Archive for May 29th, 2008
Thursday, May 29th, 2008
Obama the Statesman
On Saturday, the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee will meet in Washington, D.C. to discuss what to do about primaries in Michigan and Florida.
While a compromise that would award each state half of their delegates seems to be emerging, there has been questions all week whether hordes of protesters would appear outside the RBC’s hotel to make their candidate’s position clear (as if they weren’t crystal clear already).
A group of Hillary Clinton supporters have created a Web site and called for a massive rally outside the hotel, featuring prominent members of Congress, to demand that the RBC “must honor our core democratic principles and enfranchise the people of MI and FL and their respective delegations.”
They, of course, make no reference to changing the rules in the middle of the game, a concept mastered on the playground by most five-year-olds.
In contrast, Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign announced Wednesday that they were asking their supporters to stay away from the hotel to avoid further dividing the party. Instead, the campaign called for potential protesters to join one of the nearby voter registration and mobilization events in the nearby battleground state of Virginia.
Sen. Clinton’s supporters have the right to hold a peaceful protest anywhere they wish. That I do not question. What I do question, however, is their judgement in trying to extend this contest in such a combative manner.
Come next week, the Democratic Party will have to begin healing itself to prepare for the general election in November. Clinton’s supporters would do more good for the party by basebuilding and reaching out to new voters.
But I guess that’s the job for the statesman, also known as Barack Obama.
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Teachers’ Protest Not a Good Idea
By now, everyone should know that I’ve been an outspoken opponent of nearly $5 billion in proposed budget cuts to public education in California. While I support their frustration, a planned school-time walkout by teachers in Los Angeles is not a good idea.
On Friday, June 6, the teachers plan to demonstrate in front of their local school sites for the first hour of the school day, leaving students in the care of aides and administrators. Los Angeles Unified has gone to court to try to prevent them from doing so, citing the potential danger to students from being able to provide only minimal supervision.
In some schools–particularly those where we’re talking about 2,500+ kids–the teachers are inviting chaos, instead of finding a more responsible time to hold such a protest, such as the numerous after school rallies that have occurred up here in San Francisco.
Superintendent David Brewer III put it simply and clearly.
“We’re trying to send a very strong signal to Sacramento that these cuts are unacceptable,” he said. “We’re not questioning the message. We’re just questioning the method.”
• Email This PostThursday, May 29th, 2008
Bush Bumps Air Force Cadet
Some of the funniest pictures I’ve seen in a while of our Commander-in-Chief, who was greeting Air Force Cadets in Colorado:
Enough said.
(Photos from the AP)
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