"Bitter-gate," as it's now being frequently referred to, has induced so much rich writing, opining, theorizing, and speculating that I've had a deliciously difficult time keeping up with all that it has stirred up. But I write to draw your attention to three great pieces I've read in the last couple of days. (Thank god for realclearpolitics.com, which helps keep me focused, well-informed, and distracted from work each day.)

1. Hey, Obama boys: Back off already! (Rebecca Traister, Salon.com)
**Must read!**
One of the smartest, most necessary reads of the election thus far, from a woman who isn't exactly a Hillaryite but who deconstructs perfectly the sexism and misogyny lurking (sometimes not so secretly) underneath Obama's campaign and his supporters. It's written from a 30-something women's perspective, which perhaps is why it particularly resonates with me. If you think you've read it all before about sexism, feminism, Obama-cultism in Election 2008, think again. Here's a snapshot that hopefully induces you to read the whole thing:

"I began reporting this story in part because, as a 32-year-old woman who is more liberal than either candidate, and who was quite torn until Super Tuesday, I had found myself increasingly defensive of Clinton in the face of the Obama worship that rules the mostly white, liberal, well-educated circles in which I work and travel. I was confused by the saucer-eyed, unquestioning devotion shown by my formerly cynical cohorts, especially when it was accompanied, as it often was, by a sharp renunciation of Hillary Clinton, whose policies are so similar to her opponent's. I was horrified by the frequent proclamations that if Obama did not win the nomination, his supporters would abstain from voting in the general election, or even vote for John McCain. I was suspicious of the cultlike commitment to an undeniably brilliant and inspiring man –- but one whom even his wife calls "just a man."

I am a loud feminist and a longtime Clinton skeptic who was suddenly feeling that I needed to rationalize, apologize for, or even just stay quiet about my increasing unease with the way Clinton was being discussed. Meanwhile, I was getting e-mails from men I didn't know well who approached me as a go-to feminist to whom they could express their hatred of Hillary and their anger at her staying in the race — an anger that seemed to build with every one of her victories. One of my closest girlfriends, an Obama voter, told me of a drink she'd had with a politically progressive man who made a series of legitimate complaints about Clinton's policies before adding that when he hears the senator's voice, he's overcome by an urge to punch her in the face."

2. Obama, Small Town Whites, and the Super Delegates (Jay Cost on realclearpolitics.com)
This guy is an electoral statistics genius! In looking at the breakdown of white support (or lack thereof) for Obama in Ohio, Cost makes a compelling, fact-based case for why his candidacy could spell yet another presidential defeat for democrats in 2008. Look at his table breaking down white support in Ohio's 6th congressional district for Hillary during the primary compared against how John Kerry did with the same voters in 2004—the numbers tell a scary picture for a potential Obama nomination. Look at the charts; read this article!

For a similarly nerdy yet utterly fascinating mathematical/statistical breakdown—upside: there are groovy color-coded maps!--see Sean Oxendine's, "No Really. Hillary Has a Decent Shot." I guarantee you will find this so very interesting. Really.

3. A Living Lie (Thomas Sowell on realclearpolitics.com)
This piece is informative because it reveals the Obama most people haven't bothered to examine—the pre-U.S. Senate Obama—and shines a too-rarely-seen light on the realities of Obama's thin resume compared to his thick rhetoric. Not much else to say; Sowell says it all so well that you have to read it for yourself.