HI 372: The 20th Century American Presidency

thanks for the memories

2009-01-16T10:10:00.000-08:00

Newt Gingrinch

2008-12-20T06:50:00.003-08:00

Just thought I'd post this in the joint spirit of the holiday season and the final exam. Merry Christmas!
(original URL:
http://www.csee.umbc.edu/~mariedj/browse/funny/election94-gingrich)

-----
How the Gingrinch Stole Congress!
by Kris Rabberman & Scott Prevost

Every Who
Down in Whoville
Liked Elections a lot . . .

But Newt Gingrinch,
Who lived on Mount Gridlock,
Did NOT!

The Gingrinch loathed voting, the whole campaign season!
Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason.
It could be his head wasn't screwed on just right.
It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight.
But I think that the most likely reason of all,
May have been that his brain was two sizes too small.

But whatever the reason,
His brain or his shoes,
He stood there Election Eve , hating the Whos,
Staring down from Mount Gridlock with a Gingrinchy frown,
At the candidates stumping below in their town.
For he knew every Who who was thinking that night,
Would cast their votes wisely--against the far right.

``And they're worried about issues!'' he snarled with a sneer,
``Tomorrow's the election! It's practically here!''
And the gears in his head began frantically spinning,
``I MUST find a way to keep liberals from winning!''

For tomorrow, he knew all the Whos in the know,
Would vote for the DemoWhos all in a row,
For Wofford and Foley, Feinstein and Cuomo.

Then the DemoWho Congress would do what he'd hate,
Come up with new programs, and then legislate!
Healthcare and gun bans they'd gladly create,
But such progress the Gingrinch would only berate.

And THEN they'd do something
He liked least of all!
Every DemoWho in Congress, the tall and the small,
Would stand close together, and say with one voice,
``We're for women's rights and we're also pro-choice!''

They'd work! And they'd work!
AND they'd WORK! WORK! WORK! WORK!
And the more that the Gingrinch thought, with a smirk,
The more that he thought, ``I must STOP their hard work!
``Why since Who-sevelt's years I've put up with it now!
``I MUST stop the liberals from winning!
. . . But HOW?''

Then he got an idea!
An AWFUL idea!
The Newt
got a HORRIBLE, AWFUL idea!

``I know just what to do!'' Gingrinch laughed in his throat.
``I'll make empty vows in return for their vote.''
And he chuckled, and clucked, ``I've got a great con.
``With these lies we'll pay homage to President Ron!''

``All I need is a gimmick . . .''
The Newt looked around.
But since ideas are scarce, there were none to be found.
Did that stop the old Gingrinch
>From finding a scheme . . . ?
Of course not, he had the Whopublican team.
So he called Mr. Dole, and he eagerly said,
``I need to make use of your sly, sneaky head.''

Then they made up a plan,
That was terribly Dole-y,
To unseat the speaker,
Congressman Foley.

And they wrote up a contract.
They did it that day,
And they chortled and laughed,
``All the liberals must pay.''

As the Gingrinch and Dole formulated their schemes,
Based on trickle down theories and far right extremes,
The DemoWhos, calmly, were dreaming their dreams.
First Gingrinch and Dole, with a gleam in their eyes,
About Clinton's record, told many lies.

Then they told of the programs they'd gleefully pinch,
Who better to do this than Mr. Gingrinch?
They got stuck only once, on the issue of ketchup,
So they got on the phone and they called Orrin Hatch up.
Then both of them sunk to a terrible low.
``Entitlements,'' they grinned, ``are the first things to go!''

Then they slithered and slunk, with smiles most unpleasant,
Obnoxiously trashing the left, past and present!
``With Huffington, Romney, North and Santorum,
``We're sure that the left cannot help but deplore 'em!''
With ads so misleading they're practically criminal,
``We'll use our PAC money for commercials subliminal!''

``We'll bombard them with TV, and a racist disc-jockey!
``Who supports Chuck Haytaian and dark-horse Pataki.
``We'll support Ollie North, and Dewine over Hyatt,
``And with all of his cash, we'll have Huffington buy it!''

``When we win, we'll control each and every committee,
``To be sure funds are sent to nary a city!
``And Alfonse D'amato,'' (the dork from New York),
``can continue to rant about Bill Clinton's pork!''

``Against Feinstein and Boxer's ardent protesting,
``Senator Packwood can keep on molesting!''
By the twisted up logic of Jesse and Strom,
``With gays in the army, we lost Vietnam!''

``A lineup like this is Clinton's worst fear,''
said Gingrinch to Dole, with a dastardly sneer.

``Taxes, the wealthy should not have to pay,''
the maniacal duo was eager to say.
``And when Congress is ours, we'll have prayer in the schools,''
Muttered Dole to the Newt, ``Disregard liberal fools!''

The plan was enacted,
The ballots were cast,
The sham made the voters return to the past.

The Gingrinch was gleeful, and Dole started gloating,
before all the Whos had completed their voting.
``We now have a mandate!'' they said with a laugh,
Even though, of the votes, they received only half.

With snickering Newt in the role of the Speaker,
The prospects for changes have never been bleaker.
``The plans that we've outlined, we won't be revising,''
said Gingrinch, ``We simply ABHOR compromising!''

____________________________________________

The day of this scary Whopublican showing,
We started to notice Newt's head slowly growing,
Though now we can say, as you may have inferred,
His brain starting SHRINKING that day, so we've heard.

Though the Whos may be worried and shaking in fear,
>From the dastardly changes that soon may be here,
The way Whos can solve this is really a cinch,
In '96 vote against cynic Gingrinch!

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed here are not necessarily the
opinions of Dr. Seuss, or those with an interest in his estate, or
anyone related to him, or anyone he met only once on a crowded train
traveling from New York to Chicago, or his former next-door-neighbor's
dog Max. Some stanzas of the preceding work were directly stolen from
Dr. Seuss' classic work, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," without the
permission, expressed or implied, of Theodor or Audrey Geisel, or
Random House, Inc. This work was created solely for the amusement of
the authors and should not be copied, distributed or otherwise
duplicated by any means (electronic or telepathic included) without
the expressed written consent of whoever owns the copyright to the
book the authors plagiarized to create this masterpiece. Any evidence
to the contrary should be construed as purely accidental and not the
intent of the authors (who, by the way, receive no monetary benefit
for having written the poem, but had to pay an overpriced lawyer for
this disclaimer) . The authors accept no responsibility for any
nightmares or other psychological problems caused by reading this work
to liberals already suffering from Post Election Stress Disorder.

Bono Pats Bush on Back

2008-12-19T13:10:00.000-08:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2704889.stm

In recent years, many promoters of the fight against AIDS, primarily Bono and Elton John, have been critical of the aid given by the American Government to research, and help victoms. Its widely documented that Ronald Regan did very little during the 80s to help research, primarily because it would have been a socially funded program. George W. Bush however has continued to fund and expand funding for AIDS in africa, prompting massive response from those fighting the disease. The BBC article from 2003 reports a glowing Bono on the new AIDS funding.

'Deep Throat,' dead at 95

2008-12-19T06:05:00.000-08:00

(CNN) -- W. Mark Felt, who leaked information to reporters under the moniker, "Deep Throat," about the Watergate break-in, died Thursday at the age of 95, sources told CNN.

W. Mark Felt, known as "Deep Throat," divulged information to reporters about the Watergate break-in.

Rob Jones, Felt's grandson, said his grandfather died at his home in Santa Rosa, California. According to published reports, Felt died of congestive heart failure.

Felt admitted in a 2005 Vanity Fair article he was the Washington Post's source for many of its 400 stories on the Watergate affair during the early 1970s. The Watergate break-in eventually led to the 1974 resignation of President Richard Nixon.

"I'm proud of everything that Deep Throat did," Felt, 92, told CNN's "Larry King Live" in 2006, his first public interview on the subject.

Felt's entanglement with history occurred in 1972 after the bungled break-in at the Democratic National Party offices in the Watergate hotel. Felt, an associate director at the FBI, said he was unhappy with the way the administration meddled with the investigation into the break-in, which led him to divulge information to the newspaper.

You can read the whole article here

New York Times Editorial, Dec. 18th 2008: Prosecute the Architects of Torture

2008-12-18T17:32:00.000-08:00

December 18, 2008
Editorial
The Torture Report

Most Americans have long known that the horrors of Abu Ghraib were not the work of a few low-ranking sociopaths. All but President Bush’s most unquestioning supporters recognized the chain of unprincipled decisions that led to the abuse, torture and death in prisons run by the American military and intelligence services.

Now, a bipartisan report by the Senate Armed Services Committee has made what amounts to a strong case for bringing criminal charges against former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld; his legal counsel, William J. Haynes; and potentially other top officials, including the former White House counsel Alberto Gonzales and David Addington, Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff.

The report shows how actions by these men “led directly” to what happened at Abu Ghraib, in Afghanistan, in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and in secret C.I.A. prisons.

It said these top officials, charged with defending the Constitution and America’s standing in the world, methodically introduced interrogation practices based on illegal tortures devised by Chinese agents during the Korean War. Until the Bush administration, their only use in the United States was to train soldiers to resist what might be done to them if they were captured by a lawless enemy.

The officials then issued legally and morally bankrupt documents to justify their actions, starting with a presidential order saying that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to prisoners of the “war on terror” — the first time any democratic nation had unilaterally reinterpreted the conventions.

•

That order set the stage for the infamous redefinition of torture at the Justice Department, and then Mr. Rumsfeld’s authorization of “aggressive” interrogation methods. Some of those methods were torture by any rational definition and many of them violate laws and treaties against abusive and degrading treatment.

These top officials ignored warnings from lawyers in every branch of the armed forces that they were breaking the law, subjecting uniformed soldiers to possible criminal charges and authorizing abuses that were not only considered by experts to be ineffective, but were actually counterproductive.

One page of the report lists the repeated objections that President Bush and his aides so blithely and arrogantly ignored: The Air Force had “serious concerns regarding the legality of many of the proposed techniques”; the chief legal adviser to the military’s criminal investigative task force said they were of dubious value and may subject soldiers to prosecution; one of the Army’s top lawyers said some techniques that stopped well short of the horrifying practice of waterboarding “may violate the torture statute.” The Marines said they “arguably violate federal law.” The Navy pleaded for a real review.

The legal counsel to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time started that review but told the Senate committee that her boss, Gen. Richard Myers, ordered her to stop on the instructions of Mr. Rumsfeld’s legal counsel, Mr. Haynes.

The report indicates that Mr. Haynes was an early proponent of the idea of using the agency that trains soldiers to withstand torture to devise plans for the interrogation of prisoners held by the American military. These trainers — who are not interrogators but experts only on how physical and mental pain is inflicted and may be endured — were sent to work with interrogators in Afghanistan, in Guantánamo and in Iraq.

On Dec. 2, 2002, Mr. Rumsfeld authorized the interrogators at Guantánamo to use a range of abusive techniques that were already widespread in Afghanistan, enshrining them as official policy. Instead of a painstaking legal review, Mr. Rumsfeld based that authorization on a one-page memo from Mr. Haynes. The Senate panel noted that senior military lawyers considered the memo “ ‘legally insufficient’ and ‘woefully inadequate.’ ”

Mr. Rumsfeld rescinded his order a month later, and narrowed the number of “aggressive techniques” that could be used at Guantánamo. But he did so only after the Navy’s chief lawyer threatened to formally protest the illegal treatment of prisoners. By then, at least one prisoner, Mohammed al-Qahtani, had been threatened with military dogs, deprived of sleep for weeks, stripped naked and made to wear a leash and perform dog tricks. This year, a military tribunal at Guantánamo dismissed the charges against Mr. Qahtani.

The abuse and torture of prisoners continued at prisons run by the C.I.A. and specialists from the torture-resistance program remained involved in the military detention system until 2004. Some of the practices Mr. Rumsfeld left in place seem illegal, like prolonged sleep deprivation.

•

These policies have deeply harmed America’s image as a nation of laws and may make it impossible to bring dangerous men to real justice. The report said the interrogation techniques were ineffective, despite the administration’s repeated claims to the contrary.

Alberto Mora, the former Navy general counsel who protested the abuses, told the Senate committee that “there are serving U.S. flag-rank officers who maintain that the first and second identifiable causes of U.S. combat deaths in Iraq — as judged by their effectiveness in recruiting insurgent fighters into combat — are, respectively, the symbols of Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo.”

We can understand that Americans may be eager to put these dark chapters behind them, but it would be irresponsible for the nation and a new administration to ignore what has happened — and may still be happening in secret C.I.A. prisons that are not covered by the military’s current ban on activities like waterboarding.

A prosecutor should be appointed to consider criminal charges against top officials at the Pentagon and others involved in planning the abuse.

•

Given his other problems — and how far he has moved from the powerful stands he took on these issues early in the campaign — we do not hold out real hope that Barack Obama, as president, will take such a politically fraught step.

At the least, Mr. Obama should, as the organization Human Rights First suggested, order his attorney general to review more than two dozen prisoner-abuse cases that reportedly were referred to the Justice Department by the Pentagon and the C.I.A. — and declined by Mr. Bush’s lawyers.

Mr. Obama should consider proposals from groups like Human Rights Watch and the Brennan Center for Justice to appoint an independent panel to look into these and other egregious violations of the law. Like the 9/11 commission, it would examine in depth the decisions on prisoner treatment, as well as warrantless wiretapping, that eroded the rule of law and violated Americans’ most basic rights. Unless the nation and its leaders know precisely what went wrong in the last seven years, it will be impossible to fix it and make sure those terrible mistakes are not repeated.

We expect Mr. Obama to keep the promise he made over and over in the campaign — to cheering crowds at campaign rallies and in other places, including our office in New York. He said one of his first acts as president would be to order a review of all of Mr. Bush’s executive orders and reverse those that eroded civil liberties and the rule of law.

That job will fall to Eric Holder, a veteran prosecutor who has been chosen as attorney general, and Gregory Craig, a lawyer with extensive national security experience who has been selected as Mr. Obama’s White House counsel.

A good place for them to start would be to reverse Mr. Bush’s disastrous order of Feb. 7, 2002, declaring that the United States was no longer legally committed to comply with the Geneva Conventions.

Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

Cheney on Torture

2008-12-16T08:07:00.000-08:00

...Yeah.

On that uplifting note, good luck with finals & papers, everyone!

