The Wicked Witch Is Not Dead

Good news: Debbie's fired. Bad news: guess who they want to replace her with

Debbie Wasserman Schultz was finally put out of her misery by her pals in the Democratic Establishment today, as she was forced to walk the plank hours before the opening of the Democratic Party's national convention in Philly. In terms of her toxicity to Democratic values and principles, nothing has changed at all; she's still the foul fount of pay-to-play corruption and a selfish and misguided Republican-lite approach to governance that she was yesterday, last week, last month, last year and all through her miserable political life.

The breach of the Democratic committee’s emails, made public on Friday by WikiLeaks, offered undeniable evidence of what Mr. Sanders’s supporters had complained about for much of the senator’s contentious primary contest with Mrs. Clinton: that the party was effectively an arm of Mrs. Clinton’s campaign. The messages showed members of the committee’s communications team musing about pushing the narrative that the Sanders campaign was inept and trying to raise questions publicly about whether he was an atheist.

...Convention organizers had expressed nervousness on Sunday about the specter of Ms. Wasserman Schultz appearing onstage at all during the four-day convention. They were worried that what they intended to be a well-choreographed event, which officials hoped would contrast with the sometimes chaotic Republican National Convention, could be marred by Mr. Sanders’s backers booing and heckling her.

Although the new Interim Chair of the DNC, Donna Brazile, immediately apologized to Bernie, to the party and to the country for Wasserman Schultz's "stupidity," all the creepy corporate Dems who have enabled #DebtTrapDebbie from day one-- from Obama and Hillary all the way down the food chain-- tried to treat this outrage as routinely as possible. I was surprised no one suggested she was leaving the DNC chair to spend more time with her family. One thing she can't do, is use it as an excuse any longer for not debating Tim Canova in her tightening congressional race. Here was Obama's sickening and deceitful statement. It's good he's eating crow; he appointed her and held her in while she was on her reign of terror.

For the last eight years, Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz has had my back. This afternoon, I called her to let her know that I am grateful. Her leadership of the DNC has meant that we had someone who brought Democrats together not just for my re-election campaign, but for accomplishing the shared goals we have had for our country. Her critical role in supporting our economic recovery, our fights for social and civil justice and providing health care for all Americans will be a hallmark of her tenure as Party Chair. Her fundraising and organizing skills were matched only by her passion, her commitment and her warmth. And no one works harder for her constituents in Congress than Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Michelle and I are grateful for her efforts, we know she will continue to serve our country as a member of Congress from Florida and she will always be our dear friend.

No shame at all. Hillary was equally deceitful-- as is her default position on all things:

I want to thank my longtime friend Debbie Wasserman Schultz for her leadership of the Democratic National Committee over the past five years. I am grateful to Debbie for getting the Democratic Party to this year's historic convention in Philadelphia, and I know that this week's events will be a success thanks to her hard work and leadership. There's simply no one better at taking the fight to the Republicans than Debbie-- which is why I am glad that she has agreed to serve as honorary chair of my campaign's 50-state program to gain ground and elect Democrats in every part of the country, and will continue to serve as a surrogate for my campaign nationally, in Florida, and in other key states. I look forward to campaigning with Debbie in Florida and helping her in her re-election bid--because as President, I will need fighters like Debbie in Congress who are ready on day one to get to work for the American people.

Now let's get another professional shit-eating statement-writers to do one for Biden and one for Kaine. And Pelosi (who hates Wasserman Schultz's guts). Just to show how incapable they are of learning anything from this, they are actually considering putting disgraced and failed former DCCC head Steve Israel in as DNC chair now.

On CNN with Jake Tapper just before Wasserman Schultz was shoved overboard Bernie has said he doesn't "think she is qualified to be the chair of the DNC not only for these awful emails, which revealed the prejudice of the DNC, but also because we need a party that reaches out to working people and young people, and I don't think her leadership style is doing that." He took a more diplomatic approach after he announced her contentious-- much negotiated-- departure. "Debbie Wasserman Schultz," he wrote, "has made the right decision for the future of the Democratic Party. While she deserves thanks for her years of service, the party now needs new leadership that will open the doors of the party and welcome in working people and young people. The party leadership must also always remain impartial in the presidential nominating process, something which did not occur in the 2016 race."

