I have long been a critic of the concerted efforts of Democratic politicians and the establishment to rig the primary for Hillary Clinton. It worked. They selected perhaps the only person who could lose to Donald Trump. For that reason, I immediately took note of articles claiming that a federal court have made a finding of rigging by former DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman. The Observer, for example, had an headline of “Court Admits DNC and Wasserman Schultz Rigged Primary Against Sanders.” That seemed like a particularly important news development but on closer examination it is based on a misunderstanding of the federal procedural rules governing such decisions.
In June 2016, a class action lawsuit was filed against the DNC and former DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz for violating the DNC Charter by rigging the Democratic presidential primaries for Hillary Clinton. From the outset, it was a highly unlikely legal action to succeed despite admissions from Democratic leaders that Clinton was virtually annointed by the Democratic establishment. With regard to blocking Sanders, former Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid admitted in July 2016, “I knew—everybody knew—that this was not a fair deal.” Not only that, but DNC lawyers took the position that the Democratic leaders at the DNC were allowed to effectively stack the primary for Clinton.
The inevitable occurred on August 25, 2017 when Federal Judge William Zloch, dismissed the lawsuit in a decision that had this line:
“In evaluating Plaintiffs’ claims at this stage, the Court assumes their allegations are true—that the DNC and Wasserman Schultz held a palpable bias in favor Clinton and sought to propel her ahead of her Democratic opponent.”
Since this was a motion for dismissal on standing and other grounds, a court will assume all facts in favor of the non-moving party. In other words, a court will say that “even if you were to prove all of these allegations, you would still not have a case.” Thus, the key in the above referenced line is “in evaluating Plaintiffs’ claims at this stage.” The Court was not making a finding of fact that indeed the DNC rigged the primary.
For that reason the following graph seems like a final vindication but was really setting up the parties for a death blow:
“The Court thus assumes that the DNC and Wasserman Schultz preferred Hillary Clinton as the Democratic candidate for president over Bernie Sanders or any other Democratic candidate. It assumes that they stockpiled information useful to the Clinton campaign. It assumes that they devoted their resources to assist Clinton in securing the party’s nomination and opposing other Democratic candidates. And it assumes that they engaged in these surreptitious acts while publically proclaiming they were completely neutral, fair, and impartial. This Order therefore concerns only technical matters of pleading and subject-matter jurisdiction.”
The Court was saying that, even if it accepted all of these allegations are provable and proven, the plaintiffs would still lose.
Of course, the evidence is quite strong (including emails from both Wasserman Schultz and her successor Donna Brazile) that the DNC did rig the primary. It was obvious that the Democratic members of Congress and others were in the bag for Clinton and actively strangling the political life out of challengers. Everyone expected a huge windfall once the Clintons re-took power. However, the story racing on the Internet of a judicial finding is not accurate.
If the evidence is quite strong that the DNC did rig the primary, why didn’t you post the evidence? Which primary? How did they rig it? Where’s your evidence?
Is it really a surprise that the Clinton’s rigged the democratic election process? Are they not excellent, progressive strategist challenged by juggling, buffaloed, toddlers? In time, did the toddler not collaborate with the anointed Clinton’s?
Professor Turley, thank you for this clarity. I’ve been emotionally involved with this case, and your explanation makes a lot of sense.
Houston, you have a problem.
The question is.. What level of treason was committed when the DNC lit a bonfire at the Kremlin in blaming Russia for what they did?
Maybe some things survived the bleachbit or the hammering.
It would be a public service if those who keep throwing around the charge of “treason” would acquaint themselves with the definition before using the word.
The DNC and their MSM employees are pathetic. Still swinging at Sanders
They basically destroyed our party in doing so as Bernie Sanders was clearly the only candidate that had a largely passionate base, the one that was filling large stadiums while Clinton couldn’t fill High school gymnasiums. I don’t think anyone can convince me that she actually beat Sanders fair and square because I’m obsessed with politics and an avid traveler that starts conversations with random strangers daily about politics, and literally nearly everyone I talked to that identifies as democrat say they voted for Bernie Sanders in the primaries-many of whom are African American even though our votes were almost her only ones. She cheated Bernie and Trump cheated her. Her accomplices had her thinking that all she had to do was not be Trump to win so she never bothered to win many of us over.