More Commentary that "No child Left Behind" is Working

2008-12-11T15:28:00.000-08:00

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/31/gop.paige.transcript/index.html?iref=newssearch

This article argues that Bush's policy is benifiting society. The author argues that "This bipartisan law raises the bar for all students, no matter their race or income level. It challenges what the president calls the "soft bigotry of low expectations." Its goal is simple: All students read and do math at grade level." Raising the bar for students was forcing them to do better in school. In fact "All across America, test scores are rising; students are learning; the achievement gap is closing; teachers and principals are beaming with pride." The author of this article argues that Bush's policy is working because tests scores are showing improved results.

Positive Bush Press

2008-12-10T17:26:00.000-08:00

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=4303636&page=1
This article taken from ABC News, reveals a Bush policy to combat AIDS that people seem to be proud of. The fund is the largest international health initiative ever to fight a single disease, and Bush wants to double that amount to $30 billion over the next five years. Tanzanian President Jikaya Kikwete said. "But we, in Tanzania, if we are to speak for ourselves, and for Africa, we know for sure that you, Mr. President, and your administration, have been good friends of our country, and have been good friends of Africa." This is significant because it shows at least one country that likes the Bush administration. However, I would not be surprised if President Kikwete expects something else from the administration or there is a gap in the evidence for Bush's motives-

Final Review Terms

2008-12-10T12:36:00.000-08:00

Fifteen (15) of the following terms will appear on the final and you will be required to identify ten (10) of them:

"A Time for Choosing" a.k.a. "The Speech"

Operation "Ranch Hand"

Great Society

Eugene McCarthy

Irving Kristol

White House Plumbers

EPA

Deep Throat

The Unitary Executive

Camp David Accords

Phyllis Schlafly

"There you go again."

Philadelphia, MS

The Laffer Curve

Trickle Down

Lt. Col. Oliver North

"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."

Willy Horton

Lee Atwater

November 1989

Americans with Disabilities Act

Francis Fukuyama

Samuel Huntington

Anita Hill

James Carville

"Don't Ask. Don't Tell.

Newt Gingrich

Kenneth Starr

"The Turner Diaries"

1995 Government Shutdown

Dick Morris

DOMA

Linda Tripp

The Brooks Brothers Riot

Kyoto Protocol

August 6, 2001

yellowcake uranium

"Ghost Detainees"

Blackwater

No Child Left Behind

Essay Topics:

Questions based on three (3) of the following topics will appear in the essay section, and you will be required to write on two (2) of them:

The Imperial Presidency and the Cold War

Politics, media, and scandal: Watergate, Iran-Contra, and the Lewinsky Affair

The Imperial Presidency and the War on Terror

"The personal is political" in American politics

"It's the economy stupid": presidential politics and the economy from Reagan to George W. Bush

No Child Left Behind Yields Positive Results

2008-12-09T15:39:00.000-08:00

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2006-03-01-letters-nclb_x.htm

The article supports No Child Left Behind and argues that the results demonstrate that it is working. The author points to all time high math scores in elementary education and reduced "achievement gaps" between races. The article suggests No Child Left Behind ends the process of "shuffling" kids from grade to grade whether or not they've learned the material. Ending this practice allows a student who is behind to get ahead in the next year. My personal thought is that there is a problem with standardized testing. Testing needs to be done at a national level. However, this does not mean that teachers should simply teach what they know will be on the examination. Putting limits on education such as this would be hugely detrimental. They also teach kids that education is about taking tests.

Fighing AIDS in Africa... Building on Bush's policy

2008-12-09T09:21:00.001-08:00

I know many people have already posted articles about Bush's efforts in Africa; however, I found this article particularly interesting because it commends Bush for what he has done in Africa, yet explains what needs to be done in the future to build on his initiatives.

http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/20/bush-aids-business-and-africa/

talking points for White House officials: accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative

2008-12-09T06:43:00.000-08:00

President George W. Bush plays guitar with special Presidential Seal, August 30th, 2005

The L.A. Times reports that the Bush Administration has issued new talking points on how to describe the record of the outgoing administration:

For Bush's staff, upbeat talking points on his tenure
Administration officials get a memo from the White House suggesting what to say about the last eight years: President Bush upheld 'the honor and the dignity of his office,' for one.
By Peter Nicholas

December 9, 2008

Reporting from Washington — In case any Bush administration officials have trouble summing up the boss' record, the White House is providing a few helpful suggestions.

A two-page memo that has been sent to Cabinet members and other high-ranking officials offers a guide for discussing Bush's eight-year tenure during their public speeches.

Titled "Speech Topper on the Bush Record," the talking points state that Bush "kept the American people safe" after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, lifted the economy after 2001 through tax cuts, curbed AIDS in Africa and maintained "the honor and the dignity of his office."

The document presents the Bush record as an unalloyed success.

It mentions none of the episodes that detractors say have marred his presidency: the collapse of the housing market and major financial services companies, the flawed intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq war, the federal response to Hurricane Katrina or the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib.

In a section on the economy, speakers are invited to say that Bush cut taxes after 2001, setting the stage for years of job growth.

As for the current economic crisis, the memo says that Bush "responded with bold measures to prevent an economic meltdown."

The document is otherwise silent on the recession, which claimed 533,000 jobs in November, the highest number in 34 years.

A copy of the memo was obtained by The Times' Washington bureau. A spokesman for Bush said Monday that the White House routinely sends out suggestions to officials and allies on ways to talk about the administration's record.

Brandon's blog post: Bush's "Legacy Project"

2008-12-09T03:43:00.000-08:00

A number of people have already commented on Bush and AIDS but I thought this article had something interesting specifics:

http://stevensonblog.tuscaloosanews.com/default.asp?item=2294821

Especially this:

"In July 2008, Bush signed legislation tripling the program's funds to $48 billion dollars from $15 billion dollars. The new program drops a requirement for one-third of the anti-AIDS funds to be used to promote sexual abstinence and lifts a ban on HIV-positive foreigners entering the United States, which has earned Bush new support from previously unlikely progressive organizations."

Still, the article is careful not to praise Bush for anything else:

"The word is there is an active "Bush Legacy Project" going on right now in the White House led by Karl Rove, who arguably created and bestowed upon the world the 43 president of the United States.

That legacy, at least the positive part of it, is likely to be slim. But it can start with PEPFAR."

Torture at Guantanamo

2008-12-08T18:36:00.001-08:00

It seems like everything is coming full circle now:

Alleged 9/11 Plotters Offer to Confess at Guantánamo
GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba — The five Guantánamo detainees charged with coordinating the Sept. 11 attacks told a military judge on Monday that they wanted to confess in full, a move that seemed to challenge the government to put them to death.

The request, which was the result of hours of private meetings among the suspects, appeared intended to undercut the government’s plan for a high-profile trial while drawing international attention to what some of the five men have said was a desire for martyrdom.

But the military judge, Col. Stephen R. Henley of the Army, said a number of legal questions about how the commissions are to deal with capital cases had to be resolved before guilty pleas could be accepted.

The case is likely to remain in limbo for weeks or months, presenting the Obama administration with a new Guantánamo issue to resolve when it takes office next month.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/09/us/09gitmo.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=print

Although the torture is more of a well-timed decision to saddle the Obama Administration with the issue it seems to complicate the disgust that came out of Abu Ghraib.

Positive Bush Press

2008-12-08T14:14:00.001-08:00

http://www.rand.org/commentary/2008/01/17/IHT.html

The article discusses Bush's potentially successful foreign policy concerning the Middle East. The radicalism of Bush has failed and this inevitably pushed Bush into a more centrist ideology. This can be seen in Bush's stronger emphasis on peace throughout the Middle East and his willingness to conduct talks between different countries. The article continues to discuss Bush's shift to the center and the policies the President-Elect will have to work with.

2008-12-08T09:08:00.000-08:00

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE2DB113AF933A05752C0A9649C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1
This article is discussing his State of the Union address is January of 2002. Bush's popularity is sky high at this time and this reporter is praising Bush for hitting many of the right points in his speech. He praises Bush for his emphasis on the war on terror, defense at home, and reviving the economy. Though it is the New York Times so it does criticize his proposed tax cuts which seem to contradict the idea of spending on the war on terror and defense. While it points out flaws in his plan it is ultimately an article that is holding Bush in high regard. I found that I had a very hard time finding good press on George Bush and I am not sure if that is because of the politically left leaning media or if it is because except for the brief period after Sept. 11 he has made so many mistakes.

When It Comes to Immigration, Bush "Gets It"

2008-12-08T00:07:00.000-08:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/21/opinion/21thu3.html?scp=93&sq=bush%20immigration%20policy%20opinion&st=cse

In late December 2006, The New York Times editorial board praised President Bush's tolerance of undocumented immigrants and his careful consideration of immigration problems. Bush aimed to actually fix the immigration system with a "comprehensive bill" rather than mere token legislation that would appease most uninformed people or tough laws to satisfy conservatives. His proposed system would provide safer, more humane avenues for immigrants to enter the United States to work, while keeping dangerous internationals out. "Mr. Bush showed yesterday that he gets it," the Times wrote. "He should do that more often."

Positive Press- Time Magazine praises the "Bush Doctrine"

2008-12-07T18:47:00.000-08:00

In an article in Time Magazine in March of 2005, columnist Charles Krauthammer criticizes the liberal media for their harsh critiques of the "Bush Doctrine," as Krauthammer views the doctrine as a success in the Middle East at this time. He praises Bush for the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq because they allowed the U.S to be able to spread democracy to the Middle East and hold free elections, which countries had already begun at this time. Krauthammer does bring up some valid praises for Bush and the Bush Doctrine and their initial ability to take down tyrannical governments and install free elections in the Middle East, but I believe that he is making hypocritical statements at the same time. The author criticizes the liberal media for jumping to bad conclusions before the war in Iraq was over but Krauthammer is doing the same thing. He is proclaiming the U.S as "the Great Liberator" of the Middle East and also Bush and his Doctrine as the source for this liberation, which for me being able to look back on this article four years later, it is clear that the author is jumping to conclusions. The Iraq War is still far from over and the Middle East is still far from being stabilized, so it appears the liberal media was correct in their warnings about invading Iraq and the consequences that would follow. This is a good article pointing to some of the positives put forth by the Bush administration though. And here's a small part of the article, which is called "THREE CHEERS FOR THE BUSH DOCTRINE" and the URL:

"They warned us darkly that the alternative to the status quo was the seething Arab street--an unruly mob, anarchic, anti-American, pan-Arabist or perhaps Islamist, ignorant of all liberal traditions and ready to rise up against America should it disturb the perfect order of things by "imposing democracy."
Turns out, the critics, liberal and "realist," got the Arab street wrong. In Iraq and Lebanon, the Arab street finally got to speak, and mirabile dictu, it speaks of freedom and dignity. It does not bay for American blood. On the contrary, its leaders now openly point to the American example and American intervention as having provided the opening for this first tentative venture in freedom.
What really changed in the Middle East? The Iraqi elections vindicated the two central propositions of the Bush doctrine. First, that the will to freedom is indeed universal and not the private preserve of Westerners. And second, that American intentions were sincere. Contrary to the cynics, Arab and European and American, the U.S. did not go into Iraq for oil or hegemony, after all, but for liberation--a truth that on Jan. 31 even al-Jazeera had to televise."(Time Magazine, March, 2005, Charles Krauthammer).

http://www.time.com/time/columnist/krauthammer/article/0,9565,1035052,00.html

2008-12-07T16:23:00.000-08:00

Obama praises Bush efforts against AIDS

Monday, December 01, 2008

By ANN SANNER, Associated Press Writer

CHICAGO — President-elect Barack Obama praised the Bush administration's effort to combat AIDS and pledged Monday to continue to fight the deadly disease when he takes office in January.

Obama discussed AIDS in videotaped remarks to the Saddleback Civil Forum on Global Health held in Washington. The remarks were released Monday while Obama was in Chicago to announce members of his national security team. (See the link below for the rest of the article)

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Dec01/0,4670,ObamaAIDS,00.html

This article details President-Elect Obama's comments on President Bush's work to help eliminate AIDS worldwide. His comments were made on World AIDS Day (Dec. 1). Obama specifically praises Bush's work on providing "antiretroviral treatment to people in sub-Saharan Africa".

Positive Press on Bush's China visit

2008-12-07T15:24:00.000-08:00

Here's an article from the International Herald Tribune. As you remember, Bush attended the Olympic Games in Beijing this summer, and received criticism for the decision because of China's issues with human rights. In this article Steven Lee Myers explains that Bush wanted to attend the games to send the message of respect and support to the Chinese people. The author also rejects the idea of Bush giving a public address with a strong critical message of the government:

"The idea of giving a Reaganesque "tear down this wall" speech on human rights in China — as members of Congress and others are calling for Bush to do — has been abandoned as potentially insulting to the president's hosts, one senior administration official said. Besides, most Chinese would probably not see or hear it, because of state control of the news media."

This author basically supports Bush's visit and relates to the arguments that prevented Bush from taking a stronger, more public position of opposition to the Chinese government's handling of human rights during his time in Asia.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/05/america/05prexy.php

Shinseki named as choice for Sec't of Veteran Affairs

2008-12-07T12:53:00.001-08:00

Anyone who pays attention to CNN or news will basically know this by now, but Gen. Shinseki (the guy who was disregarded by the Bush Administration after he suggested that the Iraq War would require 'several hundred thousand' troops, instead of the smaller estimates propagated by Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz) was just named as President-elect Obama's choice for Veteran's Affairs [new window]. He was Chief of Staff for the Army from 1999-2003 (Clinton having nominated him). In related news, as I realized this morning while watching a History Channel special, it's also the 67th anniversary of Pearl Harbor - hence the announcement today.

major architects of Bush torture policies: David Addington and John C. Yoo

2008-12-07T07:04:00.000-08:00

This video features Congressional testimony by Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff David Addington and former White House legal adviser John C. Yoo regarding their role in designing the torture policies of the current administration. This is a long video. A brief account of it by Dana Milbank of the Washington Post can be found here.

Don't Forget Bush's Accomplishments

2008-12-05T18:27:00.000-08:00

http://media.www.thetraveleronline.com/media/storage/paper688/news/2008/11/07/Opinion/Dont-Forget.Bushs.Accomplishments-3532390.shtml

Bailey McBride, an Obama supporter who has always been a critic of the Bush Administration, believes that people have overlooked the progress Bush has made in the U.S. support of Africa. "After the president's visit in 2003, significant efforts were made to accelerate economic development and fight global HIV/AIDS, malaria and other treatable diseases, all through U.S. programs."
He believes people should take the good with the bad when it comes to the Bush administration.

