YES WE CAN enjoy Obama's schtick.

I suppose it had to come to this: The latte liberals have finally over run my party. The Huffington/ Geffen goon squads at last found a way to leverage the Democratic loyalty of African Americans toward their chosen SON. (African American voters are voting their conscience, hearts, and with the full force of our painful history at their backs. This alone is what is inspiring about Obama. I direct NONE of my considerable disgust at that voting block.)

But the half African American candidate is also now the candidate of the upper class white liberals that fund so much of the party and, most bizarrely, of the poorer liberals who are convinced that the cagey Obama represents them.

I suppose also, given the endemic sexism that pervades this society like San Francisco Fog, that I would be stranded quoting conservatives to make my point. David Brooks: Then did you see the Hopemeister's speech? His shtick makes sense if you've got a basic level of security in your life, if you're looking up, not down. Meanwhile, Obama's people are so taken with their messiah that soon they'll be selling flowers at airports and arranging mass weddings. There's a "Yes We Can" video floating around YouTube in which a bunch of celebrities like Scarlett Johansson and the guy from the Black Eyed Peas are singing the words to an Obama speech in escalating states of righteousness and ecstasy. If that video doesn't creep out normal working-class voters, then nothing will.
It ought to creep out everyone.
Those who talk the talk of helping the working bloke vote for Obama. Those who do the work vote for Clinton. Add in black voters proudly choosing Obama and the Latte Liberals win.
Reagan did this for the "rich" wing of the GOP when he conned the social conservatives into the Big Tent.

Just one question:
"Yes we can" WHAT? Is there a thought after the happy phrase?

Yes, we can enjoy a season of self congratulation. YES WE CAN!
Yes, we can deny further our already numbing denial of what we've allowed in our names during the past 7 years. YES WE CAN!
Yes, we can mistake form for content yet again! YES WE CAN!
Yes, we Democrats can do the GOP 's bidding and condemn the one successful Democratic Administration in two generations. YES WE CAN! And, by God, it bloody well feels good to scream YES WE CAN!

See, a President Hillary might not bother to add a dollop of happy talk in every press release. A President Hillary might not be as charming as the handsome waiter working for a bigger tip at every press conference. A President Hillary might actually - having prepared us with an honest campaign - ask us to endure some pain as we right the ship after the catastrophe of Bush 2.

No we can't keep living miles past our means. No we can't expect the subprime/now"prime" train wreck to work it self out like any other bubble. No we can't expect Iraq to be solved by repeating a speech made as a state senator. No we can't expect President Putin to be charmed and fall to pieces over Mr. Obama. No we can't expect BIG HEALTH to sign on to a ridiculous health care plan. No we can't expect a man who has uses gay bashing ministers as props to ensure the basic rights of gay Americans. No we can't stop the looming oil crisis with chanting and hype. Most tragic of all NO WE CAN'T end 500 years of racism in one election cycle. Nothing breaks my heart more than this particular Obamite delusion.

My only "hope" is that the thousands of Obama primary voters who DON'T go to those increasingly hysterical rallies know better. If not - the coming shower will be long and frigid.

Hillary Clinton is not the only hope left in the race. She is the only realistic hope. I am doomed to saying this over and over again: President Clinton DID bring us together. He left office with overwhelming support. A tiny minority with massive megaphones has convinced us otherwise.

Obama has painted himself into a tight corner. The speeches are vague, but the results will have to be tangible. Will Obama's current crop of fervent followers like what they finally get? I doubt it for one simple reason:
He is not a progressive. Never has been. Go on, you have the internets, check it out. The Left that has run to him by misunderstanding and misremembering Jack Kennedy will be stunned when they see a President cut deals, and show his true colors as yet another corporatist. Clinton would not have this problem since she has never presented herself as a progressive. Besides JFK was a moderate who only became a liberal icon after having his head blown off.

I don't know what Fox News and all it represents is up to, but the silence on Obama should give us all pause. Either, in reality Obama is a company man and they are fine with him winning. Or they are waiting. Conservatives may not like McCain but they like being out of power less.

I admit that watching an Obama/McCain race this fall will be fascinating. When will the media turn on Obama? (Ms. Huffington, the queen bee of the Obama delusion squad, is coaching the media now to stay the course with B.O. and turn on McCain, instead.) How far to the middle can Obama go? Will the conservative hit squad stomach McCain and go after Obama? (Not if Obama is really one of them). How will "national security" play out if something drastic happens in September?
I can answer all these questions if Clinton is the nominee. The media has turned on her. She already owns the middle. Conservatives will squeal like stuck pigs. National security will be a wash.

But 2008 is a year for taking leaps - that it will be a blind leap is of little concern.