Bent Corner

I’m not watching the Democratic National Convention. I have been spending the evening trying to call my brother to wish him a happy birthday, put a coat of paint on a shelving unit, and watch reruns of Two and a Half Men. I’m now wishing I had put on the convention. I would have been able to see Dennis Kucinich freak out for Barack Obama.

Evidently he told America to “wake up” and shouted “Up with Obama-Biden!”

He then ended his speech by firing a pair of matching six-shooters in the air while he kicked up his heels and did an old fashioned prospector dance. [The Swamp]

The city of Denver is rolling out all the stops for the upcoming Democratic National Convention including a secret jail for unruly protesters.  What exactly would get a protester arrested in Denver?  My guess that a lot of protesters will be arrested for “resisting arrest” or some other equally trumped up charge.

The old warehouse located on city owned property features make shift jail cells constructed from chain link fencing and barbed wire. It supposedly will be able to process 60 arrestees an hour.

If this doesn’t make you feel proud to be an American, nothing will.  Let freedom ring!

Link

Barack Obama has made the issue of pulling out of Iraq his signature issue.  It turns out that his get-out-of-Iraq-in-16-months policy is not as rock solid as he has made it seem.  Obama said today while speaking to a veterans group that when he goes to Iraq and speaks to commanders on the ground, he just might learn things that might cause him to “refine” his plan.  From the AP (via Yahoo!):

He said what he learns from military commanders on his upcoming trip to Iraq will refine his policy but “not the 16-month timetable” for withdrawing U.S. troops from combat in Iraq. He said what he learns could affect how many residual troops might be needed to train the Iraqi army and police.

So what exactly will there be to refine?  Either he completely pulls every combat brigade currently in Iraq out within 16 months of taking office or he doesn’t.

As much as I hate absolutes, it’s kind of an either-or type of thing.  He has backed himself in a corner with the 16-month time table.  There’s not an awful lot of wiggle room when it comes to pulling out of Iraq.  Either he does it in 16 months or he doesn’t.

He caved on his pledge to participate in federal campaign financing.  He caved on not giving the telcos retroactive immunity.  If he caves on pulling the troops out of Iraq within 16 months, he had better do it after the Democratic National Convention next month.  If he does it before, a few of the so-called “committed” superdelegates just may throw their votes to Hillary Clinton, making her not the presumptive nominee, but the actual nominee.

I’m starting to think that when Obama talks about Change™, he is refering to his ability to say one thing and then do something completely different.  I think he got away with it with campaign finance and FISA.  I don’t think he will be as lucky when it comes to getting out of Iraq.

The numbers from yesterday’s West Virgina primary are in and Hillary beat Barack by 41 points. Haven’t these people heard that Tim Russert already declared Barack Obama the Democratic nominee?

We of course don’t really have a Democratic nominee yet. Neither candidate has the required 2,025 delegates needed for the nomination. There are still 5 primaries left to go. There are still a good many people left who haven’t voted yet.

The only thing clear at this point is that neither Hillary or Barack will have the required 2,025 delegates when the remaining primaries are completed. That means the superdelegates — not Tim Russert — at the Democratic National Convention will be deciding which one of these two candidates will be the Democratic nominee.

It’s important to stress the point that these superdelegates wont be deciding till the convention. It doesn’t who they favor now, next week, next month, or even three days before the convention. The only thing that matters is how they will actually vote in August. From Talk Left:

Superdelegates can make up their mind any time before the convention. They can switch, as many have done, from one candidate to another.

My only hope is that in August, these superdelegates look at both candidates and decide which one of the two is truly the most electable. In my opinion, it wont be the one that lost West Virgina by 41 points.

Former Vermont governor, failed presidential candidate, and current Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean has issued an ultimatum of sorts to Democratic superdelegates; he wants them to decide now who they will be voting for at the Democratic National Convention in August.

He wants to lock down the Democratic nominee as soon as possible.

And I thought Doctor Dean was a stickler for keeping to a schedule. He disenfranchised Democrats in both Florida and Michigan because both states dared to hold their primaries before Dean said they could.

He can’t have it both ways. He can’t penalize the voters in Florida and Michigan because they supposedly voted early and then demand that superdelegates do the very same thing by declaring who they plan on voting for in August.

Decision Time, Says Dean [Yahoo]