So, today’s the big Republican South Carolina primary. Huckabee, vs. The Saint. Whoopdie freakin’ doo.

They keep reporting the polls and primary results in terms of percentages, as if that means anything. I wish they’d figure out the delegate counts and report what those are projected to be, based on the polls. I mean, for the Dems, SC has 54 delegates (CA has 411; so why are we so concerned with little states like Iowa, SC, and NH?).

Anyhow, if the polls today are close (big if, and there’s still a week to go in SC), that would mean (and I’m not sure about how many are committed or uncommitted and how many are up for grabs based on the vote, but whatever) 22 for Obama, 17 for Clinton, 7 for Edwards, and 8 undecided (give or take).

But guess what? There are 4,049 total delegates to be awarded, and it takes 2,025 to win the nomination. The primaries and caucuses select 3,253, the other 796 are “unpledged,” and can vote whatever way the wind’s blowing.

Even if the “frontrunner” gets all the unpledged delegates, they’d still need 1,229 of the delegates up for grabs – or about 38%. Any combination of pledged or unpledged delegates for all other candidates combined that adds up to 62% of the total, and nobody wins on the first ballot. Now, some states – Missouri, for instance – are winner take all, but most of them aren’t, so, really, winning by a “huge” 10% margin doesn’t mean all that much in terms of delegate count.

But that’s not the way the media reports it. They talk about momentum and “big leads” that don’t mean squat. And they’ll be pushing Edwards to drop out (if they mention him at all). And, in the end, we’ll probably get Obama or Clinton vs. McCain. The media loves McCain, so they’ll shove his maverick, straight talkin’ sainthood down our throats, and between that and the rigged voting system, guess what we’ll wind up with?

It’s Friday. I guess I should be excited. Hell, it’s even a three-day weekend. But I’m too damn tired to be excited, and the latest poll numbers for the South Carolina primary don’t look so good (not surprising; nobody I want ever wins). So I’m just gonna try to slide through the day, and then maybe take a nap ’til Tuesday.

I’m sorry, I just can’t deal with Obama being preznit. I want to like him, really I do. I’d love to see this country elect a black guy whose middle name is Hussein to the presidency. Not only would it maybe – just maybe – give the families of all the Iraqis we’ve butchered the hope that the Bush years were just a horrible abomination and we want to do the right thing, but it would really piss off all the racists and Kristofascists out there. It might even make Michael Wiener Savage’s head explode, and how could that be a bad thing?

I’d love to love Hillary, for that matter, but I just can’t. It would be great for this country to have a woman president – and way past due time. We should’ve elected a woman a long time ago (but then, women weren’t even able to vote not that long ago, let alone run for office).

And I’d also very much be happy to be totally opposed to the good looking (hell, I’m a straight guy, and even I can tell he’s good-lookin’), rich, white lawyer.

But, I’ll tell ya, Obama just seems like another Republican to me. For him to evoke the name of Reagan during a Democratic Presidential Primary campaign – equating Reagan with the “great presidents” who evoked fundamental change in this country – well, it just really seals the deal against him for me. For chrissakes, Reagan all but destroyed unions – between disbanding the Air Traffic Controllers and loading the NLRB up with anti-union cronies, he set the labor movement back 80 years – ignored AIDS, allowing tens – even hundreds – of thousands of Americans to die without so much of a thought, supported Apartheid while denouncing Nelson Mandela, illegally sold weapons to the “terror” state of Iran in order to finance the Contras, took Jimmy Carter’s solar panels off the White House, and, well, I gotta go to work, and can’t possible list all of Reagan’s sins in so short a time, but the point is, praising Reagan is a kick in the teeth to anybody that cares about what’s right for the average person, or the world.

And, I don’t mind that Obama was dissing Bill Clinton, either. There’s a hell of a lot of things I didn’t like about the Clinton Administration. But, for a Republican, Bill was a pretty good president. And whether or not it was because of anything he did, you gotta admit, the Clinton years were pretty goddamn good (at least compared to the last seven or so).

If Bush is the guy you want to have a beer with, it’s not because you like him. It’s because his old man’s rich, and he’ll pay. For the price of that beer, you have to put up with his arrogant bullshit, and his annoyingly stupid “humor.” Bill is more like that crude guy who constantly boasts of his conquests in great, vulgar detail, even if they aren’t exactly good looking – giggity, giggity, giggity (that was for you, Andy) – but that you can’t help but like, in spite of yourself.

But, let’s face it. The Democrats aint had but two wins since 1980, and both of those were Bill Clinton. And you bring up Reagan as one of the greats? Kiss my ass, Barack! Talk FDR or Truman or Kennedy. But Reagan?

