Subject: Re: A Savage Hypocracy (sic)
From: Cecilia Baader (ceciliaann@hotmail.com)
Date: Thu Dec 21 2000 - 19:01:55 GMT
“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the
Republic, for which it stands; one nation under God, indivisible, with
liberty and justice for all.”
And why did I begin this with a quote from the Pledge of Allegiance,
something which every good American knows? To correct the mistaken
assumption that this is a democracy. It is not; it is a republic. As such,
each state must select representatives which reflect the opinions of their
people. Florida, a state whose vote was too close to call without an
automatic recount, had difficulty determining which twenty-five electorates
would go to the college to elect our next President.
Under the rules of the Constitution of the United States of America the same
man, had this election been declared an electoral deadlock, would have won
this election. For the people of the United States of America elected more
Republicans than Democrats as their representatives in this, our Congress.
Therefore, the only thing to do, as far as Gore was concerned, was to grab
those votes in Florida. Statistically speaking, the margin of error is from
1-3%, in terms of possible miscast or miscounted votes. In most elections,
not an issue. In this election, an issue. That 1-3% of the vote decided
it, so recounting was necessary, as stipulated by Florida law. Also
statistically speaking, the error should have been equally applied to both
candidates, that is, the mistakes should have cancelled each other out.
However, that is not always the case. The error could have all been in
Bush’s favor; it could also have all been in Gore’s favor. The only way to
truly be sure would have been a recount. And there was a recount, winner:
George W. Bush, by 154 votes, I believe. Not a large change, but a change
nevertheless. Would another recount have changed this outcome? The
antiquated counties in question have vote totals of 14,000 -- with the
anticipated error of 140 - 420 votes -- enough to change the results if ALL
of the error goes in Gore’s favor. Statistically speaking, this is highly
unlikely. Possible? Yes. Probable? No.
There’s a fairly comprehensive statistical analysis of the chances of the
error having gone in Gore’s favor at:
http://www.andersoneconomicgroup.com/elections/stat_anal_FL.htm
The election may have, in truth, gone the other way. We will not know now,
for Florida made the decision to send twenty-five Republican electorates to
the college and that college chose Bush. To worry it any further is
meaningless. Nixon always believed that Daley delivered Chicago to Kennedy;
perhaps he was right. And perhaps Governor Jeb Bush delivered Florida to
his brother. (Brief aside: I found it highly amusing that Mayor Daley’s
son Bill was the one doing all the caterwauling about voter fraud in
Florida.) The fact remains that Florida’s and Election Board and Supreme
Court have decided that the winner of their state is George Bush. And the
United States Supreme Court has backed up their right to do so, without any
interference from Federal courts.
And h-y-p-o-c-r-i-s-y of both parties notwithstanding, I cannot find it in
me to argue with the results. The people of the United States of America
have a president-elect. That doesn’t mean I have to like him, though. This
is a free country, after all. Thank God for that.
Regards,
Cecilia.
Flag-waver.
(The following is for Mattis, who likes to see his name mentioned on the
list and who sometimes prefers it when I give helpful household hints
instead of my opinion.)
Kosher Sugar Cookies
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup butter-flavored Crisco (no, not butter, shortening, this is the
kosher part)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
Now, the first thing you’re going to do is stir together all the dry
ingredients and set them aside. This part isn’t very difficult. In fact,
you could let your oh-so-helpful four-year-old nephew do it, so long as you
give him a plastic bowl and he promises to sit in a chair while he stirs.
In another bowl, beat the sugar and the shortening until fluffy. Add the
eggs, one at a time, so that both of them feel like they’re loved. Next
comes the vanilla (yum) and then you add the four mixture, a little at a
time. When it’s done, chill it for a couple of hours. At this point in the
action, send the kid off for a nap. You’ll probably need one too. The hard
part is coming next, and sleep is never a bad activity.
Now, here’s another trick: sift some powdered sugar onto the surface that
you’re going to use (you can also use flour) to roll out your dough so that
you can cut whatever shapes you like. Me, I like circles. Bake for 8 to 10
minutes in a 375 degree oven.
Those of you who operate on the metric system will have to make your
conversions yourselves. I’m an American, after all.
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