Did Barack just become the candidate of the little guy in a dizzying, death-defying way?  We'll find out in the next few days.  As long as he keeps saying that he's IN FAVOR of Gun Rights, I think he'll come out stronger.  The next 2 days will be crucial if he's not going to be labeled more of an elitist...  He can win this, but he needs to get loud and biting in his criticism.  After all, he's the only one of the 3 who isn't worth over $100 Million Dollars and has a subscription to The Robb Report.

He's done well so far in

In Krugman's piece today "Health Care Horror Stories", he recounts the whole flare up surrounding Hillary's story about the pregnant woman in Ohio who was refused medical care because of an inability to fork over the $100 co-pay.  Hillary was vindicated in the end, but paid a price for a few days because, after the Bosnia stories, the storyline became that she "has a little trouble with the truth".

I'm an Obama supporter, but I am very glad Hillary was vindicated on this story.  Not that it happened, of course, but that she was honestly retelling an important, and heartbreaking story that we should all hear.  I'm not glad because Hillary can now claim that she was wronged (as Krugman seems to be saying), but because the truth won out despite the news cycles.

I don't have health insurance right now, and I would definitely put off an emergency room visit and its artificially inflated and crushing bills in favor of a few days of pain if I thought I could get away with it.  This is a horrible choice, but it's where we're at.

Anyway, here's Krugman: 

And even more important, Mrs. Clinton was making a valid point about the state of health care in this country.

In other words, this was a disgraceful episode. It was particularly sad to see a number of Obama supporters (though not the Obama campaign itself) join enthusiastically in the catcalls against Mrs. Clinton’s good-faith effort to put a human face on the cruelty and injustice of the American health care system.

Look, I know that many progressives have their hearts set on seeing Barack Obama get the Democratic nomination. But politics is supposed to be about more than cheering your team and jeering the other side. It’s supposed to be about changing the country for the better.

Now, I understand that TPM readers and good friends talking politics sometimes say stupid things, and get each other all pissed off over the Hillary v. Obama fight.  I can understand those hurt feelings. 

But why is Paul Krugman taking this thing so personally?  I used to be annoyed with him constantly bashing Obama, but now he just seems so hurt and bitter all the time, and it seems to go beyond just his impassioned defense of liberalism/progressive politics.  I thought columnists knew that everyone got bruised up in all this?  I thought I was the one who was supposed to get all depressed if Hillary said "Shame on You Barack Obama!" or that Barack avoided shaking Hillary's hand at the SOTU Address?

Paul:  Buck up.  We'll get through this thing.  Write a piece rallying the troops and calling for a unity!  Hug it out!

Anyway, all in all I guess what I'm saying is that I can't wait until we can all join forces again and beat the hell out of the Republicans.  There's a lot of scandal and incompetence to bring to light during this election cycle.  People will be listening this time, and more likely to believe Bush's wrongdoings.  And it's up to us Democrats to forcefully and articulately tell the truth.  I hope Krugman's there in November no matter what happens these next few weeks.

Rather than hijack Professor Gitlin's post about seeing "Stop-Loss" (I haven't seen it yet, but will after his rec), I gotta recommend that people see "Taxi to the Dark Side." 

I saw this right before Andrew Sullivan confidently announced that Rummy and Yoo will be tried for war crimes, and it completely makes Sully's case.  There is a lot to the torture patterns that needs to see the light of day.  There's evidence of winking & nodding by Runsfeld (ie - that he stands for hours a day, why can't captives?), but there's got to be a smoking gun "snowflake" written by him somewhere out there that will nail him to the wall (so to speak).

There's one scene in particular where a former CIA interrogator shows how he would have interogated without torture, and it's incredibly powerful.  He befriends and tries to help the captive by offering to help his family and educate his kids while he's stuck in Abu Graib or Gitmo.  The audience in my theater almost gasped at the countrast of his professional, intelligent approach vs. the endless beatings the Army privates were forced to inflict.

PS - Also this is a friendly suggestion to get Springsteen's disc MAGIC.  It's an incredible indictment of the last 7+ years, and more importantly, a record/lamentation of how we've changed in some fundamental ways....

Quoting his song "Last To Die" (which takes Kerry's words before Congress about Vietnam):

"Who'll be the last to die for a mistake?
The last to die for a mistake?
Darlin' will tyrants and kings fall to the same fate?
Strung up at your city gates?
Who'll be the last to die for a mistake"

[[Or as Sean Penn would say:

"Let's show them we can fire this President and put him in F#cking jail."]]

.... Sorry, couldn't help it...  :)

Just wanted to make sure you all saw this NYT's piece today about blogging being hazardous to your health.  I'm sure we all knew this was true, but it's shocking to see that people actually die from this type of internet addiction.  I don't doubt it.

Maybe we should all give more to the TPM fundraisers so Josh and the crew can treat themselves to 2 weeks at Canyon Ranch.  There's a lot of muck to be raked this year, and we need them in top shape. 

Here are some quotes (I think I'm going to go outside for a walk...):

Two weeks ago in North Lauderdale, Fla., funeral services were held for Russell Shaw, a prolific blogger on technology subjects who died at 60 of a heart attack. In December, another tech blogger, Marc Orchant, died at 50 of a massive coronary. A third, Om Malik, 41, survived a heart attack in December.

All that competition puts a premium on staying awake. Matt Buchanan, 22, is the right man for the job. ... ....

He says he sleeps about five hours a night and often does not have time to eat proper meals. But he does stay fueled — by regularly consuming a protein supplement mixed into coffee.

“If I don’t hear from him, I’ll think: Matt’s passed out again,” said Brian Lam, the editor of Gizmodo. “It’s happened four or five times.”