Bye-bye Hillary… As more and more news outlets and political insiders come out in support of Senator Barack Obama as the democratic presidential nominee, pressure is mounting for Clinton to drop out so that the democratic party can turn their focus onto defeating McCain—whom many are calling Bush III.

This week’s Economist led with an article entitled “Almost there: Barack Obama deserves the nomination. It is not yet clear whether he deserves the presidency”. The article went on to state:

“As The Economist went to press, Mrs Clinton was publicly still promising to keep on fighting right the way to the Denver convention. That remains her right. But it is hard to see what she, her party or her country can gain from the struggle.”

The New York Times—who had endorsed Senator Clinton– posted a rather scathing editorial in which all but call upon her to drop out, stating that while it is her right to continue the fight,

“Mrs. Clinton will be making a terrible mistake — for herself, her party and for the nation — if she continues to press her candidacy through negative campaigning with disturbing racial undertones.”

The Obama campaign meanwhile has been wasting no time in capitalizing on the growing anti-Clinton pro-Obama sentiment. Not surprisingly, they are feeding it. On Sunday, David Azelrod, Obama’s campaign manager told Fox News, that,

“we’re coming to the end of the [nomination] process”.

In the opinion of this writer, it is no longer a matter of “if” but rather “when” Senator Clinton will drop out. Over the past year as I have watched her campaign, I have been inspired by her enthusiasm and determination to change this country’s course. It is for this reason, however, that I must add my small voice to the growing chorus calling upon her to move aside. She deserves the nomination, but not now, not like this.

In Other News:

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake has killed at least 9,000 in the western Sichuan province of China. According to Reuters, over 7,000 of the dead were in Sichuan’s Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County where 80 percent of the buildings were destroyed. One in 10 residents were either killed or injured.

Nearby in Myanmar, the official death toll is close to 32,000 and potentially still growing. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon sad on Monday that the government of Myanmar’s response to the devastating cyclone has been “unacceptably slow”. He went on to state:

“We are at a critical point. Unless more aid gets into the country very quickly, we face an outbreak of infectious diseases that could dwarf today’s current crisis, I therefore call in the most strenuous terms on the government of Myanmar to put its people’s lives first.”

The first US aid plane landed in Rangoon, Myanmar today along with aircraft fro Medecins Sans Frontieres (trans: Doctors Without Borders) and Medecins du Monde (trans: Doctors of the World)

And Now for Something Completely Different:

The Birds! In Florida last Thursday, an avian-biped collision left one dead and another hospitalized over night. Debbie Shoemaker was apparently swimming near St. Petersburg, FL when a large pelican slammed into her, ripping a large gash in her face. The bird died in the crash and Debbie was taken to a nearby hospital where she required 20 stitches. It is thought that the pelican was diving for fish and simply failed to see the bathing woman.

That’s the News, see you tomorrow!