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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Don Pueblo who wrote (87411)	11/25/2000 5:35:00 PM
From: puborectalis	Respond to of 769670

Somethings never change.........Defiant Milosevic re-elected party leader November 25, 2000 Web posted at: 5:28 p.m. EST (2228 GMT) BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- Just weeks after being ousted as president of Yugoslavia a defiant Slobodan Milosevic has been re-elected as leader of the Socialist Party (SPS). The vote came after a fiery speech in which Milosevic claimed the country was "in danger" and branded Yugoslavia's new pro-democratic leaders "traitors." Milosevic, the only candidate for the leadership, was re-elected with a vast majority of the votes, a senior Socialist official told reporters who were not allowed into the congress. His re-election's means Milosevic will lead the Socialists in crucial parliamentary elections next month in Yugoslavia's dominant Serbian republic. Despite years of regional conflict, international isolation and embargoes crippling the economy under his 13-year rule, Milosevic told delegates at the special congress that the country had plunged into a deep crisis since the popular revolt. But Milosevic's rare public appearance since the mass uprising on October 5, which saw the ascent of Vojislav Kostunica, proved a stark contrast to the party's February congress where thousands of supporters cheered his arrival. On Saturday only about 100 party activists greeted Milosevic as he entered Belgrade's Sava Centre, where some 2,300 party delegates were seated. In his opening speech to the congress, Milosevic described those who sought his removal as "paid Western spies" who are aiding the "occupation" of the country. "The war which is being conducted against this country is now being conducted with (Western) money," Milosevic said. He said that with the money, the West wants to bribe the new leadership so they would allow the breakup of Yugoslavia. After a decade in power, the SPS has faced a crisis since Milosevic's defeat with a number of senior officials have left the one might party. Two prominent members, Zoran Lilic and Milorad Vucelic, have already founded their own political groupings. Milosevic's re-emergence after his downfall follows weeks of speculation that he was considering retirement, becoming honorary party leader or transferring executive powers to his deputy leaders. Western governments have insisted there can be no political role for Milosevic, blamed by the West for a major role in four Balkan wars over the past decade, in a democratic Yugoslavia. The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.

To: Don Pueblo who wrote (87411)	11/25/2000 5:39:33 PM
From: Jerry Miller	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

you're a hypocrite. a phoney. give you an award, and you think you run the place. where does it say you can post parody, and Jay can't ? what makes his post any more or less inflammatory than yours. and who made you thread monitor ? who gives a damn about your work in eliminating paid shrills? poitical or otherwise ? who cares what you think about how "on edge" any of us are ? i mean, just who the hell are you, anyway ?

To: Don Pueblo who wrote (87411)	11/25/2000 5:40:21 PM
From: Broken_Clock	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

