I’ve always thought of blog posts as basically being open letters to some editor or other. In this case, I attempt to take the New York Times to task for coding Hillary Clinton as the winner of the Democratic primaries in Michigan and Florida. In both states the Democratic National Committee promised NOT to seat any delegates elected in those primaries. None of the major candidates campaigned at all in either state; Kucinich was the exception that proved the rule in Michigan. Mike Gravel was on the ballot, but didn’t campaign, or if he did I missed it.
Anyhow, here is my letter:
In today’s (Feb. 15) Times, you credit Senator Clinton with having won primaries in Michigan and Florida. Well, yes, but those primaries were essentially uncontested, because the Democratic National Committee, in an effort to prevent large and diverse states from voting before Feb. 5, ruled that delegates from Michigan and Florida would not be seated and candidates who campaigned actively would be punished. (Obama and Edwards were not on the ballot in Michigan, and the Party did not even count write-in votes.) It is bad enough to have been deprived of my franchise. The Times should not compound the insult by mischaracterizing the event. I don’t know if your delegate counts include Michigan and Florida. If they do, the counts are corrupt. In any case, Michigan and Florida should be marked on your map as “no contest and no delegates” rather than as victories for Senator Clinton.
Paul N. Courant
Posts
Gravel did campaign in Michigan; like Kucinich, he visited campus:
http://media.www.michigandaily.com/media/storage/paper851/news/2007/10/29/Government/Gravel.Loosen.Drug.Laws-3062454.shtml
February 19, 2008 @ 4:57 pm
you can actually send a letter to the editor of NY Times or for that matter any other newspaper from PublishaLetter.com and if your letter is not printed post it on the site.
July 2, 2008 @ 7:33 pm
Did anyone ask NASA? More specifically did anyone ask NASA engineers? Contrary to Congressional and Presidential belief NASA still has some excellent Engineers, Managers, and supporting Contractors. I would dare to say some of the best in the world. But yet not one has asked these folks their opinion.
We have heard from our ex-administrator as to our direction. We have heard from panel after panel as to what we do wrong. We have heard from committees of experts as to how to fix us. Now we have heard from the president, “off with your heads”., or at least with your WYE’s, the contractors that do the day to day work at NASA.
Since the new administration has been in place I have noticed a very disturbing trend, NASA HQ has been overrun by people outside the Agency. NASA HQ has no NASA management anymore. This might explain why the KSC Center Director was not informed that KSC would be dismantled until just before the official announcement. The Obama administration is acting like a think tank. They huddle in a closed room dream up some “NEW” idea and destroy thousands of lives and jobs. If this is the new jobs program and “change” he was talking about, can we have George Bush please, at least he just destroyed other countries, not ours!!
Back to the point, Out of all this no one has asked the people most dedicated to the country and NASA, the federal work force and it’s contractors that do the work. Some would say they would keep it the same, status quo. I do not believe so, I am one of those workers and we have wanted change for years, but no one asked us. Numerous times we tried to speak out, only to be dismissed by all.
Now that “change” is here and no matter what the “company axe man” Bolton says this change is not good. It is devastating for KSC, we might as well give the Center back the folks we took if from in the 1960’s. Let me be very very clear……
When the Space Shuttle flies its last mission next year the United States of America is out of the human space flight business. America will be totally, 100%, dependent on other countries to put America Astronauts in to space for a whole generation, and probably from now on. Obama has accepted third, fourth, maybe even fifth place in space exploration. It will be 15-20 years before we can place an America explorer on an American space craft to leave earth orbit, if we are lucky. My children will grow up not knowing that America has a space program. That which inspired me and a generation is gone.
Please think about this, and while you still can please ask an American space worker or “NASA” engineer, have some time, they truly loved what they did!
EP
February 4, 2010 @ 10:39 pm