Donna Brazile: Fact, Fiction, Bias or Fantasy?

By Jeralyn, Section Media
Posted on Sat Nov 04, 2017 at 06:32:17 PM EST
Tags: (all tags)

Share This: Digg!

Donna Brazile has a major fact problem with her bizarre claim Hillary rigged the primaries. It's called evidence. The contract she refers to as support for her claim actually refutes it. Her claim, according to the Washington Post:

Brazile also details how Clinton effectively took control of the DNC in August 2015, before the primaries began, with a joint fundraising agreement between the party and the Clinton campaign. She said the deal gave Clinton control over the DNC’s finances, strategy and staff decisions — disadvantaging other candidates, including Sanders. “This was not a criminal act, but as I saw it, it compromised the party’s integrity,” she writes.

Here's the document, obtained by NBC News. It specifically applies to the general election, not the primaries.

[More...]

Nothing in this agreement shall be construed to violate the DNC's obligation of impartiality and neutrality through the Nominating process. All activities performed under this agreement will be focused exclusively on preparations for the General Election and not the Democratic Primary. Further we understand you may enter into similar agreements with other candidates.

Hillary's Victory Fund raised a boatload of money for the DNC and state parties. Here are the numbers submitted to the FEC.

The Sanders campaign could have done the same thing. But, of course, Sanders had not been a Democrat in decades, he just ran as one because had he run as an Independent, he wouldn't get any further than Ralph Nader or Ross Perot. He couldn't care less about helping the DNC, even after his campaign began raising money.

As for Donna Brazile, she claims she gave serous thought to replacing Hillary-Kaine with Biden-Booker when Hillary was recuperating from pneumonia and appeared unsteady on her feet at a 9/11 memorial event. 17 million Democrats voted for Hillary in the primary, and 13 million for Bernie.

Donna thought she should consider ignoring all of them and substituting her own choice. Bingo. Why Donna Brazile should never work for the Democratic party again or be paid as an analyst (as opposed to a partisan pundit) by any TV network ever.

To be clear, I've muted Brazile since the 2008 primaries when she seemed so biased in Obama's favor. In her new book, though, she turns on him too. Here's the exact quote:

My predecessor, Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, had not been the most active chair in fundraising at a time when President Barack Obama’s neglect had left the party in significant debt.

Bottom line: Donna Brazile blames everyone but herself for the Dems' loss. She should have spent more time at her job and less time writing diary entries for her future book.

This story has a shelf-life of three days (and a weekend at that) if you ask me. Only die-hard Trump doozies and still-bitter Bernie supporters care or will buy into it. Dems need to focus on taking back the House in 2018 which they will never do if they endorse Brazile's claim. Republicans need to focus on how to distance themselves from the wildly unpopular, unpredictable, inexperienced and carnival barker they put in the oval office if they hope to get re-elected.

Donna Brazile is the vessel through which the attacks are pouring out against Dems this week, but she's too insignificant in the larger scheme of things to cause hysteria -- without a greater force at her back propelling her tale from trash-talk into news as a distraction. Who would that be? Ask yourself, who benefits from a change of subject from Russia? Bernie doesn't, he was toast long ago. Hillary's not running for anything. This has Republicans written all over it, with Brazile as the unwitting pawn.

Bottom line: Turn off your TVs and computers for the next week and take a nice walk or go for a spin. The airwaves will be nothing but nonsense about this until Trump commits his next faux pas or Mueller indicts someone else.

Another note about Brazile: She's been singing this tune since 2008 if not earlier. BTD wrote dozens of posts about how harmful she was to the party in his opinion, and her perceived bias against Hillary. In this one, he called her the most harmful Democrat when she said during the 2008 primaries:

There's a group around [Sen. Clinton] that really wants to take the fight to the convention. They don't care about the party. It scares me, and that's what scares a lot of superdelegates.

Remember the Florida/Michigan fiasco? BTD opined in this post she needs to look in the mirror.

Donna Brazile has been the most divisive and destructive force in the Democratic Party this year. She engineered the Florida/Michigan fiasco, threatened to bolt the Party if the super delegates did not do her bidding and now has taken to publicly smearing the Clinton campaign:

Note: I'm not wading through comments on this topic. If any are called to my attention that include name-calling or potentially libelous statements against anyone, public figures or other commenters, they will be deleted and the commenter banned, regardless of how long they have been around. Be civil, and express your opinion as such, not as fact.

< Friday Open Thread | Tuesday Open Thread: Baby Day >

Legal

Nothing on this site should be construed as legal advice. TalkLeft does not give legal advice.

TalkLeft is not responsible for and often disagrees with material posted in the comments section. Read at your own risk.

