The Covenant They Made
By CRAIG DELLA PENNA on June 1, 2008 at 6:48 PM in Barack Obama, Current Affairs, DNC, Delegates, Democratic National Convention, Democrats, Hillary Clinton
Hmmm… let’s see if I understand this:
The Democratic Party is just sick of li’l ol Iowa and New Hampshire stealing the spotlight for all those months of pre-primary campaigning. After all, these puny states have only a relatively few delegates between them and their population is only tiny percentage of the Democratic voters.
So, the DNC decides that they’re gonna put a stop to this nonsense in 2008 and they’ve got just the hombre to do it Howard “YeeHaw” Dean. Dean, with the help of some other interested parties – Brazile, Dashielle, Pelosi, etc; Obama partisans all, curiously enough – come up with a plan. They’ll declare that no state Democratic Party can hold a primary/caucus before an arbitrary day in February. There! That’ll do it!, they thought, none of those states would dare to defy our orders.
“Surprise, surprise, surprise!” as Gomer Pyle used to say. It turned out that Iowa, New Hampshire and several other states thought that they might want to get in on the early bird spotlight and through a series of negotiations Michigan decided to represent these other states in a protest against the arbitrariness of the DNC rules committee… so to discourage these miscreants the DNC decided that they would allow Iowa and New Hampshire (who were going to do what they wanted anyway) to hold their primaries/caucuses as they wanted … but the DNC would add a couple of other states to the early draw to – what? – oh yeah, to balance the demographics… yeah, that makes sense, right?
They decided to add Nevada (WTF?) …
… which was a caucus state, mebbe that was it (?) and South Carolina as the primary state. Huh? What the heck is the logic about South Carolina? Oh wait… we really needed to let the african-american voters show their love – and did they ever.
Let’s pause a minute here to entertain a conspiracy theory: What if… Donna Brazile and a bunch of other Democrat loser, ebbing-craft, slipping-power, Pooh-Bahs (Dean, Pelosi, Reid, Kennedy, Dashielle, Kerry, etc, etc) had decided, after the Kerry debacle, that they wanted their very own sock-puppet to dangle just like Cheney-Rove had dangled GWB for six long years. Where would they find an idiot/naife ? Well, who better that the psychologically-damaged, conveniently mulatto, man-child, Obama? He of the stirring, though curiously content-free, speeches – this waif could be used with impunity, after all he had no provenance, no actual real world experience, no basis upon which to judge their proffers of ‘power’. How could he/they resist?
And they had learned their lesson well – the despicable lineage of Lee Atwater, Roger Ailes and Karl Rove had founded a new Madrasah. Willing acolyte David Axelrod and his ilk had studied well – and as well had studied the original craftsmen of deceit and dishonor: Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky, Beria, Gobbles, Mao and Goering.
How to deceive the rubes? How to convert the concupiscent? Why use the rule of opposites… if your client-puppet is a black racist: accuse his opponents of being white racists! If your opponent is a woman, let your representatives heap scorn and humiliation, make tawdry jokes, name her a bitch, call her a whore… if you have no policies, no program other than your own overweening pride; whatthehell, elide any questions, avoid any actual substantive debate, concentrate on your feelings, her personality, your cuteness, her reported stony façade. Emphasize her stiffness, her wonkiness, her ‘likeable enough’ quotient. After all that’s what’s really important here: you’re cute and she’s… old, really old…
Not to worry, thought the Democratic ‘leaders’, Obama’s legions of brain-dead zombies will carry us forward as far as we wish to go…
So, they formulated their plan and suborned the primary process through subversion of the votes, complicity with the cross-over Republican voters, intimidation in the caucuses, threats, intimidation of the delegates – all the classic Bolshevik/Rovian strategies – culminating in the blatant, naked takeover of the DNC rules committee which stole delegates from primary voters and awarded them to the hijackers.
The transparent, despicable posturing of the DNC in yesterday’s exercise in Marxist double-speak, was indicative of the direction the – now dead – Democratic Party wishes to go. This is no longer the party of labor, workers, citizens (vs business). This new radical leftist/fascist party is now a cult of personality, dedicated to the vapid, festered guidance of a single, pathological entity. Their every action dedicated to his consecration, their every thought consecrated to his ascension, their very will offered in sacrifice to his accretion of power.