Bush's Presidency in Retrospect

2008-12-05T12:00:00.000-08:00

http://www.usnews.com/articles/opinion/mbarone/2008/11/26/judging-george-w-bush.html?s_cid=rss:judging-george-w-bush

This article looks at the Bush Administration in context to the larger story of American history. It claims that in retrospect, our opinion of Bush will undoubtedly improve, and that now, in the short term, we have been focusing on his shortcomings rather than his successes. The successes detailed in this article include the removal of Saddam Hussein in Iraq and its resulting change in Iraq, the AIDS program in Africa, greater ties to India, as well as improved relations with Japan, Australia, and key Latin and Central American countries.

Sarah Mayersohn's GW Bush blogpost

2008-12-05T09:37:00.000-08:00

Found: A Rare Positive Opinion of Bush from a non-American.

In Greg Sheridan?s editorial, ?I Come to Hail the Chief, Not Bury Him? in the Australian Times (11/13/2008), the editor acknowledges Bush?s faults, but emphasizes his strengths and actions in Asia, Africa, and Australia. Here is a excerpt:

?From Australia's point of view, Bush gave us every single thing we seriously wanted, from a free trade agreement to historically important new intelligence sharing arrangements. In July 2004 Bush sent a presidential directive to the CIA and the US Defence Department that mandated Australian access to US intelligence classified as "no forn", meaning not to be seen by foreign eyes. Similarly, selected Australian institutions were given direct access to US intelligence systems. Former prime minister John Howard ran the US relationship brilliantly and secured huge, long-term institutional advantages for Australia out of it.
More generally, Bush was always ready to take Australian interests into account. Almost certainly we will never again have as good a friend in the White House. His first administration contained a group of senior officials - Cheney, Rich Armitage, Paul Wolfowitz, Bob Zoellick - with very deep Australian connections, and a doctrine that put solid allies ahead of all others. Howard sensibly took maximum advantage of all that this offered.?

This column shatters the stereotypical belief that the world outside of United States are very unhappy with the Bush Administration. Sheridan provides a new perspective on Bush, from the Australian political point of view. Actually, he comes off as having the belief that the American president is also a leader to him. I think this is rather interesting considering that there had been huge international attention on the last few presidential elections, especially the 2008 election. It brings up the question of to what extent of the degree that foreign governments and/or populations view the American president in relation to their own politics and lives. Having seen this article, I now know that I must no longer assume that the rest of the world always look at Bush unfavorably.

-Sarah Mayersohn

The Abu Ghraib Scandal You Don't Know-Medical Care

2008-12-05T06:30:00.000-08:00

By Adam Zagorin, Feb. 7, 2005

I remember hearing the Abu Ghraib story when it gained media attention in 2004. I was in high school and didn't pay much attention to it, so when we began watching "Standing Operating Procedure" I did not know the specifics of the situation. After watching part of the documentary on Wednesday, I searched online for more information on the scandal. Most of what I found was focused on the military personnel's torturous actions and the pictures depicting them. However, I found this time article which focused on another aspect of the prison.

Zagorin states that another story lies within the prison walls. The medical doctors' care of the prisoners was a story in itself. The medical care was another kind of torture. He says that in addition to the torture abuse, "There was also medical disarray at the prison: amputations performed by nondoctors, chest tubes recycled from the dead to the living, a medic ordered, by one account, to cover up a homicide. That in itself would have made Abu Ghraib a scandal even without the acts of torture inflicted on the inmates by their guards."

Although over 7,000 prisoners in 2003, there was no doctor at Abu Ghraib for most of 2003. He includes many statistics and examples which are worth reading including the statement that roughly 5% of the prisoners suffered from mental illness and received no medical assistance.

Although the poor medical care is not the focal point of "Standing Operating Procedure," I thought it was worth noting as another insight into Abu Ghraib. One of the most fascinating parts of the article was a quote by Dr. David Auch, the commander of the reserve company supporting medical operations at Abu Ghraib in 2003. In regard to some of the actions taken by medical personnel in Abu Ghraib, Auch states, "The priority is to safeguard the prisoner."
Maybe it's just me but something does not seem right with that statement.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1025139-1,00.html

Slate article on torture, interrogation, and technology

2008-12-05T02:44:00.001-08:00

This article was published at Slate.com shortly after the Abu Ghraib story broke.

New York Times on the Wall Steet Bailout

2008-12-04T18:07:00.000-08:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/business/21cong.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

This article outlines the bailout plan, what it is intended to do and touches upon the arguments for and against it. The article is cautiously supportive of the plan, and praises the initiative taken by the Bush administration.

Positive Press for Bush's Social Security Plan

2008-12-04T15:57:00.000-08:00

Bush employs a gentle touch by Peter S. Canellos

The Deseret News, a very conservative newspaper in Utah, published this article in 2005 praising Bush's confident manner in a recent State of the Union address. The article expresses a positive outlook for the second term of Bush's presidency based on the uncharacteristic diplomacy and sense of initiative he portrayed in his speech. It also glosses over the positive aspects of his Social Security plan and the successful ways in which he sold his plan in the address.

All Social Security options are open by Larry Wheeler

The same newspaper published this article in 2006 discussing the open options for Social Security reform following Bush's unsuccessful attempt to privatize Social Security in 2005. The article does not even try to be non-partisan when discussing Bush's rejected plan, outlining right from the beginning of the article the benefits that would have been reality if his plan was passed. The writer uses rhetorical words, such as "failed" when discussing the abysmal support of party members and "fierce" when describing the opposition, to garner sympathy for the President and make it sound as if Bush was victimized in Congress for his efforts. A very short paragraph is devoted to the opposing viewpoint at the end of the article - the least read section of any news story.

On the positive side of the Bush record

2008-12-04T15:33:00.000-08:00

http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/38815

This article highlights an accomplishment of Bush's; the fact that the last seven years have been free of successful terrorist attacks, and the nation's present ability to deal with such an incident if it should occur, even one involving weapons of mass destruction.
The author's tone is a little sarcastic, and he does not say outright that this is an accomplishment; he only says that Bush's supporters consider it an accomplishment. Still, at the end of the article he states: "One might challenge contentions that Bush should get credit for the absence of major terrorist activity at home. But to do so would be to deny the long-held belief that what happens on a president's watch accrues to him either favorably or unfavorably."

Bush's handling of war praised by...Bruce Springsteen?

2008-12-03T16:00:00.000-08:00

This article from 2002 quotes Bruce Springsteen as saying "‘‘The war in Afghanistan was handled well. It was deliberative, which I wasn’t counting on. I expected a lot less from this administration.’’

This is an interesting reminder of how many people were supportive of the war in Afghanistan. I think it actually gives some credibility to the outcries over the Iraq war, because it shows that the protest was not simply a "knee-jerk" reaction on behalf of Bush's critics. Many people did indeed support the initial war in Afghanistan (with the exception of Michael Moore and others) but became increasingly critical of the administration during the build up of the war in Iraq.

Another Democrat who defended Bush, but this time over the Iraq war, was former President Bill Clinton.

This article from CNN.com shows how Clinton balanced his criticisms of the way the war was handled (the timing, the Abu Gharib scandal) with an overall empathy of the situation Bush was faced with after 9/11: having an awakened responsibility to defend America against global security threats combined with an ever-uncooperative government in Iraq.

Larry Elder also details some of Clinton's defense of Bush, adding some pro Bush commentary of his own.

Also, I found this video of a large group of people who certainly had a lot of "praise" for the president...

(Sorry, I couldn't resist...)

Praise for Faith-Based Initiatives

2008-12-03T13:44:00.000-08:00

"Ohio Woman's Success Rates Praise from Bush"
http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=1913
WASHINGTON -- Standing in the ornate East Room of the White House, her family and the president of the United States alongside, Mifflin Township resident Pamela Hedrick proclaimed herself proof positive that welfare recipients can forge more productive lives.

Brought to the White House as part of a push yesterday by President Bush for his welfare-reform and faith-based initiatives, Hedrick credited a Columbus program -- the Enrichment Association of Community Healing on the East Side -- with helping move her from public assistance to the workplace.

"I'm here today because it works,'' said Hedrick, 35, who took her last welfare check in 1997 and a year and a half ago became an administrative assistant in Ohio first lady Hope Taft's office. "If it wasn't for the faith-based community program, I wouldn't be here.''
____________

While I maintain that the constitutionality of Faith Based Initiatives and the separation of Church and State is pretty questionable on this issue, it is good to see how the programs have helped people. It was definitely a positive experience for this Ohio woman who earned a pretty cool secretary position for the Governor's wife in Ohio. I can foresee praise in his efforts in getting people off welfare and finding more meaning in having a productive lifestyle and job. It is also the recognition that one needs to do something more than claim that people need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. This program seems to provide the motivation to get a pair of boots, or however you want to continue the metaphor.

While there is questionability for encouraging religion in the process of getting help with federal funding, it is clear that they have helped some people. Obama even agreed to continue some sort of faith-based initiative programs. While he has included a few changes in the program, the basic premise to the initiative remains--so this is a clear potential for a positive legacy of Bush.

Bush's Africa Policy - The Best of the Worst

2008-12-03T11:08:00.000-08:00

To sound like a broken record and wear out a topic that's probably going to surface alot for this particular blog post assignment, Bush's African policies have generally been met with praise and survived public scrutiny with only mild criticism. His Africa policy is generally "good" - it's about the only area of his policy initiatives that receives consistent, mild praise rather than constant attacks and criticisms in the press. Everyone knows this.

But in an opinion piece for The New York Times, Josh Ruxin, a Columbia University expert on public health who has lived in Rwanda for the past few years, offers a knowledgeable, expert perspective on Bush's Africa policy more well-informed, reasoned and researched than most.

http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/20/bush-aids-business-and-africa/?scp=5&sq=Bush%20+%20positive%20press%20+%20Africa&st=cse

Ruxin writes in February 2008, reflecting on one of Bush's visits to Africa: "A big reason for the president’s visit is to see firsthand the progress made by the life-saving initiatives he set in motion through his administration’s programs. More than $19 billion has been invested in programs to fight AIDS, malaria and other killers. More than one million Africans with AIDS have been put on AIDS drugs, and new programs are aggressively treating and preventing malaria, the biggest killer of children under five on the continent. Though more needs to be done going forward, the Bush years have been a time when a foundation was laid for meaningful global public health interventions, and it’s right for the president to see the real impact of the United States dollars on African lives." Ruxin praises Bush's direct aid initiatives and the millions of dollars the President donated, in direct relief, to the continent.

But Ruxin goes on, throughout the rest of his blog post, to call for more than mere aid for Africa. He wants business directives and business initiatives. He wants to see businesses set up shop in Africa, because moving African countries toward economic prosperity is key in solving the AIDS epidemic, or at least in reducing AIDS in Africa to European and North American levels. With businesses and jobs come self-sufficiency and prosperity, which is what the continent needs even more than, but in conjunction with, direct aid. Business initiatives in Africa are just as essential to solving the problem of AIDS in Africa as direct relief.

This isn't a criticism of Bush directly or personally, but I think a call to Republicans in America and Republican ideals in America. Ruxin, to a certain extent, is espousing capitalism's ability to confer and bring prosperity to a society, of a kind which could alleviate many of Africa's health problems and most particularly its problems with AIDS and malaria. It's a very Republican ideal - faith in the free market economy and business to confer prosperity and a higher quality of life. Ruxin is appealing to Republican philanthropic impulses and private enterprise in giving Africa the material and kind of long-lasting change and relief the continent and its people truly need. He's calling for a new Republican experiment in Africa. At least in terms of Africa, Republicanism in its most idealistic form, might work.

What Bush Got Right

2008-12-03T08:32:00.000-08:00

Hey Everybody,

Here's a link to a Newsweek article titled "What Bush Got Right." The article argues that blanket criticism of Bush is not always the right way to go. Bush has dug himself into a hole in terms of popularity, because his approval rating is so low people are hesitant to accept anything he does. Although his foreign policy when he first started his presidency was out of line (invading Iraq and the whole weapons of mass destruction thing), since then what he is doing now is more "sensible and mainstream" according to the story. This article argues that the Obama should continue some of Bush's foreign policies such as working on the US's relationship with China.

Charlie Savage's Pulitzer Prize winning investigation of Bush's "signing statements"

2008-12-03T04:47:00.000-08:00

Here is the story by the Boston Globe's Charlie Savage that won him the 2007 Pulitzer Prize. When historians assess the impact of George W. Bush on the U.S. Constitution, they will likely start here:

Bush challenges hundreds of laws
President cites powers of his office

By Charlie Savage, Globe Staff | April 30, 2006

WASHINGTON -- President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution. [link]

George Bush Is Not Incompetent

2008-12-02T22:40:00.000-08:00

This article, written by George Lakoff of the Huffington Post, on June 26, 2006, takes a very interesting, and non-negative look at the Bush presidency. The author declares that the mishaps of 9/11, Katrina and other events are clearly not the fault of George Bush.

The author discusses that George Bush, personally, is not a bad president. He even goes as far to say that in some respects, he will be considered a decent president. But the problem lies in his conservative philosophy, not his personal governance.

"Progressives have fallen into a trap. Emboldened by President Bush's plummeting approval ratings, progressives increasingly point to Bush's "failures" and label him and his administration as incompetent. For example, Nancy Pelosi recently charged "The situation in Iraq and the reckless economic policies in the United States speak to one issue for me, and that is the competence of our leader." Self-satisfying as this criticism may be, it misses the bigger point. Bush's disasters -- Katrina, the Iraq War, the budget deficit -- are not so much a testament to his incompetence or a failure of execution"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-lakoff/george-bush-is-not-incomp_b_23845.html

Bush Likable?

