, weighs in at
8.1 megapixels, and cost me just under two hundred bucks, a bargain when you consider that I never leave home without it, and always come back with at least 150 photos from the day's adventure. The L
series is even easier on the pocketbook. You can find L14s with 7.1 MP for around a hundred bucks. No one will mistake you for Ansel Adams, but you can have a lot of fun with it.
Spoiler Alert!
...albeit at a glacial pace...
As Hillary Clinton noted the other night, when disappointing results from North Carolina and Indiana were coming in, calls for her to drop out of the race are nothing new. They actually began in the beginning, and crescendoed months ago, when she was still pretty much neck-and-neck delegates-wise with Obama. Her persistence in the face of what were then wholly unreasonable calls for her to give up her still very viable bid for the White House was precisely what we would expect from any true contender.
FOBOs (Friends Of Barack Obama, for the acronymically challenged) have at every turn for the worse defined the primary race as an attempt by a vile, petty little woman to harm the chances of a truly good and great man to save the nation from certain doom. They could easily have spun a different narrative, but were content to whinge and whine from Super Tuesday on that for Hillary Clinton to stay in the race would harm Democrats' chances in the fall. She was being illogical, selfish, and mendacious. That is, when she was not being vile, vindictive and malicious.
But it's not Clinton's bid for the top spot but the narrative FOBO's chose to define the primary in the hopes of winning it that may end up undermining them in the end. Their idée fixe — that Hillary would stop at nothing, even the utter destruction of the hallowed hopes of the better half of the nation, for her personal ambition, toppling in the process the One True Hope for Salvation — is certainly powerful, but it's also pure fantasy, albeit built upon female archetypes as old as humankind. Eve spoiled it for Adam. She bears responsibility for The Fall. As Eve was to Adam, so Hillary is to Barack*. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Hillary The Spoiler has been around from the beginning. So it's disappointing to see the likes of Nicholas Kristof recycling the tired narrative at this late stage in the game. Talk about the kitchen sink strategy, Kristof compares Clinton to Nader, who Democrats blame for Gore's loss to Bush, and Ted Kennedy, whom Kristof blames for Carter's loss to Reagan. By now, nearly every negative analogy has been hung around Hillary's neck in the attempt to bury her. We're scraping the bottom of the barrel here.
If Obama, who's outspent his opponent 3-to-1 in some states, has been unable to "close the deal" it's not Hillary's fault. The notion that shielding him from criticism is a strategy for success in the general election is obvious nonsense. The idea that had Hillary not picked up on her opponents' weaknesses the GOP would never have found them out has a childlike magical quality to it: if not for the Wicked Witch of the West Wing, The Enchanted Prince would be out of the Dark Forest and well on his way down the Golden Road to the White House by now!
It's a measure of the ravages of reality over the last eight years that many Americans cleave to fairytale narratives. Hardcore FOBOs are basically the flipside of Fundies who felt the same way eight years ago about their party's savior. They have pinned their hopes for change on the flimsiest of election year rhetoric partly because they want to believe in the fairy tale ending. But I think we're dealing with one of those never-ending stories here.
Kristof at least gives us a peek at the next chapter (SPOILER ALERT!), where we all make nice. This is the part of the story where Clinton "gracefully" concedes (notice how they always use this word "graceful" when urging her to exit — as if tempting the ugly duckling with the promise of swanhood). She gracefully acknowledges what has been obvious to everyone all along (she wasn't evil, just deluded — well, maybe a little evil, too), and makes way for The One. Exit the flying monkeys. Cue the singing Munchkins.
And while she clearly deserves a good swift kick on her way out, the media and even the haters will pitch in for a parting gift: Hillary will be forever dubbed, "She Who Made It Easier For The Next Woman Candidate." Oh, what a splendid honorific!
Just as the media all but ignored John Edwards while he was running, and then praised him when he dropped out as the true architect of Democratic reform ("both candidates left standing are, to a large extent, running on the platform Mr. Edwards built," Paul Krugman wrote in the Times a couple days after Edwards quit the race), colleagues and commentators who savaged her during her run for the nomination will praise Mrs. Clinton's effort in, if not smashing the glass ceiling in the end, at least being willing to crack her head banging against it repeatedly with all her might like a hysterical thrush crashing against a picture window.