Fanaticism, requires no prima facie, it asks no perception from its adherents, it abjures critical thought and strives to eliminate: questions, reflection, – thought itself. Fanaticism such as the New Obamaist Democrats want only your blind obedience, your thoughtless, mindless acquiescence to whatever the Obama high command generates as the thought for the day.
So, the “Democrats” had to rationalize their machinations (not for the benefit of the cadres – they don’t care how they win , so long as they win) but for the despised, but vitally necessary ‘bitter’ Democrats – the white-trash democrats, the Hillary supporters who they hated but who are absolutely necessary for the anticipated Bolshevik victory in November.
How to mollify, persuade – deceive – those stomach-churning, useful fools – the Hillary supporters? What about faking a proposal to – kinda, sorta – make believe that we support the (stupid) voters in Florida and Michigan? After all, we don’t have to really listen to these idiots, we just have to get them to sign on to the Obama Democratic Party for November, after that – who cares?
That’s the ‘secret’ plan surfacing in these troubled waters, revealed almost by accident in yesterday’s pageant. I watched the first 40 minutes of the charade and concluded, rightly as it turned out, that the fix was in and that the only thing they really had left to do was to fight for table space close to The Anointed One… and make sure to show the Clintons where the servants exit door was.
This was the covenant they made those many months ago, achieve the nomination by any means necessary: lie, cheat, steal, intimidate, suborn the vote, disenfranchise legitimate votes that don’t go your way. Bribe some delegates with puerile promises of influence and power, intimidate the ones you can’t bribe, threaten their careers, murmur sweet nothings in their ears about what might happen if they don’t acquiesce, comply… submit. This is the covenant they will live by going forward, anyone no longer useful will be thrown under the bus (I see The Anointed One’s church is no longer useful) or pushed back into the closet until white-trash relatives come to visit – they’ve pulled Joe Biden out of the closet and dusted him off to show that Obama knows how to spell ‘foreign policy’. The propaganda tsunami rolls on, the main stream press mouthpieces are stacked in maintenance mode until The Anointed One needs them to savage McCain. This is the covenant they seek to make for our future.
This will not stand. There will be repercussions. The contempt of the Obamaites for the rest of us and their blind assumption that we white-trash ‘bitter’ people will do what we’re told; that will be the rock upon which they founder.
As I read and communicate with others in the politically active community of the internet I have seen a new movement of the masses. More and more often I see and hear and read from people who have heretofore been silent, content to let the world of politics wend its way; confident that, in the end, the right choice would be obvious to all… no longer. They have seen the light at the end of this tunnel and they know it for the oncoming train it is. The Obama Party thinks they have the nomination/election wrapped up, they assume that all those old union members, white-trash ‘bitter’ people, creepy old people, frumpy housewives, low class, blue collar worker bees – will all come back to the fold (after all, where do they have to go?)
Not this time. Not for this vapid, senseless, stupid crew of thugs. They can stand in the smoking ruins of a party they chose to incinerate. They can reap the whirlwind of the viciousness and enmity they have sown. To paraphrase Shakespeare:
The Obama Party is but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets its hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
But we who remain and can think, may choose another path…
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I don’t know much about fascism, but I came from a communist country. In Russia and in Hungary the terror reign of communism started with fixed elections and than the people were bullied in line with the official opinion. Than came the spying on the citizens. (Bush has started that process for Obama.) You see, if we give up our freedom little by little, eventually we will be powerless.
From what I see, the Obama Party is a communist party. – You can call them Bolshevik Party. – They want to tell us exactly how to live, redistribute the goods (and the delegates), etc. Trust me. I know a communist when I see one.
My question is: who is financing him? Could it really be that the ordinary citizens send him enough money – or does he have some other sources? Soros comes in mind and possibly Oprah.
