Failure to get ONE senator to sign on disenfranchisement

<<Failure to get ONE senator to sign on to their complaint about the disenfranchisement of Florida voters.>>

I saw the movie, someone explain to me why this happened.

Please point me to some threads on this subject.

Thank you

none of the democrats did anything. i didnt know about the black caucus and i didnt know how simple it would have been. so dissappointed. kerry should explain

secondary to the murder and destruction of our constitution.

(a few weeks or maybe months) was that Daschle had made a deal with the Repugs -- the Senate wouldn't contest the electors in exchange for better sharing of Senate resources in a closely split Senate. IOW: he sold out.

Bastard.

And no, it wouldn't have changed the OUTCOME, but it would have put Bush and the Repugs on notice that we weren't going to take this lying down, it would have eroded Bush's ability to pretend he had some sort of freaking mandate to govern, and it would've shown some spine and guts. It was a very poor move, IMO.

It wouldn't have caused civil war, it wouldn't have any further polarized the country, it wouldn't, as I said, have changed the outcome. It just would have said: WE KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST NOVEMBER.

I love that Eloriel, it should be made into t shirts.

at this point, it was over, and per Al Gore's request, it shouldn't be fought further.

A contest could've been mounted, but the end result was never in any doubt. The House would've elected Bush.

Agree or not, it was Al Gore's decision after the supreme court mis-decision.

He took the bait. "They" convinced him that in order to preserve future electability, he must be "statesmanlike" and "gracious."

And so he let it go. He asked others to stand down.

The problem is this. Because of the events of that day, no marker was laid down for history telling future generations that a coup had transpired.

The graciousness of the victim has made the crime tolerable to the citizenry.

How much do we value the rule of law, the Constitution, and democracy? Enough to follow the Constitutional provisions available on that day? Had just ONE senator signed, the matter would have gone to the House of Representatives, as our founding fathers planned.

If someone's making a coup against a democracy, it's worth turning the spotlight on the perpetrators. Make them take it in public view.

I believe that was the lowest day in our history as a nation.

I fucking hated Gore for the way he gave such a "gracious" concession speech. The media just ate that up... I about barfed...

Of course the media "ate that up"!! Who controlled the media in December 2001? If Gore had done anything else the media would have carved him up just like they always did.

When SCOTUS ruled the way that they did, it should have been apparent to everyone that the fix was in. The NeoCons controlled every branch of government along with the military via the Pentagon. Game over.

It was the senators who had given up and urged him to do the same for weeks before he finally did...and only after the supreme court had voted.
It was the party, not Gore who let us down. Anyone saying otherwise wasn't awake in 2000.

...in December 2001. Not only was Gore NOT going to get the true story out, but the press would have treated it as just another sour grapes "Al Gore invented the Internet" story to be totally ridiculed in public. Even though Gore would have been telling the truth, as he always had in the past, the story would not have come out that way at all.

I also believe that the Senators, as well as the rest of Congress, had been told that the NeoCons would not put up with ANY delay in the plan to move the NeoCons into the centers of American power.

Additionally, in addition to the media, the NeoCons had FULL control of the Legislative and Judicial branches as well as the military via the NeoCons in control of the Pentagon. The only thing they didn't have completely secured was control of the Executive branch and SCOTUS had given them that on a silver platter.

Al Gore is to blame? Not even close. Let's try pointing the finger at the NeoCons, the people that put this coup together and pulled it off.

too bad he didn't say something in december 2000 when things might have been different

thanks for expressing it so well :(

Sure, in all probability it would have been for naught.

But that doesn't mean you don't try.

for history's sake, I'm very glad he included this in the film.

QUOTE:
I believe that was the lowest day in our history as a nation.
END QUOTE
I cried when I saw Cynthia McKinney

it wasn't Gore's decision. Just exactly what should he have done when the rest of the party, in particular the DLC Democrats had been telling him to give up for weeks.
It was the decision of the party and the senators were making deals about how many people sat on what commitees. They sold us out for a little personal power.

Nader told Gore to give up fighting remember?
<sarcasm>

Thank god there are morans who
will still vote for me.

Because if we only needed one senator, I couldn't see someone like Feingold, Byrd or Corzine just sitting there and doing nothing.

about the long fought battle that took nearly 100 years for voting rights for African Americans in the south. Thus, even a symbolic comment from even one senator, wasn't viewed as important since "the game was over."

The amnesia that in Florida and other parts of the south, the federal government had to force compliance with voting rights acts to ensure that citizens were enfranchised with the votes, happened less than 40 years earlier. This is the same massive/collective amnesia that allows some folks to think that there are not civil rights problems - that all is cheery and racial equality has been achieved.

It was a symbol for how out of touch our senate is with the real challenges to social justice in this country. This was only viewed as political calculus per the Gore vote. There was NO recognition of the very intentional voter disenfranchisement (primarily by race) in Floriday - and the gigantic setback it presented.

By not taking this stage - to push the point home to Americans that one of the biggest issues in Florida was a serious backslide in Voters Rights ... the stage was further set to ignore the problem in Florida. Thus the only memory of the debacle is the picture of counting hanging "chads" - and that memory paved the way for BBV as a solution. Meanwhile while most of the public looked the other way... the courts ruled that while there was a problem in Flordia with voter disenfranchisement ... the state was given 3 years to "fix" the problem... thus those wrongly removed from the voting rolls did not have the right to vote in 2002 (remember... JEB!s reelection.) And indeed until the past month the issue was not even raised in the press - in terms of whether or not these voters who were wrongly disenfranchised have YET been restored the right to vote (we are talking, I believe, more than 20,000 people...) Indeed, the lack of public outcry/awareness allowed a new voter story in Florida to emerge WITHOUT tying it to the original story (the continued voter disenfranchisement)... in the new story the Sec of State was requiring counties to go through a NEW purge of voters... and the story was that there was slow compliance with the new purge (thus - if forced closer to the election... will it be any more accurate?). Yet the question of whether or not those wrongfully denied their right to vote had been put back on the polls - was not loudly asked.

So while you are correct per the reasons of the lack of even a single senator standing up for the challenge (which would not have changed the outcome of the 2000 election). You omit that there have been serious, and ongoing consequences of that decision.

