We can probably all remember that one pain-in-the-ass kid who lived in our neighborhood growing up.  The kid who always wanted things his way.  The kid who was given what he wanted, when he wanted by his parents.  The kid who always displayed poor sportsmanship and would not play fairly.  

Unfortunately, he was also the kid who dictated how our soccer/football/baseball game would be played because he owned the ball.  If things didn't go his way, he would threaten to take his ball and go home.  If he was about to lose the game and didn't want that to happen, he would take his ball and go home.  We didn't much care for that kid, but if we wanted to play soccer/football/baseball, we had to put up with him.

One solution to deal with the poor sport would be a grassroots effort by the neighborhood kids to pool their money, purchase the balls, and remove the poor sport's power.

Yesterday, I read the stunning endorsement news that Clinton landed perhaps the biggest fish of the year, Ricky Martin.  Clearly, there will be no stopping Hillary now as she rides this political stallion to the finish line.  In recognition of the fact that the "Ricky Martin" effect will sweep over the remaining primary States and lead Clinton to victory, I have taken the liberty to rewrite a song made famous by Mr. Martin.  I hope you find the lyrics to your liking and will be singing this to yourself tomorrow as you watch the Rules and Bylaw Committee meeting on television.

My attempt at lyrical satire can be found over the jump.

Just in case you have been too busy watching the soap opera that is Democratic politics to follow other news of the day, let me tell you that tonight is an incredibly exciting night for those of us who fall into the duel categories of political junkie/science nerd.

Just a couple of hours from now, the Phoenix Mars Lander will attempt to land close to the North Pole of Mars to begin exploring its icy soil.  Although the Phoenix has a greater chance of landing successfully than Hillary has of being the Democratic nominee, a successful landing not a given.  Only have of the missions to Mars have landed successfully.  Hopefully the brilliant scientists who have been working on the Phoenix Mission will be rewarded with a successful landing.  The landing will be covered on some news stations if you are interested.

Ever since word leaked this afternoon about the Edwards' endorsement of Obama, James Carville has been struggling with the appropriate Apostle name to link to Edwards.  Clearly Judas Iscariot can not be recycled for Edwards because that would just make Carville look weak.  Besides, Edwards apparently doesn't owe the Clintons his life like Richardson did.

Theologians from around America have been called to the Carville resident to weigh the relative merits of each Apostle and the characteristics they share with Edwards.

More after the jump.

There is a great article in the Ottawa Citizen by Dan Gardner dealing with the recent gas tax holiday issue in the United States and similar calls for a cut in gas taxes in Canada.  Gardner does an excellent job in summing up what we all know.  

Gardner's contention is, as a politician, you are either against overconsumption of gas and the associated impact on the environment or you are not.  If a politican supports cutting greenhouse gas emissions, he or she should also be trying to make citizens consume less gas.  Gardner has a nice test in his article to help his readers determine whether a politician is a pandering jackass or not.  If a politician both claims to be a protector of the environment and a supporter of the gas-tax holiday...the politician is a pandering jackass.

More below the jump.

I teach two students.  To protect their identity, I will refer to them as Barack O and Hillary C. Below the jump are the marks for the two students on their first 44 assignments this year.  I decided not to count two of their assignments (I told Barack O he could miss one of them and the other was a bit of a surprise test for which they were not allowed to study).

Given the marks below and their averages (which are located at the bottom of each list) can you tell me who is the better student.  In my professional opinion, Barack seems to be the better student.  However, Hillary C. keeps telling me that I should consider her to be the better student because she has more potential than Barack (she just can't put what she knows down on paper).  She also keeps asking if I will consider her to be the better student if she does better on a few of the remaining assignment even if Barack maintains the higher average.  It just doesn't seem fair.

Unfortunately, like many marriages, the pairing of Obama and Clinton is soon to come to a close.  There have been good times and bad times.  Laughter and fights.  Hugs and kisses mixed with public quarrels.  After months and months of traveling the same roads and twenty debates, the sometimes happy couple are heading towards splitsville.

The past couple of months has me pondering what she hopes to get in the divorce.  Surely, she must see some advantage of continuing the romance into May and June.  I can't for the life of me, however, figure out what she hopes to gain.

Follow me over the jump for what I see Obama gaining in the divorce.

Much has been said at DailyKos why Senator Obama must be the nominee for the democratic party.  Little has been said lately about why Senator Clinton must and will be the nominee.  No doubt the job action taken by her supporters caused limitation in positive diaries about Senator Clinton.  So, with that being said, I spent the day pondering and compiling all of the obvious reasons why Senator Clinton not only must be the Democratic nominee but why, in fact, she will be the democratic nominee.

Follow me after the jump for what I view as the reasons why Clinton must (will) be the nominee.  Admittedly, this is a non-exhaustive list.

The latest Gallop poll is out and Obama is maintaining a healthy 50-41 lead over Clinton.

The poll tracked voters from April 10-12 which obviously includes the past couple of bitter days.

Given Clinton's hunting experience, one might conclude that her playing the "bitter and elite" card was simply a shot in the dark.  Could someone tell her that she missed?

I don't know what all the fuss is about at DailyKos in the past 24 hours.  Obama has made a few comments which he has admitted were perhaps worded badly.  Hillary has come out and has given him 100% support for the comments.  And yet, at DailyKos, Senator Clinton is being raked over the coals by people who obviously do appreciate how she has gone out of her way in the past couple of days to back Obama.

Perhaps a quick refresher course on how to interpret "Hillary Comments" will help you cement-heads who are "hating on her" right now.