American Geography, According to Gore
By Sass
Featured Rightgrrl May 1999
Founder, Write For Life
November 18, 2000Mr. Gore has repeatedly stated that it's not about who wins, but about making sure the will of the people is respected... that it's about democracy. As a Canadian bystander, I cannot see how this could possibly be anything other than a grand attempt to draw on his acting "skills". If all this is about the will of the people, someone should tell Mr. Gore that the United States of America also consists of people other than those in (heavily Democratic) counties in Florida.
Surely he is intelligent enough to realize that there are ballots in every county in every state, that have been discarded due to a variety of factors. Why isn't he insisting that in order to be sure every person's vote counts as they intended it to, that all votes in all counties across the country are re-counted... and by hand no less? The obvious answer is that this is a totally ridiculous concept, not feasable; yet while he embarasses himself globally by stating that this isn't about who wins, it's about protecting democracy, he's really showing the world that if we're smart enough to figure this out, we will understand that it is in fact, about who wins. He shows us that the people whose vote really matters to him are in fact, only the Democrats in the counties which just might serve his purpose. The purpose of winning at all cost.
Were I a voter in a state other than Florida, I'd be furious with his obvious presumption that people are stupid enough to believe such statements from him while he ignores states with larger numbers of discarded ballots. It is painfully clear that what matters is not everyone... but a select group that seems to hold his best bet for achieving his personal ambitions.
If people have learned anything this time around, it must be that we are finally shaken aware as to the deceit and fraud that happens during elections. Only when people face a situation as this, where so much depends on so few votes, do we finally throw off the rose colored shades and look around to witness the ugliness that many of us are seemingly capable of. Reports of seriously wrong behaviour abound from many areas of the country, from both sides, and I have to wonder why with all this to consider, is everyone focused on only one area of the country, and one issue? There is no way for Mr. Gore to assure America by insisting that Florida be re-counted and re-counted until the skin has worn off the fingers of the volunteers, that everyone's vote has counted - that this election has been fair. The "innocence" of the American people has been taken, used and thrown away not unlike that of the young girl in the back seat of a car parked on "blueberry hill". The people have read, heard and been outraged at the stories of voter fraud coming from both parties, and the people surely must realize that while every county in the country holds its share of voters who must certainly feel "disenfranchised", Mr. Gore is really only out there batting for a small portion of them. The portion that are of "use" to him.
Frankly, I'm saddened by all of this, and there is precious little (save for a bit of sympathy) I can offer those Americans who have heard Mr. Gore speak, watched his actions betray his words, and feel as used up as the girl on the hill. Perhaps though, the person one should feel saddest of all for, is Mr. Gore himself. One day, he will realize that despite his facetious claims of how it isn't about who wins... that it really isn't about who wins, it's about how you played the game. He will realize that he "played" this game shamefully, that people weren't all stupid and some of us understood him all too well. What Mr. Gore hasn't realized yet, is that while it may be easy for him to champion "choice" and accept the viewpoint that mistakes are easily aborted and forgotten about, his behaviour during this election is one mistake that he just won't be able to abort and forget about.
This article copyright 11/00 by Sass Seagal, all rights reserved. Not to used in whole or in part, without written permission from the author.