I, Tankard, promised not to vote for Clinton before not voting for Clinton was cool.

Just sayin'.

I wasn't the only one. Seashell and Terry H. spring immediately to mind as others who have been unwilling to sell out the Democratic Party to the Wingnuts from very early on.

But after being labeled as a "traitors," a "goddamn selfish idiots," and a "far-left kooks," we to be swelling our ranks with more and more patriots from The Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party whose eyes are opening to Hillary's true nature. (I was going to accuse Sen Clinton of auric hydrology, but Goldwater had ethics.)

So this might be a good time to take an opportunity. Tto those of us who will not vote for Clinton should she manage to use the politcs of fear and race to pilfer the nomination, let's organize around a true liberal candidate -- I suggest Russ Feingold -- and pledge our November votes to her or him. Let's help the Dems understand that we ARE the party.

TPM Cafe has become a place where people try to talk sense to raging Clintonistas while said Clintonistas blow acrid smoke, call it fact, and challenge sensible people to disprove the smoke.

Larry foams at the mouth and is defended by Hillary's minions as "civil." Patriots assert that they'll never vote for The Monster and are reviled as "goddamn selfish idiots." The Clinton campaign employs the Rovian tactic of accusing the opponent of it's own sins, and apologists  tell us we must vote for Candidate Hillary to avoid the return of the Rovians.

Without regard to the virtues of Barack Obama, Sen. Clinton, her campaign, and her followers exhibit all the symptoms that they claim afflict the Obama camp -- in fact, symptoms that could easily be ascribed to a skinhead convention -- anger, irrationality, and blind unthinking loyalty to the point of cultism.

Add to this the fact that Sen. Clinton's positions most resemble those of Joe Lieberman at them moment, but may easily change with a subtle shift in Gallup's latest release.

Then there's the topper: Replies to screed such as this one are likely to elicit the response, "Well, Obama is worse." And when one points out that that is no reason to vote for The Monster, they come back with, "Well, it's either her or McCain. You're stuck with our Monster." Then, when confronted with the fact that "none of the above" is the only rational choice, they call us traitors.

It's the same bullshit, round in circles, sense answered with nonsense, fact illiciting fraud, pearls before swine.

I've had enough. I do this for fun, not aggravation. Maybe I'll check back in after the November election.

1. Why am I sometimes asked to re-enter my password when I try to post a comment?

An account is automatically logged out after an extended period of inactivity. This is because our developers have never heard of the concept of "cookies," and the bakers we hired never heard of javascript.

2. Does html code work in TPM reader blog posts?

It does. However, it doesn't.

3. Can I edit a reader blog post after I've posted it?

No. Our developers are working to make this possible, but in the short run it's best to be perfect, as we expect liberal bloggers to be. You know, you could use a different tool to compose your comments then paste them into your post. Our developers finally figured out how to cut-and-paste, and you're smarter than they are.

4. I just put up a comment but I don't see it there yet. What gives?

Comments may take a minute or two or ten or thirty to appear. We did this to prevent conversation here at TPM Cafe, which we find can sometimes get controversial. We wouldn't want any controversy here. BTW, if your comment doesn't apprear after 30 minutes, god is telling you he doesn't want you blogging today. Try again tomorrow. If that doesn't work, try Daily Kos.

5. It says "latest comments" on my profile, but it actually looks like my oldest comments. Why?

Because we have some wires crossed on our side. We think we know which wires go where, but you know, if we cut the wrong wire, the ensuing explosion could take out most of eastern Virginia, and we're not ready to do that yet.<sweating>Now, was it "red next to yella kill a fella," or was that about snakes?</sweating>

6. My password doesn't work, and when I try to reset it, that doesn't work either. What do I do?

Email us at help at talkingpointsmemo dot com, and we'll do a couple of things that won't work either.

Having once been a breeze to navigate, post, and comment, TPM Cafe has become an unpleasant quagmire of lost posts, sparse information, and impossible conversations. The new site gives the impression of having been designed by a blind person of diminished capacity and developed by amateurs. This is particularly pathetic in view of the excellent interface that was in place just a few short weeks ago.

Just a few of the ways that the friendliness of this site has been damaged:

-- The Tracker used to be a great way to follow the ebb and flow of conversation. It's loss in the current paradigm is mourned by denizens far and wide.

