Earaches, on a scale of suck ranging from 1 to Mark Penn, score an 11.
Especially when all 15 pharmacies in your town do not have your medicine and you need to wait until the morning for it to be shipped overnight.
Discuss.
*** Update ***
Please, folks, I went to the damned doctor already. He prescribed some penicillin steroid combo (the name eludes me), and advil. The pharmacies, all of them, are out of the medicine.
And advil ain’t cutting it.
Fraud Guy
No pain meds available? Tylenol 3 didn’t stop the pain for me, but I didn’t care.
mantis
At the moment, we give the earache a score of 11 on a scale of 1 to Mark Penn (our system allows a score of 0, “plagiarized” Mondale ad, or 1 for each category, and is dynamic, meaning we can subtract points for backsliding). It is far too soon to predict that the earache is headed for full suckitude. But it is also clear that those who assert that earaches are awesome have not kept up with the news.
Dennis - SGMM
That’s the shits. Can you lay your hand on some T3’s. Like Fraud Guy said, they probably won’t stop the pain but you won’t care.
ThymeZone
Yes, Tylenol with codeine. Use liberally, you’re a liberal.
Jules
Auralgan is the only way to go.
Pixie
I’m sorry you have an earache John, I have to agree, they’re probably the more painful conditions people have to deal with. If there are no meds around, you might want to break out the whiskey and morf into John + 3
Dennis - SGMM
In the Support the Troops Department, we have this from military.com:
Webb’s GI Bill Tagged as Threat to Volunteer Force
See, the DoD is worried that in the face of multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan the troops will leave the service in record numbers if they have a chance to get a good education. Webb’s bill would raise GI benefits to levels commensurate with returning WWII GI’s.
Remember the shock and outrage that greeted any suggestion that many have enlisted because they simply didn’t have any alternatives?
PaulW
1) form a cone out of a long sheet of paper, put the small end to your ear, hold the large end near a lit candle (not too close!), see if it fixes the pressure.
2) heat a cup of water to boiling. pour out the water, and put the cup to your ear.
3) sue everyone who gave the pharmaceuticals a huge payoff in that medicare scam a few years back.
4) move to a country that actually has a working health care system.
TheFountainHead
I spent the evening in the kitchen making a large batch of spicy marinara, and I have to tell ya, all that time wielding a knife and not listening to any punditry or Pennassery was extremely good for my soul.
Dennis - SGMM
Pennassery n.
The art of telling everyone in the room how smart you are while getting your ass kicked.
MNPundit
Once an ear-ache gave me a 105 fever and you could see the blood vessels against my ear.
Ear aches are teh suck.
Original Lee
John, what on earth are they giving you for your ear infection? (I’m guessing Zithromax.) Unless you’re having an epidemic of ear infections out your way, I find it hard to believe that none of the pharmacies have it. Go back to the pharmacy and get one of those instant 6-hour heat packs they have for muscle strains. Wrap it in a washcloth, activate, and hold it to the side of your face. Sometimes the pain is just not in the ear but also in the head, neck, and face muscles because you’re tensing up from the ear pain; the heat will help with that. Also Extra-Strength Motrin will help with the pain, but don’t take it on an empty stomach or with alcohol. (The voice of experience – I had to have ear tubes as an adult because I was having so many ear infections!)
myiq2xu
Somewhere Hillary, Geraldine, Cindy and the rest of the coven are sitting around a cauldron, cackling, while one of them is inserting a pin in the ear of a John Cole voodoo doll.
tBone
I had one of those a few years ago that ended up bursting my eardrum.
Why do I suddenly feel like that Penelope character from SNL?
Ross
Sorry to hear about the earache. I had one about a year or two ago, and it was so irritating that I couldn’t concentrate on anything. I found something that helped before I made it in to the doctor’s office. (The doctor told me I shouldn’t have done it, but what the hey I’ll throw it out there.) I dipped a q-tip in isopropyl alcohol and gently rubbed it in my ear. Sweet sweet relief! Try at your own risk.
Anticorium
I am still disgusted that all of you had the gall to second-guess the political genius whose campaign handily carried Minnesota.
cbear
My advice-
Don’t take any advice. This is the internets and there may be people trying to kill you.
I see goopers EVERYWHERE!
jake
No offense John, but just go to the damn doctor already. Every fifth post from you reads like a hospital chart of late. If you are going to a doctor and he keeps chucking a-biotics in your direction, get a real doctor.
