By BuckcuB
Well. Here it is midnight on the 12th of
December, and BuckcuB is STILL attempting to grasp what has happened
tonight in our nation's capitol.
Faced with what was probably the most momentous decision in its
history regarding the most sacred tenet of our republic -- the inviolable
right of citizens to vote -- that august and revered arbiter of final
resort, the Supreme Court of the United States, reached a determination.
They punted.
To say BuckcuB is aghast at the SCOTUS
decision-that-isn't-a-decision would be a gross understatement. The Court
overturned Florida's Supreme Court, but remanded the case back. The Court
didn't rule that there could be no recount in Florida, but it remanded the
matter with conditions making it impossible to have a recount within the
timeframe permissible.
The Court issued the substance of its ruling "per curiam" without
identifying the way each Justice voted, but more than half of the ruling
consists of dissents to various portions of the ruling by seven of the
nine Justices! What an unholy mess!
The SCOTUS “decision” in Bush v. Gore will, BuckcuB
thinks, more-or-less permanently undermine its credibility as an
apolitical arbiter. Justice Scalia, unsurprisingly, came off as the most
politicized Justice, commenting even before oral arguments were heard that
he thought Bush would win.
Judges don't normally comment on a case under review. Supreme Court
Justices NEVER comment on a case under review. Scalia's comments make it
pretty clear that he had already decided which way he was going to vote,
regardless of the oral arguments presented. That's called prejudice, and
it's exactly the opposite of what the highest court is supposed to stand
for.
It is
inconceivable to BuckcuB that the highest court in the nation
refused to uphold the right of a citizen to vote and have that vote
counted. Lawyers and technicalities and long-drawn-out clauses
notwithstanding, the right of citizens to elect their leaders is the
very bedrock of the republic.
What's left to believe in? Now we all know that our votes
don't count if some smart lawyer can take advantage of both legal
maneuvering and the partisan leanings of supposedly-impartial
judges. BuckcuB is beginning to think those nutty guys who hole up
in remote compounds and deny the authority of the government have it
right, after all! What ostensible democracy denies its citizens the
right to have their votes counted?!?!? |
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This is MUCH bigger than the issue of who will be President. This
decision tinkers with the very premise on which this country was founded!
The most galling part of this, for gays, is that the Bush team argued its
case on "equal protection" grounds. That would be the same equal
protection which is routinely denied to gay and lesbian citizens in
housing and employment, most often by people with views like those of
Bush. The same equal protection that the SCOTUS denied to gays in deciding
that the Boy Scouts could legally prohibit gays, the SCOTUS upholds for
George W. Bush instead.
Well, we're equal with other citizens now -- because now EVERY
citizen knows that his or her vote doesn't mean a damn thing. The
supposedly-sacred franchise is revealed as worthless bullshit. The
millions of men and women who died, defending democracy against tyranny,
wasted their heroism and died for nothing. Nothing.
The widows and the proud descendants can toss those long-treasured
medals in the trash where they belong, shiny little bits of metal that are
revealed to be no more than testaments to suckerhood. So you thought
Grandpa breathed his last on some shell-pocked, godforsaken field of mud
to save democracy? Nope.
Maybe Grandpa should have been a Republican lawyer instead.
Because, it turns out, that's who gets to decide who leads our nation. Not
the citizens who pay the taxes and do the working and the living and the
dying in America. Not the citizens who salute the flag and fight the wars.
Not the citizens who, until today, could justly boast that for all its
flaws the United States of America is a place where power is bestowed by
THE PEOPLE. Not the citizens who could proudly claim that although the guy
in the White House might be an asshole, he was a fairly elected asshole,
freely chosen by a majority of the votes of citizens. That's all over.
And for what? Well, the answer to that is at least unsurprising:
power. If we still had any doubt that power is the most dangerous and
addictive drug in the world, that doubt has now been swept away. Men and
women were paid to challenge and destroy the foundation of democracy and
the bedrock of our republic -- the vote -- in order to confer power on a
group determined to secure that power at any cost. The destruction of
democracy was secondary to securing that power. This was not an election;
it was a coup d'etat.
BuckcuB doesn't blame George W. for this. Bush is just a
well-connected boob born with a silver spoon in his mouth -- or should I
say up his nose? -- who has been used all his life by smarter men. He is
the scion of a dubious dynasty, a man who has coasted through life on
family money and connections, but he hasn't the intelligence to have
orchestrated this disaster. Bush was just along for the ride, and BuckcuB
doubts that even now he realizes that ride is a train wreck.
It makes one weep for the lesson of history, always accurate and
always ignored by those who seek power at any price. Power corrupts. And
it has finally corrupted the very heart of democracy.
George W. will become President now, of course. But President of
what? I know it's fashionable for those on the losing side to rail
(usually in overreaction) that "the sky is falling." But this time the sky
is not falling, it has already fallen.
Even those who hated Bill Clinton to madness never denied that he
was fairly and freely elected to office. Bush will not be able to make the
same claim. A majority of the electorate voted against him. The SCOTUS
prevented an accurate recount of citizens' votes for a legitimate majority
in the Electoral College. The Florida Legislature, controlled by
Republicans, moved even before the high court decision to literally hand
the election to Bush. Americans gay or straight must be deeply troubled by
this series of events, whether they admit it or not. This isn't the way we
do things in America. We go to the polls, and we vote, and the person with
the most votes is elected. Until today.
If the Supreme Court had ruled to overturn the Florida high court,
PERIOD, there would have been much hue and cry and accusations and
counter-accusations, but we would have had a real decision. If the Supreme
Court had ruled that it was a matter for the state, not the Federal
government, there would have been the same hue and cry and the same
accusations from both sides, but it would have been a real decision. But
for the SCOTUS to remand the case back, knowing that Florida couldn't
possibly comply with its orders within the timeframe possible -- well,
that isn't just ducking the issue. That's passing the buck after the buck
has already landed in the court of final resort. As a result, George W.