2008-12-02T19:54:00.000-08:00

The following article was posted on the New York Times website this past September by revered opinion columnist, Stanley Fish. Although Fish doesn't write off mistakes that Bush and his administration has made, he argues that shortly after Bush leaves office, people will like Bush. He comments on GWB's quirky personality, his ability to laugh and make fun of himself and the fact that he seems like a real, normal and relatable human. While I have been so caught up in the current election and who will replace Bush, I hadn't thought about what Bush's legacy would be and how he would be viewed in the public. This article gives good insight to Bush and how Fish believes he will be a "comeback kid."

http://fish.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/28/george-bush-the-comeback-kid/

2000 Election

2008-12-02T19:48:00.000-08:00

The following video completely blames the media for the problems in Florida. While I realize that the media did act report too quickly and disregarded the requests from Harris, I believe the media was the most insignificant problem facing the Florida election disaster. With people accidently voting for the wrong candidate, the infamous "dangling chad" and inaccurate ballot counting machines, it seems to me that the least of the problems was the media calling Florida too early.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHK1-LA8zEU

Newspaper Opinion Article c. 2004

2008-12-02T18:59:00.000-08:00

"Bush Good For Country, Kerry Lacks Experience"
I will be voting for President Bush in November. He has presented a comprehensive, thoughtful set of policies, and he possesses a strong, proven character. He has surrounded himself with bright people who made decisions that make the United States a better, safer place for everyone.

The Democrats, making untruthful accusations of malfeasance and corruption, are relying on the emotional capriciousness of the American voter rather than offering a rational presentation of a contrasting platform. Their slogans are empty and idealistic, marching under a banner reading "Not Bush" rather than presenting a blueprint for an America that will truly be stronger at home and respected in the world....

http://media.www.dailylobo.com/media/storage/paper344/news/2004/10/08/Opinion/Letterbush.Good.For.Countrykerry.Lacks.Experience-747514.shtml

I suppose that at the time, Bush was viewed in a much more favorable light than he is today. Nevertheless, four years later, this opinion article has huge amounts of irony in it. The first - and most obvious - lies in the problems that the Bush administration has caused since then. It's funny to wonder if the writer of this article still feels this way today. When the writer criticizes Kerry for running a "Not Bush" campaign, it it highly ironic because that very platform is one of the major reasons that McCain lost this past election. I guess a lot can happen in four years.

US-India nuclear deal a rare Bush foreign policy success

2008-12-02T18:37:00.000-08:00

This article cites Bush’s recent nuclear relations with India as one of his few successful international policies. Published February 10, 2008, the article suggests that “A landmark US-India nuclear endorsed by the US Congress is a rare foreign policy success for US President George W. Bush and sets the stage for improved ties between the world's two largest democracies.” Of course, this policy has its critics, but its proponents argue that it will benefit American businesses and create opportunities for them in India. Those in support of the deal believe it to be one of the most important pieces of foreign policy legislation particularly because of Bush’s criticized foreign policy record. Critics of the policy warn of how it will change future arms control relations.

Dubya? Too soon to judge

2008-12-02T12:29:00.000-08:00

Theo Caldwell, National Post - November 24, 2008

This article is the closest to positive press I could find on President Bush. Caldwell discusses the fact that Bush's legacy, like many former U.S Presidents, will most likely be determined years after he has left his office.
Some interesting quotes from the article:
"So simple and widespread is condemnation of the man that, when one hears some concerned citizen spouting the usual lines about "lies," "war for oil" and the like, one wonders what that person thinks he or she is adding to the public discourse. It has all been said before, and it was dopey the first time.

What is far more difficult -- harder, even, than finding someone to sing Bush's praises --is to find intelligent analysis of Bush's successes and failures as leader of the free world. His foreign policy forays, like the Iraq war, and his domestic policies, like the prescription drug benefit, bear serious scrutiny. But since folks start hyperventilating at the mere mention of Bush's name, it seems sober discussion must wait until at least the end of his term.

It is often noted that while presidents Lincoln and Truman were both reviled in their times, history has judged them to be among the strongest leaders in American history. This simply proves Fred Barnes's formulation that in politics, as in life, the future is never a straight-line projection from the present. Also, it is fair to say that just because people hate you, that doesn't make you Abraham Lincoln."

"Domestically, while Bush's growth-inducing tax cuts added hundreds of billions of dollars to the Treasury and increased the share of taxes paid by the highest earners, the nation is in the grips of its worst financial crisis in decades. In truth, the current debacle finds its roots in the misbegotten mortgages mandated by president Carter's Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, if not president Roosevelt's creation of Fannie Mae as part of the New Deal. But as the man at the top when the bad news came down, Bush bears much of the burden."

http://www.lexisnexis.com.ezproxy.bu.edu/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T5284450513&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T5284450526&cisb=22_T5284450525&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=10882&docNo=10

Certified but Incomplete

2008-12-02T11:58:00.000-08:00

Some highlights from an article by the New York Times Editorial Desk on November 27,2000.

"By hailing the certification of Florida's ballots as the last word on the presidential election and naming a transition director and chief of staff, Gov. George W. Bush reached boldly for the mantle of president-elect. Unfortunately, he is also trying to leapfrog the nation past the important pending legal challenges to that state's incompletely counted vote. In light of the events since Nov. 7, the last word ought to be delivered by the courts that will hear Vice President Al Gore's contests of the results and, more important, by a United States Supreme Court that is hearing arguments about the election at Mr. Bush's request."

"Both the Florida courts and the United States Supreme Court can finish their work in a little over a week. They can give Americans of both parties a higher level of confidence in the ballot count. That, in turn, would allow either Mr. Bush or Mr. Gore to take office on a sounder basis. Both candidates should be looking to the broader issue of legitimacy instead of grasping for short-term advantage."

"It was, of course, no surprise that Florida's secretary of state, Katherine Harris, an eager partisan who worked for the Bush campaign, would quickly certify a result that showed Mr. Bush in the lead. But it was disappointing to see the Texas Governor embrace that disputed certification and call upon Mr. Gore to drop his plan to contest the Florida results. The courts need to look at this count and tell the nation whether it represents the official end point of the election. Once the courts have spoken, the time for argument will be over."

"This is clearly not the time for Florida's restive, Republican-led Legislature to meddle with the election. The surest way to erode public trust is for the Florida Legislature and Florida's Republican governor, Jeb Bush, to try to override the decisions of the Florida courts."

"The United States Supreme Court can do its part to conclude this national drama on an authoritative note by allowing television coverage of the arguments before the court on Friday. The justices have a longstanding aversion to television, but they should make an exception for this case because of the need to clear up the disputed count certified in Florida last night."

http://www.nytimes.com

Bush's Positive AIDS Press

2008-12-02T09:07:00.000-08:00

Let me start this post off by saying I had an incredible amount of trouble finding positive press on President Bush. My multiple queries on multiple issues - from foreign policy to domestic policy, abortion to gun laws - turned up almost nothing. The ranting and raving on even conservative websites was maddening, I got pretty discouraged. Until I found this article:

http://www.northstarwriters.com/rm016.htm

Although mildly sarcastic, writer Bob Maistros praises Bush's AIDS policy not on the basis of partisan issues but instead on its successes beyond its shortcomings. A search on Bush's AIDS policy in any search engine usually hails results about how Bush has forgotten about Africa and South America (as this article briefly references) but instead of focusing on Bush's policy of "spreading hope." Please ignore his obvious slant, as his rant about Al Gore is irrelevant and, I believe, distracts from his sincere praise of Bush's AIDS policy. Printed yesterday, World AIDS Day 2008 it's incredibly relevant and thought-provoking as I had, through the barrage of bad press, never even heard of Bush's positive AIDS policy initiatives. So, despite being sarcastic and irreverent at times, the article is praising Bush's presidential initiative against AIDS.

Bush's legacy in the Global Battle against AIDS

2008-12-02T08:14:00.000-08:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/washington/05aids.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=In%20Global%20Battle%20on%20AIDS,%20Bush%20Creates%20Legacy&st=cse

Important Quotes from article:
"Yet the institute concluded that, over all, the program had made “a promising start.” And when
they step back, even critics like Mr. Zeitz concede that Mr. Bush spawned a philosophical
revolution. In one striking step, he put to rest the notion that because patients were poor or
uneducated they did not deserve, or could not be taught to use, medicine that could mean the
difference between life and death." (Page 2)

"Dr. Coutinho said Ugandans were terrified that when Mr. Bush left office, “the Bush fund,” as they call it, would go with him. “When I’ve traveled in the U.S., I’m amazed at how little people know about what Pepfar stands for,” he said. “Just because it has been done under Bush, it is not
something the country should not be proud of.” (Page 2)

Analysis of Article:
This New York Times article looks at an AIDS relief program that was begun by the Bush administration in 2004. Since the beginning of the program around 1.4 million AIDS patients have received lifesaving medicine that was paid for by the American dollars funding this program. This number increased from the 50,000 patients that were receiving this lifesaving medicine before Bush undertook this initiative. As announced in his 2003 State of the Union address, the goals Bush outlined for this program include treating 2 million people, preventing 7 million new infections and providing care for 10 million. These proposed goals of the number of patients to be treated included providing care to children and orphans who were considered to also be at risk for contracting the disease. The analysis as to whether or not these goals have been met will not occur until 2010, but Bush's global AIDS coordinator claims that they are on track to meet these objectives.
Along with presenting the facts and effects of this program under Bush the article's author Sheryl Gay Stolberg also considers the criticisms of this program and why it has not received more public attention. Stolberg argues that other unpopular Bush policies such as the war in Iraq, tax changes, education reforms, and his immigration policy have all cast a shadow on this admirable achievement of his administration. She says that this should not be a program that people are ashamed of or don't give worthy recognition to just because it was conducted under the Bush presidency. Therefore, the article reminds readers to not just get caught up in the popular opinions and polls that drag Bush's image down, but critics should also consider the positive legacy that this initiative will have on the global fight against AIDS.

Bush Wasn't So Bad

2008-12-02T06:19:00.000-08:00

http://www.splicetoday.com/politics-and-media/george-w-bush-wasn-t-so-bad

"After all these efforts, the people who are going to miss him the most are liberals. They will have to finally start owning responsibility for the way the country is being run. They had successfully morphed their “Blame America First” slogan to “Blame Dubya First” and once he is out of the White House, there is only going to be a certain period of time before that goes stale."

"Bush has also been charged with singlehandedly botching Hurricane Katrina. But he did not design or build the levees that were breached. The Hurricane Contingency plans for the area were formulated by the City of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana. The response from FEMA was inadequate because it was something that nobody has even seen or expected before. It did not help that people in the city ignored the mandatory evacuation orders."

Bottom line: it is SO EASY to choose a scapegoat. One of the reasons why I'm personally hesitant to criticize Bush is because so many people my age see something like "Fahrenheit 9/11" or a "9/11 Truther" video and IMMEDIATELY become vehemently anti-Bush. Everyone says that the Bush adminstration and corporate America manipulated the minds the people...does anyone ever take a look at how the liberal media does the same thing?

We're in a hell of a tight spot right now and the Bush administration is to blame for much of it. But I think this country has become so biased that every problem we run into is now automatically the fault of Bush. People are inherently lazy and if it's convenient not to take responsibility for their own actions, they'll blame someone else in a heartbeat.

Merry Christmas!

'Bush Lied'? If Only It Were That Simple.

2008-12-01T21:34:00.000-08:00

This is an article written by Fred Hiatt of the Washington Post on June 9, 2008. He attacks the "Bush Lied" products and says that Bush really didn't lie. Bush' exact response to whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction was "substantiated by intelligence information." He says that the entire "Bush Lied" story is completely false and unfair. Although he does not completely support Bush's policies he thinks he has been poorly treated. Mostly he writes to say that it is difficult for a person to act on evidence that may or may not be true. The link to the article is listed below.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/08/AR2008060801687.html

Indecision 2000

2008-12-01T19:55:00.000-08:00

A day after the Supreme Court decided to award George Bush the presidency of the United States, John Stewart responds.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Indecision 2000 - Boy to the World

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

Stem Cell Research// New York Times

2008-12-01T17:30:00.000-08:00

THE PRESIDENT'S DECISION: THE PRESIDENT; A Long Process That Led Bush To His Decision [new window]

"Just how thoroughly Mr. Bush considered the issue and whether that represented a usual or unusual degree of presidential engagement is difficult to know, and subject to interpretation. But even his critics acknowledge that his decision was well-informed, and seemingly everybody who met with Mr. Bush in the Oval Office came away impressed by what he knew about the topic."

This article, dated 08/11/01, centers on the reaction of media to Bush's controversial announcement to stop federal funding for future development on Stem Cell Research (allowing funding for, however, research on existing lines). While it does give credence to Bush for attempting to come to a fully realized decision, it also acknowledges that the depth to which this is true may be up for debate, as some media outlets had felt that his administration was actively seeking to frame his decision in this light. Considering, however, that this article, written during a time of around 50% public approval, comes from the New York Times [obviously a notorious liberal media elitist paper] - it's rather even-handed, possibly bordering on approving.

Praise for Bush's AIDS Work

2008-12-01T11:48:00.001-08:00

http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_11112237

Today, President-elect Barack Obama praised the Bush administration for its work in Africa for AIDS relief: "I salute President Bush for his leadership in crafting a plan for AIDS relief in Africa and backing it up with funding dedicated to saving lives and preventing the spread of the disease... And my administration will continue this critical work to address the crisis around the world."

Obama recognizes the strides that Bush's 2003 project achieved of giving lifesaving treatments to 2 million people in five years. Bush claims that this goal was met and exceeded earlier than expected. Bush's program gave treatment to more than 10 million people around the world - a drastic change from the 50,000 people who were receiving treatment when the program began. Because of the treatments the program funded, over 237,000 children have been born without HIV, as the virus did not transfer from mother to child.

What If...

2008-11-30T19:46:00.000-08:00

One of recent history's greatest "What Ifs."

In this clip from the 2008 Democratic National Convention, Al Gore comments on the unfortunate consequences of the 2000 election. In hindsight, the 2000 election was much more important than most would have imagined, Gore says before explaining how he would have solved the problems plaguing his former opponent's ill-fated presidency.

Election 2000: Tim Russert

2008-11-27T17:05:00.000-08:00

Tim Russert appeared on the Today show on November 13, 2008 to discuss the pathways to victory for each campaign depending on how Florida was allocated. Russert goes into great detail about any possible outcomes of the election, what Katherine Harris might do, what the Gore campaign might do, what the Bush campaign might do. It was an awful shame that Tim didn't get to be involved in the election this year; he surely would have had a ball.

2008-11-26T11:04:00.000-08:00

This cartoon characterizes the difficulties many citizen of Florida ran into when attempting to vote in the 2000 election. The main problem with the ballot in Florida was that the ballot was tilted and slanted so the wholes did not exactly match up with each candidate. As many as 19,000 voters realized they accidentally voted for Buchanan and attempted to correct this by punching an additional whole in the third whole for Al Gore, their candidate of choice. However, these ballots were inevitably thrown out and not counted during the recount and this lost Gore the election.

