Re: Election rigged? Nah
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(\"Darkwolf\")</div>
You are right, Paul did say something like that. I laughed then too. Kerry is a consumate power monger and politician, just like Bush. If he had had a chance and or not known he was supposed to take a dive he would have fought. His dive may have saved some of the little people in the short run, but in the long, it just gives them more time to get into place for what at least some of those little people will inevitably do.[/b]
What I said then was that Kerry had spared us a protracted court fight, which would have enabled the Supreme Court and Rehnquist (who even wrote a book about the power of the Court to decide an election) to determine the outcome of two consecutive elections, each for the same candidate, destroying a huge piece of the Constitution in a moment. The greatest danger is that individuals will place their own ambitions above the Constitution and rule of law; if Kerry had done this (whatever his actual intentions), the whole thing could have come down around our ears before Christmas.
By that I mean that the system could have collapsed. I doubt that Bush would have relinquished (Rehlinquis't) power; he may have moved to suspend the election, or asserted power on the strength of the popular vote. We may have had riots and troops and troop riots in Washington, where the vote was almost completely against Bush, but where he and his stupid government lives.
Some may think that this would have been a good thing; I don't. In general, the rule is that law and order is good and chaos and rioting is bad. But this is just me.
Kerry showed us what he was worth as an American leader in the few hours when our fate may have rested in his hands. As such, I consider him to have actually been the president for less than 24 hours, or to have been sharing the office with the cretin. He preserved and upheld the Constitution according to the oath. Sometimes it takes courage and integrity to step back and not fight.
On the other hand, it remains true that no modern president besides Carter has shown himself able to perform the duties of the office without corroding the Constitution with scandal and catering to special interests.