We decided to make it a “black ops” mission. We invaded the Pepsi Center. We borrowed credentials from delegates, DNC members and others. It was a gas. The funny thing is that the Secret Service stood right near us while we “borrowed” the credentials. Some had arena credentials and others had floor credentials. Two group members spent time in a beer company’s sky box.

I had the opportunity to meet Alan Colmes (Sean Hannity) would have been more fun to meet. Alan Colmes and I e-mailed for sometime about veterans issues and the VA. I introduced myself. I reminded him of our e-mails. He said “I think I remember”. I am sure he didn’t but….I would have found him more credible if he didn’t feel the need to lie!

It was a momentous evening as Hillary was about to speak. Her speech was wonderful but heartbreaking at times. I alternately laughed and cried. The tears were the heaviest when she talked about the “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuits”. I was a member of that sisterhood. I traveled through four states for her, the last was Montana. That was the most incredible experience for me since I ran the Veterans for Hillary Tour.

As I had a chance to really observe the Pepsi Center one thing struck besides the fact the venue was much too small (I think the fire marshall should have just kicked everyone out!) and that was its inaccessibility to disabled folks. At the entrances to the arena seats I counted a very few wheelchairs. Got me wondering….. Does the DNC really encourage participation by disabled folks? I guess they really care about the Affirmative Action written into their own delegation selection process! (NOT!)

I was discussing the sad state of affairs about disabled access when I was accosted and shoved away from a camera crew by a super delegate in a bright lime green suit! (And these people are picked to represent the Democratic Party!!) that was trying to interview me. What a nasty lady? The Democratic Party needs to invest in a Miss Manners book or two, make it mandatory reading for the next convention!

When Hillary’s speech ended it was like a herd of unity jackasses running for the nearest exits. It was almost as if someone had fired the gun at the start of a jacka$$ race! If you weren’t moving fast enough, the people literally body checked evryone in their way. Hey when did RUDE become a central part of the Democratic Party?

I know it all seems a little over the top! It gets even better….. I am waiting outside while the group reformed, when I suddenly turned around and ended up looking Dick Morris right in the eyes. I stuck my hand out….introduced myself, shook his (and bit my tongue….I knew something irrelevant and not nice was going to come out of my mouth)….. well I smiled, stumbling over my words and said I watch you all the time…. And the whole time all I was thinking why couldn’t I meet Terry McAuliffe or even the Big Dawg?

My night at the Pepsi Center was wonderful! I enjoyed Hillary’s speech but why oh why did I have to meet Dick Morris of all people?

She discussed the roll call vote and ballots.

NancyA: Last night a Texas Delegate told me the “Roll Call” vote was being held in secret in hotel rooms. What have you been told?

Cindy: We will receive a “ballot” at the Breakfast Meeting Wednesday morning for our roll call vote. And then we will meet with Hillary. I am unsure what will happen in the General Session, whether we will re-vote.

NancyA: Have you found a great deal of pressure to vote for Obama?

Cindy. I have the impression that there is a lot of pressure on Clinton delegates to vote for Obama on the first ballot under the guise of “party unity”.

She said she hasn’t heard of any consequences if she doesn’t vote for Obama on the first ballot. She said she has remained open to her constituents that voted for her. She said her constituents have remonded quite often to stay strong for Hillary. And she spoke passionately about her commitment to vote for Hillary. Cindy feels that it is disrespectful to vote for Obama on the first ballot. There are many other delegates that holds her beliefs. She said there are other delegates who think it is wrong if Hillary Delegates vote for her on the first ballot, not for Obama.

There is still disunity in the party despite the call from the Democratic Party leadership to unify behind Obama.

I also think on some sort of bizarre level that it actually does suggest that a potential Hillary V.P. pick might not be the worst idea in the world.

OK, for about the billionth time:

Why is it so difficult for party insiders to understand the bitterness and anger of Hillary voters? I’m not sure what planet Kamarck was vacationing on during the Michigan and Florida mess, but as a member of the Rules Committee - and as someone WHO WORKED FOR AL GORE’S CAMPAIGN IN 2000 - even she must (or should) comprehend the frustration of the rank and file with the party’s inability to arrive at a solution until the last minute. Unsubstantiated rumors? How about disenfranchisement as an issue, which is quite substantiated thank you very much? How about assigning delegates to a candidate who did not campaign for them or win them fair and square? Does she remember what happened in Florida in 2000? Maybe hanging around Hahvahd Yahd for all this time has clouded her memory. I, on the other hand, remember that travesty like it was yesterday. And you can bet that if Republicans tried to pull this stunt on the Democrats during the general the Dems would be screaming bloody murder, and justifiably so.