If the issue of wrongful disenfranchisment has not been seriously raised (and thus corrected).... and instead is further exasperated with more purges and NO REAL return of those who were wrongfully purged (and potentially will have lost the right to vote for more than four years)... there is a good chance that this election could be lost as well.

Had even a few senators taken on the cause - even if America was fatigued at the moment - the FIGHT would have picked up quite a bit of press. The facts behind the fight would not have been pretty much universally ignored (as frequently the national media marginalizes the members of the Congressional Black Caucus by given very little to no coverage). The "fatigue" effect would have been forgotten in a couple of months ... and wouldn't have had any big impact on the 2002 elections (and hell, the way things played out - it wouldn't have been worse...) However the issue would have been harder to sweep under the rug in Florida and thus persist going into the 2004 elections.

Remember this - voter rights for African Americans were only really first enforced in the 1960s - often only after serious federal govt intervention. And the first BIG, systematic setback happened only 40 years later. With NO reprecussions for those who did it (and many political rewards... including a congressional seat for Katherine Harris.) Does this point the way to other states on how to legitimately begin to start cutting off voter rights? Have a quasi legitimate "reason" - go after it in a KNOWN way that would capture tens of thousands other voters... and cry "oops" when legal voters are prevented from voting - but since there is no broadspread public outcry to fix it... repeat the process quietly.

Just about everything else in the move I was already plenty aware of or more.

The session of the senate when that took place I had never read about nor seen. That was the first moment in the movie that I felt tears of sadness and anger welling up in my eyes.

Not ONE! NOT ONE SENATOR!

I felt disgusted and sad.

I am going to see the movie twice more this week. I expect to feel more sadness and anger.


TWL

the outcome wouldn't have changed one iota.

In fact, letting the House elect Bush would've given his presidency some legitimacy.

I'm glad the CBC stood up. But an official contest of the electors wouldn't have done a damned thing, and would've just made the situation worse.

On edit: This is NOT a case of 100 instances of craven cowardice. If Al Gore had asked ANY dem to sign it, I'm sure they would've.

The theft of an election isn't something to agree to "graciously." Sometimes it is important to fight even if you know you're going to lose.

I'm a dyed-in-the-wool coward, and will do anything possible to avoid a fight, but when it comes to fascism, people are going to die anyway, so even a coward like myself is willing to fight. Given a choice between dying "graciously" and going down fighting, there isn't really a choice.

Even if Gore didn't realize the full extent of the fraud, the facts of the Florida disenfranchisement were presented to him by the CBC, and that alone was worth a fight.

Had a senator signed, the election would have been thrown to Congress, but there would have been more public outrage and pressure on congresscritters to do the right thing. Until Gore signed off on it, the pukes owned SCOTUS, but they didn't yet own the other two branches of government.

"A lost cause is the only one worth fighting for," remember?

The Democratic leadership showed their true colors right then. They are more concerned about big corporate campaign contributions than about voting rights or democracy. Gore supposedly "lost" by little more than 500 votes, and the DLC didn't care that thousands of Black voters were disenfranchised? Bipartisan unity is more important than fair elections and voting rights? Who are they kidding?

The problem isn't that * got in, the problem is that only the Congressional Black Caucus stood up to fight for democracy. What Gore and the Democratic senators did gave * at least as much legitimacy as if he had been installed by a Congressional vote instead of a SCOTUS (mis)ruling.

Al Gore didn't WANT them to do it. They respected that.

Yes, I, too, would've been gratified to see a big fight break out over this. But that's sorta selfish - I'm not sure it's what was best for the country.

Now before people go nuts, I'm NOT saying installing Bush was best for the country. I'm saying that once the deed was done and the fight was fought, and the outcome was assured, continuing the fight might not have been the best POLITICAL response. Gratifying my desire to see Maxine Waters punch Tom Delay isn't the top concern of the Democrats.

now THAT's a worthwhile goal for an evening spent messing with photoshop.

But I also have to say that the point holds that this rebuke was disgusting.

who had been telling Gore to shut up for weeks before that. They also drove him from the race this time around. They made it very clear they would not support him.

you see, unlike some people here, my first instinct isn't to blame the Democrats.

The fact is, Al Gore did not want the contest to continue once it was clear he lost. You can blame the DLC for that, but it's just silly. But then, you blame the DLC for a lot of silly things.

he should have been acting in the best interests of his constiuents and the country, not posturing for another election bid.

Like any other citizen, Gore had a right to say what he thought, and the Dems had the right to take that into consideration.

he should have been acting in the best interests of his constiuents and the country

And who decides what the "best interests" are?

isn't a vote for kerry in the best interests of the country? clearly, YOU have decided that it is.
surely, letting bush, inc steal the goddamn country WASN'T in the best interests of ANYONE.
just WHAT IS the reponsibility of the opposition party (and its leader) when a coup occurs? we see how well "i strongly disgree" worked.

and that the Dems in Congress felt they should honor Gore's wishes in this matter. Though their response was far from what you (or I) would have wanted, that is no reason to assume that they decided to do what wasn't best.

should be more concerned about the people (and the country) they represent than their personal "feelings." after all: they work for US.

for his side in Florida; Al decided to ask for the partial count (only certain FLA counties) rather than a statewide recount from the start; Al did not want to offend the media establishment (WP & NYT) he had been around for his entire life. The list goes on ...

Al and his handlers made bad decisions. Had he fought then the way he speaks today, had he not run away from Clinton, had 1 senator signed the petitions, what a different course we'd be on. Why? Because even if Al still ended up being a private citizen rather than president, the Dems would have gone down fighting, WOULD HAVE SHOWN SOME SPINE AND TESTICLES and thereby perhaps scared the neocons from forcing their agenda, put the skids on some of their plans.

I remembered watching the Black Caucus on C-SPAN at the time and was filled with pride by its members. F9/11 reopened that wound and riled anew my state of pissed-off-ivity at the cowardice and bought-and-paid-for behavior of Democratic senators, many of whom also rolled over for this fucking war. Many of whom have yet to admit it was a mistake from the start and is a disaster now. Yet we're supposed to have faith that they'll change what they ALLOWED TO HAPPEN?!

