AliBoom!: Why GW Bush frightens me

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These are my opinions, rants, and observations. The views of others can be found in the Other Points and Links areas. Navigation should remain consistent within these areas (please advise me if you come upon any problems) just click on the button on the left to return to the main page of any particular area.

Some of the reasons that George Walker Bush frightens me.
Bush favors sacrificing our military personnel!

Can we talk?

One some-time Republican I'll really miss....

Do you remember John V.?

   It's nice to know that I haven't become a true cynic. It's interesting to me, which buttons set me off. It could be the deaths of John and Robert, Martin, and John Lennon. It could be the flames of Apollo 305 or Challenger. Maybe it's something that most people could care less about, such as a pioneering company like Atari fading out with no one even noticing. It could be our present position, teetering on the loss of representative democracy. Or it could be the death of John V. Lindsay.
   I know the bad parts of Lindsay's terms in office. I remember the sanitation strike, the transit strike, the teachers strike, the budget crisis that his policies contributed to, etc.. But I also remember how he was a man that fought for what he believed in, whether it was cleaning NYC up, or working to ensure that NYC was for everyone, no matter what their color, economic status or personal viewpoints. I think that Mayor Lindsay probably had more to do with my beliefs than even more famous people, simply because he was right there, in-your-face, impacting my hometown on a day-to-day basis. Now, it seems like another chapter of my life, of my childhood, has forever been closed.
   Do you remember John V. Lindsay? It would be sad to think that I was the only one who did. Tell me your thoughts in my guestbook. If I get any, I'll try to forward them on to his sister. Thanks.

You were one child's hero John....

Sincerely, Terry Ross
John V. Lindsay, the debonair mayor of New York City from 1966 to 1973 has died at 79. Mayor Lindsay started his career as a Republican in the House of Representatives, and was a Republican-Liberal & Liberal-Fusion Mayor. As a Democrat, he failed in his bids to be nominated for President in 1972, and Senator, in 1980. John Lindsay was a maverick. There were many bad and lingering aspects of his term in Gracie Mansion - but there were oh so many bright aspects too. I was just a child during much of his term, but he made me proud to be a New Yorker. While Detroit, Watts and other areas were in flames during the civil rights strife of the the sixties, John could be found walking through Harlem and Bedford-Steuvestant, in shirt-sleeves and a loosened tie, his jacket thrown over his shoulder, getting to know people and their problems first-hand. John did much to keep NYC from burning. John fought government buraucracy, bringing the best and brightest young people, people with vision, into his administration. John filled the city parks with concerts and go-go dancing and kite-flying competitions. Rather than condemning anti-war protests and civil rights marches, he joined them. Mayor Lindsay hobnobbed with celebrities and mingled with the poor. Mayor Lindsay took on "the second toughest job in America" and did his city proud. While my friends were idolizing Joe Pepitone, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays and Joe Namath, John was my all-too-human hero. I'll miss him.
John V. Lindsay, Mayor and Maverick, Dies at 79 Local Copy

Great start....

Haven't seen much in the press about it, but Dubya had an armored limo delivered to him in Texas. Ok, Presidents do have an armored limousine, but generally it kinda comes with the keys to the new house. Nice to see that even Mental Midgets can sense how a large portion of the American population feels about them. Wonder if he sleeps in it?

Express Your True Feelings

Show you supported Gore's attempt to get every vote counted, and contempt for George W. Bush - a President who can't count. Win a free tee-shirt!
Count Every Vote

