Over Engineering the 2008 Democratic Nomination

Hey, can we stop trying to manipulate this process and let people vote for crying out loud? So what if we don't know who the candidate is until the convention. Big deal. We will find out then. This will not be the first time that's happened and I hope it won't be the last.

As for Florida, since when does a Republican majority in the state government get to dictate to the Dems when to have their Primary? As my ex-husband used to say "Who's f*$ing this monkey?"

I have only twice, since this whole stink began, heard anybody on the news mention why Florida's votes are being discounted. Oh they always say it's because Florida broke the rules and held their primary too early, but NOBODY ever says who was responsible for it.

WAKE UP PEOPLE! The early date for the Florida Democratic Primary was not a decision made by Democrats, it was the result an overwhelming majority of Republicans in the Florida state legislature that forced the Democratic Primary to take place prior to February. And that is what caused Florida to be disqualified. Yes, Democrats also voted for the bill that moved the Primary up, but that's because it was part of a bill that included a much needed requirement to FINALLY require a voting paper trail in future elections. Any Democrat who refused to vote for that would have been tarred and feathered, metaphorically speaking. Bottom line: inappropriately bundled legislation and Republican bullying are at the root of the current problem in Florida.

Knowing this, why doesn't the DNC revoke the ruling that disqualified Florida and allow their votes to count? Because as always, it's not about letting people vote, it's about politicos manipulating others in order to influence the end result.

For the first time in history, we have the technical capability to live by the rule of Democracy. We can create a system in which there is a single vote per person and have it be accurate, not a representative (by delegates or the electoral college) vote, or a hypothetical, based on sampling. But do we attempt that lofty goal? NO. We piss away our time and energy trying to outsmart, outspend and outmaneuver each other. I thought this was a Democracy of the people, for the people, by the people. Obviously, I was wrong.

Fear and loathing in Washington

I watched Barrack Obama in horror the other night as he denounced the Reverend Wright, yet again. How many times is he going to do this? And why does this continue to come up? Are the American people so incapable of handling a difference of opinion that we are now resorting to McCarthy era standards of guilt by association?

I watched the controversial Reverand Wright's speeches several times and heard nothing that either surprised or upset me. Of course black people are angry. They were brought to this country by force and under horrific conditions; sold into slavery; abused and neglected and then "freed" into a society that discriminated against them and used them as a scapegoat for all the societal troubles that ail us. I'd be angry too. In fact, not to be angry under such conditions would indicate a lack of humanity.

If we refuse to allow people to articulate feelings of anger and frustration we perpetuate the kind of societal dysfunction that only leads to more anger and frustration. What's more, if we punish those who associate with people whose ideas are not completely in line with our own, we are practicing intolerance to a frightening degree. Is this what American is all about? What happened to freedom of speech? Where is our tolerance? What about honesty?

And why is our time being spent focused on name calling instead of problem solving? Frankly, I think it's laziness. It's the easy story. It does not require spending time and energy to find out what's really going on. Nobody has to research the actual state of our economy, our disastrous health care system or our failing educational institutions to come up with a story. All the media has to do is continually revisit the tape of the Reverand Wright saying "God damn America" and they've got their topic for the day. I don't think anybody but Obama's enemies and the media care one iota about the Reverand Wright. It's his opponent, Hillary Clinton, his potential opponent, John McCain and the lazy media that continue to make this the focus of the Obama campaign.

But perhaps the worst of it all is that Obama played right into it. Instead of saying "shame on you" for making this the issue of the day, he continues to take the bait. Now he's on the road again, once more denouncing the Reverand Wright. His latest ruse is to say that the man he knew is not the man Wright now appears to be. Well, that's a sell out if I ever heard one. How about taking the high road and saying that despite their differences of opinion, he respects the Reverend's right to speak his mind, just as he expects to be respected for doing the same? How about telling us that he will not be a President who lets the media run his affairs? How about reminding us how important it is to tell the truth, even when it's painful? How about acting, dare I say it, Presidential?

I am afraid Obama is going the way of Clinton. Instead of raising the rest of us up, which was my original hope for him, he now appears to be wallowing in the muck with everybody else. His fear of reprisal is controlling his behavior. And when fear controls, fear wins.

I remember the saying "There is nothing to fear, but fear itself." Apparently, it's true. I thought Obama knew that. I guess I was wrong.