Donna Brazile: Fact, Fiction, Bias or Fantasy? | 83 comments (83 topical)

Readers Must Login or Create an Account to Comment

Don't forget Brazile was Al Gore's (5.00 / 3) (#8)
by leap on Sat Nov 04, 2017 at 08:11:14 PM EST

campaign manager, back in the day he was running against Chimpy in 2000. How'd that work out? Well, Gore didn't request a recount for the whole state of Florida, for one thing, just a few counties. How'd that work out? Gee, she also worked for Dukakis. How'd that work out? She seems to be poison. How does she keep getting those positions?

Terrible (5.00 / 2) (#12)
by Ga6thDem on Sat Nov 04, 2017 at 08:21:18 PM EST

and then she rolled him under the bus right after the election. That should have been the end of her right then and there but she managed to hang in there for years. It seems that she was threatening Hillary's campaign staff with the whole replacement thing if they did not do what she wanted them to do.


I didn't forget, but I didn't know (5.00 / 4) (#30)
by Towanda on Sun Nov 05, 2017 at 12:16:58 PM EST

that Prima Donna was so bad at being campaign manager that she had to be replaced midcampaign -- keeping her title to keep her from blowing off and blowing that campign -- by . . . Tad Devine, who would take his hatred of the Clintons, too, into the Bernie campaign.

There is much talk of fidning a new crop of Dem candidates, but it looks like as needed is a new group of campaign managers.


: Definitely (5.00 / 2) (#31)
by Ga6thDem on Sun Nov 05, 2017 at 12:35:07 PM EST

The ones that have been there three decades like Devine need to never be used again. Bob Shrum finally quit doing campaigns. Maybe there are some younger ones from Hillary's or Obama's campaigns that will be able to handle a national campaign in the future. Also David Axelrod should be retired forever too. I'm glad Hillary did not use him.

Speaking in my present capacity as a ... (5.00 / 9) (#11)
by Donald from Hawaii on Sat Nov 04, 2017 at 08:19:36 PM EST

Jeralyn: "As for Donna Brazile, she claims she gave serous thought to replacing Hillary-Kaine with Biden-Booker when Hillary was recuperating from pneumonia and appeared unsteady on her feet at a 9/11 memorial event. 17 million Democrats voted for Hillary in the primary, and 13 million for Bernie. Donna thought she should consider ignoring all of them and substituting her own choice. Bingo. Why Donna Brazile should never work for the Democratic party again or be paid as an analyst (as opposed to a partisan pundit) by any TV network ever."

... state Democratic Party official and former national committeeman for Hawaii, I can categorically atteste that former Acting DNC Chair Donna Brazile's claim today of having considered a replacement ticket of Biden-Booker is patently false.

No DNC Chair, acting or otherwise, possesses the unilateral authority to replace the Democratic Party's duly chosen presidential nominee per their own initiative and volition. Our party's rules and bylaws stipulate that the replacement of a presidential or vice presidential nominee can only occur in cases of said nominee's resignation, death or clear incapacitation. At that point, all 200+ voting members of the DNC would convene in special session to choose a replacement candidate.

What the self-aggrandizing Donna Brazile has done here is all but unforgivable. She has forfeited her moral and ethical standing as a former DNC Chair. She has absolutely no business at this point telling any of us how our party should be governed, and should never again be allowed anywhere near the party's levers of power.

Aloha.

I commented in the other thread (none / 0) (#45)
by ruffian on Mon Nov 06, 2017 at 12:10:01 PM EST

that it seems to me she may have had a very dramatic ghost writer who exaggerated the extent of her thinking. I can't believe she does not know that replacing the ticket would not be her unilateral action.

But wouldn't it be her job to at least think about what she might have to do in the event HRC did not recover? I think the book probably just exaggerated that for effect.

And maybe she is trying to signal her 2020 preference. In which case, shut up, Donna.


Everybody who (5.00 / 1) (#46)
by Ga6thDem on Mon Nov 06, 2017 at 12:18:07 PM EST

seems to think they are going to be "it" for 2020 are all of a sudden starting to circle the drain, Biden, Sanders, Warren etc.


Donna Brazile would have had no role ... (none / 0) (#49)
by Donald from Hawaii on Mon Nov 06, 2017 at 03:30:59 PM EST

... in choosing a replacement nominee herself. If Mrs. Clinton had decided to withdraw due to health reasons, the entire DNC would've convened in special session to consider the matter and choose her successor. The voting membership of the DNC is comprised in large part of the state chair, vice chair, national committeeman and national committeewoman from all the U.S. states and territories.

I served as national committeeman in 2003-04 when my predecessor resigned due to his wife's serious illness. I was not appointed. I first had to place my name in candidacy, and then I was chosen through election over two other candidates by the State Central Committee.