Kontinuing Kapers of the Kangaroo Kourt
It's hilarious reading the eRanger posts on message boards and in other areas. According to them, and their like-minded bretheren the twerps in the media, the Supreme Court should be revered for upholding the Constitution - of course there was nothing partisan about it, after all, both Thomas and Rhenquist told us so. What a crock. In addition to their outright about-face on issues that have been near and dear to them until it came time to elect the Mental Midget without a Mandate, there are the other points. These, of course, are points that the Republicans, with their "Oh! I've suffered such injustice over the last decade. I know I must have, because I've learned to spout my Ditto-head line-of-the-day really really loud." will never see. We were shocked when we found out that 'Justice' Scalia had a son working for the law firm that was working in Washington to force Dubya into the White House. We were incredulous when we found out, that oops - he has another son working for the law firm trying to keep votes from being counted in Florida. We were astounded when we found that 'Justice' Thomas' wife, working for the Heritage Foundation, was collecting resumes for candidates for the Bush administration. Now, we're outraged to find out that 'Justice' O'Connor shouted "this is terrible" when Florida was called for Gore. Seems she wanted to go back to Arizona and retire, but she'd have to stay on for four more years to keep Gore from appointing a "Democrat" jurist. Wonder what's next? That Rhenquist took out bets in Vegas & Atlantic City that Bush would win? That Kennedy took a couple of days off to put Super Glue in the Palm Beach county voteamatics?

Even Divine Powers can't find good help these days
Did you see that church service with Dubya? Bush and Karen Hughes were there looking at each other, averting their eyes, snickering, and trying to keep from laughing through the whole thing. The minister (pardon me if I don't know the correct title) said (paraphrased) "God has chosen George Bush to lead his people; just like he chose Moses to lead his people." Conan O'Brien brought up a good point in relation to this. That being that Moses never made it to the holy land. One other point bothers me about this. In the eyes of Republicans, I might just be a godless heathen liberal - but even with that, it seems to me that an omnipotent God would be able to arrange for his chosen one to garner more than 24% of the vote. Or perhaps we're talking about a different God. The God of Rich White Males, who grudgingly accepts their spouses, as long as they remain respectfully subservient.

At nine in the evening (EST), the 13^th of December, Vice President Al Gore gave his concession speech. It was an exceptionally gracious speech, calling for all Americans to unite behind the 43^rd president of the United States of America. I wholeheartedly agree. I hereby pledge that I will support the 43^rd president - as soon as such a man or woman is elected. Meanwhile, I will continue in my utmost revulsion at the lying sack of putrid waste that is the pretender to that position. King George could only wish that he was one-fiftieth the man that Al Gore has proven himself to be. With all due respect Mr. Vice President, I have not, I do not, I will not and I can not accept George Walker Bush as the legitimate President of my once proud nation.

Lies, Damned Lies, & Polls....

Tamara Baker has an article at Ampol regarding the media's attempt to get the sheep to accept Bush. She states the issue better than I can, but it's a thought I've had for a couple days. On the 14th, I received an email from Gallup stating that eight in ten Americans consider Bush to be the "legitimate" president. Sounds discouraging, doesn't it? But let's look at it a little more.

80% of Americans consider him legitimate. Which means 20% consider him illegitimate. But only 50% of eligible voters actually voted. So that 20% is now 40%.

50% of those that voted voted Republican So 80% of Democrats who voted consider Bush illegitimate!"

This is a simplification of the numbers, but it proves that you have a lot of support. Let your Senators and Representatives know how you feel!