God, I'm livid all over again. Where was a fighter when we needed one?

<<Sometimes it is important to fight even if you know you're going to lose.>>

This Senior Citizen agrees. Well said.

:toast:

One after the other...

I really did.

it was a form of tribute, but the Vice-President is the President of the Senate, and is thus addressed "Mr. President".

I have no idea why you insist on blaming Gore when the only members of the senate who had even bothered to go to Florida during the recount were Wellstone and Harkin.

that Gore wanted a senator to sign the contest?

to do".

Disenfranchisement of Black voters... done systematically and intentnionally... not a problem.

Making it enough of a public issue to force correction... not a need.

Lack of much of America's awareness of recent American history - where it took more than 100 years after the civil war to ensure that African Americans had the right to vote - often that right had to be forced on states by the federal government.

The Black Caucus action wasn't about thinking that they could reverse the election of Gore.

It was about losing a right that had only been enforced for less than 40 years.

End result - people only remember and are shocked by the hanging chad images - thus there was will for fixing the "voting machine problem" (paving the way for the BBV issue.) But there is no collective memory of intentional voter disenfranchisement - that systematically targeted minorities... thus the country didn't "hear" the results that the state of florida did not have to restore those voters to the polls by the 2002 midterm elections (too hard for the state to do.... who cares that some legal citizens who have done nothing wrong were by law prevented from voting for several election cycles...) Which has further translated into no public awareness of the newest news from Florida... new purges on the way... with NO mention nor verification that those who lost their right to vote have had it restored.

Will the senate silence, which prevented this from becoming a more clearly media covered issue, allow for the loss of Florida in 2004 (by keeping tens of thousands off the voting rolls - even though those are legal voters?)... Worse - if this does happen in Florida - with no real consequences... will it provide a "path" for other states to follow - in terms of limiting voter rights?

the Senate was almost evenly split. The Dems promised not to fight the selection if they got co-chairs of Senate committees.

about us, the people they're supposed to represent.

And that deal didn't do them much good anyway. When you make deals with the devil you get what you deserve.

Before F9/11 came out, when Gore made his fiery speech, I wasn't the only one who remembered that infamous day when he betrayed us. My post then was entitled, "too little, too late," and it drew considerable agreement.

n/t

Co-chairs on committees got them perpetual war.

Who were these idiots who made this deal?

of fucking good that got them. You can't make deals with the devil. The repukes had shown their demons in their pursuit of Clinton from the moment he was ELECTED. Yet our side persisted in deal making. What idiocy.

I'm losing it all over again. :nuke:

Jeez..
I'll really fight for him......

NO ONE DID.

it was a very sad beginning to the movie, my eyes welled up

This was news to me when I saw the film last night.

If voter disenfranchisement is not worth making a stink about what is?

What value and meaning does Democracy have if youÕve been disfranchised?

How about doing the right thing guys, or is this all some kind of an abstract chess match to these people?

No balls, no balls at all.

They are all worthless, and only give lip service to Democracy.

They left the African American Congressmen and women hanging.

IÕm so furious at my party and at the " liberal media" I can hardly put it into words.

ItÕs the kind of shit that makes people throw there hands up in the air and not
give a shit anymore.

about something most of us have been dealing with since 2000? There's been enough time to come to terms with this and go through the grieving period. Most of us are mad, but right now we have new battles to win and we need all our players on the same team.

and ta hell with anybody who says get over it, shut up, and get with the program of continued DEM congressional complacency. FUCK THAT

Vote for Nader?

This issue is to complex to boil it down in the way some have. Research it before you jump to dramatic conclusions.

ItÕs the kind of shit that makes people throw there hands up in the air and not
give a shit anymore.

I agree. I do give a shit, but not about fighting the corrupt system through 'channels' I've tried it, doesn't work. My voting isn't that important anyway. This is AmeriKKKA the War President.


I watched the electon get stolen, and then saw Gore not fight it and ask fellow democrats not to fight it either. That's one thing if he did that in order to persue another course to address the vote fraud in FLA issue, but another to just give up.

Not one single democrat even cared enough about the Presidency being taken from their party's hands to speak out, in the situation where it would have politicaly benifited their party they didn't fight. I know they won't fight for the actual voters and the public that saw the election system defrauded and abused, they won't fight for selfish reasons or moral reasons. They instead make "deals" about commities and stupid stuff. The 2 parties are in partnership to exploit the american people and get whatever they want out of it.

A typical response is "get over it" we need to help get that guy out and our guy elected. We made sure this will happen by allowing machines and systems that make it easier to steal our votes into the process and want to address the problems with those machines the 6 months pre election. for the most part, any previous fight against these machines and systems has been by a few small groups and a few individuals. It is only a problem to those who just want their guy to win now that it could affect his chances.

The election was stolen last time and to fix it tools to make it easier to be stolen were added. I trusted the system to keep my vote from being stolen last time and look what happened. I'm not going to aid it hapening again because I want my guy to win. You see "vote Kerry, we need to be sure B*tch is out" like the system has somehow been fixed since the last time. The election fraud bothered Kerry do much then that he didn't address it, and it potentialy being stolen now bothers him so much now that he doesn't address it, but he does want to add 40,000 troops and cut taxes when we're already trillions in debt.

I'm young, and have been disinfranchised early. In fact as I posted in another thread I had it done further. Now there are 2 potental votes made based on my registration, and my attempt to have the original error on my registration corrected via the proper channels, the registrars office is why there are now 2 "me's". I can't even "watch" the 1st vote, because in L.A. County, California, voter registration lists aren't public, only the canidates can see them.

In order to fix this I'm supposed to either go to the election officials (who made 2 voters from one me) or try and raise hell via contacting lawyers and the media etc. Fuck that. I want my vote to be heard and counted. Instead I get fraud commited against me and have to go run around in time I don't have ( I am literally paycheck-to-paycheck) to fix someone elses' fuck up so I can vote and have only that vote stolen from me. I'm not going to trust the election officials to do the right thing, the didn't do it in 2000, they didn't do it here with the Governators bought election, and they didn't do it right this time. Fool me once shame ont you fool me twice shame on me, fool me a third time - fuck this shit.

