Where is the letter to that silliness named Anderson Cooper standing on the stage of the most important debate taking place in this country promoting the image that he is a heterosexual aging white haired man while essentially stabbing us in the back with some jargon about how unimportant it is to come out and what a private matter and individual choice it is? Spare me the bullcockie( is that word ok to use Bill and Alex?) We are being systematically attacked and none of us are dragging that fashion designers gay son out of the closet to address real issues that he intellectually dances around as just another question posed. Hear the anger folks. Call CNN and tell Anderson Cooper to shift his thinking from enriching his own bank accout to acting on behalf of the american people.

I can't help but think of Bill Richardson like Ralph Kramden, a guy who means well and has a good heart, but somehow never quite reaches his goal because he screws it up when the chips are down. Yes, I know that he's had some major successes as Governor of New Mexico, but to be honest, that's over 2000 miles away from me and not something I've really followed. He's not a very compelling orator at all...the most popular Richardson quote I've heard in the media is "I screwed up.".

I'm sure he's an excellent Governor of a southwestern state, but leader of our entire country? I dunno...so far, I've really not seen anything to from him to lead me to believe that my current image of him is inaccurate in any way.

I agree with you, Rebecca, that Bill Richardson isn't the most compelling orator on the planet, but I think it's hard to contest the point that he's got more relevant experience than any other candidate, Democrat or Republican:

-- He served 14 years in the House of Representative, with extensive committee service on the House Select Committee on Intelligence and the Interior Committee. He was also part of the Democratic Leadership.

-- He served for 3(?) years as Ambassador to the UN under Bill Clinton, and both before and after that time he's been an important figure in diplomatic circles. He's got experience in negotiations in a wide range of contexts-- from Iraq to Sudan to North Korea.

-- He served for 2 years as the Secretary of Energy, also under Bill Clinton.

-- He's served for 4 years as Governor of New Mexico.

You may or may not agree with his policy positions, but the man's got experiential cred. And to cap it off, Richardson's got a pretty darn fine record on LGBT rights, as Bil noted. I share his suprise that Richardson doesn't have more traction among the LGBT electorate.

That "maricon" thing was, well, just atrocious. He lost me, then, forever. That told me he just hasn't thought deeply about what it's like to be a gay person. His empathy had/has not been sufficiently developed. Staking out a political position is not the same thing as having an emotional understanding. There are other candidates who also have substantial experience and would nneeeevvvveeerrr say such a thing (or its English version), or accept anti-gay bait like he did on that radio show.

Holy cow, Batman:

So when you say things like “Maricon,” it really hurts me, Governor. While you said “faggot” in Spanish, the word cuts deeply no matter what language you use. I know you didn’t really mean the gentleman was gay. You meant it like those darn teenagers do when they say, “That’s so gay.” But that isn’t cool, Bill.

A candidate supporter who can admit that his fave Dem isn't perfect? This is quite refreshing to hear.

Seriously, Bil, good post!

You know we all use words from time to time we regreat laters at least Gov.Richardson appoligized then and there.So to toss the Dems best candidate for the fluff of Hillary and Obama gee get real people and grow a harder shell and accept an appolige thats given.

You know as I have said in my own little personal blog at least with Republicans you know where and how they stand on issues like them or not.But over the years I have noticed Dems tend to tear up the own and then wonder why the candidate of fluff loses in the general elections.
Done museing for now.