Fraud’s the ticket

A thief thinks everyone steals.

In poll after poll during the presidential campaign, the universal
concern voiced among voters was not Social Security, education reform or
prescription drugs. It was not the crippling of our military, the
weakening of our national security or the terrible wasteland we’ve made
of our environment. These all are important issues, and some are even
grave, but across the board, the greatest concern on America’s mind was
the deterioration of our morals and values.

During his campaign, Bush addressed this issue time and again by
promising that he would bring dignity and integrity to the White House.
Gore, unable to claim integrity, at least addressed the matter by
condemning the entertainment industry’s wholesale promotion of vulgarity
and violence to our children. Then when he thought nobody was looking,
he took their money.

In a recent survey, fully 60 percent of Americans, when asked if they
thought Bill Clinton had done a good job as president, thought he had.
But only 39 percent, when asked if they thought he had good character,
thought he did.

What amazes me is not the number who think he did a good job, but the
number who consider him to be reputable. That a man can commit perjury,
obstruct justice, tamper with witnesses, engage in adulterous affairs
and display a complete lack of regard for the law and for his country
and still be considered reputable is absolutely mind-boggling.

How’s that for the state of our country’s conscience?

Fortunately, there are those who believe that if the highest office
in the land is principled, so follows the rest of the country. Yet the
presidential race between Bush and Gore is so incredibly close that
votes are right now being recounted in Florida.

After an election evening jerked by the media with Gore wins/Bush
wins/Gore wins proclamations, Wednesday morning a reporter on national
news mentioned how the DNC had found a constituency that had heretofore
been completely ignored. (As though this explains the close race.)

Evidently, in an effort to garner more support for the DNC, the
Florida NAACP had gone out and signed up a bevy of voters who just
happened to be stuck in jail. Of course, it was pointed out that none of
these individuals were felons. They were merely incarcerated on
misdemeanor charges and were still entitled to vote.

The same tactics had been undertaken in Alabama, however, that state
determined that those in jail would not be transported to the polls on
Election Day because of logistical and security concerns. Whether the
jailhouse voters managed to get in their absentee ballots is not known.

A few days ago, a report came out on national news regarding a New
Yorker who was a heavy contributor to the DNC. Apparently this very
wealthy person, who held a seat on a DNC committee, was discovered in
the Midwest bartering cigarettes for votes.

In California, a flurry of reports erupted about non-citizens
receiving letters from Bill Clinton that included attached voter ID
cards and an urgent message to get out and vote for the Democratic
Party. On Election Day, legitimate voters were legitimately questioning
the integrity of the polls
when they learned the pollsters were instructed not to request photo
identification.

And in many states, including Florida and Tennessee, a lot of people
were unable to even vote, not because they didn’t register, but because
they registered to vote at a DMV under the motor-voter legislation and
their information was never processed at election offices.

(I can only guess as to the number of individuals affected by this
ineptitude, as well as to their party.)

What does any of this have to do with values?

Or more appropriately, what effect does the absence of values have on
America?

On Tuesday, millions of decent, hardworking Americans went to the
polls to vote.

Fred “I swing a hammer all day building houses and pay half of my
income in taxes” cast his vote at the same time that Fred “I’m only in
jail pending trial for crack possession” cast his.

Mary “I work 80 hours-a-week as a nurse” cast her vote at the same
time that Mary “I haven’t heard from the INS yet” cast hers.

Mike “I’ve got three kids and a mortgage and two jobs” cast his vote
at the same time that Mike “I’ll take two packs and a quart of vodka and
I’ve got two friends here” cast his.

Tammy “I’m a single Mom and going to college and pay $400 a month for
daycare” cast her vote at the same time that Tammy “the government ain’t
got no right to tell me what I can do with my body” cast hers.

Jake “I’ve built this business from nothing and employ 200 people”
cast his at the same time that Jake “He’s been dead for so long he
couldn’t possibly vote” cast his.

The DNC and its affiliates have not only shunned all rules of fair
play and turned the political process into guerrilla warfare, but from
all appearances have endeavored to buy votes and engage in voter fraud.
Given the current history of their party, this is not surprising. What’s
surprising is that nobody seems to be doing anything about it. And even
more surprising is that so many people continue to align themselves with
this party.

If this is representative of our country’s values, then we’re in a
lot worse shape than many thought. We need help, and fast.