Labor pains

I think the Dems need an epidural about now, and I need about a half bottle of Tylenol. (and I think I'll get sick to my stomach when I start hearing Clinton surrogates talking about trying to resurrect Florida and Michigan.)

This labor has gone on a long while, and time and time again, when it looked like a bouncing new candidate would emerge, it was a false alarm.

Tonight was no exception.

The Democratic party seems doomed to contention and scrapping, and I suppose that's far better than a Soviet style party where everyone falls into line and blindly follows authority. But really.... with the stars aligned and everything falling into place for a potentially massive victory in November... now we're faced with what seems like a movie that will go on about an hour and a half past the point where anyone enjoyed it.

She's baaaaaaaack.

Hillary Clinton soundly thumped Barack Obama in Ohio and it's all but certain she'll win Texas. Add that to her victory in Rhode Island and she met and exceeded most expectations, going 3 for 4 with only Obama's expected win in Vermont preventing a sweep.

And she promptly put an end to all the rampant speculation and prognostication about what circumstances would or should make her drop out by vowing to "go all the way".

Now what has already been a long and somewhat difficult labor is promising to become extremely painful and may very well lead to most Dems grabbing the doctor by the sleeve and with bulging eyes demanding that they GET THIS OVER WITH!!!!

Now Clinton has raised the truly nightmarish spectre of her trying to change the rules and seat Florida delegates, or even staging a "redo" there.

It's not a good day for the Dems, and like groundhog day, the results tonight guaranteed at least 8 more weeks of sniping, charges and counter-charges, and who knows what as Clinton engages in an escalating ugly battle to secure what she feels is her rightful throne.

And by keeping things tight as a tick tonight, she won the right to legitimately do so.

Are the Dems going to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory once more? Having been handed the most vibrant and inspirational candidate in decades and inspiring a national movement behind him, will they now scratch and kick and play with the rules in order to ensure that a legacy candidate gets what she feels she so richly deserves?

If you're a Clinton supporter, tonight was no doubt a great relief and very heartening. Clinton's a scrapper and she's won all the "big" states that a candidate needs to win if they're to prevail in the general election.

But why do I get the feeling that Clinton's victories only made many Dems very depressed at just what they will now bring?

At least the lovely, bright, and talented Rachel Maddow, part of an election night panel on MSNBC, provided a bit of humor.

She suggested that Obama should have made his congratulatory phone call to Clinton at 3:00 a.m. ... just to see if she answered the call. ha!

Oh yeah, and the ossified John McCain clinched the Republican nomination and gave a semi-stirring speech which suggested that Islamic extremists have attacked us because "they hate modernity itself", neglecting to mention how he's also maintained that the terrorists are so sophisticated that they're practically able to achieve time travel, based on the fear-mongering warnings and arguments for why we need to trash the constitution and give up our rights to defend against them.

Neither did he mention that they communicate through satellite phones, encrypted computer networks, etc. Yep, they aren't fighting us because we've trampled on their countries, interfered with their governments and established bases on their soil... nah... it's because they "hate modernity".

But maybe it's because they don't want "modernity" in the form of tank shells and bombs and missiles flying through the windows of their modest homes or soldiers slaughtering them as they drive down the street on the way to the market. Nah.... again, it's all because they hate our "freedom" and modernity itself.

OK Grandpa, if you say so.

I suppose the "surge" is working too.

Looks like McCain is banking on the same old Bush tactic of peddling fairy tales and misleading the American public, feeding them pleasing and easy to digest story lines that appeal to their armchair patriotism, jingoism, and false bravado.

So much for "straight talk", this guy will try to sell us anything if it helps scare us into voting him into power.

But I digress. What the hell is going to happen now that Hillary has earned a reason to fight to the death?