Thank goodness the Little Prince was safe on the other side of the glass!
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*Lilith, Adam's first wife, will serve in this context as well, particularly in the repeated references to Hillary as a witch.
These last couple of days, Hillary might as well have campaigned standing next to David Duke wearing a white sheet with a hood.
She has run the worst campaign and then tries to blame other people for HER failings to connect. Hillary needs to take a BIG SWIG from a hot, steamy mug of STFU, and go away. She's lost. It's over.
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Sound advice, RG. I trust you know whereof you speak.
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Not always, as evidenced by my comment. :)
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If it had been the other way around (Clinton leading in the delegate count, while a hopelessly trailing contender stubbornly stuck to the race), the calls for the upstart contender (Obama) to drop out would have been going on much earlier and much louder. I resented the way Clinton was treated as the inevitable nominee a year ago before the primaries started. Good riddance to her.
An un-apologetic FOBO.
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You make the leap from resenting the way Clinton was treated as the inevitable nominee (note your passive construction, without an agent) to blaming her for being treated that way with admirable ease and alacrity. This justifies your ungraciousness even as your candidate is poised to win the nomination.
I don't happen to share your certainty that Obama would have received similar treatment had things been different on account of his "upstart" status, or your seeming faith that the backwards-in-heels factor wasn't in play.
Your narrative, if memory serves, is that Clinton voted for the war while Obama has always been against it, and I certainly respect your voting for him on those (and other) grounds. But to "resent" someone for a narrative made up about them in the incipient stages of a race, a narrative packaged and sold by the media, who also seemed by and large to resent the candidate when they turned out to be mistaken, seems a little uncritical. But love is blind.
I also find the "unapologetic" you tacked on at the end a bit of an eye-roller. I hope you don't feel the need to play the victim on top of the rest of it. Sing when you're winning, Marcelo! At any rate, my intention is not to demean Obama, whom I think will make a fine President (although not the Savior of All Mankind some hardcore Obamoids seem to believe him to be).
I'm just trying to understand the Obama phenomenon, while at the same time acknowledging the rancor towards Clinton that seems to be its flipside. In this context I think it's interesting which of the many competing narratives out there becomes conventional wisdom.
There was a piece in today's Times about "the upside of being knocked around" that might interest you. The next chapter is being written...
This, I think, though a little short of gracious, is a better way to redefine the narrative at this point than "good riddance to her."
We should all at the very least try harder now not to contribute to the air of acrimony we profess to despise, don't you think?
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To this day,I am still hoping for one of these "unapologetic" FOBO's to please explain to me what is so great about this guy. And I've asked many times, believe me. But all I get back is some muddled hoo-ha about bringing the country together. Huh?! And this is from otherwise really smart people.
I mean, I get that he's charming, bright, and wears nice suits, but that describes a zillion other people in this country who don't think it's their right to be crowned Prince Obama - and without any palace schemeing on the part of all you other less enlightened beings, thank you very much, since that would just be "old politics." And that would be just so, I don't know, icky. I read newspapers and listen to news radio every day, and I couldn't fill up 4 minutes telling you this guy's policy positions are on anything, or give one single shred of evidence that he is capable of "bringing our country together." I don't want a nominee who is going to bring me together with the nuts who've led our country for the last 8 years. I want a nominee, and a President, who is going to start kicking asses and taking names.
Maybe McCain will fly off the handle and crash his own campaign, but otherwise I think the war hero goes to the White House. And if we're not so lucky, we'll get nowhere even if Prince Obama wins, except a Republican White House in 4 years. You don't get policy objectives enacted into law by prefacing everything you want to do with "but, hey, I'm willing to compromise!" So many hopes tacked onto so little, well, anything are sure to disappoint.