I was inadvertently tipped off early that the fix was in. Very early this year I learned my Representative, Betty McCollum, had endorsed Obama and I called her DC office to protest. I was vocal and the aid who answered wasn’t ready for me and got flustered. She said to me “this was supposed to be over by now”, “it wasn’t supposed to go on this long.” Right then and there I knew and told her so.
They thought they could pull this off and we would be none the wiser, and it seem my representative was in on it. And this aid to Betty McCullum who answers the phone in DC knew/knows what is going on.
So I agree with a commenter up stream, remember their names and vote them out.
They don’t care. The Obamanuts are unperturbed in their course and they will continue it regardless of how many votes they have to steal or how many SDs they have to strong arm. We are witnessing history. The total demise of the democratic party.
This is the thing that REALLY frosts my cupcakes. The DNC thinks we’re all stupid. They are SOOOOOO wrong.
Tell CNN what you think of their editorial decision to post that ridiculous picture of Hillary on their front page. They’re so low.
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/dotcom
That was a terrible picture and I did complain.
EITHER THE HILLARY EXPRESS OR THE STRAIGHT TALK EXPRESS NO OBAMAEXPRESS
Don’t comment to them. Tell their sponsors!
This is a wonderful article to bad I think thats what happened? This is why I think its going to be a bad idea for Hillary to stay in this party. This is not the party for me and not only are they stupid they think the Americans are stupid as well. Well Americans are no more going to fall for that one again as Bush is so unpopular and they are not going to care about the Party of the mindless wonder no matter how you market him. Why is he not defeating her soundly when he should be since he is the presumtive nominiee which is pure crap anyway.
ITS EITHER THE HILLARY EXPRESS OR THE STRAIGHT TALK EXPRESS NOOBAMA EXPRESS FOR ME
Wow and Wow! You have named their game quite concisely. The fight that has been engaged is no longer about individual character or “electability” . It is about this – who do we as Democrats- in the legacy of Jefferson and Jackson-say that we are? what are the principles we are willing to fight for? and what is at stake for our nation if the needs and hopes of the greatest number of its citizens continue to be completely ignored (worse, dismissed). Pax Obama is not unity.
These words could turn out to be prophetic.
Well said Craig! The fix was in!
Vote McCain this time if Hillary isn’t at the top of the ticket and how about an Egalitarian Party with the eagle for a symbol?
Riverdaughter has written an article on her blog entitled “The PUMA un-Party Is Born”, PUMA for Party Unity My Ass. I like the sound of that.
I guess CNN heard enough from me and many others. They changed the picture to something more appropriate.
Great Analysis!
And you are so right-people who used to look lightly at politics are NOW fully engaged.
I agree with every you word you say here. I certainly will not vote for Obama for POTUS and would not vote for him for dogcatcher.
But what about Hillary? It seems the DNC gave her every excuse not to support Obama if he is nominated. The process has not been legitimate. But if she is true to the tone of her campaign, she will try to respond in a positive way. A new party, an independent run for the Presidency, campaigning for true populist congressional candidates? Whatever…I don’t see how she can endorse Obama. I hope she doesn’t. What I really hope is that the whole picture will change in the next 24 hrs.
Also, this Obama candidacy seems as much to be an anti-Clinton candidacy. Why? Who knows the answer to that question? I have been very impressed by Hillary’s campaign and have become a stronger supporter as each day goes by. What problem do so many in the Democratic leadership have with the Clintons? Whatever it is, I would say it is self-defeating to put it mildly.
I think she’ll keep her promise to support the Dem nominee. Too bad. But maybe in the intervening years – provided she doesn’t get the nod – they will be willing able to form a proper third party.
The thing they have against Bill Clinton and now Hillary is that they are very very talented politicians who are authentic and they know how to win and how to govern. I haven’t seen any of that from any Democrat except the Clintons in some very long time. Sometimes it turns out that competency is a real insult to a stupid bumbling incompetent who is so self-deluded he cannot campaign and cannot lead (Kerry, Gore, Kennedy, Pelosi, Reid, Daschle etc.) The incompetency is mind-boggling – simply mind boggling but then it is quite possible that none of them ever set out to BE competent.
Great Write Craig.
Your analysis nails it.
