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I have to tell you that I’m very encouraged by my visits to Democratic Underground and Daily Kos yesterday.  I expected to be ravaged while trying to say anything positive about Hillary Clinton or letting people know about the real Barack Obama, but there were a lot of sane people helping to defend Clinton’s positions and helping to stop the lies and irrelevancies of the Obamabots—who are just like the Bushbots of 2000, by the way.  The Wisconsin primary is tomorrow, so if you want to help Clinton win votes, feel free to spend some time in the DU General Discussion: Primaries forum, and at Daily Kos, in the Diaries section.

Count WHOSE Vote? (by Paul Lukasiak, writing at TaylorMarsh.com)
Based on exit polls, among the approximately 16.3 million people who identified themselves as Democrats, over 678,000 more voted for Hillary Clinton than Barack Obama. If we’re going to “let the people decide” who the Democratic nominee would be, shouldn’t we be basing that on the will of Democrats themselves?
Be sure to click through to read the entire article.  It’s very revealing, and has an accompanying chart.

Obama Secretly Meets Edwards
Sen. Barack Obama “paid a secret visit to his former rival, John Edwards, in quest of his endorsement on Sunday,” The Politico reports… Like Clinton’s visit earlier this month, Obama managed to pull off his without the notice of the national press corps. However. WTVD-TV claims to have video of the visit.

Truth-Telling From Real People on the Economy (by SusanUnPC at No Quarter)
[Saturday] night, Barack Obama, in his speech to the Wisconsin Democratic party top dogs, reported that he’s told “auto workers that they must change their ways.” Dear god. I bet blue-collar workers loved that.
So, he really DOES like the Ronald Reagan approach.  Slap ‘em upside the head.  Click through for a link to the video.

Ohio Town’s Democrats See ‘Hope’ Differently (Washington Post)
“Obama, doesn’t he sound a little naive?” asked [Bo] Huenke, 52. “He stands up there, so optimistic, preaching about hope and change. It sounds great and everything, but come on. He doesn’t quite get it.”… Can grandiose visions of hope and change resonate in places where change — in this case economic change — has brought housing foreclosures and economic ruin, where hope means avoiding another round of layoffs? Can a candidate whose support has been based on African Americans and upper-middle-class whites transcend class and race in places where racial tension still colors everything?
Hope and vision don’t put food on your family.

NAFTA: Us, Hillary and the “Boon” (Spin Cycle, New York Newsday)
The Democratic campaign has moved in earnest to Ohio, where times are tough and NAFTA has become a dirty word. In an effort to score points, Barack Obama has been dropping a mail-piece … that repeats a charge he has made several other times during the campaign — that “Hillary Clinton believed NAFTA was ‘a boon’ to the economy.”… As it turns out, the primary source is us… Because it’s raised questions — with Clinton criticizing Obama for making “false claims” in the mail piece — we’ve looked into the chart. In it, we did not have the Clinton campaign using the word “boon” in describing NAFTA… Obama’s use of the citation in this way does strike us as misleading. The quote marks make it look as if Hillary said “boon,” not us. It’s an example of the kind of slim reeds campaigns use to try to win an office.
Click through to see a graphic of the mailing.  Remember, Carl Bernstein, who wrote a book about Hillary Clinton, has said she opposed NAFTA in the 90s, but of course she couldn’t go public about that.  Even now, it has to be a tricky topic for her.  That said, it’s possible to say that opening up trade doesn’t preclude FAIR trade, which the Republicans fought against extremely successfully, as long as they were in charge of Congress.

Obama: “I Believe In Free Trade” (by LindaSFNM, posting at MyDD)
Senator Obama:  ”I believe in the Free Market.  I believe in Capitalism.  I believe in Free Trade.  I am not worried about us being able to compete anywhere on earth with American workers”-Obama. Too bad, at least Hillary does.
Click through for a link to the video.