I'm only one person and I have to support myself, the vote is important, but if I don't have actual means to have it fixed that aren't "tell the ones who fucked it up, raise hell" and could at the very least see the voter list to check further - Have the registration cards with faulty dates and mismatched #'s, but letting them know I know they created another voter just lets them change the name on it, and since I have no access to the voter registration lists, I have no means to track the voter ID # anyway.


The election process was stolen from the American public, and to fix it we put faith in the system that stole it to begin with to fix it and were rewarded for our trust by the parties negotiating settlements for commite chairs with eachoter and making the election process and system worse and easier to steal.


The first Presidential election I was old enough to vote in (2000) was stolen. This one has seen another "me" created due to a registration 'error'. There's no part of this system I can or will place my faith in. My entire life's choices for who I would like to be my President are gone. I'm not going to try again in 4 years. If the system is overhauled and problems addressed I may get a chance to vote again someday. Till then I might as well be in the USSR, I will be fighting the system in other ways. Ways that I might be able to enact a change for the better.

Remember - the 1st rule of fight club is, there is no fight club.

:thumbsup:

I was thoroughly disgusted with the actions (or should I say inactions) of our supposedly Dem congress/senate.

which is why I basically support a straight-Dem ballot.

But all my illusions that prominenet Dems like Gore, Daschle, Kerry, et al, value my dignity and rights as an individual citizen over the peculiar social/political incest of Washington D.C. society, were shattered in December 2000.

That said, I did not know about the Senate Dem's cowardice regarding the Black Caucus, and was apalled when I saw F-9/11.

:(

this is why it happened.

http://www.geocities.com/bohemian_grove_dirt/

"The Franklin CoverUp" -Senator John DeCamp- investigation of S&L scandal in NE in 80's, respected by most all leglators. He never expected what he found.

Check it out, you'll be surprised and sickened.

There were no black Senators in Congress at that point, hence the Black Caucus could find no one willing to take up their cause.

That day will go down as one of the saddest days in US history.

scanning the smug white, mostly male members in that Senate body juxtaposed to the justifiably angered, black, mostly female representatives spoke volumes.

No matter what happened then or happens now, folks, those guys have money, connections, healthcare, security... They don't feel your pain and many of their votes and actions suggest that they really don't give a shit. It really has devolved into the lesser of 2 evils. And I say that very sadly as a lifelong, yellow dog Dem who remains very pissed!

He was surrounded by old, fat, white guys in business suits. It was so appropriate.

that Moore did not pull any punches when it came to anyone Republican OR Democrat. Our Democratic party is made up with a lot of wimps as the movie clearly stated. The only good thing about the bush and his administration is that it finally gave Democrats a backbone. . . let's hope it is a permanent one!!!


one nation under bush

Unfortunately, one of those sniveling cowards is our nominee for president.

I don't agree.

Byrd, Feingold, Wellstone--all good men who are interested in due process, and not one bothered to sign off on the CBC's complaints. The reason? Al Gore conceded, and explained that he had no interest in contesting the results. And please let's forgo the bullshit that the DLC shut him up--this past year should prove to all these asshats who would make Gore into a DLC puppet that they are the victims of self-delusion.

And in that instance, he acted in a cowardly fashion, just as he did during the "under God" fiasco.

and that's what truly saddens me about this race.

Before I get flamed, I WILL VOTE for KERRY. Why, because I have no fucking choice. His record of 30 years be damned; what has he done for us in the past 3 years??!!

Kerry better not be expecting to be able to play right-center when he gets in. If he tries to pull this republican-lite bullshit in office, he's going to have a long four years.

I try to look at things objectively. Gore fought. He fought for weeks and weeks in Florida trying to get the votes counted. He fought for the Presidency. Honestly, the rest of the Dem party gave up the fight and they gave up on him. Remember all the "Banana Republic" jokes? Remember the world laughing at us. Party "leaders" said Gore was dragging the thing out and that he should just concede. Gore could not fight alone. The fact is his party and his people failed him. Republicans bussed their staffers into Florida to bang on windows and stop the legitimate counting of votes. Where were OUR STAFFERS? We gave up. We put our tail between our legs and limped away.

The Republicans were ready for a fight. They'd waited for 8 long years to resume power. We were spoiled by 8 years of peace and prosperity and did not take the issue as seriously as we should have.

The CBC was heroic. I wish one senator has signed on. I have a feeling many wanted to, but were told not to prolong the situation by Gore. Personally, I would have liked to have seen things go to the House. Sure the Republicans would have elected Bush. But, Bush's presidency would have always had a star next to it. Elected by a Republican House of Representatives, not by the People of the United States. And who knows? Maybe a few courageous Republicans would have defected to the other side.

It's just a damn shame we gave up.

January 3, 2001

Al Gore
Remarks to the Congressional Black Caucus

"You know, in all seriousness, we face more than a new President and a new administration and new leadership of honored institutions. Here in Washington the House and Senate will be more closely divided than at any time in the history that any of us can personally remember. And across America there are real and continuing disagreements about the issues and about what is now past and about what lies ahead.

And now you must chose, as public servants, and as Americans, to heal our nation's divisions and move this country forward. I believe very deeply that we all must respect -- and wherever possible - - help President-elect Bush. Because from the moment he takes his solemn oath, a great responsibility will rest in his hands. And from the moment you take your solemn oath, building upon the one just administered here in this ceremony, you are charged with a special responsibility as well, one that you know in your heart and in your bones, because this institution has discharged that responsibility on behalf of the people of this country since its founding - - to lift up those who have been left out or locked out, to honor those who fought and marched and died to have their voices heard, and to secure the right to vote.

When you are the conscience of the Congress, you of course have to do your best to reach across party lines, but you also have to know when to draw the line. When you are the conscience of the Congress, you have to work to build majorities, but you also have to fight for human dignity. When you are the conscience of the Congress, you have to seek consensus, but you also have to seek justice and fundamental fairness.
>continue here:
http://www.al-gore-2004.org/gorespeeches/01032001.htm

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Congressman Alcee Hastings and Congressional Black Caucus to Challenge Florida's Presidential Electors

Washington, D.C. January 4, 2001 - Florida Congressman Alcee Hastings today agreed to develop a strategy for challenging Florida's Electors on behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), which met earlier today.