As an African American/Super predator, I looked at how nasty, dismissive, and disrespectful she was to young AA women, can never forget watching her tell Africans that felt white Americans have never done nearly enough to make things right as they’re still effected by colonialism, and she said that was 60-200 years ago, get over it and let’s make this money, then visiting Haiti, and hearing from the people how the Clinton Foundation raised $30 or so million for them and only gave them $60,000, and that her brother controls their goldmine or mines after she became Secretary of State. I was done.
After visiting Denmark and Sweden, and learning what’s covered in the 45% of their salary in taxes that is taken out such as free college with $900 per month given to cover living expenses, 1 year paid maternity leave, 33 hour work week, all medical care covered, strong unions for most workers with serious job security, 3 months of paid leave, etc; and realizing that we’re actually taxed significantly more with absolutely Nothing to show for the 40% taken out of each paycheck, plus taxes on everything we buy, toll roads, property, then all that money is taxed again in January, in addition to still having to pay medical, dental and eye copays, chile, she couldn’t compare in anyway to Bernie. She took all that time off after leaving her state department position and didn’t think of anything that would make even a minimal improvement in our lives and did nothing but raise money instead of stomping in much needed areas where people were hurting. To get me to hold my breath to vote for her sorry arse, all she had to do during those debates was say she would hold police officers accountable for committing genocide on African Americans and putting an end to that, and perhaps to do something to repair the damage her husband did to the Black community when he destroyed millions of our already fragile families with his 3 x you’re out modern day slavery, yet she chose to bring attention to Trumps birther foolishness. Since she was this racist, lazy, trifling and certain she didn’t have to do anything for Black folks in order to get our votes, she basically was telling us she didn’t want or need them. I hope the DNC will not continue to take all Black and millennial votes for granted again, as the growing young progressives craving democratic socialism have no jobs to go to after college graduation. As a result, they have been given the time they would have spent working to go backpacking all over the world, so they will never stand for the antiquated slavery/matrix America is offering them to work 40 or more hours a week when studies have shown that it’s unhealthy to work this much with 2 weeks of vacation at best, while the rest of western civilization is taking 3 months off that’s paid and rank much higher on happiness and quality of life every year. Gone are the days of getting married at 23, having 2.5 kids, unable to enjoy life, with no time to bond with their children, making so little money that they spend their lives in debt because the cost of living has gone up while salaries are nearly the same as they were in the late 1980’s, unable to retire because their would be pensions depend on stock markets that often fail. Democrats better come correct this time or I predict the country will continue to destroy itself.
She cheated Bernie and Trump cheated her.
How did Trump cheat her?
by winning- they still cant believe it
By a GOP program called Crosscheck.
Black genocide???
http://blackdemographics.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Population-2-chart-1790-to-2012.jpg
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
There is a thing called immigration, squekkky.
Did you say, “immigration?”
“…whatever tends to a discordant intermixture must have an injurious tendency.”
________________________________________________________________________________
Thomas Jefferson –
“Suppose 20 millions of republican Americans thrown all of a sudden into France, what would be the condition of that kingdom?”
“If it would be more turbulent, less happy, less strong, we may believe that the addition of half a million of foreigners to our present numbers would produce a similar effect here.”
Alexander Hamilton –
“Prudence requires us to trace the history further and ask what has become of the nations of savages who exercised this policy, and who now occupies the territory which they then inhabited? Perhaps a lesson is here taught which ought not to be despised.”
Hamilton was likewise unconvinced that diversity was a strength. The safety of a republic, according to him, depended
“essentially on the energy of a common national sentiment, on a uniformity of principles and habits, on the exemption of the citizens from foreign bias and prejudice, and on that love of country which will almost invariably be found to be closely connected with birth, education and family.”