TheFountainHead
QFT. Teh intratubes assassassassassin r a trixy fallow.
TR
Mark Penn said your earache doesn’t matter because you live in a small state.
EL
I’m really curious – what medicine is it that several pharmacies don’t have? If it’s an antibiotic, unless you’re allergic to most, some pharmacy should have it or your doc should stop prescribing the wierd stuff. Auralgan is good, Tyl #3 or Vicodin are good temporizing measures. For some people, even motrin or aleve in prescription doses can help. Other choice is call your doc and get him or her to prescribe something more accessible.
RSA
I suspect that some of those pharmacies did have your medicine, but the pharmacists on duty were morally opposed to providing it to you.
ripdash
I’ve never paid much attention to presidential press secrectaries, but watching Dana Perino on Jon Stewart just now, I’m stunned by how absolutely clueless she is.
At the same time, I’m struck by the fact the fact you idiots got & are getting exactly what you deserve. Thanks for fucking the entire globe, douchebags.
TheFountainHead
Mesthinks ripdash doesn’t know where he is, perhaps the internets has disoriented him?
myiq2xu
“A piece of lead, moving at high velocity and heated by a small, intense fire containing sulpher, saltpeter and charcoal, will provide relief if inserted directly into the ear canal.”
myiq2xu
Oops, my bad. “Sulphur”
Instant relief though.
L. Ron Obama
Yeah, but you’ll go deaf first.
ripdash
“Mesthinks” I know exactly where I is.
In a world where the current US leadership presumes to impose their ideolgy on other countries that don’t particularly welcome your way of thinking.
You lot blew it… you elected a leader based on the same metric that you elect your American Idol winners: Not on talent or content, but by vacuous popularity. After 7 years has the US public learned any lessons? Doubtful.
If not for the deeply catastrophic global consequences of another 4-8 years of republican rule (more war, stock markets crumbling, etc.), I’d love to see the US elect GWB 2.0(i.e. McCain) & self-destruct & grasp at enough rope to hang itself. The rest of us have had enough of your hypocritical moralizing & assholier-than-thou posturing.
Burn, bitches. It’s been a long time coming.
myiq2xu
Only for a very brief time.
Extra bonus – no more ear wax.
Ted
I have not had an ear infection since early childhood. I actually had no idea adults got them as well.
Gemina13
John–
I get earaches every year, thanks to sinusitis. I’ve tried ear candles, sweet (mineral) oil, and irrigation. There are only three things that work for me.
The first is ibuprofen, at least 800 mg. (Yes, it hurts that much. Too, I have fibroids; I’m used to taking that much and more each month.) Ibuprofen helps to ease the swelling, and will aid in releasing any fluid in the canal.
The second is heat. Get a heating pad, place a towel over it, and rest your ear against it. Don’t get it too hot, or you’ll burn the hell out of your ear, and have to explain later why the skin’s peeling off in strips. (Yes, that also happened.)
The third is an antihistamine. Be careful, and use this only if the ibuprofen doesn’t help. Any over-the-counter antihistamine will work, but I swear by Benadryl or Claritin. Combine it with the heating pad, and you should feel better soon.
Good luck.
Delia
What EL said. Advil is a joke for serious pain. You might as well eat sugar. Vicodin at least from what you describe. I can’t believe your doc would let you go at that. Something sucks badly in your medical plan.
PeterP
I had a wicked ear infection some time back, and I think the doctor prescribed some combination of acetic acid (white vinegar) and one of the penicillin derivatives.
myiq2xu
Vicodin, with moderate amounts of hard liquor.
It won’t make the pain go away, but you won’t care as much.
Earaches
To get rid of your earache, hope you’ve got a flex shower hose. Get in the shower, turn it on hot, orient your head so that you are looking sideways, and the ear that hurts is down. Spray hot water on your ear that hurts until it stops hurting.
If you don’t have a flex shower hose you can try the same thing with a hair dryer. Not in the shower of course.
You can take some Tylenol too. Hell, morphine if you’ve got some.
AnneLaurie
If you don’t have a heating pad & you don’t want to go out again tonight, John, use couple pounds of uncooked rice (or barley or similar) tied into a damp cloth sack (corner of a pillowcase will do if there’s nothing smaller around). Nuke the sack until it’s warm enough you can BARELY stand to have it against your tender skin, and lie down with it balanced on the offending ear/neck/jaw area. Warm & damp & pressing DOWN. Hopefully the relief lasts long enough for you to fall asleep from exhaustion.