During the meeting, Congressman Hastings urged his colleagues to formally challenge the acceptance of Presidential Electors from Florida, despite the fact that no Senator has committed to join him in this effort. Congresswoman Carrie Meek and Congresswoman Corrine Brown, both of Florida, joined Congressman Hastings in urging this show of leadership on the part of the CBC. "The three of us witnessed first hand the unfairness of the counting of hundreds of thousands of Florida votes, the disenfranchisement of countless men and women who stood in line to make their voices heard." At the conclusion of the meeting, Congressman Hastings was asked by the CBC to develop an objection strategy.

"As Members of the CBC, it is our duty to publicly acknowledge our strong opposition to the acceptance of the Presidential Electors from Florida for Governor George W. Bush," said Congressman Hastings. "In defense of Democracy, in defense of every American's right to vote.... Beyond the court-sanctioned injustices that we experienced in Florida, let's face it: Vice President Al Gore won this election. The American people are looking to us not only for public outrage, but also for leadership. In this case, leadership calls for courage," Hastings said.

Congressman Hastings urged the CBC not to be daunted by the fact that no Senator has agreed to sign the objection as required under the rules. "While the rules may prevent the hearing of our challenge, they do not relieve us of our responsibility to the voters in this country who stood in line to make their voices heard, only to find that their voices had been muted by injustice."
>continue here:
http://www.oralmajorityonline.com/Articles/2Alcee_Objects.htm

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Presidential Election Results to be Finalized in Congress Today
Aired January 6, 2001 - 12:00 p.m. ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: One last count in election 2000 gets underway in about an hour, when members of the House and Senate gather to tally the Electoral College votes. That will make the election of George W. Bush as president official. Presiding over it all, Al Gore, the man Bush defeated in the historic White House battle. A few members of Congress plan raise objections at the ceremony.

CNN's congressional correspondent Chris Black is on Capitol Hill, and she's got more on that.

Hi, Chris.

CHRIS BLACK, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Kyra.

The law requires Congress to officially count the Electoral College vote on January 6, so that's exactly what they'll do just an hour from now, when the joint session begins over in the House of Representatives. Vice President Al Gore, as president of the Senate, will be presiding over this joint session; the first vice president since Richard Nixon in 1961 to actually preside over the election of his rival in the presidential campaign.

We know of at least one objection that will be raised. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus have asked Alcee Hastings, a member of that caucus and a democratic member from Florida to object when the state of Florida is called up. He will object to the 25 Electoral College votes from his home state.
>continue here:
http://cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0101/06/cst.01.html

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Congress confirms Bush electoral victory
January 6, 2001
Web posted at: 7:14 p.m. EST (0014 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Vice President Al Gore, the Democratic candidate for president of the United States, declared George W. Bush the next president on Saturday after the formal count of the Electoral College vote.

"May God bless our new president and vice president, and may God bless the United States of America," a stoic Gore declared after the votes were tallied.
>snip<

Saturday's formalization of the vote came only after members of the Black Caucus and several House colleagues objected and walked out in protest.

Reps. Peter Deutsch and Alcee Hastings, both Florida Democrats, made the first objections to the session based on parliamentary procedure, a symbolic protest over allegations of voting irregularities in the Sunshine State.

The objections were denied because rules require a signature from both a member of the House and a member of the Senate. No senator was willing to join the objections.

"I don't care that it is not signed by a senator," said Rep. Maxine Waters, a California Democrat.

"The chair would advise that the rules do care," Gore replied, triggering applause by Republicans.
>continue here:
http://cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/stories/01/06/electoral.vote/

NOTE: There are links to video on the page, but I don't know if they are still available - cannot make myself click to open right now.

-----

CONGRESSWOMAN BARBARA LEE AND CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS
OPPOSE FLORIDA ELECTORAL COLLEGE VOTES

Washington, DC - Congresswoman Barbara Lee today joined members of the Congressional Black Caucus in opposition to counting Florida=s 25 electoral college votes for George W. Bush.

A formal objection to counting Florida=s electoral votes must be presented in writing, signed by at least one Senator and one Representative, under 3 U.S.C. section 15. Unfortunately, not one single Member of the Senate submitted an objection, thereby rendering the objection out of order.

ARules may prevent the hearing of our challenge, but they do not relieve us of our responsibility to the people in this country who voted, only to find that their vote was not counted,@ said Lee. AWe will not stand silently by while African American voters are intimidated, dismissed from polling places, forced to use antiquated machines, and denied their rightful voice.@

The Congressional Black Caucus and civil rights organizations have pursued various initiatives and legal action in the months following the election. Congresswoman Lee, other members of the Congressional Black Caucus, and civil rights leaders met with Attorney General Janet Reno to request a Justice Department investigation into widespread voter intimidation and harassment, a disproportionate number of antiquated voting machines in minority communities, and other voting irregularities.
>continue here:
http://www.house.gov/lee/releases/01Jan06.htm

-----

Why They Screwed Us
January 07, 2001
© 2001 The Daily Brew
Yesterday, January 6, 2001, a day that will forever bring shame to the United States Congress, the theft of the Presidential election of year 2000 became official.

There had been a hope, ever so slight, that Democrats might have successfully prevailed on at least some members of the GOP to put our Democracy ahead of their party, but it was not to be. Recognizing the impeachment poisoned cesspool of Republican partisanship that lies just beneath the paper thin veneer currently on display in Austin, Democrats were not so naïve to believe that the Republicans would be willing to sacrifice the White House for higher principles. Not that those higher principles were hidden; for plainly they weren’t.

Long after Al Gore’s concession, but well before yesterday's electoral college votes had actually been cast in the Congress, the truth had slowly been leaking out. The major American media did not want to talk about it, but the Congressional Black Caucus did, and newspapers in Florida and England were printing the stories.

