Michigan and Florida… the bastard children of the DNC

We all know the story…Florida and Michigan were to hold their primaries on Super Tuesday along with a bunch of other states. Mind you, they agreed to this 18 months ago. However Florida and Michigan wanted to go before Super Tuesday.
In response, the Democratic National Committee decided to strip Florida and Michigan of their delegates at the convention. Perhaps a bit draconian some would argue, but none the less, Howard Dean decided to punish the states for going against the will of the party.
Today, Howard Dean is backing off his punishment and wants to seat them at the convention. He wants the state parties to submit a plan which fit in with the DNC’s rules. This way everyone is happy! Hooray!
I’m sorry but as a child I was brought up to believe that if you broke the rules you were punished. Florida and Michigan broke the rules and they were punished. Why must democrats insist on making everyone happy all the time? The party structure is falling apart already, we have to face it. However, if Dean does this, it will be the final nail in the coffin of the democratic party structure.
Super-delegates were just a small piece of the puzzle. We see that this party is flawed. Howard Dean is a man of great foresight and he should be able to fix this, I am very confident in his ability to do so. However, allowing Florida and Michigan to vote in these elections will set a dangerous precedent. I won’t see why New York shouldn’t move up it’s primary to January in 2012, I mean our delegates are going to count anyways. We wouldn’t want to “disenfranchise” anyone now would we. Give me a break!
WAKE UP DEMOCRATS! We have to realize that there are rules. If states follow them, they should be rewarded. Maybe with delegates at a convention. If they break them, they should be punished, maybe by not having delegates at a convention.
What incentive will other states have to follow the DNC rules if they’ll be given delegates anways? This is the Democratic party’s last stand. If they don’t stand firm here, then we’ll see the end of the party shortly. Unless there is a thorough overhaul of the system.
No one wants to see a repeat of the 1968 convention, although how fun would that be to watch? Can we please come to our sense here. If you break the rules, you have to live with the consequences.