Then there’s this:

The worst thing that can happen at a convention is that it can be real.

Oh really? So respecting and listening to the points of view of ALL the party’s members, not just those with whom you agree, is the worst case scenario? Well, maybe for this crowd it is. Finally someone tells the truth.

And Michael Cohen was on a roll, until he blamed Hillary for everything and announced that it was her responsibility to put a lid on her supporters. Not a word about the sexism and calumnies the woman endured during the campaign. Not a peep about how the media, the blogosphere, “progressive” radio and Democratic mandarins dogpiled on her and tried to push her out of the race almost from the get-go.

There’s a lot more to talk about but I’ll leave that up to you.

As Americans, we expect certain liberties and rights that were granted us by our forefathers, who wrote documents like the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. “We the people” expect that these fundamental rights will always be protected. However, in the current Democratic Presidential Primary, this has not been the case. We believe that the The Democratic National Committee (DNC) made a grave error by depriving American voters of their choice of Hillary Clinton as Democratic nominee. Senator Clinton, by all accounts, except caucuses, won the Primary Election and, therefore, should be the 2008 Democratic Nominee. That didn’t happen, due largely to illegitimate and illegal acts. We have interviews of many accounts from caucus states recounting threats, intimidation, lies, stolen documents, falsified documents, busing in voters in exchange for paying for “dinners,” etc. There are at least 2000 complaints, in Texas alone, of irregularities directed towards the Obama Campaign, that have lead to a very fractured and broken Democratic Party.

The preview, all 33 minutes of it, is compelling. In essence, it is a visual companion to the work of Dr. Lynette Long at Caucus Fraud and Peniel Cronin on Primaries and Caucuses (which will appear at NQ shortly). In short, it is disturbing not just how this happened, but THAT it happened in our country.

I invite you to watch the preview to this documentary, about which the authors said this:

This documentary is about the disenfranchising of American citizens by the Democratic Party and the Obama Campaign. We the People have made this film. Democrats have sent in their stories from all parts of America. We want to be heard and let the country know how our party has sanctioned the actions of what we feel are Obama campaign “Chicago Machine” dirty politics. We believe this infamous campaign of “change” from Chicago encouraged and created an army to steal caucus packets, falsify documents, change results, allow unregistered people to vote, scare and intimidate Hillary supporters, stalk them, threaten them, lock them out of their polling places, silence their voices and stop their right to vote, which is, of course, all documented in “We Will Not Be Silenced.”

This documentary contains powerful, important information. I urge you to spread the word however you are able. Now is the time.

To view, CLICK HERE.

My deepest thanks to all of those at “We Will Not Be Silenced” for your commitment to democracy, to the rights of Americans, all Americans, to vote. Thank you for your courage and integrity in getting this critical information out. And thank you for bringing the voices of these Americans out for us all to witness

On August 19, Julie Foudy, only one of the most awesome women of all time - and a HIGHLY successful soccer player who also fought HARD against the Republicans attempts to dismiss Title IX, had an intense “human interest” story. It was about a young Afghan woman named Mehmoba Ahdyar. She is a runner, and the only woman on the Afghanistan Olympics team (she is a runner). What was particularly intense were the reports of what she has to go through to train, particularly the threats and the taunts.

Take a look at the video (I have to say, it was informative to me to hear what they think of Karzai).

But then there was a twist a month before the Olympics. She disappeared. No one had a clue where she was. They had to pull in another athlete, Robina Muqimyar, also a track runner, to replace her. Muqimyar had retired from running, so this came as quite a surprise to her. She came in last.

But what became of Andyar? Well, the video below reveals it all. There is a bit of duplication between the two, but not much, so bear with it:

So now we know. She defected. Why? Because to be a young woman in Afghanistan now, one with dreams and hopes that other young women around the world are encouraged to pursue, means threats against her, and her family. It means the police showing up at the door. It means her family being taken to jail because she is accused of being a “prostitute.”

What a mess. What a mess to which we have contributed, and which we have neglected. If only our Congress had some kind of oversight committee for Afghanistan and NATO to help it push forward, and to help push back the Taliban, to…What? What did you say? That Congress DOES have that kind of committee? Well, what the hell has it done lately? Nothing? NOTHING?? Why not? Why would a committee that had oversight over a country in which we are at WAR not done anything? Because the chairman has been busy running for president?? You have got to be kidding me!! Not ONE meeting? Huh.

