DNC Lawyers: Can't fully seat FL and MI

DNC lawyers have weighed in on the FL & MI debacle:

A Democratic Party rules committee has the authority to restore delegates from Michigan and Florida but not fully seat the two states at the convention as Hillary Rodham Clinton wants, according to a party analysis.

Party rules require that the two states lose at least half of their convention delegates for holding elections too early, Democratic National Committee lawyers wrote in a 38-page memo.

The memo was sent late Tuesday to the 30 members of the party's Rules and Bylaws Committee, which plans to meet Saturday to consider the fate of convention delegates from the two states. The party is considering plans to restore at least some of the delegates to make sure the two important general election battlegrounds will be included at the nominating convention in August.

The analysis lays out merits on all sides of the argument of how many delegates should be seated and how they should be divided. And it underscores a prickly problem ? if the Rules and Bylaws Committee decides to restore any of the states' delegates, there is not a simple way to divide them between Clinton and Barack Obama. - AP

A couple of things. First, there are lots of simple ways to divide the delegates.

Second, I haven't seen the analysis, but I thought the RBC was free to come up with any solution they wanted. And I'm curious - if the RBC comes up with a solution that the DNC lawyers don't like - what is the DNC going to do? Sue its own RBC committee?

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http://demconwatch.blogspot.com/2008/05/dnc-lawyers-cant-fully-seat-fl-and-mi.htm
l

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J.C. Watts Wants Black GOP Network

post from Garling Gauge on 27 May 2008 08:24:03 PM. © Garling Gauge

The ex-congressman wants an African-American-only news network. Don’t be fooled: This dude is a GOP hack.©2008 Garling Gauge. All Rights Reserved..

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Memo to McCain: You Cant Put the Toothpaste Back
in the Tube On Hagee

post from Think Progress on 27 May 2008 08:15:00 PM. © Think Progress

Our guest blogger is Chris Korzen, executive director of Catholics United and co-author of A Nation for All: How the Catholic Vision of the Common Good Can Save America from the Politics of Division.

After learning of Rev. John Hagee?s sermon proposing that the Holocaust was the fault of Jews themselves, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) finally rejected the Texas megachurch preacher’s endorsement last week.

For once in this sordid affair, McCain has done the right thing. But his move comes only after nearly three months of failed attempts to explain his decision to seek the ill-advised endorsement in the first place. The senator should have bailed out in February, after Hagee?s anti-Catholic views first drew national attention. Instead, he stubbornly refused to reject the pastor’s support, saying only: ?In no way did I intend for his endorsement to suggest that I in turn agree with all of Pastor Hagee?s views.?

John McCain earned the country?s respect in his 2000 ?Straight-talk? presidential campaign. Offering a new brand of politics, he memorably denounced ?agents of intolerance? and said that the politics of division and slander were not his values. But eight years later, things have changed. McCain seems to have decided that in order to win the Republican nomination, he has to embrace what he once denounced.

Hagee?s comments linking Hitler and the Catholic Church are patently offensive. His support for a war with Iran and his comparison of those who support a two-state solution in Israel to Nazis make a mockery of Christian calls for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. And then there?s the mind-boggling suggestion that God sent Hurricane Katrina to punish New Orleans for its residents? supposed moral indiscretions.

Why did it take all this plus anti-Semitism to force McCain to renounce the endorsement? Hagee?s outrageous views about the Catholic Church alone should have been enough.

Read The Full Article:
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/05/27/memo-to-mccain-you-can%e2%80%99t-put-the-toot
hpaste-back-in-the-tube-on-hagee/

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Memo to McCain: You Cant Put The Toothpaste Back
In The Tube On Hagee

post from Think Progress on 27 May 2008 08:15:00 PM. © Think Progress

Our guest blogger is Chris Korzen, executive director of Catholics United and co-author of A Nation for All: How the Catholic Vision of the Common Good Can Save America from the Politics of Division.

After learning of Rev. John Hagee?s sermon proposing that the Holocaust was the fault of Jews themselves, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) finally rejected the Texas megachurch preacher’s endorsement last week.

For once in this sordid affair, McCain has done the right thing. But his move comes only after nearly three months of failed attempts to explain his decision to seek the ill-advised endorsement in the first place. The senator should have bailed out in February, after Hagee?s anti-Catholic views first drew national attention. Instead, he stubbornly refused to reject the pastor’s support, saying only: ?In no way did I intend for his endorsement to suggest that I in turn agree with all of Pastor Hagee?s views.?