Obama Adding Detail to His Oratory
“Don’t be fooled by this talk about speeches versus solutions,” [Barack] Obama told a crowd of Wisconsin voters. “It’s true, I give a good speech. What do I do? Nothing wrong with that.”… [A]s he traveled across Wisconsin last week, Mr. Obama seemed to have let loose a little more of his inner-wonk, which his strategists had once urged him to keep on the shelf. Even as he was dismissing [Hillary]. Clinton’s criticism, he appeared to be taking it at least mildly to heart — a suggestion that as a line of attack, she might be on to something. Suddenly, he was injecting a few more specifics into his campaign speeches.

Fine words and the economic reality (by Clive Crook, writing at the Financial Times, U.K.)
As I argued last week, … [Barack] Obama is so much the better candidate… But I made the case for Mr Obama in terms of vision, temperament and appeal to uncommitted voters, not policy – where his differences from Mrs Clinton are slight. A fair comment, lodged by many readers, is that, as president, he would be judged by results, not speeches. The greater his appeal at the start, the bigger the disillusionment to come. In a low blow, Tony Blair was mentioned… Mr Obama … sees – or convinces people that he sees – a bigger picture. And yet this leftist [?!] visionary is pragmatic, non-ideological and accommodating of dissent. More than that, in fact, he seems keen to listen to and learn from those who disagree with him. What a strange and beguiling combination this is. It makes him an electrifying candidate … but also, to be sure, a gamble.
And I respectfully disagree.  Crook admits, in this column, that Obama’s newly conceived economic plan is an almost exact copy of Clinton’s.  It’s not inspiring if you take ideas from other people without proper attribution, whether it be Clinton’s words or Deval Patrick’s.  See below.

Obama Echoes Deval Patrick…Again (by Jake Tapper at Political Punch, ABC News)
The charismatic, brilliant, inspiring black politician came to the stage to address the latest attack from his white female opponent. “Her dismissive point, and I hear it a lot from her staff, is all I have to offer is words,” he said. “Just words.  “‘We holds these truths to be self-evident,’” he continued as the crowd began to cheer and applaud, “‘that all men are created equal’ — just words. Just words.” The applause increased. “‘We have nothing to fear but fear itself,’” the pol said. “Just words. ‘Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.’ Just words,’” he said, switching effortlessly from our Founding Fathers to FDR to JFK. And then, the piece de resistance: “‘I have a dream’ — just words,” he said. Barack Obama rebutting Hillary Clinton circa 2008? Nope. Deval Patrick, ultimately successful Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate, responding to then-Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey in October 2006. Of course, if you mistook the speech for one from Obama, you can be forgiven — just this weekend Obama said something quite similar.

Chelsea Clinton Talks Policy in Obama Territory
[T]here is no mistaking the political climate at many of the universities and colleges where [Chelsea] Clinton appears. After Steven Lawrence, a student on the Madison campus, left Ms. Clinton’s event wearing a campaign sticker, another student yelled, “I’m ashamed of you!”… Elsewhere, Ms. Clinton has been confronted with signs bearing messages like “America deserves better than aristocracy” and “Got Pimp?” a reference to a recent remark by a now-suspended MSNBC host who claimed that Mrs. Clinton was exploiting her daughter.
So when does the “unity” part kick in?

Clinton would seek to try 9/11 plotters in established courts
If elected president, Hillary Clinton would ask the Justice Department to determine if alleged 9/11 plotters currently held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, could be tried in civilian courts or regular military courts rather than face military commissions that have sparked controversy both inside and outside the United States, her campaign says… Her opponent for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., said that the so-called “high-value detainees” at Guantanamo should be tried in federal or traditional military courts, but did not say what actions he would take to move the trials.

Kurtz does Tweety (by John Amato at Crooks and Liars)
Howard Kurtz wrote a piece about Chris Matthews this week because of his bizarre anti-Hillary election coverage that has enraged most progressives that included a recap of events and quotes from Matthews, his guests and producers that are pro and con. It’s the usual profile that spins it ever so favorably for a 5 million dollar a year Village Elder club member… [I]t just made me more aware of the fact that the media has been much harder on Hillary than on Obama… If Obama wins, I predict the gloves will come off—they will use the excuse of examining his record and McCrazy will be their anointed choice. The press will pivot and turn on him in a heartbeat.

