tp141.xml
Title
tp141.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2003-03-03
TomPaine Story: Story
DEMOCRACY INTERRUPTED
Suppose your car had been stolen last summer. Then came 9/11. Wouldnt you still want your car back?
Suppose you found out the Olympic medal you earned just before 9/11 had been snatched away by a corrupt skating judge. Wouldnt you still want your gold?
Some want you to think its different for democracy, that even though our Presidential election was corrupted, were not supposed to care because 9/11 changed everything.
Well, no.
Last fall, after 9/11, the media consortium that painstakingly counted every Florida vote finally issued its report. The result was clear, even if largely ignored, if every vote was counted, Bush lost.
As I wrote then: lets point out the elephant in the Lincoln
bedroomódoesnt that make Bushs victory illegitimate?
The consortium report grossly underemphasized several other truths:
*African American and poor votes counted less;
*Katherine Harris wrongful false felon purge changed the outcome;
*the Scalia Five acted improperly and unethically;
*America still needs profound election reform.
These have yet to be seriously addressed. Our dwindling democracy, so corrupted by big money, was further diminished after 9/11. The elites decided that these questions were off limits, no use going back and taking away Bushs gold medal, cheating or no cheating.
But you cant fool all the people, all the time.
Bushs re-elect numbers right now are well below 50%, a scary situation for any incumbent. And every so often, a pollster asks a 3-part question about the 2000 election, the results have remained remarkably similar, both before and after 9/11.
Only half the public believes Bush won fair and square.
One-third thinks he won only on a technicality.
And fully one-sixth of America continues to tell pollsters that Bush stole the election.
Our democracy is wounded. But its not dead yet.
Suppose your car had been stolen last summer. Then came 9/11. Wouldnt you still want your car back?
Suppose you found out the Olympic medal you earned just before 9/11 had been snatched away by a corrupt skating judge. Wouldnt you still want your gold?
Some want you to think its different for democracy, that even though our Presidential election was corrupted, were not supposed to care because 9/11 changed everything.
Well, no.
Last fall, after 9/11, the media consortium that painstakingly counted every Florida vote finally issued its report. The result was clear, even if largely ignored, if every vote was counted, Bush lost.
As I wrote then: lets point out the elephant in the Lincoln
bedroomódoesnt that make Bushs victory illegitimate?
The consortium report grossly underemphasized several other truths:
*African American and poor votes counted less;
*Katherine Harris wrongful false felon purge changed the outcome;
*the Scalia Five acted improperly and unethically;
*America still needs profound election reform.
These have yet to be seriously addressed. Our dwindling democracy, so corrupted by big money, was further diminished after 9/11. The elites decided that these questions were off limits, no use going back and taking away Bushs gold medal, cheating or no cheating.
But you cant fool all the people, all the time.
Bushs re-elect numbers right now are well below 50%, a scary situation for any incumbent. And every so often, a pollster asks a 3-part question about the 2000 election, the results have remained remarkably similar, both before and after 9/11.
Only half the public believes Bush won fair and square.
One-third thinks he won only on a technicality.
And fully one-sixth of America continues to tell pollsters that Bush stole the election.
Our democracy is wounded. But its not dead yet.
Collection
Citation
“tp141.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed November 15, 2024, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/759.