So we’re on our own, folks—those of us who still hold to the idea that our leaders should be elected rather than perpetuated by fraud.
- Barbara Ehrenreich
Some of my Conservative readers will argue about this until they’re blue in the face, which is, of course, their right. The argument seems to be “Bush won, shut the f**k up, get over it.” Well, guess what, y’all? The passage of time does nothing to right a wrong. The preponderance of anecdotal evidence, the preponderance of Republicans in high places (both in Florida and on the US Supreme Court), and the return of much the same cast is enough to make me fear that the theft of the 2000 Presidential election was only the opening act.
Each side can conjure up whatever “facts” happen to back up their particular argument. From where I sit, however, Republicans succeeded in doing the one thing a candidate should NEVER be able to do in the world’s greatest democracy: they stole a Presidential election. The anecdotal evidence is simply too overwhelming to ignore. George W. Bush “won” because he had the right friends in the right places, and because Republicans were more than willing to place partisan politics over the good of the country. Four years later, that reality has not changed.
Al Gore finally “lost” because he decided that it was time for the country to move forward. He recognized that a long, divisive legal battle would reflect badly on everyone, and in the end would only do harm to our country. When the history books are written, I firmly believe that this will be recognized. What will also be recognized is what the Thief-in-Chief has spent the past four years doing to our country.
If Al Gore had kept up his fight, or if ONE senator had possessed the cojones to oppose the certification vote, things might have been different. We’ll never know, of course, but we can be alert to what the possibilities may be this time around.
The Republican chicanery could easily be repeated this November, and in some ways it may even be easier to accomplish. The 2000 election may simply have been a dry run. Yes, it could happen again, and here are some of the ways Republicans could once again manage to steal this election:
Computer fraud, especially in places offering touch screen voting without a paper trail (although a paper trail is no guarantee of accuracy if it’s generated by the same screwed-up software as the touch screen votes). It’s particularly worrisome that at least two of the companies that provide computerized voting machines—Diebold and InterCivic—have strong ties to the Republican Party.
Selective discouragement of easily identifiable Democratic voters, i.e., black ones, such as occurred in Florida in 2000. Already, John Pappageorge, a Republican state legislator in Michigan, has urged his party to take measures to “suppress the Detroit vote.” Plainclothes officers from the Florida state police have been trying to intimidate elderly black voters by going to their homes and interrogating them about their status as voters.
Relying on the Pentagon to forward e-mail votes from troops in combat zones to their local election offices, as Missouri and North Dakota are planning to do. As The New York Times has editorialized, this creates a situation “rife with security problems.”
….[D]eclaring a red alert and postponing the election, a possibility already floated as a trial balloon by Tom Ridge.
Yes, what happened in 2000 could well be repeated this November. It could be a similar scenario, or Republicans may have a very different strategy up their sleeves. After stealing one election, does anyone REALLY think that they will have any qualms about doing the same thing this time around?
But if the preventive measures fail to produce a credible election, don’t expect the Democratic Party to lead the fight for democracy. The most painful scene in Fahrenheit 9/11—and there are quite a few contenders for this title—is the one in which members of the Congressional Black Caucus speak to the Senate, one by one, pleading for just one Senator to join them in stopping the Supreme Court’s selection of Bush. When faced with a truly revolutionary situation—an electoral coup from the right—Al Gore folded like a lawn chair. As for Kerry: He may have had some backbone thirty years ago, but too many years spent sitting in the Senate have rendered it the consistency of Play-Doh.
I don’t want to end up having to be the one who on November 3rd will have to say “I told you so”. If the worst does happen, though, remember what took place in 2000. Democrats wanted to play by the rules. Republicans understood that they only “rule” was that there were no rules. They will willing to play dirty, and they did so early, often (anyone remember the “Brooks Brothers riot” in Miami?) and ultimately with great success. It could very well happen again.
Niccolo Machiavelli would have been proud.
