Gloves. Off. Now.

I am angry. I am really angry. I don't want to get into it too much, and I will try to maintain a civil tongue, but I am very angry at Hillary Rodham Clinton. In the same day, she has likened her Democratic opponent to Kenneth Starr, she has said outright that she thinks John McCain would be a better commander-in-chief, and it has been revealed by the Canadian press that it was the Clinton campaign, not the Obama campaign, that assured the Canadian government that all the tough talk on NAFTA was just hype.

I know, mentally, that Hillary Clinton has her heart in the right place, that she has fought valiantly for good causes, and that her goals are admirable, but I'm having an incredibly difficult time convincing myself to side with her. What my mind and my heart do agree on is this: Clinton has no taste, no sense of the reasonable bounds of human behavior, and she has no scruples in her attempts to accomplish her goals, however noble they may or may not be. This has been, and I have no doubt will be again, her undoing.

Last year, I marveled at the caliber of the people competing for the Democratic nomination. Joe Biden's sharp mind, sharp wit, and years of experience were but only confounded by his unfortunate love of speaking his mind. Dennis Kucinich has a passion so strong it is matched only by his ability to ability to bewilder and alienate the mainstream of the American public. John Edwards, having once run and lost on a platform of smiling our troubles away, became a fierce, unrelenting advocate for the poor. Bill Richardson, despite his unfortunate stiffness in formal settings (debates and the like) has experience, skill, and wisdom to address the unique problems of our time unlike any American I can think of. And Chris Dodd, my old favorite, demonstrated the seemingly lost art of making his presence known not by campaigning, but by using his place in the Senate to take bold steps towards ends mentioned by the other candidates only as pipe dreams of what would happen if they were president and had no resistance in Congress. After the dust settled, the two left were a young Senator from my own state who has been dazzling me with his intelligence and his unique approach to politics as long as I've known his name, and a former First Lady who suffered as much at the hands of the Republican Party as anyone short of her husband, and despite her shortcomings, I thought would still guide this country in a generally positive direction. Out of this stunning wealth of talent had come two candidates who I thought could each make a great nominee and a great president.

To put it mildly, I have recently become rather disenchanted with Senator Clinton. It is my intention to put together a series of posts, as well-researched as I can manage, holding up the mirror to Senator Clinton, illuminating her career as well as her character, and making the case why Barack Obama would be an infinitely better choice for our country. This won't be quick, but I intend to have it done before Pennsylvania votes.

If anyone would like to contribute sources, their own words, or very strong coffee to this effort, email me at tim.minutiae@gmail.com with the subject header "holding up the mirror."

I don't intend for this piece to be entirely one-sided or unfair. As I said at the beginning of the post, I know Hillary Clinton has admirable qualities and I do not intend to let those go unnoticed. But I know that given the option of hand-picking a president, she would be a long way down he list, and Barack Obama would be very close to the top. I simply intend to make that case.