The point is, no one person holds such unilateral authority within the Democratic Party to summarily remove party officers and nominees at his or her own whim, and appoint a successor of his or her own choosing.

Even if we need to replace a district chair or precinct president at the local level, that obligation and responsibility rests with the party members of that district or precinct, and not with me or anyone else as a regional or county chair.

And that process is likely the same for our GOP counterparts, as well. Shame on the mainstream media for reporting on Donna Brazile's fanciful notion as though its truth was inherent, when her self-embellishing claim was in fact categorically false. That woman has been nothing but a huge pile of nonsense these past few days. Shame on her, too.

Aloha.


Yes, I really that (none / 0) (#53)
by ruffian on Mon Nov 06, 2017 at 08:32:12 PM EST

And I'm sure Donna Brazile does too. What I'm saying is that the ghost writer, or co-writer, whatever she had, exaggerated this story for effect. I'd have to see the exact wording and I'm really not that interested.

And for that matter, no one hearing the story that has an ounce of sense would believe it would be possible for Brazile to do that on her own. The press is magnifying it for their own purpose.


Considering what happened a year ago, ... (5.00 / 1) (#56)
by Donald from Hawaii on Tue Nov 07, 2017 at 01:45:57 AM EST

... when 62.9 million Americans were wholly content to ignore the reality before them and instead indulge their own inner primal screams, I fear that people with an ounce of sense are likely in decline in this country and indeed, may soon qualify for eventual listing as a threatened species -- provided, of course, that Trump and his rabid army of cranial-atrophied zealots don't first do away with the Endangered Species Act.


: That is unfortunately (none / 0) (#66)
by ruffian on Tue Nov 07, 2017 at 11:50:42 AM EST

a fear I share!
I just thought maybe Dems were more likely to show some common sense and not pile on to the feeding frenzy, but it seems not.

Oops, I realize that (not really that) (none / 0) (#54)
by ruffian on Mon Nov 06, 2017 at 08:33:53 PM EST

What was Prima Donna's impact (5.00 / 6) (#32)
by Towanda on Sun Nov 05, 2017 at 01:51:39 PM EST

I wonder and have not seen this addressed: In addition to the incredible array of external attacks underming the Dems' campaign -- from the KGB to the FBI -- now we know, from her own words, that Brazile was attacking the campaign from within. The excerpts today from her book are startling and appalling about her attacks on young Clinton staffers, her threats to the campaign that she would replace their candidate, etc.

And what was her impact on Bernie Sanders and his campaign (since he and his supporters effectively continued it into the general campaign, as she took over the DNC). From the first excerpt on the first day, we know that she cwlled Bernie to tell him -- albeit a lie, as he ought to have known, but he did not attend to detsils, we know, such as his contract with the DNC, since he didn't follow through on it -- to claim that he had been "illegally" betrayed by the DNC and Clinton.

This was at the start of the general campaign, when the Dems and The Clinton campaign needed Sanders' wholehearted support, so that his voters would vote for Clinton and other Dems.

Yet as we saw in my state, Sanders on the trail in the general-election campaign continued to rally his supporters for his campaign, even continuing his claim of a "rigged" presidential campaign and not mentioning, as he was supposed to do, local candidates (seen as a major reason in my state for a gap, far more massive than usual, in downticket ballots).

The focus is on Brazile's (and Warren's) terrible timing now, with important elections this week, and rightly so -- but further rehashes of the 2016 campaigns ought to address the appalling impact of a party chair undermining the paty's candidate , . . indeed, candidates.

Truest thing Tr*mp has ever said (5.00 / 6) (#52)
by Peter G on Mon Nov 06, 2017 at 07:41:54 PM EST

(sorry, open thread is full, and this couldn't wait): We have "a mental health problem at the highest level." So true! At the highest level, indeed.

Happy B'day, MileHi!!! (5.00 / 3) (#55)
by vml68 on Mon Nov 06, 2017 at 09:56:45 PM EST

I hope you had a good day.

I know this is OT Jeralyn but to quote Peter G, "sorry, open thread is full, and this couldn't wait"!

ditto (5.00 / 3) (#57)
by CaptHowdy on Tue Nov 07, 2017 at 06:42:46 AM EST

fellow scorpio

i'm tomorrow


I haven't forgotten your b'day is tomorrow (5.00 / 1) (#59)
by vml68 on Tue Nov 07, 2017 at 09:45:58 AM EST

(I thought you had mentioned that you were born on the 9th but your birth certificate? says 8th...I might be hallucinating or have you mixed up with someonelse!)

and KeysDan is on the 12th.

Happy B'day to both of you!


you are so (5.00 / 2) (#60)
by Ga6thDem on Tue Nov 07, 2017 at 09:54:19 AM EST

thoughtful!


