Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (336730)	12/1/2009 4:35:45 PM
From: Brumar89	3 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 794001

Obama refuses to accept Guatamalan election results. The leftist lost so to hell with democracy. If Obama loses in 2012, will he demand a "government of national unity" here too?

To: LindyBill who wrote (336730)	12/2/2009 6:29:40 AM
From: Tom Clarke	1 Recommendation Respond to of 794001

In a Parallel Universe Roughly Ten Years Ago... Yesterday at 4:48pm Let's go into an alternate universe for a moment. In this universe, Bill Clinton was removed from office after being impeached. He refused to leave the White House, and therefore armed guards had to escort him out. Al Gore also resigned, in order to distance himself from the impeachment charges, leaving the speaker of the house at that time as acting president of the US for seven months. Gingrich had just resigned as well, leaving a newcomer to the national stage, Bob Livingston, as the President of the USA. Livingston made it clear that he was just a place-holder until the elections took place, and in fact gave up is own bid for re-election so that he could fully dedicate himself to the presidency. Also, in this parallel universe, the American people by and large agreed that a constitutional change in leadership had occurred. Even if they didn't like the results, most felt the rule of law had been enforced and that the upcoming elections were the best way to move beyond the crisis. But Saddam Hussein spoke vociferously against the Livingston presidency, Ralph Nader dropped out of the election in protest, and for good measure Michael Moore made a documentary about it (which the critics panned). The rest of the world cut off ties to the Livingston regime, but were puzzled when Americans stood by their constitution and national sovereignty. Unfortunately, Clinton was so disruptive that Livingston sent the National Guard to surround his Little Rock, Arkansas estate--a move deemed unconstitutional or criminal at worst and a necessary evil at best. Yes there were some protesters, and yes Livingston made some missteps regarding civil liberties and human rights. The US opened their doors and requested international observers of their elections. Oddly enough Hussein, no champion of fair and free elections himself convinced their detractors so they refused to even come and monitor things. But voter turnout was high and what observers did show up reported few issues of note. Meanwhile, Livingston and Clinton both went to neighboring Canada to broker a deal, called the Toronto Accord. In it, Livingston made the unprecedented offer to form a unity government with appointees from Clinton, and even allowed Congress to vote on whether to reinstate him. Even though amnesty/pardoning was on the table for discussion, neither Clinton nor Livingston left the accord with immunity for their actions. Oddly, Clinton then refused to fulfill his end of the bargain, but immediately called the deal "broken." Livingston, however, submitted his portion of the now-defunct "unity" government within the constraints of the Toronto Accord. Furthermore, Britain, a historically staunch ally of their former colony, had initially opposed Livingston and called his government a coup. But upon the signing of the Toronto Accord, Britain expressed their support for the American people to now decide their own fate. The US Congress waffled a bit on its vote whether to reinstate Clinton. First, since they had just voted to impeach, and believed those procedures met constitutional muster, there were those who felt another vote was unnecessary. Furthermore, no one in American history had ever had their impeachment reversed by Congress. Walter Nixon (no relation to Richard) was a federal judge under Lyndon B. Johnson who was impeached for perjury and he contested that as far as it would go but ultimately lost. There was therefore broad speculation that such a vote by Congress was itself unconstitutional. The Livingston government decided to hold the vote regardless, but only after the November elections. After all this drama, Americans voted, and in large numbers for Bush or maybe Gore. The Florida recount debacle never happened, and the winner was not in doubt. But we were left wondering why much of the rest of the world still refused to recognize our new president. And we wonder about Honduras.... facebook.com