Now, I gotta tell you, that if HILLARY had been chair of that committee, they would have met a gazillion times by now. She would know who BOTH of these women athletes were, and would have helped them get the training they needed, the PROTECTION they needed. She would have gotten more of our soldiers there to do the job they were sent to do. And she would have gotten some schools built. Oh, you know she would have.

And so, here is one last video for you. It is Hillary Clinton talking about her trip to Iraq and Afghanistan (side note - pay attention to where she said she went when she was over there. Oh, you’ll know - trust me!). And just imagine that THIS person is the one who becomes president, not the one who cannot be bothered to chair one single damn committee meeting on European and NATO Affairs, to provide absolutely NO oversight to a country in which we have our TROOPS.

Here’s Hillary Clinton, the one who will actually HELP women like Andyar and Muqimyar, and who was prescient about Afghanistan:

And once again, SuperDs, I remind you - there is still time. Just because Obama was selected the Presumptuous Nominee does not mean you have to go along with it. Stand up for democracy, stand up for what is right, stand UP for the person who can actually WIN the White House, and who is dedicated to the country’s citizens. You know that is Hillary Clinton, not Mr. “That’s above my pay grade and I will ask my wife and grandmother what I should do when I am faced with a difficult decision” Obama. This is no time to worry about pride. This is the time to worry about the COUNTRY. We have serious problems - Iraq; Pakistan, even more now since Musharraf stepped down; Georgia and Russia…This is the time for serious leadership, and that is NOT Obama. It IS Hillary Clinton. She is the one the people want to take care of these situations, and bring our country forward. SHE is the One for whom we have been waiting. Do your jobs - vote your CONSCIENCE, not your bank balance. Stand up. Stand UP.

Approximately a year ago thousands of committed volunteers attended “Camp Obama,” a four-day indoctrination program, geared at teaching pre-screened Obama volunteers grass roots organizational strategies.  

The training, which specifically focused on the caucus states, taught volunteers to be “ruthless,” “take risks,” and win at all costs. Obama’s campaign and Camp Obama’s strategy which focused on the vulnerable caucuses and the early primaries worked. 

Obama only lost 1 out of 14 caucuses, a staggering achievement, especially when he lost 21 out of 38 primaries and scored a statistical tie in popular vote.   How did he accomplish such an astonishing string of victories that would eventually define the Democratic Primary? 

At www.caucusanalysis.org, a new website devoted exclusively to the 2008 Democratic caucuses, you can read Tales from the Front, stories told to sites founder, Dr. Lynette Long, by participants in all 14 caucus states.  Here are excerpts from  the website. For complete statements and a mathematical analysis of each state, go to www.caucusanalysis.org.

FROM IOWA

I live in Davenport, Iowa - Precinct 23.  I arrived at our precinct caucus at 6:30.  At 6:50 pm, over 75 people of African American descent came walking in, past the tables and sat in the Obama section.  I knew one of them from my canvassing.  I knew another one who did not live in this precinct!  And aside from the 4 or 5 families that live on Hillandale Road, there are no other black people in this unusually white precinct and one of those black couples were in my Hillary section.  The results were Obama 3, Clinton, 2, Edwards 1!  It was impossible for me to argue since the precinct chair was an Obama supporter from another precinct.  A very large bus was seen in the parking lot afterwards carrying these folks back.

FROM IOWA

You probably have heard about the busloads coming in from over the IL border, but you may not have known about the busloads coming in from the NE border. North Omaha and Omaha itself are two of the three places in NE — Lincoln being the third — where there’s over 5% African-American population. Obama’s campaign offered people things like I-pods and free stuff– t-shirts, clothes, shoes, and at least two free meals on the Nebraska side.

FROM KANSAS

There were a lot of young people there and a lot of black people.  We do not have that many blacks in this county.  El Dorado is a small town of about 12,000 and it is the largest town in the county.  There are probably only a handful of blacks that live in El Dorado.  I work with the school district and travel to the high school, middle school and elementary schools and believe me, there are very, very, few  black students.

FROM MINNESOTA

There was NO voter registration for the MN caucus… no identification was checked so Obots were going from room to room voting over and over again giggling all the while doing it. 

FROM NEVADA

Throughout this mess of a process, hostility built to a degree I found truly alarming.  Some overenthusiastic BHO supporters formed a gauntlet in the hallway outside the registration area, on the way to the ballroom, within the zone in which campaigning was prohibited.  Any HRC supporter was subject to verbal abuse, ridicule and, eventually, physical assault.

