And the winner is George W. Voldemort (OT)

[Penny & Bryce Linsenmayer]

No: HPFGUIDX 5396

Hi --

I'm going with this OT thread because this is so damn historic.  Just
put OT in your subject lines so that people who are so inclined
(particularly the Brits who may not care at all) can delete emails.  I
went to sleep at about 11:00 our time, being the pg person that I am --
baby was demanding that her mommy get some rest.  But, even in
quasi-sleep, I sort of could halfway see my husband neurotically
flipping from channel to channel.  I finally woke up at 1:30, got a
snack & we sat up until they declared Florida for Bush.  We cursed and
lamented for awhile & went to bed, thinking that at least we'll get a
new governor out of this.  Imagine our surprise (and delight!!!  Dare we
hope!!) when we wake up & discover that it's all being recounted in FL.

I've got to say -- this is SO reminiscent of what we in Texas still
refer to as the "Stolen Election" in 1948 (LBJ and those ballot boxes in
a couple of counties in So Texas).  As my husband said this morning, Jeb
Bush better have a clean nose in all of this.  It smacks of fraud
already.  I haven't heard anyone say why the networks all declared FL
for Gore at 8:00 p.m. EST and then retracted it 2 hrs later.

Gore is winning the popular vote count, even if Bush takes the electoral
vote in FL.  Amazing!!!

heidi wrote:

> OT reporting from Miami Dade County, Florida, the epicenter of
> fingerbiting.
>
> I just want to explain to all of you what it's like to be a resident
> of Miami, Dade County, Florida, this morning.  The difference between
> the votes is about 500.  500 out of almost six million votes.
> No pundits can ever remember something like this happening before
> (although, of course, we're still waiting to recieve some of the
> overseas ballots) My vote really counted. So did the 3 votes from the
> first time voters who my brother brought to the polls.

Yes, if nothing else this election should convince all apathetic voters
(most particularly that most apathetic of all voting groups, the young
adults between 18-25) that their vote COUNTS.

> And I hate Ralph Nadar in many horrible ways because without him, Gore
> would have won Florida (according, again, to the exit polls)

I CURSE Ralph Nader & his supporters.  If Dubya wins this thing, it's
their fault.  You couldn't ask for a more environmentally-friendly
President than Gore, but instead we'll be stuck with someone who's
against ratification of the treaty on global warming & plans to drill in
protected areas in Alaska.  That's just the tip of the iceberg I'm
sure.  I hope the Nader supporters are all very happy with themselves.

Vivienne wrote:

> Certainly the American pagan/wiccan community have no reason to feel
> good about Bush's election as when directly questioned about such issues
>
> he was empathic about not recognizing witchcraft as a religion.
> What this means in any real terms is debatable. One man's recognition
> or lack of recognition may not actually effect the First Amendment
> Rights that Americans enjoy but such a strong stand on this very minor
> issue (in terms of the bigger picture) is of concern to the
> international pagan/magical community.
>
Where it matters Vivienne is in the *life-time* appointments of justices
to our Supreme Court.  *They* have (more or less) the final word on
interpreting the Constitution, including our Bill of Rights.  The Court
has been in a rather fragile centrist state for some years now due to
all the Reagan appointments in the 1980s.  If Dubya should get the
chance to make more appointments, bye bye abortion rights, bye bye
freedom of religion, bye bye gun control measures, bye bye gay rights,
bye bye to lots & lots of other civil liberties.

Susan wrote:

> I should have moved to Florida, and offered my hot tubs and massages
> there.
>
Thanks for delivering Michigan anyway!  :--)  It wasn't even remotely
close in my home state!!

Penny


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