Hi, guys! A lot has happened today and where better to discuss it than a cocktail party? Tonight, we’ll be raising funds for the PUMA headquarters in Denver but you can buy a causmo for Hillary too. Join me on Conflucians Say, a special broadcast of NO WE WON’T at 8:30PM EST on blogtalkradio.
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******** For those of you who want to follow along here: Welcome to the Cocktail Party at The Scratching Post. We are the hosts of Conflucians Say. Tonight we are having a fundraiser for PUMAPac to cover the costs of the PUMA Headquarters and Media Center in Denver. Causmos are $10.00 but if you’ve got more or less, give what you can. You can buy your Causmo here.
Our bartender, Rico, is to the left of the door. He’s got a special drink tonight that is perfect for the season. It’s a Tomato Water Bloody Mary. Sounds delicious. But you can order anything you want.
Our musical selection is an oldy but goody from George and Ira Gershwin. This song is sparkling and fortells a streak of good luck for our Lady. It’s sparking and fortells good luck. But don’t forget, “Luck favors the prepared mind”
We welcome everyone to our parties, including new PUMAs and non PUMAs. But we like to keep the place classy so please check your trigger words at the door with Florence our lovely checkroom attendent. The waiters will be circulating soon with Hawaiian Tuna Tartare with Haas Avocado and Spicy Asian Vinaigrette, Piggy back dates and summer vegetable crudites with Cilantro lime yogurt dip. Please drink responsibly and tip your wait staff generously.
WASHINGTON – Hillary Rodham Clinton’s name will be placed in nomination along with nominee-in-waiting Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention, an emblematic move intended to unite the party after a divisive primary.
During the Denver gathering, Democrats will officially choose Obama to run against Republican John McCain this fall, but the state delegations will do a traditional roll call for their nominee’s vanquished primary opponent as well.
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While Democrats say the mechanics of how that will play out still are being determined, Clinton — herself a superdelegate who gets a vote — is expected to release her delegates to Obama, announce her support for him and ask her backers to do the same.
So the “emblematic” move for the “vanquished” opponent is still expected to “release” her delegates, in a “move intended to unite the party?” How is that Democracy in action? Is that the type of “Unity” that the Neo-Republicanized DNC is pushing? I say M_Fing ditto with whipped cream and a cherry on top to what Riverdaughter said here:
F**k Unity! We’ll have unity after Howard Dean tells the Obama crew to back off the threats and intimidation of the delegates. We’ll have unity when Hillary’s name is put in nomination with no conditions. We’ll have unity when all of the superdelegates hear us say that Obama will lose if this convention is not fair, transparent and open. We’ll have unity when they take their responsibilities to their voters seriously. We’ll have unity when all the speeches and arguments are heard for *both* candidates and the roll call proceeds without twisted arms and ruined lives. Then, when we know who the real People’s Choice is, we’ll have Unity. Until then, we got nothing.
Why is the DNC asking the candidate who has the popular vote lead, who demographically and geographically has the widest voter spread and has the greatest chances of defeating John McCain in November asked to release her delegates after her speech? Well guess what, DNC, I want my Floridian 1/2 vote counted, and until the Credentials meeting on Aug 24, it’s still a 1/2 vote. I want my Florida delegates to argue and discuss and VOTE on the roll call and on the Nomination Ballot according to Democratic Convention traditions. But if the Neo-Republicanized DNC wants to twist Democracy out of the hands of its voters by not allowing Senator Clinton to have her delegates vote for her on a NOMINATION BALLOT as well as the traditional roll call, there will be no Democrat in the White House this November. Not because we’re bitter holdouts, but because you silenced our voices and our votes to push ahead an illegitimate candidate that you chose to scoot across the finish line by stealing 4 delegates and 600,000 “uncommitted” votes, thus breaking the DNC charter rule of Fair Reflection at the RBC meeting on May 31st, 2008.
How can the DNC demand Democracy in November for the General Election, yet won’t allow it in August among members of its own party? A traditional phrase says that “respect must be given in order for it to be attained.” I say the same goes for Democracy.
Despite the DNC stealing and appropriating Clinton delegates just so the DNC can cushion their selected-and-not-elected presumptive candidate’s delegate pile, they still can’t risk the chance that pledged delegates and superdelegates having Obama buyer’s remorse. And as a result of it, Democracy itself is collateral damage just because the Neo-Republicanized DNC suffers from Clenis envy and CDS.
Harold Ickes, PLEASE live up to your word! We want a floor fight!
If anyone tuned into NO WE WON’T yesterday, you may recall that Diane Mantavoulous and I talked about the exact number of delegates that separate Clinton and Obama if Florida and Michigan were included and counted properly. A couple of months ago, I speculated it was less than 100. Diane says Heidi Li Feldman thinks it is more like 59. If that is correct, it goes a long way towards explaining the actions of the RBC members and why the DNC is so desperate to keep her off the nominating ballot today.
59 delegates.
It might even be less than that if the Texas caucus delegates were challenged. Or how about those Nevada caucus delegates of Hillary’s that were poached by Obama? We know that all across the country, Obama picked up delegates through less than transparent and underhanded means. Some of them were Hillary’s *pledged* delegates.
But what’s even more interesting is that in spite of the fact that Obama sent the letter to the Credentials Committee asking that Florida and Michigan be restored to full voting strength, and the media slavishly reported that letter, the Committee has yet to act on the letter’s request because at their July 21 meeting because they were unable to fill a quorum. (or so we’ve heard from 2 unconfirmed sources) In a year when the nomination hinges on the restoration of Florida and Michigan, what POSSIBLE reason could there be for not getting it done toot sweet as soon as the letter was received? Hmmm, think, think, think. I know! If they’re restored and there are less than 100 delegates between them, the numbers for qualifying as the presumptive nominee change! That means the media can stop call him the second imminent coming of Christ himself. He can take his audacity and shove it up his, er, this is a family blog, so I won’t go there but you get the picture.
Yeah, Barack Obama is going to ride the presumptive nominee gravy train right up to the day before the convention. He is definitely following the George W. Bush model of pretending he has a mandate to throw his weight around and take over the party and no one’s going to get in his face or they’ll be run over by his machine.
What I can’t understand is why Hillary stalwarts like Ed Rendell are going along with this. It’s less than 100 delegates. The logic completely escapes me. There is every reason in the world for Hillary to challenge Obama. For DAMN sure she deserves her name on the ballot as a legitimate nominee. The fact that the party is so determined to sit on her 18 million voters when Obama has less than an eyelash of legitimacy to the claim of presumptive nominee is more than just brash and nervy. It’s thuggish behavior of the nth degree and we aren’t putting up with that. Obama either faces us now or he will face us in November. If he waits, we’ll thuggishly defeat him with our brutal votes. There are more of us than there are of the Obama henchmen.
And check this out: Heidi Li has a letter from an Obama delegate team leader who wants Hillary delegates to fill out a web survey with some damn personal questions on it, like, what is your religious affiliation (can they ask that?). If the delegate doesn’t turn in the survey, they get called out at the next conference call. Not only would the Obama campaign have their personal information, it could harrass those delegates from now until the convention.
The Confluence 