Please Pardon Our Mess

Our Country is Currently Under Deconstruction

Partisan Supreme Court Crowns King George
Tuesday 12 December, 2000 - Read the decision (.pdf)
The US Supreme Court all but delivered the presidency to George Bush tonight, overturning a Florida Supreme Court decision that ordered tens of thousands of disputed ballots recounted.
The 5-4 court decision claimed that a recount of the undervotes violated equal rights. What a laugh. What about the equal rights of the Florida citizens that were falsely accused of being felons and not allowed to vote? Tens of thousands of votes manipulated by Florida Secretary of State (and co-chair of the Bush election campaign in Florida, and offered a position on the Bush transition team, and expecting an ambassadorship from the Bush administration and and and and.....)
The court did leave open the possibility that the Florida court could reconsider its decison. It remanded the case back to the Florida Supreme Court for further review Legal experts had earlier agreed that the Florida Supreme Court had already covered all of its bases, but apparently that wasn't good enough for Scalia, who has two, count them, two - sons working for law firms fighting to get Bush into the White House (this piece of offal actually said that Bush would probably win, on Saturday, before even hearing any arguments - Yeah... I said offal - come on fascist punks, start the cleansing, I'm right here I've never been so disgusted to call myself an American.) - or for Thomas, whose wife works for the Bush transition team. They recognize that time is a key factor (Gee... I wonder why - could it possibly be because Bush, his lawyers, Harris, the Republican controlled Florida Legislature, and Dubya's baby brother Jeb have been throwing obstacles in the way of a recount from the very beginning? How about the plain and simple fact that the Scalia and his partners stopped the recount on Saturday when it was proceding smoothly, and then dawdled, until Tuesday night, before claiming that there wasn't enough time.).
At least three judges strongly agreed with arguments made by Bush's legal team (Let me guess... Scalia (founder of the Federalist Society, crybaby who thinks it's unfair that he can't get paid for his speeches)... Thomas (who was probably quite pissed at the necessity of having to take his probocis out of Scalia's rectum in order to make his vote heard).... and O'Connor... with Rhenquist and Kennedy tagging along)
Justice John Paul Stevens, joined by by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and David Souter dissented.
Justice Stevens gave a blistering dissent, stating that the Bush legal appeal was a "federal assault" on the laws of the state of Florida. "Time will one day heal the wound to that confidence that will be inflicted by today's decision," wrote Stevens, "One thing, however, is certain. Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner (Yeah.... right) of this year's presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law."
Gore Should NEVER concede - EVER!
Gore won this election, and he needs to know that we know it. Bush will almost certainly gain the White House, but Gore must hold firm irrespective of that. He won it in the popular vote. More people voted for him than any president aside from Reagan. He won it in the electoral vote. Everyone in this country knows that Gore won Florida, and it was only through the most desperate means that JEB and the other Bush cronies were able to give Dubya his razor-thin margin. Screw all the genteel talk of finality and standing behind who was chosen. I will never call a "man" who went AWOL, lied about arrest records, lied about cocaine use, lied about being a Uniter, not a Divider, lied about Trusting The People, Not The Government, lied about Gore (Internet, Love Canal, Love Story, Farm Boy, ad nauseum), lied about his record in Texas, compares unfavorably mentally to a three-week-old meatloaf and actually makes Warren G. Harding (think you had an oil scandal with "Teapot Dome"? Just wait.) seem eminently qualified for the job, "my President". Not now, not ever.
Of course, the media will cover for the Mental Midget without a Mandate
Mandate? What a laugh. He lost by almost 400,000 votes. But that's not going to stop the Conservigoon media outlets. We can look forward to them saying "What 5-4 decision? The only thing we know about is the 7-2 decision to send the case back to the Florida Supreme Court Duhhhhhh". They'll try to get Americans to believe that it was split strictly along party lines, which it most certainly wasn't. The propaganda is gonna be flying fast and furious folk - dig out your hip waders, because it's gonna be deep!

A blacklist burning for Bush

The more you look the more disbarred and 'disappeared' Gore voters you find. You'd almost think it was deliberate
Hey, Al, take a look at this. Every time I cut open another alligator, I find the bones of more Gore voters. This week, I was hacking my way through the Florida swampland known as the Office of Secretary of State Katherine Harris and found a couple thousand more names of voters electronically 'disappeared' from the vote rolls. About half of those named are African-Americans. They had the right to vote, but they never made it to the balloting booths.
Click here for the whole article

US Supreme Court, We Are Outraged!!! Petition

To: US Supreme Court

We, the People, are outraged that you have stopped the recount of uncounted votes in Florida.
We will never accept a President who is chosen by an incomplete count stopped by a partisan Supreme Court decision led by judges appointed by the father of George W. Bush.
The eyes of the Nation and the World are on you.
Count Every Vote!!

Let's play a game!
Wed 06 Dec 2000

Who is wrong?
You have an identical object with two different viewpoints. Which one is wrong?

