The Michigan and Florida Clusterfuck: Rumblings of a Do-Over Getting Louder

UPDATE: Harrogate now links to the Wall Street Journal for this story, since FOX apparently took it's write-up down. No matter. The same asshole owns both Media outlets.

But, it is a good writeup of the growing impetus for Do-Overs.


But anyway. What has happened with the DNC here, and the way people have responded to it, speaks very, very poorly about human beings generally. Here are some sad things we have learned about Americans, through this process:

1)We practice Slavish idolatry to Rules in this society, no Matter how Stoopid those Rules, or the Penalties emanating from those Rules, are: Now, Harrogate understands we need ordered liberty. But you've got a problem on your hands when a National Election is being impacted by a gross technicality with nothing of value to back it up, excepting the old standby, them's the rules.

As Cool Hand Luke once beautifully put it, "Calling it your job don't make it right, boss." For lo, at the end of the fortnight, there was never a credible case to be made for "punishing" states for moving their primaries closer to the Holy Trinity, Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. But, the rules were put in place to "protect" these, what Harrogate is now out of frustration calling dipshit states. And the candidates slavishly signed pledges to abide by these stupid rules.

But why was the "punishment" so exaggeratedly weird, you ask? Well, that brings us to something else terrible about human beings:

2)John Stuart Mill's depressing worldview continues to infect western civilization. In the end, people only really care about "consequences" and "results": No matter where ye go on the blogosphere, you will see the same excuse over and over agaian: Well, the DNC didn't think it was going to end up like this, they anticipated a clear frontrunner by now.

So, it's okay to screw over millions of people and make a joke of your entire process, so long as you don't have to face any consequences for it. So sayeth the once great Howard Dean, every time he opens his mouth in defense of what the DNC has done here.

3)Human are easily lied to: To wit, many of us still buy into the Warrant behind the DNC's Sacred Rule: Namely, that it is in the country's interest that Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina have their primaries/caucuses well ahead of all other states. This is an ignorant lie and yet we allow ourselves to be sold this lie.


4)Most people only care about what's in their self interest: This is obviously the big one. You hear talk of African-American groups screaming about racially-charged disenfranchisement, if the delegates are seated as is. Okay, fine.

(the blight of skin otherwise known as Donna Brazille, who has always done the Party so well, has been for months threatening a walkout at the Convention if Michigan and Florida play a role in Obama not getting the nomination. And actually, Ms. Brazille and anyone intellecutally dishonest enough to take her seriously at this point, will likely walk out if Obama is not the nominee, for any reason whatever).

Great. But does that mean these same groups of people will be screaming about voter disenfranchisement if the states do not hold a do-over? Of course they would not, will not.

Obama himself and almost all of his supporters, have been on record a lot in recent months saying, wait a minute now, rules are rules, and so we cannot seat these delegates. If you've got a problem, take it up with your state representatives during the next local elections.

What bullshit. Does anyone this side of a vegetative state believe they would have these same ersatz positions, were the broader situations reversed?

Same with Hillary Clinton. Her plea on behalf of the voters is thoroughly underpinned by by results of the voting in those states. And her heightened enthusiasm for a Do-0ver likely stems from her Happy Awareness that, in the incdreasingly likely event that they schedule the Do-Over, she will be able to engage in lots of I Won 'em Before And I'll Win 'em Again--type Rhetoric.

And, there is little doubt in Harrogate's mind that she will win both of them again, if they hold full-on primaries in each, like they need to. Because, these are big states not named Illinois [or Georgia, which of course the Dems stand, as always, to do very well in come General Election time] with very large working-class (Michigan) and old-people (Florida) demographics.