: Thanks, Ga6thDem. I have had many (none / 0) (#82)
by vml68 on Mon Nov 13, 2017 at 02:24:49 PM EST

adjectives used to describe me, I believe this might be the first time anyone has called me thoughtful. I like it :-)!

Thank you, (5.00 / 2) (#61)
by KeysDan on Tue Nov 07, 2017 at 10:36:32 AM EST

for the kind Birthday greeting. vm168.


Have a great (5.00 / 2) (#63)
by KeysDan on Tue Nov 07, 2017 at 10:56:36 AM EST

day, Birthday Boy. OT, but, if you are like me, you will not mind if the birthday is deleted, so long as the greetings and good wishes remain.


Thank you! (5.00 / 2) (#71)
by MileHi Hawkeye on Tue Nov 07, 2017 at 02:35:59 PM EST

I appreciate the birthday wishes.

I'm hoping that this next year is much, much better than the last.


All of the above (none / 0) (#1)
by FlJoe on Sat Nov 04, 2017 at 07:18:50 PM EST

Fact: The DNC was inherently biased toward Hillary for multiple logical reasons, none of which were outside the bounds of standard politicking

Fiction: That it was possible for the DNC to rig anything, much less the state run primaries.

Bias: It's a Clinton, enough said...Brazile never hid hers.

Fantasy: Her bizarre musings about unilaterally replacing the ticket, because of ooh that smell or something, something.

Go for a walk or a spin (none / 0) (#2)
by MKS on Sat Nov 04, 2017 at 07:24:35 PM EST

Yeah, that is what I think too. I have been doing a version of that for a while, and it helps one's mental health immensely.

And, "Ring around the rosie" is an old English rhyme referring The Plague.....The "ring around the rosie" is the circular blotch on one's skin. "Pocket full of posie" refers to the bouquets used to cover the stench of the dead. FWIW.

: Hmm, the internet (5.00 / 2) (#3)
by MKS on Sat Nov 04, 2017 at 07:28:36 PM EST

says my explanation is urban legend. But I heard it on t.v.

FTR (none / 0) (#4)
by CaptHowdy on Sat Nov 04, 2017 at 07:31:45 PM EST

there's lots of things on TV besides Donna Brazile

Not suprised (5.00 / 1) (#5)
by Ga6thDem on Sat Nov 04, 2017 at 07:52:21 PM EST

to hear that. At this point I don't think it helps the GOP too much to quote Brazile because anything Bernie supporters were misled about this whole thing now have a new target that Brazile would not even replace Hillary with Bernie and was going to put Biden in.

I had forgotten what a disaster Brazile was in 2008.


My opinion only (5.00 / 1) (#20)
by jmacWA on Sun Nov 05, 2017 at 05:38:50 AM EST

She was already a disaster in Gore's 2000 campaign


Seriously, is there anything you can't (none / 0) (#9)
by Anne on Sat Nov 04, 2017 at 08:13:45 PM EST

connect to Bernie Sanders in some negative way?

It's not only getting old, it's almost like you're trying really, really hard to keep something going that even most Bernie supporters (at least the ones I know) have moved past.

I would like to kindly suggest that rather than trying to circle everything back to Bernie - which at this point, is like watching someone try to twist themselves into a pretzel - you maybe focus a little on the future, and figure out how the hell we're going to root out the crazy conservatives and send Trump packing.


Nope (5.00 / 1) (#13)
by Ga6thDem on Sat Nov 04, 2017 at 08:23:56 PM EST

just pointing out that Trump and the GOP was using it as a divide and conquer strategy with the old primary wars and it worked until the Biden Booker story came out.


To be fair, Anne, La Prima Donna ... (5.00 / 4) (#17)
by Donald from Hawaii on Sat Nov 04, 2017 at 08:30:23 PM EST

... brought Bernie Sanders into the present discussion herself, with her fanciful tale of having called him to apologize on behalf of all us corrupted DNC folk for having "rigged" the Democratic primaries in favor of Hillary.

That said, Sen. Sanders had nothing to do with any of this and it's certainly not his fault. We just had a very contentious DNC meeting in Las Vegas two weekends ago, and I was hoping that we had finally put these divisions behind us. Then along came the fabulous Ms. Brazile to rip the scabs off our old wounds in order to sell a few books.

Ripping scabs (none / 0) (#18)
by Ga6thDem on Sat Nov 04, 2017 at 08:33:54 PM EST

is exactly what she did all for her own benefit and then Trump and the GOP decided it was time to pick some more and then there's an election. She could not have waited ONE WHOLE WEEK to tell her sordid story?


And to be fair (5.00 / 1) (#35)
by smott on Sun Nov 05, 2017 at 02:37:52 PM EST

Sanders was fund raising off this right off tha bat.

