Many people have said that the reason Ms. Hillary won the Democratic primary in New Hampshire was because she cried.  And that the women all felt sorry for her that they all came out and voted for her and in doing that their “sisterhood votes” overwhelmed the “Obama phenomenon.”

What da heck?  If that’s what it takes to win, hey, why not?  This is a country run by “we-men” of all kinds, anyway.

But let’s get the story straight though about Hillary’s cry: Nope!  She didn’t cry, she didn’t shed any tears, she didn’t sob her heart out or went into a crying jag …

She “teared up,” and got misty.

There is a difference there.  Great difference.

Here’s how it happened.  Hillary had been invited by a friend to join other undecided female voters in a little New Hampshire café.  There a woman asked Hillary: “As a woman, I know it’s hard to get out of the house and get ready.  My question is very personal: How do you do it?”

Hillary struggled for words.  Seeing this, the woman rescued her as a friend might and asked: “Who does your hair?”

“Luckily, on special days I do have help,” Hillary gamely answered.  “If you see me every day, and if you look on some of the Web sites and listen to some of the commentators, they always find me on the day I didn’t have help.”

Warming up, Hillary then went on to say: “It’s not easy, it’s not easy.  And I couldn’t do it if I just didn’t passionately believe it was the right thing to do …”  Then pausing as if to collect her thoughts, Hillary softly said, “You know, I have so many opportunities from this country, and I just don’t want to see us fall backwards….”

“Some people think elections are a game, they think it’s like ‘who’s up’ or ‘who’s down’” she continued, her eyes glistening, her voice breaking.  “It’s about our country, it’s about our kids’ futures, it’s really about all of us, together.”

Her eyes glistened.  Her voice broke.  But she didn’t cry.  And I really think what she said there in that little cafe in New Hampshire came from her heart.  During that moment in time, frozen for eternity, she showed her humanity … and her love for this country.

And to those who say that it’s a weakness to be emotional about one’s country, they are wrong!  On the contrary, I think, it’s strength.  And America saw a glimpse of that strength in Hillary. 

She’s no “chilly bitch,” that’s for sure.  Nor a witch.  She’s a highly intelligent, incredibly strong woman and I am sure she’d be the next President of this great country.  I believe in her.  I believe she can render the CHANGE that we all have been clamoring for. 

OBAMA’S FAIRY TALE: When Mr. Bush announced the SURGE of troops last year in Iraq, Sen. Barrack Obama said that he didn’t believe that the 30, 000 additional troops would “make a significant dent in the sectarian violence that’s taking place there.”

But it did make a significant dent.  Attacks on our troops have slackened.  Iraqi civilian deaths are down. And last month’s overall number of deaths, which includes Iraqi security forces, Iraqi civilians as well as our troops, has been the lowest since the war began.

In a recent Democratic debate, Mr. Obama was asked: “Would you have seen this kind of greater security in Iraq if we had followed your recommendation to pull the troops out last year?”

Mr. Obama did not give a direct answer … and said that “much of that violence has been reduced because there was an agreement with tribes in Anbar Province, Sunni tribes, who started to see, after the Democrats were elected in 2006, you know what? – the Americans may be leaving soon.  And we are going to be left vulnerable to the Shias.  We should start negotiating now.”

Say what?  I think that’s a song-and-dance answer.  Or, as Bill Clinton said, “the biggest FAIRY TALE I’ve ever seen.”

Or, as William Kristol, a syndicated columnist of The New York Times, said, “Last year’s success, in Anbar and elsewhere, was made possible by confidence among Iraqis that U.S. troops would stay and protect them, that the U.S. would NOT abandon them to their enemies.”

In other words, because the United States sent more troops instead of withdrawing, we are seeing some kind of success in Iraq.  In other words, the surge worked!  In other words, Sen. Barack Obama was wrong about Iraq.    

In other words, as in that song that Frank Sinatra used to croon to us: “Fairy tales can come true, it can happen to you, if you’re young at heart … tedum, tedum….”

But I think the BIGGEST fairy tales of all time were the reasons Mr. Bush told America why Iraq was invaded:  First, it was the WMD.  Then, it was democracy.  Then, terrorism.

Others said it was the Bush’s family honor.  Some said it was Islam.  Many said, it was the oil.  Fairy tales, they were … like this story:

A college teacher reminds her class of tomorrow’s final exam.  “Now class,” she said, “I won’t tolerate any excuses for you not being here tomorrow.  I might consider a nuclear attack or a serious personal injury, illness or death in your immediate family, but that’s it.  No other excuses whatsoever!”

A smart-ass student in the back of the room raised his hand and asked, “What would you say if tomorrow I said I was suffering from complete and utter sexual exhaustion?”

The entire class is reduced to laughter and snickering.  When silence is restored, the teacher smiles knowingly at the student, shakes her head and sweetly say, “Well, I guess you’d have to write the exam with your other hand.”

Fairy tales, indeed, like Bush’s fairy tales, like … Obama’s.  As Erap used to say: SAME-SAME.  In other words, Obama is a Bush in the making.  JJ