Big Laugh

I had to chuckle at the whole Michigan/Florida delegates issue. I just knew the DNC would fail to do the right thing. It seems the Democrats have a nasty habit of not doing the right thing, or doing the right thing for—you guessed it—the wrong reason. To wit, today’s decision by the DNC rules committee about what to do with the delegates from the two states who chose not to follow the DNC’s rules, namely the rule that says you can’t hold your state’s primary before a certain date or else your delegates won’t be seated at the DNC convention. Of course, not having delegates seated at a national party’s convention means those citizens in those states who cast ballots to participate in choosing a candidate for the general election will not have a voice after all.

So, what did the rules committee come up with today—a compromise? WOW! Not a compromise you could be proud of, in fact, if that was what it really was. Some may argue that it was a ruling not to make a decisive ruling, but the fact that these fools decided to seat any delegates at all is laughable. You can’t allow clearly defined rules at this level to be broken and then relent under any circumstance. These states broke the rules, they are not our children, it is a kin to law these rules they broke; these rules are serious business and cannot be changed on the whim of something that looks like parental latitude!

With stuff like this it’s cut and dried, it is so or it is not so, isn’t it? Hell, you can’t even write in the rules a clause that suggests the rules may be changed to accommodate extenuating circumstances, which is what this is. No one thought the delegate count would be this close. Unfortunately, by the Democratic Party’s own past behavior, wanting every vote to count, they have backed themselves into a corner. “We have to make every vote count, but we can’t allow states to break the rules at the same time.” Hmmm, but, alas, that’s how the DNC rules committee voted: seat all the delegates but only give them half a vote each. Wait a minute, half? There must have been a hanging chad or two in there somewhere.

I loved this:

“Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, opened the [rules] meeting by urging party activists who filled the hotel ballroom to think beyond the immediate concerns of their chosen candidates and begin working for the benefit of the party in the general election.”

“’This is not about Barack Obama. This is not about Hillary Clinton. This is about our country,’ Mr. Dean said. ‘This is about restoring America to its greatness, to restoring our moral authority and to healing America at home. That’s what this is about.’”

The New York Times
Democrats Approve Deal on Michigan and Florida
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE and JEFF ZELENY
Published: June 1, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/us/politics/01rules.html?partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss

Oh, I can hear McCain now at the first general debate just slamming the Democratic Party, and their nominee, for not having the guts to follow their own rules.

“How could we imagine a President, who got into office, in part, by their party breaking their own rules? We can’t have a President who doesn’t play by the rules. A President who pledges under oath to follow a rule and then seeks to re-write the rule to cover his or her misjudgment or mistake is incorrigible and downright unethical. Certainly his or her sin to cover his or her transgression would so deeply offend us as a nation we couldn’t bear to sit idly by.”

“Quite frankly, Mr. Moderator, as a citizen of this great and free land, I’m shocked to see the Democratic Party treating rules, their own rules, with such frivolity. If their candidate can’t become the nominee without changing the rules how can an elected President from their party function without the temptation to behave the same way in office?”

“In contrast, let me tell you what the Republican Party stands for, we stand unified in the defense of ethical fairness to all people under any set of circumstances, and we stand unified in the protection of basic moral thought and tradition in the face of any threat. This is what I believe American’s value most. We value our rules, our laws, and hold them most sacred. We do not change them to accommodate just anyone or any group who feels or claims they are just plain un-fair.”

“If you want a picture of perhaps why the United States is losing status as a “moral authority” in the world, we may well turn to the page that describes some of the fringe thoughts and values of the Democratic Party….”

Okay, well maybe I had him overreaching just a tad. Good thing I’m not running for President, but if I was, and I was one of the Democratic candidates, I’d be ducking my head in shame and embarrassment right now.

Oh, yeah. I forgot to SCREAM with excitement for Howard Dean—what a ding-a-ling.