And Nina Turner is in Newsweek talking about a cover up of the supposed rigging.

We should face facts that the Dems have a huge problem surrounding how to incorporate the Sanders wing.


I think (5.00 / 3) (#36)
by Ga6thDem on Sun Nov 05, 2017 at 02:44:13 PM EST

most people have just given up on attempting to incorporate them hence Perez getting rid of a lot of them on the rules committee. This particular group wanted MORE caucuses and Perez did the right thing if you believe in democracy. The ones that want to work towards common goals? I welcome them. The authoritarian ones that demand everything has to be done their way I can do without.

Nina Turner can play the victim for perpetuity for all I care. I have had it with the whole I'm a victim thing when we have Trump as president. Apparently Trump being president is something she is not concerned with. It's just another opportunity to grift it would seem.


: Yes embarrassingly transparent (5.00 / 2) (#39)
by smott on Sun Nov 05, 2017 at 03:32:27 PM EST

The Sanders wing wanting more caucuses,which demonstrably make it harder for people to vote.
It's hard to take Turner or any of them seriously as long as they continue to hype for more caucuses. Open primaries best, then closed, then caucuses are the most voter-suppressive.
But Sanders knows what side his bread is buttered, hence Turner et al pushing caucuses.
The negative pieces re Harris and Booker are equally transparent.

Seriously -- and smartly -- Jeralyn (5.00 / 3) (#48)
by Towanda on Mon Nov 06, 2017 at 02:53:10 PM EST

brought Bernie into the discussion, Anne -- as has anyone appalled that Prima Donna would not only think that she could have replaced Clinton on the ticket but also that she would do so with Biden, not with your candidate, who actually was a candidate.


Yes, Trump is on TV (none / 0) (#21)
by fishcamp on Sun Nov 05, 2017 at 07:38:38 AM EST

on every news channel waving while deplaning in Tokyo. Did you notice that he and his wife make sure their hands don't touch?


Does Melania do (none / 0) (#27)
by MKS on Sun Nov 05, 2017 at 11:20:25 AM EST

anything except smile and wave?

God, I miss Michelle.


Plagiarize? Lecture us on bullying? (5.00 / 1) (#28)
by vml68 on Sun Nov 05, 2017 at 11:33:29 AM EST

Avoids touching her husband as much as possible?!


: Well, ... on that last one ... (5.00 / 2) (#29)
by Yman on Sun Nov 05, 2017 at 11:42:35 AM EST

... can you really blame her?

I mostly believe that this has about (none / 0) (#6)
by Anne on Sat Nov 04, 2017 at 08:04:52 PM EST

another day of life, well, depending on whether the talking heads get out the long knives for her tomorrow, and expose her BS, or if they get all serious and make her seem credible.

Not sure I want to watch to find out.

I truly have no idea how Brazile has managed to work - or worm - her way to where she is now, and I hope that this will be the weekend when what's left of her career crumbles to dust.

i have every intention of watching (none / 0) (#7)
by CaptHowdy on Sat Nov 04, 2017 at 08:08:13 PM EST

sadly i do not expect knives but rose petals.

if there is anything good i will report.

by the way if you care
turn your clock back or you will miss the early ones


I'll probably DVR and watch later, (none / 0) (#10)
by Anne on Sat Nov 04, 2017 at 08:16:45 PM EST

so I can fast forward through the worst parts.


: thats (none / 0) (#15)
by CaptHowdy on Sat Nov 04, 2017 at 08:25:36 PM EST

what i always do

The (none / 0) (#14)
by FlJoe on Sat Nov 04, 2017 at 08:24:55 PM EST

little I saw on CNN today seemed pretty skeptical of Brazile, but then again they fired her for helping Hillary, of all things. Who said irony is dead.


This all (5.00 / 2) (#16)
by Ga6thDem on Sat Nov 04, 2017 at 08:27:18 PM EST

puts that whole story in a new light. Sounds like Brazile was attempting to hurt Clinton.

I have to say though I guess she never thought about the rest of us as having Trump as president.


: After Gore 2000, let's not give credit to ... (5.00 / 1) (#19)
by Erehwon on Sat Nov 04, 2017 at 10:06:04 PM EST

anyone who thought that Trump couldn't get elected as president. You'd think she of all people would have thought of it!

Based on the ABC interview, it doesn't (none / 0) (#22)
by Anne on Sun Nov 05, 2017 at 08:03:01 AM EST

seem to me like she's getting any traction...lots of spinning, but George doesn't seem to be buying it.

agreed (none / 0) (#23)
by CaptHowdy on Sun Nov 05, 2017 at 08:55:50 AM EST

based on the limited selection i've seen so far, outside Karl Rove the coverage has been more balanced than i expected.

which was admittedly a low bar.


