November 13, 2000
rankly,
I'm a bit exasperated by the whole thing. I was under the impression
that our nation was built on the foundation of a document which
starts off "We
the people of the United States" in which the power
to elect our officials of government was given to the citizens
of these United States. While it is indeed through the electoral
college, (see here)
it does appear that the state governs its own electoral college,
and may award votes in any manner it "chuses", to quote
the original document's usage of that word. So, the thing that
is on my mind today is that I want to know how the good people
of Florida voted. They made a law (I assume) that awards the
winner of the popular vote in their state all of the electoral
college votes. They have also a law (again, I assume...in fact,
most of todays post is an assumption, so I won't be saying that
again) that says that if the vote is within 1/2 of 1%, they get
an automatic recount. In fact, not only is it that close, but
their is some doubt as to the validity of the automated machines
ability to count the punched ballots based on the first recount
in which both candidates gained votes.
Not to mention that there are several voting irregularities, especially where the ballot seemed to be confusing to some people... but the thing I don't understand is that one of the candidates does not want a recount. In fact, he's opposing a recount in the federal courts today. Now, I find that a bit odd.
In all honesty, I'm not really that interested in either Bush or Gore (used alphabetically, not to denote interest in either one over the other), but it strikes me that the laws of our nation, as well as the laws of Florida should be followed. It is plain that the entire election is too close for comfort, and that neither party will govern with anything resembling a mandate, but for heaven's sake, aren't we interested in upholding the law? Frankly, I'm not sure Gore will win if they do a recount... but I am sure that I'll be more comfortable about whoever does win, if I know that the correct person who got the maximum number of popular votes in the state of Florida got the appropriate number of electoral votes. If it is GW Bush, great. If it is A Gore, fine... but let's do it by the laws we have.
Several people, my brother included, have marveled at the fact that in many other countries, this kind of election would bring armed insurrection to the streets of the nation. I have to say, I'm quite pleased that we don't have to go that far. Both of the candidates are distasteful to me, and I'd be unhappy to have to go out to fight for either of them. On the other hand, I'm much more willing to fight for our democratic method... and even happier that I live in a society that doesn't require armed conflict any more to do so.
So, I'll continue to whine at Suz over lunch about how tedious the whole thing is, and how I think both parties are mishandling the recount issue, and how neither side seems to be interested in holding the legal and high ground. ::Sigh:: Politics ain't pretty.
I just went off and read Suz's entry for today. She deals more with the specifics than I do... I tend to be more overview oriented, while she gets into the details. She's probably as unhappy about the whole thing as the rest of us are... but you don't have to eat lunch with her! :)
Gryph and Corey, hang in there. There are friends out here who care about you both, and want you to get through these trying (in different ways) times. Bear, you're quite welcome... and thanks for making me laugh...take care of that wife of yours.
Enough for today. It may be a wonderful week, we'll have to see.