FROM NEBRASKA

Nebraska was totally chaotic and each precinct location had a different way to do the caucus. In Nebraska, 18 precincts where crammed into one high school in Sarpy county. When I got there, it felt like I stepped into a Third World voting situation. They were trying to determine whether people could actually participate in the caucuses or not, and then it seemed like they just gave up on that and just let anyone participate. There was a gym at the high school where about 5 precincts met. A person was supposed to fill out their preference on a slip of paper and then turn it in. They tried to run it like a primary instead of a true caucus, just take out any semblance of order and guards against voter disenfranchisement that a normal primary would have. I found a pile of these preferences slips just sitting on a table where anyone could pick them up and fill them out.

FROM TEXAS

I was at the Texas Caucus and the Obama supporter’s took the Packets as early as 6:30 AM which they were told not to do, They never let go and then when time came to vote they took over the precinct by some of them pushing the people that were supposed to run it across the room to chairs. They called in incorrect totals for Obama instead of correct ones. He actually had 4 delegates and they called in 19 delegates.

When my 88 year old Mother showed up, who can hardly walk on her walker, and they took her walker away from her when she said she was there to vote for Hillary. They said you are in the wrong place old woman; this is an Obama precinct, and you need to go across town. When I saw what was happening I called the police.  Blog post no quarter evelyn

FROM TEXAS

As an eye witness at the Precinct and Senate District Conventions, this is how Obama won many caucuses. First of all, vast numbers of Obama supporters were bused in to the conventions. They were loud and intimidating. Texas Democratic rules state that each person who participates in the Precinct Convention should have voted in this precinct and sign-in personally on a formal sign-in sheet. So many Obama people showed up, that there were not enough sign-in sheets available, so when the conventions ended, there were many sign-in sheets for Obama filled out in the same handwriting, not signed-in as specified. As Hillary supporters, we obtained copies of these sign-in sheets from all over south Texas, Harris County in particular. We laboriously compared the names on the sheets to see if the person who attended the precinct convention had voted in the primary election. Many listed Obama people had not. We then cross-checked the names of the Obama people to see if they lived in the correct precinct. Many times the Obama people did not come to the correct precinct and often appeared on sign-in sheets, as being present in several precinct conventions at the same time (a violation of the space-time continuum).

FROM THE TEXAS CONVENTION

I walked into the Nueses,Texas County Convention only to discover that I was already there as an Obama delegate.

FROM THE TEXAS CONVENTION

They shoved Obama signs in Clinton delegates’ faces, three inches from the nose, called them racists, and told my friend that she had to move from her third-row seat in one meeting and go sit in the back.  She also said that the proceedings were heavily laced with black power speeches by preachers as well as public officials.

FROM WASHINGTON STATE

What I saw was at least 3 trained group agitators — Since my MA is in group dynamics and group facilitation I recognized when someone is using techniques that I have been trained in. If such individuals were planted in ALL precincts, along with bringing in ringers — then ALL caucus results are bogus. For this sort of intensive origination to take place in a rural area — this means that a vast amount of money was spent to manipulate the results of the caucus. The Obama supporters kept changing the number of delegates — subtracting Clinton delegates and increasing Obama delegates, each time they claimed someone had changed and they had to do "complicated" math and that’s why Clinton kept losing delegates. There were NO Clinton supporters checking the Obama "math".

Read full accounts at www.caucusanalysis.org.

Contact DrLynetteLong@aol.com

It’s no secret that they have been replacing delegates to ensure votes for Barack Obama at convention time. After all, let’s face the fact that Barky is terribly concerned about being embarrassed during that roll call vote. Since he has no clear ‘mandate’ he is doing what he always does. Fix Things Up So It Looks Better For Him Than It Is. Thus, he has surrepticiously been dumping a Clinton delegate here and a Clinton delegate there and replacing them with Obama delegates–in order to and make his roll call count look prettier than it really is. Later, all his sycophants will yell about how OBVIOUS it is that he is a Real Winner. Oh, he’s a winner all right…..a Real Winner in the figurative sense. Barack Obama is a real piece of work.

Overall, it looks as though they pretty much expected that people were going to sit down and shut up while they worked their magic. Especially those damned women!

At first, the caucus fraud and irregularity situations appeared to be pretty well buried. If you go to Dr. Lynette Long’s dedicated Caucus Fraud site, you will see that silence, Golden as it is for The One, isn’t going to be the order of the day on that subject either. I’ve been informed that Superdelegates are currently the recipients of caucus fraud information. We shall see just how far they are willing to voluntarily comprehend the significance of this.

