____________________________________________________________________
Received: from usmlsu12.arrow.com [12.39.65.2] by mx29 via mtad
(34FM.0700.12.01) with ESMTP id 882eLmT3E0592M29; Wed, 13 Dec 2000
19:54:30 GMT
Received: from mh52616 (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by usmlsu12.arrow.com
(8.8.8+Sun/8.8.8) with SMTP id OAA12182; Wed, 13 Dec 2000 14:54:21
-0500 (EST)
Reply-To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
From: "Mike Brennan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: We have a new definition of Chutzpah....
Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 14:56:50 -0500
Message-ID: <001501c0653e$d54dfe50$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Priority: 3 (Normal)
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook 8.5, Build 4.71.2173.0
Importance: Normal
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4133.2400
LESSONS TO LEARN FROM THIS RIDICULOUS ELECTION
By M.B.
The classic definition of chutzpah has always been killing your parents and
throwing yourself on the mercy of the court because you're an orphan.
We now have a new one: stopping a recount until just before the deadline
and then saying you can't recount because the deadline is too close or over.
____________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________
I thought I would preface this rant with the above statement by me.
Well, now that this debacle is FINALLY going to come to an unceremoneous
conclusion, I think it's time to look back a bit and ask what we have
learned from this sham, and what will happen in the future.
Before I begin, let me start by saying (as many of you have known from past
rants {Phil}) that I can't stand either candidate for President, and did not
put in a vote for either Candidate, but rather for another individual who
will remain nameless (and might not be who you think). I do not affiliate
myself with either Political Party (it's not worth receiving the junk mail
from them). I have tried to remain objective throughout this entire thing,
since watching History unfold in front of your eyes should not be done with
colored glasses. If it appears from this that I tend to lean support towards
one or the other, THAT IS ONLY HOW IT APPEARS!! I let the facts speak for
themselves, and let the Devil be his own Advocate.
Although it is true that both candidates agreed to abide by the laws set
before the election, it is truly a sad state that the rules weren't changed
well before this. It is sad that this is supposed to be a nation "By the
People", yet the people's choice will not sit in the Oval office. It is sad
that a Presidential Election is decided not by the people, but instead by a
branch of the Government (doesn't this defeat the whole purpose of an
election?). What's even more sad, is that it is decided by 2 branches of
Government who until just now, couldn't even agree on how to screw the
American public out of the process!!! It's pathetic that no matter which way
this went, Republican or Democrat, justice would not be served. If Gore had
won, then the "ex-post facto" of the laws would be invalidated, and Bush
(who is the rightful winner by a technicality) would have his Presidency
stolen. When Bush wins, Gore will also be correct that the will of the
People will have been expressed, not not followed.
It's pathetic that the Parties were allowed to drag this through the courts
for eons longer than was prudent, under the "veil" of "due process". This
should have been over, or at least decided, weeks ago. It's pathetic that
the Florida Supreme Court didn't set clear and uniform, concise guidelines
under which the recount was to take place. If they had, the US Supreme
court would have had even less of a leg to stand on in sending the decision
back (unsigned, I might add). What's more, it's pathetic that uniform
guidelines were not in place before the Election started!!!!!
It is horribly pathetic that in their ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court
basically said that since the Dec. 12th deadline has/had now passed, that
under Florida Law it appears that a recount cannot take place. However, if
the Supreme Court hadn't put a stay on the recount over the weekend, or at
least had heard the case over the weekend, the recount that has/had now
passed deadline could have been done. By blocking the recount over the
weekend, the U.S. Supreme Court essentially lesislated its own deadline not
of Dec. 12th, but of Dec. 9th (the day they stopped the count). The recount
could have occured before the deadline, but not under the newly created
deadline. How is this due process???
It's sad that the choice of who would be the leader of the World
(essentially), was decided by old, confused senior citizens that can't even
read a ballot card, and who either: 1) punched for the wrong guy, or who; 2)
for some reason, after God knows how many elections in which they voted in
their LONG, LONG lives, thought it was "OK" to punch 2 holes!!! Then they
wouldn't ask for help because they were scared?!?!? What are they,
children!?!?!?. You know, children are not allowed to vote!!!! Why do you
think that is?!? A main reason is they don't have the mental capacity (by
means of maturity), to have a say in how things should be run. If you can't
punch a hole correctly, or if you're to proud or scared to ask for help in
this day and age, then you shouldn't vote!!!! Then this all would have been
decided with Bush as the winner on Nov. 7th!!!
It's truly saddening that the result of all this (and don't let anyone tell
you otherwise), is that NOTHING is going to get done over the next 2-4
years, no matter who the President is going to be. And both sides will blame
each other for the stalemates. Forget the fact that it will be ALL OF THEIR
FAULTS for nothing getting done. When the next Election takes place, the
Dems will say that nothing got done under a Republican presidency!!! The
Republicans will blame the Dems for not allowing anything to get done!!! And
once again, the cycle will repeat, and the American public will be the poor
child watching its pathetic, dysfunctional parents argue, when both are
wrong. Just shut the h e l l up and LEAD for Christ's sake!!!!!
What's going to end up happening is that the next Election will have a HUGE
turnout, the biggest we've ever seen, especially with the 18-24 group (some
now 14-15). The advertising for getting the vote out will go non-stop for 4
years. This will be good for the Dems, since the majority of young people
tend to be liberal, and people get more conservative as they get older. The
Dems tend to be more liberal, and generally pull more of the young vote,
anyway. MTV will probably play a large role in this. The Republicans know
that this is a 4-and-out term, since nothing will get done, and the
President has always taken the blame for inaction, regardless of whether or
not the blame actually should fall to him. They also know that
disenfranchised voters will turn out in droves next time, and alot of the
22-29 group that is always fed up with Government as it is, will vote for a
change. That's what makes the US Supreme Court decision more pathetic. They
know the Dems are going to take the office back, so Lady Justice took her
blindfold off just this once so that a Republican could pack the Court with
replacements. There is no other reason for stopping the recount on Friday. I
don't necessarily disagree with the choice to not count the non-votes (if
the Constitutionality of this issue needs to be analyzed, so be it), but
once Florida said to recount all non-votes in the state, the US Supreme
Court should have heard arguments over the weekend, to at least give a
fighting chance for the recount to finish before Dec. 12th. To halt the
count, to wait until the deadline comes to hear the argument, and then
announce that it's too late seems like a coward's approach to Jurisprudence.
It may not be their true intention, but it sure doesn't look good.
Bottom line, Bush should win under the laws as they are now, he has my
respect as our Commander-in-Chief to-be, but nothing more. Gore is
DEFINITELY a shmoe, but RIGHTFULLY believes that most people wanted him to
be the President. Democracy took a BIG hit in all this, since we finally
showed the world that we are NOT a Democracy, but a Republic (and one that
almost resembled a banana). A Republic works for the everyday goings-on of
running things, but for a Presidential election, is as antequated and
inefficient as the Combustion Engine (something that has served its purpose,
but is due to step aside). To top it off, it is the most pathetic thing in
the world that the American public is still not trusted enough to pick its
own leader.
Canadian passports, anyone?!?! Maybe Irish?!?!? Maybe Jupiter!?!?!? Where do
I sign (as long as registering doesn't require me to dimple any chads)????
~Mike
