That's right folks, the Democratic National Convention, the introduction of one of the two presidential candidates to the nation, is officially "non-news."

So there's been a lot of talk about the use of ageism against John McCain in this year's elections.  The man is 71 years old after all.

However his newest turn on the campaign trail doesn't exactly do him any favors.

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There is a very interesting article by long time Clinton supporter Hilary Rosen over at HuffPo.

It is a very thoughtful call to Hillary and her supporters to refocus and come back to the fold.

In the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope... - Barack Obama

It was Friday night.  It was chilly (for Texans anyway), and my friends and I had arrived at Barack Obama's Stand for Change rally in Austin, Texas.

We made our way to the lines that stretched on forever.  We collected bumper stickers, t-shirts, and friends along the way.  Most of us spent the day worrying whether we'd get in at all, given the numbers expected to show.

We worked our way through security and began to head towards the stage to scout out any good vantage point.  Suddenly, an Obama volunteer (Kenny) appeared and asked us, "Would you like to sit behind the Senator?"

Cut to the stupified group of us, open mouthed in disbelief.  

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First, a story:

My girlfriend came home the other day weeping.  Shocked, I ran to her to ask what was wrong.  Are you OK?  Were you in an accident?  Are you hurt?

The answer was no to all of these questions.  When she had regained her composure I asked her again what had happened.

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Rolling Stone has an amazing piece in their current issue which goes into great detail about just how much our presidential candidates have been robbed by beltway consultants for innumerable years.

http://www.rollingstone.com/...

There are tidbits about all of our "favorite" characters (Bob Shrum! among others) and a hard line on the shocking reality: the money we send to our favorite candidates is not being spent to win those extra votes in Florida or Ohio or wherever the new hotbed lies, rather it is going into overpaid consultant pockets.  Follow me below...

It isn't like we haven't already asked ourselves this question about a gazillion times, what with the "I don't want Roe overturned...wait now I do" moments and the "Rumsfeld deserves our respect...oh wait, he's the worst Sec. of Defense EVER" moments (among others).

But the magnitude of his pandering only continues to grow.  If only I knew how to incorporate a "patheic-o-meter" in my diary...

Much has been made of the Straw Man fallacy and its common use in political argument today, and of course, we are all increasingly familiar with ad hominem attacks and similar wrong-headedness.  In fact, the use of fallacy has become so commonplace with this president and those that would follow him, that reasoned debate is now considered to be a rarity if not non existent, while the weight of the crown of cynicism placed upon the mantle of our population has become a burden unseen, but not unfelt.

Forgive the baiting title, but it is true.  A sad fact, a scarlet letter of shame I have had to carry for six years.  The longest years for many, if not all of us.  I want to tell you the story of how education was my awakening.  I hope you'll join me here for what I hope is an interesting narrative about the difficulties of watching your worldview crumble around you, and the joy of rebuilding it as it always should have been.

Republican lawmaker to offer timetable for Iraq withdrawal
'Out troops cannot be there indefinitely,' Rep. Shays says.

http://www.cnn.com/...

Bear with me everyone...first diary ever, and I am a newbie to boot.

This is the top story on CNN's site for politics, I was surprised no one had discussed it up to this point.  It occurs to me that republicans must not be too happy with Chris Shays today.

Cut and Run as a Strategy has been more or less played out at this point.  When it broke that the actual Generals on the ground in Iraq had plans for a phased pullout, it kind of rendered the attacks on Democrats as lacking the guts or tenacity to do what needed to be done to win the "war" there moot.