Talk about burying the lead, Harper at Sic Semper Tyrannis does it in spades. In a post first devoted to Dennis Ross's firing by the Clinton State Dept., he notes the following from his inside sources:

“A lie told often enough becomes the truth.”

V.I. Lenin

Are there any limits to what can be said about political opponents? Should there be any limits? Does anything go, no matter who is the target? Are we all no better now than Karl Rove?

[Hillary's speech: Since bringiton has framed the issues so nicely, let's use this post as an open thread for Hillary's speech, which TalkLeft and RiverDaughter are liveblogging. CSPAN here.]

It would be a grave error for anyone to underestimate Hillary Clinton.

What is the rush to end this thing? Why the hurry to have it over? What, exactly, are so many people concerned about? All the wrong things, apparently. There are more and better reasons for her to persist than not.

Hillary should continue her pursuit of the Democratic nomination because:

Polls last week confirmed the weak showing of Barak Obama in a couple of key states that will be crucial in winning November’s general election. They also showed that Hillary Clinton has maintained an Electoral College advantage over John McCain, while other polls show Clinton dominating McCain in overall voter preference.

With the flawed Democratic primary likely resulting in Obama leading Clinton in the primary race for pledged delegates but not by enough to win outright, the nomination decision will fall to a small group of leaders; Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. What should they do?

[Welcome, InstaPutz readers.]

[Welcome also, Taylor Marsh readers, thanks to Grey.]

After Hillary Clinton’s historic 41-point victory in the West Virginia primary, two questions loom: How long will Barak Obama cling to his shattered dreams of the presidency, and how much damage will be done to the Democratic Party by his stubborn and divisive refusal to accept the obvious?

UPDATE – Below: How will Obama win an Electoral College majority? at Salon by Paul Maslin, former pollster to Howard Dean. (h/t BDBlue)

UPDATE 2 – Below: Skirting Appalachia, an Op Ed in the NYT opining on Barak Obama’s Electoral College strategic options by Charles Blow, Art Director at National Geographic -and why not? (h/t again to the sharp-eyed BDBlue)

[Readers, the comments section is long and noisy, but interesting. See if, in your judgment, the points the bringiton makes are addressed head-on, or not. And watch for the duellling haikus! --lambert]

[Update below, 11 May 08, bottom of main text - BIO]

Only one thing matters; winning the Presidency in November. Hillary Clinton has proven she is by far the strongest candidate an most likely to achieve that victory. How can she convince the Democratic Party delegates?

What ever happened to my Democratic Party? Why doesn’t the donkey love me anymore?

Update: apparently, Barack Obama's campaign has turned down the debate offer. Coward.

Now that Hillary Clinton has challenged Barack Obama to a one-on-one debate (methinks it's a smart move... he's cornered), what questions should Hillary ask him?

My choice (and yes, I'm a policy wonk, bite me!):

• What specific policies would you implement toward more gender equality, on the job and elsewhere?
• How would you concretely restore America's standing in the world community?
• How would you specifically deal with the dual crisis of credit crunch and food prices?
 Read more…

If only Senator Clinton had done more of this and sooner...