Meanwhile, Clinton Supporters in Kentucky just can’t shut their damned mouths, you know? They are ticked off and they aren’t shy about saying so. Thank you to my loyal reader, “Just me” for this gem of a link.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) — Fighting between Clinton and Obama supporters continues in Kentucky, as WHAS11 News has learned that Hillary Clinton supporters in Kentucky have filed an official protest with the national Democratic Party.

The complaint alleges that a Hillary Clinton delegate to the national convention was replaced with a Barack Obama supporter, in violation of the party’s rules.

The state party removed Todd Hollenbach, a delegate who supports Clinton, and replaced him with Ruth Ann Palumbo, who supports Obama.

But you see, there is no end to the smarmy behavior slithering out of the DNC. Here’s their little ole’ explanation.

The state party made the change because the DNC requires gender equity at the national convention.

The complaint says that the Kentucky Democratic Party broke the rules when it balanced the gender of the delegate count by replacing a male Clinton supporter with a female Obama supporter.

Delegate Todd Hollenbach was replaced by Ruth Ann Palumbo. Hollenbach supports Clinton, while Palumbo is an Obama supporter.

Ah, suddenly the Gender Card! Apparently, the DNC and Barack Obama think that the people of Kentucky fell off the back of a moving truck. While pretending that the gender they couldn’t give a rat’s ass about suddenly deserves “equity,” they finagled yet another opportunity to remove a Clinton delegate and replace it with an Obama delegate. I suppose they expect gratitude from women for this. After all, at least they are getting hoodwinked bamboozled attention, right?

Obama has been on a “switch the delegate” trip under the radar folks. He wants to make sure that roll call vote isn’t as close as it really would be if he didn’t manipulate the system to make himself look better. He’s been under the radar messing with delegate switching and lopping off heads all over the place. I was going to insert a Florida news link entitled “Obama replaces six Florida delegates,” only to find the link is no longer there. Here’s a Google of that news title. As you can see, it happened, but Winston may have actually jumped out of Orwell’s 1984 again and Poof! It’s gone.

You go ahead and give this “missing link” the benefit of the doubt. But frankly, I wish I had $1000 every time one of the news links about Obama I wrote about in the past year “disappeared”–so I am going to pass on that grace from now on.

(Geez, I miss the Big Dawg. What an eloquent, passionate, brilliant man he is!)

And then, there was Representative Clyburn who claimed to be “neutral” - you know, the same type of “neutral” that Donna Brazile was. Anyway, this is what Clyburn said about Bil Clinton:

Nice, huh? Never mind that President Clinton has worked TIRELESSLY for the African American community, and has stood with them for years. Nice payback, ESPECIALLY when Clinton did not DO what Clyburn accused him of doing. Yep, real nice, Jim.

Anywho - besides Clyburn clearly being in the tank for Obama, which he finally admitted in June, he is also known in the state of SC for his propensity toward earmarks. This is a subject on which I have written before (”Such Associates…“). Well, just hold onto your seats while you watch the following statement by Representative Clyburn at a forum in March of this year. It will blow you away!

See?? It’s a “Constitutional Mandate” for congresspeople to build pork into the budget for their family and friends! What’s the big to-do about, anyway?? Now, I hasten to add, I do not share the videographer’s political statements, and I am no fan of Senator DeMint, but he DID make a good point in this clip. And that point would be that Clyburn has a, um, well, let’s just say, UNIQUE understanding of the Constitution! Hey! Maybe THAT’S one of the reasons he supports Obama! They both seem to have a document with which I am not familiar to which they refer as “The Constitution!” Maybe they made their own. Ahem. So, yes - who the heck knew this was a “Constitutional MANDATE?”

I suppose that explains the following excerpts from article about Clyburn (highlights in bold are mine), Clyburn Quits Museum Board:
Hopes To Sidestep Conflict of Interest:

Clyburn, who tucked an $800,000 earmark for the museum into the federal budget approved late last year, said he decided to resign from the board after learning Friday that his nephew, Derrick Ballard, works for one of the two architectural firms recently hired to design the $70-$80 million museum.

This is by no means the first time issues have arisen regarding Clyburn’s propensity for earmarks:

In 2006, Clyburn was scrutinized by The (Myrtle Beach) Sun News for setting aside federal money for the Five Rivers community development organization, which hired the same nephew to design a building and reportedly paid the firm nearly $70,000 for initial work, though the building was never completed.

Five Rivers also employed Clyburn’s brother, Charles Clyburn.

Clyburn said the federal money he earmarked for Five Rivers was never appropriated, and he didn’t know of his relatives’ involvement with the organization, but he said that’s just the sort of appearance of impropriety he’s trying to avoid with the International African American Museum.

