Divine Providence has granted this gift to man, that those things which are honest are also the most advantageous.
Quintilian (35? - 95?), Roman rhetorician
It’s really official. Ohio finally finished counting the votes from the presidential election. According to the Associated Press, Kerry found 734 more votes in the recount, and President Bush picked up 449, mostly from disqualified ballots that were counted in the second tally because hanging chads had come loose when ballots were handled again or rerun through counting machines. Ultimately, Kerry gained 285 votes on Bush.
Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell has estimated that the recount will end up costing taxpayers $1.5 million. The Misanthrope would like to think that it would have been a lot less costly or at a minimum efficient, to have spent the money on a honest system in the first place. Ever since the Republican assault on the election process in Florida, disrupting the voting and vote counting process seems a standard tactic in their arsenal of dirty tricks.
Instead, Blackwell, a Republican, would rather complain about the efforts to ensure the results are fair. Here is a novel idea, just conduct a fair election in the first place. The United States should set the right example for holding fair elections, as we pursue our crusades for democracy around the world.
2 comments:
Plain ol’ lying to the public; just because they say it, doesn’t make it so. Examples include the Iraq war, and the Swift Boat liars, the bogus nonsense about not approving judges. There is also the gerrymandering voting districts (which is a tactic used by both sides), and others that just escape us at the moment, but that seems like plenty for starters.
We taught the South American and African dictators how not to have fair elections. Why shouldn't some of that come back to haunt us.
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