2008-11-24T08:38:00.000-08:00

I think this cartoon shows how little understanding the American voters had of the events of the 2000 election. It was extremely confusing even for those actively following. In this case a voter is shown to think that Dangling Chad is the name of a person rather than a problem with ballots. It also in some ways shows how easily people forget the affect that Nader had on that election because there was so much emphasis on the recounts in Florida.

2008-11-24T06:01:00.000-08:00

Here's a short clip of Saturday Night Live's Ana Gasteyer as Katherine Harris.

Primary Source Assignment

2008-11-23T18:33:00.000-08:00

This cartoon is by Darrin Bell (http://www.rudypark.com/editorialcartoons/topics/elections/2000/001109florida.gif). I like this source because it points out a major issue of the election that was due to a flaw in one person's logic. I don't understand why the ballot needed to be confusing - it really shouldn't be that difficult for people to vote.

COUNTING THE VOTE: HUMOR; Television Shows Find Comedy in the Errors

2008-11-23T17:26:00.000-08:00

This article, published 11/17/00, recaps a bunch of goodies for wannabe political humor wonks - including some of the posts that precede mine - well done, students more diligent than myself, well done [new window].

Also, this being more recent, Katherine Harris commented on her protrayal in Recount, available in this transcript off FoxNews.com (as she appeared on the ever-entertaining Hannity and Colmes). It's not really anything you wouldn't expect - obviously the film's portrayal was biased and probably over-the-top, but who doesn't love a good puppet-villian here and there?

Finally (and I do mean finally - this clip is so hard to find, it should be boxed in a vanity case and sold on QVC as the special item of the day), I tracked down one of my favorite SNL political skits - the Bush v Gore First Presidential Debate. NBC.com doesn't have this available, and they'll be itchin' more than a man with ants down his pants if they find out this little ditty made it past their de-youtubeing-of-NBC-stuff interns. [Thanks go out to Dan Rather for inspiring me with good 'ole southern backwoods talk.]

[Sorry about the awkwardness of the video placement... AOL Video doesn't like Safari or Firefox when it comes to blogs, it seems: Link to the original source [new window]

"Katherine Harris tries to certify Florida vote"

2008-11-23T17:09:00.000-08:00

This video recaps some of the events of the recount, and has some of the real footage of events that happen in the movie (including the real Katherine Harris).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck0GKmov0nI

2008-11-23T16:41:00.001-08:00

From Talking Points Memo-November 17, 2000 by John Marshall

As of late afternoon on Friday only about a half-dozen Florida counties had reported their overseas absentee ballot totals. But the results weren't pretty. So far the numbers are running 31 to 10 in favor of George W. Bush. Yikes! If that sort of percentage holds up Bush could move another thousand votes ahead of Gore.

Consider this, though. Fox News reported on Wednesday that the US Postal Service was expediting delivery of military absentee ballots. But only military ballots. That doesn't seem fair. What if you're a Floridian hanging out in Tel Aviv? What about your vote?

The question, though, is this: Did the Bush folks lean on the USPS and get them to move those ballots along? And if so, why are the postal folks such push-overs?

Why does Talking Points think the Bush folks may have gotten in touch with the people at the US Postal Service? He has learned, on good authority, that the Bush campaign sent a letter to the Defense Department asking them to help insure that all military absentee ballots got to Florida in a timely fashion. Don't get me wrong: nothing untoward was implied or requested. But the folks at the DOD rightly responded that there are already procedures in place for this sort of thing.

Maybe the postal service didn't respond in quite the same way.

This post from Marshall is significant because it represents the drama that unfolded as the election results dragged on in 2000. Here, we see a hint at a Bush-United States Postal Service conspiracy. I think this shows us a lesson learned from the 2000 election that dragging things out, even if there are discrepancies, can lead to bigger problems. Of course in 2000, no riot or revolt overthrew our democracy by any means, but it did give us a glimpse of the possibility.

Ground Zero of the Florida Vote Recount

2008-11-23T10:09:00.000-08:00

A look at ground zero of the Florida vote recount -- Palm Beach County -- and at complaints of voting irregularities. Betty Ann Bowser reports from Palm Beach.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: By early this morning, Palm Beach County Democrats had compiled more than 5,000 affidavits from voters. Some complained their votes weren't counted; some said they were unfairly turned away from the polls on Tuesday by precinct workers. But, overwhelmingly, they complained the presidential ballot was confusing.

The confusing butterfly ballot

WOMAN: I never saw anything so confusing.

WOMAN: I'm from New Jersey, and I never saw anything like this.

WOMAN: It's absolutely ridiculous.

WOMAN: It is.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Bev Simon is an elementary school teacher who still isn't sure whether she voted for Vice President Gore or Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan.

BEV SIMON: The fact of the matter is, that it is very confusing. You're talking about the presidency of the United States, and that needs to be handled by a popular vote.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Do you want a chance to vote over again?

BEV SIMON: Oh, most definitely. And that's why I'm here today, because I feel that we have to be given the opportunity.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: And insurance executive Gerald Postin says he accidentally voted twice for President, which means his ballot was thrown out.

GERALD POSTIN: It is real confusing when you went to punch it and went to look at it. And I remember doing it and then I wanted to go back and there were so many people, I just said 'eh'.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: What happened to you? You punched it twice?

GERALD POSTIN: Yeah. I knew I was going to go back and ask for another card, but there were so many people waiting on line, I said forget about it. Then when I got home, I started thinking about it. I said wait a minute. That means my vote didn't count, you know. Gee, I better do something.

BETTY ANN BOWSER: Republican leaders say the ballot was legal under state statutes and they argue only a handful of voters were confused at the polls. Mary McCarty is a Palm Beach County commissioner.

MARY McCARTY: Suddenly because the Democrats don't like the outcome of the election, we now have to throw our whole democratic process in turmoil. It undermines the whole basis of our democratic system. That is not how democracy works. And, regardless of what people say about confusion or whatever, it is the voter's responsibility to go in and do the right thing. And 450,000 people were able to figure it out in Palm Beach County.

(http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/election/july-dec00/palmbeach.html#)

I really enjoyed the movie we watched in class about the Florida recount, and I found this article with quotes from Florida voters. Since I am from Palm Beach County, I remember hearing a lot about the recount from my parents, but I didn't realize how close the race was for Florida's electoral votes.

I called my dad to see what he remembered about the 2000 election and the butterfly ballot. He voted in Palm Beach County, but he didn't find the ballot confusing. He remembered that King's Point, which is a neighborhood one block from my house, was one of the centers for protest against the ballots. I find it both interesting and a little embarrassing that I lived in Palm Beach County during the recount.

After researching the recount online, I came across a number of articles about the 2008 election. One article stated,"More than 3,000 optical-scan ballots have mysteriously disappeared since the county held an election last Tuesday." With all of the controversy that surrounded Palm Beach County during the 2000 election, it is hard to believe they would let something like this happen during the next election.

-Taylor Foley

The Ace in the Pocket

2008-11-23T06:24:00.000-08:00

Florida Legislature,
December 7, 2000
Ann Telnaes

Telnaes drew this cartoon based on Democratic candidate Al Gore's lawyers' final effort in his quest for the presidency. They appealed to the Florida State Supreme Court to count 14,000 disputed ballots before the December 12, 2000 deadline for selecting presidential electors. The Republican-dominated Florida Legislature meanwhile prepared to convene a special session for December 8, 2000, to appoint a group of presidential electors who would support George W. Bush. Bush's brother Jeb was Florida's governor. "If the Supreme Court hadn't made the decision, then the Florida legislature would have decided whether [or] not the governor's brother was going to become president," Telnaes observes. "This cartoon's about that ace in the GOP's pocket."

(In 2001 Ann Telnaes became the second woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning. This cartoon and others can be seen at http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/telnaes/telnaes-pulitzer.html)

Counting the Vote Overview

2008-11-22T09:17:00.000-08:00

COUNTING THE VOTE: THE OVERVIEW; With Deadline Near, Florida Recount Grinds On

By DAVID FIRESTONE

Published: November 26, 2000

With only hours to go before a winner is declared in Florida's presidential balloting, weary election officials in Broward County finished their manual recount of ballots late tonight, cutting Gov. George W. Bush's lead over Vice President Al Gore in half. At the same time, their counterparts in Palm Beach County prepared to spend the night checking frantically for dimples, hanging chads and daylight in hundreds of punch cards before the deadline of 5 p.m. Sunday.

That time was set by the Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday for all counties to report their final results to Katherine Harris, Florida's secretary of state, who plans to go before the cameras shortly afterward to announce a winner.

The counting left Mr. Gore hundreds of votes behind Mr. Bush of Texas, and Mr. Gore's aides said they did not expect him to take the lead. Mr. Bush retained an official lead of 930 votes, but Mr. Gore had a net gain of 466 votes statewide in an unofficial tally of hand-counted ballots. If the votes hand-counted in Miami-Dade County last week were included in these figures, Mr. Gore would have 157 more votes, but the county election board stopped its manual recount on Wednesday, and those votes are not included in the unofficial hand-count tallies.

The Broward elections board finished counting 2,422 votes at eight minutes before midnight, giving Mr. Gore a net gain of 567 votes. Wiping their eyes in exhaustion, the three members of the elections board stood up in satisfaction when the counting was done and shook hands with the partisan observers who had monitored their every move. A cheer went up in the courtroom in which the ballots were counted.

But the counting there broke out in acrimony this morning when the canvassing board began considering a stack of about 500 dimpled absentee ballots, where holes had not been punched all the way through. Lawyers for the Republican Party argued vehemently that such ballots should not be considered because absentee voters could see whether they had fully punched the hole.

A Broward County spokesman said all of the dimpled absentee ballots had already been hand-counted in the presence of Republican and Democratic observers, but he acknowledged that they had not been mentioned when the county first released the number of disputed ballots it would count.

In Palm Beach County, the canvassing board said that Mr. Bush had gained 10 votes by late afternoon, but Democrats said that when later counts were included, Mr. Gore was ahead by 78 votes. Mr. Gore's poor showing in the Palm Beach County hand count was largely because of a tougher standard employed by county officials in judging whether dimpled ballots should be counted, a standard that Democrats pledged to challenge in court next week.

The manual count moved much more slowly in Palm Beach. Denise Cote, a spokeswoman for the county, said election officials there counted 2,000 ballots on Friday and 900 Saturday, but had roughly 7,000 left to finish by Sunday night. Judge Charles E. Burton, chairman of the Palm Beach County canvassing board, said that if the county did not finish, it would send whatever results it had completed to Tallahassee by the deadline. (The state elections division said it had not decided whether to accept partial results.) But Judge Burton was optimistic that the board would complete its task.

''We'll stay all night if we have to,'' he said.

But even as the hand-counted ballots piled up in Palm Beach and Broward Counties, it became increasingly clear as the tumultuous week ended that the certified results Ms. Harris planned to announce on Sunday would immediately be swept away in a tide of litigation to be filed by both sides.

No matter which candidate is able to declare himself the president-elect on Sunday night, lawyers for Mr. Gore plan to be in court first thing Monday morning to formally contest the election in three counties.

''I think that both sides probably will want to be sure that the results in the counties they're contesting are heard in front of a court, regardless of how the overall statewide votes are,'' said David Boies, Mr. Gore's chief lawyer in Florida. ''I don't think either side will withdraw their contests just because on Sunday at 5 p.m. one side or the other is a few votes ahead.''

The contests grew in importance for Mr. Gore as Democratic officials acknowledged he would probably not prevail in the hand counts. Assuming he mounts a legal contest, aides said the vice president would probably address the nation next week to explain his decision to press on.

Aides worry that he has not stated his case plainly enough to voters and that his previous public comments have been more a call for patience than an explanation of his position. Without a clear explanation why he has refused to concede, the aides said, Mr. Gore knows his support could weaken.

Republican lawyers, meanwhile, filed lawsuits in four counties late tonight -- Hillsborough, Okaloosa, Pasco and Polk -- demanding that discarded military ballots be counted before the Sunday deadline. The ballots had been cast aside because they lacked postmarks, dates or proper signatures, but the Bush campaign said they should have been allowed and that a fifth suit would be filed Sunday morning in Orange County. Mr. Bush's campaign had already asked Circuit Judge L. Ralph Smith to reinstate some of the ballots on Friday, but withdrew the suit today after the judge said in court that he was unlikely to reinstate the ballots.

And lawyers for both sides began work this weekend on briefs requested by the United States Supreme Court, which agreed on Friday to hear Mr. Bush's appeal from the Florida Supreme Court's ruling allowing manual recounts to continue beyond the state's deadline for certifying returns. The initial briefs have to be filed by 4 p.m. Tuesday, and the justices will hear oral arguments at 10 a.m. on Friday.

If the court rules in Mr. Bush's favor, saying that Ms. Harris was within her rights to cut off the hand counts after seven days, that could undermine the challenges Mr. Gore is mounting in the three counties, and would probably overturn a victory by Mr. Gore if he should be declared a winner by Ms. Harris on Sunday. A ruling for Mr. Gore would mean the election would probably be determined by the outcome of the challenges, which are likely to wind up back in the Florida Supreme Court.

The expanding universe of litigation made it clear that the real deadline in the case is Dec. 12, the date by which the states must select their Electoral College delegates. The Sunday deadline will be useful psychologically to the declared winner, who may in the public mind be harder to dislodge after a certification from Ms. Harris and the state's Election Canvassing Commission. But with so many hearings and briefs planned for the coming week, the joy of declared victory may be short-lived if the winner must struggle to avoid being unseated.

Florida, indeed, offers ample precedent for successful election challenges that topple victors. Most recently, in 1997, an appeals court unseated Xavier Suarez, who had been elected mayor of Miami, after his challenger, Joe Carollo, contested the election on the basis of fraudulent absentee ballots.

In the Bush-Gore case, the Gore camp will not be alleging fraud but rather errors and legal violations in counting ballots. In Miami-Dade County, the Democrats plan to sue because the elections board there voted to stop their manual recount of ballots, a direct result, according to the Gore campaign, of a heated demonstration by Republican partisans in the elections office. In Nassau County, the campaign will contest the decision to toss out a recounted tally where Mr. Gore picked up 52 votes. And in Palm Beach County, the challenge will center on the decision by the elections board not to count many dimpled ballots as votes.

