{"id":1629,"date":"2008-06-01T04:04:47","date_gmt":"2008-06-01T04:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/?p=1629"},"modified":"2017-08-17T04:22:38","modified_gmt":"2017-08-17T04:22:38","slug":"accepting-responsibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/accepting-responsibility\/","title":{"rendered":"Accepting Responsibility"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I spent most of Saturday watching the Democratic National Committee Rules Committee debate the fate of Michigan and Florida\u2019s democratic primary delegates.\u00a0\u00a0I know, I know\u2014for many of us, watching my toenails grow may have been more entertaining.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/08\/dnc1.jpg?resize=403%2C268&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"403\" height=\"268\" \/>Nevertheless, I am fascinated by election processes.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m proud of the RO Model UN program which boasts a belief in honesty and transparency in governance.\u00a0\u00a0Not surprisingly, I share those ideals.\u00a0\u00a0So, for those of you who find it all confusing, here are some salient points from the process (clearly edited in detail!) and my take on the issue.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Spring 2007:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0The long debate with the Democrat continues and intensifies:\u00a0\u00a0Why should Iowa and New Hampshire always have the first primaries?\u00a0Why should they always claim the national attention and set the course for the remainder of the primary season?\u00a0\u00a0Wouldn\u2019t it be more fair to let other states have a chance?\u00a0\u00a0Perhaps rotate the primaries? However, in Michigan, since we are now about to begin a primary election season, members of the Michigan Democrats propose we move our primary earlier in the calendar to \u201cforce\u201d the DNC (National committee) to reform.<\/li>\n<li><strong>May 2007:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0The DNC warns Michigan and Florida clearly:\u00a0\u00a0If you change the dates on your own, attempting to usurp the national rules, your delegates will not count at the National Convention.\u00a0\u00a0Again, the rules are the rules.\u00a0\u00a0If Michigan and Florida break the rules, their votes will be forfeit.\u00a0\u00a0Michigan holds off changing its primary date until it sees what happens to Florida.\u00a0On May 21, Florida moves its primary to January<\/li>\n<li><strong><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/04\/obama8.jpg?resize=230%2C287&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"230\" height=\"287\" \/><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/08\/clinton.jpg?resize=239%2C289&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"239\" height=\"289\" \/><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>August 25, 2007:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0The DNC strips Florida of its delegates, exactly as promised.\u00a0\u00a0It gives Florida 30 days to change its\u00a0mind and move back to the date established by the rules.<\/li>\n<li><strong>August 30, 2007:<\/strong>\u00a0Michigan\u2019s congress, at the behest of its Democrats, send a bill to Governor Granholm to move its date to January 15.<\/li>\n<li><strong>September 1, 2007:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Clinton, Obama, and Edwards sign a pledge to skip states which break the DNC rules.<\/li>\n<li><strong>September 4, 2007:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Granholm signs the bill, officially moving the date to Jan. 15.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Dec. 1, 2007:<\/strong>\u00a0The DNC strips Michigan of its delegates, exactly as promised.<\/li>\n<li><strong>January 2008:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Michigan and Florida hold their illegal primaries.\u00a0\u00a0Clinton wins both, but in Michigan, there are numerous votes for \u201cUncommitted\u201d and illegal \u201cwrite-in\u201d ballots.<\/li>\n<li><strong>April 4, 2008:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Michigan concludes that it is unable to run a new primary, both for financial and logistical reasons.<\/li>\n<li><strong>May 27, 2008:<\/strong>\u00a0DNC lawyers say the DNC Rules Committee has the authority to seat delegates from Michigan and Florida, but not without penalty.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This weekend, the DNC Rules Committee split the votes of Michigan and Florida in various fractions to allow them to sit at the National Convention with \u00bd vote each.\u00a0\u00a0Clinton supporters are upset that Clinton was not offered more delegates than were awarded her.<\/p>\n<p>I won\u2019t debate the fractions here, though trying to guess what Michigan\u2019s \u201cUncommitted\u201d votes were (let alone what might have happened if all Michigan\u2019s Democrats had voted in a legal primary rather than an illegal one or if they had voted Democrat instead of Republican since Michigan\u2019s primaries are open) is hardly an enviable position.\u00a0\u00a0I spent my Saturday morning listening to the speeches.\u00a0\u00a0And then DNC Rules Committee member Donna Brazille told former Michigan Governor Jim Blanchard:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cYou have to play by the rules.