Florida
It was November of 2000. The election between Vice President Al Gore and Texas Governor George W Bush was down to one state, Florida. Out of the millions of Florida votes, the margin between the two was less than one thousand. Florida law called for a mandatory recount, and several heavily Democratic counties began the painstaking task of examining each ballot.
The campaign staff for Bush determined that to wait for the logical outcome, the final count; was dangerous to their candidate’s chances. So instead of allowing the count to take its course, they waited until they had a slim lead in the ongoing recount. Then, in what today is called the “Brooks Brothers Riot”, the well dressed young Republican lawyers and staffers flown into Florida crammed in the Palm Beach Board of Elections and “stormed” the counting area.
The members of the Board felt so threatened, they stopped the count. Bush was winning. The Secretary of State of Florida, at the behest of the Governor of Florida, Bush’s brother Jeb, certified the incomplete count of the election as official. The United States Supreme Court in a five to four decision, accepted that enumeration, and mandated the counting to stop. That was five Republican appointed Justices to four Democratic appointees.
Vice President Gore gracefully conceded the election.
In the Dark of Night
Donald Trump learned well from his mentor, Roger Stone, one of the instigators of the Brooks Brothers Riot. Tonight, just a few moments ago, he instigated a “riot” of his own, writ-large, by claiming that the vote counts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania must stop. The counts there are incomplete, with millions of ballots still to be counted from heavily Democratic Milwaukee, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. If Biden was to win those states, he could claim the Presidency. But if those cities are disenfranchised, then Trump can claim his false victory.
He promises to take his “case” to the Supreme Court. And I will say this: John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Bennett all were lawyers in Florida on the Bush staff in that November of 2000. It’s difficult to believe in their justice, when the justices are already tainted.
Vice President Joe Biden is not conceding. He leads in Arizona and Wisconsin, and believes if the count is complete he will be President. He rightfully demands that every vote be counted. And surely lawyers from both sides are already on site in those cities, ready to do whatever is necessary to further their “clients’ needs. We will see whether democracy or theft will prevail.
Disappointed
I am immeasurably disappointed in my fellow Americans. After all that Donald Trump has done, he still received immense numbers of votes. Abraham Lincoln was right: you can fool most of the people, most of the time. Donald Trump has proven that.
I had an argument with a former student, now a Trump supporter, about whether there would be protests after the elections. I said that as long as the outcome was fair, there would be no need for demonstrations. But if this election is stolen, then I can see little choice but to go to the streets, and take whatever action needed. If the legal means of expression are dictatorially slammed shut, what else can be done?
It’s 3:00 am. I know better than to write when I’m angry, or incredibly disappointed. And I know that the sun will come up, soon, and that the count, and the fight, will continue.
Joe Biden isn’t done, and neither am I.