One Viewpoint The Object Another Viewpoint
An American Airlines Boeing 747-400
Image Copyright © Airline History website A passenger airliner:
A large airline-operated machine, heavier than air, that is kept aloft by the aerodynamic forces of air upon its wings and is driven forward by jet propulsion, meant for carrying passengers.

An Atari TT030
Image courtesy of YesCREW A Computer:
A device used for computing. Specifically, an electronic machine which, by means of stored instructions and information, performs rapid, often complex calculations or compiles, correlates, and selects data.

A Federal Republic:
(Not, incidently a "Constitutional Republic" as a certain group likes to claim.)
Map image obtained at Tiger Maps A Representative Democracy:
A form of government in which the powers of the majority are exercised within a framework of constitutional restraints designed to guarantee all citizens the enjoyment of certain individual or collective rights, such as freedom of speech and religion.

You're right.... It's not a game. That's the point.

Who needs tax cuts anymore?
Thu Nov 30 12:45:53 2000
The Bush camp strategy can potentially save American consumers hundreds of millions of dollars per year. Imagine that you're at a supermarket. The cashier is ringing up your groceries. The machine scans the UPCs on your milk, eggs and coffee just fine, but when it comes to your package of chicken - nothing. The cashier runs it by the scanner again. Again, nothing. The cashier then starts to enter the code manually. You stop them (preferably raising a ruckus in the most obnoxious manner possible) and ask them what they think they're doing. When they tell you that the machine wouldn't scan your chicken, so they have to enter it manually, go ballistic. Tell them indignantly (they should have a telephone or microphone hooked up to the public address system, if at all possible, make sure you use this PA system) that manual entry is subject to error and manipulation. Advise them that machine counts are more accurate and if the machine doesn't say it costs anything, then it has to be free. Be creative. Threaten lawsuits. Call in some goons that you know. Who knows, maybe you'll get your chicken and save $5.37 to boot. If it's good enough for a US Presidential election, certainly it must be good enough for your local merchants.
Thanks to Bartcop.com for reminding me of this, which I was thinking about a couple of weeks ago.

Ballots still in Tallahassee
Florida Supreme Court spokesman Craig Waters said on Sunday that the court sent papers related to the case up to the nation's highest court by plane on Sunday morning. But referring to a media report that some Florida ballots were also sent to Washington, Waters said no court had ordered such a transfer and no ballots had been moved

Say "Bye Bye" to the ballots. They're leaving Florida and are on their way up to the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, DC.
The U.S. Supreme Court officials said that it had not asked for the ballots to be transferred to Washington, and that there was no indication that the ballots would be examined. So what's going to happen, they're now out of Florida - how does that impact the lawsuits in Florida demanding to see them under Florida's Sunshine Laws? I certainly don't know, but I have a feeling that they're going to be locked up tight to keep anyone from seeing them.

US Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision grants Bush request to stop recounts (which he knows he'd lose) - will hear arguments on Monday.

Brownshirt Road Trip - GOP's Paid Thugs Heading Back to Florida to Stop Recounts
-- Tacit Admission That Gore Wins Any Full and Fair Hand Recounting.

Florida Supreme Court, in a 4 to 3 decision, orders all undercounted votes in all 67 Florida counties to be recounted, the recount is to begin immediately.

"I trust the people, not the government" Bush appeals to US Circuit Court, US Supreme Court to halt recounts.
His team starts delaying tactics with Judge Terry Clark (giving the GOP thugs some time to get to Florida, undoubtedly). Text of the Florida Supreme Court decision (.PDF)

Circuit court judges rule against tossing out absentee ballots in Seminole and Martin counties.
Fri 08 Dec 2000
Personally, I have to agree with the opinions. They did note that there were irregularities, and I believe that there should be a criminal follow-up investigation. However, even though the decisions were a blow to Gore's hopes, I don't think that he should win because valid votes were tossed out, but because all valid votes were counted.

Thanks, George
Tue Nov 21 13:09:14 2000
There are some significant differences between how Gore and Bush have been behaving for the last two weeks.