“The influx of foreigners must, therefore, tend to produce a heterogeneous compound; to change and corrupt the national spirit; to complicate and confound public opinion; to introduce foreign propensities. In the composition of society, the harmony of the ingredients is all-important, and whatever tends to a discordant intermixture must have an injurious tendency.”
George Washington –
contended in a 1794 letter to John Adams that there was no particular need for the U.S. to encourage immigration,
“except of useful mechanics and some particular descriptions of men or professions.”
“The policy or advantage of its taking place in a body (I mean the settling of them in a body) may be much questioned; for by so doing, they retain the language, habits, and principles (good or bad) which they bring with them.”
Rufus King –
wrote in 1798 that emigrants from Scotland had typically brought with them certificates from
“the religious societies to which they belonged” that testified to their good character. King proposed that something similar be required of all those wishing to settle here.
Hamilton was wrong.
Damn, AIsha! Excellent rant! Only thing I would note is the Dims are not gonna change. And the black Caucus members are Establishment parasites doing nothing at all for their peeps.
Thank you for this thoughtful comment. I too am sick of HRC, even sicker of the people who would vote against their economic interests and that of the country to vote for her and blame Bernie supporters for her loss. Bernie’s policies are the future – predator capitalism is killing us and maybe people will wake up. And I don’t believe HRC was a progressive or even a moderate – she was a corporatist and Republican lite, which is what most of the Blue Dog Corporatist Democrats are. They’ve presided over this income disparity we’re suffering. They’ve let it happen as they worry about filling their war chests with the legalized bribery they’re paid from corporations.
Many Bernie supporters DID vote against their economic interest and voted for Trump. They deserve to be blamed.
An independent, a man who was independent for decades suddenly joins the DNC in a bid for the office of the president and his supporters whine when they use the DNC rules against him?
When they favor the long running DNC member?
I thought Sanders was supposed to be smart? He didn’t see it coming from a mile away? He should have. And how many Sanders supporters have joined the DNC to fix the problems they complained so bitterly about? (And continue to complain about.)
No, they aren’t interested in actually doing something, hell, many couldn’t even be bothered to vote at all. But they sure can put up a whine on the internet.
Obviously, you don’t need to stick your nose in other people’s business. They appear to be doing quite well indeed. If you have knowledge and evidence of a crime, you should call the police. If you believe you could run one or all aspects of a corporation better than the current management, put in a job application.
Thou Shalt Not Covet.
Stifle your jealousy and go “pursue happiness” for yourself in the free markets of the private sector by opening an enterprise or being the help for one.
If you think dependents should receive “free stuff,” go join a church or open a charity.
Whatever you do, don’t become a lazy, greedy, leeching parasite of the taxpayer in the teachers and public workers unions.
The American Founders gave Americans the one and only thing they could: Freedom.
Every other form of governance is dictatorship.
If you want to be coddled and provided for, you’ll have to submit yourself to slavery under collectivism somewhere else – perhaps the EU or China.
Off topic but Turley should read what Beverly Gage wrote about security classification in today’s TNYT.
Hi Autumn!!!
I have been waiting for you to comment so I could tell you about this. Evergreen Review, the original progressive magazine has facsimile reprints of its first three books available at OR Books! Here is the link, and if you type in “evergreen” in the discounts/promos section, you can save 30%!
http://www.orbooks.com/
Plus, you can get a free pdf of them. Plus, here is the link to Evergreen Review itself which is back up and running, and the stuff there is free.
http://evergreenreview.com/
Plus, there are all sorts of progressive books at the OR site. Foxrocks Books can also be found at OR:
I don’t agree with all the stuff in some of these books, but they’re are good read anyway.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Thanks for the tip Squeek!! One can never have too much access to books! Currently, btw, I am immersing myself in fiction from Europa Editions – a small publishing house offering great reads from international writers.
Wait. You mean there was fraud influencing the United States election? A proven attempt to circumvent Democracy?