TLC, Been checking the Florida sources...? Apparently the major media haven't, either that or they are simply blatantly ignoring the truth....again! Published Saturday, November 25, 2000, in the Miami Herald Pivotal move led to end of Dade count Protesters demanded better access BY DON FINEFROCK dfinefrock@herald.com As Republican protesters pounded on the locked doors of the Miami-Dade Elections Department Wednesday morning demanding access to the canvassing board, the members of the board huddled inside and made a critical decision. Faced with an angry mob of two dozen Republicans and protests from reporters, the board agreed to move back to a public conference room on the 18th floor at County Hall where people could watch as votes were tallied. The decision seemed incidental at the time, given the scope of what the board was trying to accomplish -- a manual recount of 10,750 ballots that showed no vote for president when scanned by a counting machine. As events unfolded, however, the decision would prove pivotal. The board returned to the 18th floor three hours later with a police escort and promptly voted to abandon any effort to recount ballots. Elections Supervisor David Leahy said the decision to count votes on the 18th floor had created an ``unworkable situation. The board simply could not complete the job by the deadline set by the Florida Supreme Court, he said. The board vote was unanimous: The recount would stop. Democrats now charge that the board was intimidated by Republican activists who jeered the board and staged noisy protests inside and outside County Hall. `NEAR RIOT' ``It was a near riot situation, said Chad Clanton, a spokesman for the Gore-Lieberman Recount Committee who was present on Wednesday. U.S. Reps. Carrie Meek, D-Miami, and Peter Deutsch, D-Pembroke Pines, asked the Justice Department to investigate ``what appears to be a shocking case of undermining the right to vote through intimidation and threats of violence. They cited published reports, including stories in The Herald, that described the rowdy protests that rocked County Hall on Wednesday. But Leahy -- one of three members of the canvassing board -- denied Friday that the protests played any part in his decision to scrub the recount. ``The protest was not a factor in my decision, he said. ``We simply could not get it done by the deadline. Leahy denied a report in The New York Times that quoted him as saying the protests had influenced his vote to call off the recount. He said the protest outside his office had influenced the board's decision to return to the 18th floor, but not his vote to scrap the recount. ``I was concerned that what we were doing was not being perceived as a fair and open process, Leahy told reporters on Wednesday. The other two members of the canvassing board -- County Judges Lawrence D. King and Myriam Lehr -- declined on Friday to speak with The Herald. Leahy declined to speculate about their reasons for voting to halt the recount. DOUR POUNDING But Leahy and others who were with the board on Wednesday while it met inside the Elections Department on the 19th floor at County Hall said the board was aware of the protest raging outside the department. Republican activists in Miami to serve as official observers during the recount process chanted in the lobby outside the department and pounded on the locked doors, demanding access. The protest had the desired effect. Mayco Villafana, the county's communications director, asked the board to move back to the 18th floor. Without taking a formal vote, the board agreed. The protest ``definitely affected their decision, said Los Angeles attorney Stephen Kaufman, one of the Democratic observers in the room with the board. ``I think they realized that it was creating a perception problem for them. Kaufman said it was not clear then that the recount was in jeopardy. But as the morning wore on, Leahy said he became convinced the board could not meet the Sunday deadline for completing the recount because the decision to return to the 18th floor had created a logistical problem. TOUGH DEADLINE To meet the deadline, the board would have to sort through thousands of ballots by hand and decide whether those ballots had been punched by a voter. At the same time, it needed to watch as those and other ballots were run through the counting machines on the 19th floor -- first to segregate some of the ballots with no clear vote, and then again to tally the results. Leahy had hoped to proceed with both jobs at once, but the board's decision to return to the 18th floor for the hand count made that impossible. ``It was clear we were not going to make it, Leahy said. The two judges agreed with that assessment in public remarks made Wednesday. ``It is not physically possible to continue with this task, Lehr said. What other pressures weighed on the two judges was not known. Both must face county voters to win reelection, or move up to the circuit court. Both judges were reelected this year to six-year terms. It is not clear whether the two judges were aware of the protests being staged outside County Hall. But board members were keenly aware of the pivotal role they were playing in an intensely partisan political drama. ``The Republic is watching us, King said at one point Wednesday. King's vote to stop counting may have been influenced by his reading of Florida law. After the canvassing board completed a partial recount of three precincts on Nov. 14, attorneys for the Democratic Party asked the board to recount only those ballots that showed no vote for president. First Assistant County Attorney Murray Greenberg told the board it had the discretion to grant the request, but King disagreed. The judge said he didn't believe state law allowed the board to do anything less than a full recount. ``The Legislature only gives us one way to do this and that is a hand count of all the ballots, King said. INCONSISTENCY When the canvassing board voted unanimously on Wednesday morning to scrap the full recount and tally only those ballots with no clear vote, Republican attorney Miguel De Grandy was quick to point out the inconsistency. At one point, De Grandy read a transcript of the judge's earlier remarks. ``I am well aware of what I said, King said. Asked later if he thought state law allowed for less than a full recount, King said he would defer to the county attorney's office on that question.