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ONE HUNDRED MILLION AMERICANS WENT TO THE POLLS ON 7 NOVEMBER
TO ELECT A NEW PRESIDENT TO LEAD THE NATION, AND INDEED THE
WORLD IN MANY IMPORTANT RESPECTS, FOR THE NEXT FOUR YEARS. ONE
HUNDRED MILLION ADDITIONAL AMERICANS MADE A CLEAR CHOICE OF NOT
GOING TO THE POLLS. OF THE HALF OF THE ELECTORATE THAT WENT
TO VOTE, 49%VOTED FOR AL GORE AND 48 % VOTED FOR GEORGE W BUSH
-3%VOTED FOR RALPH NADER, EXTREME RIGHT WINGER BUCKLEY RECEIVED LESS
THAN 1%. THE RADICAL RIGHT WERE VERY HAPPY WITH BUSH WORKED HARD
TO ELECT HIM.
SO WHO WAS ELECTED ON 7 NOVEMBER. AS OF THIS WRITING AT
THE BEGINNING OF DECEMBER, NOBODY YET. WHY? AL GORE GOT MORE
VOTES THAN GEORGE BUSH. SHOULDN'T THAT MAKE HIM PRESIDENT-ELECT?
OR IS THIS A COUNTRY WHERE THE SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATE MUST HAVE
OVER 50% OR FACE A RUNOFF? NO.
THE REASON IS THAT NOBODY YET HAS A MAJORITY IN THE
ELECTORAL COLLEGE. AMERICANS DON'T VOTE FOR THE PRESIDENT AND VICE
PRESIDENT. THEY VOTE FOR A SLATE OF ELECTORS COMMITTED TO THE
CANDIDATE. COMMITTED, BUT NOT BOUND. IN THE END THEY MAY EVEN
VOTE FOR NOBODY WHO RAN.
IS THIS NOT THE "GREATEST DEMOCRACY ON EARTH" WHICH WILL SHOW
THE WAY TO OTHER NATIONS HOW TO DEMOCRATICALLY ELECT THEIR
GOVERNMENTS. AND IF NECESSARY, WHETHER THEY LIKE IT OR NOT? WELL
NOT EXACTLY.
THERE ARE A WHOLE COMPLEX SERIES OF LEGAL ACTIONS FILED IN
STATE AND FEDERAL COURTS, PLUS A GREAT VARIETY OF POLITICAL
MANOEUVRES TAKING PLACE, OF A VERY COMPLEX NATURE, TO DETERMINE
THE OUTCOME. ALL OF THIS OF COURSE IN RESPECT TO THE FLORIDA
RESULTS, WHERE , NOT ENTIRELY COINCIDENTALLY. THE BROTHER OF GEO. BUSH
IS GOVERNOR, WHO MAY END UP SIGNING A LAW PASSED BY A RECONVENED
STATE LEGISLATURE NAMING DELEGATES TO THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE, WHO
NEVER RAN IN THE ELECTION.
GIVEN ANOTHER SCENARIO, AS A RESULT OF LEGAL ACTIONS NOW
UNDER WAY AL GORE, VICE PRESIDENT MAY BE CASTING THE TIE BREAKING
DECIDING VOTE IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAKING AL GORE
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. UNBELIEVABLE? FACT!
NOW WHY DID HALF THE AMERICAN ELECTORATE DECIDE NOT TO VOTE?
THE SIMPLE ANSWER IS THAT IT MADE LITTLE OR NO DIFFERENCE WHICH
OF THE TWO CANDIDATES WHO STAGED A CAMPAIGN COSTING SEVERAL
BILLION DOLLARS ACTUALLY OCCUPIES THE WHITE HOUSE. THOSE BILLIONS
ALL CAME FROM THE SAME CORPORATIONS FOR BOTH SIDES. IT IS A
REASONABLE PREMISE THAT THEY MAY WANT SOMETHING BACK FOR ALL THAT
MONEY. THE CONSTITUENTS OF THE WINNER WERE THEREFORE THE CORPORATIONS.
SO THE REAL WINNER WAS IN ANY CASE PREDETERMINED.
THERE WAS NOT A GREAT DEAL OF DIFFERENCES IN THE RHETORIC
POURED OUT BY THE CANDIDATES. AND RHETORIC HAS LITTLE TO DO
WITH PERFORMANCE, ONCE ELECTED. PERFORMANCE WILL HAVE A VERY
GREAT DEAL TO DO WITH PRECOMITMENTS TO THE REAL CONSTITUENCY.