Well, I guess we can stop shouting Russia! Russia! Russia! And go with DNC! DNC! DNC!
Personally, what troubles me the most is that I have become jaded on the shenanigans pulled in politics, from opposition research to backstabbing. Of course the Democratic Party tried to rig the election. They only care if someone else interferes in revealing the truth about their candidate.
It may not have been illegal but it was certainly unfair and circumvented democracy.
Joseph Rago didn’t even know Hillary Clinton, who was appointed by Obama, personally:
“VEROPHARM”
Joseph Rago –
“Wall Street Journal Reporter Asks Russia For “Clinton Information” —-Turns Up DEAD 2 Days Later”
“A Wall Street Journal Editor who was investigating how a Russian
Pharmaceutical firm could have been purchased in 2014 by an American
Pharmaceutical firm while Sanctions against Russia existed against such
business transactions, has been found dead in his New York City
apartment. The crux of the dead journalists investigation was how
then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton influenced the transaction to be
finalized, but only AFTER her husband Bill was paid $500,000 for giving
a speech in Moscow.
The Russia Consulate General’s office in New York City was contacted
by Wall Street Journal reporter/editor Joseph Rago who requested a
Thursday (20 July) in person interview with consular officials regarding
an upcoming article he was preparing on Hillary Clinton and her links
to Russia. Rago failed to attend the meeting and was later discovered
dead in his apartment of as yet “unknown causes” just hours prior to
this meeting occurring.”
http://halturnerradioshow.c…
What are the D.C. police doing to solve the Seth Rich murder? Understanding that Seymour Hersh stated that the D.C.P.D. discovered that Seth Rich attempted to sell DNC e-mails to Wikileaks, the “Means, Motive and Opportunity” of the adversely affected parties are patently obvious. It appears that the shadow government has no fear of the publication of facts. Why is law enforcement optional regarding politicians? Are politicians “Too Big To Prosecute” or “Too Big To Jail?” You don’t suppose that all roads lead to Obama, do you?
To put an end to this, what did the coroner state?
Oh my. That IS hilarious. What did Lee Harvey Oswald state? That he was a patsy. What did Hillary Clinton state? “Like with a cloth or something?” What did Slick Willy state, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky?”
Have you read the facts about Rago. He won a Pulitzer prize for exposing and criticizing the fraud that is Obamacare. He was just hours from obtaining information on Hillary’s illegal pharma sale during sanctions when he “died” at the ripe old age of 34.
You communists just can’t stand to be in the same room with the truth, huh?
And your communist leaders are just “Too Big To Jail,” right?
And which community leaders are those? Most if not all of the leaders of the DNC are corporatists!
Spot on Justice Holmes! DNC is filled with neo libs — and neo cons as well. Proponents of globalism and endless war. Nothing at all to do with communism.
I can’t answer that question completely. See if you can find the “To Big Too Jail” globalist (i.e. communist) leaders involved in this international scenario. I was following the revelations of WSJ journalist, Joseph Rago, and then he was killed. You may want to familiarize yourself with his work. He won the Pulitzer by destroying Obamacare on a technical basis. It was said that he was pursuing then Sec. of State, Hillary Clinton’s participation in a deal which was illegally consummated during a period of sanctions against Russia and which resulted in the purchase of the very Russian Veropharm by Abbott Labs just prior to huge donations to the Clinton Foundation and a $500k speaking fee paid to Bill. Rago did not have time to flesh out the manipulation of drugs to be very profitably forced on participants in Obamacare allegedly made at a plant on the Russia Ukraine border before he died at the age of 34 just hours before a planned meeting with a Russian source.
Globalist, communist, progressive, socialist, oligarchist et al., they are all totalitarian, they are all communal, they are all corrupt and they are all averse to freedom – freedom of the individual, free markets and free enterprise.
Globalism requires the complete elimination of national sovereignty.
Globalists are traitors to their nations.
After a modicum of study, you’ll discover that
government can provide only one thing – freedom or slavery.
Freedom = government provides nothing.
Slavery = government provides everything.