The Democrats begrudge the 2000 Bush-Gore Florida recount. They blithely complain when Republicans seek valid measures preventing voter fraud. Why then, are the Democrats suddenly blind, deaf, and dumb when Senator Barack Obama and the Democratic National Committee openly avow to disenfranchise voters 1,749,920 in Florida and 594,398 in Michigan? Not only are Obama and the DNC perpetrating a "hi-tech" lynching, but it is blatantly unconstitutional and may even be criminal.

The Democrats allege Florida and Michigan violated the DNC Rule 11.A prohibiting a caucus or primary before Iowa, Nevada and New Hampshire. DNC Rule 20.C.1 specifies the punitive measures that both states lose 50% of their vote: Florida 210 delegates, Michigan 156 delegates. The DNC Rules Committee will be meeting this coming Saturday, May 31 to hear Obama’s utterly bizarre plan allowing only the superdelegates (ironically the votes he desperately needs to capture the nomination) to be seated, while delegates elected by popular suffrage are repudiated by being half-counted, oddly reminiscent of a colonial enumeration of freed "Black Men and Indians."

By why is there even a debate? Constitutional law is unequivocal. Every vote cast must be counted. This constitutional principle, pronounced by the United States Supreme Court since Ex parte Yarborough (1884) and reiterated as recently as Gray v. Sanders (1963), is simply beyond reproach. This rock-bottom constitutional demand applies to primaries as well as general elections. United States v. Classic (1941). Deliberately refusing to count votes cast may, under certain fact scenarios, constitute a Federal crime, United States v. Classic, citing now Section 241 of the Federal Crimes Code. Reiterating black letter law stated in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections (1966), the high court reasserted in Bush v. Gore (2000) that "once granted the right to vote on equal terms, the State may not, by later arbitrary and disparate treatment, value one person's vote over that of another."

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), now the Senate Judiciary’s ranking minority member, asserted to us in an exclusive interview, that although as a learned attorney he remains obliged to see "how it plays out," that "it may well be worthwhile" to hold Congressional hearings on the Democrats’ refusal to seat Florida and Michigan at the Democratic National Convention. "It’s certainly something I want to consider," said Specter, ruefully hinting things might be different if he was still the Judiciary Chairman. "The essence of democracy is the right to vote," asserted Specter, the Democrat’s contemplation of not seating Florida and Michigan may constitute a fundamental violation of democratic principles. He believes that the Congress must act "very promptly."

Specter emphasized while Republicans are striking bold initiatives such as GOP onDemand™ to promote full voter inclusiveness, the Democrats’ direction in the opposite direction is more than paradoxical, it is "hypocrisy." "They are preaching one thing and practicing another" angrily complained the former prosecutor, who long fought the legendary Philadelphia Democratic machine’s ghost voting and other voter frauds.

While observing there is "great frustration and anger" among his Senate colleagues, Specter’s own disbelief over Obama’s disingenuous media manipulations was self-evident as we heard him literally swearing as he was hanging up the phone. I have observed Specter for 33 years. His strenuous objections are not political positioning for TV cameras, but are at heart of his — and any civic minded citizen’s — core beliefs of what is America. To anyone who has served his country, it is incongruous to even think such an alien idea.

Specter reminds Obama that it is fully within the Congress’ prerogative to investigate the Democrats’ machinations; the presumption that political parties as private entities are immune from oversight or court intervention has long been judicially discredited. Specter also suggested that Florida’s Governor Charlie Crist or Attorney General Bill McCollum and Michigan’s Attorney General Michael Cox or Secretary of State Terri Land Lynn contemplate what would be required to be prepared on June 2 to go into Federal court paren patriae to see emergency injunctive relief under "Section 1983," the legal parlance for the Civil Rights "Anti-Ku Klux Klan" Act of 1871, if the DNC May 31 hearings fail to adhere to the fundamental one-man, one-vote constitutional rule.

And while the GOP concedes Florida’s early calendaring of the Presidential primary caused consternation, at least the "Republicans counted Florida, in stark contrast to the Democrats who didn’t count Florida," according to RNC’s Alex Conant. Highly reliable sources inform me that Senator John McCain is absolute in insisting on fully seating both Florida and Michigan delegations without any penalties, and as one source put it "what the nominee wants, he likely gets."

Michigan State Republican Chairman Saul Anuzi, one of the most conscientious and public-spirited leaders in either party, reiterated the bipartisan efforts throughout Michigan to seat fellow Wolverines at the Democratic convention, as it is beyond reproach that "every vote deserves to be counted." Anuzi, remains as baffled as everyone as to the Obama’s "apologists" spin-doctoring Michigan’s ostracization, warning voter anger from Obama’s boycott of Michigan is not "going away" by a "perfunctory photo-op."

Florida’ National Republican Committeeman Paul Senft pointed to the hypocrisy of Obama "using Florida as an ATM" while agreeing in writing, to refuse to "talk to voters." Senft’s courtly manner couldn’t disguise his own frustration of the irony of liberals resurrecting the "ghosts of 2000" in the recent HBO movie while openly disenfranchising the very same Floridian voters.

Several prominent civil rights attorneys, obviously speaking off the record being mindful they’re outsiders, nonetheless told us that the without question, Democrats must fully seat the Florida and Michigan delegations. (Their response was as if we were asking a "no-brainer" akin to whether kids be eating their vegetables). The universal consensus that the possibility of embroiling the Democratic presidential nominee in criminal proceedings in the midst of a campaign unquestionably should not be a risk worth entertaining. Continued...