-- Showing comments and posts in the profile "oldest first" prevents us from finding any new product more than a few days old.

-- The inability to search for another specific user's profile is unforgivable.

-- In the past, it was apparent whether one was logged in or not. Now? Who knows?

-- My password works. Sometimes. It seems to depend on the phase of the moon and whether or not my parakeet has had his dinner.

The list goes on, as does the moaning. It looks as though Howard, Tom Wright, and many other well-respected bloggers have given up in frustration, and frankly, I'm close myself.

Could we have our old site back, sir? Please? Or is this a Republican plot to scatter the liberal bloggers?

Sing, O Muse, of the keen-sighted Obama and send to the lips of this unbeliever the words that will move the gods of republic to deliver a land from the ravages of false conservatism, greed, and colonialism. Nor permit the once-proud Democrats to fly from their posts and leave to the Republicans the garland of victory.

Hear me and heed my plaint, ye gods of republic. Warm the hearts and souls of the voters and grant them the skill and wisdom to navigate the narrow channel between the Scylla of Clinton of the stern helmet on the right and the bottomless sucking Charybdis of McCain on the far right.

Let the clear-eyed Obama -- he of the virtuous wife Michelle, proud once again of her land -- let him not stray with unwise words nor fall under the glinting sword of the swift-boating Republicans but, like golden-voiced Orpheus, charm the wild voters of hapless America.

Upon his ascension, gods and goddesses, let Obama not seek the shining weapons of war, but spare our warriors the tribulations that fell on cunning Odysseus and send them home to their wives and children. Cause Obama also to eschew the arrogant powers that ensorcelled Bush of the befuddled aspect and return to his people mandate over their own conversation and pudenda. Permit him also to rally the forces of conservation, that the world not burn as did the topless towers of Ilium.

Thus shall Obama rescue hard-pressed America and cause forthcoming generations to compose paeans to his leadership and compare his wisdom to that of grey-eyed Athena.

Not to be overly critical of Clinton supporters, but...what the hell are you thinking?

We'll get right back to whether or not she can win in the general, but how in the world can you claim that she is worthy of your vote as a progressive.

<ul>
<li>She has voted in favor of invasion of a non-threatening  Middle Eastern country TWICE. Different countries, too. One dominated by Sunnis, one dominated by Shiites.</li>
<li>She has voted repeatedly to continue funding the Iraq debacle to no positive effect.</li>
<li>She has (and I'm tired of putting it this way, but it's the truth) an attitude about the First Amendment that is to the right of Antonin F. Scalia. (Yeah, I know his middle name is Gregory. I'll leave it as an exercise to the reader to figure out what the F. stands for.)</li>
<li>She has voted to prop up Big Money at the expense of the middle class.</li>
<li>You know I could just keep going with this list, don't you?</li>
</ul>

How can you expect people like me -- and I think that means people who have been faithful Dems all their lives but can't force themselves to be Yellow Dogs any longer -- to stop pointing out these deep flaws in the character of your candidate? For that matter, how can a person with Senator Clinton's positions BE your candidate?

As if her domestic and foreign policy postitions weren't abhorrent enough, she seems determined to win the nomination whether or not it shatters her party. She will twist superdelegate arms and fight to the death to seat her unearned FL and MI delegates regardless of the long-term effects.

When it comes to winning in Nov, I will now concede that she might, but only because the Republicans are engaged in a death struggle pitting the Extreme Right with the Completely Insane Right in a battle for power and the Glory of Jesus.

Not that it has any effect on the validity of my arguments here, but before you accuse me of cultishness -- as you folks are so eager to do to Obama supporters -- let me repeat, as I have done any number of times, that I NOT one of them. I find his Wear-My-Religion-On-My-Sleeve approach disturbing. I find his willingness to invade an ally without a Congressional declaration of war disturbing. And I find the imprecision of his positions disturbing, among other problems. I'm also pretty sure his health-care plan is unworkable. Suffice it to say I have hardly fallen under his -- or the media's -- spell.

But whereas Obama raises many doubts, I simply cannot understand why Sen. Clinton inspires any doubts whatsoever. She is simply and almost completely unsuitable from the perspective of a lefty.

So, Clintonistas, you want me to stop criticizing your candidate? You want to unite the Democratic Party? Sure. Just find yourselves another more progressive candidate and I'll be pleased to join you. Many of us will.