\u201d<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/08\/brazille.jpg?w=1080&#038;ssl=1\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m afraid it\u2019s as simple as that.\u00a0\u00a0Rules can be biased, processes unfair.\u00a0\u00a0But the time to correct these are between moments of crisis, not after candidates discover that the rules aren\u2019t working to their own benefit.\u00a0\u00a0The rules were simple:\u00a0\u00a0hold an illegal primary and you lose the delegates.\u00a0Michigan held an illegal primary.\u00a0\u00a0The role of the DNC Rules Committee is to interpret these rules and enforce them.<\/p>\n<p>CNN roles tape of crying Democrats who claim that democracy is ruined.\u00a0\u00a0Nonsense.\u00a0\u00a0As a voter (who voted \u201cUncommitted\u201d on January 15) I walked into the booth knowing that I was likely voting in complete futility.\u00a0\u00a0Other voters may not have realized this.\u00a0\u00a0But ignorance of the law is no excuse for violating it (so say our courts over and over).\u00a0\u00a0Do I blame the DNC for making my vote worthless?\u00a0\u00a0Not a bit.\u00a0\u00a0They stated their position\u2014and, by the way, they\u2019re in charge.<\/p>\n<p>Blame the rule-breakers.\u00a0\u00a0Blame those who knew fully what would happen, who in late August and early September watched the DNC strip Florida of its delegates and who rolled the dice anyway, despite what I might have wanted.\u00a0\u00a0Were Michigan voters asked about their preference for primaries?\u00a0\u00a0The fact is, some Michigan Democratic leaders gambled with my vote and lost.<\/p>\n<p>The DNC may have a flawed system for primaries (and I wouldn\u2019t argue its fairness), but it\u2019s right to defend that system now.<\/p>\n<p>But isn\u2019t democracy at stake?\u00a0\u00a0Shouldn\u2019t all votes be counted, as Clinton supporters ask?\u00a0\u00a0Surely.\u00a0But at this moment in the party\u2019s crisis, counting those votes fairly is an impossibility.\u00a0\u00a0There was no solution for the DNC Rules Committee that could be entirely fair and accurate.\u00a0\u00a0The only solution which could be supported by a fair and open process is to do exactly what the DNC said would happen all along:\u00a0\u00a0discount the votes in an illegal election.<\/p>\n<p>Election reform is a necessity (and not just in the DNC).\u00a0\u00a0Democracy is as much about honesty and transparency (which are enforcement mechanisms for legitimacy and fairness) as it is about votes.\u00a0Don\u2019t forget, Saddam Hussein always won his elections in landslide victories to record voter turnout.\u00a0\u00a0Voting alone is not democracy.<\/p>\n<p>I am not losing sleep over my semi-lost vote on January 15, and I am not overly concerned about the end of democracy in the United States\u2014that is, if we place responsibility for the Democratic mess in Michigan soundly where it belongs, upon the elected leaders who gambled with our votes for political points.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Want to know who the primary players are?\u00a0Here is the short list with links on how to contact them. Holding leaders accountable is critical to democracy, too.<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Debbie Dingell, wife of congressman John Dingell and DNC member:<a href=\"mailto:debbieforwsu@debbiedingell.com\">debbieforwsu@debbiedingell.com<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Senator Carl Levin:<a href=\"https:\/\/levin.senate.gov\/contact\/index.cfm\">https:\/\/levin.senate.gov\/contact\/index.cfm<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Governor Jennifer Granholm, who signed the bill:<a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigan.gov\/gov\/0,1607,7-168-21995-65331--,00.html\">https:\/\/www.michigan.gov\/gov\/0,1607,7-168-21995-65331&#8211;,00.html<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I spent most of Saturday watching the Democratic National Committee Rules Committee debate the fate of Michigan and Florida\u2019s democratic primary delegates.\u00a0\u00a0I know, I know\u2014for many of us, watching my toenails grow may have been more entertaining. Nevertheless, I am fascinated by election processes.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m proud of the RO Model UN program which boasts a belief [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1633,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[247,256],"tags":[539,536,533,534,535,538,537],"class_list":["post-1629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chizblog","category-politics-and-ethics","tag-539","tag-delegates","tag-dnc","tag-election","tag-president","tag-rules","tag-vote"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/08\/votes.jpg?fit=448%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1671,"url":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/the-west-wind-is-rhetoric\/","url_meta":{"origin":1629,"position":0},"title":"The West Wind is Rhetoric","author":"Steve Chisnell","date":"2008 Oct 12","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cHe\u2019s an Arab,\u201d she said of Obama.\u00a0\u00a0And poor Senator John McCain quickly took away the microphone, shaking his head. Senator McCain then did exactly what he needed to do: he described Obama as a decent man with whom he had drastically different opinions.