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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
Barack Obama is learning with each passing day, none of the usual rules apply while waiting for Hillary to hoist the white flag.
Right now, all Hillary is hoisting is her middle finger.
Of course, a wrangle over the symbolic significance of toting up the primary vote from an island that is not permitted to vote for president in November could cause problems for a party that already is facing fault lines over race and gender.
Puerto Rico will deliver as many electoral votes for the Democratic nominee in 2008 as Alabama, Alaska, the Carolinas, the Dakotas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, Mississippi, Texas, Utah and Wyoming combined; that is to say, Zero.
And if consistency with the rules governing the General Election is the criteria, then the Democratic Party should be prepared in 2012 to ditch caucuses, super delegates and the proportional allocation of elected delegates.
A draconian decision may well cost the Democrats electoral votes against McCain, but a permissive ruling would definitely undermine the party's authority over future primaries.
Under the DNC rules, New Hampshire wasn't supposed to hold its primary any earlier than January 14th; it was held on January 8th. Yet nothing has been done, or will be done to New Hampshire. So the DNC has already effectively made one permissive ruling.
Interestingly, the GOP faced the same problem with Florida, Michigan and New Hampshire all jumping the gun. Rather than play favorites, all states were stripped of half of their delegates.
As Hillary's chances diminish, the volume of hate speech from Hillary supporters goes up here. And now, it's so loud and plentiful that there's little point in reading these letters as it's upsetting and doesn't lead any of us to a better place. Talk about bitter.
I read the entire letters thread for the piece "What does Hillary Want?" and I just wanted to let CeliaInSF know that she's great. She can speak for me any time. Her posts, even while defending herself against some pretty loud and hateful yelling, are beautiful and represent the best part of human nature. My wife is also a fan of yours Celia.
But, what a waste of time it was to wade through all of that bile as this letters thread will certainly be as well.
Salon, under Joan Walsh, is failing to take the conversation to a higher place, and so are most of you.
As various people have proposed, I recommend that those of us who want to keep the conversation civil avoid the known trolls and avoid anyone on either side who YELLS or who seems like either a representative of Operation Chaos or on the Obama side, someone who's out to just poke Hillary supporters in the eye, even when they deserve it.
Don't provoke, even when provoked. No one's keeping score here people.
There are a number of people doing this already and I admire you for your efforts in this shitstorm of yelling. In the same way that Obama is organizing we all need to organize and leave the hate speech behind. It's not going to get anyone elected except John McCain.
secret magical inscrutable forces engaged in a 2000 year war against all mankind. You know, THOSE people.
was that the superdelegates would be kept (after all they are elected officials and DLC members who they can have if they wish) and they would vote on the NUMBER of total delegates FL and MI have. i suppose they'd allot them as they saw fit. they wouldn't vote their own number, just the number of the delegates. the state as a whole would lose delegate-votes so the DLC could punish them but they'd get elected officials to apportion the delegate votes they do have.
We should be restrained.
I have ignored all manner of disgusting statements from Hillary and her insane love posse of followers. I will continue to ignore the slings and arrows of outrageous Klintoonistas. I will ignore their statements and slurs.
The only one which cannot be ignored is the "vote for Hillary or I'll shoot this dog" statement that they will vote for McCain. This statement is from McCain supporters, usually paid supporters. Democrats vote for their party, not for Grampa McSenile with his paper underwear.
you want to find out what is meant by "middle class" and how many of this mag's readership fit it. yes? the last time i went at it, you wanted a NUMBER for middle class, it MUST be a range. where would the median family income fit into it? i don't think 40,000 anywhere would be middle class - but perhaps in rural alabama it might. you first must figure what GOODS and SERVICES go to make up a middle class life style and then the locations where such could be bought for that amount of money. do you need to own a house to be middle class? do you need good health insurance? do you need to be able to educate your 2.1 children? do you need a car for every adult? a computer? a vacation? travel? if so, $100,000 more or less is not unreasonable in new york city. pick a range. 60,000 to 140,000? that's my guess. i also think you live on less. you might be getting free rent. or you might have naturally good health and have given up health insurance. or might not have family responsibilities. i am SURE people here are HEFTY middle class. they talk too much about wine and going off registering voters and whatever to not have money. am i envious? OF COURSE! but i don't think having little money makes you more interesting. you can TALK "masses" but really, one or two "instances of mass" are sufficient.
Like I tell my eight year old in regards to sports, if you lose a game you don't have to like it and in fact you shouldn't, if you want to be angry on the field I'm fine with that, but once you step off the field it is time to put it behind you. Not to belittle you folk but it is time to put the primary race behind you. Clinton fought a tough campaign, I think she was ill advised in her strategy but that's another topic, but it is clearly over. Letting the rancor and vitriol continue is pointless and distracts all of us, who clearly see Obama or Clinton as a much more viable choice over the current sitting President or his heir apparent, to focus now on the long clean up of the worst Presidential administration in the history of the Republic. It is potentially going to get decades to right the wrongs the Bush team has done.
First priority though is ensuring McCain doesn't stand a chance in the fall. I mean one would think he (McCain) is a shill for the Democratic party, giving the DNC easy ad campaigns for the fall when he makes statements such as this:
On the price of gas and commodities:
"And obviously the way it’s been going up is just terrible. But I think psychologically — and a lot of our problems today, as you know, are psychological — the confidence, trust, the uncertainty about our economic future, ability to keep our own home."
How's that for some straight talk, the man that wants to be President thinks the $70 it cost me to fill the mini van the other day was just a psychological problem for me, not a real fiscal one.
On Bush's economic legacy:
I think if you look at the overall record and millions of jobs have been created, et cetera, et cetera, you could make an argument that there’s been great progress economically over that period of time.
The shrinking dollar, the record deficit, the sub prime scandal, record fuel and commodity prices, health care cost, the largest gap between wealthiest and poorest Americans since The Guilded Age, I could go on but you get the point. To make a statement like that is just utterly astounding.
Or his view on the balance of power in our government, which he gave in a speech that is almost a plagiarism of a speech Bush gave three years ago. The problem with our government today is not the overwhelming consolidation of power in the executive branch, making it a pseudo autocracy, or a weak legislative branch, which even with an opposition party in power and a lame duck President behaves as a rubber stamp for the executive, it is the judiciary, and more specifically, wait for it...activist judges...the red meat code word for the rapid right...which we all know is just an euphemism for judges who rule against the conservative view point.
He had the gall to say this:
Assured of lifetime tenures, these judges show little regard for the authority of the president, the Congress, and the states. They display even less interest in the will of the people.
Has he never read the Federalist Papers (well,considering his academic record at Annapolis probably not) or any of the founding father's views on the separation of powers?
It seems scarcely to admit of controversy, that the judiciary authority of the Union ought to extend to these several descriptions of cases: 1st, to all those which arise out of the laws of the United States, passed in pursuance of their just and constitutional powers of legislation
Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Paper 80
"The judges... should always be men of learning and experience in the laws, of exemplary morals, great patience, calmness and attention; their minds should not be distracted with jarring interests; they should not be dependent upon any man or body of men. To these ends they should hold estates for life in their offices, or, in other words, their commissions should be during good behavior, and their salaries ascertained and established by law."
Thomas Jefferson
The whole point of an tenured judiciary is so it will be independent of the will of the mob, the misguidance of the legislature or the whim of a President. It is there to look at legislation passed through the prism of that legislation's consitutionality, not if it was popular amongst the people or wanted by the executive or passed whole heartedly by the legislature. The independent judiciary is what protects the minority from the majority, ensures level playing fields and the overall protection of everyone's rights. You can argue that they are at times more subjective to their personal political ideologies than objective but you really can't argue against Civics 101.
I understand you might be feeling anger right now with Obama and his supporters but let's take that resolution and use it to realize that at his worst, Obama is exponentially better than the man occupying 1600 Pennsylvania Ave right now and will present something better for our nation other than a four year extension of the Bush debacle.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
