How many times have you had this debate this week?  It's been argued from every angle.  In a diary currently on the rec list, Chris Bowers goes as far as arguing that anger leveled at Barack Obama is actually good for him - as it provides him with a useful foil:

http://www.dailykos.com/...

I don't get it. Aren't we helping Democrats out by distancing them from us? Won't Obama be helped by news stories about how he has angered the left? Won't it make him look like he has Sista Soulhaj-ed us, or something? Why is our criticism a negative? Either Obama will be helped by distancing himself from the left, or he won't.

I may just be a simple guy, but that strikes me as a bit too clever.

The Bush administration has been among the most corrupt ever.  That they deserve to be brought to accountability is not in question.  Many here have argued against impeachment on political grounds, making the case that an impeachment trial will hurt our chances of retaining the White House.  I think this is a valid concern, but for the sake of this diary - let's put all that aside.  Political concerns be damned.  

So let's talk about impeachment:

The first thing you notice when you research the history of impeachment is that it is very difficult to bring one about.  Succesful prosecution requires a 2/3rd majority in the Senate and a majority in the house.  That's a pretty high bar - one that exists at least partially to assure that impeachment does not become a partisan affair.

Okay...before I tell you my dream, let me assure you that I realize that anybody who thinks that video of Kantor is a legit issue is not very smart.  It is a bullshit issue, just like "bitter" was a bullshit issue, just like flag pins, Rev. Wright and Ayers are bullshit issues.

But here's the thing.  The media has been consumed with bullshit issues for the bulk of this primary campaign.  You simply cannot blame me for the things I come up with in my dream state when it comes to the Democratic nomination and bullshit issues.  I've got too much bullshit running around in my head to have it go dormant at night.

Now that I've clarified that point - on to my dream.

Harry Truman started the National Day of Prayer back in 1948 as a non-sectarian day for people to pray (or think) for the country.  Whether or not you think a National Day of Prayer has any place in American society, we can all agree that this is damn ridiculous.

Shirley Dobson, wife of James Dobson, the conservative founder of Focus on the Family, is this year's chairperson of the National Day of Prayer Task Force, a non-governmental organization based in Focus on the Family's offices in Colorado Springs and charged with organizing various events. According to Jay Keller, national field director of the Interfaith Alliance, Dobson has made a point of "excluding Jews, Muslims, Catholics, Buddhists, and even mainline Christians" from the National Day of prayer.

When I first read this blog post by Bruce Falconer, I was pissed off.  But then I thought about it - and I was encouraged.

Because this is an opportunity.

"Oh, I say and I say it again, ya been had!  You've been took!  You've been hoodwinked!  Bamboozled!  Led astray!  Run amok!"

- Denzel Washington as Malcom X

So you are working on another diary about Hillary Clinton, eh?  You are going to explain to us all how she has no meaningful path to the nomination and is serving no useful purpose in the race except to wound our nominee-to-be?

Well I appreciate the effort and tend to agree - but perhaps I can convince you to redirect your efforts.  While we focus on her, the real opposition is getting stronger.  Of course we need to continue to mobilize as hard as possible in the remaining primary states, but rhetorically perhaps it is time to dial down our outrage at Hillary Clinton.  

She's done.  Her supporters simply need some time to admit this to themselves and convince themselves to support a candidte they've viewed as the enemy for more than a year.  Give them some room to make this transition.  Most will get on board if we let them.  The others need to be given reason to consider what a vote for John McCain really means.  The mainstream media cannot be counted on to make that case.  It is up to us.      

I've been a member of this community since just around the time that John Kerry lost his bid for the White House.  Back then we spent a lot of time trying to understand the loss and figure out how we would ever get our hapless party back on track again.  We debated the supposed "values gap" and did threads about the need for an elevator speech for modern progressivism.  We decied the lack of spine on the part of our leaders endlessly. The underlying message of every debate was this:  How would we ever learn to beat the Republican noise machine?

So here we are today.  An awful lot has happened.  The GOP imploded surrendering congress in the process.  As we approached this Presidential election we convinced ourselves that the White House was ours in a walk.  

But the truth was never that simple.  We had not beat the GOP.  They beat themselves.  And the same infrastructure they had in place before was still there.  And that infrastructure has demonstrated one ability above all others - the ability to destroy the reputation of any man or woman who dared to run for President as a Democrat.    

There has been a lot of back and forth about superdelegates in the last several weeks.  Some of it has been productive and some hasn't.  I am not personally affronted by the idea of superdelegates.  I can see the argument for having them.  The Democratic party is an affiliation of coalitions - if one coalition was motivated enough and large enough to force a candidate on the rest of us, it might be a good thing to have the party elders there to decide whether this was a good thing for the larger party or not.  To the extent that superdelegates serve the greater good of the party, I am fine with them.

Another short action diary.  

An awful lot of us have wondered how we can help influence the decisions of the superdelegates who will decide this nomination.  The Obama campaign has put up the following page on their web site requesting your help on this front:

http://my.barackobama.com/...

What they are asking for is not money, or volunteer hours (though I am positive both would be welcome) - rather they want your story.

David Plouffe explained this request with these words:

Okay this will be a short diary.  I've been at work all day and haven't been able to make any calls yet today.  I'm planning on getting at it tonight.

My fellow Obama phone bankers...tell us how it is going today.  What kind of feedback are you getting?  What state are you calling?  Do you need a little pumping up?  Need any advice from other phone bankers?  Any funny stories from the day's calls?

This thread is for you.  Every one of you has my appreciation.

P.S.  For those not phone banking yet, here's where to go to get started:

http://my.barackobama.com/...