I have to tell you that I will not vote for Obama. That being said I now also hate the Democratic Party. No not all Democrats the party. If the Superdelegates cannot save this party from itself and nominate Hillary this party is dead (to me). I will begin voting in protest against the party that has harmed me and my vote so badly.
I am grateful for your article… it has finely articulated what has been in my mind for some time. And it is this kind of message that may have the energy to move Hillary and Bill into creating a third party. It simply must be done. I realize the momentousness of this undertaking however but find myself behind her any way she chooses to do it.
It simply must be done.
CRAIG DELLA PENNA
I agree with your view here.
I was also thinking how folks like Tom Hartman were saying starting last year “we need to co-opt the democratic party”.
He was speaking to the “redactical left”.
They will be redacted.
I keep saying we need to make a concerted effort to purge the party of this marxist/fascist trash.
Keep a list of names and when elections or re-elections come up remind ALL our friends and acquiantances of who they are and what they’ve done to assault our democracy.
Anything worth having is worth fighting for. I will continue to fight for Hillary and although I may leave the party if the nom is stolen from her I will fight as best as I can in my state to keep the rats from holding office and I urge all of you to do the same.
We can do it. But we have to be committed and patient. The fascist/marxist trash did not hijack our party overnight…they did it stealthily over a period of time. We too will have to be patient but gradually we WILL expose clean out the trash!
I said the fix was in last Jan when i found out the other 3 states were not punished.
Rule 11.A. of the Delegate Selection Rules for the 2008 Democratic National Convention states the following:
11. TIMING OF THE DELEGATE SELECTION PROCESS
A. No meetings, caucuses, conventions or primaries which constitute the first determining stage in the presidential nomination process (the date of the primary in primary states, and the date of the first tier caucus in caucus states) may be held prior to the first Tuesday in February or after the second Tuesday in June in the calendar year of the national convention. Provided, however, that the Iowa precinct caucuses may be held no earlier than 22 days before the first Tuesday in February; that the Nevada first-tier caucuses may be held no earlier than 17 days before the first Tuesday in February; that the New Hampshire primary may be held no earlier than 14 days before the first Tuesday in February; and that the South Carolina primary may be held no earlier than 7 days before the first Tuesday in February. In no instance may a state which scheduled delegate selection procedures on or between the first Tuesday in February and the second Tuesday in June 1984 move out of compliance with the provisions of this rule.
We already know that Florida and Michigan violated Rule 11.A. by moving their primaries to a date before the first Tuesday in February. There is no argument there, but what about Iowa, New Hampshire, and yes, South Carolina too.
Rule 11.A specifically set the date for the primaries & caucuses for those three states as “no earlier than 22 days before the first Tuesday in February” (Iowa), “no earlier than 14 days before the first Tuesday in February” (New Hampshire), and “no earlier than 7 days before the first Tuesday in February” (South Carolina).
Iowa held their caucuses on January 3rd. That’s more than 22 days before the first Tuesday in February. New Hampshire held their primary on January 8th. That’s more than 17 days before the first Tuesday in February. And South Carolina held their primary on January 26th. That’s more than 7 days before the first Tuesday in February.
Under Rule 11.A., five states were in violation of the Democratic National Committee’s Delegate Selection Rules, and as such, all five states should have been punished under Rule 20.C.1.a.
Violation of timing: In the event the Delegate Selection Plan of a state party provides or permits a meeting, caucus, convention or primary which constitutes the first determining stage in the presidential nominating process to be held prior to or after the dates for the state as provided in Rule 11 of these rules, or in the event a state holds such a meeting, caucus, convention or primary prior to or after such dates, the number of pledged delegates elected in each category allocated to the state pursuant to the Call for the National Convention shall be reduced by fifty (50%) percent, and the number of alternates shall also be reduced by fifty (50%) percent. In addition, none of the members of the Democratic National Committee and no other unpledged delegate allocated pursuant to Rule 8.A. from that state shall be permitted to vote as members of the state’s delegation. In determining the actual number of delegates or alternates by which the state’s delegation is to be reduced, any fraction below .5 shall be rounded down to the nearest whole number, and any fraction of .5 or greater shall be rounded up to the next nearest whole number.
