I can’t remember the last time I was this blown away. Someone posted this to the list at school with the heading “now that’s REAL talent”. And as I watched the video, I thought, “Ok, so someone is clever at arranging video sequences, and they created a big rubbery sock puppet that looks just like an elephant’s trunk. And they are creating the illusion that the elephant has the awareness to create a self-portrait on paper.”

And then I watched this one. So, umm. Wow.

I’m sure pet owners are less surprised by this than I am. But still, it’s crazy. Makes you wonder what they are thinking, and whether they wonder when we humans will finally get our shit together and stop destroying ourselves.

It must be getting down to the wire for the Clinton camp. They are lagging behind Obama by every metric measurable: delegates, popular votes, and fundraising. While I don’t necessarily think it is SUCH a bad thing that the two of them are still at it, as opposed to uniting behind a single candidate to stem “bloodletting” to quote Bill Richardson, I do think that Hillary needs to come up with better arguments than mentioning the Electoral College as evidence for being in the lead. Using the fact that she leads in Electoral College votes reads in one way, and one way only:

The Situation is Desperate.

As reported in the NYT, Clinton supporter Sentator Evan Bayh made the boo-boo of stating that

…who carried the states with the most Electoral College votes is an
important factor to consider because ultimately, that’s how we choose
the president of the United States.

Umm. Quickie little history course for Los Dingbatos Politicos: The Electoral College is not exactly popular with Democratic voters. Do you recall El Florida Elección in 2000? That was some Banana Republic shit. But beyond that, the Electoral College has been the target of many proposals for amendments over the decades, exactly because it can produce the, well, undemocratic outcome we saw in 2000 - a president elected by a minority (in this case, 5 Florida Supreme Court justices outweighed the preferences of hundreds of thousands of voters nationwide).

The NYT article ends on a delicious quote from Hillary Clinton, proffered in the wake of 2000:

“I believe strongly that in a democracy, we should respect the will of the people and to me, that means it’s time to do away with the Electoral College and move to the popular election of our president.”

Madam candidate: please talk to us about how you have what it takes to get the country back on track. This is what we need to hear: Your analysis of what is wrong with this country, and how you propose to correct these complex situations. Don’t be afraid of pointing out problems. We’re not children. We can take it. But show us how you are better than Obama at tackling those problems.

Anything other than this type of discourse is a distraction and ultimately will do nothing to help your chances of winning.