THE WINNER WILL HAVE RECEIVED THE VOTES OF SOMETHING LESS THAN
A QUARTER OF THE AMERICAN ELECTORATE. IS THAT AN EXAMPLE FOR THE
REST OF THE WORLD TO FOLLOW? HARDLY. IN BOTH THE PREVIOUS
ELECTIONS FOR BILL CLINTON, AS INDEED IN THIS ONE, MORE AMERICANS
VOTED AGAINST CLINTON THAN FOR HIM. THERE WERE THIRD PARTY
CANDIDATES WHO DRAINED OFF SIGNIFICANT PERCENTAGES OF THE VOTE, UP TO
MORE THAN TWENTY PERCENT. CLINTON ACTUALLY BECAME PRESIDENT WITH
SOMETHING LIKE SEVENTEEN OR EIGHTEEN PERCENT OF AMERICANS
ELIGIBLE TO VOTE. IN 1960 IT WAS A VIRTUAL CERTAINTY THAT
RICHARD NIXON ACTUALLY WON THE ELECTION AGAINST KENNEDY. THE
POLITICAL MACHINE OF MAYOR DALEY OF CHICAGO, FATHER OF THE
PRESENT MAYOR WHO IS CAMPAIGN MANAGER FOR AL GORE, STOLE THE
ELECTION FOR KENNEDY. PART OF THE METHODOLOGY WAS THE SAME
INFAMOUS BUTTERFLY BALLOT THAT FEATURES IN THE FLORIDA DEAL.
A FEW YEARS PREVIOUS TO THAT I WORKED IN A CAMPAIGN FOR
ESTES KEFAUVER, SENATOR FROM TENNESSEE. WE WON ALL THE PRIMARIES.
THERE WEREN'T MANY STATES THAT HAD PRIMARIES THEN. HARRY TRUMAN
WAS PRESIDENT AND CHOSE NOT TO RUN. HE COULD HAVE HAD ANOTHER
TERM. HE DECIDED HE DID NOT LIKE KEFAUVER, SO HE SELECTED THE
GOVERNOR OF ILLINOIS, NOT AT ALL KNOWN NATIONALLY, ADLAI
STEVENSON, FOR THE NOMINATION OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY. HE DID
NOT WIN. WAR HERO EISENHOWER BECAME PRESIDENT.
WHERE DOES THIS ELECTORAL COLLEGE SYSTEM COME FROM? IT COMES
FROM AN ELITIST DOCUMENT CALLED THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED
STATES. THIS WAS A DOCUMENT BROUGHT TO LIFE BY THE CONSTITUENT
ASSEMBLY THAT GAVE BIRTH TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THAT
HAD TO BE AMENDED SHORTLY AFTER THE FOUNDING OF THE REPUBLIC, BY
A PROVISION KNOWN AS THE BILL OF RIGHTS. BECAUSE THE RIGHTS OF
THE STATES VERSUS THE FEDERAL WAS THE PASSIONATE ISSUE IN THE
CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY. THAT DOCUMENT EVEN PROVIDED FOR THE STATES
TO APPOINT THE SENATORS TO REPRESENT THEM IN THE UNITED STATES
SENATE. VERY LIKE A HOUSE OF LORDS. ALL OF THIS WAS DESIGNED TO
KEEP CONTROL IN THE HANDS OF THE ELITE. HUMAN RIGHTS, CITIZENS RIGHTS
WERE AFTERTHOUGHTS OF THE FOUNDING OF THIS GREAT DEMOCRACY...
VIRTUALLY ALL SUBSEQUENT AMENDMENTS DEALT WITH THE HUMAN ISSUES
WHICH WERE LEFT OUT OF THE CONSTITUTION.
IN PRACTICE UNTIL THE CANDIDATURE OF GEORGE MCGOVERN DELEGATES
TO THE NATIONAL CONVENTIONS OF THE PARTIES THAT NOMINATED
CANDIDATES WERE SELECTED IN THE INFAMOUS " SMOKE FILLED ROOMS" BY "
PARTY MACHINES." THE PRIMARY SYSTEM, MEANT TO DEMOCRATISE
THE PRACTICE OF SELECTING DELEGATES TO THE NOMINATING CONVENTIONS
WAS QUICKLY VITIATED BY BIG MONEY COMING FROM BIG CORPORATIONS,
TO RUN PRIMARY CAMPAIGNS, SO THEY HAD IT BOUGHT EVEN AT THAT STAGE.
WHEN I WAS ENGAGED IN PRIMARIES WE GOT PAID ONLY AS WE
RAISED MONEY, FROM PEOPLE WE TALKED TO ALONG THE WAY. AND OWED
FOR PUBLICITY HANDOUTS UNTIL WE COULD PAY IT, OR HAD PARTISANS
DONATE THE FLIERS, AND THINGS. GEORGE BUSH SPEANT MORE MONEY
IN HIS PRIMARIES THAN WAS PREVIOUSLY SPENT ON WHOLE ELECTIONS.