Bush will become president-by-accident of a nation of citizens
disenfranchised by lawyers.
The downside to the debacle far outweighs any small upside, but
there is thankfully an upside. Yes, Bush will become President. President
of nothing. The "great democracy" and "shining republic" Presidents are
fond of alluding to in their speeches no longer exist. Those noble
institutions were damaged and undermined to put him in office. Bush is, of
course, wildly popular with a part of the electorate, but when the
giddiness of victory dies down, many of those voters are going to start
realizing that the next election could be stolen from them, by the same
tactics.
Because Bush v. Gore has introduced a new tenet of
American jurisprudence: The votes of individual citizens don't count, if a
lawyer can convince a judge that they shouldn't count, And so passes the
most basic of the rocks upon which democracy rests: the will of the
people. The will of the people is now secondary to legal technicalities
and smart lawyering. Adieu, democracy. Hello, tyranny!
BuckcuB doesn't know when, if ever, our nation will recover
from this blow to the very foundations of the republic. Neither Gore nor
Bush possess the charisma to deflect the winds of war which are coming.
More than ninety percent of African-Americans voted for Gore. More than
any other group, black folks must set tremendous store in the franchise
which was so long denied to them.
BuckcuB doesn't imagine they will see that franchise swept away
without a fight. Labor unions gave the nod to Gore as the friend of the
working man. How will unionists take this disenfranchisement? Not well.
Women voted overwhelmingly for Gore. Will they meekly accept having their
votes discounted? It is doubtful.
In a few short hours, the most essential tenet of American
democracy has been put in question. When we go to the polls and vote, our
votes are counted fairly, and they elect our leaders. WE elect our
leaders. But now it seems that lawyers elect our leaders for a price, and
to hell with the votes of citizens.
If there is any hope of rescuing our republic from this major blow,
it will come only through more controversy. The votes in Florida WILL be
counted -- several newspapers and think-tanks have already begun the
process by which they get access to the votes to count them, so we will
eventually know who really won that election.
The Florida Supreme Court, acting on the opinion of the SCOTUS,
might decide to order a recount considered fair by all parties, even
though that recount would not change the inevitable elevation of Bush to
the Presidency. No matter how the result is arrived at, we will someday
know who really won Florida's vote.
Gore won the majority of "intended" votes in Florida, and everyone
knows that regardless of partisan loyalty. The likely revelation, too
late, of a Gore win will further undermine what already promises to be a
very shaky Bush presidency. And in the meantime, we have citizens walking
around slowly realizing that their votes don't really count. Talk about a
recipe for disaster!
This is no sour-grapes diatribe. Just yesterday, a car passed
BuckcuB with a shiny new bumper sticker which stated "He's not MY
President!" America has become that most dangerous of animals -- a nation
divided against itself. BuckcuB does not typically think of himself as a
patriot, but he is absolutely devastated by the damage this election and
its aftermath have done to our nation. He opposed Bush, but could have
lived with his free and fair election to the White House. BuckcuB cannot
live comfortably with his installation as president-by-default.
What's to be done? First and foremost, we must get our legislatures
and our courts to reaffirm the sovereign power of a citizen's individual
vote. Without the sanctity of the franchise, there is no United States of
America, If big bucks and smart lawyering can throw out your vote, then
your vote is worthless.
We need a Federal standard as to what constitutes a legal vote,
although the SCOTUS declined on this occasion to give us that standard. We
need a uniform method of voting for all states and counties and towns.
Most of all we need a judiciary which places the essential rights
of citizens first. Were it not for partisanship, the SCOTUS would have
ruled that the right of citizens to vote and have their votes counted
outweighs any other consideration. That's boilerplate democracy. And it's
the basic premise on which rests the very idea of the United States of
America as a nation. If our votes won't be counted, then what's the point
of citizenship? Are we electing our leaders -- or merely acquiescing to
legal maneuvering? When a citizen votes, that vote must count so long as
we call ourselves a republic. But maybe 220 years is long enough for the
survival of democracy. and now its time for us to go the way of all
governments in history. Destroyed from within by the greed for power, like
an apple eaten hollow by a little worm.
In a sad and appalling fashion, BuckcuB realizes that he has lived
to see the death of the greatest republic in the history of the world. The
vote of citizens was sacred, until the SCOTUS decided otherwise today.
It reminds one of the ancient Chinese curse, "May you live in
interesting times." These times are indeed interesting. And the subtle
viciousness of the curse is also revealed. The premise upon which our
nation was founded -- one man, one vote -- has been struck down by the
partisan maneuvering of our highest court. There is no republic left to
defend. There is no democracy worthy of our support. There is merely an
aggregation of people wondering why a bunch of lawyers decided whose vote
counted, and whose vote didn't count.
Future historians will unquestionably record this event as the
turning point for the collapse of the United States of America. It's
unavoidable, but -- what a pity! A whole nation destroyed in the pursuit
of power! But history teaches us that nations rise and nations fall.
Perhaps we should not be surprised that our nation is falling.
BuckcuB only hopes that the fall will occur amid public outrage,
because this fall didn't have to happen. It was engineered by men who
cared more about power than they cared about democracy. It was enabled by
a Court which cared more about politics than about the basic tenets of our
republic. It was ensured by a legislature which cared more about
partisanship than fairness. And it was guaranteed by people who are more
interested in the next four years than they are interested in the next
four hundred years.
So passes a nation. Dead, this twelfth day of December in the year
2000, of extensive lawyering and a supreme disregard for the will of the
people. Rest in peace.
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