Vice-President Gore and his team are acting like this is the closest election in quite some time. As such, they believe that every vote should be counted, recounted, and then hand counted. The Vice President would readily accept it if Governor Bush wins, and would declare him the legitimate winner of the election. In spite of all the raucous spin about Gore counting and recounting until he gets the numbers that he wants, the fact of the matter is that there have only been three counts. The original count, which launched the automatic recount, and then the hand count. The ability to request a hand count is written into Florida law, just as it is in Texas. The only reason that it appears that there has been count after count after count is because the Republican side has attempted to thwart the hand count at every step, making it stop and start again numerous times.
If it turns out that Gore legitimately won the election, would Bush accept that? It doesn't appear that way. The Texas Governor is pretending that this isn't even a close election, trying to act as if he won this thing by a landslide. Using this position, which is patently false, he is stirring people up, declaring that hand-counts, to determine the true will of the people of Florida are somehow an attempt to steal the election that is rightfully his. Mr. Bush needs to think about how he lost the popular vote (granted, the constitution stipulates that the electoral college holds sway) and his incredibly hair-thin margin in Florida made this election too close to call. Because of this, the hand counts are both legal and legitimate - after all, they are being conducted under the same rules that apply to Texas. Instead, he assumes that he is the obvious winner, and has been waging a take no prisoners media campaign to get the American people to fall for it too. His scorched earth policy in the media has trapped him. He has not left himself any out, no way to leave this as a gracious loser. After these blatant attacks on the American process, how is he ever going to be able to tell the American people that he lost fairly and now we all need to rally behind Al Gore?
Mr. Gore made an eminently fair proposal. Hand-count every ballot in Florida. The Bush team rejected that. OK, Bush had the opportunity to request hand counts in whatever county he wanted (in fact, hand counts were done in many Republican counties, although you'd never know it from listening to the media). Since he didn't request his own hand counts, and has rejected Gore's proposal to hand-count all counties, all the Bush camp can do is make wild, unsubstantiated claims that the people engaged in the hand counts are committing fraud. I'm not naive enough to think that nothing of that nature could happen - but there is no evidence what-so-ever of any systematic fraud in the process. No matter what happens, the Bush team is going to smear Mr. Gore. It is simply out to put the nagging doubt in the public's mind that if Mr. Gore wins, he somehow stole the election. They've almost gotten to the point of calling him a traitor for discarding the absentee ballots. In fact, the rules followed in regards to the absentee ballots in Florida were set by the Republican Secretary of State, Katherine Harris. To allege fraud over this is both immoral and exceptionally dangerous.
Slinging mud during a campaign is one thing. Americans have come to accept that. Mr. Bush needs to tread very carefully when he or his camp attempt to sling mud after the election, when both sides, and the people of the United States are trying to legitimately ensure that every vote is tabulated. These tactics are serious threats to our cherished institutions, and the presidency, and all Americans should fight against them agressively, no matter what party they align themselves with.

Felon voting in Florida
Tue Nov 21 12:59:08 2000
We've known for a while that Florida screwed up. Thousands of minority Florida residents were kept from voting because they were incorrectly listed as being felons. Here's a new twist to the felon theme though. Recently, the Bush camp has been talking about 39 Florida felons who voted. They want to work America into a rage because a convicted drunken driver was allowed to go to the polls. Huh? Hey guys, remember Bush's drunken driving conviction? Remember Cheney's two drunken driving convictions? You know, Canada won't allow people with drunken driving convictions into the country. It's going to be interesting to see how our neighbor and largest trading partner handles this one, because as it now stands, neither Bush nor Cheney will be allowed entrance to Canada.
Absentee ballots II
Mon Nov 20 22:58:31 2000
Okay, the GOP has been ranting for days about overseas military votes not being counted. Bob Butterworth, the Democratic Florida Attorney General said today that all military ballots should be counted. So what happens? The Republicans say what others have been saying, that they are illegal without a postmark, and that the AG's suggestion is just a political ploy. Amazing.