The Democrats have seized in particular on the demonstration that they say caused the Miami-Dade board to stop its hand counts, charging that it was an orchestrated effort by Republicans to disrupt the count. Many of the demonstrators in Broward County said they were former recount observers who were being put up in local hotels and given meals by the Republican Party.

In this race, of course, it will not be possible for a state court to unseat a president-elect directly, so the object of Mr. Gore's contest will be the electors that the State Legislature must select by Dec. 12. The Legislature is dominated by Republicans, many of whom have said they are so angry at Mr. Gore's legal challenges that they would vote to choose electors pledged to Mr. Bush even if Mr. Gore should be certified as the winner on Sunday.

But after the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear the case on Friday afternoon, the leaders of the Florida House and Senate chose a somewhat less confrontational tack, announcing plans to join Mr. Bush's side before the Supreme Court. The Legislature's strategy will stay in the courts only for a short time, though. Johnnie B. Byrd Jr., a senior House Republican and co-chairman of the Legislature's select committee on the election, vowed in an interview today that even if contest actions are still unresolved by the Dec. 12 deadline for naming electors, the Republican-dominated Legislature will go ahead and pick a slate of 25 electors loyal to Mr. Bush. ''It's been fun, but we're ready for a little finality,'' he said.

Correction: November 29, 2000, Wednesday A chart on Sunday tracking legal challenges over Florida's presidential ballots referred incorrectly to the Bush campaign's appeal of a decision by the Federal District Court in Miami, which refused to stop manual recounts. The case remains active in the United States Court of Appeals in Atlanta. Only a request for an immediate halt of manual recounts was rejected on Nov. 17. On Monday, at the request of Bush campaign lawyers, the appeals court decided to postpone hearings until Dec. 5.

This article, along with many others from November 2000, really demonstrates the chaos that was happening during that time. There is a lot going on in this article, just like there was a lot going on in Florida during the 2000 recount. Just seeing the numbers laid out in an article are surprising - just how many votes Al Gore got (and did not get) from the recount leave people wondering what could have happened. The lack of a standard for the counties in the recount is present in this article, the question about military ballots is here, and the amount of ballots that were not recounted is in here too. This whole debacle is so ridiculous, and everyone can see the mistakes that were made when they are written out on paper.

New book claims JFK planned to get U.S. out of Vietnam

2008-11-22T06:41:00.001-08:00

On today, the 45th anniversary of the John F. Kennedy's death, Gordon M. Goldstein has published an Op-Ed in the Los Angeles Times in which he claims that the assassination of JFK ensured heightened U.S. involvement in Vietnam. His new book Lessons in Disaster is based on interviews with McGeorge Bundy, national security adviser to both JFK and LBJ. In these interviews, Bundy claims that JFK had planned, if reelected in 1964, to pull most U.S. advisers out of Vietnam. As you may remember, I argued in class that JFK had made no clear commitment to pull out of Vietnam. In light of this new evidence, I may have to revise my conclusions.

Karl Rove- Election Night 2000

2008-11-21T14:31:00.000-08:00

Here is Karl Rove talking on CNN the night of the 2000 election, focusing his efforts on Florida.

Rove is upset that major news stations had already called Florida for Gore before all of the votes were in. He then goes on a big rant about how Republicans are winning the vote count in most of the counties, by "a substantial amount" and are doing better than he had predicted. He even talks about the controversial Florida counties such as Miami-Dade and how the Republicans are doing much better than he had anticipated. Looking back now, it's a different story and we know why Bush was ahead in those counties and the voting catastrophe that ensued. But Rove does make an important point about the election coverage by major news stations and their willingness to jump the gun on calling state as well as election winners. Things would have gone a little smoother, I believe, if the major news stations didn't continue to go back and forth in calling Florida for Gore than Bush and so on. Even watching the election this year, news stations were calling the states for McCain or Obama right after the polls had closed. Apparently they didn't learn from their debacle in calling Florida in 2000.

2008-11-21T13:33:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyKlcQ_HiD4

Gore mentions in his concession that the world community may look at the trouble the US had with deciding the election as a sign of American weakness. His response that the process showed the strength of American democracy in its ability to overcome special circumstances reminded me of the lecture former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski gave at BU. He recounted a UN conference he was attending while the Florida battle was going on. He said that everyone that got up to speak made a joke about the situation and how hard it was for the US to decide a winner, some criticizing the American election process. He said, however, that when Kofi Annan got up to speak he said something along the lines of this: (not a direct quote)
"In my home country of Ghanna if a week went by without a winner in the election a General would claim the presidency. If two weeks went by, a Colonel would. If three weeks went by, a Major would."

Though I wouldn't expect a military takeover in most countries, especially the US, Gore and Annan's comments really shed light on the issue. Even with all the issues of the right to vote and the political subversion that went on, at least in the portrayal in "Recount", the whole process was ultimately decided with legal courts without massive riots or civil unrest. Was the Florida battle in the 2000 election a demonstration of the flaws in the voting process or was it a show of strength American democracy being controlled by law?

Liberties; Oyez! Oyez! Oy Vey! This Is One Nutty Election!

2008-11-21T11:46:00.000-08:00

By MAUREEN DOWD

Published: November 26, 2000

The old Don had helped the humiliated man in the black robe get justice. He had treated the judge's enemies as his own enemies.

He had caused those who tried to ruin the judge to weep bitter tears. He made sure the nominee under his protection got justice and became a justice.

''Someday, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do me a service in return,'' the old Don, the head of the WASP Corleones, whispered to the younger man.

For Clarence Thomas, that day has arrived. Don Georgio of Kennebunkport needs a splash of service in connection with the hotheaded Sonny, who has gotten himself into his biggest scrape yet. Nearly a decade has passed, and now it time for Clarence to repay his political godfather.

Imagine what might have secretly transpired between the two:

''Look how the Democrats massacred my boy with dimpled ballots and endless hand recounts,'' an emotional Don Georgio confides in Justice Thomas. ''It's a low-tech lynching. I want you to use all your powers and all your skills. I don't want his mother to see him this way.''

Just when you thought our electoral spectacle could not get more surreal, labyrinthine, incestuous and conspiratorial, we now have Jeb's legislature joining W.'s lawsuit before Daddy's old Supreme Court.

''It's just a family affair,'' laughed a Bush aide in Tallahassee.

If the Bush forces angrily discounted a decision of the Florida Supreme Court that went against them, because all the justices were appointed by Democratic governors, then why would the Gore forces trust a decision of the U.S. Supreme Court if it went against them, when seven of nine justices were appointed by Republican presidents, including two by W.'s dad?

The highest court in the land is supposed to be above politics. But nothing has been above politics so far in this presidential mud wrestle.

And the two candidates whose marathon donnybrook has now spilled into the Supreme Court made that body a major campaign issue.

W. expressed the highest respect for Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia. Al Gore seized on this to scare women voters: ''When the names of Scalia and Thomas are used as benchmarks for who would be appointed, those are code words, and nobody should mistake this, for saying that the governor would appoint people who would overturn Roe v. Wade.''

How rich to see W., whose campaign was steeped in skepticism about Washington, the federal government and trial lawyers, send his lawyers to Washington to petition a states' rights Supreme Court to overturn a state decision.

The theme of revenge, so prominent in the race, is continuing in the coda. Cuban-Americans in Florida, still angry at the Clinton administration over the seizure of Elian, threatened to go back to the streets, which helped stop the Miami-Dade hand count that Al was hoping would put him over the top.

The Bush team filed suit with the Supreme Court in Washington knowing that the Supreme Court in Florida would ''always be a problem and that there had to be recourse,'' as one Bushie put it.

But the legal tactics of the two camps are running ahead of their political strategies.

Bush advisers were riding the tiger this weekend, unsure if the high court would prolong the wrangling rather than head it off. Their hope had been that W. would eke out an edge in votes by the 5 p.m. Sunday deadline, and Katherine Harris would hold a press conference certifying W. the winner.

Then he could have emerged and declared himself the president-elect -- as Napoleon once took the crown from the pope and proclaimed himself emperor.

''We were counting on Katherine 'Where is my ambassadorship? I held up my end of the deal' Harris to complete her duty,'' a Bush adviser in Florida said mordantly.

But now they are not sure what to do. If Al Gore ''steals enough votes to win'' on Sunday, in the Bush argot, at least the W. camp will have the U.S. Supreme Court to keep hopes alive. But what if W. gets his votes, and then the justices validate the Gore hand recounts -- hoisting W. with his own legal petard?

Will W. get Jebby's legislature to come to his rescue? Will Al keep counting and counting and counting . . .

Voters in 2000 and The Nadar Factor

2008-11-21T07:31:00.000-08:00

Ralph Nadar, though a third party candidate and far from the head of the race, had a measurable affect on the outcome of the 2000 election. This ad shows how he had a sufficient grasp on some of the widespread attitudes of American voters during this election time - indifference, pessimism, and distrust of and towards the government. This ad appeals to these feelings in a very effective way.

Politically Incorrect Recount

2008-11-20T21:35:00.000-08:00

The first 10 minutes of this episode of Politically Incorrect focuses on the week's topics of Nov. 24, 2000. On that date, Dick Cheney suffered a mild heart attack. This lead a combined force of Bill Maher, Radio Talk Show host Al Rantel, Batman's Adam West, actress Sherely Lee Ralph, and in an ironic setup, Al Franken to discuss openly their views of how both campaigns were running the recount in Florida. Al Franken leads an attack on Gov. Bush's campaign, declaring a hand recount is needed throughout the whole state. Luckily for Franken in the year 2008, he ran for Senate in a state which suggests, like legislation signed in Texas, that hand recounts are the most effective.
Other topics discussed include the vitality of the VP, the three month gap between election day and inauguration day, and the importance of a healthy candidate.
You've been warned, much of what is discussed in the clip is heated and politically incorrect.

Scalia: Get over it!

2008-11-20T19:35:00.000-08:00

I know this isn't exactly from 2000, but Scalia definitely has his own primary source opinions on the issue. He gets very defensive, and "get over it!" is a way of dodging a question. There is no doubt that his conservative bent certainly was a factor in his actions during the recount. I found this video fascinating because it shows a Supreme Court Justice getting flustered and embarrassed because he failed to make an objective decision in 2000.

Woodward and Bernstein visit W. Mark Felt, a.k.a. "Deep Throat"

2008-11-20T15:17:00.001-08:00

Here is an account of their recent visit with former FBI man and Watergate whistle-blower W. Mark Felt.

Quotes from Dan Rather on Election Night 2000

2008-11-20T14:47:00.000-08:00

Here is a list of Dan Rather quotes on the 2000 election compiled by Daniel Kurtzman on About.com:

"This race is shakier than cafeteria Jell-O."

"Turn the lights down, the party just got wilder."

"It's cardiac-arrest time in this presidential campaign."

"He swept through the South like a tornado through a trailer park."

"Don't bet the trailer money yet."

"It's too early to say he has the whip hand."

"Now Florida, that race, the heat from it is hot enough to peel house paint."

"It's a ding dong battle back and forth."

"If he doesn't carry Florida Slim will have left town."

"If a frog had side pockets, he'd carry a hand gun."

"They both have champagne on ice, but after the night is over, they might need a pick axe to open them."

"This race is tight like a too-small bathing suit on a too-long ride home from the beach."

"It's about as complicated as a wiring diagram to some dynamo."

"Only votes talk - everything else walks."

"This will show you how tight it is - it's spandex tight."

"We're going to go to some of those longnecks from a long time ago."

"He's going to find that people will hang on him like a coat rack."

"This election swings like one of those pendulum things."

"This race is as tight as the rusted lug nuts on a '55 Ford."

"What we know is that there will be no decision until some of those races are decided."

"Al Gore has his back to the wall, shirt tails on fire with this race in Florida."

"You talk about a ding-dong, knock-down, get-up race."

"When it comes to a race like this, I'm a long distance runner and an all-day hunter."

"It's the American way: if you don't vote, you don't get to whine."

"Smelling salts for all Democrats please."

"Maybe you can bring some perspective on this, we're plum out."

"When the going gets weird, anchor men punt."

"Tipper is probably telling her husband to hook a U, go back to the house to get a recount."

"It doesn't matter if you're a Democrat, Republican or a mug wamp, elected officials play it straight."

"Florida is the whole deal, the real deal, a big deal."

"The presidential race still hotter than a Laredo parking lot."

"These returns are running like a squirrel in a cage."

"It was as hot and squalid as a New York elevator in August."

"Bush has run through Dixie like a big wheel through a cotton field."

"This will have the people in Austin standing up like they got stuck with hat pins."

"...in Austin, between the 10 gallon hats and the Willie Nelson head bands."

"The big burrito out there in California"

"They'll be doing back flips in Nashville."

"It would be Shakespearean for Al Gore to lose because of his home state."

"I think you would likelier see a hippopotamus run through this room than see George Bush appoint Ralph Nader to the Cabinet."

"None of this television mumbo jumbo, let's get in there and count the votes."

"Frankly we don't know whether to wind the watch or to bark at the moon."

"We've lived by the crystal ball, we're eating so much broken glass. We're in critical condition."

GOP operative Roger Stone reflects on his role in Miami-Dade "Brooks Brothers Riot"

2008-11-20T14:45:00.001-08:00

In Recount, we see a re-enactment of the "Brooks Brothers Riot" in which Roger Stone and a group of other well dressed young GOP operatives shut down the vote count in Miami Dade by getting past security and shouting down the recount process. In a recent interview, Mr. Stone has expressed some regret about his role in this affair.

Onion News-in-Brief

2008-11-20T12:57:00.000-08:00

Man Who Threatened To Move To Canada Before Election Still Here

November 29, 2000 | Issue 36•43
CEDAR FALLS, IA– Despite repeated pre-election threats of expatriation, area resident Ron Glick remains a U.S. citizen, acquaintances of the 43-year-old reported Monday. "For weeks leading up to the election, Ron kept saying, 'I swear, if that clown wins, I am moving to Canada,'" coworker Paula Vogel said. "Well, he's been at work every day since, so unless he's commuting from Winnipeg, he's still here." Glick has threatened to renounce his citizenship every four years since 1980, when Reagan's victory was supposed to have precipitated his emigration to Spain.

I love this little blurb from The Onion. I think it is a hilarious jab at all those people you'll hear threatening to move to Canada or Mexico should the candidate of their choice lose an election. We all know those people and we've all heard those people shoot their mouths off before, and such threats are not only annoying but utterly ridiculous and empty. The quality of life in America is so high - not many people want to leave.

