Thanks to Big Tent Democrat for keeping us up to date on Florida and Michigan.

As for other news, check out the new ACLU blog. Lots of bloggers including Christy of Firedoglake, McJoan of Daily Kos, Marcy (Empty Wheel), Nicole of Crooks and Liars and Glenn Greenwald of Salon have posts up on torture.

My post is "The Unfriendly Skies of Ghost Air."

Colorado is under tornado watches and warnings today. A few have already hit down, the University of Northern Colorado is on lockdown. The city of Windsor so far has gotten hit the worst. At one school, they evacuated the kids and put them in the vault at the bank next door. Baseball size hail is expected. Denver right now is fine, but we're on a tornado watch too and severe thunderstorms with hail are coming. 40,000 are without power. The local tv stations have suspended regular programming to cover it.

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I do not imagine he is inspired by anything but the purest of principles, otherwise the tender sensibilities of Josh Marshall might be bruised, but here is Barack Obama on the Florida delegates:

Delving deeper into Florida's Democratic delegate debacle than he ever has to date, Sen. Barack Obama said Wednesday that "a very reasonable solution" would be to count Florida's disputed primary votes and cut the state's delegation to the convention in half.

I am not sure what principle Obama is defending here, but I am sure Josh Marshall is proud of Obama''s principled stand. Politics is surely not involved in Obama's position. Never. No way. Otherwise, Josh's feelings might be hurt.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Comments closed

Just so I understand the Obama blog argument, they say that calling for counting the votes is the most vile, most outrageous, most heinous act in the history of politics. Did I get that right?

But now for the $64 question, does Obama agree?

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I am confident Josh Marshall will tremble in outrage at this blatant violation of the DNC rules. Via Corrente, Marcy Wheeler explains:

The Democratic Party's charter requires that the Party:

Establish standards and rules of procedure to afford all members of the Democratic Party full, timely and equal opportunities to participate in decisions concerning the selection of candidates, ... and further, to promote fair campaign practices and the fair adjudication of disputes. (Charter, Article I, Section 4)

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Can people get more silly than this?

The evidence is simply overwhelming that Sen. Clinton didn't think [Florida and Michigan] was a problem at all -- until it became a vehicle to provide a rationale for her continued campaign. [This is obviously false by the way. she was using this politically since the beginning of January. Ask Markos.]

Now, that's politics. One day you're on one side of an issue, the next you're on the other, all depending on the tactical necessities of the moment. But that's not what Clinton is doing. She's elevating it to a level of principle . . .

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SUSA says Obama beats McCain:

VIRGINIA

Obama 49
McCain 42

No Clinton polling. Still, this is good news.

By Big Tent Democrat

I will live blog the Clinton campaign conference call on the Florida/Michigan controversy. Expected to speak are Howard Wolfson and Harold Ickes. Given Ickes' role in stripping the delegates, we can expect very pointed questions to be directed at him. Harold is a sharp as hell bulldog. Should be fun to see how he responds.

The live blogging will be below the fold.

Courtesy of the Q Poll.

FLORIDA

Obama 41
McCain 45

Clinton 48
McCain 41

By Big Tent Democrat

an important blogger and Newsweek columnist wrote this:

Clinton was the only top-tier candidate to refuse the ultimate Iowa and New Hampshire pander by removing her name from the Michigan ballot. That makes her essentially the de facto winner since Edwards and Obama, caving to the cry babies in Iowa and New Hampshire, took their name off Michigan's ballot. Sure, the DNC has stripped Michigan of its delegates, but that won't last through the convention. The last thing Democrats can afford is to alienate swing states like Michigan and Florida by refusing to seat their delegates.

So while Obama and Edwards kneecap their chances of winning, Clinton is single-mindedly focused on the goal.

(Emphasis supplied.) Now that the preferred candidate of that important blogger and Newsweek columnist is the almost certain nominee, I hope that important blogger and Newsweek columnist joins me in urging the DNC to do the right thing and the smart thing on May 31, seat the Florida and Michigan delegations. Let's all work to avoid "kneecapping" the Democratic nominee's chances in November.

Speaking for me only.

Todd Beeton skillfully skewers Obama supporter and math whiz Poblano on his shocking discovery that political campaigns engage in . . . politics:

Notice the loaded language [describing the Clinton campaign] ..."conspired"...[against the pledged delegate meme] Now, I'm not saying the milestone is entirely meaningless, all I'm saying is let's call it what it is: a meme pushed out by the Obama camp to influence superdelegates and the media and to manipulate public perception. . . . Look, the second it became clear that pledged delegates alone were not going to win the nomination for either Obama or Clinton, the use of psychological warfare was fair game; it's superdelegates' jobs to be influenced by things like popular vote, majority of pledged delegates and electability and as far as I'm concerned it's the campaigns' jobs to try to use any argument at their disposal to make the case to them.

MORE . . .

If you are curious about who is on the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee that will be deciding on Florida and Michigan, here's the list with their affiliations. (Don't laugh, it lists Donna Brazile as "uncommitted")

The tally: Hillary has 13 supporters, Obama 8 and 7, in addition to the 2 co-chairs have not yet endorsed. The member from Florida is an Obama supporter. One of the co-chairs, Alexis Herman, was one of Bill Clinton's cabinet members.

Co-Chairs - no endorsement
Alexis Herman (co-chair, Washington , D.C. )
James Roosevelt, Jr. (co-chair, Massachusetts )

Members - Clinton supporters (13)

Hartina Flournay (DC)
Donald Fowler (SC)
Harold Ickes, Jr. (DC)
Alice Huffman (CA)
Ben Johnson (DC)
Elaine Kamarck (MA)
Eric Kleinfeld (DC)
Mona Pasquil (CA)
Mame Reiley (VA)
Garry Shay (CA)
Elizabeth Smith (DC)
Michael Steed (MD)
Jaime Gonzalez, Jr. (TX)

Members - Obama supporters (8) [More...]

Tom Petty, 1991, I Won't Back Down

Hear that DNC?

This is an open thread.