Absentee ballots
Sun Nov 19 12:24:02 EST 2000
It's surreal watching the GOP spin on the absentee ballots that were disqualified. On the one hand, you have James Baker preaching on the "rule of law" (or his limited take on what consitutes the rule of law), and then listening to him and others saying that the law shouldn't be followed in this case. What have we got, less than 1,500 absentee ballots that were disqualified. Every one of those ballots had to have a valid, written reason for the disqualification. What's their point, anyway? They are acting like every absentee ballot is theirs (totally understandable, considering they put Xavier Suarez, the former Miami mayor disgraced for absentee ballot voter fraud in charge of the GOP absentee ballot process). Get real. First, while the military may skew slightly to the Republican side, it's an underwhelming skew (I speak as someone with more than fifteen years military experience). This year it was probably even less, since everyone knows that the Gore-Lieberman budget plan for the military was twice as large as the Bush-Cheney plan. There is also the fact that a significant percentage of the military fits into the minority demographic. Then there are the military spouses to be considered, and just as active military has a slight Republican skew, the spouses have a Democratic skew. Then you have all the other groups of absentee voters in Israel, Mexico and around the world.They claim that it is unfair that the votes of military personnel overseas are not being counted (even though the ballots were disqualifed for standard reasons) - but they seem to think that it's absolutely fine to disenfranchise the thousands upon thousands of veterans in Florida whose votes were literally stolen from them. Spin spin, spin guys - Americans have been doing this voting thing for more than two centuries, and we have very long memories.
What took them so long?
Well, the eRangers have finally been marshalled. They are out showing their true spirit by defacing and attempting denial of service to online petitions. Aside from showing their immaturity, they're also showing their remarkable lack of original thought, with everyone attempting to use the same graphics and sound files. Still, what else can you expect from the ditto-head drone wing of the Republican party? Thy're blissfully unaware of how idiotic they sound when they dutifully spout the official line of the day, openly making themselves the targets of derisive snickers. There are millions upon millions of decent, civil Republicans in this nation. Republicans that believe in and respect the rights of their fellow citizens. It's unfortunate that the mindless automatons in their ranks give everyone in the GOP a black eye. These individuals simply reinforce the general opinion that the Republican party is rife with petty criminals, usurpers of the American will, and is a party with a seemingly blatant disregard for the laws of the United States. If these individuals are being paid for their efforts, the upper echelon might want to reconsider, because these pitifully laughable activities are backfiring and making the whole Republican party look childish.

I want the TRUTH, not "closure"
I gave fifteen years of my life serving my nation. Anyone that suggests I want "closure" is deluding themselves. I want TRUTH. I want an accurate vote count. One not manipulated by Florida's Governor, brother of Bush. One not hobbled at every step, and subject to the certification of the Florida Secretary of State, co-chair of the Florida Bush campaign. I want justice to be swift, sure and terrible against anyone, Republican or Democrat who attempted to usurp the will of the American people. I want the media to report on the six hand counts in Republican counties with the same fervor that they report on the four hand counts in Democratic counties. Closure is not an option. I want the truth, and I will wait until January 20th to find out who my President is, if needed.
Terry Ross Bangor, Maine

But Poppy... You Promised!
It's a sad day in US history. What has America come to when money, Daddy's CIA connections, special interests and George's own brother as Governor of the great State of Florida can't even rig a simple little election without being caught? And people expect them to manage a whole nation? The whole world is now seeing those pink elephants that DUHbya sees in his stupors.... but rather than being alcohol or drug induced, ours come from looking at an embarassed Republican party. No, I'm not really cynical, it's satire folks.
Give 'em hell Al - show them what real Presidential material is. We're behind you all the way!
Sign the Stand Firm Al! petition to the Vice-President of the United States (Worldwide supporters welcome)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla (Reuters) - The Palm Beach County Canvassing Board on Sunday ordered a hand recount of all presidential ballots cast in the county, raising the possibility that a significant number of additional votes could be tallied for Vice President Al Gore.
      The board voted two-to-one to take the countywide action after it completed a hand count on a sample of more than 4,500 ballots. The sample amounted to one percent of the votes cast in the election and yielded a net gain of 19 votes for Gore.
      Board member Carol Roberts, extrapolating that sample across the entire county, speculated that Gore could gain as many as 1,900 additional votes in the countywide hand recount.
      ``This clearly would affect the result of a national election,'' she said, noting that Republican George W. Bush holds a lead over Gore of only a few hundred votes in the entire state.
      A win of Florida's 25 electoral votes would give Gore the White House, if no other state results changed. 11/12/00
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20001112/pl/election_dc_1.html

