I don't think a military coup in this country is outside the realm of possibilities. All it would take would be the Joint Chiefs of Staff acting in unison, a few hundred right-wing crazies with an ultra-patriotic fervor to do some of the legwork and the threat of atomic weapons planted in some key cities. Could all be done with smoke and mirrors, really. An indefinite state of emergency would be declared. Where are the courts in all of this? Who cares. Florida General Assembly in '00 effectively declared that court decisions are meaningless in terms of presidential elections. Doesn't matter what the courts think; only matters what the state lawmakers think.
But let me throw out another scenario ... not so "loony," in your words. Suppose, for the sake of discussion, that in 2004 we see a Bush vs. Lieberman contest. Let's also suppose that in this election Florida narrowly goes for Lieberman based on a huge turnout of African-American and Jewish voters, and the election is another cliff-hanger. The Florida Legislature, which is mainly made up of white, conservative Christians and was emboldened by what it did in 2000, votes once again, in effect, to nullify the results of the 2004 election. Having succeeded in selecting its own electors in 2000, the legislature has no misgivings of doing the same again in 2004, this time on the basis of "representing the Christian interests of the majority of Floridians." Similar also occurs in other states in which the makeup of the state legislature runs counter to the will of the people in that election.
As I said, once we open the door and permit the Florida Legislature to name its own electors, we're opening a door that ain't ever gonna be closed again. |
