OBITUARY

[barrk]

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12
OBITUARY: DEMOCRACY DEAD AT 224

http://www.geocities.com/dearkandb/index.html

United States Supreme Court: The ideal of American government succumbs
after
protracted gang-rape. The one-time virtue and muse of our national life
was
known for rising above partisanship.

WASHINGTON--Democracy, an American ideal who championed causes ranging
from
full enfranchisement to civil rights, and was an influential presence in
national political issues, died Saturday. She was 224.

Officials writing for the majority at the United States Supreme Court,
where
Democracy died Saturday afternoon, declined to release a rational
explanation for her demise. Constitutional scholars and historians say
she
apparently succumbed to injuries suffered during prolonged and violent
torture and gang-rape.

Democracy had undergone what these scholars describe as "willful torture,
clearly intended to result in her demise." Just Friday, they had
expressed
hope that she would escape her captors and tormentors, the Republican
Party,
the Bush-Cheney campaign, and the conservative majority of the Unites
States
Supreme Court.

From Washington to Los Angles, the well-liked, soft-spoken Democracy was
remembered as the "ultimate expression of the peoples' will," who had
risen
above partisanship during a career in national politics dating from 1776.
She was widely respected by progressive politicians for taking on
thankless
but important jobs, including equal rights for women and minorities; and
had, until recently, enjoyed a friendly working relationship with
conservatives on the other side of the aisle.

A onetime elusive, almost impossible ideal, Democracy came into her own
during the second half of the Twentieth Century. In recent years,
however,
she was increasingly unable to fend off ceaseless efforts by the radical
right wing of the Republican Party to overturn her record of inclusion
and
empowerment. "Republican tactics before, during and after this election
already have a rank odor" said constitutional scholar Anthony Lewis. "She
[Democracy] held on, though, for as long as she was able."

President Bill Clinton praised Democracy as a heroine who "worked
tirelessly
for the citizens of our nation," and "worked hard to make sure that the
voices of the less fortunate could always be heard." Vice President and
presidential candidate Al Gore recalled Democracy as "a grand pursuit,
perhaps the most noble pursuit ever undertaken by humanity," in a somber
statement late Saturday evening. "She wasn't one who used demagoguery or
went out of her way to harm others," Gore added. "She was more interested
in
serving the people."

A little over a month ago, Democracy was reported missing by voters in
Florida's Palm Beach County. Soon, reports began flowing in from other
counties in the state, indicating that she was thought to be missing
there
as well. Concerned citizens from other areas of the state, indeed from
all
over the country, joined in a desperate search for the missing icon.
Concern soon turned to dread as reports began trickling in that Democracy
was being held hostage by the Republican Party, the Bush-Cheney campaign,
and the conservative majority of the US Supreme Court. As the reports
grew
more ominous, it became apparent that rape was the motive.

With ostrich-like denial, the national press refused to entertain the
possibility that the venerated American muse might be in danger. Despite
urgent reports and voluminous evidence, which continued to mount for
several
weeks, the media treated her abduction and torture with indifference and
good humor. Progressive political leaders and involved citizens,
including
presidential candidate Gore, continued to appeal to the Fifth Estate for
its
assistance in investigating and documenting the crime in progress, to no
avail. These same political leaders and citizens petitioned the courts
to
intervene on Democracy's behalf, but were rebuffed.

Just this Friday, hopes were again raised when it appeared that Democracy
might escape her tormentors alive. Progressives celebrated in the
streets
of America, honking their horns and hugging each other in unabashed joy.
Their relief was short-lived, however, as word came Saturday indicating
that
Democracy had, indeed, died at the United States Supreme Court.

"There isn't a single time when the people called upon her that she
wasn't
there," said Florida Representative Lois Frankel (D), wiping away tears,
"I
am just so sorry that we couldn't be there to save her."

In a display of excruciatingly bad taste, powerful members of the
Republican
Party appeared on a series of national media programs, to celebrate
Democracy's death, and to congratulate those responsible for her rape and
murder. When questioned about the circumstances surrounding her death, a
Bush aide in Tallahassee commented, laughing, "It's just a family
affair."

Memorial services for the deceased will be held at undisclosed locations,
nationwide, for the next four years.

"The shock [of Democracy's death] will linger for a while," said Rev.
Cecil
Murray of First AME Church. "But a great person always stands taller than
her tombstone."

[paulw]

Benign Dictatorship is a better form of government anyway...

Ooooh. Controversial!

No chance that you are a Democrat (capital D)?

Bet the Florida Supreme Court reply in kind. Does the US Supreme Court have the power to overrule the Florida court?

Surely the running of the election is a State matter and not a Federal one? Not too sure how your system works with reference to the Judicial arm.

In the UK, you don't tend to get party splits in panels of judges - that is because none of them would ever vote Labour!

Cheers,

P.

[barrk]

Yes indeed. I am a registered democrat. I don't agree with the republican platform at all. It is going to be an interesting four years with Bush as president. I'm not looking forward to it. The scariest part is the legacy Bush will leave behind. They expect two supreme court justices to leave during his term which means that Bush will be able to appoint two new justices (of course they will be republican). What this means is that Roe v. Wade (the legalization of abortion) will be overturned, the anti-gun legislation will be overturned...many other scary things to come.

As for Benign Dictatorship being better form of government.....this is the form of government we use in our family...works great when you have teenagers!



[Edited by barrk on 12-13-2000 at 12:02 PM]

The Supreme Court is the final word on all Constitutional
questions. The big argument (usually) is WHICH part of the
constitution is being violated. The remedy for the
violation is usually NOT prescribed by the Supreme Court.

In this case, the court has held that NOT counting all the
"undercount" votes is more fair than using a non-described
standard that can vary. In other words, my vote for Gore
might not count in a district where "dimpled" chads are not
allowed, while your vote for Gore would count. This is
deemed unfair to me, therefore NO votes will count.

Read this thread barrk. Has to do with the Obituary .

[barrk]

Cute Matthew...it's Katie not barrk please.

Sorry barrk.

...I mean, Katie .

Got to get into the habit of calling you Katie .

....the day the music died.

Ozzie for President with Jimmy Page as running mate

Currently under discussion in Oz.

Do we despatch Australian Peacekeepers to the USA, to maintain law and order till democracy can be fully re-instated to this strife torn land.

[Michael]

If this situation arose in an African or Central American banana republic (no offence intended towards bananas!) then the United Nations collectively and national governments individually would refuse to recognise the government, saying that the election was rigged.

Whats the difference in this case?

This is not intended to be anti-Bush. I had the same opinion as soon as this fiasco started.

Not at all, Michael. The UN and etc, are (in the case of
small volitile republics) more concerned with form than
with substance. All countries that have votes have
evidence of fraud, lying, vote-buying, etc.

In this case, there was a matter of definition: What
constitutes evidence of voter intent. These ballots went
through the counting machines twice, and were twice kicked
out because the machine could read no punched hole.

The Dems contention was that the machine couldn't read the
vote due to MACHINE failure (ie: the chad didn't clear
out). The Reps contention was that the machine was the
only truly dis-interested party, and that people could not
be trusted to be fair (you always accuse others of what you
would do).

The courts decided (right, wrong, or otherwise) that
without a clearly defined manner of determining voter
intent, the Reps contention was closer to the perfect
truth, AND was the only clearly applicable standard for the
entire country.


If the same senario were to play out in Rwanda, with the
same lack of interest in a coup, the UN and the rest of the
world would be cheering in the streets.

[Sam Finch]

Could I just mention that personally, no matter how much fun I have taking the piss that I think this election was an example of democracy working perfectly.

What people don't seem to realise about democracy is that it doesn't work because people choose which of the 2 candidates is best (imagine if you had to vote between Saddam and Hitler, Even if the elections worked perfectly people still wouldn't get the president they wanted.) Democracy works because the contesting parties shift their political positions to where the vote lies. The reason the election was such a shambles was that there was essentially nthing to choose between the 2 parties, apart from a few trivial differences so people didn't know which one to vote for If public opinion was furthur to the right Bush would have won because he's the slightly more right wing, further to the left Gore would have got it. But because public opinion and the political stance of the parties are so close the vote was split and nobody could decide who won.

[parksie]

I'd vote Hitler every time because he's dead.

I just don't see why they spent so long over it. Even with a close result, in Britain we have a new government within about 2 days .

Unfortunately most of our choices are complete crap.