FWIW, I find the following comment by a Gore spokesperson extremely funny:
"Gore spokesman Chris Lehane said the campaign ``was saddened and disappointed by the fact that the Bush camp has suddenly decided to inject raw, crass, partisan politics into a situation that ought to be guided by the laws of our land.'' ''
See dailynews.yahoo.com
One comment I'd like to make here, to those who are following in detail what is going on here on a day-to-day, hour-by-hour basis is something that is not much different that goes on in a court of law, only here the rules aren't well defined. My intent to raise this analogy is to appreciate that each side of the aisle, Democrats and Republicans, are playing their role as advocates for their party. Like lawyers in a court of law, the ideal that their purpose is to seek truth, here in the instant case that is the will of the people, is a complete myth, and any claim to that ideal is bogus. If you wish to disagree with me, I suggest you go to a video library and watch the hours of tapes of the OJ Simpson trial and tell me if a lawyer's job is to seek the truth. Its not.
Lawyers, instead, are first and foremost advocates, and they will formulate an hypothesis in support of what they perceived to be a winning argument and selectively seek out evidence that's supports their hypothesis, and selectively exclude evidence that contradicts it. A lawyer has a duty to address law contrary to their position, and in criminal cases exculpatory facts, but in this case in the court of public opinion, and the way these manual counts are being administered and supervised you can be certain that whatever you here on TV or any other media is first and foremost advocacy and not necessarily, and most unlikely, the truth.
This FACT cannot be ignored when weighing the integrity of these hand-counted ballots. Will there be a formal investigation launched to discover the truth of all the allegations from both sides of the aisle?
More importantly, really, is there enough time? My guess is NO. The electoral college votes on December 18, and if the results of the statewide election are not finalized and certified before that time, I'm sure the Florida State Legislature will take matters into their own hands as Federal law provides. There is no single presidential election, but 50 separate ones, each with their own set of election laws. Moreover, the results of these elections are but the first step in a two-step process in selecting the President. If the Florida presidential election results remain in the quagmire it is; the law (the electoral process) provides the ability for skip over this process if absolutely necessary. Which is why FINALITY must be weighed against ACCURACY here. The longer this thing drags one the greater the weigh placed upon FINALITY, and the lesser weight applied to ACCURACY, as it should as with time accuracy should improve, and with time, the possibility of the election results getting tossed altogether and instead their effect placed in the hands of the legislators, becomes that much greater.
Opinion
As I see it, whatever unscrupulous methods the Democrats have employed, and whatever similar methods the Republicans are now employing, will only serve to detract the integrity of the hand counted votes and serve as a basis for the Secretary of State to reject them, consistent with any ruling the State Supreme Court is likely to hand down to her.
IMHO, since election night, the Democrats have been digging their own graves, but they've had no choice, their man came up short. Now, you can't blame the Republican's for fighting back. The Gore Campaign has always had an uphill battle, and they have succeeded to the extent they have at this point by not playing nice. It is the Republican intent at this point to ensure that this election will not be stolen and will resort to the same tactics employed by the Democrats. Welcome to the party.
To hear Al Gore lecture us that the "will of the people" will be heard is disingenuous, for if Al Gore were in the lead, and Bush were behind, Al would be singing a different tune like "the people have spoken." Nevertheless, consistent with Al Gore's Lecture No. 23487, the rule of law will prevail. JMO. |
