I'm sorry, but Pink Floyd's Echoes just kicked on to my Bose Stored system, (that's def as i get to upper-class, i own none homes, am struggling paycheck to paycheck w/ my partner.  it's great to read the Atlantic, my fave mag now, & see all the ads FOR WHAT I AM SUPPOSED TO BE.)

i am NONE of those things.  i love great music, & am a picky beast re great sound.

THIS IS NOT THE POINT TO ARGUE, even those of us, trying to get by, recognize the importance of high quality reproduction of music to get us through our daily lives.

I am not being facetious.  In fact, I believe, that there are millions of Americans like me, REACHING   JUST out of their sphere,

I feel obligated and honored to post the following, even if it is otherwise considered too brief to be a typical diary entry.

I appreciate and applaud my Senator’s graceful actions to further the progressive cause of the American People in this critical election, and look forward to her energetic assistance to the Obama Administration in the years to come.

Excelsior,

John Adams
New York

These last two nights, the Clintons have done a fantastic job. With dignity, sincerity, and enthusiasm they declared their commitment to electing Barack Obama the next President of the United States. They were well-reasoned. They explained how Obama's policies were Clinton's policies, Obama's issues were Clinton's issues, and that anyone who supported Hillary for her vision for America would also support Barack Obama.

McCain's people went over Hillary's speech with a fine tooth comb and declared that she had "stopped short of saying he was ready to lead." As if this was her sneaky little revenge.

Then to make matters perfectly clear, Bill Clinton rebounded tonight and in top form declared repeatedly that Obama is ready to lead. He even reminded us (it's about time) that in his own candidacy Bill was criticized for being inexperienced, but that he was able to bring the Democrats to victory and change America for the better.

It is clear that the Clintons were not going to feed the PUMAs. So how do these dozens of enraged voters respond? I put on my gloves and surgical mask and went to their blog to find out.

This isn't much of a "diary," but Sens. Clinton & Biden gave me an idea. Last night Hillary said:

With an agenda like that, it makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities. Because these days they're awfully hard to tell apart.

Then tonight Biden literally got them confused! You can't make this stuff up.

So, to help out all the viewers next week, I'm sending these to St. Paul, MN:

Fellow Kossacks, tonight I feel something that I know many of you share. Pride. Tonight, I did not attend the convention, no media pundits asked my opinion, and I shook no famous hands. I sat, like you, and watched C-SPAN, and commented excitedly on liveblogs and speech discussions (I am, without a doubt, the most politically inclined of my friends). But I felt an electricity in the air nonetheless, a certain strength, the swelling sense of pride. Tonight, I was proud to be a Democrat.

Courtesy of Fark:

What can Hillary's body language tell us about how she really feels about Obama? It's not news it's CNN. Bonus: The comments are made of win

Are they ever!  Join the fun beyond the jump!

This diary started as a lengthy comment response to
CatM
but I was moved to blather on and on so here it is

Nearly everyone agrees Hillary Clinton gave the speech of her political life last night, magnanimously urging her diehard supporters to back Senator Obama for president. She emphasized what all democrats know: it is in their best interests and America's to see Barack Obama elected. As her reference to the Supreme Court suggests, a McCain presidency has negative long-term ramifications and will spiral America further downward.

Last night, Clinton earned figurative pats on the back for singing harmony. This is like praising the virtue of someone who kicked you in the head but was kind enough to give you an ice pack for the headache. Had it not been for Clinton's near-Rovian performance those last months of the primary, this disunity would be a background mumble rather than a ferocious roar reverberating daily in every media outlet.

Last night, following Hillary's wonderful speech, I wrote a diary with this very same title, noting that the one element that was unfortunately missing from Hillary's otherwise perfect speech was a full on endorsement of Obama's readiness and leadership ability.

Well, folks. Bill Clinton did it. And if this doesn't reassure Democrats, then nothing will. Bill and Hillary delivered a one-two punch.  Hillary set the stage. She urged her supporters to reject John McCain and support the party. Bill followed up by showing us why Obama is the one who needs to be President.

I'm not sure to what extent this was the plan. I suspect it was all along. Hillary and Bill would work together to reunite the party. And what an incredible job they did.

I think the most interesting thing about these last to nights is how effectively the Clintons united this party. Now, I think a lot of us Obama supporters were thinking, "boy, the Clintons really need to fix what they broke."

Alright I'm going to keep updating based on coverage for those of you who are watching CSPAN due to shitty pundits, but Bill just unequivocally stated that McCain blows monkey nuts, and Obama is oh so ready to be Commander in Chief. More to come. Not a Diary yet, but I wanted to get this in quickly.

