peacocks and lilies

Without further comment, my Response to Don Fowler and Alice Germond:

Dear Democratic Friends:

Dear Democratic Leaders:

I saw your e-mail to Democratic Donors (of which I am one) and other Democrats, and I was so incensed by it that I was compelled to write to you directly. I will respond to each portion of your letter below. I have formatted your e-mail in red so you can easily differentiate.

2008 is a Democratic year-at all levels in all the states. The opportunity is ours. We just have to seize it.

We experienced an exciting, intense, sometimes difficult, campaign to nominate our presidential candidate. Now it’s over. Barack Obama won.

I supported Hillary Clinton and am proud and pleased that I did. But she lost. Barack Obama won. It’s over.

It is time for all Democrats, supporters of Senator Clinton and all other contenders for the nomination, to stand with him to secure his election and the election of Democrats at all levels of competition.

We did experience “an exciting, intense, sometimes difficult campaign to nominate our presidential primary candidate,” but we also experienced an intrinsically unfair campaign, one in which some rules were adhered to while others were not. In addition, the end of the campaign gave witness to direct interference on the part of the RBC, both in stripping any state of any delegates in the first place (in August of 2007), and then by meeting in secret during the May 31^st meeting (a violation of our own charter for the record), and then by outright stealing Clinton delegates and giving them to Obama.

It does not matter one wit to us Clinton supporters that the DNC did this with the approval of elected Michigan Democrats, or any other elected Democrat since our issue is primarily with the way elected Democrats have ABUSED their power. And abuse it they have, for more than two years now. Did you think we wouldn’t pay attention? Boy, were you and every other blinded-by-power SOB inside the DNC wrong.

I must confess a bit of fatigue and irritation with people who continue to carp, complain, and criticize the results of the primary and lay down conditions for their support. The Los Angeles Lakers didn’t establish conditions to recognize the Boston Celtics as NBA Champions; Roger Federer did not demand concessions before recognizing that Rafael Nadal defeated him at Wimbledon.

And I must confess a resurrection of rage upon reading your insulting and pig-headed attempt at an analogy here. Your analogy leaves it clear why Democrats are in the piss-poor shape they are in this year: You people think this is like SPORTS! It is not anything like sports, it is the election of the president to the country that sells itself as the leader of the free world. Can you even tell the difference anymore? Are you really THAT out of touch? Yes, judging by the DNC’s actions, and the actions of many other elected Democrats this primary season, you people really are that out of touch. Don’t be surprised at the rewards you reap when you act like such an ass.

It is time to act in a mature and resourceful fashion. It’s time to put the primaries behind us. It’s time to support Barack Obama without conditions or demands.

It is actually time to tell the truth, and the truth is that the Democratic primary IS NOT OVER, and it will not be over until the votes are cast at the Convention. We demand that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both be offered as candidates at the Convention because it is not over. And we will not let it go until the DNC reverses its wrong-headed and outright stupid decisions regarding Florida and Michigan. And we will demand that the DNC and every other Democrat who acted like middle schoolers this primary season—yes, I’m talking to you Alice and Don, Howard Dean, Donna Brazile, John Kerry, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Claire McGaskill, Ted Kennedy, etc—rectify their behavior and apologize for the atrocious way you have now not only treated Hillary, but also her supporters. We are taking names and notes, and that is exactly why you are in the utter mess you are in right now, with the RNC way up on you in fundraising.

It’s time to WIN for Barack Obama, the Democratic Party, America, and our future. We have an unparalleled opportunity. I hope we will all do everything we can to seize the moment.

It is time to stand up for America, not the Party, and to make sure that the corruption that flowed so easily within the Republican party does not continue to infiltrate our own. And it has infiltrated, whether or not you can see it from the inside. Our future depends on honest, ethical, fair Democrats, and the only major Democrat I now see that embodies those things is Hillary Clinton. I’ve voted Democrat for over 20 years, and if you dismiss me and those like me, as you have done in this letter, you will lose for Obama. And America will be better off for it. We are seizing the moment—the righteous moment of justice.

See you at the Inauguration.

Not like this you won’t. Not like this.

Sincerely,

Anna Belle Pfau

Sincerely,

Don Fowler
DNC Member At-Large, South Carolina
Former Chair of the Democratic National Committee

Alice Germond
Secretary, Democratic National Committee