She Just Doesn't Get It.

Cartoon by MSNBC's Daryl Cagle

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I have said for at least 2 years that Hillary Clinton would win the Presidential election in November, 2008. Over the last 2-3 weeks I have realized that I am probably going to be wrong. I am surprised by her performance. Neither she or anyone else could have predicted Senator Obama's popularity, but she has responded poorly and her response has been her demise.

"The medium is the message."

Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man / Marshall McLuhan / 1964

Point: Television, to borrow a phrase from Marshall McLuhan's book, is a cool medium. It requires the participant to engage himself, not just in the words heard but in the manner in which those words are presented. It is visual first. Going back to the Nixon/Kennedy debates, critics have realized that the perception of confidence and wisdom is communicated through more than words. Hand movements, hair styles, height, voice inflection, laughs, demeanor, and of course, President Nixon's 5 o'clock shadow create strong, lasting impressions.

Mrs. Clinton and her advisers are not getting it. She continues to whine away at Barack Obama, the media, the Bushes, Republicans and everyone one else who doesn't recognize her divine right to the presidency. Last night's blast at the fact that she got too many "first questions" was a huge mistake and only hurt her. She gained nothing from it. Senator Obama is just sitting there watching Hillary bury herself. Or as the cartoonist shows, standing there watching as she overshoots the mark. Whoever is advising her should be fired immediately. I'm not the only one saying this, even her supporters on the TV newscasts are suggesting she go back to her strengths and start acting presidential.

I'm a Republican. I want her to win the Democratic primary because right now Senator Obama looks unstoppable. But her only chance is to forget her opponent and to attempt to frame the debate around her strengths.

Tomorrow: Senator Obama looks unstoppable now, but . . .
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On Hot Chocolate and Cold Weather, #2.

In our home, after a day in the snow, that day ended with mom's hot chocolate. Whole milk, cocoa powder, sugar and heat. That's it, but that was enough, because chocolate goes well with a lot of things, and it goes perfectly with milk. The combination of chocolate's bitter sweetness and milk's smooth sweetness blends nicely when warmed, especially on a cold day.

Before I give my mother's short list of ingredients, I should say that there are easy ways to complicate or over-simplify this. You can buy quality chocolate bars, chip them, melt them, mix them with hot water and then milk, or oversimplify and do the microwave thing. The first is too much trouble the second doesn't taste right. Here's what you need:

Fresh whole milk
Chocolate cocoa powder
Sugar
Good, heat conducting pot
Heat

Measurements are more difficult because of taste. My suggestion for the average Hershey's type cocoa powder is a tablespoon of powder and a tablespoon of sugar for every cup of milk. I like one tablespoon, you might like 1.5 or two. The instructions are as easy as the ingredients:

1. Warm milk slowly but steadily until it is very hot but not boiling.
2. Add a little warm milk to the dry ingredients stir until shiny.
3. Add the chocolate mix in the warm milk.

Takes about 5 minutes, but you do have to stand there and stir, almost continuously, until just too hot to drink. Do not boil the milk.

Pour carefully into a warm mug. If you want to top it off with little marshmallows, that's okay, but even better is the old fashioned marshmallow whip -- hey, at this point who's counting calories.

Finally, what I loved in addition to this was buttered toast. Have you ever dipped a piece of crispy buttered toast into a cup of hot chocolate? Low cal it's not but it sure tastes good.

On Hot Chocolate and Cold Weather. To Meg.

One of the joys of being raised in the colder climes was snow.

What is to accomplishment-minded adults a nuisance, and to skiers a medium of thrill, is to children, well, instant Magic Kingdom.

First, God in his most infinite wisdom put the snow season and the school season at the same time of year. So, not only was I playing outside all day, but I was playing outside all day on a day I would have otherwise been sitting in a school classroom. The choice between watching the red, second-hand move ever-so-slowly on the classroom clock or playing in the snow was not a difficult one. The ultimate in good fortune was the winter hat-trick: a big snow one day prior to the Christmas holiday, resulting in one extra day off, plus no homework for 2 weeks, and Christmas right in the middle. Wow. Talk about Peace on Earth.

Another beauty of snow for a child is that it is like playing in dirt without getting dirty. The possibilities of engagement are endless. Snowmen, snowballs, sledding, toboganning, igloo forts, and for the industrious there's even shoveling the neighbors' driveways for a few bucks.

Speaking of neighbors, our gathering place on snow days was the hedge row in Mr. Sincock's yard, strategically situated about 6 feet from Sandra Road. It was there we could crouch down, wait for a snow-slowed cars to roll by, and then bombard the car with snowballs as it passed. If the car stopped for the driver to get out and yell at us, or even better, to get out and chase us, we could, like little field mice, make our escape across Mr. Grady's backyard and then into the endless maze of backyards, secret passageways, and fences. It was never a contest between chaser and chased but the running escape was a thrill.

My sister (Meg) reminded me the other day about my mother's hot chocolate at the end of a day in the snow, and that is what I started to write about, but the snow, I guess it was something I hadn't thought about in a long while. So,

Tomorrow: my mother's homemade, real-milk, hot chocolate at the end of a snow day, and what I did to make it even better.