Democratic National Committee Needs to Re-Read Their Rules: They Can Only Take Half of Michigan's and Florida's Delegates Away

Rule 20.C.1.a. of the Delegate Selection Rules for the 2008 Democratic National Convention:

Violation of timing:

In the event the Delegate Selection Plan of a state party provides or permits a meeting, caucus, convention or primary which constitutes the first determining stage in the presidential nominating process to be held prior to or after the dates for the state as provided in Rule 11 of these rules, or in the event a state holds such a meeting, caucus, convention or primary prior to or after such dates, the number of pledged delegates elected in each category allocated to the state pursuant to the Call for the National Convention shall be reduced by fifty (50%) percent, and the number of alternates shall also be reduced by fifty (50%) percent. In addition, none of the members of the Democratic National Committee and no other unpledged delegate allocated pursuant to Rule 8.A. from that state shall be permitted to vote as members of the state’s delegation. In determining the actual number of delegates or alternates by which the state’s delegation is to be reduced, any fraction below .5 shall be rounded down to the nearest whole number, and any fraction of .5 or greater shall be rounded up to the next nearest whole number.

And yet more DNC violations of their own rules:

Rule 11A:

No meetings, caucuses, conventions or primaries which constitute the first determining stage in the presidential nomination process (the date of the primary in primary states, and the date of the first tier caucus in caucus states) may be held prior to the first Tuesday in February or after the second Tuesday in June in the calendar year of the national convention. Provided, however, that the Iowa precinct caucuses may be held no earlier than 22 days before the first Tuesday in February; that the Nevada first-tier caucuses may be held no earlier than 17 days before the first Tuesday in February; that the New Hampshire primary may be held no earlier than 14 days before the first Tuesday in February; and that the South Carolina primary may be held no earlier than 7 days before the first Tuesday in February. In no instance may a state which scheduled delegate selection procedures on or between the first Tuesday in February and the second Tuesday in June 1984 move out of compliance with the provisions of this rule.

So, let's see:

Iowa held their primary/caucus on January 3rd, which was 33 days before the first Tuesday in February. The rule above states that they can hold their primary no earlier than 22 days before the first Tuesday in Febuary. Iowa violated the rules.

New Hampshire held it's primary on January 8th, which was 28 days before the first Tuesday in February. The rule above states that they can hold their primary no earlier than 14 days before the first Tuesday in February. New Hampshire also violated the rules.

Michigan and Florida held their respective primaries on January 15th, which is three weeks earlier than the first Tuesday in February. Michigan and Florida both violated the rules. Both states acknowledge that point.

South Carolina held it's primary on January 26th, which was 10 days before the first Tuesday in February. The above rule states that they can hold their primary 7 days before first Tuesday. South Carolina violated the rules as well.

So, five states violated party rules on timing of their primaries. All five states got stripped of 50% of their delegates and lost all of their superdelegates. Right? WRONG!

Three states escaped punishment entirely. Two states lost ALL of their delegates and superdelegates, which isn't covered in the rules.

The DNC seems to have a problem in applying the rules equally and fairly. It's another sign of how corrupt the DNC leadership is. If they continue on their current course and deny Florida and Michigan their guaranteed votes that are provided for in their own rules, they run the risk of losing major support in both states. Both states have gone Republican in the past before; do they really want a repeat performance?

Start following your own rules, DNC.

Congress Keeps Overstepping It's Constitutional Boundaries: Pelosi Trip Was Most Recent Example

The shredding of the Constitution continues.

Now that the Bush Administration has been forced to stop doing it, Congress has started doing it themselves.

Congress needs to be reminded that the White House is in charge of day-to-day diplomacy with foreign nations. There is one branch of government that carries on diplomacy with other nations--not two with 536 Presidents (535 in Congress plus the real one in the White House).

Congress can ratify or reject treaties, vote on foreign aid appropriations and regulate commerce with other governments. There is no provision in Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution for Congress to conduct foreign relations.

Article 2 Section 3 of the Constitution provides for the President to receive Ambassadors of foreign nations (and to conduct diplomacy) on behalf of the entire nation.

Pelosi's trip violated the spirit of the Constitution; but all it really did was showcase her grandstanding. If the Democrats want their foreign policy to be paramount, they have to win the Presidency in an election first. Not before.

FBI Admits Violating Patriot Act: A Blind Man Could Have Seen This Coming

The FBI has been caught violating the Patriot Act as was predicted.

Whenever you give unlimited power to any person or agency, unlimited abuses will follow. And that's exactly what's happened when the FBI got caught with its hand in the cookie jar by an audit.

"I told you so" doesn't seem to cover it. See my rants throughout 2005 and 2006 on the Patriot Act. I had dropped my overall opposition to the Act in December 2005, but warned that concerns remained about abuses of power.

The question now becomes: how many other agencies have done this too?

Time to start marking up the Patriot Act. It's overdue.

And they had better not think the bad publicity will go away if the FBI director resigns, either. It's going to make the FBI look even worse than it already does.