She tweeted that for the next 3 days we (5.00 / 3) (#24)
by Militarytracy on Sun Nov 05, 2017 at 09:04:05 AM EST

Should only focus on VA. Then she did this

I think I hate her


: In the final analysis (none / 0) (#26)
by jondee on Sun Nov 05, 2017 at 09:25:48 AM EST

there's a lot more earthly goodies to be had for folks with a certain type of resume if they worm themselves into the right side of the aisle.
Just ask Bill's old buddy Dick Morris.
For some reason, I keep hearkening back to a conversation I had a few years ago with the AA head of the student body of a local college who told me that he had been told by a rep from one of the right-wing foundations that he could basically punch his own ticket for life if he ever decided to become a black conservative.

Thanks for letting us know (5.00 / 1) (#25)
by Militarytracy on Sun Nov 05, 2017 at 09:05:25 AM EST

How it goes. I can't even watch a Sunday show. If she shows her face I'd lose it. I'm tired and it's not worth it.


pushed out of the (none / 0) (#33)
by CaptHowdy on Sun Nov 05, 2017 at 02:13:32 PM EST

news by another massacre


And the Paradise (none / 0) (#34)
by Ga6thDem on Sun Nov 05, 2017 at 02:20:24 PM EST

Papers and Michael Flynn possibly being indicted this week.


I don't even want to look (none / 0) (#38)
by Militarytracy on Sun Nov 05, 2017 at 03:29:31 PM EST

We just left a college fair. It feels like normal life and living is never going to return.


Not (none / 0) (#40)
by FlJoe on Sun Nov 05, 2017 at 03:33:25 PM EST

to worry, if it's a white Christian dude, the story will be gone in a couple of news cycles, three tops.


Yep (none / 0) (#41)
by FlJoe on Sun Nov 05, 2017 at 06:46:38 PM EST

White ammosexual

Forecast- Heavy thoughts and prayers through the night, tapering off to a few too soon to politicize by tomorrow evening. Ancient history by Thursday morning.


: perfect précis of the American climate. n/t (5.00 / 2) (#42)
by leap on Sun Nov 05, 2017 at 06:57:35 PM EST

+

So confusing. (none / 0) (#37)
by KeysDan on Sun Nov 05, 2017 at 03:14:01 PM EST

On ABC This Week: Miss Brazile, "I found no evidence, none whatsoever, that primaries were rigged." And, regarding the statement by Senator Elizabeth Warren, that the 2016 Democratic primary was rigged for Clinton: "I don't think she meant the word rigged."

I am beginning to think that I will not buy her book, although I was somewhat intrigued by the part, allegedly, of her lighting candles to buoy her up for placing a difficult telephone call.

Twitter had (5.00 / 1) (#43)
by Ga6thDem on Sun Nov 05, 2017 at 07:02:10 PM EST

a great time mocking her. Apparently running the DNC was worse than Katrina in her words. She seems to have a unique talent for making everyone mad at her.


: And that comment is made more appalling (none / 0) (#47)
by Towanda on Mon Nov 06, 2017 at 02:48:10 PM EST

because she was born and raised in New Orleans.

Odd then, that in her book - at least in the (5.00 / 3) (#58)
by Anne on Tue Nov 07, 2017 at 07:35:23 AM EST

excerpt published on Politico, she specifically used the word "rigged." She said (paraphrasing), that she had promised Bernie she would get to the bottom of whether the Clinton campaign had rigged the election, said she would need to find proof, and then says that on September-something, she found her proof.

So, she is the one that got that "rigged" ball rolling, is no doubt why Warren was asked about it, specifically using that label, so it puzzles me that Brazile isn't taking ownership of her own words - or the words of whoever ghost-wrote or edited the book.

Or maybe I'm not puzzled at all that, taken with some of the rest of her claims, this book seems to be an exercise in vanity and getting her face in front of the cameras again. I guess things got a little slim after she had to admit to feeding Clinton debate questions and she lost her CNN gig.

I mean, here's the passage in question:

I had promised Bernie when I took the helm of the Democratic National Committee after the convention that I would get to the bottom of whether Hillary Clinton's team had rigged the nomination process, as a cache of emails stolen by Russian hackers and posted online had suggested. I'd had my suspicions from the moment I walked in the door of the DNC a month or so earlier, based on the leaked emails. But who knew if some of them might have been forged? I needed to have solid proof, and so did Bernie.
So I followed the money. My predecessor, Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, had not been the most active chair in fundraising at a time when President Barack Obama's neglect had left the party in significant debt. As Hillary's campaign gained momentum, she resolved the party's debt and put it on a starvation diet. It had become dependent on her campaign for survival, for which she expected to wield control of its operations.
Debbie was not a good manager. She hadn't been very interested in controlling the party--she let Clinton's headquarters in Brooklyn do as it desired so she didn't have to inform the party officers how bad the situation was. How much control Brooklyn had and for how long was still something I had been trying to uncover for the last few weeks.
By September 7, the day I called Bernie, I had found my proof and it broke my heart.