Yes, you read that right; under Rule 20.C.1.a., Florida, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, and South Carolina would have all lost their super delegates and had their pledged delegates reduced by half since they all violated Rule 11.A.
However, Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina weren’t punished fairly. In fact, they weren’t punished at all.
And what about Florida & Michigan?
Well, we all know what happened to them.
Instead of strictly adhering to Rule 20.C.1.a. and reducing their pledged delegates by 50%, the DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee decided to take it a step further. The DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee exercised the authority granted to them by Rules 20.C.5. and 20.C.6. which allowed them to “impose sanctions the Committee deems appropriate.” And what were those sanctions the Committee deemed appropriate? Stripping two of the largest states in the union of all their votes at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
Ladies & Gentlemen, this is what happens when the rules aren’t applied equally and fairly. And as I said before, this mess is a result of the DNC Rules & Bylaws Committee not applying the rules equally and fairly.
So, the next time someone starts talking about the rules, might I suggest two courses of action:
1.) Read the damn rules first!
-and-
2.) Let them know that the rules were bent to allow for Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina to keep their preferred first-in-the-nation status.
Came across this a few minutes ago.
Thought I’d share, given the ironic
events in recent months.
“Rules are not necessarily sacred,
principles are.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
There’s no small irony in that it’s an FDR quote.
This is what kills me. I totally agree with Howard Dean’s goals and ideas. I think the 50 state strategy is a good idea for building the party. I think balancing out Iowa and New Hampshire with a couple more diverse states would help open up the process. The only problem is that they tried to accomplish too much too fast and definitely with the wrong candidate.
What’s worse is that I use to consider myself a real lefty. If Dennis Koucinich stood a chance he’d be my candidate. Only difference is I eat meat. It makes me crazy that people think that Obama is liberal. He’s just another corporate shill and his policies will screw the working class.
I wish I could agree except that the first place that I read about this suggested that Dean’s strategy was with Obama in mind and Dean began orchestrating it as early as when he left the race in 2004. And that Kerry’s been in on Obama’s rise as well.
NO! This was not an altruistic plan. It was designed to STOP THE CLINTONS! It’s never been about a 50 state plan. If it was why not have a National Primary along with an intense pre-campaign period? That would make all states equal with everyone weighing in at the same time.
I am not compatible with these people. They have an agenda and it’s not in my best interest. If this is simply about politics as usual, then Hillary was the superior candidate this time out. She’s smarter, tougher and more experienced. And her minuses are not as bad as Obama’s. And, contrary to what the Obama campaign has tried to prove, she’s not a racist.
I can’t be in a Party with stupid people who have the audacity to look down their noses at the rest of us as if we’re stupid. They can take their ivy league educations and shove it. I’m smarter than them. If I have to put up with that crap I might as well be a Republican. I wouldn’t respect myself, but I’d probably have more money.
I despise Howard Dean. And I think Donna Brazile is dumb as is Pelosi, who sent a Bill she was trying to sneak passed the Republicans up to the WH on the wrong paper last week and it had to be sent back so that now the Repubs will get to vote on it, LOL! All of them are gigantic assholes and I intend to do my part to humiliate them come Nov.
And to be clear: I’m going to be patient about, enjoying the summer and wait for the shit hit the fan.
This going to be so much fun!!!
Everyday that goes by and I hear more and more about this man it scares me so much. The people he associates with his church. After watching that Fr.Pfleger I have to wonder what theese people really think about us and that is what scares me the most. Even if the vidio of Michelle comes out will people see them for what they are so far they haven’t.
The only support she should give Obama for his nasty, race baiting campaign is just agree to slap a sticker on her car reading: Obama 08. She can wash it off right after he loses big time in November yet claim her support was right there all along.
He deserves nothing from us lifetime Dems who have carried this party and supported it through those years we had to defend Kerry, Dukakis, Mondale, and the like as the presidential choices.
[...] the (*&% did we get here? Craig Della Penna at No Quarter gives a rundown of the power play. In the end, the committee’s decision awarded Florida [...]