For many months, her house escaped my notice by fading into the background of my daily commute to work.  It was typical for our neighborhood: 20+ year old construction, well-manicured lawn, beautiful landscaping and a decorative, personalized mailbox.

But, one day in late January, her house finally caught my eye with a Hillary sign in the yard. Until that day, my house was one of two homes in the neighborhood that enjoyed a monopoly on election signs (both for Obama). But now a Clintonite had brazenly joined the fray.

"What's with the Hillary sign?," I thought to myself. The sign blended in nicely with her landscaping but was strategically placed for maximum exposure. It revealed the homeowner's thoughtful attention to detail and a commendable seriousness about the primaries. But it clashed with the Volvo in the driveway.

Before I could muster angst that she wasn't supporting my candidate, I reminded myself that this was a good year to be a Democrat. My neighbor and I shared the enviable task of choosing between several eminently qualified candidates.

My drives past the Hillary lady's yard sign remained fairly innocuous until the damning-with-faint-praise-heard-around-t he-world:

"Jesse Jackson won South Carolina in '84 and '88. Jackson ran a good campaign.  And Obama ran a good campaign here."

That completely changed the dynamics of my drive-bys. Those few words by a former president I hold in the highest regard sparked an angst I hadn't felt since late 2000--back when I realized that I, along with several hundred other principled but pretentious Florida Nadarites, had propelled the idiot from Texas to the White House. My tours past the Hillary sign quickly escalated into cowardly drive-by acts of race-carding.

In the run-up to the Ohio/Texas primaries in late February, the primary became scorching hot, and the Hillary sign down the street gained a sense of grave urgency. One day, as my wife and I yelled "Shame on you, Hillary Clinton!" at the inanimate yard sign, we heard a "booo Hillary" chime in from the rear car seat. "Oh geez," my wife exclaimed,"we need to tone down our rhetoric; we've entered the netherworld inhabited by GOP scum." But tone it down we did not.

By the time Tuzla-gate broke, my wife and I were reduced to rambling, incoherent and malfunctioning Obamabots:

TUZLA! TUZLA! Your Hillary yard sign does not compute! TUZLA! TUZLA!

We had become partisan caricatures by that point. Any Hillary paraphernalia we spotted, especially the Hillary lady's sign, evoked a vitriol-laden display would make a Palin supporter blush.

As the primary came to a close, my wife and I become increasingly sadder representations of the proverbial bitter enders:

Why is your sign still up!? She lost! Get over it! {INSERT DEAN SCREAM HERE}

When she finally did take down the Hillary sign, we weren't appeased. Although by then the Clintons had had us at "convention speech," and we had returned to full love-those-Clintons ahead, we continued our pointless taunts. It was almost as if we were the ones who couldn't "get over it."

Since I found a shortcut to work, I don't drive past her house much anymore. Last week, though, my wife urged me to take the old route. "You have to take the neighborhood tour of newly sprouted Obama signs," she said.

"I've already seen them, honey," I replied.

Being the dutiful husband I was, though, I took her tour. When I arrived at the Hillary lady's house, I couldn't believe my eyes: she had placed two massive Obama/Biden signs in her yard (that's one more than I had!). And her signs were placed with the same strategic love and care that she had used to place her Hillary sign. I had been out-Obamad by the Hillary lady!

For the first time in many months, I was really proud of my political party.

Those here know I obviously disagree with the Conneticut court ruling forcing their personal opinion on the citizens.

I find it unbelievable that the governor (a republican) said that she believes that the public disagrees with the ruling, but nothing can/should be done about it.

"The Supreme Court has spoken," Rell said. "I do not believe their voice reflects the majority of the people of Connecticut. However, I am also firmly convinced that attempts to reverse this decision -- either legislatively or by amending the state constitution -- will not meet with success. I will therefore abide by the ruling."

The question for democrats, and so-called progressives is:
Do you want to live in a country where 1 vote by an unelected government official can over-ride the will of the people?

Do you want to make it normal as in Bush v Gore where judicial decisions can be predicted based on political leanings?

If you disagreed with Bush v Gore why not try to be consistent?

(Cross-posted at Clintonistas for Obama)

This race has not disappointed us who are junkies for presidential politics.  I am not going to review here all the twists and turns the primaries took.  Neither will I rehearse even the surprises that have occurred during this astonishing general election campaign.  But for those of us fascinated with the narrative of presidential politics, yesterday was not a day that let us down, and it is that to which I wish to address myself.

John McCain surprised me today. I feel I should give him his due.

For days, his and Sarah Palin's fear-mongering attacks on Barack Obama have led their rally attendees to shout racial epithets and even threats of violence. Today, McCain dialed down the rhetoric to the point of admonishing audience members who made ridiculous accusations and assertions. But when he did the right thing by correcting them, his supporters rewarded him with scorn.

Fearing the raw and at times angry emotions of his supporters may damage his campaign, John McCain on Friday urged them to tone down their increasingly personal denunciations of Barack Obama, including one woman who said she had heard that the Democrat  was "an Arab."