Chris Matthews Redux (by dcmediagirl at No Quarter)
[When] Chris Matthews played hardball on CNBC … I asked [him] why he was so obsessed with [Benjamin Netanyahu and Bill Clinton]. His answer was revealing, and I paraphrase: “Netanyahu went to MIT and has a West Philly accent. He sounds like an American but he’s was elected Prime Minister of Israel. Bill Clinton grew up in Dogpatch but he went to Georgetown, Oxford and Yale. He got elected President. Women love both of ‘em and forgive ‘em anything. AND THEY’RE BOTH MY AGE. Got that? Those two men, who are both Chris’s age, had been elected to run their respective countries while Chris toiled away as a columnist for The San Francisco Chronicle and the host of a panel/shout show with no ratings. They always got the girls while Chris was asked to talk to the hand. Which makes these men losers.

The Meme Prisoner (by John Heilemann, New York Magazine)
Theories abound as to why the media has treated [Hillary] Clinton and [Barack] Obama so differently. The simplest is that reporters simply like Obama better; that he’s new and fresh and unburdened with anything resembling Clinton fatigue. Another theory revolves around cultural bias. “The fact is that the national press is a bunch of northeastern liberals,” says the adviser to an erstwhile Democratic runner, “and they just love the idea of this post-racial black dude being the nominee.” A third revolves around the respective dramatic arcs embodied by Clinton and Obama.
My theory is that members of the media know that if they try to bring up Whitewater again, they’ll be faced with yawns or with people running, screaming, from the room. And they see Obama as fresh meat for their grinder.  Picking through his associations, especially with the Tony Rezko trial starting on March 3, will garner some big ratings and sell a lot of newspapers.  And why was the Rezko trial postponed, by the way?  It was originally scheduled to start a week before the March 4 primaries.  The judge was appointed by George W. Bush.  Not sure what to make of it.

Understanding the rules (by Paul Krugman)
I’ve written about Clinton Rules, under which anything a Clinton (or a Gore) says, no matter how innocuous it would seem if someone else said it, becomes proof of evil intentions. But we also have to be aware of McCain Rules, under which anything John McCain says, no matter how craven or dishonest, becomes proof of his straight-talking maverickness (mavericity?).  He can shift his positions 180 degrees to pander to his new friends — and be forgiven because he allegedly looks uncomfortable doing it.

Dumb As Posts (by digby)
All of ‘em. Can someone explain to me why Republican presidential candidates are always saying completely brain dead things like this? “SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I do not believe in mandates. I believe that every American should have affordable and available health care and I’d like to talk just an additional minute about that. But I’m not going to mandate that they do. I want every American to have affordable and available education. But I’m not going to mandate that they do.” Is he planning to dismantle the public school system?
It looks like we’re going to have an instant replay of the memorable 2000 campaign where Junior kept saying things like “Down in Washington they’re playing with social security like it’s some kind of government program.”

A Plan to Offer 50 Sites on Politics in 50 States
In the middle of a media-saturated political season, The New York Observer is pulling together 50 Web sites, one for each state, into a political hub called Politicker.com.
You’re a little late, Observer.  You should have had this ready about six months ago.

Late Edition: Senator Jack Reed Dispels GOP FISA Lies (by Logan Murphy at Crooks and Liars)
Democratic Senator and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Jack Reed, appeared on Late Edition and did a great job of debunking the lies and spin being floated by President Bush and the GOP on FISA. As Juan Williams did earlier on Fox News Sunday, Reed makes it clear that allowing the flawed FISA legislation passed last August to lapse does not mean the U.S. can’t do surveillance on suspected terrorists. Host Wolf Blitzer floated out the exact same argument William Kristol did on Fox, which is this notion that Director of National Intelligence, Mike McConnell, is some sort of apolitical figure and somehow that makes him more believable. Reed shot that down, reminding Blitzer that the previous FISA laws are still in place and that U.S. intelligence can still go after suspects for several days before requesting a warrant.
Click through to watch the video.

