Ernest Hemingway's classic novel inspires and saddens us in equal measure with the tale of an aging fisherman wanting desparately to give his life meaning. Despite decades of living a good life and working hard, he has little to show for his efforts. He thinks if he can just snare the mythical big fish, he can become a hero in his village and his legacy will be a proud and inspirational one.

In the immortal words of Charles Dickens:

The latest from HRH, Her Royal Hillaryness:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/05/24/cl...

This piece doesn't go into details, but there simply aren't lots of options.

This blog grows out of a response to another on these pages, a story about the disappointment women, especially women above a certain age, feel about Hillary Clinton's loss in the run for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. These stories cite much handwringing along the "if not now, when" line.

Senator Obama,
You have made much during your campaign for the presidency of the need for a fundamental change in our political process. Your thesis is absolutely correct.

Let's have a discussion about your presidency. Not the first term or the first year or even the first 100 days. Let's talk about your first day in office.

Senator Obama,

It is reassuring to see you turning your focus to the general election and beyond. It is the right move at the right time. While not absolutely assured arithmetically, the nomination is yours so nothing further is to be gained from tit-for-tat with Senator Clinton.

Both ABC News and the New York Times report today on their web sites that Senator Barack Obama leads in the number of superdelegates who have stated they support his candidacy.

Senator Obama now leads by every conceiveable measure.

It now is arithmetically impossible for her to win more states.

This little ditty in The Post (Washington, not New York) pretty well summarizes the political landscape these days.

Real simple. Seat the delegations as if the primaries had counted but with the following two conditions:
1. the popular vote in those two state primaries are irrelevant and have no impact on the party's nomination process.
2. all delegates not selected for Senator Clinton will be allocated to the only other remaining active candidate, Senator Obama.

Why?