See, I knew this guy was just like all the rest. I mean, I was inspired because he was, you know, gonna be our first non-white President. Who was also a constitutional scholar. And a community activist. Who opposed the Iraq war. And favors universal healthcare. And can talk about race honestly. And can talk about religion honestly. And can deliver stunning feats of oratory not seen since FDR, maybe Lincoln (and with an honorable mention to post-VP Al Gore). But none of those are true any more.

Today, Barack Obama is no longer black.

I can no longer in good conscience give money to Barack Obama. Not until he begs me for it. Not until he hears my words and does what I tell him to do.

Up until now I have tolerated Obama's far, far right of ultra-far left stances. Though he was only my twenty-seventh choice after LaRouche, I tepidly accepted his candidacy after it became obvious that Dennis Kucinich's Apache helicopter gunship was not going to come swooping down from the gathering stormclouds firing orange-gloried missiles of righteousness at the hydraheaded corprofascist foes of Washington come January. But I accepted it, I swallowed it, I took it like a man. I shut my piehole, refrained from the Blogging, and let things run their course to ensure that McCain would not be elected this November.

But I haven't heard a single word about cattle rustling.

The scene:

Backstage at an Obama rally, present day. Senator Barack Obama, walking back to his limo, runs into President William Jefferson Clinton in the hall.

Attention all white people:

Barack Obama is not Magic.

And, also, but: offered as a corollary:

Just because he's not Magic, doesn't make him No Good.

Get it?

No?

Read on.

Our guy has come off the ropes. According to the latest polls that take into account The Speech, Obama is now back above Clinton in the Dem race 46%-43%. He is still behind McCain in the daily tracking polls 42-49%, but with 9% undecided (rounded-up), the news is not as bad as it seems. A lot of people are still processing this whole thing, and McCain, despite Obama's rising negatives and the tons of bad press and McCain's free pass, isn't even at 50%. There is LOTS of room to move.

This will be short. Obama's response seems to be that Wright is a good man who occasionally says wrong things. And that he has retired, and so the issue is moot.

I don't know if this will be enough.

We've all heard about the dog whistle. The language that flies past the ears of progressives straight into the reptilian hind-brain of the racist: the call to attention for bigots. Geraldine Ferraro's comments are so blatant that they are more accurately described as a shouted command, so I will not address them here. The true dog whistle has been blowing for months now, getting louder and louder and more persistent with every contest, with every passing week, that most of us are now able to hear it.

But what did it sound like in the beginning? When few were paying attention, how did the Hillary campaign let the bigots know she was on their side?

This is a public service to Hillary supporters who are concerned that our candidates be fully vetted. I fully concur that, out of an impartial wish to let the best candidate prevail, we need to bring up all the allegations that the GOP will be using in the general now. They have done an exceptional job pointing out whatever falsehoods the GOP might be likely to manufacture around Sen. Obama. I thought we needed to make sure Sen. Clinton was treated to equal proactive scrutiny.

In light of this, I am compiling a master list of all Clinton malfeasance, duplicity, corruption and foolishness. Out of concern, naturally. I am very concerned.

So negativity works, at least for Hillary. We now know that. But would it work for Obama? Not if he is seen as the one being negative. We need to keep him out of the ooze. So it's up to us, people, to come up with the attacks needed to finish off Sen. Clinton and get the general election underway.

This is a call for content.

Last night's debate brought up the issue of Obama's "present" votes while in the IL legislature. There is a thorough article in the NYT by Raymond Hernandez and Christopher Drew from 2 days ago examining the issue here.

For those who think that Obama voted present to escape his responsibilities as a legislator in some way, the money quote refuting that canard is below the fold.

(Drumroll, please...)

He's a human being. And a very good one at that. So, for that matter is John Edwards. Even Hillary Clinton. So let's get real, my people...

Inclusion sucks. This piece by Pam Spaulding (sitting in for Glen Greenwald) is an elegant summary of the danger of trying to get two superficially incompatible groups of people into the same coalition.

Thank you all very much for letting me come coming out today. I will read a statement.

(More below the belt fold...)

So the theme of the day seems to be the end of our democracy, as reflected here, here, and here. Those are just the recommended diaries.

So what's next?

AP - (Gotham) In a shocking blow to Gotham City and the Known Universe, SuperSenator Obama-Man has refused to use his superpowers to stop the forces of evil. While legions of Obamaniacs have pleaded with their hero to use his Impeachment Eye-Beam Lasers to defeat the Dick and his chuckling sidekick, the Chimp, Obama-Man states that he wants the Halls of Justice to take these villains on.

Last week, I wrote about new findings that the "Abortion Pill", Mifeprex (mifepristone), seems to block breast cancer in mice. This is fantastic news for reproductive choice advocates, because it puts the nail in the coffin for the abortion / breast cancer myth promulgated by the Christianists and their pseudoscience enablers in D.C.

But the news is even better. The abortion pill seems to be a fantastically effective treatment for uterine fibroids, too.

Though the Bush administration thought they'd play a little joke on the Democrats by nominating yet another right wing loonie who thinks that abortion causes breast cancer, the fundies' God of choice seems to be playing a little joke on them. The abortion pill Mifeprex (mifepristone) not only doesn't contribute to breast cancer, it seems to actually block it. More below.

I wrote an open letter to John Salazar after his vote for the pro-torture anti-habeas bill two weeks ago that got a reaction out of his campaign. I said I was mad as hell, was taking down my sign, and wouldn't give him a penny for supporting the Republican torture lobby.

Now he has crafted a response to justify his vote. It's not terrible. In fact, it seems to indicate some honesty and some understanding of the ramifications of the bill. But he still tries to weasel out of the habeas provision. See below (my comments italacized).