Andrew Jones Is Jesse Jackson a media
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The controversy regarding the election of our next president has
been one of the most extensively covered topics in recent history.
Judging from the amount of newsprint and punditry generated, it
might seem possible that each side in the controversy has
“had its say.” But the coverage, despite its surface
appeal as far-ranging and unbiased, has in fact ignored a vast
amount of information that, unfortunately for the liberal media, is
conclusively positive for the Bush campaign.
Let television’s “Big 3″ networks thump their
chests, lauding their “fact-based coverage.” But
remember that every story has two sides ““ even the story that
claims to present “both sides.” That said, let us
examine some of the stories you didn’t hear.
A main issue that the Gore camp still pursues at this point is
their contention of “confusing” ballots in Palm Beach
County. These are the notorious butterfly ballots that we have all
heard about. Jesse Jackson, the tired liberal hack, made a
predictable appearance to express his outrage at the purported
“disenfranchisement” of those poor Palm Beach seniors
who supposedly voted for Pat Buchanan instead of their intended
choice of Al Gore.
To their credit, the major networks included a graphic of the
ballot’s appearance while reporting on the subject, and
somehow managed to avoid guffawing at the implication that the
ballots were “confusing.” What Dan Blather, Peter
Jennings, and Tom Brokaw should rightly have posed as the
rhetorical question regarding these seniors is “Are they
dumb, or just plain stupid?”
Putting a finer point on the issue, there is a previous court
case involving allegations of a confusing ballot; in that case, the
judge decided in essence that a voter must be expected to exercise
reasonable judgment and discernment when presented with a voting
instrument. Moreover, if the voters are confused by the ballot,
they are obligated to raise the issue with poll workers, and the
poll workers are likewise obligated by law to assist the voters in
making their intended choices. Some of these seniors, when asked on
a network-arranged roundtable regarding their concerns,
acknowledged their failure to request assistance.
But this is not the end of arguments justifying the use and
validity of these Palm Beach ballots. Before any voting even took
place, not one, but both parties sent officials to review and
approve the design of these butterfly ballots. And yes, a Democrat
party official reviewed and approved the design, despite free reign
to raise objections. But what of predictable party activists like
Jesse Jackson? He certainly was happy to tell the world that the
ballots had “robbed” Al Gore of a Florida victory.
 Illustration by JARRETT QUON/Daily Bruin But you
didn’t hear him tell the world that he has a close family
relative who ran for office in Cook County, Illinois, and won
overwhelmingly. Ol’ Jesse didn’t mention this because
““ surprise, surprise ““ the ballots used in Cook County
are butterfly ballots, the very same design which he claimed
confused seniors in Palm Beach.
Of course, as a Democrat party hack, Jackson is not obligated to
present both sides of the story, especially when the counterpart
destroys the very argument he tries to make. After all, no one ever
accused Jesse of being politically impartial in his work on behalf
of the black community.
Having dispensed with the limp assertion that Palm Beach is at
all an issue in this election, let us examine the larger issue
behind the whole ongoing controversy in Florida. Specifically, the
Gore camp seized upon the subjective, post-elective, and generally
ineffective method of hand counts for some of Florida.Â
But the hand count only applied to the counties that had been
officially contested within 72 hours of the election. The only
counties petitioned were traditional Democratic strongholds,
because Bush had chosen not to drag out the process by contesting
all Florida counties.
In this case, the Gore camp had neatly outfoxed the Bush
organization. Gore would love nothing better than to beat George W.
Bush by a legal loophole, and the prospect of “picking up
votes” in Democratic counties, while likely gains for Bush in
more Republican areas went uncounted, was a prospect looked on with
glee by the Democrats and their trusty contingent of lawyers.
As soon as a window of opportunity for legal battles appeared,
the Democrats could let out a sigh of relief, for they knew that
the trial lawyers were solidly behind them, owing to years of
mutual back-scratching. The subsequent call to arms of a stampede
of lawyers into Florida on behalf of the Gore team was just a step
on the road to the prospect of a messy legal victory for Gore.
The first court decisions by the Florida Supreme Court certainly
put a cheery glow into David “Baldy” Boies’
cheeks. In a unanimous decision, the court, Democratic appointees
and “legislators from the bench” all stomped on the
sovereignty of the Florida Secretary of State office and ordered a
later, arbitrary deadline to allow the recount of hanging chad,
swinging chad, pregnant chad, and dimpled chad, to continue on its
messy path.
So this is the point at which we arrive in Florida ““
“Big Government” Al advocating in one situation for
state’s rights, and days later, as in the case of Miami-Dade
county, advocating for judicial intervention to countermand the
right of Florida and its county canvassing boards to decide how and
more importantly, whether, to conduct a manual recount.
“Flip-Flop” Al made a gala reappearance ““
dancing a wooden jig when he found that Florida law could be
twisted to allow for endless recounts, and throwing a fit when
Miami-Dade’s canvassing board asserted its decision-making
power and decided against a manual recount.
As I said in my Election Day column, and I will say again: Al
Gore is for using the rules when they favor him, and for altering
the rules when they don’t. His only true principle is
“an absolute commitment to changing his beliefs whenever
necessary to further his personal gains.” This principle is
the reason that our country is in political gridlock, and it is the
reason that Al Gore is so popular with liberals and Democrats
alike.
But the American public sees through this glossy facade, and
sees the heartless, wooden-man for who he is. That is why, as I
predicted on Election Day, the presidential election will be won by
George W. Bush. So Alec, if you’re reading this ““ pack
some warm clothes. Canada’s cold this time of year.