Can you imagine the riot that would have taken place on the floor of the convention if Wasserman Schultz had slithered out to greet the delegates? She made up the chair throwing incident in Las Vegas but there would have been a real one in Philly if they didn't push her out! Just before she "resigned," Tim Canova, her congressional opponent had issued a statement about her latest attempts to undermine the Democratic process. "We started this insurgent campaign," he wrote, "to expose Debbie Wasserman Schultz's pro-corporate, anti-progressive policies and her corruption at the Democratic National Committee. Now, millions of people are seeing what we've always known to be true thanks to these leaks. Our opponent and her staff rigged the system against Bernie Sanders, used their positions of power to try and censor the press, and even coordinated against our campaign... Thanks to the recent Wikileaks disclosure of 20,000 emails, we now know just how rigged the system has become in the Democratic Party from Wasserman Schultz’s DNC and staff. We’ll save you the trouble of having to read them all-- here are some of the highlights:

• Debbie Wasserman Schultz and her DNC staffers mentioned me and my campaign for her House seat dozens of times. They used party resources to monitor our campaign and strategize on Wasserman Schultz’s response, including her response to Bernie Sanders’ endorsement of me. They coordinated a response to the Florida Democratic Party’s decision (at the time) to block our access to the voter file, something they have claimed to have no involvement in.

• Debbie Wasserman Schultz tried to censor Mika Brzezinski, MSNBC co-host of “Morning Joe” after Mika called on her to resign from the DNC for her failed leadership and biased use of the DNC to harm the Bernie Sanders campaign. Wasserman Schultz complained directly to MSNBC’s Chuck Todd about the negative coverage and demanded that Mika “apologize” to DWS. Soon after, Chuck Todd did a “softball interview” with Wasserman Schultz.

• DNC staffers repeatedly mocked Bernie Sanders and his supporters. Wasserman Schultz called Jeff Weaver, Bernie’s campaign manager, a “damn liar” and “scummy” in emails to DNC staffers. In addition, there is significant evidence that the DNC was coordinating with the Clinton campaign during the primary.

Tim went on: "Leaked emails from the Democratic National Committee show that the system is rigged against anti-establishment progressives... For months, Wasserman Schultz has been telling the media that she is “too busy” to debate me. Wikileaks shows that she was furiously lobbying for tickets to the Broadway musical Hamilton. This is particularly disturbing, when combined with her dismal voting record: last year she had the highest absentee rate of the Florida delegation, with the exception of Marco Rubio!

"Wasserman Schultz has rejected debates not because she’s so busy, but because she cannot possibly defend her record of swimming in corporate lobbyist money and pushing for corporate interests over those of South Florida residents-- as evidenced by her support of predatory payday lenders, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, private prisons, and Big Sugar and Big Agribusinesses that have fouled our waterways. If Wasserman Schultz is unwilling to defend her record, she should drop out of our House race. Voters deserve better than an insider politician who shows such open disdain for democracy."



She won't have that excuse to use any longer for not debating Tim. Please consider contributing to his campaign by clicking the thermometer below. Many years ago I released a record by Rochester, New York's legendary New Math, They Walk Among You on my indie label. For the past 10 years, whenever I wrote about Wasserman Schultz, the title track (above) has played in my mind. If FL-23 voters decide to replace her with Tim Canova, that's one nightmare that will be put to rest.

Update: Rove Is Happy, Happy

This was a press release Karl Rove's operation put out this morning. Funny, huh? I'm not laughing.

Outgoing DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz may not be feeling much love from Democrats at the Democratic National Convention, but here at American Crossroads we feel tremendous gratitude for Wasserman Schultz’s record at the helm of the Democratic Party.

“Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s leadership of the Democratic National Committee has been absolutely invaluable for the Republican Party,” said Steven Law, president and CEO of American Crossroads. “Because of her strategic vision, Republicans hold the Senate, have a historic majority in the House, and dominate governorships and state legislatures throughout the country. Now she has helped divide the Democrats in 2016 in a way we never dreamed possible. We stand with Debbie and thank her for everything she has done for the cause.”