"I Trust You, The People....er, I mean The Machines"

[ride525]

MEMO
To: Staff
From: GW
Subj: Temporary Change

I know many of you have been hearing me say ?I trust you, the people?. Well, that mantra has got to change, at least for a short while. The new mantra is ?I trust the machines?.

That sly dog, Al Gore, is about to get this election, if we aren?t careful. He wants to get more of the votes in Florida counted. Shoot, they?ve been counted and recounted by those blasted machines. This election is too close; we can?t let Al get any more votes, even if more folks actually voted for him. If the machine rejected it, then the machine rejected it. So what if the machines are known to have 5% problems? What is that out of the total vote in Florida, just about 300,000 votes? Big deal.

We are talking White House here. It?s important that this thing is fair, or at least ?right?. In order for this election to turn out ?right?, and for us to win, we clearly have to minimize the number of votes counted. We are ahead now, and need it to stay that way. Let?s get this election over with. Remember, we can?t trust the people on this one. They might use judgment. My campaign folks tell me (and it leaked out to the news media) that there are more problems with the Democratic ballots than the Republican ones. That's why we haven't asked for our own set of recounts. Shoot, I read it on MSNBC or CNN this very morning.

So remember, ?I trust the machines?. It?s only for a short while. Until December 18.

The Prez

 

[Double Trouble]

Yeah yeah yeah. Bottom line, machines are not biased, humans are. Why go through the trouble of a manual recount? Why not just have the counties say they went ahead and added the needed votes to Gore's total and have it over with?

 

[Russ]

Bush still trusts the people. It is Bore he does not trust, and with good reason.

Russ, NCNE

 

[ride525]

<< Bush still trusts the people. >>



If Bush really trusted the people, he would quit trying to interfere in the manual recounts. Some areas in Florida, have requested them, some haven't. If Bush trusted them, he would just let them try to get a better count of the ballots like they are trying to do.....

He trusted them in Texas, when he signed a law giving preference to manual recounts. Why can't he trust the people in Florida, both the Democrats and Republicans.

Oh, and Russ, I'm disappointed that you didn't mention that the memo was even slightly ironic, or clever.

 

[JoeBaD]

Yo ride,

how stupid do you think we are?

Who's counting these ballots? Minimum wage temp workers that are overwhelmingly Democrat.

..and how many of them have sharpened up their fingernails or have a handy paperclip nearby to punch out them little holes when no one, or at least no Republican, is looking?

You, Gore and the rest of the Liberals just want to steal this election because you couldn't win it fairly.

Any means to an end. Right?!

 

[ride525]

<< how stupid do you think we are? >>

Ummmmm....well, go to the next one....


<< ..and how many of them have sharpened up their fingernails or have a handy paperclip nearby to punch out them little holes when no one, or at least no Republican, is looking? >>

Aha....it's gettng clearer.....Both you and Bush don't trust the people.....


<< You, Gore and the rest of the Liberals just want to steal this election because you couldn't win it fairly. >>

I would never want to steal anything......I'd like to see the will of the Florida people prevail. Count as many of the ballots as you can, so make sure you get as many of the voters into the count.

The election is too close....and too much is at stake for anything less.

 

[Russ]

<< If Bush really trusted the people, he would quit trying to interfere in the manual recounts. >>



ride525,

Even you can't believe that. The manual recounts have nothing to do with &quot;people&quot; and everything to do with Bore selectively picking overwhelmingly democrat counties KNOWING that they'd be able to coerce more votes for him with an ever-changing and subjective methodology.

In some counties, it's a &quot;dimple&quot; in others, it's &quot;hanging&quot;. How can any reasonable person argue that this is objective?

Russ, NCNE

 

[JoeBaD]

<< I'd like to see the will of the Florida people prevail. >>

Who are you kidding! Only if the &quot;will of the people&quot; is the same as your own do you wish it to prevail. That is obvious.

We have had an election. When the absentee ballots are counted it should be over. End of story.

 

[ride525]

<< Even you can't believe that. The manual recounts have nothing to do with &quot;people&quot; and everything to do with Bore selectively picking overwhelmingly democrat counties KNOWING that they'd be able to coerce more votes for him with an ever-changing and subjective methodology. >>


I can't? But, you are right, Gore did seem to pick the counties he requested manual recounts in. There were reports today, that some of Bush's folks are VERY UNHAPPY Bush didn't ask for any recounts in Republican areas. But coerce? There goes that &quot;I trust the people&quot; down the tubes again.



<< In some counties, it's a &quot;dimple&quot; in others, it's &quot;hanging&quot;. How can any reasonable person argue that this is objective? >>

Well, it would be nice if the criteria is the same. The Democrats requested that in their State Supreme Court filing yesterday, that the criteria be the same.

But even if the criteria is somewhat different in different counties, it COULD be applied consistently across the ballots in that county. Does Florida all have the exact same balloting machinery in every county now? Was the balloting done consistently across all of Florida? Just because all of Florida didn't vote consistently, doesn't mean you throw out the whole state's results.

 

[ride525]

<< Who are you kidding! Only if the &quot;will of the people&quot; is the same as your own do you wish it to prevail. That is obvious. >>



Sorry, you are wrong......I would like to see as many of the ballots counted correctly as possible. If the most went for Bush, then he is the winner. If the most went for Gore, then he wins.

 

[BoberFett]

Then we'd better recount the entire country, right ride?

 

[jjm]

Russ - So let me see if I have this straight. You are critical of Gore for requesting hand counts in certain counties, even though he followed Florida's and those counties' own rules and did so in the prescribed time period.

All he did was request the counts. The judges in each county decided whether or not they would honor the request. So far, I fail to see where Gore did anything besides playing by the rules. I don't see any coercion, nor do I see his people picking the staff doing the counting or setting the rules for the counting. And it's clear that Dubaya's minimum brain capacity failed him again. He did not play by the rules and request recounts himself, so he is playing catch-up.

If you are whining about the apparent partisan makeup of the election officials in those counties, that's another matter. Then I can simply state (with all due respect) that you are full of it.

Florida's statutes make no rules regarding partisanship. These people were locally elected to do just what they are doing. If the local voters put them in that position, who are we to try to prevent them from doing their jobs? If the local voters don't like what these local officials do, they can vote them out (or those who appointed them) in the next election. That's how the system is supposed to work.

Or, you can do what Dubaya is trying to do and run to a federal court trying to strip local officials of their decision-making power. Which one is bending the system more? I submit it's the self-proclaimed champion of placing trust in the decisions of local people himself, George Dubaya Bush. :disgust:

 

[ride525]

<< Then we'd better recount the entire country, right ride? >>



I don't think that's necessary. Most races aren't close enough to recount. But I don't have objections to checking those that are close.
Let's make sure the results are right.

 

[ride525]

EVERYONE had a right to request manual recounts. Some were requested. Others were not. Let's finish the manual recounts and be done with it.

 

[DataFly]

How do you people think we counted votes until the early-mid 1900s? Manual counting seemed to work fine then, so why not now?

 

[Format C:]

And if we do juuuust a bit of substitution in jjms statements, then what say you, eh?

<< Florida's statutes make no rules regarding partisanship. Secretary Harris was elected to do just what she is doing. If the state voters put Secretary Harris in that position, who are we to try to prevent her from doing her job? If the state voters don't like what Secretary Harris does, they can vote her out (or those who appointed her) in the next election. That's how the system is supposed to work. >>





<< Or, you can do what Gore is trying to do and run to the State Supreme Court trying to strip a state official of her decision-making power. >>