MSNBC.com currently has the headline: "Palin Preempts Report, Clears Self."

I'm sorry, I couldn't make this up if I wanted to here and I don't think I can say it any better than they do so here is the link:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27105917/

Yes my friends, I have the scoop. But I know you will all appreciate that I have decided to share it all with you. I have, due to some inside connections, received an advance copy of McCain's acceptance speech for tomorrow night. It is some pretty stunning stuff and really lays out a vision for the country that is..well I can't do it justice you should just read it for yourself.

Recently somebody posted an "Open letter to Linfar," which could only be considered a letter in this digital age. However, whether or not the drivel should have been considered a letter or not is not the point of this diary.

The diarists decries Linfar's sense of honesty and belief that an Obama election is the best thing we can do at this point. They forget the fact that Linfar once supported Hillary. They forget the fact that as Democrats we should ALL want to avoid a McCain Presidency... they probably forget a few other things as well but I'll leave that be.

The central question in their diary is why does Linfar (and others) doubt the purity of their intentions.

The question in my diary is this: Who else, aside from Linfar and myself, doubt the purity of their intentions?

thats right, he can't.... do you know why????

... think about it...

... keep thinking...

figure it out yet?

Its because he wouldn't want to. He supports Bush on crap like this, along with most other crap. He is Bush's third term. This can not be stressed enough.

Lets look at some other things McCain "can't" do

Look, I am all for informed discussion on the issues and am fine with reasonable criticism of our nominee. I am also okay with former Hillary supporters who are getting on board, but are hesitant or lack enthusiasm for the nominee. I respect the fact that not everyone feels the way I feel about Barack Obama and I respect the fact that many are disappointed, for many different reasons, that Hillary did not win the nomination.

None of those people are who this diary is aimed at though.

This diary is a shout-out to the people who post the same comment over and over again.

This diary is a shout-out to the people who like to use the phrase "flip-flop" and other Republican buzz words to describe
our nominee.

Thats right, this diary is a shout-out to the trolls.

I was just on CNN.com and it has been announced that Sen. Kennedy is suffering from a brain tumor that was discovered after his seizure this weekend. I have no more information than this but I feel it is important that we all take a moment to reflect on this true progressive and to keep him in our prayer and thoughts.

I, for one, am truly shaken by this news. I am a young man so it may be strange that I share such an affinity and connection to this man and his family, but I do.

So please, share some kind words for this Lion of Liberalism and stop for a moment and reflect on what he has done for our party and our country. Thank you.

The Los Angeles Times has a story about Philadelphia politics, the traditions of machine politics, and the clash between that and the "New Politics."

Here is the link:  http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la- na-streetmoney11apr11,0,6553901.story

The basics, and I have first hand experience with this from working campaigns in Philadelphia, are simple. The campaign puts out massive money for Election Day (a State House candidate who wants the support of committee people, ward leaders, and election day workers can put out 17,000 or more JUST ON ELECTION DAY... and this is not including any staff they may have,) that money gets spread out by Ward Leaders, and Committee People who spread it around to guarantee that voters get pushed your way on Election Day. Now, the article says this is all completely legal, and on the surface it is; but make no mistakes this is only a couple steps from the direct buying of votes.

we would be in good shape and we would be a much more unified group here. I took a look at the recommended list this morning and saw three diaries, three(!!!), attacking Obama for the same exact thing. Ignoring, for a moment, the relevance of these attacks, don't worry I will get to that in a moment, why in the world do we need three diaries that say the same thing on the recommended list? I get it. Obama is bad. He is the worst. You'd rather have four more years of Bush. Thats fine, I get it. Did we need it three times? And three times yesterday? And four times the day before?

(I would normally take a moment here to bitch about the one diary attacking Clinton on the recommended list...but there is only one and while I don't particularly care for the tone of it it isn't filled with have as much bile as most of the anti-Obama diaries here. That being said. It sure would be nice if we could cut the crap, advocate for our chosen candidate and maybe look for a Republican to hit if we need to hit something that badly.)

Now, as to the relevance of what these diaries are saying. It goes to his statements regarding people in small town Pennsylvania being bitter and holding tight to their guns, religion, and distrust of those who are different. Guess what, I don't know how many of the diarists who are discussing this comment have been to small town PA but it might surprise them to hear that it is all true. And the people who live there know it is true. In fact, they will tell you themselves that it is true.

Now, maybe some of them are going to be insulted by it being pointed out by a Harvard Educated Black Man, but many of them are also just going to be thankful that someone is noticing and willing to talk about it. They will even be more thankful that someone might try and do something about it. Because after eight years of Clinton and seven years of Bush their situation has not gotten better. It has gotten a lot worse.