Could it just be a matter of being poorly written? Or poorly edited? Of her meaning one thing, but it reading as something else? Sure.

But when 100-something people from the campaign say that they didn't recognize the campaign she described in the book, does that mean those people were in denial and Brazile was the only clear-headed, objective one who could see things for what they really were?

I guess that's possible, too. I'm sure anyone and everyone who worked on the campaign has gone over and over and over every little thing trying to figure out where things went wrong. Maybe they were somewhat in denial. I think some of us looking from the outside saw problems, wondered about some of the strategy and decisions that were being made, felt like maybe Clinton was getting some bad advice, taking too much for granted.

I guess what irks me about Brazile is how she's somehow managed to Trumpify her role - the good decisions she wants full credit for, the bad ones were someone else's fault.

But the "rigging" thing? Right there in black-and-white on the pages of her book.

It sure seems like, instead of covering herself in glory and acclaim, she's managed to cover herself in sh!t from the pot she stirred up.


Anne, I also went back to that (none / 0) (#68)
by Towanda on Tue Nov 07, 2017 at 12:59:03 PM EST

excerpt to be sure that I was not having a senior moment. Nope, my memory was correct.

But I did not do the work that you did in this post, to put to rest any apologias for Brazile. Thank you.


: I had the same feeling, Towanda; (none / 0) (#70)
by Anne on Tue Nov 07, 2017 at 01:54:40 PM EST

went back, read it again, and couldn't for the life of me figure out why no one put it in front of her and said, "see this? This is why people are talking about rigging. Because you say right here that you found the proof."
Which is not to say there aren't problems at the DNC - I think we all know there are - but that's not her job anymore. Does she think she's going to save it from the outside, by trashing the Clinton campaign? She had to know the media would happily join in on the Clinton bashing - and at this point, what's the point of that?
As I keep saying, Brazile has terrible instincts. To see her getting all indignant about being challenged on her motives and agenda, well, let's just say that as far as I'm concerned, I hope this punches her one way ticket to irrelevance and obscurity.
I guess this is what happens when Trump goes out of town...

Watched the ABC interview (none / 0) (#44)
by McBain on Sun Nov 05, 2017 at 07:14:50 PM EST

wasn't impressed. Trying to distance herself from the Hilary debate question email.... The Katrina comparison... she didn't come across well.

Fun with the Google (none / 0) (#50)
by CaptHowdy on Mon Nov 06, 2017 at 03:49:33 PM EST

Type in

Donna Brazile

Then

Donna Brazile is

Donna Brazile is a

: Actually (none / 0) (#51)
by CaptHowdy on Mon Nov 06, 2017 at 04:15:27 PM EST

It works better with bing

Donna Brazile (none / 0) (#62)
by KeysDan on Tue Nov 07, 2017 at 10:53:42 AM EST

is to be a guest, tonight (November 7), on Chris Hayes (MSNBC, 8pm eastern). Not sure if I can bear to watch, although felt the same way about Chris's interviews with Carter Page, and was glad to have watched, so as to see first-hand just how dumb he is.

At least, Miss Brazile is scheduled after voting has concluded in the Virginia governor's race..should that actually have any impact. More likely impact will be Gillespie's stirring up white racial hostility, or as the WaPo puts it: " His campaign's thrust has not been just a dog whistle to the intolerant, racially resentful parts of the Republican base; it's been a mating call."

Oh. lordy...you sometimes never know (none / 0) (#64)
by Anne on Tue Nov 07, 2017 at 11:03:55 AM EST

with Chris. With the Carter Pages and some of the dumb-as-a-post Republicans, he can be very adversarial and pointedly critical of some of the nonsense they try to pass off as fact.

With Brazile, not sure how he will play it. Will he challenge her or boost her credibility?

Guess we'll know soon enough.


You're right (5.00 / 2) (#65)
by Ga6thDem on Tue Nov 07, 2017 at 11:17:08 AM EST

about that. Chris is all over the place. He's a notch above Joe and Mika IMO.


Donna B will be on Morning Joe tomorrow... (none / 0) (#69)
by Cashmere on Tue Nov 07, 2017 at 01:06:09 PM EST

I can just imagine how Mika will be as she has been claiming the campaign was rigged against Bernie for the past 2 years! Ugh...


: And Brazile (5.00 / 1) (#72)
by Ga6thDem on Tue Nov 07, 2017 at 03:05:57 PM EST

just smears herself. It's amazing.

