As I watched Hillary Clinton begin her speech last night I wondered why she had chosen such an unlikely place, a university basement, three floors underground. It was the kind of public venue I'd expect Dick Cheney to select.

Then it became clear. Way down there, under all that concrete and soil, cell phones could not pick up a signal, Blackberries could not receive email down there and there were no TV monitors. All of which meant that the crowd of Hillary supporters, who had assembled hours earlier, did not know and could not learn that Barack Obama had already won the Democratic Party's nomination. And that Hillary had not.

That information blackout insured a lively, rather than subdued, reception for Hillary's speech. It wasn't that I was surprised that the Clintons were, as usual, calculating right down to the smallest detail. I was surprised instead that, even after losing, they were still at it.

That can mean only one thing; that the Clintons are wired that way. They could no more change their conniving, calculating, triangulating ways than a couple of brown bears could learn do their business in a toilet rather than in the woods.

Hillary refused to concede the obvious last night, or to congratulate Obama for his win. Because Bill and Hillary don't see concessions as the honorable or human thing, but rather as just another political asset to leverage, a payoff to barter, sell or use as a negotiating tool.

To Hillary, only suckers are magnanimous.

Then this morning I learned that Clintonite, Lanny Davis, launched a website petition for women who want to demand that Obama chose Hillary as his vice president. Never mind that Lanny Davis is a guy, his web site is called "Women For Fair Politics," (www.womenforfairpolitics.com.)

He wants women to flock to his web site and sign the petition demanding that Obama pick Hillary for his VP. He can call it a online petition drive, but what it really is an attempt to engineer the world's first cyber-shotgun political wedding. Davis claims that Hillary has nothing to do with the petition drive, but if you believe that....

I don't know who Obama will eventually chose for his veep, but it must not be Hillary Clinton... for all the reasons I listed earlier HERE.

I have my favorite. Senator Jim Webb D-Virginia. Webb, more so than any other so far named, fits the vision Obama has expressed through out this campaign. Webb is bi-partisan, having been a Republican, and having served as Navy Secretary in the Reagan administration,. But Webb saw the damage Bush/Cheney Neocons were causing and switched to become a Democrat, ran for the senate and won.

Like Obama, Webb is new to the US Senate. Traditionalists will claim two freshmen Senators on the same ticket would be a mistake. On the contrary. Americans are sick of same-old, same-old. If we wanted that Hillary Clinton would be the Democratic nominee this morning, rather than Obama.

Neither Obama or Webb have been in Washington long enough to be thoroughly corrupted by the place. They're staff's don't maintain long lists of favors owed for back room deals cut years ago.

Both Obama and Webb speak our language, rather than DC-speak. That means both men often say things so clearly true and in such an unvarnished way that it startles us. We're not used that. Instead, years of Orwellian DC-speak has caused most of us to automatically tune out when ever a politician starts pontificating and boviating The sing-song sloganism, the same old buzz words, the same old sentimental ticklers... we've heard it all.. and don't want to hear it again.

Jim Webb also knows all that's needed to know about things military. As a decorated combat Marine and former Navy Secretary, he's been there, done that.

Webb won my admiration when, just after being elected Senator President Bush came up to him at a White House reception and tried to make small talk. As usual, Bush, clueless as ever, chose the wrong subject. Webb's son, also a Marine, had just been deployed to Iraq. Bush asked, "How's your boy doing?"

Webb's response was along the lines of, "None of your business, Mr. President. That's between me and my son." and walked off.


Rude? Hell no. How else would a real person, a real father, a real patriot, respond to such a question uttered by the very man who started the illegal war to which he then sent son, where he could be maimed or killed? Webb responded exactly the way I would have, and the way millions of ordinary Americans would have as well, if they'd had the same opportunity.

That's what I'm talking about. Speaking truth to power. And speaking truth to us, even when we don't want to hear it, even when telling the truth can be politically dangerous.

Obama congratulated Hillary Clinton last night. Hillary did not return the favor. Instead she locked her supporters into a deep bunker of ignorance, just so she could harvest the last drips of personal glory out of her moribund campaign.

Remember that in the days and weeks ahead as the Clintons angle for the VP slot. As Chris Matthews noted this morning, the Clintons are treating the vice presidency as if it's the silver metal in a race, that should automatically go to the second-place candidate. It is not second prize. It is not a consolation prize.

Maureen Dowd said it best, "Whoever said that after denial comes acceptance hadn’t met the Clintons."

Obama was right when, at the beginning of this campaign he said that the time had come to close the book on the Bush's and Clinton's. It's long past time we moved on from all that. It's time to turn the page of history.

Amen.

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