home > archive > 2008 > this article

In Michigan and Florida the rules may not apply

By J.J. Jackson
web posted March 17, 2008

The Elders of the Democratic Party threw down the gauntlet before the primaries began.  States were warned that if they violated party rules and moved their primaries to dates that did not comply with the Party's schedule that those states would be punished by not having their delegates seated. It's not unconstitutional as some have suggested because political parties are private organizations.  They can select their nominees by playing pin the tail on the donkey if they like.  Thus they can also decide who gets a say and who does not in their nomination process.

Michigan and Florida knew about these rules.  But they chose to ignore the rules anyway and move their primaries up in the election cycle.

Now, with Hillary Clinton trailing Barack Obama in delegates the inevitable outrage over the "disenfranchisement" of Michigan and Florida voters has arisen.  The fact that Hillary also won both states (even though Obama wasn't even on the ballot in Michigan because it wasn't supposed to count) is of course just a mere coincidence. Riiight.  Want to buy a bridge in Brooklyn?

You even have empty headed Democratic Party hacks running around television and talking to the media trying to blame the Florida problem on the Republican legislature.  They are trying to misplace blame even though the plan to move the primary was introduced by a Democrat and approved by the Democrats in the state legislature. How is that the Republican Party's fault exactly?

The battle lines have been drawn and once again the Hillary Clinton sexists (who think she is the superior candidate because of her womanhood) are slugging it out with the Barack Obama racists (who think he is the superior candidate because of his skin color).  And as is quite typical with liberals we see how they really view rules.

The rules are ok as long as they favor them.  But the rules are not ok when they do not favor them.  Hillary Clinton's minions are calling for the delegates to be seated.  Barack Obama's legions of apostles are calling for the rules to be upheld and the delegates not to be seated.  And while I don't agree with Obama on much of anything, he is in the right.

The rules were set.  Everyone knew them going in.  Both sides even agreed to them.  But now that there is political power at stake and the Queen is not on the verge of being coronated, people who support her have changed their minds quite conveniently on the issue of who should and who should not get a seat at the table.

Some have offered a potential compromise where these states could hold new primaries, but that they would have to do so at their own expense.  This has of course ticked off the taxpayers of those states.  They don't want to carry the burden of a new election and, especially Republicans, don't see why they should foot the bill for the Democratic Parties tit for tat political bickering and rules violating.

A vote by mail option has also been suggested.  But to listen to the Democrats, they are making it sound like such an option wouldn't allow hordes of their voters to participate because they are apparently so transient that they don't live at the same address very long.

Others, mostly Hillary Clinton supports, are saying the results should be counted as is.  Gee, how unexpected.  Yes, that was sarcasm and yes, it was intended.

But none of these solutions is tenable because each of them change the rules that were agreed to by all sides at the beginning.  You have Hillary Clinton out there talking about how she is going to preserve the Constitution?  Heck, she can't even preserve the rules of her own party!

Just to warn you, this is what you can expect from any of the liberal Democrats if they should ascend to the White House this November and retain their majorities in Congress.  How do you like the idea of having people like this in power where on a whim they can just negate or change the rules?

If the shoe was on the other foot and it was Barack Obama needing the delegates of Michigan and Florida to win he would be doing the exact same thing and calling for the delegates to be seated or, at worst, new primaries.  Hillary would then find herself in the position that Obama is in right now and she would be fighting tooth and nail to keep that from happening.

When it comes to liberals the rules need not apply.  They've been showing us that this is true for years with their selective reading of the Constitution which is the "Supreme Law of the Land".  For years they have been proposing violations of the Constitution (the rules) and Democrat voters have accepted such violations as long as they were benefiting from them.

We also saw this philosophy in action in 2000.  Remember when liberal Democrats tried time and time again to rewrite the election rules in Florida in what was a downright hilarious attempt to find enough votes to give Al Gore the presidency that eventually failed?

Rules?  They don't need no stinking rules!  They're liberals!

If however you are surprised by any of this, you haven't been paying attention.  And that means you are dangerous and should really reflect on whether or not you are informed enough to cast a ballot come November.

We don't need people heading to the polls who think that rules are made to be broken on a whim or when their political power is at stake.  It's hard to have a nation founded upon all men being created equal before the law and unalienable rights when the rules about what is equal and what is a right can be simply changed after the fact.

J.J. Jackson is a libertarian conservative author who has been writing and promoting individual liberty since 1993 and is President of Land of the Free Studios, Inc. He is the lead editor of Conservative News & Opinion – The Land of the Free and also the owner of The Right Things – Conservative T-shirts & Gifts (http://www.cafepress.com/rightthings). His weekly commentary along with exclusives not available anywhere else can be found at http://www.libertyreborn.com

ESR


 

Home


 

Home

Site Map

E-mail ESR

 

© 1996-2024, Enter Stage Right and/or its creators. All rights reserved.