“There was no substance to it, but a lot of headlines,” he said.

Ballard works for Antoine Predock of Albuquerque, N.M., a nationally recognized architectural firm that teamed up with Moody Nolan of Columbus, Ohio, the nation’s largest black-owned architectural firm, to win the contract to design the International African American Museum. He could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon.

Rita Scott, vice chairwoman of the museum’s board, said board members were unaware the Predock firm employed a relative of Clyburn’s when the firm was selected.

Really? They had NO idea that the nephew of an incredibly POWERFUL Congerssional Representative from THIS DISTRICT worked for this particular architectural firm?? Well, of course not! The vice chairwoman continued:

“None of us knew,” Scott said. “It was a firm that we unanimously felt was the right firm.”

Evidently.

Not that the architectural firm is not a good one, it is:

Predock won the American Institute of Architects’ national gold medal in 2006, and Moody Nolan principal Curt Moody won the AIA Ohio gold medal in 2007.

The museum’s architect selection committee, which includes Charleston Mayor Joe Riley, unanimously picked the Moody/Predock team in February after interviewing three other finalists.

It is just a tad unbelievable that NO ONE KNEW, especially after the Five Rivers situation. It never occurred to ANYONE to consider that maybe, just maybe, the same nephew from the Five Rivers project, an ARCHITECT, might just have something to do with this other MAJOR project that received a huge earmark? Seriously?? I mean, I know we’re here in South Cackalacki with its really, really low academic rating (I’m kinda joking, but sadly too serious abt how far down SC is in terms of education in the country), but still - you would think SOMEONE would have thought to ask the question! Just sayin’ and all - you’d think the question would come up.

But, no. The question didn’t come up. And now we know that Rep. Clyburn, one of Obama’s big cheerleaders, and the HOUSE WHIP, no less, thinks it is his CONSTITUTIONAL MANDATE to push pork into the Federal Budget for his district. Wow. You know, come to think of it, maybe it should never have been a surprise that Clyburn would back Obama, and try to tear down both Bill and Hillary along the way. The more I learn about him and how he operates, he seems like the perfect Obama supporter, don’t you think?

Rep.: Half of House Dems may vote Hillary at DNC

By AMIE PARNES & BEN SMITH | 8/15/08 5:58 PM EST:

On Friday, the Obama campaign confirmed that the floor vote in Denver, intended to assuage Clinton supporters still stewing over her narrow loss, will be conducted as a state-by-state roll call. (Um, NO - we are not stewing over “her narrow loss,” we are stewing at loss of democratic process; voter theft, fraud, and intimidation; and caucus irregularities, to name just a few.)

Rep. Loretta Sanchez says she’s happy for the chance to vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton at the Democratic National Convention — and she predicts that as many as half of the Democrats in the House could join her. (WOOHOO!!!! About damn time y’all got yourselves some backbone!!! Not you, Rep. Sanchez - you have always been a stand-up woman!)

Just how many former Clinton supporters will vote for the former first lady during the symbolic first ballot is anybody’s guess, but each of them will be called upon to do so — whether they want to or not.

On Friday, the Obama campaign confirmed that the floor vote in Denver, intended to assuage Clinton supporters still stewing over her narrow loss, will be conducted as a state-by-state roll call. Under proposed convention bylaws, delegates would be forced to register their votes on a tally sheet with the convention secretary — the rules could be altered or suspended before the start of the convention.

“By putting her name in nomination, you’re putting people on the spot,” said former delegate counter Matt Seyfang, adding a second potential drawback: “Having a roll call … just chews into your broadcast time.” (Oh, dear, goddess - yes, that bothersome little democratic process is so TIME consuming! Don’t the little people know it is all about OBAMA?!?!?! We cannot be bothered with things like actual VOTES and a smidgen of transparency!! C’mon, already - sheesh!!)

Lower-key options were available. For example, Clinton’s name could have been entered into nomination, followed by laudatory speeches, ending with her release of delegates to Obama and proposal that he be nomination by acclamation, Seyfang said.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said the “mechanics” of the roll call vote are still being worked out, but he conceded that Clinton probably will garner many votes on the first ballot. (”Mechanics”?? You mean, like how much they can strong-arm Clinton to just throw over her delegates to The One as quickly as possible without letting it LOOK like that is what they are doing?)