IN SHORT , THE WHOLE STRUCTURE OF THE AMERICAN ELECTORAL SYSTEM
LENDS ITSELF TO FRAUD AND CORRUPTION, AND UNDERMINING THE
DEMOCRATIC CONCEPT, BY THE SIMPLE PROCESS OF BUYING IT. AS A
POLITICAL SCIENTIST AND AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT FOR MANY YEARS IN
AMERICAN POLITICS AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS BOTH IN THE ELECTORAL AND
ADMINISTRATIVE SIDES, I HAVE SEEN ABOUT EVERY VARIATION POSSIBLE
OF DEVICES FOR FRUSTRATING THE WILL OF THE ELECTORATE. IT IS NOT
A PRETTY PICTURE. AND IT CERTAINLY IS THE REASON WHY ONLY HALF
OF THE ELECTORATE EVER BOTHERS TO VOTE, AND THAT MUCH ONLY IN
NATIONAL ELECTIONS, EVERY 4 YEARS. IN OTHER ELECTIONS, EVEN WHEN IT
INVOLVES A CONGRESSMAN OR SENATOR, ONLY SOME TWENTY ODD PERCENT
VOTE. 75% OF AMERICANS BETWEEN 20 AND 40, WITH ALL THE BILLIONS
OF DOLLARS OF HOOPLA DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THE NAMES OF THE CANDIDATES.
FEW AMERICAS KNOW WHO THEIR SENATOR OR REPRESENTATIVE IN THE
CONGRESS IS. OR COULD CARE LESS.
THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY HAD TWO MAIN FACTIONS, LEAD BY THOMAS
JEFFERSON AND ALEXANDER HAMILTON , RESPECTIVELY. HAMILTON WANTED A
SYSTEM THAT PROVIDED ONLY FOR MONEY BEING ENFRANCHISED, AND FOR MONEY
VOTING , INSTEAD OF PEOPLE. JEFFERSON WON THE DEBATES, AND THEY
WERE REALLY DEBATES, NOT THE SHOWS PUT ON BY THE CURRENT CROP
OF CANDIDATES.; AND GAVE US "JEFFERSONIAN DEMOCRACY". OR DID HE?
BECAUSE TODAY THERE IS LITTLE DOUBT THAT MONEY VOTES. OLD ALEX
MUST BE BEAMING DOWN FROM UP ABOVE, IF HE IS UP THERE WITH A
CHESHIRE SMIRK.
HOW MANY DIMPLED CHADS PLUS HOW MANY PREGNANT CHADS DOES IT
TAKE TO GIVE BIRTH TO A PRESIDENT OF THE UNTIED STATES?
ARE DIMPLED CHADS MORE DETERMINANT THAN PREGNANT CHADS? OR CAN
WE INDEED IGNORE HANGING CHADS. OR, IN OTHER WORDS CAN WE HAVE
A SYSTEM THAT EXPOSES THE BENEVOLENT UNCLE SAMMY TO MORE RIDICULE
IN THE EYES OF THE WORLD? WELL, WE COULD TRY.
WE COULD FOR EXAMPLE END UP WITH A PRESIDENT WHO JUST SAID "I
WON THE FIRST THREE FLORIDA ELECTIONS, OR, I MEAN I WON THE
FLORIDA ELECTION THREE TIMES". HE ALSO SAID, AND WHO CAN DENY, "IF
WE DON'T SUCCEED WE ARE IN DANGER OF FAILING." OR SOLEMNLY DECLARES "I
STAND BY ALL THE MISTAKES I HAVE MADE". OR ON LESS BETTER DAYS SAYS
"REPUBLICANS UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF BONDAGE BETWEEN A MOTHER AND
CHILD" WHEREAS ON HIS NOT QUITE GOOD DAYS DECLARES"THE HOLOCAUST WAS AN
OBSCENE PERIOD IN OUR NATIONS HISTORY . I MEAN IN THIS CENTURY. BUT WE ALL
LIVED IN THIS CENTURY. I DIDN'T LIVE IN THIS CENTURY"
AT THIS WRITING THE LAWYERS REPRESENTING GEORGE BUSH ARE ENGAGED IN
THE WINNING STRATEGY OF "RUNNING OUT THE CLOCK" SO THAT THERE CANNOT BE
A PROPER HAND COUNT . BEFORE THE CRUCIAL DATE FOR THE MEETING OF THE
ELECTORAL COLLEGE.. OR BARRING THAT , THE FLORIDA LEGISLATURE MEETS
AND PICKS A NEW SLATE OF FLORIDA REPUBLICAN ELECTORS, AND THUS
TECHNICALLY WINS THE ELECTION . AND THEN SOME MONTHS HENCE THE VOTES
OF FLORIDA GET PROPERLY COUNTED., AS WILL BE DEMANDED UNDER THE
TERMS OF THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT, AND IT BECOMES CLEAR
THAT AL GORE HAD A VERY COMFORTABLE MAJORITY IN FLORIDA AND
SHOULD HAVE HAD THOSE ELECTORAL VOTES, ADDED TO HIS POPULAR VOTE EVEN
FURTHER, MAKING HIM SUCH A CLEAR ACTUAL WINNER. HOW WOULD A BUSH
GOVERNMENT LOOK TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC, AND INDEED THE REST
OF THE WORLD.
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