The idea of American exceptionalism doesn’t extend to Americans being exceptional. If you excelled academically and are able to casually use 690 SAT words then you might as well have the press shoot video of you giving the finger to the Statue of Liberty while the Dixie Chicks sing the University of the Taliban fight song. The people who want English to be the official language of the United States are uncomfortable with their leaders being fluent in it.

–Jed Bartlet on what Americans want

Kudos to The Huffington Post for leading me to this. Peggy Noonan, the current Wall Street Journal columnist and former Ronald Reagan speechwriter, was caught on a live mic yesterday calling the choice of Sarah Palin “political bullshit.”

I couldn’t agree more.

This has nothing to do with Palin being a woman (although it wouldn’t surprise me if some Johnny-come-lately feminist comments on here that I am a sexist because there is no other defense of her pathetic record). This has everything to do with McCain’s selection being a political blow job to the conservative right.

If you’re a Democrat who thinks everything that has happened since 2000 was just a nightmare, check out this analysis from Politico on the possibility of Barack Obama pulling an Al Gore–and I’m not talking about winning a Noble Prize.

What are the chances that Obama could win the popular vote but lose the election? Not very good, but for Democrats, if it were to happen again, especially after eight years of George Bush, I think the heads of roughly 50 million voters would explode the morning of November 5.

Now that it’s finally over, you have to wonder, will we see Hillary as the v.p nominee sending Clinton-haters everywhere into a frenzy against Obama too, or will Obama turn away from the millions of blue collar Clinton voters and go with another possibility? This post is by no means exhaustive, and I for one have been intellectually salivating since Sam Nunn’s name starting making the rounds. I have not been at all excited about the idea of Clinton as a v.p., until this morning when I thought about it in a different way.

Now that we’ve all had a good laugh at everyone’s favorite moron, it’s time to move on because this guy is meaningless. The episode, however, may be a harbinger (one of a few so far) of a shift in American political discourse – I know, I’m being idealistic, but let me have my moment.

This episode was a hyperbole. It was an exaggeration of something that has been brewing, and I had not taken notice of it until my wife pointed it out the night of the North Carolina and Indiana primaries. The gap between the rich and everyone else has not only widened, but the rich population is shrinking… the population of everyone else is growing, fast. The rich also happen to hold most of the power.

We’ve all heard the argument of how “the rich people control everything!!” In many senses, this is true. This control hinged on directives shouted to the masses. Political spin was tossed out like red meat to the hordes, who gleefully ate it up and spewed it back out.

Starting with John Edwards and his cheery populist campaign in 2004 and the fiery populist campaign he waged in 2008, something switched. The masses no longer wanted simple spin to dictate their political thought. They wanted articulate solutions to their problems, not quick fixes and a pat on the head… a la the Republican party platform and their minions of spinmeisters. It did not end with Edwards. Barack Obama, along with his soaring rhetoric, long held a theory that people are smart enough to understand policy nuance (its a central point of Audacity of Hope). In the midst of this primary, the votes started to confirm this.

While this doesn’t quite fit our typical mold for Comedy Friday, this video is intense, yet hilarious.

Radio show host Kevin James went on Hardball yesterday and Chris Matthews (who I am not a huge fan of) baited him brilliantly to reveal his ignorance of… apparently… all history beyond the words “Nazi” and “Hitler.”

If you watch nothing else, fast forward to around 4 minutes. But, honestly, it gets better the second and third times you watch it all the way through to really pinpoint the moments Matthews turns the rhetorical knife to fillet him amid the shouting. I don’t think I need to say anymore. Have a look:

It was an election that says volumes about what citizens want in more traditional parts of the country. Apparently tired of what they have had for years, voters turned out more of the same and voted for a new, fresh face.

So Bob Barr is running for president as a possible Libertarian candidate. Obamaniacs everywhere are practically squealing with delight in anticipation of finally getting to be on the other side of a Nader-esque spoiler in November. I can’t say I am much different. I think this could be fantastic for Obama in the long run by siphoning votes off from John McCain, but I’m not ready to declare it Christmas in May yet.

I haven’t had a chance to look in detail at what Rev. Jeremiah Wright has recently said, but from what I have seen from the front page of this morning’s Wall Street Journal, his recent comments are pretty offensive. It’s pretty ridiculous to say the government started AIDS, or whatever it was he said.

But, regarding his past comments that led up to his “God damn America” finale in the pulpit on YouTube, I personally didn’t see it as too far off the mark to be coming from a black man in America.

The day has finally come: Pennsylvania primary day!

I’m an Obama supporter, but personally, I don’t give a rat’s ass what the outcome is as long as it goes as planned and we don’t have to hear about it any more. I couldn’t believe how much press the Pope’s visit got last week, but at least it meant I didn’t have to listen to HIllary’s campaign throw everything they’ve got at Obama. The closer we can get to the end of the primaries the better. Their are bigger fish to fry in a race with John McCain.

Hillary will likely win, but it will likely not make any difference. Obama will still win the war. Also notable is that even if Hillary loses, it will likely not make any difference, because she will have plenty of excuses why Obama won but she should have - i.e. he outspent her, she’s the underdog, blah blah blah - and she will still continue with her scorched earth campaign policy of not letting any Democrat win if she doesn’t win the election she apparently feels she’s entitled to.

It’s been over a month since the OH/TX/VT/RI primaries. Over a month… and we’re still roughly two weeks away from “the super-de-duper important” April 22nd primary in PA. UGGH. (Note: I feel like it’s been over a month since anything lively happened on this blog, save for Kerry keeping us afloat with stories about DC’s satanic leprechauns. Seriously, its a funny post. Go read it.)

So it’s been a month. We’ve lived through a month of economic turbulence. We’ve fully unearthed racial politics in the last month. And we may be (ahem, the media may be…) finally reaching the conclusion that the Democratic primary is just about over. “Over?” you say. “But Hill’s still got a chance!!!” Uhhh, not so much. That’s articulated well right here.

A couple days after last month’s big round of voting, I discussed three key points of focus. Let’s see if anything has changed…

Sorry for the lack of posting folks. I promise we’ll get rolling again.

For now, here’s Senator Obama’s speech on race. In short, I found it to be honest and forward thinking. I greatly appreciate his effort to bring race directly to the forefront of the discussion, rather than let it simmer in the back only to be talked about by moron pundits.

Tuesday’s OH, TX, RI, and VT primary elections sent the media narrative into a tailspin of stories on Clinton’s electoral redemption, Obama’s inherent weaknesses, and how everything hangs on April 22nd’s primary in PA. Well a few days passed, giving everyone a chance to shake off the haze and perhaps intelligently analyze the implications of Tuesday and the “path going forward.” (This phrase is so incredibly overused, but I’m too dumb to think of anything else right now.)

There are three things to focus on now that I can consciously separate myself from the peppering of “the Clinton machine can’ be stopped!” propaganda. 1) Obama for all intents and purposes won Texas; 2) MI and FL are trying like hell to seat their delegations (and it looks like they might be able to work something out); and 3) Obama’s decided to get his hands dirty.

The first two of these changes in narrative help Obama, and it remains to be seen how the 3rd will play out.

My future in punditry grows brighter by the day! “Why?” You ask. Well, I’ve seriously blown a major election prediction. Huzzah! Move over Rachel Maddow and John King, and make room for another empty-headed windbag! (*note: I actually like both Maddow and King. They don’t hold a candle to the vast wasteland of brainlessness at Fox News.)

Now that I’ve gotten my mea culpa out of the way, let’s move on to why last night does not signal the demise of Obama ‘08.