For Obama’s camp, the roll call is a ritual that will defuse any potential tension with Clinton or her supporters without affecting the outcome or the theater of Obama’s dramatic nomination. (Oh, I see - the whole roll call thing isn’t really a necessary part of the Democratic, or even Republican, Party electing its nominee, it is simply a “ritual”! Well, I have to tell you, I have learned something new today! All along, I thought the “ritual” of the roll call was to allow the respective delegates to vote for their candidate, thus representing the actual will of the people. Silly me!!! What a goof…)

Said Sanchez: “I believe there are a lot of supporters for Hillary among the superdelegates, especially now that they’ve agreed to place her name in nomination. I think half the House Democrats would probably be Hillary supporters, especially women. … I felt she was the most experienced and the best candidate and I still feel that way.” (Hell to the YES!!!)

Clinton herself has said she plans to vote for Obama. (Honestly, what else is she going to say? Poor thing - she is so between a rock and a hard place…)

A longtime Clinton adviser said it was “crazy” to guess at numbers but estimated that the former first lady would garner between 600 and 1,200 delegates — considerably short of the approximately 1,800 she had collected at the time of her departure from the race in early June.

“It’s a bizarre strategy,” said one Democratic strategist of the roll call. “It could backfire and show that her influence is waning. Chances are, she’s not going to have as many delegates vote for her on the floor as she had in the primary.”

Indeed, many Hillary diehards, including at least one member of the New York delegation, are reluctant to vote for Clinton after switching over to Obama.

“I think that most superdelegates, including myself, are going for Obama,” said New York Rep. Anthony Weiner, who campaigned with Clinton around the country. “I made my decision for Obama, and I’m not switching again.”

Other onetime Clinton backers are reluctant to reverse course for fear of angering their black constituents.

“My boss is totally conflicted about it — and pissed Hillary is putting us in this position,” said a congressional staffer for another New York House member. “We still haven’t made up our mind and I don’t know when we are going to.” (I’m sorry, s/he’s PISSED that HILLARY is putting him/her in this position?!?!? Golly gee willkers, pal - that democratic process thing just SUCKS for you, doesn’t it?? You are mad at HER for what, getting the majority of popular votes so that you might have to actually take a stand and piss some people off? Wowie zowie - you poor little things. But see, this was never supposed to be a SELECTION anyway, so for people to act like Obama should get it just so the AA community doesn’t get pissed off is just plain cowardice. And it’s insulting. To the AA community and the rest of us. This is NOT American Idol - really. It is about the highest job in all the land, and voting for the least competent candidate ever is a sacred duty. It is not one to be used to placate people who might get MAD at you if you vote the way the majority of people voted. Again, it’s called a SPINE - look into it, Congressional Staffer. Oh, and stop the blaming of HILLARY for being the candidate the PEOPLE want! That is assholic on oh-so-many-levels. Talk about blaming the victim - good grief.)

Another New York delegate, speaking on condition of anonymity, predicted that as much as 30 percent to 40 percent of the New York delegation would pick Clinton over Obama during the symbolic vote.

Obama’s decision to accept a roll call vote, which came after weeks of talks with the Clinton camp, doesn’t mean he’ll let the process get out of hand, observers say. (I’m sorry, does this say Obama is going to ACCEPT a roll call vote?!?!?! Oh, what a great guy! He is actually going to allow a DEMOCRATIC process that has existed for over a hundred years to take place?? How benevolent of him. Cough. Choke. Gimme a break already - this is the way Conventions are SUPPOSED to work. If a candidate with 1 delegate can be on a ballot, the only question is why they thought Clinton SHOULD NOT HAVE been in the first place!!!! THAT is the question, not how magnanimous Obama is being by following PROTOCOL!! What is WRONG with these people?!?!?!?)

“The convention is about nominating Barack, so his people want to speed through the vote as fast as possible so it won’t take too much TV time,” said a Democratic delegate who plans to vote for Clinton. “They also want to avoid a scenario where she’s leading at any point.” (Again, silly me. I thought the Convention was about nominating the candidate who is best for the country, the one for whom the majority of people voted. I did not realize before this year that the DNC has become synonymous with Barack Obama. I still cannot wrap my head around how this fledgling senator, with virtually no record, dangerous associates, and astonishing secrecy who will not even provide his REAL birth certificate, is the one the DNC hand-picked. It just boggles my mind. But this convention, this “show,” is all about OBAMA, not the Democratic National Party, or so it appears. What a tragedy that the DNC is morphing into the RNC. I never thought I’d see the day, and I sure wish I never had…)

(Additional reporting by Glenn Thrush.)

While most folks accept that Obama was born in the U.S. of an American mother, it is increasingly suggestive that he may have shared Kenyan citizenship from his father, then when his mother remarried, was adopted and became an Indonesian citizen. In the latter, a school record clearly lists his citizenship as Indonesian. This would seem consistent with his adoption and the family move to Indonesia.

