Balance of Power

Roller coaster of litigation

That's right. Here in good ol' America, your vote counts... and counts, and counts. Now that every single vote has been tallied, including absentee ballots, you'd think this whole election nonsense would become little more than a bad memory. In fact, it seemed that way on Friday, when the 11th District court of Appeals in Atlanta ruled that Florida Secretary of State Harris had the right to certify the results for Florida on Saturday. Of course, this just turned out to be yet another worthless court ruling among all the others last week. On Friday night, the Florida Supreme Court (composed of seven democrats, of course!) ruled that no, Harris cannot certify the results until Monday at the absolute earliest. Pity.

What is going on here? Seriously, I would almost rather flip a coin and have that decide who wins rather than go through all of this rubbish. Indeed, the result would probably be the same either way, the system is so chaotic.

Anyone who read Alex Knapp's article last week probably knows that all this hysteria is just a joke. It's just that hard to take it seriously. Let's take a look at our situation, shall we? We have Florida as a legal and media battle ground, with hundreds of reporters and lawyers flying in and out of the state every single day. We also have countless lawsuits to stop the recounts, to continue the recounts, to recount the recounts, etc. etc. Not only that, but the Secretary of State and the Attorney General of Florida cannot agree on anything. Secretary Harris is a Republican, and Attorney General Butterworth is a Democrat. All of this to decide which one of those buffoon candidates will win the presidency? Pathetic!

Truth be told, Al Gore and George Bush just aren't worth all this hassle. They are both more or less the same, they have both shown a gross inability to lead in times of trouble, and they are both just downright immature and hypocritical. Both parties argue and bicker over topics of little or no substance: "I am a Republican and he is a bloody Democrat, so vote for me!" Both parties are also hypocritical because they constantly preach that theirs is the best party for America, and that if the other party is elected, we will all end up poor and on the streets. Barring the fact that such statements are pure garbage, if they really wanted the best for the country, one of them would simply concede and end this.

Political scientists all over are saying that this may end up damaging the electoral process, and I could not agree more. As if the incessant recounts were not bad enough, both sides are taking this to court at every turn, each time going higher and higher in our legal system. What started out in the county courts is now being disputed in the high Circuit courts and the Florida Supreme Court. What does this mean for America? Well, firstly, whoever wins this laughable election will be disrespected at every turn. He will never be acknowledged as the true president by the opposition party. Indeed, when Grover Cleveland won the Electoral vote but not the popular vote over a hundred years ago, Congress always referred to him "his fraudulency." Imagine the abuse our new president will have to endure for the next four years. Chances are, it would probably be in the best interests of either candidate to simply concede. No, I am not insane, let me explain. Firstly, by conceding, the candidate's image will be enhanced by the fact that he acted honorably and nobly by conceding for "America's sake." Secondly, several economists are predicting that we are headed towards a recession, and so the new president would likely get the blame. Therefore, whoever concedes the election now would easily be able to win in four years should he choose to run again. In a way, Bush is in a better position to use this tactic, since he is officially ahead by 930 votes in Florida now and has caused much less trouble in the election as Gore has in terms of recounts and legal action.

In any case, we can only cross our fingers and hope that the election ends soon. Frankly, I must admit that I really don't care who wins the race. Being a Libertarian, the affairs of Democrats and Republicans simply don't concern me that much. They are more or less the same, always bickering with each other, like two families in the Mafia.

As always, I would be happy to respond personally to any letters to the editor on this issue. Email technews@wpi.edu and cast your opinion!