Blackmail

Okay, let's just call THIS (In Letter, Top Clinton Donors Chastise Pelosi For Statements About Super-Delegates) just what it is. Blackmail.

wenty top Hillary fundraisers and donors have sent a scathing private letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, chastising her for publicly saying that the super-delegates should support the winner of the pledged delegate count and demanding that she say that they should make an "independent" choice.

I've obtained a copy of the letter, which comes from some of the most influential fundraisers in the Democratic Party, including Hassan Nemazee, Steven Rattner, Maureen White, Stan Shuman, and Alan Patricof.

Full letter is at the TPM link. Here's the excerpt that made my blood boil:

We have been strong supporters of the DCCC. We therefore urge you to clarify your position on super-delegates and reflect in your comments a more open view to the optional independent actions of each of the delegates at the National Convention in August. We appreciate your activities in support of the Democratic Party and your leadership role in the Party and hope you will be responsive to some of your major enthusiastic supporters.

How disgusting is that? I suggest Mrs. Pelosi tell them to fuck off and die. This is a big chance for the party to shrug off those fat cats and let the people start financing the campaigns.

In fact, I suggest all of you write Speaker Pelosi and tell her that. The party does not need Clinton's rich insiders to be competitive. We will not be held hostage to Clinton's scorched earth policy. Write Pelosi here:

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the US House of Representatives

Office of the Speaker

H-232, US Capitol

Washington, DC 20515

Please be polite- so far Speaker Pelosi has indicated that she is thinking clearly about the future of the party (no matter what other differences we may have with her).

And here's the list of Clinton uber-wankers:

Marc Aronchick

Clarence Avant

Susie Tompkins Buell

Sim Farar

Robert L. Johnson

Chris Korge

Marc and Cathy Lasry

Hassan Nemazee

Alan and Susan Patricof

JB Pritzker

Amy Rao

Lynn de Rothschild

Haim Saban

Bernard Schwartz

Stanley S. Shuman

Jay Snyder

Maureen White and Steven Rattner

This campaign isn't just about wresting control of the country from the republicans, it's also about taking control of our party away from the old-guard insiders.

Expert testimony

Lots of talk around the blogosphere about whether Hillary's tactics are out of bound or not. I say they are, but don't take my centaur word for it, let's listen to the man who is perhaps the expert on the subject, James Moore, one of the biographers of Karl Rove:

If anyone has paid acutely painful attention to the political ministrations of Karl Rove over the past two and a half decades, it's me. And if there is anyone qualified to make comparisons between democracy's Darth Vader and Hillary Clinton, I stand at the head of that line, as well. And sadly, the similarities are so brutally obvious as to be disturbing.

~snip~

Senator Clinton plays the innocent on most of this by refusing to denounce these pronunciations. When she had the opportunity on 60 Minutes to tell the world that it is nonsense for the fear mongers to suggest Obama is a Muslim, she demurred with a qualified, "as far as I know" he's not. But she does know. Sen. Clinton and Obama have attended numerous Capital Hill prayer breakfasts together. Does she think he was playing the Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, perhaps trying to see what is going on with that whole Christianity thing? Isn't any person believable when they declare their faith until they have been vetted by the Clinton campaign?

There's more, though I think this thing has turned into something of a rorshach test. If you're for Clinton, you've probably been cheering, if you're for Obama, you probably find it sickening. Color-coded Hillary Alerts

One thing I have to say, is that I find it disturbing to hear people that I like and respect defending tactics that would have them shrieking if it were a republican campaigning against a democrat.

For me the ends have never justified the means. I'm saddened to find out that's not true for many of my fellow democrats.