Stories about thousands African Americans who had been illegally stricken from the lists of registered voters for felony crimes that didn’t exist. Stories about the hand counting of ballots by GOP elections officials in GOP districts; the same kind of hand counting Al Gore was denied by a Supreme Court that sacrificed its integrity on the alter of partisan expedience. And most damning of all for the Bush Putsch, stories about how despite all of the shenanigans, the governor of Florida had failed to deliver the State for his brother.
>continue here:
http://www.thedailybrew.com/01-07-01.htm

-----

SUNDAY, JANUARY 7

"THE DIVA" FORMALLY SWITCHES RACE

LONG BEACH (gorewon2000.net) -- WebMistress of The BUSH BROTHERS BANANA REPUBLIC formally switches race, based on new information.

"The Diva," WebMistress of The BBBR (gorewon2000.net), after careful consideration and review of new information, has decided today to renounce her whiteness, and join the black race.

"Well, I always just assumed I was white. I never really looked into it carefully, though," she remarked today. "I guess, since I have red hair, green eyes, freckles, and the complexion of Elvira, I took it for granted that I was white." She went on to say, "However, since I have investigated the matter more fully, I realize now I cannot possibly be."

After a thorough review of media reports, The Diva came to the obvious conclusion that she must be black. "The media has been very clear that concern and outrage over Coup2K is a 'black thing,' so I now realize I must be black. I mean, I'm furious, right?" When asked to elaborate, Tammy explained, "Well, I look at it this way. The only people, according to the media, that feel the way I clearly do -- that are certain that criminal acts are on the verge of putting an illegitimate leader in the White House -- are black Americans. You don't find evidence much less ambiguous than that, do you?"

The WebMistress, until today's stunning announcement, had always personally identified as 'white'. "You know, you get asked that a lot, on all kinds of forms you have to fill out, and I have always checked 'white' or 'Caucasian' when asked. I have to admit, I was basing my answer on the way I look -- nothing more," she said. "I realize now how faulty my reasoning has been." She continued, "I was always vaguely aware that race statutes have traditionally defined any person with any black ancestry as 'black' under the law, and I also know that all humans share a common ancestry." She went on to say, "I'm convinced now, after careful review of the facts, that I must have many black ancestors in my lineage that I am simply unaware of. How else can I possibly explain my visceral and powerful reaction to Coup2K?"
>continue here:
http://www.coup2k.com/blacklikeme.html

-----

PBS NewsHour online
MAKING IT OFFICIAL

January 8, 2001

KWAME HOLMAN: Vice President Al Gore was welcomed with warm applause as he entered the chamber of the House of Representatives Saturday morning. There may have been times during his Presidential campaign when Mr. Gore envisioned someday receiving such a greeting from a joint session of Congress gathered to hear him deliver a State of the Union address. But on this day, the Vice President, as President of the Senate, simply was fulfilling one of the duties of his office, overseeing the tally of results from the Presidential election and certifying its winner, George W. Bush.

VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE: The tellers on the part of the two Houses will take their respective places at the clerk's desk.

KWAME HOLMAN: Two members from the Senate and two from the House-- two Republicans and two Democrats-- announced the electoral results from each state as the Vice President looked on.

SEN. CHRISTOPHER DODD, (D) Connecticut: The certificate of the electoral vote of the state of Alabama seems to be regular in form and authentic, and it appears therefore that George W. Bush of the state of Texas received nine votes for President, and dick Cheney of the state of Wyoming received nine votes for Vice President.

KWAME HOLMAN: The controversy surrounding this past election made Saturday's tally all the more intriguing, particularly when the winners of Florida's 25 electoral votes were announced.

REP. CHAKA FATTAH, (D) Pennsylvania: This is the one we have all been waiting for. Mr. President, the certificate of the electoral vote of the state of Florida seems to be regular in form and authentic, and it appears therefrom that George W. Bush of the state of Texas received 25 votes for President, and Dick Cheney of the state of Wyoming received 25 votes for Vice President.
>continue here:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/congress/jan-june01/certified_01-08.html

NOTE: video - still available? again- I'm trying not to give in to emotions, so I can post this, so didn't try the link.

-----

Published on Tuesday, January 9, 2001 in the Boston Globe
Black Caucus Sends a Message About Justice
by James Carroll

THE AMERICAN Heritage Dictionary defines ''epiphany'' as a ''sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something.'' Last Saturday was the Christian feast of the Epiphany - Three Kings Day - but on that day an equally dramatic manifestation occurred in the chamber of the United States Congress. Electoral College votes for president and vice president were solemnly registered, sealing the ascendancy of George W. Bush and Richard Cheney.

What should have been a mere formality turned out to be an emphatic recapitulation of the election drama as members of the Congressional Black Caucus rose, one after the other, to protest the filing of the electoral votes from Florida.

As the presiding officer, Al Gore was obliged to overrule the protests. Other vice presidents, having lost bids to succeed to the highest office, have had to wield the gavel against themselves in such a setting, but Gore's doing so seemed especially poignant. That is so, first, because the Black Caucus members, in speaking out for Floridians whose votes were not counted, were speaking out for him, making explicit the awkward fact that he, not Bush, was the true winner of the election.

When Gore gaveled them out of order, staunchly defending the spirit of amity that now reigns between Democrats and Republicans, it seemed a tragic replay of the worst aspect of Gore's fall campaign against Bush, the pretense that nothing really separated the Democrat from the Republican.
>continue here:
http://www.commondreams.org/views01/0109-05.htm

-----


The president's brother has chosen the team


Monday, 8 January, 2001, 12:14 GMT
US voting under scrutiny
By Malcolm Brabant in Miami

A special task force given the job of reforming Florida's much-pilloried election system is due to hold its first session in the state capital, Tallahassee on Monday.

The state was ridiculed worldwide after America's presidential election because of confusion caused by its butterfly ballots and punch card voting systems that caused a new word to enter the English language - the 'chad'.

The task-force, chosen by Florida's governor, Jeb Bush, the brother of the new president, has just two months to come up with a new system that will ensure that never again will the state suffer a repeat of last year's humiliation.
>continue here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1106101.stm

NOTE: and so begins the march to BBV in Florida.

-----

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
January 31, 2001

Remarks by the President Before Meeting with Congressional Black Caucus
The Cabinet Room

5:32 P.M. EST


THE PRESIDENT: I want to thank Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson from Dallas, Texas, and you all for coming. I appreciate -- Madam Chairman. I look forward to a good dialogue on subjects that are on the members' minds and on my mind, as well. I think we'll have a good discussion about public education. While there may be some discussion about details, all of us, surely, believe the great hope for this country is to make sure every child -- I mean every child -- is educated.

