Greetings fellow Kossacks. My name is Mike Plugh. I'm a 37-year old Masters candidate at Fordham University's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and an active member of Democrats Abroad Japan.

This is the first in an ongoing series of diaries designed to further my Masters thesis, and I'm humbly asking your help to "rec" and participate in order to get the best possible results. The working title of my thesis is "Comparative Analysis: Social Networking Structures and Progressive Political Identity." A mouthful, for sure, but I think many of you will find it interesting both as a subject of study, and as a participatory experience. Follow me after the fold...

I was reading some commentary by Clinton supporters today regarding the unfairness of the Democratic nomination process. At first the hindsight complaints by these people reminded me a bit of the anarcho-syndicalist mud farmers in the Monty Python's Holy Grail scene. The post-defeat populism that the Clinton campaign has adopted is a bit amusing to me. I wondered aloud if the supporters who were now complaining about the system were picketing the DNC prior to Iowa.

When I went back and watched the clip of the Python bit, it occurred to me that these people are taking on the role of the mud farmers, while their candidate is taking the role of Arthur, King of the Britons. The final metric has been set people!

The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, will hold aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water signifying by Divine Providence that she, Hillary Clinton, is to carry the Democratic banner. That is why she is your nominee!

It's all so clear now.

A lot of excellent work as been done over the past 24 hours at DailyKos with regard to the Bush comments in the Israeli Knesset. The reprehensible commentary of Bush, and subsequently by McCain and his Vice Presidential hit man Joe Lieberman, prompted a powerful and unified response by the Democratic leadership. Pelosi and Reid spoke up. Biden was blunt and strong. Even Hillary Clinton stepped in to defend the Democratic Presumptive Nominee. Where in the world is Al Gore?

I just gave $50 to Barack Obama. Now it's up to you to give big tonight.

It's been reported that John McCain will be a guest on TWwGS, but that's only a side story to me. The punditry (except Keith and Rachel) are putting the ABC backlash on whining Obama supporters. Perhaps there's an element to that, but the issue is not unfair treatment of one particular candidate over another. The issue is shoddy journalism that dumbs down the national discourse.

"The Boss" is America's #1 working man's hero and he had this to say about Barack Obama:

There's a lot of populist rhetoric going on these days. There's a lot of smoke being blown about who has "regular guy/gal" credentials and who is and elitist. It reminds me that populism and a genuine relationship with people is little more than a political football in America, at least at the national level. When Barack Obama speaks of bitterness and frustration in the small towns of America, and its inner cities, he's painting a picture of an environment in which government has drifted away from the "common" person and toward the corporate establishment.

Is Barack Obama a populist? I don't think so. Is Hillary Clinton? C'mon. John McCain? Should I dignify this with an answer?

That brings me to Mahatma Gandhi.

Something's been bugging me for a little while. I wasn't able to put my finger on it exactly, but I think it's getting clearer recently. The election season has brought it out into the light. What is it, you ask? It's the "regular guy" thing.

Chris Matthews of MSNBC is particularly useful in illustrating this point as he takes pride in his regular guy credentials. He talks about his Philadelphia roots and loves the people who "tell it like it is." It's a kind of homage to the Philly brand of blue collar, street vendor coffee, hockey jersey wearing, bar stool street cred that turns Matthews on. There's a different version of this regular guy myth depending on where your from, but it's out there. It's more than that though. The other half of the equation is the imaginary formula that constitutes irregular guyness or non-regular guyness, or however you'd like to put it. If you have a job in an office, drink coffee from Starbucks, wear a polo shirt on weekends, and drink wine with your dinner you're some kind of "namby pamby" wuss. At least, that's the implication. You don't count for a real, down to earth, honest to goodness opinion on the "stuff that really matters."