My Enduring Rage At NPR: Chapter (n+1) (by konopelli at My Left Wing)
[Saturday] on NPR’s Weekend Edition, Scott Simon interviewed a “floppy-haired,” 22-year-old, privileged, white, male, college-graduate, native-English-speaker who has written a book especially, he says, to rebut Barbara Ehrenreich’s research, published as “Nickeled & Dimed.” Upon graduating from college, this boy, named Adam Shepard, got on a train with $25, got off in Charleston, SC, and … parlayed his youth, strength, and true-blue-USA heritage into a (used) car, an apartment, and $5000 in the bank after one year… Raygunesque self-reliance carries the day, if youre a young, privileged white male gone slumming. Just get them whiney, lazy colored women out on them bedbugs, and pretty soon theyll be cracking the middle class, if they stop smoking them cigarettes, drinkng beer, and buying lottery tickets–and having all them damn kidsAspirins the cheapest birthcontrol pill in the world, if you keep one pressed between your knees, ladies…

Poverty Is Poison (by Paul Krugman)
“Poverty in early childhood poisons the brain.” That was the opening of an article in Saturday’s Financial Times, summarizing research presented last week at the American Association for the Advancement of Science… So now we have another, even more compelling reason to be ashamed about America’s record of failing to fight poverty… To their credit — and to the credit of John Edwards, who goaded them into it — both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are proposing new initiatives against poverty. But their proposals are modest in scope and far from central to their campaigns… [U]ltimately, let’s hope that the nation turns back to the task it abandoned — that of ending the poverty that still poisons so many American lives.

Exclusive: Top 30 Most Popular Newspaper Sites for January
Nielsen Online provided the most recent data in a custom list of the top 30 newspaper Web sites. Newsday, after a hot December, dropped down a bit. Three newcomers to January’s list compared to December’s chart: tampabay.com, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and the Star Tribune of Minneapolis.

First on the Scene, Again, Is the College Newspaper
The shooting at Northern Illinois University became a personal story for reporters at the campus paper when they learned that a fellow staffer was among the dead.

College Paper Vows to Fight a Takeover by Gannett
Inexpensive student labor, rising advertising, and young, relatively affluent readerships make college newspapers particularly attractive to media companies.

Broadcaster Sues to Force Buyout Deal
Clear Channel Communications said it had sued a unit of Providence Equity Partners to force a completion of a $1.2 billion purchase of 56 television stations.

Dumb or Just Fun? Animation Illustrates a CBS News Item
Critics who bemoan the dumbing down of television news would likely have been enraged by CBS News’ use of animated characters to explain superdelegates.

Scripts Reappear on ‘Daily Show’
The writers’ strike forced hosts like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert to improvise more than most viewers probably know.
And they did a great job improvising, too, but I’m glad the writers are back.

Students Fight Back Against Gossip Site
The Cornell University junior was in his dorm between classes when the text message came in from a friend. Check out JuicyCampus.com, it said. The student found his name on the Web site beside a rambling, filthy passage about his sexual exploits, posted by an anonymous student on campus.

Child campaign brings Freetown slum to Internet
LONDON (Reuters) - From Monday, people all over the world can become virtual neighbors to the residents of a Sierra Leone slum, plagued by infant mortality and rampant disease, through an Internet campaign by the charity Save the Children.

Studios Sue Google-Backed Chinese P2P Site Xunlei (Paid Content)
The Motion Picture Association, which includes six movie studios, has filed copyright infringement suits in China against Shenzhen Xunlei Networking Technology, a popular P2P file sharing service. The suit alleges that its users are illegally downloading hundreds of movies despite repeated warnings. The group is seeking 7 million yuan ($1 million) in damages, and a public admission to the alleged copyright infringement and a pledge from Xunlei to refrain from future infringements, reports AP. Here’s where it gets interesting: Xunlei is backed by Google.

Alibaba has say in Yahoo, Microsoft talks: source
BEIJING (Reuters) - Alibaba Group, the Chinese Internet firm, will seek a stronger voice for its management team in Microsoft’s talks to acquire Yahoo, Alibaba’s largest shareholder, a source said on Monday.

After Stumbling, Facebook Finds a Working Eraser
Facebook.com, stung last week by the wrath of members who want to sever their relationships, tripped again when it tried to let them do so.