a poster named "lolcait" ought review history before embarrassing him/herself with the statement that candidate Obama "stole a primary by eliminating participation" in Michigan and Florida.

Most of the other posters here are familiar enough with the history of the Rules committee August vote that established the sanction, but for you, here is a summary: the same 13 Hillary supporters currently on the committee [a near majority] were also on the committee last August. Those members included - among others - at least one member of Hillary's current campaign management team. The committee vote to impose 100% sanctions rather than 50% sanctions included all 13 Hillary supporters. In fact the vote was near-unanimous; the single exception was a Committee member who happened to be an Obama supporter; that member demurred.

The Committee is officially 28 members plus two 'tie-breaker' chairs. The breakdown: On the 28 member committee are 12 Hillary supporters. One of the two tie-breaker chairs is a Hillary supporter. Thus, with only one or two more from among the remaining Committee members [other than the 8 known to be Obama supporters] Hillary supporters could easily have a majority - both last August and now.

However, that Hillary majority is in the embarrassing position of looking at eachother on 5/31 and saying - geez we sure screwed up last August!!

This is why the columnist suggests the likelihood that the Committee will -despite the embarrassment of the near-majority of Hillary supporters who put the stupid Rule in place last August - revert to the 50% sanction rule that should have been voted in place last August.

SUMMARY: Hillary's folks did it to Hillary. Hillary though it was OK. Hillary signed a pledge in line with what Hillary's folks ruled last August. Then Hillary started [in Jan 2008]talking publicly about re-enfranchising the voters. So now Hillary's supporters on the Committee must reverse their own vote on the Rule. The Result of Hillary's folks fixing the mess that Hillary's folks created? Hillary will get the exact _proportion_ of votes that she garnered in the elections. Granted the weight will only be 1/2, but the proportion will reflect the vote.

The only loser in this is the non-Hillary candidate [in this case, Obama; it could have been Edwards]. The reason is patently clear: had non-Hillary known this would have been the outcome, non-Hillary would have agitated last August to allow campaigning by candidates, since the two states' votes would have been real if for a smaller pot. Campaigning would have meant that the lesser-known candidate [Edwards or Obama or both] would have garnered a larger share. In addition, non-Hillary supporters - particulalry in Michigan - would have come to the polls instead of staying home, making for a more representative vote.

It does appear that non-Hillary [here this is Obama] does not seem to mind the loss of proportional votes, however, which does seem gracious.

It's a damn shame that the busloads of people coming to the protest have not been informed by the Hillary campaign that their "enemies" [if that is the word] are actually Hillary campaign staffers such as Harold Ickes who sit among the near-majority of 13 [of 30] Committee members supporting Hillary, since the Barack Obama supporters were - and remain - in a powerless minority of 8 on that Committee.

I hope this short history helps you to understand where the responsibility for this mess falls.

Browsing other excellent columns such as Greenwald turns up this same troll who uses ad homonim [sp?] attacks [e.g., Obama with 'hos'] in lieu of logic, purely to foment inter-party strife. Ignore the bait and enjoy the thought that we do not have to see this scum in actual life; poor souls who do...

I take it those were some excerpts from the vile crap this puerile poster spews.

Imagine how lucky we are to never have to see this sore excuse for a member of the human race in actual non-virtual life, eh?

He posts on other columns here; good for you in helping alert other members of the community - whatever our stripe - that this fellow is a fool.

Allows as many as possible to ignore this yapper's idiotic diatribes, leaves him impotent - in the virtual corner of his world - yapping only at himself.

ps I LOVED that you and other posters have caught on to the fake uber-crap. 'reich-wing'; neokkkon; pretty funny! Stay positive, we will come together and we WILL prevail over the fascists.