Shame on you – I don’t know how many times I heard those words growing up.  You took that ball away from him and he’s so much smaller – shame on you.  You ate the last cookie after you had already had one and she hadn’t – shame on you.  It was drilled into me – I was personally responsible for my actions and there was not much worse a feeling than shame.  Well I don’t know what lessons our current crop of leaders learned but I’ll bet they know that shame is not a good thing to be associated with so I’ve got a couple ideas.

Approximately 17% of Obama's backers say they will either not vote or vote for McCain if Clinton is the Democratic Nominee.  Then again approximately 25% of Clinton's backers say they will either not vote or vote for McCain if Obama is the Democratic Nominee.  (Exit Polls show a Strong Divide Among Democrats)  Of Course - the clouds will clear and the sun will shine and angels will sing from the heavens when the candidate is finally selected.  Those 25% and 17% of voters will of course change their mind  and fall into line and full heartedly support the candidate whoever it is - right?  Not so fast - not going into who I support but I can tell you if the other candidate is selected it would be very very hard to get me to support them.  So what should we do?

A few Diaries have brought up the fact that 80,000 jobs were lost in March.  A few more have focused on the upgraded numbers for January and February (76,000 each).  Everyone seems to focus on the rise in Unemployment to 5.1% and this years 232,00 jobs lost.  

There is a bit more to it folks.  It’s not just the jobs lost.  

Update:  Thanks to Sloan and Davidslane comments - the true number should reflect both the job growth needed to handle new employees entering the market (approx 150,000/month) and should not be artificially reduced based on last years numbers.  See both their comments below as they bring strong points to the table.  But keep in mind it's more than the numbers - it's the people behind them!

A recommended diary just made it clear to me that my opinions were not in fact welcome here.  Unless I am willing to wholeheartedly support the democratic candidate whoever he/she may be I should not bother coming to your party.  I’m a bit concerned here I’ve checked my breath and armpits now and can’t seem to get it – Do I offend?

Change Happens!  I believed I was a moderate Republican – but I changed, then I believed I was a moderate Independent – but I changed, finally I believed I could not deny that my thoughts and feelings ran more in line with the Democrats.  Now my old friend the Republican Party is holding the line steady on spending and calling me back . . . and my new friends the Democrats cave in brilliantly.  Who am I again?  But wait the holding steady on spending doesn’t count the millions for the war which means the Republicans aren’t holding steady on spending – or wait wasn’t it the Democrats who pushed this bill down their throats . . . as they’re in control – er I think.  Did something "change"?