Listen to the call-in talk shows, view the photographs from Florida. It's outrageous how younger Republicans are responding to this. What's "compassionate" about insulting our senior citizens? If this is an example of their higher morality, count me out.

November 8th - It's a real nail-biter. This is one election that is destined for the history books. Al Gore and Joe Lieberman have won the national popular vote, but the electoral college vote is still undecided. Texas Governor George W. Bush and his running mate Dick Cheney were projected to be winners at about 2:30 am today. This projection was based upon the assumption that Florida's 25 electoral votes would go to Bush. However, this projection was later retracted when it was found that there were only 1,764 votes seperating Bush and Gore. This is less than one-half of one percent of the voters, and state law mandates a recount. Florida was the subject of debate all night. Based on exit polls, the networks had projected Gore as winning the state. This was later retracted as Bush pulled ahead in the actual votes tallied. There have been serious allegations made against the process in Florida, where Jeb Bush, brother of George Bush, is Governor. Confusing ballots, which led people to vote for Pat Buchanan when they meant to vote for Gore, voter harrassment and intimidation at the polls, and numerous reports of boxes and mailbags of ballots never turned in - and those that were "lost" and then found, leading to questions about whether the results were changed. Results of the recount are expected to be available on Thursday evening.

Questions about the Electoral College? Visit the Federal Register's Electoral College FAQ
Information on Maine's Electoral College (link temporarily disabled)

Republicans have been calling for Al Gore to concede the election. Why? Al Gore leads in the popular vote. Al Gore leads in the electoral college. There are serious questions that need to be answered regarding the voting in Florida. Bush's hair-thin margin in that state does not entitle him to the Presidency of the United States - there are thousands upon thousands of votes that were disqualified across the state. That is why the Bush campaign is filing in federal court to stop the hand count of those ballots. They know that when those ballots have been counted by hand that Gore will emerge the winner.

Republicans have been citing the "noble" precedent of Richard M. Nixon in deciding not to challenge the legitimacy of the Cook County, Illinois vote count. They're attempting to rewrite history. There was nothing noble about Nixon's decision, it was simply realism on his part.

His friend, William P. Rogers, the U.S. Attorney General, advised him that there was no realistic ground for him to challenge the vote. There was as much suspicion of Republican manipulation in downstate Illinois as there was of Democratic manipulation in Cook County.
Kennedy won the popular vote, and Kennedy won 303 electoral votes to Nixon's 219. The 27 votes in Illinois would not have made a bit of difference in the outcome.

The Bush campaign is trying to claim that somehow, utilizing Florida's own laws to get a hand recount is creating havoc (this from the people who shut down the US Government, and spent six years and tens of millions of dollars trying to find something to impeach a democratically elected President on). George W. Bush himself signed into law legislation allowing hand recounting of votes in Texas, claiming that it was more accurate than machine counting. In addition, if it's so dangerous to the American way of life, then why did Bush, Baker, et. al. not decry the hand count in Republican heavy Seminole County, which gave Mr. Bush an additional 98 votes? You know, I know, the American People know, Bob Dole knows, the world knows, and the Bush camp knows why they went to court. But let's just ask Dubya the question.... - If you're so certain that you've won the election, then why even worry about a recount?
Creating havoc? I think not. Americans are smarter than that. They know that the process is going through in an orderly way. The recount won't be official until November 17th anyway. So why the desire for haste? Why try to defeat a hand recount? Simple, they're scared. They know that the attempts at manipulation will be uncovered, and they know for a fact that Vice-President Gore legally won in Florida.

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