The not-dramamine anti-carsickness OTC, meclazine hydrochloride, brand name Bonine, is great if you’ve got the spindizzies to go with the pain. Before the stuff went off-label, my HMO authorized 50mg every 12 hours, which is two of the little pink Bonine chewables. This will also knock most adults out quicker than the fourth tequila, even if it doesn’t directly help the eustachian pressure. Do not, as they say, operate heavy machinery after dosage, but at least the M-HCL won’t leave you with a hangover in the morning.
Morat20
My wife gets ear infections easily — she has to see a doctor at the first twinge, or she’s in the ER within 72 hours with a raging infection.
One memorable 3:00 AM on a Sunday ER visit concluded with the ER doctor handing her antibiotics, a script for a very serious dose of a vicodin, and told her the only reason she wasn’t be admitted was because she’d promised to see an ENT first thing that morning. He was quite insistant that she be AT an ENT (ear-nose-throat) specialist at 8:00, and to hand the receptionist the note he was writing.
She showed up, no appointment, at 7:30 to a booked ENT. She was seen at 8:15. The ENT told her it was the worst ear infection he’d ever seen, asked how on earth she was tolerating the pain, and then tossed all the antibiotics we’d just had filled, because “They’re the wrong sort and not nearly strong enough”.
They had to insert a wick (basically a thin string — he said she was lucky she was already heavily dosed with vicodin, because it was going to hurt) in order to get antibiotic drops to the actual infection site. He ear had effectively swollen shut.
I don’t know WHAT your pharmacies don’t have, but they have vicodin. Someone does, at least. And like T3, you won’t really notice the pain.
DougJ
Count your blessings, John. In Islamofascist countries, the remedy for ear aches is a public beheading.
If the pain really gets to you, just bang your head against your granite countertops until numbness sets in. It’s an old Frost family prescription.
myiq2xu
He probably would be grateful right now.
ArchPundit
I’ve had antibiotic resistant ear infections and that was one of the most miserable experiences even trying most of what is suggested in the thread. Ultimately, heavy antibiotics were the only choice and I was dizzy for like two weeks. Good luck.
jah
Not sure if you’ve heard this, but the fine press secretary was very recently unaware that the Cuban missile crisis and the Bay of Pigs were two different events.
Mike D.
Um, Dana Perino? I’d hit it. Yeah, I’d hit it until the neighbors complained about the smell and the cops broke down the door. (I’m so glad we have the IntarWeb so we can share our demi-pseudo-anonymous dirty secrets like this.) Mendacity in the service of pure evil? Sure, you’re right. Carrie Fisher was coked to the eyeballs in every frame of the third film, but what does that have to do with the fabled Bronze Bikini avec Chain? Mmmm… slave-a-licious….
Ahem.
If you’ve never gone down that road, the idea of an “ear, nose and throat” doctor is mildly humorous, but that shit is no joke. Am I the only one who really read that sweeping disclaimer you have to sign to get your wisdom teeth out? Why is all that delicate, vital crap wound around itself like a Mandelbrot render dripping pure neon agony? Intelligent Design my foot. More like night-before-it’s-due, tweaking-and-drunk design. Don’t get me started on the prostate.
Andrew J. Lazarus
Somehow I managed to escape strep my whole life until my kids started bringing germs home from the playground. Kid: 12 hour runny nose. Dad: E.R. visit. I was most impressed with the time I got a 4-fer: ear, sinus, throat, and eye infections at the same time! Luckily, antibiotics killed the hell out of them fast.
Janus Daniels
SOLUTION: garlic and olive oil.
Cut a clove of peeled garlic, about as large as the end of one of your fingers, so that if fits in the opening of your ear; make sure you leave it much to large for the ear canal… the cut garlic will sting, so all the more reason for the olive oil.
Yes, I know, and I’ve done this repeatedly & successfully.
TenguPhule
Military Intelligence continues to be the standard of oxymorons.
myiq2xu
Other contenders:
Honest politician
Truth-in-advertising
virgin sluts
legal ethics
Ninerdave
I recommend heroin. Cheep, easy to get (especially around a campus). Failing that, I’d venture into the dorms, someone has something that’ll help. I’m sure dorms haven’t changed that much since I went to college oh those many moons ago.
myiq2xu
I recommend the Emperors Club VIP.
