Well, Obama may have bet the Clinton's in the primaries.  But, they seem to be rolling him in the Convention.  They've taken over, what, three days of it?

he's shown that he will succumb to blackmail.

Dick Morris is a pathological Clinton hater. Who cares what that toe sucker has to say on national security - or anything for that matter?

In exchange for tangible political support, he's offering some meaningless but face-saving pageantry to salve their wounds.  Sounds more like diplomacy than blackmail to me.

"who had the most powerful political machine in America, to begin with."

Really?

Dick Morris is a clown. He gets dolled up on Fox News and spews venomous bullshit designed to excite the base fears and insecurities of people everywhere. He calls it "analysis", but it's just packaged toxic waste. The man is a joke. He looks like a joke. He speaks like a joke. He panders like a joke. Dick Morris, Mark Penn, Karl Rove, and Bill O'Reilly are the same person. All they care about is carving out a media niche for themselves so that they can live rich. These are soulless people. It's sickening.

Maybe Obama should have faced off with the Clintons over the convention the way our president faced off with Putin over Georgia: by going to the Olympics and flirting with some hot, athletic beach babes.

I'd be interested in finding how late Morris was still predicting Hillary was a sure thing, a lock, and wasn't considering Obama a factor (on The Factor!?). In November '07, "So can Hillary be beaten in Iowa? It all depends on whether, in this era of daily polling, her opponents can coalesce around whoever is in second place. Hillary won’t win a majority in Iowa, but, if Edwards and Obama continue to split the anti-Hillary vote, she will win a plurality. Such a victory will let her get out of Des Moines alive and will pave the way for truly dominating victories in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Michigan — then Florida and the rest of the nation will fall in line.". Or, 12-7-07 "Hillary, Rudy Will Prevail After Losing Early"

I'd expect Morris to seek a shred of weakness in Barack considering he's been wrong about Obama and the Clintons.

What does Putin have to do with Hillary? In the world of Morris it will always be about The Clintons.

Hillary = Putin? Good ol' Dick.

"he's shown that he will succumb to blackmail."

Or perhaps he's simply allowing the Democratic Party's two most prominent politicians to have their fair share of the spot light? Or, perhaps, he is setting them up to take a fall when he gives his acceptance speech?

"going to the Olympics and flirting with some hot, athletic beach babes"

Ummm, have you seen Mrs Obama? You can keep your athletic beach babes. Besides, I'm pretty sure there was some recent beach time for Obama, and I wouldn't be surprised if there was a hot babe involved, but I think Obama showed enough good judgement to marry that hot babe many years ago.

""who had the most powerful political machine in America, to begin with." -- Really?"

It was until Obama showed up :)

Yeah Chan - credible and incisive analysis, as always.  Because Obama wishes to maintain party unity in advance of a bruising General Election, because he wishes to make sure he is going into an electoral war with his base secure, because he has corralled the political talents of his party in support of his candidacy in a Convention culminating in a speech to a packed 80,000-person stadium - yeah, sure, he is weak and susceptible to blackmail.  

No wonder that the President you support has fucked up so badly - went into a war unprepared, with no plan for long-term survival and with a lie as the basis of his home-base support.  

I'd take Obama's strategic vision over the mess-maker you appear to worship ...

to ick's last comment -- hear freaking hear!!!

GSpinks-

Hard to believe I actually have to say this, but it was a joke, it was sarcasm, at W's (not BHO's) expense.

J Cuomo,

I figured as much; thats why I didn't disagree with the notion, just the woman ;-d

Okay, GSpinks, no problem.

I know I'm in for it here, please feel free to throw however many tomatoes you'd like, but I kind of agree with Morris (did I just write those words?).

These are folks who have no intention of ever ceasing their campaign to undermine him, is there anyone who doesn't know that? (My father in law just returned from West Africa, where a businessman said to him - 'Hillary will never stop trying to kill Obama, you know that right?').  

I guess I can see the demographic reality, the numbers don't lie on older white women, but I can't lie - it still looked..well? Kind of weak.  

Oh, and you don't suck toes, mpatrickhendri?

You hypocrite.

icarusr, the Clinton's are going to use their three days of convention time on behalf of (drumroll)..... The Clintons.

They will give him slightly better than faint praise in that venuce.  and for the following two months "campaign for him" in a way that will undermine him as overtly as they can get away with, without getting drummed out of the Democratic Party.

the Clintons are loyal now and always have been loyal only to the Clintons.  Certainly not the Party.  Certainly not any other Democrat unless it was very much in their interest.

It is entirely NOT in the Clinton's interest to see Obama win the preisency and occupy the White House until they  are old or dead.  the Clinton's last hope for their Restoration is Obama's defeat in 2002.

You watch.  I'll se you after the election and we can recapitulate what the Clinton's did or did not do for Obama during September and October.  If you haven't noticed, they've done nothing but get digs in against him since June.

Wandrey, I like it that we often agree on the true psychology, true interests stuff.  

Must be my feminine side but I often see men missing things of that sort.  Which is why I love Paglia and even Dowd.  The latter can be heavy handed and not always clever.  But, I think she's tapped into the twisted motivation stuff, the Borgia stuff just beneath the surface.

"These are folks who have no intention of ever ceasing their campaign to undermine him, is there anyone who doesn't know that?"

I think Obama knows that very well; this is the reason for my #2 thought on why Obama is giving Clintons so much spotlight during the convention. It could very well be a setup. If the Clintons run around digging holes, I wouldn't put it past him to let them fall into the hole themselves, or throw them in if he must.