I didn't start out a Hillary supporter, I actually liked John Edwards, but came to admire and even like Hillary for the fact that at least she's not a whiner and not afraid of a fight if that's what it takes to push your agenda. I just don't see this guy going toe to toe with McCain and the Republican attack machine and winning, but I wish him well and I really, sincerely, for the good of our county, hope I am completely wrong.
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There's a lot of people in this "FOBO" community (as opposed to "people who will vote for Obama, counting myself as one, which is a different and wholly more rational group) who have indeed showed themselves to be mirror-images of the recently invisible "Bushies".
What shines through is many of them are either (1) ideologues who ignore the reality of the person in favor of their fantasy of what the person might possibly do in office, or (2) relatively clueless about what actually is going on in the world.
Both of those types have shown their true terrifying sides in the past few months. In the case of those that were the worst - often betraying most of the values they once espoused, I find their judgment can no longer be trusted.
Too bad, too. Some of them were strong voices. Now they just have to be watched warily to see if they don't cause harm in the future.
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Newsflash: Edwards just became a FOBO! Go figure!
Reality check: Obama will still be the underdog in the race for the White House. Because he's black. And this country has a whole lot of racists. No no no children, I'm not saying that if you're against Obama, you are racist. I'm saying there's lots of people out there who will not vote for a black guy, no matter how good he may be.
It's hilarious to read Mike Mennonno, of all people, calling me ungracious. Tee hee!
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Tee hee? What's that? Is that really how you laugh? When you hear something hilarious? Are you a Japanese schoolgirl?
Seriously, though: I'm not gonna take this or make this personal, Marcelo, because it's really not, for me.
The back story here, for the rest of you: Marcelo and I met once, very briefly, through my former housemate. I don't profess to know Marcelo, or have any reason to pass judgment on his character. From what I have heard, he's a swell guy. I have had no personal dealings with him, and, aside from possibly being on the receiving end of some very stale gossip, he's had none with me.
So "tee hee!" away, Marcelo. I -- of all people -- don't mind.
Just to be perfectly clear, what I based my comments on were the lines: "I resented the way Clinton was treated as the inevitable nominee a year ago before the primaries started. Good riddance to her." In my reply I made no general statement about Marcelo's character, which I am neither qualified to judge, nor particularly interested in commenting on in my blog. It's not a burning topic. The "ungraciousness" in question was attached to an object (Madame Clinton) -- and was not meant to appear amorphous and free-floating. I believe I tried earnestly to clarify what exactly I found ungracious and why.
Many people obviously feel personally invested in their candidate and in this campaign. As I said, I respect that. I have personally been turned off by strident elements that came to the fore in the early stages of Obama's run. I've already said I'm happy to vote Obama in the fall, despite his 37. Maybe because of it. I believe his bowling score provides ample proof that he is, indeed, mortal.
I saw Edwards' speech this afternoon, too, by the way. He was gracious, indeed, although his admirable attempt to praise Clinton in the obvious hopes of unifying the party drew a resounding chorus of boos from the crowd. That's what I'm talking about. It's over. It's time to unite, FOBOs. That's what you've been on about all this time! Let's do it! See how gracious I am, Marcelo? Or do you still think I'm a Hillary Monster, too? GRRR! Tee hee hee!
All I'll say is, next time I see Marcelo, I hope he's not in a car, gunning his engine, and aiming for me. This Clinton-Obama thing is starting to get as serious as the Yankees-Sox rivalry.
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Mike, my apologies. Re-reading my comments, I was embarrassed to see how condescending I came off. I did get carried away. You are 100% correct. Time for unity. And my apologies to Mrs. Clinton. I didn't mean that bit about good riddance (yuck, can't believe I wrote that). I think she means really well and has done great service for our country. And I would never EVER try to run you over in a car Mike. Maybe on a bike? Kidding! No not even on a bike. Uhm, come over for BBQ Saturday?
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Mrs. Clinton accepts your apology and has very graciously agreed to reduce your punishment for impudence to fifty lashes (down from three hundred).
About the BBQ: should I come already scalded and dehaired with an apple in my mouth, or are you gonna do the honors?
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