Libertad Becomes Verbal Viagra; Democratic Nomination Process Becomes Shit Storm

The name of the blog has changed from Libertad to Verbal Viagra. Why? Well, I needed a new name. Libertad is nice, and it means freedom and liberty, all things which I believe in, but it was not very original. Now I have never been modest, but I think Verbal Viagra is much more akin to what this site is evolving into, part news blog, part personal reflection, part critic, part fan, part praise, lots of flame throwing. Some truth and some fiction. It’s all good. It’s all vital. It’s all Verbal Viagra, and it’s now available on this virtual news stand called WordPress!

And in other news, the Democratic Party is heading towards a well, a , um, okay, a shit storm. Okay I could do better than that, a potentially damaging political quagmire? a complete disintegration of common goals and values? Nah. A chaotic collision of conflicting interests. There we go. Well anyway, ahead of Saturday’s DNC Rules and Bylaw committee meeting, the news media is all in a twitter about the posssible outcomes and scenarios. You may recall that Michigan are Florida are being “punished” by the Republican and Democratice National Committees for holding their primaries too early and too close to the New Hampshire Primary and Iowa Caucus. The brilliant punishment that was and is proposed is stripping these states of some or all of their delgates. Okay, this is a prime example of bad parenting. Why couldn’t you give Florida and Michigan a time out for teasing New Hampshire and Iowa? Why punish everyone? Florida and Michigan were just lookinf for attention. And why not punish the people responsible for this in the first place – the lawmakers of these states who set the primary dates knowing full well that the committees were going to punish them and not seat their delegates. Some of these lawmakers are bound to be some of the mythical “Superdelegates” we’ve been hearing so much about. The real punishment is being doled out to the voters of these states who were disenfranchised from the process because of severe superiority complexes on behalf of New Hampshire and Iowa, who somehow have it in their heads that they have a divine right to be first; and also the severe lack of verterbrae on behalf of the politicians and party functionaries who did not stand up to New Hampshire and Iowa in the first place.

I don’t have anything personal against New Hampshire and Iowa. But the childish insistence on the part of these states to be first in the nomination process has led to where we are today in the race for the Democratic nomination. An committee of party insiders, not the voters of Michigan and Florida, will decide who gets what delegates, how many will be seated, and who they will vote for. Not exactly a shining moment in the history of Democracy. This is a neutral post in terms of who I think should get the nomination. I think with this scenario, there are no winners, just different degrees of losing. The voters lose because the power they normally wield has been shifted to the hands of a bunch of party hacks. Hillary Clinton stands to lose because if she gets a decision that is favorable to her, the media will spin this to make it look like she is desperate and trying to manipulate the outcome. Barack Obama loses because if he gets a decision that is favorable to his campaign, a lot of Hillary Clinton supporters are going to feel alienated. The Democratic Party loses because it has been focusing its energy on petty issues such as credentials and delegate seating and not stocking up enough on courage and strategy that will be needed to defeat the Republican Slime Machine that is getting ready to pounce on the eventual Democratic nominee.

There of course is a lot of buzz about the Dream Ticket of Obama and Hillary, and there are lots of rumors flying around that the two campaigns are in talks about the VP slot. I even supported and suggested as such on this blog a week or so ago. While this may be talked about, I think it is merely a mirage. I don’t know what to think anymore and I am taking my bets off the table. I have this strange feeling in the pit of my stomach that disaster looms for the Democratic Party if it does not get its shit together pronto. The General Election campaign is going to be nasty, and there will be lots of incoming from the GOP. Howard Dean and gang better fix this this weekend. And as for New Hampshire and Iowa, get over it! You can’t always be first! The other kids also have to have their turn.