Obama Puts Jerusalem in Party Platform
by Dawn Gable (from the Democractic National Convention)
HAVANA TIMES — In a surprise maneuver, President Obama posed an amendemnt to the Party Platform through surrogate Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland who served on the platform committe. The platform had already been approved and ratified by the convention delegates the day before.
However, once again bending to Republican criticism, Obama moved to add language recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and adding “god” to the document.
The process for rectifying the platform to please the President required a 2/3 vote by delegates. So, the ammendment was posed to the delegates who happened to be present in the arena Wednesday afternoon for a voice vote. It took the Democratic National Convention Chairman Antonio Villaraigosa three tries to “hear” a clear 2/3 approval.
That is to say, the first two times he didn’t like what he heard, large blocks of delegates yelling “no”. So he recalled the vote twice and then finally declared the amendment approved.
Objective observers could not even affirm that there was an even split, much less a 2/3 vote in favor. But no matter. The President wanted the language in; the language is in.
Republican criticism is apparently more important to the President than the voice of the people.
But the huge amounts of money the pro-Israel lobby donates to the electoral process should not be underestimated.
Nearly $8 million went to the Democrats in 2010 and $6 million has gone to them so far this cycle. Donations to Republicans are only about half that amount. To put their disproportionate influence into perspective, the Jewish-American community only makes up 1.7% of the country’s population.
“The ramming through of that clearly less than two thirds majority voice vote on Jerusalem was as totalitarian as it gets and easily equals any act of the PCC for totalitarianism.”
You have no sense of perspective. The Democratic Party executive enforced a motion through the convention, against the wishes of the majority of Democrats who apparently wanted to go on the record and into the elections atheists and anti-semites. That makes the party leadership heavy handed for sure. But it in no way compares with 54 years of NO ELECTIONS EVER in Cuba, in which every motion or whim desired by the PCC leadership has been automatically enforced.
By the way, none of the dissenting delegates to the DNC were arrested, beaten up or thrown in jail for booing the vote call. Heavey handed abuse of the rules, perhaps. But it was hardly “totalitarian”.
Perhaps it is Lawrence and John who have a simplistic view of the Cuban system.
I totally agree with ‘John’. I saw the vote twice, once on Democracy Now and once on Al Jazeera. It was as stark a display of anti-democratic procedure that you are ever likely to see. Strictly speaking, voice votes at the best of times are not democratic. They should only be employed if it’s obvious there’s an overwhelming preponderance of opinion on one side.
It was obvious from the first one there was not. At this point balloting or a roll call should have been used. Insisting on two more voice votes that were the same as the first and then unilaterally declaring the motion carried was a farce of the first order.
‘Moses’ again opens his mouth and inserts his foot by asserting he doubts if the Cuban government has voice votes, inadvertently indicating it’s a better system! Bravo ‘Moses’. Voting does occur in the Cuban system but it doesn’t fit in with ‘Moses’ simplistic view of the Cuban government, controlled monolithically by a dictator. Time to give up reading those superhero comics, ‘Moses’ and join the real world.
SFB,
The U.S maintains its 50 year war on Cuba based on the premise that Cuba is not democratic.
The ramming through of that clearly less than two thirds majority voice vote on Jerusalem was as totalitarian as it gets and easily equals any act of the PCC for totalitarianism.
You share in that hypocrisy.
Dawn, your cynicism regarding the “democracy” within the Democratic party is deafening. So when was the last time, Raul called for a voice vote at a Cuban Communist Party conclave? And even if he did, which I doubt, what are the chances that he called for a yes vote and someone yelled no? People who live in glass houses….