Huffington Post writer and political commentator Cliff Schecter and I did a segment today on MSNBC on the heated nature of the discourse in the blogosphere between bloggers supporting Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Skippy has an excellent summary and take on it.

Both Cliff and I opined the blogosphere will come together to support whichever Democrat is nominated. It was a very friendly segment. I'm sure the producers were disappointed. They were hoping for fireworks between an "Obama blogger" and a "Hillary blogger" and they got a unified front.

More...

Time for an open thread, you take the reins and pick the topics. There's war news, economy news, crime and justice news, politics, take your pick.

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

Via Ambinder, the Trinity UCC (the Wright church in Chicago) issues this statement:

[T]he Reverend Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr.’s character is being assassinated in the public sphere because he has preached a social gospel on behalf of oppressed women, children, and men in America and around the globe.”

(Emphasis supplied.) In my view, this is the wrong approach for the church to take, as it is false and fails to condemn Wright's offensive remarks. I defer to Barack Obama:

For the past week, I've refused to allow comments about Rev. Jeremiah Wright because the comments section became filled with accusations about racism and this site doesn't allow such accusations, name-calling or personal attacks. I just didn't want to spend the time monitoring comments when I could be spending that time blogging or on other activities. I still don't.

But, I'm hoping the emotionalism has died down and I'm now willing to give readers a chance to express their views, so long as they don't call people racists or engage in personal attacks on each other or public figures.

This is an experiment. It's an open thread where all topics are welcome. Let's see what happens. I hope it stays civil.

Update: Comments well over 200, our usual limit. Time to close the thread. Thanks everyone.

By Big Tent Democrat

About mail in primaries, David Axelrod said:

[O]bviously there are concerns about a mail-in vote. I mean, there are concerns about eligibility, ballot security[.]

(Emphasis mine.) Never mind that Barack Obama is a proponent of mail in balloting. It gets funny when Hillary Clinton is concerned about voter eligibility and signature verification. This top rated DKos diary claims attempted disenfranchisement by Clinton. Citing the Dallas Morning News:

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only.

Nancy Pelosi argues for thwarting the will of the people:

Political prognosticators give Clinton more of a chance of catching, or even surpassing, Obama in the national popular vote but Pelosi argued that super delegates should follow the pledged-delegate, not the popular-vote, leader.

"But what if one candidate has won the popular vote and the other candidate has won the delegates?" asked Stephanopoulos. "But it's a delegate race," Pelosi replied. "The way the system works is that the delegates choose the nominee."

(Emphasis supplied.) It is a delegate race. Neither candidate will have won enough selected delegates to secure the nomination. The super delegates will decide this nomination. Pelosi argues that considering the will of the people is illegitimate. In my opinion, Nancy Pelosi has declared herself illegitimate as an honest broker in this race. She clearly is an Obama supporter. Everyone knows this. And her arguments go beyond anything I have heard from Obama or any of his surrogates. She has been awful. She is no elder statesman. She is a hack. And not a particularly good one.

By Big Tent Democrat

Matt Stoller writes:

Obama is not a part of any progressive fights, so there's no independent organizing going on on his behalf from people who actually understand the right-wing media and how it operates. He's decided he's a post-partisan politician, and when a politician makes that choice, it's not just a disincentive for partisans to fight for that person. It becomes structurally impossible to fight for him because the incentives get all out of whack.

I wonder if that will be true? I have my doubts. It is an untested thesis to be sure since Obama is a Media Darling with his very own cable network to support him, not to mention 99% of the progressive blogosphere. There has been no need to defend him. Heck, Obama has had no need to go really negative, as the Media and the Left blogs have done it for him when it comes to Clinton.

But if Obama is the nominee, do we believe Obama won't be defended by the Left blogs? I find that hard to believe. Heck, I know I will.

• Avedon Carol on Eric Boehlert's and Jamison Foser's Media Matters column. Check out all three.

I'm trying to follow the Iowa county assembly votes today. Here are the January caucus results so you can compare when today's numbers become available. Nieman at Daily Kos may be keeping track.

This is an open thread, with a caveat. We are not commenting (and neither should you) about a candidate and his pastor. Any comments about it will be deleted. People have shown they can't discuss it rationally, and what's okay to one person is insulting to another. My decision, with the full support of Big Tent Democrat, is that it will not be on this site.

As to other topics, the floor is your's.

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

This is rich:

In a crowded room in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, Florida's Democratic House members met late into the evening but agreed on only two things: Any do-over election is unacceptable, and they're frustrated with Dean. Asked about his leadership before the meeting, Rep. Kathy Castor of Tampa joked, "Who?"

(Emphasis supplied.) The House Dems, whose plan is NO plan and who are actively working to stymie the only viable plan on the table, are mad at Dean? Let me clue them in, Florida Dems are going to be mad at THEM when they found out the real obstacle to solving this problem, the group who is doing nothing to get Florida real representation at the Democratic Convention, and giving Florida Dems their voice back is THEM, the Florida Dem House delegation.

You know the old saying "lead, follow or get out of the way?" Someone needs to remind the Florida Dem House delegation about that one.

By Big Tent Democrat

Some good news:

The House Dem leadership's surveillance bill just cleared the House by a vote of 213-197 with 1 vote of present. 12 Dems crossed the aisle to vote against it.

The bill has stricter privacy safeguards than the Senate's version -- and of course does not contain a provision granting retroactive immunity for the telecoms' participation in the administration's warrantless wiretapping program.

Good show.

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

I favor Barack Obama in this contest because I see no substantive differences on the issues meaningful to me (others see such differences, it is due to their taking meaning in differences I do not find meaning in) and because I find Obama more electable than Clinton (mostly because of how each is perceived and treated by the Media and existing negative baggage (unfair baggage no doubt) for Clinton.) Obama is also an electoral map changer in the West, where Democrats can make real short and medium term gains (as opposed to the South.) The one worry on that front is his weakness with Latinos.

Ron Brownstein reports on these electoral differences:

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

If, like me, you favor a revote in Florida, or if like Jeralyn, you oppose a revote in Florida, and you are a Florida Dem, here is your chance to tell the Florida Democratic Party what you think:

Please read the memo from Chairwoman Thurman about a suggested solution, and submit your input by Friday, 3/14/08, at 6:00 PM EST. No decision will be made until we hear from Florida Democrats. Thank you.

You can download the memo here: PDF Link

You can read the press release here: Link

Let's make this an Open Thread.