Agreed. If only Prima Donna (5.00 / 3) (#67)
by Towanda on Tue Nov 07, 2017 at 12:56:28 PM EST

was facing Maddow, whee! or even O'Donnell.

But I will hold hope that Hayes will be at his best.


Well, the Democratic election (none / 0) (#73)
by KeysDan on Wed Nov 08, 2017 at 11:12:04 AM EST

returns bolstered my spirits so as to permit watching Chris Hayes' interview of Donna Brazile. That same spirit infused the interview and muted any potential damage.

Although, Hayes started out by putting to rest any notions that Miss Brazile's book may have affected the Virginia race....such a silly idea in the first place and worthy of a laugh....not recognizing that the win might have been despite Miss Brazile. Or, at least, not constructive to Democratic unity and the resistance.

Overall, the questions were softball, allowing Miss Brazile to walk, or slither, back. Hayes did ask about that "rigging" thing: Miss Brazile claimed she preferred "cancer" to "rigging". Hayes did interject that "cancer" is not so nice, to which Brazile did agree, cancer is bad and needs to be cured.

Overall, for those viewers to whom this saga was all new, or who did not follow all the details, it would have had no real meaning and the joy of the night eclipsed the nut of the discussion.


As usual, Brazile's timing is still (none / 0) (#74)
by Anne on Wed Nov 08, 2017 at 11:30:24 AM EST

as bad as it ever was - or perhaps she was scheduled for last evening because the show's producers knew all the focus would be on the election returns.

I also noted that Hayes called her on the use of the word "rigged" - finally, someone states the obvious - and I found her "I prefer 'cancer'" to be almost a non-sequitur, given she had to know what the book actually said before it went into print.

One more reason why I am coming to think of her promotional schedule as The Donna Brazile Irrelevancy Tour.

With likely more indictments in the Mueller investigation coming, and whatever the Daily Trumpism of the day is (hard to beat "I never knew there were so many countries" and "why don't you try building your cars here?" remarks, or his name-checking of his golf course in the speech yesterday), I'd venture to guess Ms. Brazile will struggle to gain any real traction with her book's "explosive" revelations, anywhere other than Fox News and its vulpine cohorts.


This (none / 0) (#75)
by FlJoe on Wed Nov 08, 2017 at 10:10:49 PM EST

picture speaks a thousand words to me Sheriff Clarke? She has really crossed to the dark side.


Oh, dear...that made me throw up in my (5.00 / 1) (#76)
by Anne on Thu Nov 09, 2017 at 06:06:16 AM EST

mouth a little...


: Who's (5.00 / 1) (#77)
by FlJoe on Thu Nov 09, 2017 at 08:36:36 AM EST

next? Steve Bannon? Richard Spencer?

Yes, Charlie Sykes' old buddy Clarke (5.00 / 1) (#78)
by Towanda on Thu Nov 09, 2017 at 08:24:04 PM EST

and Brazile with big grins is grotesque.

Donna, does it not matter to you that people died in Sheriff Clarke's jail? that women were forced to give birth while wearing shackles?

And all were African American, but Donna doesn't like to talk about "identity politics" now. Unless to bash Dems for such thinking, when Prima Donna becomes a Fox News pundit? I swear that is where she is headed . . . and have to wonder if it was there that she ran into Sheriff Clarke.


The new Dick Morris. (5.00 / 1) (#79)
by caseyOR on Thu Nov 09, 2017 at 08:51:30 PM EST

Maybe Brazile figured she had gone as far as she was going in the Democratic Party. Always the interim DNC executive, never the permanent executive.

Well, she has burned her bridges now.


: Dick Morris (5.00 / 1) (#81)
by Ga6thDem on Fri Nov 10, 2017 at 05:31:55 AM EST

blew himself up in 2012. I guess 2016 is the year for Brazile to do it.

"Grotesque" is right. (none / 0) (#80)
by Anne on Thu Nov 09, 2017 at 09:36:16 PM EST

When I think about what that man put people through, I am sickened. And when I see that grin on Brazile's face...words pretty much fail me.

We'll see just how far she's willing to go to be relevant, how much she embraces the purveyors of hate and prejudice and misogyny, and that will tell us just how much credibility to give anything on the pages of her book.

Only Donna Brazile could manage to drive her Irrelevancy Tour Bus off a cliff. Can't say that bothers me much.


: "What that man put people through" (none / 0) (#83)
by Towanda on Tue Nov 14, 2017 at 01:40:03 PM EST

makes me think of Sykes, too. We switch channls when MSNBC airs him. Sykes is responsible for Clarke, and for Walker, and for a lot of others who destroyed Wisconsin.
And we are not so naive as is MSNBC to believe in Charlie's conversion. We who know him all too well know that he is an oppoertunist who has done this before.