As for the campaign- I was for Edwards, but lately both John and Elizabeth have turned me off.

I like Obama- he’s a bit new to the game and would make a great veep. I think Hilary is best the ‘man’ for the job! And we can turn to Obama to take over eight years later!!!

And I think your post about voting for Hillary was right on. Believe it or not it gave me another point of view on voting for her.

Since the beginning of the election season I’ve been for Edwards, he’s been off putting. Then Obama, and now he’s managed to tee me off. And while that was going on Hillary was growing on me. She has done a masterful job of campaigning.

So, I’ve bookmarked your site and I’ll be back. Thanks for the good thinking.

That is more or less it, only way to go, as a matter of interest I was comparing the other day letters I got from friends who became govt. Ministers, a sort of before and after scenario.

The post-job letters are at best bizarre. I ‘investigated’ one strange example.

A senior civil servant explained to me that one of Tony Blair’s chums had insisted to one of my friends (another Minister) to write something fairly strange (in a letter), and oblige my friend to sign it.

This is the gig they HAVE to do it according to the ‘rules’.

That way if Tony’s chum gets into trouble he can spread the blame and it is all so amazingly complex with the silly service red tape and funny ha ha, Brit tradition etc.

Well it is no wonder the Govt. of Britain is a complete shambles.

I don’t think my support of Hillary Clinton is unconsidered. On the contrary, I have many considered reasons for choosing to support her.

I will say that I think the whole process of the presidential elections is a farce. Before the debates, the candidates are coached. Everything they do is approved by a focus group. They do not speak from the heart and sometimes they outright lie. There is nothing genuine about any of this. I treat the whole process with a certain amount of contempt. I’m not going to be suckered into believing what any of these people say. I won’t treat this process with respect because it doesn’t respect my intelligence. Thus, I make my choice for the candidate I will support based on my own criteria, which is just as valid as anyone else’s.

anyway, i just thought we were having an interesting discussion, and i am truly sorry if you felt differently. congrats on the VF mention!

@Tisse: “everyone kept arguing points as if you had just not written out this whole explanation already, discussing/refuting the very points they were now insisting on like they were fresh”. a person can understand an explanation and still disagree with the premise upon which it’s based. this isn’t about proving a theorem or solving an equation - it’s about exchanging ideas, and ideas are open to interpretation.

I’m not so much a Hillary person (I wish I wish I wish she banked a little more left), but I read the post and the comments, and yeah, totally, they launched at you. You can tell it wasn’t a “conversation” so much because of the way everyone kept arguing points as if you had just not written out this whole explanation already, discussing/refuting the very points they were now insisting on like they were fresh. This drives me crazy about blog comments, and about the issue of Hillary in general, actually. Jeez.

Well, along with James, I thought it was a great post. Made me think a little about how firm my resistance really is to Sen Clinton.

Nicole: I think people are very sensitive about this issue and perhaps my points were misunderstood and dismissed out of hand. I mean, it’s not as if Hillary Clinton was a waitress at Hooters before this campaign started. She’s Hillary Clinton. We all know who she is and what she stands for. In my post, I did not advocate voting for a candidate simply because she has boobs, but I feel that’s what a lot of people took away from it.

Regardless, I posted that in part to provoke people into discussion (though I believe everything I wrote). So I guess I was successful.

I thought we (me, Jen etc) were having a conversation with you. . . but maybe I am mistaken.