The United States Men's Basketball Team and Hillary Cinton

Women have had it tough throughout history.

I'm often told that The Church is to blame. In reading the Bible, I've come across many references to women;
In the book of Mark, we are told of women being patrons for Jesus, engaging in public dialogue with Jesus, being ministered to and remaining faithful when their male counterparts had fled Jesus.
Paul mentions; Prisca, Pheobe (a deacon), Mary (a colleague - Romans v. 6), Tryphaena, Tryphosa, Persis and Junia (whom Paul calls "foremost among the apostles - Romans v. 7).
The true subjugation seems to have come from those who (mis)interpreted the Bible.

Is a woman fit to run a country?
Queen Hatshepsut - Pharaoh of Egypt
Cleopatra VII - Pharaoh of Egypt
Empress Theodora - Byzantine Empress
Queen Elizabeth I - Monarch
Catherine The Great - Empress of Russia
Queen Liliuokalami - Monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii
Golda Meir - Prime Minister of Israel
Indira Gandhi - Prime Minister if India
Margeret Thatcher - Prime Minister of The U.K
Violeta Chamorro - President of Nicaragua
Corazon Aquino - President of The Philippines
Wilma Pearl Mankiller - Chief of The Cherokee Nation
Benazir Bhutto - Prime Minister of Pakistan
I'd say the answer is yes.

Can a woman run the military? Yes. History is filled with some bad-ass women who prove this point;
Gudit, Trieu Thi Trinh, Boudicca, The Trung Sisters, Artemisa I, Fu Han, Septima Zenobia, Tamar of Georgia and Joan of Arc, to name a few.

The United States Men's Basketball Team has been losing tournaments that they should have won. The 1972 Olympics were the first time a US team (made up of college amateurs) had lost an Olympic games gold medal. Sure, politics and spotty referees played a large part in the loss so it was almost acceptable. Several World Championship losses later, the US decided to use our best (professional) players against other countries' best professional players. Here is where we get the "Dream Team".
The Dream Team was by far the most talented and naturally gifted of players and they easily outclassed their competition.
Subsequent "dream teams" failed to perform at the levels of the original. The Game itself had changed. Being the best individually no longer translated into being the best team. The embarrassing losses suffered by these new "dream teams" would prove this point.

Three years ago, Duke's Coach K was hired to form a core group of players who would work towards a common goal. Many "star" players would take a back seat to the concept of team.
Okay...everyone knows the final result - the US won an Olympic gold medal using players who formed a great team (no Garnett, no Shaq, no Iverson, no problem).

The Democrats are in trouble. The problem with the party is that there are too many groups fighting for their own small piece of the pie. It's easy to list ten core values of the Republican party and it's most important issues. One knows what their getting when they vote Republican. (Well... Bush is pretty financially liberal, but that's another story.)

I'm all for women's rights and equality but Party Unity My Ass (PUMA) has it all wrong.
Their Plan For Action (according to their site) ;
1) Dissociate yourself from the party
2) Reflect on your values
3) Stick together
4) Remember that there is a better alternative (Hillary Clinton)
5) Spread the word

In an interview with Hardball's Chris Matthews, PUMA members (and Hillary supporters) stated; "He (Barak Obama) was registered as a Muslim in Indonesia" Sounds like the same call-ins on Laura Ingraham or Rush Limbaugh. But these (PUMA) people are supposed to be Democrats!?

Mr Obama states;
"I am convinced that honoring Senator Clinton's historic campaign in this way will help us celebrate this defining moment in our history and bring the party together in a strong unified fashion."
Why? Why does the loser get to dictate terms? Do Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee get to dictate their terms to John McCain?
I think that this is just a case of the Clinton's "discrimination radar" being tuned a bit too high.

10:23 Denver (NY Times)
Bill Clinton in the Hall -
"He's sitting down with some unidentified folks - not in the press box seats with Michelle Obama and Joe Biden"
I didn't see Micheal Jordan on the bench in the last Olympics during basketball games - he wasn't on the team. Bill wasn't the "Jordan" of Presidents. Why does he expect to be treated any better.

During the final game of men's basketball, calls were inconsistent and sometimes seemed to be made to ensure a US loss. The US team remained poised and remained focused on their goal. They didn't whine and complain about the conditions. They didn't point out that the team from from Spain had made racist gestures earlier about the Chinese. They just kept playing the game. They had learned the rules and adapted.

Dwayne Wade (speaking about the 2004 Olympics loss):
"We weren't rooting for each other. We were fighting against each other because everybody wanted to play".
Mr. Wade's quote sounds a little like he's talking about PUMA and other Hillary supporters who seem bent on getting their (losing) candidate more playing time.

Unless the Party learns the lessons of the United States Men's Basketball Team - Democrats are in a lot of trouble.