At $5k an hour, they better be able to make you forget about your ear.
daryljhusseinfontaine
Had an ear infection a couple years ago that was compounded by a wax blockage (yes, disgusting), which hurt like a SOB. Ended up having to drive myself to an emergency room on Super Bowl Night, as the closest “Urgent Care” facilities covered by my insurance were 50 freaking miles away. The ER decided to pad its bill by having four different people look at me, did a crap job of cleaning out the blockage, and prescribed some dosage of Cipro (The Anthrax Drug™!) for the infection, which did precisely jack-all.
The following Tuesday I saw an ENT specialist, who cleaned the blockage out thoroughly and put me on Zithromax which cleared the infection right up.
Moral of the story? For me, mostly: get it fixed earlier, and by the right doc the first time.
Meanwhile, good luck, and best wishes for your imported drugs.
jake
Compassionate Conservative
Clean coal
Well-behaved cat
myiq2xu
These really exist. You just have to scrape them off the road first.
DrDave
John:
You need to see an ENT to assess whether the infection is outer ear only or if there is a middle ear component (and if your ear drum is intact) as well.
I developed an ear infection SCUBA diving last summer–my first ever–and the pain was excruciating so you have my sympathy. The good news is that if you just have an outer ear infection, once you start drops (I highly recommend ciprodex), it gets much better in a few days (and resolves completely in about a week and a half).
Good luck.
myiq2xu
Is there a term for words or phrases that don’t mean what they sound like?
For example, “news anchor” should be the weight used to keep the body of a bloviating gasbag from rising to the surface.
slippy hussein toad
I had an ear infection 12 years ago. I knew it was beginning to happen when I heard this whooshing sound in my right ear, which lasted about twenty seconds, followed by a glopping sound as my inner ear completely filled with fluid, followed by pain that became intense within 40 minutes, followed by me leaving work and going home, followed by blood pouring out of my ear and me ending up at the ER.
I ruptured my eardrum and couldn’t hear correctly out of it for three weeks. This was especially cruel to me because my hobby is music — and I was trying to compose a piece at the time. As I tried to listen to the playback all of the notes were warbly and doubled out of tune in that ear (probably because of the rupture) and I thought it would be like that forever. I would have preferred to simply lose it altogether than to have it there fucking up my sense of pitch.
Fortunately ruptured eardrums can heal, and all is now well. But I spent about three weeks in the throes of a very grim depression that music would never sound right to me again.
Gus
You have my sympathy. Ear infections are excruciating. The only good thing about an ear infection is when it finally breaks and your ear fills with pus.
Face
You have an earache? Well, my eyes are bleeding at reading this arcane post. It smells, too.
borehole
Night Court on oxymorons–
HARRY: …like “jumbo shrimp” or “Reagan’s memoirs.”
BULL: Oh, I understand!
HARRY: Yeah, that’s a good one.
Bob In Pacifica
Geraldine Ferraro says that your earache medicine has been sent to black neighborhoods as part of an equal opportunity program.
If you were black and your middle name were “Hussein” you wouldn’t even get earaches.
myiq2xu
Back to back letters to the editor in todays SF Chron:
I find it ironic that the Obamalama ding-dong is from the People’s Republic of Beserkly.
I must take exception to the statement that “the letters columns and the blogosphere are full of angry letters claiming that support for Barack Obama can be motivated only by sexism.”
I’ve never seen anyone make that assertion. There are plenty of good reasons to support Obama, none of which have anything to do with sexism.
My experience is that most misogynists are also racists, and would therefore be supporting McCain, the only white man left in the race. I’ve never seen someone who believed in racial equality but thought women were inferior.
“Egalitarian bigot” is an oxymoron.
Punchy
I picture Cole teaching a class, unable to hear, so therefore unknowingly raising his voice to near-yelling volume in that deaf-speaker’s monotone voice, answering every student’s question with a “uh….what?” while cupping his hand to his ear…
Thomas Allen
In “a scale of suck ranging from 1 to Mark Penn”, an 11 would be a perfect O’Hanlon.
spanky
Holy crap, I send my sympathies. I got stuck with one when I had no health insurance last year, and everyone told me (since I had no fever and no money for an ER) to take pain meds and tough it out. I was literally taking 10 advils at a time just to stay on top of it. lasted a week and a half, and it was f’in miserable.