John McCain earned the country?s respect in his 2000 ?Straight-talk? presidential campaign. Offering a new brand of politics, he memorably denounced ?agents of intolerance? and said that the politics of division and slander were not his values. But eight years later, things have changed. McCain seems to have decided that in order to win the Republican nomination, he has to embrace what he once denounced.

Hagee?s comments linking Hitler and the Catholic Church are patently offensive. His support for a war with Iran and his comparison of those who support a two-state solution in Israel to Nazis make a mockery of Christian calls for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. And then there?s the mind-boggling suggestion that God sent Hurricane Katrina to punish New Orleans for its residents? supposed moral indiscretions.

Why did it take all this plus anti-Semitism to force McCain to renounce the endorsement? Hagee?s outrageous views about the Catholic Church alone should have been enough.

Read The Full Article:
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/05/27/memo-to-mccain-you-can%e2%80%99t-put-the-toot
hpaste-back-in-the-tube-on-hagee/

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ABC's Jake Tapper on Auschwitz and Buchenwald

post from AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth on 27 May 2008 08:12:00 PM. © AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth

I like Jake's blog. I like Jake's coverage, but his blog is, well, a real blog. He actually writes what he thinks. His take on the "which camp did Obama's uncle liberate" flap is moving and well put.

No matter where you stand, I guess I just don't particularly care to see Concentration Camp survivors on the same page as cartoon Pinnochios, as whoever does graphics for the Washington Post's great fact-checker Michael Dobbs has done HERE.

And do we really need the headline "Where In the World Is Auschwitz?" This isn't a joke.

I am certainly part of the media world that pounces on politicians when they screw-up. As such, I'm often guilty as charged when it comes to not seeing the forest for the trees. In this instance, the forest is the deliberate extermination of 12 million people. And the sacrifices of the brave Americans who risked and gave their lives to save those people victimized by Nazi barbarism. Not to mention our fighting men and women through the generations who have had to deal with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a conversation about which prompted Obama to mention his great uncle.

Obama deserved to be called out for his mistake. But it's also worth noting that despite all the talk about Obama's problems with the Jewish community, he's never mentioned before that his great uncle helped liberate a concentration camp until it came up in North Las Vegas in a conversation about PTSD.

I hadn't thought of that. It's an excellent point. Obama refused to use his family history to help himself. He only brought it up when he wanted to help others.

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Americablog/~3/299563872/abcs-jake-tapper-on-ausch
witz-and.html

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Late Afternoon/Early Evening Open Thread

post from Daily Kos on 27 May 2008 08:10:19 PM. © Daily Kos

They're two of a kind ... and MoveOn makes the point in a new ad:

video details and more

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http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/299412215/984

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Why Not Rudy For McCain's VP

post from TalkLeft on 27 May 2008 08:07:00 PM. © TalkLeft

Here I go again giving McCain advice, but I have been struck by the fact that in all the McCain VP talk no one has mentioned Rudy Giuliani. Heck, I heard them talking about Bloomberg today, but not Rudy. I figure that folks think McCain has to have an anti-choice VP but does that hold true for Rudy? No one thought it was going to kill Rudy's chances when he was running for President. In fact, Rudy got the good housekeeping approval from a lot of evangelicals. His problems were different.

If Obama is the Dem nominee, won't McCain be able to buttress his shots at Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida and even New Jersey with Rudy as his running mate?

Maybe I am crazy but I think given the way the map is shaping up, Rudy could make the most sense for McCain. And it is striking to me the no one seems to be talking about him.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me, and as a political pundit. only. I detest Rudy Giuliani.

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TalkleftThePoliticsOfCrime/~3/299414044/9450

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Blog Nightline

Guest post by GreyJake Tapper questions Sen. Obama’s decision to switch to general election mode given that the number of delegates needed to win the nomination might change on Saturday, pending the Rules and Bylaws Committee’s ruling on the[...]

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http://www.taylormarsh.com/archives_view.php?id=27797

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GRITtv Interview: Stop-Loss Killed Me

Iraq War veteran Kris Goldsmith had the grim job of working as a photo-documentarian for US Military intelligence on the ground in Iraq. I talk with Kris about his experiences in Iraq, and the consequences of stop-loss back home.[...]

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http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/27/grittv-interview-stop-loss-killed-me/

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Political Quote of the Day 5/27/08

If you’ve ever tried to put your cat in a box, then you know what Hillary Clinton is doing right now: Rarrrw!It’s a compliment; I admire her tenancity. -Tucker Carlson on MSNBC’s Morning Joe©2008 Garling Gauge. All Rights Reserved..

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GarlingGauge/~3/299421014/

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