To the surprise of exactly nobody, Hillary's in.

Svcks the air out of the room, doesn't it, just the prospect of Hillary for President. The continuing clvsterfvck in Iraq, the continuing clvsterfvck of Katrina, the impending clvsterfvck of an arms race with China, the continuing clvsterfvcks of this, that, and etc, svctioned to page three of pvblic consciousness by the vacvvm of Hillaryness.

If I'm ambivalent about Hillary the Human, my ambivalence about Hillary the Candidate is multi-polar. Ba'al knows, I've no desire to analyze the implications of her candidacy now, her motives, her chances. If I'd rather another Democrat than Hillary, that doesn't mean I'd rather anyone than Hillary. I know I'd rather her than John McCain, her rather than Sam Brownback, her rather than anyone chosen by Bvsh to be his successor.

That she chose today to announce what's been assumed for six years may have as much to do with campaign logistics as campaign strategy, but she's Hillary Clinton, so all motives diabolical must be considered. She is, whether fair or not, a cartoon, vilified into a brand: is it possible she can change anyone's mind about her, from her admirers to her ambivalents to her loathers?

The Right already has an oozy new strategy: slime Obama and blame Hillary for the slime's origin. And this, regardless of what I think about the prospect of Hillary as the most powerful person on the planet, is what concerns me about Hillary's candidacy: imagine what can be done in relative obscurity by this administration behind the 24-7-365 shitstorms generated by the Right's noise machine over the prospect of Hillary 2008.

Which isn't fair. Fairness isn't the point.

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Speaking of the slobbering Right, nobody chronicles it better than Sadly, No!, who's currently asking for nominees for Wingnut Welfare Queens. I sometimes forget the profitability of being a sexist, racist, xenophobic, homophobic, demagogic Obnoxious-unAmerican.

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Speaking of uber-tools, smarmy Dinesh D'Souza's latest poop-smear is properly punk-slapped by Alan Wolfe in tomorrow's NYTBR:

Like his hero Joe McCarthy, he has no sense of shame. He is a childish thinker and writer tackling subjects about which he knows little to make arguments that reek of political extremism. His book is a national disgrace, a sorry example of a publishing culture more concerned with the sensational than the sensible.

The General's been corresponding with DD.

PERSONAL NOTE: I didn't have a chance yesterday to comment, but here's my vote for John (and Leftcoast and Groom and Jerry and JA and Josh and the long lost) to continue participating in whatever manner and on whatever subject that incites and excites him.

The sheer relentless grinding mendacity of the current admininstration is both designed process and designed goal. They are betting they can outlast and outgrind the opposition. If we are heading into the greatest Constitutional and national crisis since the summers of Vietnam and assassinations and civil disorder on the streets, we need honest witnesses, we need to document, we need to remain as relentlessly vigilant and oppositional as they are immoral and corrupt.