Obama has not addressed this. His offered birth certificate is being questioned by a number of folks who claim it is a forgery. It is suggested that his original birth certificate was sealed and replaced by a new one upon his adoption and move to Indonesia. It is suggested that in addition to his new name, Barry Soetoro, his adopted father and his mother changed his citizenship to Indonesia. Surely there will be records of this somewhere but I’ve yet to see anything beyond the notes about the sealed original birth certificate, the new one, a copy allegedly issued in 2007, an original that Obama wrote he held, and comments about the adoption in 1965 or 1966. I have not seen anything definitive on any of this to show it is anything more than speculation.

A photograph of an Indonesian school record, taken in January 2007 purportedly shows Obama as Barry Soetoro, religion as Islam, and citizenship as Indonesian. I have personally emailed AP and the current host of this image (Daylife) seeking confirmation that this image is legit. I’ve even called the latter but it does not appear that anyone answers the phones and voicemail messages have so far not been returned. I’m very suspicious of this document, even though it shows that it’s been posted for 18 months, it’s discovery now and content is very timely and explosive. Consider too that Daylife management include previous members of Edwards and Kerry’s campaigns, plus the DNC. This document could be a fake to stir up and embarrass those opposing Obama. I have received confirmation from Matthew Lutts at AP at 3:44 p.m. ET that “Yes, the image is legit.”

There are numerous sites now linking to and discussing this document. An early source is so-called TexasDarlin in his/her blog of the same name. [SusanUnPC's Note: It was not the intention of Larry Johnson or me in any way to criticize TexasDarlin's dogged, extensive work on these issues. We know her, and have spoken to her on the telephone. Since I haven't been able to reach Matthew after posting this, I am including this note, and trust he does not object. I find his story to be very worthwhile. He sent it to us late last night, when Larry and I were both exhausted and had too many other matters we were dealing with. We apologize to TexasDarlin for any offense, but we also respect Matthew's considerable research abilities and his superlative writing skills.] As they are anonymous, I distrust what they write. As of this afternoon, though, they do link to an AP article by Nedra Pickler via The Washington Post regarding the school record. The focus there was disputing the labeled religion but not the citizenship. Religion was and for some is still the hot-button issue. The question of citizenship is far more important and has constitutional and electability implications that make this worthy of revisiting.

Two other sites offer more cautious review of the school record and its implications:

• Change & Experience. Which is also, like TexasDarlin, anonymous, but offers more careful and even balanced discussion of the school record.
• Andy Martin, author of “Obama: The Man Behind the Mask”, offers a cautious analysis of the document and its implications.

This does put the legitimacy of Obama’s candidacy and eligibility to be president in question. I think Obama needs to provide unequivocal answers to a number of questions:

1. Are you now a U.S. citizen?
2. Have you ever held as a youth or adult, citizenship in another country?
3. Did you ever possess or travel using, at least in part, the passport of another country? (E.g., while in Indonesia, visiting Pakistan, Kenya)
4. Did you renounce any foreign citizenship, and when, and do you now hold solely U.S. citizenship today?
5. Can you confirm or deny your name change as a youth from Barack Hussein Obama II to Barry Soetoro when you were adopted by your step-father?
6. Did you legally reclaim your birth name? When and how?
7. Why did you not list your adopted name Barry Soetoro on any forms associated with your legal profession or others that ask for any other names you have ever used? Have you now or will you update these records?
8. And by the way, did you register with the U.S. Selective Service when you turned 18?

I am sure these questions can be better worded, especially to extract clear yes/no answers, and I am also sure that there are other pertinent questions that might be asked at the same time. I do think that now, or later in the campaign, these questions will be asked again and again and that eventually Obama will be forced to answer. I’d prefer that now so that the Democratic party and delegates to the convention can make an informed choice when they vote for Obama or Clinton as the party nominee.

Matthew Weaver

The Independent Review

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UPDATE:

I just want to add a clarification to my post. In referencing TexasDarlin and noting his/her anonymity, I meant no disrespect, nor did I dispute what they have written. (For the record, I have also written comments in the past at TexasDarlin site directly.) My point is simply that I personally question anonymous posts and blogs because they lack a name and face behind them. As we see too much of on the Internet today anybody can post just about anything without the slightest chance of being held accountable. I recognize that, as Susan writes here and as both Larry and her have written previously, they have had contact with TexasDarlin and are comfortable with trusting TexasDarlin is legit. Fine. I was not in anyway suggesting this was in error and, again, no disrepect intended.

– Matthew Weaver