We've seen lots of hand wringing of late in regard to Obama's most recent position on FISA:

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) today announced his support for a sweeping intelligence surveillance law that has been heavily denounced by the liberal activists who have fueled the financial engines of his presidential campaign.

Alright, let's simmer down.  I'm already seeing diaries and comments berating Senator Obama for what some are seeing as pandering to conservatives.

Taking a page from President Bush, Democrat Barack Obama said Tuesday he wants to expand White House efforts to steer social service dollars to religious groups, risking protests in his own party with his latest aggressive reach for voters who usually vote Republican.

Senator John McCain tells us that that the war in Iraq is "necessary and just", and hey, good news: Bush's surge is a success! Will it work for the next 100 years? Let's take a glance at May of this year to see how well everything is working so far, eh?

Crossposted at DailyKos

"Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that." -- Steve Earle.

I'm big fan of Townes Van Zandt.  Unlike Steve Earle, I never had the opportunity to know or play music with him. Anyhoo, I had to work late last night to meet a report deadline, so I did what I often do:  dialed my iPod to the TVZ collection and put it on shuffle.  For hours, many of Townes' best tunes pumped through my headphones while I wrote the narrative sections of my scientific report and formatted table after table.  

I came to a good stopping point, and poked my head into MyDD for a quick peek around, knowing there would likely be some "interesting" diaries and comments in the wake of Senator Obama having secured the Democratic nomination for President.  Boy howdy.  The last thing I did before I finally went to bed last night was read a diary that described an (all but finished) Presidential candidate with a precious metals simile-- specifically, polished gold.

More after the fold.

Sorry for the short dairy, but thought some folks might want to see this.  I figured a comment post would get lost among the frothing multiple diaries currently popping.

So, while we wait for the final tally from Indiana.  Come on Lake County!

According to this article, the Mayor of Gary, Indiana is hinting that Obama may upset Clinton when all is said and done.

Some snippets after the fold.

*Except he's not.

Hillary Clinton's hometown paper, The Scranton Times-Tribune endorses:

For Pennsylvania Democrats, the best answer in the April 22 primary is Barack Obama.

In a nomination campaign that has defied convention, Mr. Obama has energized an entire generation of voters that, for the most part, otherwise had checked out of political participation. That, at least, portends a new approach to governance that can help to dissipate the political miasma that has engulfed Washington at least since the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is an extremely talented politician who already has secured a unique place in U.S. political history. She repeatedly has proved her political death notices to be premature. She also has demonstrated that she is a master of public policy. And -- this is not and should not be taken lightly in an area that prides itself on family and a tradition of supporting its own -- the Rodham family has deep Scranton roots.

But Mrs. Clinton also is a political lightning rod. There is little doubt that a second Clinton presidency would further the deep divisiveness that characterizes American politics -- a divisiveness that dug itself deep during the Clinton presidency, and even deeper during the Bush-Cheney years.

Deep roots, but it may be that the leaves are changing color.

Crossposted at DailyKos

So this is what all the fuss is about:

You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them," Obama said. "And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

-- Senator Barack Obama

I know, I know.  DailyKos is bad, and all those crazy Obama supporters are rabid, nutty animals (sigh).  I know many here at MyDD are boycotting or striking (bigger sigh).  All the same, I saw a diary that some of you (albieit a minority) might be interested in.

One day soon, we'll all have to work together behind the democratic nominee.  Let's hope the days gnashing teeth, and tearing out eachother's throats will soon come to and end.

With the explicit permission of the diarist, Miss Blue, I'm posting her diary below the fold, in its entirety.  Read with an open mind.