I actually cried when I read this (something about this campaign keeps getting stuck in my eye):

http://democrats.org/a/2008/06/democratic_part_10.php

I am a flat broke (deeply in debt) single mother graduate student, and I had to make a donation when hearing this news. In terms of what it means to me, personally and politically, and what it could mean for my children and this country, it is too damned important to not say loudly and clearly that this is a move we support, in whatever increment possible. Shout it from the rooftops, baby: the time has come.

Okay. So she indirectly dissed Obama and his supporters, and implied that maybe--or more than just maybe--she was not ready to give up the fight. It is her supporters' campaign, after all, (eh-hem) and she needs to hear from them before deciding what to do.

And yes, there is a frightening element of crazy at play, a level of "deranged narcissism" (thanks, Toobin) and denial deep enough to flood the Grand Canyon. I have posted about my fears of sabotage and secession, little paranoid ramblings about her will to win or die trying--or even to take the rest of us down on the way.

But maybe--or more than just maybe--Hillary has to back out slowly, not only for her the purpose of nursing personal ego, but as a means to allow the heat to die down before tossing a wet blanket on the fire. Maybe her supporters need the opportunity to weigh in and say their piece before they will be ready to change tac and embrace unity. Maybe it would be ill-advised to throw on the e-brake while hauling down the freeway at a cool 95. Let them decelerate before asking them to board another bus.

I am doing a terrible job with my metaphors this morning, but I think you know what I mean. Maybe this was a concession speech, in its way.

The key to deciphering it is time. We need to wait and see whether Hillary will decide to keep quiet and let the reality sink in or whether she will amp up the rhetoric and dig in with the denial.