Each time he tried to cool the crowd, he was rewarded with a round of boos.

...

"Come on, John!" one audience member yelled out as the Republicans crowd expressed their dismay at their nominee. Others yelled "liar," and "terrorist," referring to Barack Obama.

John McCain today attempted to reverse the dangerous course his campaign recently embarked upon. This is commendable, and I applaud him for it. Perhaps he just didn't realize how insane the GOP "base" actually is, and decided they shouldn't be inflamed. Perhaps he found them (understandably) frightening. Whatever the reason, he made the right call.

It was a belated but welcome act of courage on McCain's part for which I am grateful. Without it, violence was a distinct possibility. For his effort, his audience did all but engage in open revolt.

Considering the negative reaction from the raw meat-loving GOP core the question becomes: Does John McCain have the courage to continue doing the right thing even if it means losing the presidency?

If the answer is "yes" then John McCain may yet save his political legacy. If no, at best McCain will be relegated to the dustbin of history; at worst, he will be responsible for creating a political chasm that could dwarf the one for which George W. Bush is responsible.

This is McCain's moment. Let's pray he really does put "Country First."

Tom Perriello is one of my favorite congressional candidates in the country. He's got a amazing background, he's helped take down Liberian dictator Charles Taylor, was a major player in the peace and reconciliation process in Sierra Leone, helped found the online grassroots people-powered humanitarian movement Avaaz.org and many other things. Now he's running against Virgil Goode, a proud bigot and one of the worst if not the worst member of Congress. And he's been running some great ads created by the best ad firm in the country (IMO) Eichenbaum & Associates

Here is another great ad he's running

And what's Goode running ads about? That Tom used to have a scary beard.

Cross-posted at Motley Moose.

This afternoon, the Supreme Court in Connecticut overturned the state's ban on gay marriage in a 4-3 decision.

From Connecticut Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Palmer:

We conclude that, in light of the history of pernicious discrimination faced by gay men and lesbians, and because the institution of marriage carries with it a status and significance that the newly created classification of civil unions does not embody, the segregation of heterosexual and homosexual couples into separate institutions constitutes a cognizable harm.

I am going to begin with a blog entry by someone new to blogging but very experienced in life. Helen is an 82 year old grandmother who has started blogging...and she is saying what we are all thinking about Sarah Palin:

Who can turn the world on with her smile?
Who can take a nothing day and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile?

Well it's NOT you girl...

(cross posted at kickin it with cg)

After the culmination of months of heated debate, today in Quebec City, Dr. Henry Morgentaler received the Order of Canada.  The Order of Canada, the highest civilian honour in the country, recognizes a lifetime of outstanding achievement and dedication to community.

In a statement released Thursday, Governor General Michaëlle Jean said that Morgentaler has had "a major impact" on Canadian public policy.  "A Holocaust survivor, he has not hesitated to put himself at risk in his determined drive to increase health-care options for Canadian women," the statement reads.

"He has been a catalyst for change and important debate, influencing public policy nationwide. He has heightened awareness of women's reproductive health issues among medical professionals and the Canadian public."

After it was announced in July that it would bestow the award on Morgentaler, some past recipients, angry at the decision, gave back their medals in protest.  `If the majority have decided this is OK and a good thing, the minority has to accept it and understand that not all laws and rights will agree with our own personal beliefs.'  Jean said.  Among those who returned their medals were Montreal Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte, former New Brunswick lieutenant-governor Gilbert Finn and B.C. priest Lucien Larré.

Born in Poland in 1923, Morgentaler and is a Holocaust survivor that lived in the Łódź ghetto until 1944, after which he was detained and sent to Auschwitz.  Morgentaler immigrated to Canada from Poland after the Second World War and opened a clinic in Montreal in 1969, where he performed thousands of what were then illegal abortions.

Morgentaler gave up his family practice and began openly performing illegal abortions in his private clinic in 1968. At the time abortion was illegal except for cases in which continuing a pregnancy threatened the life of the pregnant woman. On August 26, 1969, an amendment to the Criminal Code legalized abortion in Canada if performed in a hospital after approval of a Therapeutic Abortion Committee which was a three-doctor hospital abortion committee.  Morgentaler's abortions remained illegal under that new law; they became legal in January 1988 as section 251 of the Criminal Code (now known as section 287) was found to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Canada.

A family physician, Morgentaler argued that access to abortion was a basic human right and that women should not have to risk death in order to end their pregnancies. Morgentaler's clinics were often raided by police, and one in Toronto was firebombed.

Morgentaler was arrested several times and spent months in jail as he fought his case at all court levels in Canada.

"Canada is one of the few places in the world where freedom of speech and choice prevail in a truly democratic fashion," he said, reading from a statement.  I'm proud to have been given this opportunity coming from a war-torn Europe to realize my potential and my dream - that is to create a better and more humane society."