\u00a0\u00a0Sadder still, the Republican crowd booed his remarks.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ChizBlog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ChizBlog","link":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/category\/chizblog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/08\/mccain2.jpg?fit=432%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":804,"url":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/unique\/","url_meta":{"origin":1629,"position":1},"title":"Unique","author":"Steve Chisnell","date":"2008 Sep 9","format":false,"excerpt":"I was as surprised as the next guy at seeing a too-familiar phrase on the entryway to ROHS this fall.\u00a0\u00a0Sure, there\u2019s still a little sting we feel when we see something which feels uniquely Kimball or uniquely Dondero: three years later, and we still step carefully around each other\u2019s loyalties\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ChizBlog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ChizBlog","link":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/category\/chizblog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/04\/030209_0334_MeasuringSe8.jpg?fit=367%2C276&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":802,"url":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/on-tasers-and-free-speech\/","url_meta":{"origin":1629,"position":2},"title":"On Tasers and Free Speech","author":"Steve Chisnell","date":"2007 Sep 24","format":false,"excerpt":"University of Florida\u2019s Andrew Meyer was tasered by campus police for resisting arrest following his questioning of Senator John Kerry at a recent seminar.\u00a0\u00a0The story\u00a0is, of course, all over the internet and news\u2014especially\u00a0YouTube\u2014in part for the questions of free speech it raises but also for his now t-shirted and coffee-mugged\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ChizBlog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ChizBlog","link":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/category\/chizblog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2007\/09\/Andrew-Meyer-gets-tased-by-the-police-Sept.-17-2007-8x6.jpg?fit=450%2C350&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1703,"url":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/cuba-socialism-and-trust\/","url_meta":{"origin":1629,"position":3},"title":"Cuba: Socialism and Trust","author":"Steve Chisnell","date":"2011 Jul 11","format":false,"excerpt":"This, then, is the great humanistic and historical task of the oppressed: to liberate themselves and their oppressors as well. . . . In order for this struggle to have meaning, the oppressed must not, in seeking to regain their humanity (which is a way to create it), become in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ChizBlog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ChizBlog","link":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/category\/chizblog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2011\/07\/cuba4b.jpg?fit=400%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":803,"url":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/news-and-neutrality\/","url_meta":{"origin":1629,"position":4},"title":"News and Neutrality","author":"Steve Chisnell","date":"2007 Oct 1","format":false,"excerpt":"Someone, perhaps Neil Postman, said that the media doesn't tell\u00a0us what to think, but it tells us what to think about.\u00a0 In the early US, many journalists styled themselves as \"Watchdogs for Democracy,\" charged with investigating corruption and protecting human rights through the press. Later, journalists called themselves \"objective,\" claiming\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ChizBlog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ChizBlog","link":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/category\/chizblog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2007\/10\/negative-news-media.jpg?fit=600%2C224&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2007\/10\/negative-news-media.jpg?fit=600%2C224&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2007\/10\/negative-news-media.jpg?fit=600%2C224&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":794,"url":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/opportunity-and-anxiety\/","url_meta":{"origin":1629,"position":5},"title":"Opportunity and Anxiety","author":"Steve Chisnell","date":"2011 Jan 30","format":false,"excerpt":"As I write this, Hosni Mubarak's resignation video plays on YouTube. It's a surreal idea, imagining somehow that I can recline on my sofa with a laptop and witness an historic moment of regime change from a major US ally. And since I am watching it virtually as a \"live\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ChizBlog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ChizBlog","link":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/category\/chizblog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/04\/021211_0321_Opportunity2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1629"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1634,"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1629\/revisions\/1634"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chisnell.com\/chizblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}