I still get weird shots of pain there when I swallow hard, which I guess means something scarred. so yeah, earaches suck.
cleek
earache, my eye
Darkness
Swimmers ear was a regular at our house. Yeah, you can’t do anything but moan when you inner ear is screaming at you. We never got an stinkin’ antibiotics tho… just mineral oil, heated on a spoon by the warmth of my dad’s hand. Sorry, he’s probably not there to help you out. Always worked for us.
myiq2xu
Isn’t what happens when your cheap hooker turns to spit too soon?
Krista
Oh, earaches are miserable, aren’t they? Did you get your meds yet, John?
Dennis - SGMM
Almost as bad is reading the recent spate of op-eds from the ‘cons and the R’s explaining how Iraq, and not the economy, will be the real issue thus guaranteeing a sweep for Warrior-Maverick Methuselah.
They’ve outsmarted us again. Lost jobs and lost homes can be so easily trumped by a purple finger – even if it comes in the mail.
zzyzx
Since p.l was looking for an example of someone silly enough to suggest the solution for Michigan was to count the votes as is and keep the uncommitted votes uncommitted, well here one is
Keep promoting that solution Talk Left. Nothing is more helpful to the Obama camp than the Clinton supporters asking for something that they’ll never get while the clock ticks down.
ET
My sympathies.
I used to get earaches from swimming in a certain type of water when I was in grade school. All I remember was crying a lot for about a week and generally being utterly miserable and unable to get away from the pain. We used the ear drops but it took a while to go away.
EL
If it’s Otitis Externa (swimmer’s ear), the doc will normally prescribe an antibioic/steroid combination drop. (Penicillin would not be the usual antibiotic here). There are several such combos, so your doctor could change to one that is more commonly stocked. Alternately, you could get the drops as two separate prescriptions, pay more co-pay and suffer a bit more inconvenience, but still have your medication.
If it’s middle ear, an oral antibiotic would be the norm. Steroids aren’t unheard of for that, but would be unusual.
Whatever the situation, I hope you feel better soon. And I hope your doc gives you some Vicodin or equivalent to tide you over.
zzyzx
Oh and those of you who aren’t reading Talk Left are missing out. Did you know that Obama is stealing the election by asking that the rules agreed to ahead of time continue to be used?
myiq2xu
LIAR!
That is not what is being said.
From TL:
Why are the Obamalama ding-dongs more interested in fixing the election rather than fixing the problem?
dslak said on a previous thread:
I think the ones trying to make Obama (and his real supporters) look bad are wingnut ratfuckers who come here to create animosity within the Democratic party.
cleek
why does Obama hate America ?
Ed Drone
A propos of this, see what the Geeks have come up with: Presidential Candidates as D&D Characters:
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/geekend/
They didn’t even have to Photoshop McCain’s phizz.
Ed
myiq2xu
Here’s a question for those who say “rules are rules.”
What overriding political principle is achieved by disenfranchising two states?
Is enforcing arbitrary rules designed to give preference to two small states that important?
Dianne
If your ear infection is from swimmer’s ear, the only thing that has ever worked for me is Vasol, a vinegar/ oil combo.
The best thing to do is to keep your ears dry in the shower.
Once water seeps down into the ear canal, it will grow bacteria that form a swarming metropolis in your ear. The skin becomes degraded and more likely to become infected. I’m using a dab of Cortizone (the vaseline kind, not the white cream with aloe)in each ear just before the shower and have not had an outbreak in years. It is the worst pain in the world – right up there with childbirth. Good luck.
ThymeZone
Why don’t you ask the two state parties that decided to disenfranchise themselves?
Idiot.
myiq2xu
How ironic, from somebody who thinks Hillary will say or do anything to win.
myiq2xu
From Corrente:
My position is that the only fair way to resolve this is to hold revotes in both states. Either that or honor the original votes.
We need to fix the problem, not fix the election.
ThymeZone
You need some new material dude. You are basically incoherent at this point.
Anybody who can defend That Woman, the one who did the NPR interview and said that the Michigan “primary” we had should count as is, might as well be defending Charles Manson. She’s batshit crazy, and you’re an asshole for pimping for that shit here. Seriously. The crazy powermad harpie has gone over the edge.
I heard the NPR audio last night on Olbermann, and I must say, I don’t think I have ever heard a more bald-faced lie told by a politician, and that includes George Bush and Dick Cheney. At least they did it for a good cause, to start an illegal and unnecessary war. She is just doing it for herself. Cheney and Bush already stole their election, they weren’t trying to get into office with their gigantic lies. But this lying sack of shit woman is doing it just to get herself into office.