Save Reagan for when you pander to the GOP in the General Election, if you must.

Personally, I prefer Edwards. But, while I don’t trust Hillary, I feel like I know her, and I think I know what moves her (cold political calculation; I think she can be forced to do the right thing, but you gotta keep a close eye on her). Obama? I think he’s a slightly darker shade of Joe Lieberman. I don’t trust him one bit.

There’s an old saying: An honest politician is one who stays bought.

I don’t trust Obama to stay bought.

I didn’t pay a bit of attention to what went on in Michigan last night. It was fairly meaningless on the Democrat’s side. Supposedly, a lot of people wanted to see Romney win, just to keep him in. Personally, I don’t give a crap what these people do anymore. I’m just too damn tired these days.

Today isn’t a holiday, but it ought to be, because today is my dad’s birthday. He’d have been 88 today, and he’s been gone for over 14 years now. There isn’t a day that goes by without me thinking of him, and I’ve always thought it was a shame he never met my wife and my dog. He’d have really liked the dog. 😉

It’s also Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday. We won’t celebrate it until Monday, but it’s certainly worth thinking about him today. It’s no secret that I consider Barack Obama a bit of a pandering, empty suit. But the fact than a black guy is a serious contender for president of the United States shows how far we’ve come since April 4th, 1968. Not far enough, as the recent bickering has made clear, and certainly not fast enough. But a long way nonetheless.

Happy Tuesday.

So, another week begins. I guess the best part of the weekend would have to be the Giants beating Dallas yesterday. It’s not that I’m a big Giants fan (though I don’t dislike them; unfortunately, I’m cursed with being a Jets fan. Damn you Joe Namath!!), but I’ve long despised the Cowboys. I feel about them the same way I feel about Notre Dame.

Otherwise, two days once again flew by in a wink, and not even the spectacle of the Obama-Cinton cat fight brought much joy. My hope is that they claw each other to pieces and John Edwards rushes in to fill the void. Not much chance of that with the traditional media haven chosen to ignore him entirely (except to sneer at his hair or call him “angry”). But, one can hope.

OK, let’s get this over with.

Whoopdie-doo, it’s Sunday. And Sunday makes me think of…. Well, let’s not get into that again.

Anyhow, on Press the Meat today, it’s the show that Fred’s been waiting for all year. Yes, a full hour with Hillary Clinton. I wonder if Timmy Potatohead will ask her if she’s sorry for staying married to her husband? Personally, I hope Hillary makes Timmy cry.

Since Faze the Nation can’t be bothered to update its website, I really can’t be bothered to try and figure out who’s on this week.

Over at Fux News Sunday, though, it’s the show all you ladies have been waiting for: the one, the only, that hunka hunka chunka burning Big Apple, Mr. Nine-One-One himself, Guidi Ruliani. He’ll be on to tell Weaselface Wallace all about 9/11, and how strong and marvelous he (Guidi) was on that day. And, of course, the really despicable Brit Hume an Bill Kristol, along with the relatively disgusting Juan Williams and Mara Liasson.

At Goebbels, George Snufalufagus boasts a double exclusive with the two most relevant men in politics: John Kerry and Newt Gingrich. Then there’s a roundtable with the WaPost’s EJ “Poupon” Dionne, news hacks Mr. and Mrs. Jay Shipman-Carney, and of course the man with no place else to go, George :jerk: Will.

Wolf Blitzer’s Late Emission is fair and balanced today, with John Edwards balancing out the empty suit Republican contingent of Magic Underpants Mitt Romney, Grampa Fred Thompson, and Huckleberry Huckabee. Plus, it’s Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Tom Daschle, and Abdul Qadir al-Obeidi (Iraqi Defense Minister; how’d the hell he get in there).

Later, on 60 Minutes, Lesley Stahl talks to the 23 year old founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, who is supposedly worth $3 billion (for which, I officially hate him). Bob Simon tells us how we’re fishing bluefin tuna into exticntion, just so we can eat sushi (aka, “bait”). And Anderson Cooper tells us how rape has becoming one of the central weapons in the civil in the Congo.

All that, and a new episode of The Wire, too. Enjoy, y’all.

So, Larry O’Donnell thinks John Edwards is a “loser” who ought to quit, lest he be remembered as a white guy who stood in the way of the black guy being preznit. Bill O’Reilly thinks he ought to be on the Supreme Court. And the wingnuts were calling for the apocalypse, thanks to a prankster nicknamed the “Filipino Monkey.”

Oh well, at least it’s Saturday.

This has been a really long week, and I’m glad it’s over with. I’m gonna do my best to just slide quietly through the day, and get this over with. Have a good one.

OK, I’ve been staring at this blank screen long enough now. Enjoy your Thursday.