Beyond it's satire, this little blurb also provides insight into the American electoral process. Americans have long been jaded and confused by national elections. Such feelings and public opinion are not a recent phenomenon that's only developed since 2000. The electoral college has confused generations of Americans, and anger and disgust with the American electoral process has always been a part of presidential elections. Like Ron Glick, who's been disgruntled since 1980, American disillusionment with the electoral process reaches far back into this country's history and is much more than a recent, 21st century phenomenon.

The Concession Phone Call

2008-11-20T10:44:00.000-08:00

This clip imagines what was said between Gore and Bush in Gore's initial concession phone call and his later retraction.

October 2000 Rage Against the Machine Video

2008-11-20T09:14:00.001-08:00

I thought that I would post this to show how many people, including myself, felt in 2000. I saw the election as a contest between two thoroughly mediocre candidates that didn't have enough substantial differences between them to make necessary changes to the direction of the country.

Man, was I wrong. I don't think many of us really grasped how important the 2000 election was at the time, as was noted in class a few weeks ago, but those seemingly small difference between Gore and Bush would have created a drastically different trajectory for America, the main turning point being September 11th. Of course it's all speculative, but I think Gore would have gone into Afghanistan but not Iraq, and he would have conducted relations with other nations in a very different fashion.

At the time, I cast my vote for Nader as a protest to the Democrats for abandoning the left wing of their party. I still don't feel horribly guilty about this, having voted in Massachusetts. And even at the time I thought it was wrong to vote Nader in a swing state, as I did recognize that Gore was the lesser of two evils.

This video documents some of the frustration people felt prior to the election, feeling that both candidates catered to the major corporations and they were too moderate to address major problems brewing in the globalization-era of the world. It's humorous, makes some valid points (as well as a few cheap shots) and it features many familiar faces that we've been discussing recently.

Gore could have won if the recount went through....

2008-11-20T09:11:00.001-08:00

Here's a different take on the NY times article:

Everything the New York Times Thinks About the Florida Recount Is Wrong!It turns out the U.S. Supreme Court really did cast the deciding vote ...

By Mickey KausPosted Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2001, at 4:18 AM ET

Just when you thought the Florida recount story was settling down into a familiar bitter partisan dispute, the Orlando Sentinel has changed the story line again. The Sentinel, remember, was the paper that first uncovered the hidden cache of valid, uncounted "overvotes"—seemingly double-voted ballots that, as the massive media recount of Florida has now confirmed, were the key to a potential Gore victory, if only he had known it.

Gore instead focused on "undervotes," ballots that initially registered no vote at all. It has been widely assumed that the real-life, statewide recount of Florida votes that was ordered by the Florida Supreme Court a year ago—and then abruptly stopped by the U.S. Supreme Court—was also limited to undervotes. Certainly the Florida court's opinion focuses on undervotes.

But the Sentinel had the wit to call up Leon County Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis, who was actually supervising the real-life recount on Saturday, Dec. 9, 2000, when the U.S. Supreme Court stopped it. Lewis told the Sentinel that "he would not have ignored the overvote ballots."

Though he stopped short of saying he definitely would have expanded the recount to include overvotes, Lewis emphasized 'I'd be open to that.'

"If that had happened," the Sentinel notes, "it would have amounted to a statewide hand recount. And it could have given the election to Gore," since salvaging the valid overvotes turns out to have been "Gore's only path to victory." Lewis had apparently planned a hearing for later that Saturday, at which the overvote issue was going to be discussed.

Why is this significant? Because the comforting, widely publicized, Bush-ratifying spin given to the recent media recount by the New York Times(and the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post) has been that—as the Times' lede confidently put it—"George W. Bush would have won even if the United States Supreme Court had allowed the statewide manual recount of the votes that the Florida Supreme Court had ordered to go forward." [Emphasis added.] (The Times' front-page headline was "Study of Disputed Florida Ballots Finds Justices Did Not Cast the Deciding Vote.")

We now know, thanks to the Sentinel, that this Times take (and the somewhat more hedged ledes in the Journal and Post) is thoroughly bogus—unfounded and inaccurate. If the recount had gone forward Judge Lewis might well have counted the overvotes in which case Gore might well have won. Certainly the Times doesn't know otherwise.

That Judge Lewis would probably have counted the overvotes at the perverse (in hindsight) urging of the Bush camp (which either wanted to delay the proceedings or erroneously thought the overvotes would boost Bush's total) doesn't alter this conclusion.

It looks as if the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court who stopped the Florida count cast the deciding vote after all. …

P.S.: Does this mean Gore's undervote-obsessed recount strategy wasn't foolish, as previously charged in this space? Not necessarily. By the time the issue of the overvotes was raised before Judge Lewis, on Dec. 9, it was almost too late to count them before Dec. 12, the date accepted (foolishly!) by Gore's lawyers as the deadline for selecting Florida's electors. Any recount, even if it put Gore ahead, would have been chaotic and disputed, as this Sentinel companion story suggests. Had Gore instead asked for a full statewide recount immediately after the Nov. 7 election, as some of his aides urged, there would have been plenty of time to count both undervotes and overvotes before Dec. 12.

P.P.S.: If any paper gets a Pulitzer out of this Florida mess, shouldn't it be the Sentinel?

South Park Does 2000 Election

2008-11-20T08:17:00.000-08:00

http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/152351

http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/152315

These are two clips from a South Park episode that aired a few days after the 2000 election. The kindergarten students elect a new class president and encounter problems that spoof the Recount issue. (Only the first halves of each clip are relevant.)

Notice also that the two candidates' names (Filmore and Ike) are those of past presidents.

2008-11-20T06:51:00.000-08:00

This video is the first segment of a documentary called In View which was produced specifically for Palm Beach County. It reviews the personal accounts of those who were recounting and making the decisions at the poll centers. The amount of pressure put on this individuals seems to be astronomical considering the pressure from Democrat and Republican officials as well as the hardships put on them by thousands of threats by email and phone. Certainly these people wanted to do a good job while under such scrutiny, but one can't help but think that personal threats against their well-being swayed them in some way, even subconsciously.

One Year Later: Newspapers Examine Florida Ballots in Unofficial Recount

2008-11-20T03:16:00.000-08:00

November 12, 2001
Study of Disputed Florida Ballots Finds Justices Did Not Cast the Deciding Vote
By FORD FESSENDEN and JOHN M. BRODER [NY Times]

A comprehensive review of the uncounted Florida ballots from last year's presidential election reveals that George W. Bush would have won even if the United States Supreme Court had allowed the statewide manual recount of the votes that the Florida Supreme Court had ordered to go forward.

Contrary to what many partisans of former Vice President Al Gore have charged, the United States Supreme Court did not award an election to Mr. Bush that otherwise would have been won by Mr. Gore. A close examination of the ballots found that Mr. Bush would have retained a slender margin over Mr. Gore if the Florida court's order to recount more than 43,000 ballots had not been reversed by the United States Supreme Court.

Even under the strategy that Mr. Gore pursued at the beginning of the Florida standoff filing suit to force hand recounts in four predominantly Democratic counties Mr. Bush would have kept his lead, according to the ballot review conducted for a consortium of news organizations.

But the consortium, looking at a broader group of rejected ballots than those covered in the court decisions, 175,010 in all, found that Mr. Gore might have won if the courts had ordered a full statewide recount of all the rejected ballots. This also assumes that county canvassing boards would have reached the same conclusions about the disputed ballots that the consortium's independent observers did. The findings indicate that Mr. Gore might have eked out a victory if he had pursued in court a course like the one he publicly advocated when he called on the state to "count all the votes."

In addition, the review found statistical support for the complaints of many voters, particularly elderly Democrats in Palm Beach County, who said in interviews after the election that confusing ballot designs may have led them to spoil their ballots by voting for more than one candidate.

More than 113,000 voters cast ballots for two or more presidential candidates. Of those, 75,000 chose Mr. Gore and a minor candidate; 29,000 chose Mr. Bush and a minor candidate. Because there was no clear indication of what the voters intended, those numbers were not included in the consortium's final tabulations.

Thus the most thorough examination of Florida's uncounted ballots provides ammunition for both sides in what remains the most disputed and mystifying presidential election in modern times. It illuminates in detail the weaknesses of Florida's system that prevented many from voting as they intended to. But it also provides support for the result that county election officials and the courts ultimately arrived at a Bush victory by the tiniest of margins.

The study, conducted over the last 10 months by a consortium of eight news organizations assisted by professional statisticians, examined numerous hypothetical ways of recounting the Florida ballots. Under some methods, Mr. Gore would have emerged the winner; in others, Mr. Bush. But in each one, the margin of victory was smaller than the 537- vote lead that state election officials ultimately awarded Mr. Bush.

For example, if Florida's 67 counties had carried out the hand recount of disputed ballots ordered by the Florida court on Dec. 8, applying the standards that election officials said they would have used, Mr. Bush would have emerged the victor by 493 votes. Florida officials had begun such a recount the next day, but the effort was halted that afternoon when the United States Supreme Court ruled in a 5-to-4 vote that a statewide recount using varying standards threatened "irreparable harm" to Mr. Bush.

But the consortium's study shows that Mr. Bush would have won even if the justices had not stepped in (and had further legal challenges not again changed the trajectory of the battle), answering one of the abiding mysteries of the Florida vote.

Even so, the media ballot review, carried out under rigorous rules far removed from the chaos and partisan heat of the post-election dispute, is unlikely to end the argument over the outcome of the 2000 presidential election. The race was so close that it is possible to get different results simply by applying different hypothetical vote-counting methods to the thousands of uncounted ballots. And in every case, the ballot review produced a result that was even closer than the official count a margin of perhaps four or five thousandths of one percent out of about six million ballots cast for president.

The consortium examined 175,010 ballots that vote-counting machines had rejected last November. Those included so-called undervotes, or ballots on which the machines could not discern a preference for president, and overvotes, those on which voters marked more than one candidate.

The examination then sought to judge what might have been considered a legal vote under various conditions from the strictest interpretation (a clearly punched hole) to the most liberal (a small indentation, or dimple, that indicated the voter was trying to punch a hole in the card). But even under the most inclusive standards, the review found that at most, 24,619 ballots could have been interpreted as legal votes.

The numbers reveal the flaws in Mr. Gore's post-election tactics and, in retrospect, why the Bush strategy of resisting county-by-county recounts was ultimately successful.

In a finding rich with irony, the results show that even if Mr. Gore had succeeded in his effort to force recounts of undervotes in the four Democratic counties, Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Volusia, he still would have lost, although by 225 votes rather than 537. An approach Mr. Gore and his lawyers rejected as impractical a statewide recount could have produced enough votes to tilt the election his way, no matter what standard was chosen to judge voter intent.

Another complicating factor in the effort to untangle the result is the overseas absentee ballots that arrived after Election Day. A New York Times investigation earlier this year showed that 680 of the late- arriving ballots did not meet Florida's standards yet were still counted. The vast majority of those flawed ballots were accepted in counties that favored Mr. Bush, after an aggressive effort by Bush strategists to pressure officials to accept them.

A statistical analysis conducted for The Times determined that if all counties had followed state law in reviewing the absentee ballots, Mr. Gore would have picked up as many as 290 additional votes, enough to tip the election in Mr. Gore's favor in some of the situations studied in the statewide ballot review.

But Mr. Gore chose not to challenge these ballots because many were from members of the military overseas, and Mr. Gore did not want to be accused of seeking to invalidate votes of men and women in uniform.

Democrats invested heavily in get- out-the-vote programs across Florida, particularly among minorities, recent immigrants and retirees from the Northeast. But their efforts were foiled by confusing ballot designs in crucial counties that resulted in tens of thousands of Democratic voters spoiling their ballots. More than 150,000 of those spoiled ballots did not show evidence of voter intent even after independent observers closely examined them and the most inclusive definition of what constituted a valid vote was applied.

The majority of those ballots were spoiled because multiple choices were made for president, often, apparently, because voters were confused by the ballots. All were invalidated by county election officials and were excluded from the consortium count because there was no clear proof of voter intent, unless there were other clear signs of the voter's choice, like a matching name on the line for a write-in candidate.

In Duval County, for example, 20 percent of the ballots from African- American areas that went heavily for Mr. Gore were thrown out because voters followed instructions to mark a vote on every page of the ballot. In 62 precincts with black majorities in Duval County alone, nearly 3,000 people voted for Mr. Gore and a candidate whose name appeared on the second page of the ballot, thus spoiling their votes.

In Palm Beach County, 5,310 people, most of them probably confused by the infamous butterfly ballot, voted for Mr. Gore and Patrick J. Buchanan. The confusion affected Bush voters as well, but only 2,600 voted for Mr. Bush and another candidate.

The media consortium included The Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Tribune Company, The Washington Post, The Associated Press, The St. Petersburg Times, The Palm Beach Post and CNN. The group hired the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago in January to examine the ballots. The research group employed teams of three workers they called coders to examine each undervoted ballot and mark down what they saw in detail. Three coders provided a bulwark against inaccuracy or bias in the coding. For overvotes, one coder was used because there was seldom disagreement among examiners in a trial run using three coders.

The data produced by the ballot review allows scrutiny of the disputed Florida vote under a large number of situations and using a variety of different standards that might have applied in a hand recount, including the appearance of a dimple, a chad dangling by one or more corners and a cleanly punched card.

The difficulty of perceiving dimples or detached chads can be measured by the number of coders who saw them, but most of the ballot counts here are based on what a simple majority two out of three coders recorded.

The different standards mostly involved competing notions of what expresses voter intent on a punch card. The 29,974 ballots using optical scanning equipment were mostly interpreted using a single standard any unambiguous mark, whether a circle or a scribble or an X, on or near the candidate name was considered evidence of voter intent.

If all the ballots had been reviewed under any of seven single standards, and combined with the results of an examination of overvotes, Mr. Gore would have won, by a very narrow margin. For example, using the most permissive "dimpled chad" standard, nearly 25,000 additional votes would have been reaped, yielding 644 net new votes for Mr. Gore and giving him a 107-vote victory margin.

But the dimple standard was also the subject of the most disagreement among coders, and Mr. Bush fought the use of this standard in recounts in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami- Dade Counties. Many dimples were so light that only one coder saw them, and hundreds that were seen by two were not seen by three. In fact, counting dimples that three people saw would have given Mr. Gore a net of just 318 additional votes and kept Mr. Bush in the lead by 219.