I look forward to sharing with the members who don't know me well some of my experiences as the governor of the state of Texas and what I've tried to do to fulfill that promise and fulfill that pledge.

This will be the beginning of, hopefully, a lot of meetings. I hope you come back, and I'll certainly be inviting. But thanks for coming. It's an important part of my job -- is to talk to everybody who is in the legislative body. I will remind you all, I understand the difference between the Executive Branch and the Legislative Branch. I only get to suggest. You all pass the laws. And that's what we're here to work --

REPRESENTATIVE MCKINNEY: That's right. (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT: I understand that well. But thank you all for coming. It's an honor for you to be here.

END 5:34 P.M. EST
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/20010131-3.html

NOTE to mods: Let me know if I need to clip this for fair use. I left it intact because it's our White House, dammit. *jr just squats there temporarily.

-----

JUMP TO MAY 13, 2003 - Yes, May 13, 2003
Q&A With Bob Levey
Washington Post Columnist
Tuesday, May 13, 2003; Noon ET

>snip<
Bob Levey: To say the least, President Bush hasn't clasped the Congressional Black Caucus to his breast. In fact, he hasn't met with your group for nearly two and a half years. Any chance that this will change soon?

Elijah Cummings: I hope so. On numerous occasions the Congressional Black Caucus has requested that the President engage in a dialogue with us. Please note, the last and only time the President met with the CBC was in January, 2001. Just prior to the Iraq war the CBC requested a meeting with the President to discuss such issues as homeland security, the economy, healthcare, and many other issues. The President wrote back to us flatly stating that he did not have time to meet. It concerns us tremendously that a President who claims to be a "conservative who is compassionate" would refuse to meet with a group of legislators who represent more than 26-million people. We will continue to press on for a meeting. It is our belief that when both Houses of the Congress and the Presidency are controlled by Republicans, we have no choice but to engage in dialogue with leaders such as President Bush. Please note that I have met with Senate Majority Leader Frist and the CBC is planning to meet with Speaker Hastert.
full interview here:
http://discuss.washingtonpost.com/zforum/03/r_metro_levey_051303.htm

-----------------------------

several articles here:
http://www.democrats.com/preview.cfm?term=Elector%20Challenge

astrological considerations (for those so inclined):
http://starcats.com/2001_a_race_odyssey.html

-----
Now I'm going to go sit in a corner and cry for a little while.

I'm going to have set some time and read it all, thanks.

HOUSE FOR A DECISION. Furhter they would have been able to select ANYBODY for the Presidency. Isn't that a hoot? I remember thinking how important it is to vote in our local sentate and congressional races after 2000 because prior to that I hadn't made it a priority.

I felt EXACTLY the same way you did, and started a thread on the issue. I wish Micheal Moore would have followed up on this question. But, no body's perfect. And, it would have been far less dramatic I spose ;) :shrug:

what might have happened...even in a Republican controlled House. It just makes no sense that the Dems didn't even try. There are all kinds of maneuvers that might have played out in the House. Had the Dems shown any balls the Iraqi invasion may not have happened as it did. They could have been angry enough at the House to vote against the invasion. I will not let the Dems off the hook on this one.

was something to lose. The Dems received a deal for not pushing it into the house where it would have been futile anyway.

<<Further they would have been able to select ANYBODY for the Presidency>>

If we had an African American senator, I donÕt think it would have been let go so
easily.

And for what, cutting a deal for some committee chairs.

What a joke.

IÕll still vote Democrat even though I wanted to vote Green in 2000 as well.

IÕll still try to convince less informed apathetic citizens that their vote really does matter,
only because I want that SOB out of power.

But, I feel like such a Dupe.

Boy, I wish we had instant run off voting.

That's why ! I'm white but I can tell you
this is the scene in the movie that made
me cry the most .

Watching Al Gore preside over this :cry:

had this one moment in time had a single Senator
just one individual to sign . How different the course
of events would of been .

Every American was betrayed that day , regardless
of who you voted for .

It's About The Constitution

I canÕt begin to express my anger and disappointment.

Democrats knew they were going to lose anyway to the house, so what did they have to lose by doing the right thing?

IÕm still trying to wrap my head around this and I just donÕt get their thought process.

ItÕs baffling.

and their fearless leader (Daschle) is terrified of his own shadow.

I'm black and the scene reopened that wound for me. I remembered being riveted to C-SPAN at the time as CBC members took to the podium only to be rebuffed by the smug white men of the 'upper' body. The CBC made me so proud even though I knew that despite their efforts, we, the people, were going down.

I thank Michael Moore for reminding me of the courage of the CBC, of showing its membership for the proud patriots they were and are. I thank him for showing black people in a positive way... not just the CBC but those fine young men in Flint, MI and the young Marine who accompanied him to Capitol Hill ... the kind of kids Bush and the pro-IWR senators (from both sides of the aisle) use as cannon fodder.

I thank him above all for showing how ALL poor people, people with lesser schools and fewer opportunities here in the USA are used to harm poor people across the globe. Damning stuff. Meanwhile, our Democratic senators were protecting their cushy committee seats ... Pardon me while I :puke:

I know that when the poor and middle class
of this country stop aiming our frustrations
at each other because of the devicive
illusionary "wedge issues" used by those in
power , We The People can actually start
electing people who will serve in all of our
best intrest .

You can't have an independent-minded candidate on a national ticket or the big contributors won't get their backs scratched when it comes to policy making and appropriations. That's politics in America. Welcome to crazy world.

The only reason Gore made it so far is that those people THOUGHT he was establishment, when actually he was a very awesome, wild-eyed, maverick Democrat.

The fix for Bush was not only in Florida, but in low-income (solid Democrat) neighborhoods in Tennessee, Ohio, and other large swing states. The Republican excuse is "poor people are too stupid to vote" but actually the rich (solid Republican) precincts get their ballots verified and get second or third chances if they fuck up. If poor people fuck up, then too bad. It was so flagrant it makes you want to scream.

But there was some cheating for Gore too in Chicago and Philly but was not as bad as the Bush supporters. No cities have nearly as high voter turnouts as solid Democratic Chicago and Philly.

