Alex, I'll take "Election Hijinks" for 400.
The answer: International election monitors are set to come here in November.
Me: What is Florida?
The article is here.
Something sounds wrong with this.
Thing 1: For all the attention paid to Florida, you'd think that the whole state was incapable of doing anything that wasn't thoroughly dummy-proofed. Whoever thought of this "international monitors" idea is apparently either believing that rhetoric, or is fearful of too many other people who believe it. Is every other state in the union immune to election-tampering? (I can think of one state that's famous for it, though generally on a more local level.)
Thing 2: Let's pretend that they're right, it's just Florida, and those jokers need to be watched like the fifth-grade IGAP tests. Does it sound likely that Dubya would put up with international monitors after he's shown so much contempt for the international community over the past 3 years? (And Catholic monitors. Isn't Bush Protestant? Hasn't anyone told him that all Catholics are going to hell?)
Thing 3: Let's pretend that Dubya thinks this is a swell idea. What are the monitors looking at? The computerized results of those touch-screen election booths, that have proven to be very hackable and that send out three separate signals, none of which have to match? I doubt that it would occur to the international monitors from El Salvador to ask about a paper trail.
In the end, the 2004 election could be stolen again, and this time Pax Christi would be there to give it an amazing air of legitimacy. It makes me think that maybe this was Dubya's idea all along.
Me: What is Florida?
The article is here.
Something sounds wrong with this.
Thing 1: For all the attention paid to Florida, you'd think that the whole state was incapable of doing anything that wasn't thoroughly dummy-proofed. Whoever thought of this "international monitors" idea is apparently either believing that rhetoric, or is fearful of too many other people who believe it. Is every other state in the union immune to election-tampering? (I can think of one state that's famous for it, though generally on a more local level.)
Thing 2: Let's pretend that they're right, it's just Florida, and those jokers need to be watched like the fifth-grade IGAP tests. Does it sound likely that Dubya would put up with international monitors after he's shown so much contempt for the international community over the past 3 years? (And Catholic monitors. Isn't Bush Protestant? Hasn't anyone told him that all Catholics are going to hell?)
Thing 3: Let's pretend that Dubya thinks this is a swell idea. What are the monitors looking at? The computerized results of those touch-screen election booths, that have proven to be very hackable and that send out three separate signals, none of which have to match? I doubt that it would occur to the international monitors from El Salvador to ask about a paper trail.
In the end, the 2004 election could be stolen again, and this time Pax Christi would be there to give it an amazing air of legitimacy. It makes me think that maybe this was Dubya's idea all along.