Very well said, Josie. I have nothing against the McCains just can’t relate to war mongers at all. She was asked why we are in Iraq, and kind of sputter, then replied, “Freedom.” The reporter looked a bit taken aback and asked, “The Iraqis?” Cindy McCain blinked and hesitated, “Well yes.” As if Freedom’s the answer and she was surprised to be asked who or what that refers to. Just sad.

Why the Right’s fascination with Reagan?

I noticed that too so thanks for mentioning and I’ll just add my voice…think must be some kind of mistake as it is very convoluted, frustrating and won’t win fans to the site.

I did see that and other pieces Elizabeth, thank you and also for the ‘smears’ link. But there also have been numerous Op Ed pieces on why the voting was so polarized and divisive between these two candidates and again and again it was her war vote. I was working 18 hrs a day with millions of others trying to prevent this disaster—-and remember very well all the information that Senators had. The whole world knew it was a lie. There was no imminent threat. I watched her parsing speech. And Robert Byrd’s excellent one that she also heard. It is unambiguous. Aggressive so called preventative wars are against international law, they are immoral, unjust, against Constitutional law, and something the US has never done before. It was wrong, period—no way to parse it. It was inexcusable. Senator Kennedy and the others like Paul Wellstone did all they could behind closed doors (as Kerry reported) and the majority who voted yes did so because in that heated atmosphere they didn’t have the courage to do the right thing. Senator Kennedy said his ‘no’ vote was his proudest vote in nearly 50 years in the Senate—-and I agree. All the heads of all the worlds religions, over 80M people marching on Feb 15, 2003, long lists of former diplomats, Nobel Scientists, UN weapons inspectors, former CIA…on and on….there was no justifiable reason to rush into madness. Richard Clarke, Ambassador Joe Wilson (former ambassador to Iraq) etc etc. Those of us who worked so hard to prevent it are on Huffingtonpost (15 M) Daily Kos etc. We took the march virtual and we will never forget. Here are Chris Matthews et al stating if she hadn’t voted for the war she’d be the nominee right now—-there’d have been no need for Barack Obama: http://biden08.policlicks.com/item/WM1FSL9Q8N3CG190 And another: http://hyerstandard.com/what-went-wrong-the-5-key-mistakes-that-cost-hil… From the NYT—she lost because of the war vote http://www.tinyrevolution.com/mt/archives/002328.html Democratic Underground “HRC lost the nomination 10/11/203 with her war vote” http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&add… Daily Kos—Next to—or along with Huffingtonpost—the most influential blog for activists. ” she lost because of war vote” http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/5/20/111825/546/790/518899 Democracy Arsenal—-Had HRC not have voted for war she would have won http://www.democracyarsenal.org/2008/06/why-hillary-los.html An Alternet piece on a new book “Her Way” Why Hillary’s Iraq Problem is not going away http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/52537/ And more on her war vote and why half the party/powerplayers of Hollywood, etc will ensure Obama’s election because of it http://www.radioopensource.org/hillary-clintons-war-vote/ Here’s Arianna Huffington with Amy Goodman saying it was Hillary’s war vote: MY GOODMAN: Why did you come out so early for Barack Obama? ARIANNA HUFFINGTON: I met Barack Obama at Norman Lear’s home before he was a senator, before his famous speech at the convention, and I was very inspired and moved by his opposition to the war in Iraq, which was—which, for me, is the major issue of our time. And so, the fact that Hillary Clinton had not only voted for the war but had supported the war for so long after, indeed right up to the primary, was the main problem that I had with her, which overcame the fact that I obviously would have loved to see a woman president in my lifetime. AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to thank you very much for being with us. Arianna Huffington, our guest, her book has just been published, Right Is Wrong: How the Lunatic Fringe Hijacked America, Shredded the Constitution, and Made Us All Less Safe (and What You Need to Know to End the Madness). ————— I was a Clinton supporter until the war vote. If she were the candidate there is no way I’d vote, ever, under any circumstances. I wouldn’t ever support her again because of that vote. And there are tens of millions who feel the same way. There will be many post mortems….it wasn’t sexism (although yes it was a factor but by itself wasn’t enough to lose the nomination) Perhaps those who don’t understand this aren’t that involved with the main activist communities Huffpost and Daily Kos, Code Pink, United for Peace and Justice, etc. Yes I agree the sexism and racism is wrong….but that wasn’t the deciding factor.

Kitty—I knew that! typing fast maybe the point doesn’t get made correctly. For me I definitely do not find this is superficial. I’m interested in how the candidates wives are viewed, and why.

Above addressed to Leslie.

“right now, he [McCain] doesn’t look too hip” Wait til they debate.

Obama has a huge number of mega stars*, superdelegates, Caroline Kennedy’s name does carry a lot of weight with many. He also has the richest man the world Warren Buffet and other multi-billionaires like George Soros, and the Silicon Valley. Plus 750,000 highly organized and interlinked volunteers and over 8,000 affinity groups. He also has raised more money that anyone in the history of elections, 94% from individuals in donations under $200. There will be plenty of star power at the convention. To name just a few heavy-hitters besides Oprah: * Jennifer Anniston, Chales Barkley, Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, Ben Affleck, Stevie Wonder, Sharon Stone, Will Smith, Halle Berry, Matt Damon, Morgan Freeman, Eddie Murphy, David Geffen, Toni Morrison, Usher, Stephen Colbert, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, etc