P.P.S. Join the Obama Action Network and stay in contact with other activists 24 hours a day: http://groups.google.com/...  

Okay...now the floor is yours.

With every passing day, an Obama nomination becomes more of a possibility.  But the closer we in the Obama camp get to realizing this goal, the more devastating the thought of falling short becomes.

Please...let's not let this happen for lack of our own best efforts.

Many of us have seen our own primary or caucus come and go.  For months we looked at that date as our finish line - for our own sanity we had to.  But the job isn't finished, and if you still have a pulse...you are needed.  February 19th and March 4th are looming.  What happens on these days will likely determine the nomination.  We cannot leave this burden on the activists living in those states alone.  We must help them.    

With this in mind, I'd like to invite you to join a Google group dedicated to phone banking and other forms of activism aimed at securing the nomination for Barack Obama.  This is a public group. The address is as follows:

http://groups.google.com/...

24 years. The same two families.

If you are still undecided...consider this fact.  If we elect Hillary Clinton we will have a minimum of 24 years being led by the same two families.  28 if we re-elect her.

This is not a cheap rhetorical device - this goes to the heart of who we are as a community.  The vast majority arrived here because we were tired of the status quo.  We wanted to effect change.  

How do you look at 24 years of Bush/Clinton and see the re-instatement of the Clinton family to the helm of our country as change?  Are we that risk averse?  

SuperDuper Tuesday is fast approaching. By now you've read thousands of diaries telling you why you should love one candidate and fear all of the others.  This one is a corporatist shill, that one snubbed the other, the third one can't win, if you vote for the one you want...you'll elect the one you don't want.  Yadda, yadda yadda.  

It's all been said - right?

Well perhaps.  But allow me to cut straight to the heart of the matter and put forth the reason you ought to at least consider throwing your support to Barack Obama:

The Youth Vote


http://www.time.com/...

NOTE: I posted this yesterday, but had the bad timing to do so just as the Edwards story broke.  It was pushed off the page in less than 15 minutes with only 4 comments.  Since I worked for hours on it the other night, please forgive me for posting it again today.  I think this is valuable.  I hope you do too.  

Now that we are down to the wire, I've started to receive requests from some of my less enagaged friends for information about Barack Obama.  Chances are you know someone who is just starting to make their decision.  For this reason, it struck me that it might be useful to compile some of the best articles and Dkos diaries about Barack Obama.

Hopefully some or all of this will be useful to you.  I invite you to add any constructive additions in the comments.

...but before we do - a word about the Obamathon:

This fundraiser was conceived and created entirely by Populista, one of our youngest and brightest kossacks.  Please consider making a donation in these crucial days before Super Duper Tuesday.

Now that we are down to the wire, I've started to receive requests from some of my less enagaged friends for information about Barack Obama.  Chances are you know someone who is just starting to make their decision.  For this reason, it struck me that it might be useful to compile some of the best articles and Dkos diaries about Barack Obama.

Hopefully some or all of this will be useful to you.  I invite you to add any constructive additions in the comments.

...but before we do - a word about the Obamathon:

This fundraiser was conceived and created entirely by Populista, one of our youngest and brightest kossacks.  Please consider making a donation in these crucial days before Super Duper Tuesday.

There was a time when being a part of the netroots felt like being part of something big.  It felt as if the winds of history were at our back.  We were the embodiment of democracy - the people rising up.

It was a presidential primary that animated this movement.  Though the foundations of the netroots existed before his candidacy, Howard Dean's people-powered campaign brought the movement into focus and put the eyes of the world onto us.  Politicians kissed our rings, attended our conventions, and even posted diaries.  We were kingmakers.  

But just as one primary gave birth to this movement, another threatens to write our epitath - for here we are four years later...a house divided.

Folks...ask yourself why we are here.  Why are you here?

I think it is safe to say that most of us came here to transform the Democratic party.  We were tired of being demonized by the right's propaganda machine.  We wanted to stand up to them and to the figures of establishment in our own party that continued to kow-tow to the GOP time and time again.

We've debated heatedly and passionately about the best way to approach change.  We will continue to have this debate every day until we've arrived at the approach that works.  In recent months this debate has manifested itself in the candidate wars.  That's all to the good.  As I've said in previous diaries, this is a fight for the soul of our party - and by extension...our country.

Well my friends...we've arrived at one of those crucial moments that decide whether we will have a real effect, or whether we will be swept away by the establishment.

Whether you've criticized him or not...been convinced by him or not...or hate his dkos supporters or not - Barack Obama is now the best possible vehicle for change available to us in this rare wide open election.

I'll keep this dairy short.  Since supporters of rival candidates (and in the case of Edwards - even the candidate themselves) seem intent on making hay out of a relatively benign statement on the part of Barack Obama acknowledging the political skills of Ronald Reagan - I say we see what they have had to say about the ol' Gipper.

Let's start with Edwards:

http://www.foreignaffairs.org/...

In an essay called "Reengaging With the World: A Return to Moral Leadership" written as recently as September/October 2007 , John Edwards made the following comments:

Presidents Kennedy and Reagan talked with Soviet leaders at the height of the Cold War, in both cases turning back major threats to our national security

For 50 years, presidents from Truman and Dwight Eisenhower to Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton built strong alliances and deepened the world's respect for us.

I doubt any but a small fringe of Kossacks would think or say otherwise.  But as some commenters on that thread pointed out, one need not be a racist to employ race unfairly in an argument.

With that in mind, the latest kerfuffle centered around Andrew Cuomo's "shuck and jive" comments beg the following question:

Has Obama been victim of a pattern of attacks with racial undertones or not?    

How one answers that question probably depends one which candidate one supports. It is a rorschach test. Which begs another question:

What does that say about us?