Wow. These are historical times. That turd of a woman is setting a standard for dishonest politics that may never be met again. Sure, you expect to see it in a race for sherrif, or district attorney. But president? To just lie like that to an entire country and do it with a straight face?
She’s got some fucking balls, that broad. I take back my suggesting that she be Senate majority leader. I don’t want her anywhere near my politics any more. Get her off the stage. She is a fucking monster.
CJ
Fair? The nitwits at the state level played a game of chicken and lost. The DNC was very clear about what they would do and the ramifications to the state parties. The only way this could be considered unfair is if one believes that the proper way for the DNC to operate is to say one thing and do another. Perhaps it was naive of me to think that flip-flopping was a bad thing.
CJ
myiq2xu
You might want to switch to decaf. Let me know if you think of an answer to my original question.
myiq2xu
And you think this is more important than ensuring that the people of Florida and Michigan are represented?
ThymeZone
What a doofus. Yeah, you and that lump of feces you represent here really care about the “people.”
Sorry, I can listen to your asshole candidate and judge for myself what she cares about. I don’t need an internet troll to figure it out for me, but thanks anyway.
ThymeZone
John Cole, a couple days ago. Just needed to be restated, I think he pretty much nailed it.
myiq2xu
IOW – you have nothing.
You claim to support Obama based on high moral principles. But no principle matters except “winning.” You don’t care about the people who’s votes are being discarded. You don’t want to agree to a solution that would make their votes matter.
BTW – This isn’t about Hillary or what she cares about. Nice jackalope though.
Dennis - SGMM
Are the Democratic voters of Florida and Michigan pressuring their legislators and their governors via phone and email to fund another primary? Are they holding “Re-enfranchise us or you’re toast in the next election” demonstrations? I’m not in either state so I’m asking.
zzyzx
WRT being stolen, I was referring to this comment:
ThymeZone
You aren’t fooling anybody with your stupid schtick, man.
Anybody can listen to that NPR interview, look at the facts, and judge for themselves. They don’t have to take my word or your word for it.
That’s the great thing about the intertubetrons, the stuff is out there for all to see and hear.
Just look at the facts, review the history, and listen to her. Case closed.
This shit you do here is really nothing but noise on the frequency. Let others review the facts and decide who has nothing here. It ain’t rocket science.
cleek
good move.
you’re not the only person who has suggested this lately, and every time i see it i think “seriously? ’cause she doesn’t really seem like much of a team player, or a leader, and she’s slimy as hell. is that really what you want in a Senate Leader ?”
myiq2xu
You are truly an artful dodger.
Anyone else want to take a shot at it?
ThymeZone
How many times today do you want to have this exchange? I am not working today, I can do it as often as you can.
myiq2xu
You can not answer the question as many times as you want.
myiq2xu
Democracy wins in Michigan!
CJ
Yes I do. What has happened to the FL and MI voters is their own fault and the moral equivalent of choosing to not vote. If recriminations are due, and they are, the voters (and really we are talking about the members of the state Democratic party) need to ask the FL and MI state Democratic party leadership to step down.
Nobody has been disenfranchised. They simply chose, with the assistance of their state party leadership, to not vote.
CJ
ThymeZone
You can be in denial about the answer as many times as you want.
myiq2xu
Let’s hope the Democratic voters of Michigan and Florida don’t choose not to vote in November because they don’t agree with you.
jcricket
Are we sure this isn’t a result of the pharmacist exercising their “free will” or “conscience” and refusing to prescribe medicine that contradict their religious beliefs? Maybe they thought you were gay or a pregnant woman who deserved it.
Darkness
Democracy has nothing to do with the primaries. Or vice-versa. They are just a series of drunkard focus groups playing pin the tail on the donkey. Trying to enforce some slapped on semblance of democracy on a system as twisted and arcane as the primaries is like taking noisy and suspect data out to the 7th decimal place. It’s a pointless effort.
You want to throw out the party candidate selection procedure to make it democratic, fine. But as they are now it is laughable to cry democracy as an argument.
For starters I think the state schedule should be randomly drawn from a hat. Screw Iowa and New Hampster.
Kathy Cole
Michigan voter here -didn’t vote in the primary because I knew it wouldn’t count; would rather not spend a ton of money on a redo. State party leadership didn’t think Dean would follow through, and I don’t want them rewarded for that behavior, not to mention the absurdity of seating per an election when Obama wasn’t on the ballot.
I’m fine with seating a delegation, but they can’t be dispositive of the nomination.