Post
by Dameon » Sat Apr 12, 2003 12:59 am
Oh boy, a Bush-bash thread! First off, yes, Gore had more popular votes than Bush. More US citizens who voted wanted him to be president. However, by the rules of the election which were clearly set out in advance, Bush won. I respect that, he played the right strategy. I don't think he stole the election; he won fair and square. The peeps that make me mad are the ones that say the US Supreme Court has no political leanings and the fact that there are more Republicans there had no bearing on their decision. BS. If there were more Dems in the USSC (as there are in the FLSC), Gore would probably be president now- but there aren't so he isn't. That is politics, and our judges play it too.
That being said, yes, I also believe the election rules need to be changed. The Electoral College is completely outdated and pointless in the world of instant communication. It'd be hard thing to overturn, because it is in the Constitution. Yes, it was a good idea at the time, but it's time has long since expired. One day it will be abolished- but definetely not during Bush's term since it's how he won.
The whole mess with Iraq, well, I don't think that Iraq was remotely threatening anybody at this point. I do think that Saddam was an awful dictator who abused his power and the citizens of Iraq suffered horribly for it. The US should have gone in saying "We are getting rid of Saddam because he massacres thousands and tortures his political opponents" not because he may have "weapons of mass destruction". It will be interesting to see how the war plays out; one thing is certain though, Bush will want to keep attention to his foreign policy since his domestic one is just plain awful.
And as an interesting side note to the GOPers who were rejocying about a "mandate" in the last election, it is interesting to note that in net change, the GOP picked up only two seats. Both of those seats belonged to Democratic senators who died while in office (Ashcroft in MO, Wellstone in MN). It's hard to shift the political power of a structure when an incumbent dies, so the GOP did have the edge there for that reason if none other. It heartens me greatly that the Dems in Congress realize that the GOP does NOT have a mandate, and are happily fillibustering away as need be. It warms my heart everytime we stop another archconservative from becoming a judge, while the GOP whines about it when they were doing the EXACT same thing to Clinton not too long ago. Revenge is indeed a dish best served cold.
I think that all this political tension in the US is truly going to come to a head the next time a USSC vacancy needs to be filled, especially in light of the role it played in the last election. I cannot imagine the absolute hell that is going to break out when a new judge needs to be appointed....it will make everything we have seen so far seem like child's play. Ain't life in a republic grand?
"A Knight is sworn to valor, his heart knows only virtue, his blade defends the helpless, his might upholds the weak, his word speaks only truth, his wrath outdoes the wicked."