CLINTON: "Vote for Barack Obama"

Today in Unity, New Hampshire. HRC: "If you think we need a new course, a new agenda, then vote for Barack Obama and you will get the change that you need and deserve."

And we're all friends again!

SUPREME COURT: 5-4 Protect Handgun Rights

The decision here.

Breyer dissent: "In my view, there simply is no untouchable constitutional right guaranteed by the Second Amendment to keep loaded handguns in the house in crime-ridden urban areas."

Former NRA Magazine Editor: "Supreme Court Decision Hits Bull's Eye Against Obama..."

Frustrating finance...

So HRC can swallow her pride and get along with Obama. Does that mean he (read: his supporters) should forgive her debts? She should be paid for her cooperation with larger party goals? Should future candidates be encouraged to spend recklessly knowing that at least their opponent might pay for their mismanaged campaigns?

It's all the evidence I need that our system is broken. I speak for a lot of Obama supporters when I say that I didn't pledge much, but it was what I could, and now to see potentially $10 million handed over to old-school Clinton loyalist media groups, well, that's upsetting.

Is it too much to ask that my $50 will be spent promoting Barack Obama?

At least Bubba is out of the country, back to his foundation work. So he can go from heaping criticism and lewd remarks toward Obama on a daily basis, and then shift rhetoric to talking about global poverty. Very ex-presidential. Witness Clinton returning to his assumed role as this sort of hyper-powerful global CEO with no accountability. I think he could probably raise that $10 million himself with just a few speaking engagements.

Obama's Foreign Policy Priorities

Briefly Noted

Sorry for the light posting. I've been out of town for the last 10 days. I'll be back into the swing of things come tomorrow morning. In the meantime, some weekend reading:

• Obama chides absent dads in Father's Day speech
• Comparing Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain
• The world would prefer Barack Obama

Sorry for this meager link-dump, but I'm exhausted from my trip. More substantial content will be coming week after I get caught up.

YOUR NEXT PRESIDENT

After a long and historic Democratic primary, tonight Barack Obama will secure the delegates needed to claim the presidential nomination.

Hillary Clinton is expected to suspend her campaign, admitting that Obama indeed has the 2,118 delegates needed to lock in the nomation, although she will not formally concede the race to Obama.

With more than five months remaining until the general election this November, Obama can now turn his full attention toward the one on one match-up with John McCain in a race that will show two very different candidates arguing for two very different visions for America's future.

The word 'historic' has been tossed around a lot this campaign, but it truly is appropriate. This race has been history in the making, and although Clinton did not walk away the winner, her persistance in this race did see to it that for the first time in decades, each and every state in the union did have its voice sound clearly in the national race. Although Clinton's conduct in this race was disappointing at times, her presence in the race did honor the democratic process. Hopefully, she will adhere to the will of the people rather than pursue the nomination through courtrooms or backroom deals.

Now for the really exciting part--taking back the White House.

Big News: DNC, Trinity Church

Sorry for the light posting lately, but I've been swamped with other projects that have kept me away from the blog. Two huge, noteworthy events this weekend demand attention:

The DNC's decision to seat Michigan and Florida delegates with half a vote at the convention seems to do more to fragment the party than it does to unify it, in the long run at least. Nobody really seems to win anything here. The new votes really make no real impact in the results of the race. The decision sacrifices what little credibility and authority the DNC ever had, basically rewarding Florida and Michigan (albeit with half votes) for disobeying the structure of the party. Even with half votes, FL and MI now have a greater voice at the convention than dozens of smaller states that played by the rules. That's bullshit.

Easily the worst effect of this decision is that HRC will now go on an appeal rampage, dragging the nomination process through the court system instead of leaving it in the hands of voters, where it belongs.

Secondly, concerning Barack Obama's decision to leave the Trinity United Church of Christ--what can I say, but wow. Wow. Frustrating to think that Obama has to leave his church to have a legitimate shot at the White House when other candidates' spiritual lives do not receive such scrutiny. Yes, Rev. Wright's discourse was inflammatory, hyperbolic, and probably frightening to white folks around the country, but let's face it, if his message gained a broad but temporary audience in the country, that's probably a good thing. Too many white folks have been able to conveniently hide in suburbs and rural areas, shielding themselves from race issues in this country, and I for one am glad that Rev. Wright had an opportunity to chime in and remind everyone that just because Barack Obama might become the next president, that doesn't mean that Uncle Sam just waves a magic wand and makes racism in this country disappear.

Wright brought racial injustice to the front pages, in hyperbolic fashion, yes, but that's a good thing. It's unfortunate that Barack Obama has to homogenize himself in order to have a shot in the general election, but if they alternative was to have his entire congregation under a microscope for the next decade, well, then I suppose it was the right choice.

Thoughts?

(By the way, I keep anonymous posting open on this blog to make it convenient for readers to participate in the discussion without a Blogger account, but some people are using that anonymity to make what amounts to racist hate speech. I'm not going to start censoring comments, so let's just put it this way--if your ideas are better suited to a white supremacy forum, then for the love of God, stop visiting my blog.)