This has to go up here too because it pissed me off so much:

  Update 5 or 6: Bullshit, Tom Brokaw just played McCain's POW card for    him. You have got to be kidding me.

I just watched Bill's address to the Democratic National Convention. Yeah, there were things I didn't like, but overall, he did what he needed to do. I don't doubt he didn't like some of what he did, but that's what makes him qualified for any number of jobs that I'd get fired from, just after lunch on my first day. The Big Dog's a pro.

And, of course, there were parts that I liked. "And second; I'm here to warm up the crowd for Joe Biden." Okay, so even if he's not totally happy, he can be funny. And, "the power of our example, than by the example of our power."; "Katrina and cronyism..." May G-d bless the Big Dog. "Thanks, but no thanks."

1939 - First flight of the Heinkel He 178, the first modern jet aircraft.

1962 - Mariner 2 unmanned space mission launched to Venus by America's NASA.

COINCIDENCE? I think NOT!

I would rather have peace in the world than be President.

--- Harry S. Truman

From the Church of Ineffable Stupidity:
(some games are rain delayed, today's sermon's pain delayed)

Delegates and party leaders were overwhelmed with emotion even as they steeled themselves for the brutal election season ahead as Hillary Clinton unified the party and affirmed the official nomination of Barack Obama as the Democratic Party's nominee for President of the United States.

"I can't describe it," said Governor Kaine, his face streaming with tears. "It's the greatest thing we've ever worked for.  How do I feel?  I feel like we’ve got 10 weeks of hard, hard work ahead of us and we've just got to bring it home."

Senator Henry Marsh was filled with pride and hope, his face washed in tears. "I'm overjoyed, but not just because Obama is the first African American nominee for president.  If he was white, I'd be just as happy.  I'm happy, because he is the right man for America and for the world at this time.  When America elects Obama president, it will validate the sacrifices of our fathers.  My father worked and died for our family, and he is smiling down, right now.  This isn't over.  The hard work is just beginning."

I don't often write diaries unless I have something really important to say.  And today is one of those days.  I'll try to keep this short & sweet.

...and found me crying about half an hour ago.

I stood in the middle of our living room with tears in my eyes and running down my face.

(continued)

(Cross-posted from Obamaism.org)

    Though I didn't have the chance to glue myself to the whole day/night of DNC coverage, I was at least able to catch some big hitters.
    Mark Warner (former Virginia gov) showed why wonky isn't always bad: he was not the most exciting guy, and his speech was not exactly the "Obama 04" speech. But people understand that details on creating jobs and other economic stuff are not always light and fluffy; MW's somewhat technical-tinted presentation added some intellectual ballast to the evening. --Warner wouldn't have been a bad Vice President!!

    Gov. Brian Schweitzer of Montana was somewhat in the same vein, though more exciting and excited. His presentation was largely about energy issues, and his joke about McCain's proposed $4 billion tax break for oil companies not being the kind of "change" we need echoed a "change" pun I'd wanted to make for a while.

    (kinkiness below)

Now that we have seen the very passionate, very aggressive, very clear in her support for Sen. Obama (the Next President of the United States of America!) speech from Sen. Clinton the Dog is wondering if we are seeing a political head fake. This might be too clever by half, but stick with the Dog on this.

We know that summer is a usually a time where most voters are more interested in the Olympics or the Pennant Race in MLB or even the recalcitrant brown spot in the middle of the lawn than the presidential politics. It is a time of framing and dirty tricks precisely for this reason. But this summer has been a little different. We had a primary process that was not over until the beginning of June, so there was more awareness going into the summer. Then we had the PUMA’s pop up. They got plenty of air time claiming that they would not support Sen. Obama, no, no, no, never! This went on, even though Sen. Clinton appeared in Unity, NH with Sen. Obama and gave her unequivocal support. It kept a story line going that would get play on every network everywhere, right up to this week and the convention.

Yesterday I was with a client who was appearing on FOX News as a Democratic spokeswoman. She was a guest on Studio B with Shepard Smith on the subject of a People magazine article about the VP rollout and how Senator Joe Biden got the news.

It was an education to be in the FOX News studio at the convention. My female client was taken to make-up which was very Hollywood-like. (They put false eyelashes on her and I must say when they were finished she looked amazing). We were then taken to the news floor where at one end of a newsroom bullpen was a raised platform serving as Shepard Smith’s set.