WP, pg1: Democrats Come Together To Tear Their Party in Half ("food fight")

[DeepModem Mom]

Democrats Come Together To Tear Their Party in Half
By Dana Milbank
Sunday, June 1, 2008; A01

Leave it to the Democrats to make a hash of democracy. When the Democratic Party's Rules and Bylaws Committee met at the Marriott in Woodley Park yesterday to decide what to do with the contested primary results in Florida and Michigan, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean kicked off the session by suggesting they avoid a "food fight."

Good luck with that....

***

"I'm reminded," said witness Jim Blanchard, the former governor of Michigan, "of the old Will Rogers adage, which was: 'I belong to no organized party. I'm a Democrat.'"...

The lack of decorum in the hall was barely elevated from that on the sidewalk outside the hotel, where several hundred Hillary Clinton supporters chanted "Count every vote!" and waved signs announcing "Count my vote or count me out." A smaller number of Barack Obama supporters kept their distance. One woman, passing by a 4-year-old girl and her mother carrying pro-Clinton signs, shouted at them: "Cheater!"

The chaos and vitriol seemed to confirm Democrats' fears that they might blow an election that should otherwise be an easy victory for them. Nor did the compromise fit well with the Democrats' oft-voiced commitment to voting rights. They decided they would give Florida and Michigan half of their voting rights -- one of the more arbitrary compromises since the 1787 decision that a slave should count as three-fifths of a person -- and voted to award Obama 59 Michigan delegates, each with half a vote, even though his name wasn't even on the ballot in the state....

***

Over disruptive cheering, the committee voted 15 to 12 against a proposal to give Florida full voting representation. Clinton supporters in the audience erupted in a chant of "Denver! Denver!" -- a threat to take the fight to the convention in August. That was followed by a unanimous vote to give Florida half of its voting rights. The audience again erupted in heckling. "Lipstick on a pig!" somebody shouted. "Please conduct yourselves like proper men and women," committee member Alice Huffman suggested.

Not a chance. The panel went on, by a vote of 19 to 8, to give Michigan half of its votes -- and to give Obama the gift of delegates that the voters of the state had not given him. Ickes was enraged. "I am stunned that we have the gall and the chutzpah to substitute our judgment for 600,000 voters," he told his peers. "Was the process flawed? You bet your ass that it was flawed. . . . You bet your ass a lot of people didn't vote." Ickes accused the committee of "hijacking" delegates -- "not a good way to start down the path of party unity."

In the anarchic audience, fists pumped and cheers broke out, requiring the committee to call for security to calm the ruckus.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/31/AR2008053102354_pf.html

[joeybee12]

1. Great Will Rogers quote...

...that's all I gotta say. For the most part.

[Trajan]

2. What a pitiful display of egoistic self interest ....

And I am talking about the supporters of BOTH camps ....

Hell .... This committee is simply a result of the self engrossed smuggery that has so far lead to this debacle .... It reflects the 'ME AND ONLY ME" attitude displayed by Clinton AND Obama supporters ....

A pox on BOTH your houses ....

Maybe I .... a LONG time supporter of BOTH candidates, should skip the election altogether and let you smug, ego driven asses live with the consequences of your disastrous 'ME ONLY' path ...

I am thinking: to hell with ALL of you .....

[DeepModem Mom]

3. What an unusual, and, to me, refreshing reply!

What gave us Dems the idea that we had the luxury to fight among ourselves with such vitriol during this primary, endangering our good chance to finally vacate the GOP from the White House? Shame on us!

[Trajan]

4. I have always had respect for you ....

Especially after Khephra left us : You had taken up his baton in LBN and consistently provided up to date news stories that fill in the many details we need to find truth in this crazy world ....

That being said: You have yourself participated in partisan sniping against supporters of the candidate you do not prefer ..... This has NOT been a path I would ever take, and we can now clearly see how ineffective this method of partisan political 'support' has been in developing a strong, universal candidate to which party members can embrace UNIVERSALLY .... Every day brings yet another level of intraparty ugliness .... EVERY day another sign of discontent and hatred ....

Why the fuck should I, a life long DEMOCRAT who has NEVER wished ill on ANY candidate or supporter, be happy when the self interested supporters of BOTH camps drag two halves of the party away from unity, all so THEY can have it ONLY their way ?

I mean ... WTF ? .... There isn't a GNAT hair's difference between the policies of both candidates, yet the supporters would have us think one or the other is some sort of dark and evil monster ...

I want a DEMOCRAT in the White House .... Either of our FINE WONDERFUL candidates would be an EXCELLENT choice for President ....

Yet the nitpicking and ugly sniping on BOTH sides has cast a divide of which I did NOT participate in causing, and of which I despise as the product of ego in both camps ....

That ego is displayed here, and nearly every other post reflects a disdain and hatred of one of the candidates .... Frankly, I am sick of it .... It reminds me of a high school football game, where the players of both teams show excellent sportsmanship and athletic prowess in their game, but which is ruined when fans of both teams storm the field, dig up the sod, break all the windows, punch the referees and umpires and light fire to the stadium ....

Why the F*** would I want to be at that game ?

This is fucking insane ... And I am REALLY tired of it ....

[DeepModem Mom]

6. With respect, please give me an example of partisan sniping on my part.

I do little more than peek at GDP, and, most often, post articles in other forums with no comment. I'm, in fact, an Obama supporter but have had tremendous sympathy for Clinton and her supporters both here and in the larger context of this campaign. To my knowledge, I've never engaged in criticism of either the Senator or her supporters.

[democracy1st]

7. Get off your high horse in case you haven't noticed the whole world is what you hate

you can't name one example where everyone agrees,it's always going to be a tug of war

[KSinTX]

8. As a serious Democrat, I must ask you this, Trajan

Why would the actions of *supporters* impact your own support of any candidate? You sound like a reasonable, high-information voter who has an interest in the issues. That you are exposed to egotism among supporters is because you choose to read that vitriol. There are so very many forums and positive message outlets besides GD: Primaries that I cannot understand 1) how you could possibly take what is said on an anonymous message board to heart, but 2) more importantly, how you could amalgamate this in any way into an issue-based impression of either candidate.

I remain incredulous at the number of people who claim to be able to cite chapter and verse the position of either candidate, yet allow that to somehow be overshadowed by the voices of the unknown mass here or, for that matter, anywhere in cyberspace. I'm sorry but Marine Sgt. Merlin German didn't die on DU, Rebecca De Zavala of my home town didn't lose her home to foreclosure here either. The chattering voices here neither colluded to manipulate oil prices nor deregulated oversight of those corporate interests.

No serious Democrat would package those realities into the mindlessness of rabid thoughts posted on a message board. Or, even more stunningly, conflate those into the very serious business that the candidates are undergoing as they seek support in their bid to run this country. It just amazes me.

[kestrel91316]

5. The upper echelon of the Democratic party is, sadly, packed with

alleged Democrats whose marching orders are to start and sustain food fights and create as much divisiveness as possible to ensure that the fascists remain in power.

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