Using the most restrictive standard the fully punched ballot card 5,252 new votes would have been added to the Florida total, producing a net gain of 652 votes for Mr. Gore, and a 115-vote victory margin.

All the other combinations likewise produced additional votes for Mr. Gore, giving him a slight margin over Mr. Bush, when at least two of the three coders agreed.

While these are fascinating findings, they do not represent a real- world situation. There was no set of circumstances in the fevered days after the election that would have produced a hand recount of all 175,000 overvotes and undervotes.

The Florida Supreme Court urged a statewide recount and ordered the state's 67 counties to begin a manual re-examination of the undervotes in a ruling issued Dec. 8 that left Mr. Gore and his allies elated.

The Florida court's 4-to-3 ruling rejected Mr. Gore's plea for selective recounts in four Democratic counties, but also Mr. Bush's demand for no recounts at all. Justice Barbara Pariente, in her oral remarks, asked, "Why wouldn't it be proper for any court, if they were going to order any relief, to count the undervotes in all of the counties where, at the very least, punch-card systems were operating?"

The court ultimately adopted her view, although extending it to all counties, including those using ballots marked by pen and read by optical scanning. Many counties immediately began the effort, applying different standards and, in some cases, including overvotes.

The United States Supreme Court stepped in only hours after the counting began, issuing an injunction to halt. Three days later, the justices overturned the Florida court's ruling, sealing Mr. Bush's election.

But what if the recounts had gone forward, as Mr. Gore and his lawyers had demanded?

The consortium asked all 67 counties what standard they would have used and what ballots they would have manually recounted. Combining that information with the detailed ballot examination found that Mr. Bush would have won the election, by 493 votes if two of the three coders agreed on what was on the ballot; by 389 counting only those ballots on which all three agreed.

The Florida Legislature earlier this year banned punch-card ballots statewide, directing counties to find a more reliable method. Many counties will use paper ballots scanned by computers at voting places that can give voters a second chance if their choices fail to register. In counties that use that technology, just 1 in 200 ballots had uncountable presidential votes, compared with 1 in 25 in punch-card counties.

Others will invest in computerized touch-screen machines that work like automated teller machines.

Kirk Wolter, who supervised the ballot review for the National Opinion Research Center, said that the study not only provided a comprehensive review of uncounted ballots in Florida but would help point the way toward more accurate and reliable voting systems. All data from the consortium recount is available on the Web at www.norc.org.

The review produced databases to study this election from a historical perspective, said Mr. Wolter, the research center's senior vice president for statistics and methodology, adding, "I hope in turn this can lead to voting reform and better ways of doing this in future elections."

Article by SanFran Newspaper Journalist on Recount

2008-11-20T02:24:00.000-08:00

Florida Justices Delay Certification of Vote

Written on November 18, 2000, this article includes a brief summary of the recount events, the public's opinion on the situation, Gore's reactions, and important statistics including the vote tabulation at press time. The article describes the Republicans' angry responses to the Florida Court's decision after Secretary of State Harris already certified the vote.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2000/11/18/MN57218.DTL&type=printable

The Daily Show's take on the 2000 Election Certification

2008-11-19T20:22:00.001-08:00

On November 27, 2000 the Daily Show's "Moment of Zen"

Although a bit outlandish, Steve Carrell shows how ridiculous the certification and this triumph of the "rule of law" seems to anyone outside of Katherine Harris's circle.

The 2000 Recount and The Onion

2008-11-19T19:48:00.000-08:00

Not surprisingly, The Onion (America's Finest News Source) had some pretty quality stories about the 2000 recount. Here are three great ones.

Florida Ballot

2008-11-19T16:44:00.000-08:00

florida_confusing_ballot.jpg

This political cartoon expresses the confusion and frustration voters experienced in the 2000 election. Obviously it wasn't this bad, but apparently it was bad enough.

Florida Recount Controversy- Nader's role

2008-11-19T13:50:00.000-08:00

http://img.timeinc.net/time/teach/glenspring2001/p12cartoon.gif

This lampoon of the 2000 election that came down to the winner of Florida between George Bush and Al Gore explains a lot about Ralph Nader, the third party candidate’s role in the election. Specifically concerning the recount in Florida, some voters argued that their confusion with the ballot had cased them to vote for Nader when they intended to vote for Gore. In a newscast clip from Florida in 2000 that we saw in the movie Recount, Ralph Nader actually said that he thought some votes he received in Florida were from individuals who had intended to vote Gore. So this picture shows that in some ways Gore had to appeal to Nader for help in trying to win Florida, which would have made him the President of the United States. So although Nader may have appeared to have less of an influence (hence the smaller boat), when it came down to Florida, he actually played a pivotal role in determining who would be elected President in 2000.

In considering Nader's effect on the election, historians and writers from 2000 argued that he had a more detrimental effect on Gore's campaign in comparison to the votes he took from the Bush campaign. According to the Washington Post "Nader received some 97,000 votes in Florida. According to the Washington Post, national exit polls showed that "47% of Nader voters would have gone for Gore if it had been a two-man race, and only 21% for Bush."

The New "Long Count"

2008-11-19T13:20:00.000-08:00

This is an OpEd piece written by New York Times writer William Safire. Safire is a self-described "libertarian conservative" and I think his point of view in this article is interesting. His examination of the media's role is prudent - if the networks hadn't called the election so early, Gore's actions may have been different. What's most critical, though, is how he describes the actions of the loser. The difference between gracious loss and going down kicking and screaming is relevant in today's political climate as well and can be urged across partisan lines.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9902E2DE1638F93AA35752C1A9669C8B63

Frost/Nixon and other films

2008-11-17T06:55:00.000-08:00

There was an interview in BU Today this morning with Robert Zelnick a BU COM professor who served as an executive editor for the Richard Nixon/David Frost interview that we looked at in class.

This interview is being given the Hollywood treatment by Ron Howard in the upcoming movie Frost/Nixon:

I actually saw this trailer for the first time last weekend, when I went to see "W," which is another film people in this class may be interested in:

I think this trailer sells the movie as something it's not; as a cinematic berating of George W. Bush. Stone really portrays him as a sympathetic character, someone with good intentions and a myriad of obstacles. That being said, it's certainly not an admiring portrait either, often painting him as a reformed alcoholic business failure who took a shot at politics and got in over his head (which, I suppose, is not that far off.)

Oliver Stone's portrayals of the Nixon presidency and the JFK assassination are more revisionist history, including more theory than historical fact. But this film actually sticks pretty closely to what we know, using accounts by people such as Bob Woodward and Richard Clark. The only "iffy" area I'd say would be the relations between Bush Jr and Bush Sr. I have no idea where Stone got his source material for some of those more personal scenes.

You can read the mixed reviews at Rotten Tomatoes (which currently stand at about 60% good 40% "rotten") but I'd say that the movie is worth checking out, if only to see Richard Dreyfuss' phenomenal interpretation of Dick Cheney.

Has anyone else seen this? Thoughts?

While we're on the subject; does anyone have "presidential" movies to recommend? If you can stomach Kevin Costner's miserable attempt at a Boston accent, I really like the movie "Thirteen Days" about the Cuban missile crisis. Also the documentary "Fog of War" is an amazing film about Robert McNamara that touches on a variety of subjects from the past 60 years of US history. It's interesting to hear stories and opinions on WWII, Vietnam, the Cold War, etc from a man who had a front row seat in all of those events.

Clinton Defends His Presidency

2008-11-14T21:22:00.000-08:00

After yesterday's lecture, I think this video is appropriate. Clinton defends himself and his administration for their reputation for poor moral authority.

Don't Ask Don't Tell

2008-11-14T20:59:00.000-08:00

Clinton's 2008 views on his 1993 "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy.

Monica Lewinski and the dot com boom

2008-11-14T10:48:00.002-08:00

http://www.thereal-monica.com/
This is the website for Monica Lewinski's handbags that she started making in the middle of the affair.

Republican Party Rebuilding

2008-11-13T08:35:00.000-08:00

The RNC has just released this video extolling its values and successes of the past 20 years to regain energy in the future. I just think this is an interesting approach to take--certainly the opposite of what gave Obama his success (in looking almost exclusively into the future even at a time when George W. was so unpopular).

"Triangulation": Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign

2008-11-12T08:56:00.000-08:00

Today we'll discuss Bill Clinton's strategy of using conservative rhetoric, and supporting some conservative causes such as welfare reform and opposition to gay marriage, in his first term as President and in his 1996 re-election campaign. Above is the electoral map from that election, and below is a Clinton-Gore TV ad from 1996.

last chance to discuss paper topics 11/12 at 2:30pm

2008-11-11T04:49:00.000-08:00

I've had many students come by to discuss the paper, and I'll be available this Wednesday during office hours to discuss the paper before it's due on Friday, 11/14.

If there's is anyone out there still having trouble with their topic, here's the email I sent out re: paper topics on October 2nd:

I've talked to a number of students during office hours who have developed some
excellent paper topics. To add to the mix, I'd like to suggest a few possible
topics for each primary source:

1. Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt:

Role of the First Lady Before and After Eleanor Roosevelt

The "Brain Trust" in FDR's White House

The Success and Failure of New Deal Programs

Isolationism vs. Support for the Allies Before Pearl Harbor

FDR's Conduct of the War Effort

FDR's Vision of Postwar Order

Eleanor Roosevelt's Role in Postwar American Politics

2. Miami and the Siege of Chicago

The Last Days of the Johnson Administration

The Rise of the "New Left" in American Politics

The Rise of the "New Right" in American Politics

The Political Resurrection of Richard Nixon

The Rise of "New Journalism" (e.g. Mailer, Hunter S. Thompson, et al) in US Politics

The Breakdown of the "Liberal Consensus" in US Politics

3. The Reagan Diaries

Reagan & the Challenges of the Early Eighties: Recession & Inflation

Reagan & the Challenges of the Early Eighties: A Spike in Cold War Tensions

"Reaganomics": The Promise, the Results, and the Legacy

Reagan and the Iran-Contra Scandal

"The Great Communicator": Reagan's Use of Mass Media

Reagan and the Imperial Presidency

Quayle-Bentsen Debate

2008-11-09T19:55:00.001-08:00

It's interesting to see how strangely similar the VP selection was to our most recent election. Quayle was criticized for a lack of experience by both parties, while the same was done to Palin.

After the Imperial Presidency: New Yotk Times Magazine

2008-11-09T10:44:00.000-08:00

This article appeared in today's New York Times Magazine. The author discusses the role of Congress and the president through interviews with longtime senators. He focuses more or less on the terms of Bush Sr. through the present. The most interesting part of the article for me was on the last two pages or so where he discusses how the Obama administration will treat its executive authority. I think the title is a little misleading, as the author cannot (and does not) draw firm conclusions on the next administrations and the power of the presidency. Overall a pretty interesting read.

Dukakis Ad

2008-11-06T18:16:00.001-08:00

Here's the ad of Dukakis in the tank. Real tough looking, no?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZkoKh_A5pw

Interesting fact: it ran during game five of the World Series in 1988. Skillful media manipulation, reach as many people in as many demographics as possible...

Clinton Ad '92

2008-11-06T12:52:00.000-08:00

Straightforward advertisement. Notice how at the end they say "for a change". Sounds vaguely familiar...

Something funny: if you actually "read" George Bush's lips, it looks like he says "'go' new taxes". Aha! He's not a liar, he's just misunderstood!

Putting this election in its historical context: "And then they wept" by Charles M. Blow

2008-11-05T06:22:00.000-08:00

November 4, 2008, 11:20 pm
And Then They Wept
By Charles M. Blow

History will record this as the night the souls of black folk, living and dead, wept – and laughed, screamed and danced – releasing 400 years of pent up emotion.

They were the souls of those whose bodies littered the bottom of the Atlantic, whose families were torn asunder, whose names were erased.

They were those who knew the terror of being set upon by men with clubs, of being trapped in a torched house, of dangling at the end of a rough rope.

They were the souls of those who knew the humiliation of another person’s spit trailing down their faces, of being treated like children well into their twilight years, of being derided and despised for the beauty God gave them.

They were also the tears of those for whom “Yes We Can, ” Obama’s campaign slogan, took on a broader, more profound meaning.

“Yes We Can” escape the prison of lowered expectations and the cycles of poor choices. “Yes We Can” rise above history and beyond hatred. “Yes We Can” ascend to Martin Luther King’s mountain top and see the promised land where dreams are fulfilled, where the best man wins and where justice prevails.

During this election African-Americans, their hearts weary from disappointment, dared to hope and dream again. Tonight their dream has been realized.

Whether or not you agree with Barack Obama’s politics, there is no denying that his election represents a seminal moment in the African-American narrative and a giant leap forward on the road to America’s racial reconciliation.

In fact everyone, regardless of race, should feel free to shed a tear and be proud of how far our country has come.

Feel free to share your thoughts. [link]

"Let us summon a new spirit..."

2008-11-04T21:44:00.000-08:00

The 44th President of the United States of America:

The Economist: Global Electoral College Map

2008-11-03T18:48:00.000-08:00

Today a student asked a very good question about how tomorrow's U.S. presidential election is being seen around the world, especially in light of the current economic crisis. The conservative British magazine The Economist has taken surveys around the world and now presents the results at its Global Electoral College site.

Ronald Reagan - A Time for Choosing (October 27, 1964)

2008-11-03T17:52:00.000-08:00

In the Modern American Presidency book by Lewis L. Gould, Reagan made his first nationally televised defense of Barry Goldwater. Alot can be taken from this short clip. First is Reagans skill at speaking to large audiences which it seems he is naturally gifted at. Second, is that even at the time he gave this speech, it is apparent how conservative he is in his political beliefs that will shape his presidency in about three decades. Finally, as Gould points out this will help Reagen gain national spotlight and help in win California's governorship in 1966 and launch his political career.

Brian Walsh

2008-11-03T11:51:00.000-08:00

http://audio.thisamericanlife.org/player/CPRadio_player.php?podcast=http://www.thisamericanlife.org/xmlfeeds/367.xml&proxyloc=http://audio.thisamericanlife.org/player/customproxy.php
"This American Life goes to Pennsylvania to figure out why, and how, John McCain and Barack Obama both think they can win there. And we get to know the ordinary people who’ve become the candidates’ most forceful foot soldiers."
This is a very interesting episode of This American Life from Chicago Public Radio and it ties into the discussion we had in class today about the race element of the election.