RSS Feed for This PostCurrent Article

Alice and Don, Buy a Clue

By Larry Johnson on July 19, 2008 at 6:30 PM in Current Affairs

Too bad the latest letter from two top Democratic National Committee officials is not an imaginary missive from a Hollywood comedy. Under those circumstances the bullshit spewed by Don Fowler and Alice Germond might be funny. But they are dead serious in writing the following:

It is time for all Democrats, supporters of Senator Clinton and all other contenders for the nomination, to stand with him to secure his election and the election of Democrats at all levels of competition.

I must confess a bit of fatigue and irritation with people who continue to carp, complain, and criticize the results of the primary and lay down conditions for their support. The Los Angeles Lakers didn’t establish conditions to recognize the Boston Celtics as NBA Champions; Roger Federer did not demand concessions before recognizing that Rafael Nadal defeated him at Wimbledon.

It is time to act in a mature and resourceful fashion. It’s time to put the primaries behind us. It’s time to support Barack Obama without conditions or demands.

Don, Alice, you guys obviously don’t get out much and certainly do not know anything about sports. The competition between the Lakers and Celtics in basketball and Federer and Nadal in tennis involved keeping tabs of the score.
They actually earned their victories. They had to score the points. They did not get the title awarded to them by Super Delegates. So cut the horseshit!

Here are the facts. Hillary won more delegates in elections than did Barack. Barack won more delegates in caucuses–events that are not Democratic because only a small fraction of eligible voters can participate in them. Neither Hillary nor Barack won enough delegates to secure the nomination. Both had to look to the Super Delegates to put them over the top.

So stop kidding yourself and pushing the ridiculous notion that Barack “won” in the same sense that a championship team, thru its own effort, earns a trophy. Barack got a gift.

Our beef is that when it comes to a general election, Hillary, who actually won more votes in real elections than Barack, is a much better candidate and has a much better chance of beating McCain. Just because you two clowns want to close your eyes and believe in Barack’s “Yes we can nonsense,” well, that is your right.

But you have no right to insult or disparage those of us who believe Barack is a lightweight, an empty suit, and an old style Chicago politician who has gotten ahead by hanging out with corrupt businessmen and other unsavory characters. Sorry, but that’s the kind of change I am not willing to believe or accept.