My take on the election process up to this point...


<fontfamily><param>Bookman</param>Is the Presidency Being Bushwhacked?

By Don Monkerud


The Bush effort is growing like weeds, fueled by Republican opposition
tactics aimed at destabilizing the government, that right wing
partisan's hope will culminate in public demands to "restore" peace and
install their man in the White House. 


The Republicans are pissed. They paid for the last three elections and
they feel that Clinton stole the presidency by winning a majority of
the votes. They aren't about to let that happen again. The elections
cost them hundreds of millions of dollars: bought and paid for, the
American Way. The Impeachment Project cost additional hundreds of
millions, and what do they have to show for it? Nothing. They want the
presidency and they want it now. 


To prove their point, they are getting tough. No more Mr. Gerald Ford
"nice guy." They are out for blood. Protesters in Florida carry signs
proclaiming, "Bush or Revolution." 


Shades of Nazi brownshirts? Republican protesters invaded the offices
of the election commission in Florida's Dade County where some 10,000
votes are in dispute. Officials reported that they "felt intimidated,
and were "physically threatened" by Bush's strident thirtysomethings,
some of whom came from as far away as California. 

 

Cheney's heart attack, upon hearing about the Florida Supreme Court
decision to allow a recount of votes, is of more immediate concern.
Cheny and his connections to former president Bush and his links to the
U.S. government security apparatus are considered essential to the
presidency, should George Junior win the recount. Some claim that the
Bush camp wants the election certified quickly so they will be free to
appoint Patrick Buccanan as vice president after Cheney kicks the
bucket.  

 

If keeping Cheney alive long enough to be sworn in isn't enough to
worry about, Cheney may well need some help holding his hand up in the
Senate, due to serious heart problems. Whether he has the strength to
support the gold and diamond Rolex, thanks to the $40 million gift from
the oil companies to run for vice president, is another matter, as is
the Republicans worry over the vote recount.


Rumors from Florida indicate that a Republican woman who "retired" from
vote counting earlier this week did so under threat of her life.
Republican officials had a difficult time replacing her, for the rumor
is there's a price on the head of any Republican vote counter if Gore
wins. 


Those who become cynical about politics and fear that the political
debate is degrading needn't feel alone. Others, the more astute
students of American history, can recognize historical forces at work.
The fact that the Bush family exerts control in Florida isn't lost on
the American public. Nor the fact that Texas is a land unto itself. One
can visualize the young, smirking Bush brothers speeding down a country
road in a stolen car, throwing beer cans out the window and running
over the neighbor's children. 


They come from a tradition, these Texas BushesŠ no less an authority
than the Columbia Encyclopedia states the case of Texas history:
"Remaining relatively prosperous, it liberally contributed men and
provisions to the Southern cause. Reconstruction brought great
lawlessness, aggravated by the appearance of roving desperadoes,
Radical Republicans, carpetbaggers and scalawags." 


</fontfamily>Don Monkerud