Re: on the American election - a query and a comment

[jonathan flanders <jon_flanders@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>> facing a government entirely controlled by their opponents and the
possible,
indeed probable, undoing of all the programs and policies they have put
in place over the last 8 years, and perhaps even going back to the New
Deal.  That is why they are fighting so hard. <<

Well, I don't know about that. I think a lot of Dems would be happy to let
Bush get in, get blamed for a souring economy, and then  win  back Congress
in two years.

As for undoing programs, Clinton has done so much of that already, it's
hard to see why they fear more. I think they do worry about appearing weak
to their base in labor and the African-American community. They have to
make a show. But I notice that so far the Republicans are out-organizing
them in the streets. Gore and Lieberman content themselves with pious
appeals to the rule of law, while Miami mobs intimidate vote counters.

The TV news channels here are on a 24/7 marathon of coverage on every
detail of this post-election squabble. By focusing on Florida minutiae,
they attempt to make everyone think that what matters are the configuration
of three county's punch card ballots, and keep people from questioning the
legitimacy of the whole reactionary electoral college setup. Christopher
Hitchens raised the issue on a brief stint on MSNBC, and has not been heard
since.

Lou Paulsen, I think it was, wondered why the ruling class had not moved
more quickly to put down all this unseemly disputation. The problem for
them, I think, is that in order to bring a mad dog to heel, you need a big
stick, and they don't have one, politically speaking.

Of course there is always that big navy-seal-wrestler-bonaparte-in-waiting
sitting outside the ring in Minnesota...........



Jon Flanders