Now John Kerry is establishment up to his eyeballs, but I'm voting for him anyway. A liberal tweedledee is better than a neo-con tweedledum any day.

At the time, quitting looked like a good idea. But if Gore knew what sort of fascist direction this country was heading, don't you think he would have fought it like a motherfucker and got Wellstone, Feingold, and Lieberman in too? (Lieberman may be conservative but he wanted to be Veep)

putting party before country.

I must say I'm shocked that so many of you don't remember this when it happened.

I'm convinced Gore told them not to sign. Don't forget Lieberman was in the Senate at the time, why do you fault Gore or anyone else? Gore couldn't sign but Lieberman could have.

The reality is (which is apparently of no importance in this discussion) that Gore would have lost anyway. The house would have elected Bush. So what is the friggin' point????????????????

We not only would have been seen as crybabies we would have been acting like crybabies.

As much as I hate Bush I remember this is EXACTLY how I felt in 1984. I thought there was no way on earth this country could survive 4 more years of Reagan. It would be the end of the world. It happened, we survived but on days like today, after a zillion threads like this one, I think we have become a nation of crybabies (it's someone elses fault, they stole it, I must move to another country.)

Act, don't react. After 37 days of hell it would have been asinine to prolong it for a foregone conclusion.

This was the cheapest shot in Moore's movie and why I still haven't forgiven him from running all around the country campaigning for Nader. What a hero you all chose.

if Gore had won more in the rest of the country, he wouldn't have NEEDED Florida... the Florida vote would still be a shambles, but it wouldn't have decided who's president now.

I did my part and voted for him, but my one vote just wasn't enough!
We need to learn a lesson from this. Do anything you can to HELP KERRY WIN!

urging people to contact their senators and ask them to sign onto the petition. They also threatened to turn their backs to the podium when the election results were read in the joint session. I think the Dem powers that be encouraged them in no uncertain terms not to do that.

What shames me is that once again black people were left standing alone when challenging the ruling class, the majority of whom are wealthy and white. As a Jew I am ASHAMED of the Jews in the senate who refused to stand with their black legislators in challenging the election results.

Too many people rest on their laurels of what they did back in the mythological 1960s. Hey, that is HISTORY. This is TODAY. What are these same people doing TODAY to help the less fortunate and disenfranchised? As shown in F/911...ABSOLUTELY NOTHING and it ticks me off.

Knowing what we know now, it's easy to say that it would have been a war worth fighting to keep Bush out, but we didn't know about 9-11 or any of that stuff. It didn't seem worth shedding blood over. People figured it would be another Reagan/Bush type looting of treasury, etc. but didn't count on 9-11. Think about it: Not knowing about the Bush/bin Laden ties or about 9-11, would you have been supportive or well-pleased if Gore and the Democratic Senators had extended this fight for many months and it had led to a fighting war or a Central American type battle for the presidency? Would it be fair to put Clinton in a position to possibly call troops to arrest Bush and cronies when they tried to install themselves in the White House? Or to put Secret Service people in a position where they might have to fight each other? Would it be fair to tell Clinton no, you can't go home because "indecision 2000" is dragging on for many more months?

It's easy to say, knowing what we know now, that the Senators might have acted differently. The scene in the movie did not make me mad, it just made me sad.

No one knew the Bush coup would be as bad as it was. We thought we'd seen 12 years of their worst, and we'd survived.

After being told for years that Clinton was nutty on the subject of Bin Laden, how were the Senators or any of us to anticipate what was coming? Gore thought he was saving the nation from a Latin American style transition that would ultimately create a lot more harm. I'm not sure I would have done things any differently.

My view of it anyway.

but the lack of response enabled bush, inc...legitimized it, in a sense.

I just don't know. I go back and forth on this. I remember being very angry at Gore at the time because I felt it was a set-back for civil rights.

Yet, as time goes on and I see what else these jokers have done, and all to save Halliburton from bankruptcy, then I just don't know, I really don't. A friend who is a GOP campaign worker told me weeks before the election that "Gore will not be seated as president even if it appears to you that he won the election." He had worked on the dirty tricks in the Jenkins vs. Landrieu campaign in Louisiana (Landrieu was ultimately seated anyway) but I simply couldn't comprehend what he was telling me until afterward. You see, they had this planned. And not just in Florida. They had it planned here in a state where it wasn't even close which causes me to assume they had the theft planned everywhere.

If you ever go to the bartcop board, he often posts a question: Would evil men kill for a billion dollars? Well, I'm rambling, but I guess my gut instinct is, yes, if there was any way that Gore would take that seat, there would be bloodshed. If not war, then select picking off (assassination).

I honestly don't think Gore backed down just because he's a Southern gentleman. You can look at the Jennings/Landrieu hearings and think, what if the country had to go through that for a president instead of just one senator? I think he was honestly trying to do the best he could. Maybe he was wrong, but hindsight is 20/20.

"You can take it to the bank", were his exact words.

<<A friend who is a GOP campaign worker told me weeks before the election that "Gore will not be seated as president even if it appears to you that he won the election.>>

i have no doubt that the fix (and is) in. i also have no doubt that gore's life could have been in danger had he pressed the issue...i can understand being afraid for himself and his family.
i do not believe that gore and others didn't know how bad things would be...they remember ronald reagan and bush I just like i do.


...
"It seems that no senator was ready to risk bad publicity and irritating Republican leaders and the Bush II White House for the sake of black voters who had their rights denied. This despite the fact that these senators received a huge percentage of black votes along with a significant share of votes from women, labor, environmentalists and other constituents who are about to feel the brunt of the incoming Bush administration.

Al Gore reportedly lobbied Democratic senators to stay the course of comity. This was Gore's craven effort to continue positioning himself for 2004 by avoiding the "sore loser" moniker that Republicans have thrown at him since election night. House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt, D-Mo., also urged the Black Caucus members not to raise an objection."

http://www.progressive.org/pmplj16.html

The CBC was screwed by Gore.

:hi:
and, thanks democratic senators :puke: committee chairmanships were certainly worth ignoring the disenfranchisement of black voters, the theft of and election, and a judicial coup :puke: