(May 12, 2008) – I hate to miss the rest of May, and June and July, but I cannot wait until August when the political mudbath between Democrat presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama will be over after one of them is finally chosen their party's representative to face the Republican's shoo-in candidate in the November General Election.
     Maybe I watch too much television, but I am sick of viewing and listening to either Clinton or Obama constantly defending themselves from the other; or other people, like that Rev. Wright, who, thanks to the news media, tries to drive a wedge between themselves and a suddenly unfavorite candidate. Then there's the comedic spoof, a la "Saturday Night Live," challenging Obama to play his race card and, in turn, laying down the gauntlet to Clinton to play her gender card.
     Give me a break. Please.
     One final political observation before moving on to some This 'n' That: Why did Richard Moore lose to Beverly Perdue in the North Carolina Democrat gubernatorial primary race? Personally, I think it was his mudslinging, negative ad campaign. Perdue unleashed her brief negativism, then announced she would do no more negative ads. Moore kept on shoving the negativism down our throats, even questioning if Perdue was a real Democrat. I think most TV viewers, like me, changed the channel when a Moore ad was displayed on the screen. Like me, I think voters are tired of the mudslinging, and showed their disapproval in the voting booths.
     Note to Clinton, McCain and Obama: take notice.
     As for the Perdue campaign strategy, I figure her camp knew it would be a risk to go "clean" in campaign advertising; but it paid off. Risky, but sheer genius.
     Now, some This 'n' That:
     Okay, how many of us enjoy watching "The Women's Murder Club" on ABC? Well, count me in. I came back to the show (moved from Fridays to Tuesdays) after the writers' strike devastated TV viewing. To date, there has not been an announcement that the series will return for the 2008-2009 season.
     Support for the one-hour drama is grassroots. You can go to www.abc.go.com/primetime/womensmurderclub and, after wading through actual on-line video commercials, post your feelings about an excellent drama that combines police, lawyer, medical examiner and news reporting insights all in one show.
     I'm not much of a lawyer show viewer -- no "Boston Legal" or "Shark" for me; however, during the writers' strike, I did stumble upon "Canterbury's Law" on FOX. Julianna Margulies was great as Attorney Elizabeth Canterbury, who was strong-willed, arrogant, challenging and, yes, compassionate. If you missed it, perhaps FOX will re-run the five or six well-done episodes during this summer's drought of originality on network television.
     Belatedly, I survived March Madness -- again. There were times, especially when Duke fell to West Virginia in the second round, that I thought I wouldn't make it to the championship game on April 7. My bracket was completely busted by the time Davidson made the Elite Eight. I picked 36 winners. Do the math and I missed 29 selections. None of my picked teams made the Final Four -- Duke (of course), Wisconsin. Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
     Oh well, there is always March Madness 2009.
      And, finally, I am still snickering after reading the following church bulletin item my sister-in-law e-mailed me: "The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday."