Confluence Jeopardy

You remember the classic TV game show  Jeopardy.   The contestants were given the answer, and had to come up with the right question. 

Now, many of us wonder why the MSM fails to ask important questions even when the answers are staring them in the face.   So here is your chance to play Confluence Jeopardy.  Ask the questions Tweety and Timmeh and Rachel Maddow and Wolf Blitzer refuse to ask.

Here are a few examples to start you out:

The answer is: “Because I am a masochist, that’s why.”

The question is: “Why am I watching MSNBC after waking up at 5 a.m. and spending all day in court?”

The answer is: “It’s over.”

The question is: “How much longer can I continue to listen to Chris Matthews tell his guests and viewers that there is no way that superdelegates ‘can’t take the nomination away from Barack Obama’?”

The answer is: “Because they said so.”

The question is: “How do the MSM pundits know that Hillary Clinton cannot possibly win the nomination?”

The answer is: “There will be rioting in the streets.”

The question is: “What did a guest on “Hardball” say would happen if superdelegates “take the nomination away from Obama” after he wins a majority of pledged delegates?”

The answer is:  “Nobody, silly.”

The question is: “How many guests on that program commented on the extortionist undertone of that statement?”

The answer is: “Crickets.”

The question is: “What was Chris Matthews’ response when another guest asked why no one was concerned about what female voters would do if Clinton were denied the nomination?” 

The answer is: “Welcome to my world.”

The question is: “What did Hillary Clinton say to Barack Obama after Obama declared on national television that he will not tolerate people being unfair or unflattering to his wife?”

The answer is: “Westminster Abbey, tomorrow.”

The question is: “Where and when do Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann plan to conduct the coronation of Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee?”

The answer is: “CNN, to show that Obama isn’t rushing to claim the nomination.”

The question is: “Which MSM outlet recently ran a clip of Obama telling a female reporter to ‘wait just a mnute, sweetie,’ and why?”

The answer is: “Sexism? What sexism?”

The question is: “Why didn’t CNN comment on the sexist nature of Obama’s comment to the female reporter?”

The answer is: “Kool-Aid.”

The question is: “Why do the MSM pundits accept Obama’s claim that he will obtain a majority of pledged delegates when they do not include delegates from MI or FLA?”

The answer is: “Felix Gaeta (IMHO).”

The question is: “Who will be revealed to be the 12th Cylon on Battlestar Galactica?”

So start playing now!   Post your “answer,” and wait for a fellow Confluentian to give you the “question.”  Oh, and have a mojito while you’re playing.  Or a Cosmopolitan.  Whatever works for you.

Operation Turn Down Continues…

I found this post from Steve Corbett in the comments.

It’s A Turndown Day

Steve Corbett Reporting
corbett@wilknewsradio.com

Monday, May 19, 2008

“Operation Turndown” has no headquarters or mailing address. We offer no coffee mugs, bumper stickers or T-shirts for sale. You cannot contribute cash or deduct your investment in tomorrow from you federal income tax.

But “Operation Turndown” is no mirage.

The voice of a movement that got underway last week on WILK News Radio belongs to all Democrats who refuse to do as we’re told and vote for Barack Obama if he receives the party nomination for president.

If Obama’s the chosen one, we’re turning him down.

Count us out.

Michelle Obama Speaks

On Good Morning America this morning, Michelle Obama denied that she is against having Hillary Clinton on the ticket with her husband.

“I think the world of Hillary Clinton, particularly as a woman…There is no way that I would say absolutely not to one of the most successful and powerful and groundbreaking women on this planet.”

Well isn’t that nice.

Monday: You say you want a Revolution

The maddening thing about Florida and Michigan is that the DNC has been sitting on these two states all primary season, deliberately withholding their critical mass so that Barack Obama’s delegate count looks inflated. All season long, it has appeared that he was ahead. This was by design. It gave his campaign the advantage of looking like an unstoppable force of nature and his supporters a million different ways of talking about the math, not the map.

But it *is* the MAP, not the math that counts here. Because without that critical mass of Florida and Michigan, every other vote from a state that went for Clinton doesn’t count. The DNC lowered the bar for the anti-Clinton candidate from 2210 delegates to 2025 by sitting on Florida and Michigan. It’s not just that Florida and Michigan have been disenfranchised, it’s ALL of the Clinton states including CA, NY, NJ, AZ, OH, TX, PA, IN, MA, NH, AR, NM, WV, TN, etc, etc. If you live in one of those states that went decisively for Clinton, your vote was just as much hostage as a vote in Florida and Michigan. It’s just one more insult to voters in a party where the primary process is more important than the people and where gaming the system leads to a predetermined outcome.

It’s one thing to get mad. But what can you do about it, you ask? What can one person do to make her vote count? Demand that Florida and Michigan be seated as is. The time for revotes has come and gone and Obama obstructed them anyway in order to maintain the perception of an insurmountable lead. He has forfeited any reasonable argument for less than full recognition. The voters of Florida and Michigan are innocent victims in all of the political shenanigans and so are we. See the links below to do what you can to bring Florida to a resolution or start a Revolution.

You wanna do even more? FDR has a rally…

Alright!!!

One other thing:  Some of you are getting a little PO’d about Obama’s use of the past tense when it comes to Hillary.  How many times do we need to go over this?  They are playing mind games, people.  Even if he does stupidly go in front of the cameras tomorrow night and crown himself king, he has to wait out the next three months because nothing is official until the balloons drop in Denver.  In the meantime, he’s going to be sweating bullets because *we* have something the DNC desperately wants. And they are not going to get it by continuing their bad behavior.  We all have choices.  You have a lot more power than you think. Now, turn off the news, re-register as an unaffiliated voter, send your old torn up registration card to Howard and Donna and send Hillary a ten spot.  Don’t make me come over there.  :-||

The Presumptuous Nominee should take his own advice

The ultimate sweetie himself gave a little speech last night in Portland and encouraged his droogs, er, followers to “be nice to Clinton supporters”. Gee, you don’t think he’s worried that maybe they might have gone too far? Who clued him in?

In any case, it doesn’t look like all of his supporters got the message. I fished this out of the spam filter (I had to wear neoprene gloves and protective clothing):

Go_Bama_2008 | Obama_droog@hopey-changey.com | IP: foo.bar.foo

Who really cares what a few hundred or even a few thousand people say on this and similar blogs. Either vote for the nominee or leave the Democratic party forever. You will become even more irrelevant in the future. Nobody cares or is worried about your threats and attempts at electoral blackmail.
We dont want you or need you. Bye.

followed by:

I thought Obama had finally gotten the message and was going to rein them in. But, seriously, folks, this is the Obama Campaign we’re talking about. To them, it’s a “dog-eat-dog” world. They run an Enron style machine: Don’t wait to stab them in the back. Get while the gettin’s’ good. Do it to them before they do it to you.

So it came as no surprise that Obama still intends to carry out his “spiked football in the end zone funky chicken dance” before he’s reached the magic number of 2210. Yep. on Tuesday, the Presumptuous one will be in Iowa where it all began to deliver a giant “Fuck You” to all of us Clinton supporters and the great states of Florida and Michigan.

I’m sure he’ll be nice about it. He’ll call for healing and uniting and defeating the common enemy and he’ll call on his worthy opponent to help bring us all together, because he’s made a habit of getting other people to do his work for him instead of doing the “uniting” himself. If I were her, I’d say, “Oh, no, Barack, I couldn’t possibly stand in your way and steal your limelight. You go right ahead and do your unifying. Oh, sure, I told them to vote for you but there’s only so much I can do. The damn voters *will* behave like they have minds of their own. You gives’em books and gives’em books but all they does is chews on the covers.”

It is interesting that he’s actually thinking that he’s got some work to do to turn this thing around. He’s thinking that maybe his fans should take some lessons in etiquette. “It is perfectly acceptable to *think* you are better than her supporters but it is impolite to mention it in a mixed audience.”

But if I were him, I wouldn’t ruin this teachable moment with an acceptance speech until the balloons drop in Denver. Not only is it arrogant, unwise and premature, it just isn’t “nice”.

Anglachel seems to think that Hillary could show Obama a thing or two about civility and unifying the party.  Don’t count on Donna Brazile or Howard Dean to take notice though.  *sigh*

And lest we forget how he rode to this presumption on a wave of media sexism that he never protested, take a look at this and keep it in mind for Tuesday night. Of course, women weren’t the only targets. Apparently working class and Appalachians are also targets for derision now. Yep, he’s covered me in three different areas. Nice.

What Should Superdelegate Al Gore Do?

Sunday: Sweeties

Courtesy of UpstateNY and LavenderLiberal.com, we present this handy pocket guide to Obamaniac behavior:

We believe they are oscillating between the blue and green sections right now. The thing is, many of us *aren’t* Democrats anymore, or should I say, Dean Democrats. We’re unaffiliated with the Dean Democratic party. But come Tuesday, they will be hard pressed to not jump to the yellow and red zones, which will undoubtably drive more of us to declare ourselves free of the childish Dean Democrats. Keep it up and the pie chart will shrink to approximately the size of a pinhead.

Clinton Cocktail Party: Free Milk and a Cow

Hey there all you newly “unaffiliated” voters out there and you Dems on the fence. Remember how it felt the other night when Senator Bob Casey said he’d heard that we were PO’d about Obama’s full on assault on the loyal Democratic base but that we’d all come around in November and vote for the Unity Pony? Well, Senator, lemme tell you a little story about free milk and a cow. We’re not stupid you know. We have something the Obama boyz want reaaaal bad. And it’s going to take more than sweet talk to get it. Oh, yeah, baby, baby, baby, we can keep this going for a long time but you’re not getting our votes until we get a weddin’ ring. You have to marry the old, uneducated, working class, sino-peruvian lesbians or you can just go home with Rosie. And here’s what we want in a pre-nuptual agreement (courtesy of FrenchDoc):

Sit Mi/FL
Now, on to the policy questions, because, as racist, bitter, old, low-info, etc… as we are, we actually care about substance:
– take privatization of SS off the table
– prosecution of the Bush crime clan
– promotion of women’s and LGBT’s rights
– progressive economic policies
– Universal health care
– repeal of no child left behind, no merit pay plan
– out of Iraq / no bombing of Pakistan
– reinstate habeas corpus
– commitment to appointing progressive judges on SCOTUS, no waffling
– commitment to repeal the partial birth abortion law, no waffling
– no telco immunity
Have I forgotten anything?

Oh yeah, stop abusing / insulting us… incredibly, it does not endear BO to us.

You can stop sending your friends over here with the “He really likes you, why don’t you give him a chance” stuff too. We’re not cheap or easy.
Anyways, we’ve found our sweetheart. She’s bona fide. She’s a keeper.

Welcome to the Clinton Cocktail Party. This is the time of the day when we relax, kick our shoes off and revel in our newfound freedom from the party. To the left of the bar is Rico, our bartender with flair. Incredibly, he’s not worn out from all these parties. Nope, he’s still going strong and really looking forward to Hillary kinking McCain’s ass in November. Tonight’s special is Sex with the Bartender. I know some of you ladies and gentlemen have been dreaming of just that for months now (but please don’t hit on him while he’s working). But you can order anything you like.

Tonight, we’re featuring a sing-a-long from the Georgia Satellites. All you gotta do is imagine the Democratic Party trying to reach into your pants to get your, um, vote. Just push them away and say, “Don’t hand me no lines and keep your hands to yourself”

Ladies and gents, we are a friendly crowd and everyone, no matter your persuasion, is welcome. And to keep the party fine and mellow, we have Florence, our lovely check room attendant who will be happy to keep your trigger words safe while you’re here. The waiters will be circulating shortly with oysters, mini truffle sandwiches and chocolate. Please drink responsibly and tip your wait staff generously.

The Map to Denver: It’s the Map, Not the Math

Prolog

Yesterday I had the honor of talking with Senator Hillary Clinton on a conference call of Hillary Bloggers. The invitation alone was an incredible honor but, I also got “my hand up” in time for me to ask a question. Taylor Marsh recorded the entire conversation and posted a link on her site. Someone at TalkLeft suggested that listening to this recording should be required for every Hillary supporter. After listening you will come away from the conversation uplifted by the fact that Hillary Clinton is in this race to win, that she has no intention of quiting before the convention and that she is totally and deeply committed to seeing that the Florida and Michigan Delegations are seated with full voting rights.

WWTSBQ? — not this summer.

It’s the Map, not the Math

The meat of the conversation is that Hillary sees a clear path to the nomination. She said that the campaign had “acknowledgment” that Hillary is ahead in the popular vote. And (she said) she expects to be ahead on the popular vote after the last primary on June 3rd.

In addition to that since our big win in West Virginia, she has won states totaling 300 electoral votes while Barack has won states with 217 electoral votes. AND she has far fewer deep red states in her list.

The Map includes Florida and Michigan

Again and again the conversation came back to the Florida and Michigan issue. She said that it was not only ironic but actually inexplicable that the Democratic Party would have a deeper commitment to rules than Democracy.

And it’s clear this issue resonates with Hillary Bloggers. Both Armando (Big Tent Democrat) and Allegre asked about it in their questions.  Armando has been openly worried about this issue for nearly a year; hearing him express that concern directly to The Candidate was one of the highlights of the conversation.  But Allegre nearly brought the house down when she told Hillary that she’ll be bringing her children to the May 31st DNC Rules meeting.  Allegre’s deep personal commitment is felt by all of us it wonderful to hear as she gave Hillary a direct illustration of how and why she is in this campaign.

Please, visit Taylor Marsh and listen for yourself.  I know that you’ll find yourself energized and empowered — and convinced that Hillary Clinton will win the Democratic Presidential Nomination.

Senator Ted Kennedy Suffers Stroke

From the Boston Globe:

May 17, 2008 11:41 AM
Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts has suffered a stroke in Hyannis Port and is being transported by helicopter to Massachusetts General Hospital, according to a leading poltical source.

Family members have been summoned to Boston, the source said.

The Confluence wishes Senator Kennedy a speedy recovery.