wonderful tool that could be used by liberal bulimacs everwhere, with this op-ed titled I will Rebuild with you, Mr. President.

Lest you think it a mis-titled work by a lazy headline writer - paragraph three says it all:

Last Thursday night President Bush spoke to the nation from my city. I am not a Republican. I did not vote for George W. Bush--in fact, I worked pretty hard against him in 2000 and 2004. But after watching him speak from the heart, I could not have been prouder of the president and the plan he outlined to empower those who lost everything and to rebuild the Gulf Coast.

But wait -- there's more!

Remember the "nine most terrifying words?" -- I'm from the government and I'm here to help.

Or how about Grover Nordquist's desire to get the federal government "down to the size we can drown in a bathtub"?

Adopt a District 2006 is ON THE AIR!

...well, sort of. For now, I parked a table of all 232 Republican held seats, opponents I could find (entirely those I found at ActBlue), their websites, and maps of the districts on a blogspot page here.

This is temporary, just like the Republican majority.

More below

Words can't express the gratitude this liberal feels for Paul Hackett, his campaign team, the folks on this site that donated time, energy, and even money for an exciting race that has given us all hope.  So, too, should tons of credit go to the folks at ActBlue, Swingstate, and Mydd -- as well as Atrios and Kos, of course -- that really did yeoman's work getting us all involved to whatever degree in the OH-2 race.

However - the point of this diary isn't another "thanks", "kudos", or analysis.   It's keeping the momentum on track for '06.   With OH-2 as the only game in town - it was easy for all of us mere mortal Kossacks to stay involved, keep up with the news, and connect with the folks that needed help.

--more below the fold --

Searched for "Wellman" and didn't find anything, so I think this is new confirmation....

And, yeah -- I know a lot of folks are sick of this.... and don't worry, I'll be doing my phone banking this weekend, as of Tuesday at 6 AM -- it's all GOTV and precinct monitoring for this poster...

But, folks, THIS is the final story arc that completes a masterful campaign.  Fact is - most folks didn't know how bad things were in Iraq.  

More below

So sue, it's already been posted - but can I escape on technicality by linking to the original article rather than the Kevin Drum post.

This is too good to let slide, especially since one of the few poll numbers to turn around as quickly or decidedly as we'd like is the "Who will win?" question.

... and the tracking poll shows a tie - 45/45 today.   You can view here, or via TPM.

The trends are promising -- from 4 down to 2 down, to tied.

Of course - we all know polls with only be digested as part of a high sodium diet (i.e., many, many, grains of salt).   Still- even understanding the sampling issues, party ID inequities, and even the basic underlying fact that a national pick 'em poll is more or less useless with the Electoral College - nice to see one that seems to "live in reality".