Last Wednesday, Clinton described the Democrats’ long-standing reluctance to seat the Florida and Michigan delegations in their entirety, a reluctance that she shared back when she saw her nomination as inevitable, in these words: “We’re seeing that right now in Zimbabwe.” In a speech in Florida, she invoked the Declaration of Independence, “the consent of the governed,” the abolition of slavery, “our most fundamental values,” the 1848 Seneca Falls women’s-suffrage convention, the sacrifice of soldiers, the tear gas at Selma, “equal justice under the law,” and the Voting Rights Act.
Seneca Falls? Selma? Zimbabwe? Wait. There's a better comparison...
Worse, she invaded the Democratic sacristy, picked up the chalice, and flourished it like a club, saying that "right here in Florida, you learned the hard way what happens when your votes aren’t counted and the candidate with fewer votes is declared the winner. The lesson of 2000 here in Florida is crystal clear. If any votes aren’t counted, the will of the people is not realized and our democracy is diminished.
That's it! Not Florida now. Florida eight years ago!
"Well, that depends on what the meaning of “count” is, doesn’t it? Florida’s (and Michigan’s) votes in January’s rogue primaries were indeed counted, and everyone understood well in advance that the question of how they would be translated into delegates was, at best, problematic.
Uh oh. Here come the thugs.
In an eerie echo of the “Brooks Brothers riot” depicted in the HBO movie, when shouting Bush operatives and Republican congressional staffers who had been dispatched to Florida managed to shut down the Miami-Dade County recount, CNN reported on Thursday that Clinton supporters “are planning to swarm the capital in a little over a week to pressure Democratic Party leaders as they gather to decide the fate of the Florida and Michigan delegations.” In 2000, the candidate most willing to deploy principles and trash them, according to the tactical needs of the moment, was awarded the prize. In 2008, maybe not.
The difference between Clinton and Bush? Hold on. There must be a difference. I'm sure I can think of one. Yeah, just give me a minute...
While I'm trying to come up with an answer, pop on over to Andrew Sullivan's blog for a diagnosis and a grim prediction.
They did it to Jesus, and now they're doing it to Hillary.
As if people didn't want to invade Iraq in '02. Gimmee a break. She played ball then, but what good did it do her? I'll tell you what good: It did her no good at all! She may as well have opposed the goddamn thing, for all that people care nowadays. The fucking ingrates.
No wonder Bill is so ticked off. Who can blame him? Well, they soon won't have Hillary to kick around anymore. Then they'll be sorry.
Posted by: JL | May 27, 2008 at 01:09 AM
!
(And Jesus didn't even have to put up with rampant sexism from elitists not wearing pantsuits.)
Posted by: PW | May 27, 2008 at 07:47 AM