Kitty- I re-read the story again— 1) The lady has lost and regained 1,250 and she is unhappy about it. 2) She has dangerously unhealthy eating habits, and wastes an incredible amount of emotional energy in a struggle with this weight. I like the analogy of the turkey. Have always thought in terms of 5 lb sacks of potatoes. Lugging the equivalent of and extra five 5 lb sacks of potatoes along everywhere is a lot of stress on organs, the back, and the skeletal and circulatory system, etc. 3) The lady wishes to change. 4)Actions/behaviors come from beliefs/thoughts. (this is the basis of all change not just weight) 4) You can not hold the same belief about something and expect a different result. The result will be temporary because under a person will default to the belief that causes the behavior. 5) She needs to understand how she personifies food, what does it mean to her. She needs to be clear about what she wants that is different, why she wants it, how she’ll feel when she has it, and then look at models of what she wants and determine what they do differently. This is the same for making money, learning a sport, excelling in a field etc. 6) The crux is what food means to her, what her beliefs are. Beliefs = thoughts. Thoughts=behavior and actions. Behavior and actions=results. results= the quality of life. 7) I can’t imagine eating all of that because I do not have a belief system about food that would allow me to do that. This isn’t a moral judgement or anything else. It is simply a fact that beliefs=actions and actions=results. People can waste their entire lives not getting what they want because they wish to disbelief that fact. 8) Another factor is that she emotionalizes the behavior she doesn’t want (I am a bad person for doing this and those kinds of self-defeating thoughts) when the desired results are what need to be emotionalized to the max…and make the result hype-vivid and not the ‘failure’ or the ‘effort’. Anyone who does anything challenging does not focus on the effort, they emotionalize the result and stay riveted to that while understanding the steps to get there, and self-correcting quickly when fall off. 9) If she had a different belief about food then the fries would be repugnant and the celery would be desirable because that is what has good/healthful nutrients. If your belief system is that food is health (backed up with a good deal of deep knowledge) you don’t eat things that undermine it. These are my beliefs that come from a lifetime of interest and study of health/fitness and change dynamics. Other people are free to believe whatever they wish. No one changes any unwanted behavior until they dismantle the belief that supports it and replace it with the belief that will get the desired result. I did try to read this to find the ‘trick’ in it that I anticipate from clever Sheila….and I could not see it. I have a friend whose daughter has a severe eating disorder and has been hospitalized as a result many times, including in $100,000. a month treatment centers. And the effort they make is the same. It’s like the brain gets stuck on the wrong channel and it can be very tough to change it. But that is what has to happen. This young woman (my friend’s daughter) is never going to get rid of this really horrible curse…until she can hold a healthier/more life enriching belief about what food means. Obviously beliefs are very powerful…ie the Taliban believe just as strongly in their religious views as an American Indian does theirs. But their core beliefs produce very different results. I do agree that all the comments are interesting because I have my own “signature’ challenge that isn’t weight….but just as unhelpful so thinking about this has made me see I really need to get to the core of my own belief. Sit down with paper and pencil and ask tough questions. Life is too short to waste time not having and being what we want. As they say, change your mind change your life. Love your avatar…am a big cat lover. Very cute cat.

Star- at the outset the Founders said the part of the appeal of the site was that they could move in directions that weren’t appropriate to their day jobs.

I think that what you said is great but the #1 way to reenergize the party is by his VP pick which I hope will be Jim Webb, Wesley Clark, Chuck Hagel (don’t care that he is GOP) or Al Gore (I know dream on) As to Senator McCain, I pay zero attention and don’t care. He is four more years of the same. Am sure a fine man, but he should remain in the Senate.

Marjorie—-A lot of the anger directed at HRC is from old supporters for her Iraq war vote. No use going into that except to say it is totally unforgiveable. Katie Couric did have a commentary about the sexism HRC endured….I didn’t see it as don’t have a TV but did read about it on Huffingtonpost. Again, she’s missing the point that there are tens of millions that are not going to forget the war vote.

I am sure that Frank wasn’t referring to anyone here but to the Fox News kind of thing, ie terming the ‘fist bump’ a ‘terrorist’ fist bump. The woman who did that lost her show.

We don’t need to pick his ties. He has terrific taste in ties. I love discussing style (not as a mainstay but for a change) because real style flows from substance as the reflection and embodiment of the total person. It has tremendous drawing power and impact: In under 3 months in the White House Jacqueline Kennedy grabbed the entire world’s attention from Pasadena to Paris to Polynesia to Peru. Even enemies of America had schoolboy stars in their eyes for Jackie. A European Cultural Minister called her, “One who lights the match and gives hope.” Fashionistas quipped, “Her Elegance.” In India they anointed her, “Goddess of Power.” In South America they regaled her as a folk heroine. The international press trumpeted her trip to Paris as her own apotheosis. Two million of France’s citizenry went apoplectic in the streets, waved Us flags and and chanted “Viva Jacqui!’ How did she mesmerize the planet? What was the secret of her superhuman appeal? How did certifiable-egghead Jackie bump reigning sex-queen Marilyn Monroe off every moviestar magazine cover? Jackie was an expert on symbols and myths, and their powers that could be harnessd to triumphal success because they are they universally inherent language. The eternal flame wasn’t an accident, nor were the turned around boots on the riderless horse, or the sensibility to wear red in Canada…..etc…etc…etc. Whether one believes it or not doesn’t make it less true. Image is everything and the Obamas embody the image of the future. It is like Pico showing up and giving his Oration on the Dignity of Man that sparked Italian culture from dark to the Renaissance. Things change from spirit. They have the spirit the world needs right now. Whoever doesn’t understand that doesn’t understand the pivitol points in history. We are witnessing one.

I didn’t understand where the ‘distaste for white’ thing comes from either….sure don’t see it.