Spring Break
Republicans, Florida and the gathering storm
Craig Finlay
Issue date: 7/22/04 Section: Opinion
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Hey, you! Get back in line!
Corrine Brown just didn't know her place; she should have never spoken up. If she'd gone about being a Democrat in the correct and accepted manner, the rest of Congress wouldn't have silenced her.
Brown is a Democratic congresswoman from Florida, who, during an argument Thursday over a proposed bill that would require international monitors for the presidential election this fall, dared bring up the 2000 election - get this - in front of people.
During the argument over bill HR-4818 (Why do bills always sound like some devious chemical weapon in a James Bond film?), Brown addressed her peers, saying, "I come from Florida, where you and others participated in what I call the United States' coup d'etat. We need to make sure that it doesn't happen again...we want verification from the world."
The Congressional response? Brown was censured, kept from speaking for the rest of the day, and her remarks were struck from the record, erased. As far as congress is concerned, she never said it.
The election fraud committed by the right wing in Florida in 2000 is the very reason we need international election monitors this time around.
After all, if any third-world strongman pulled the same tricks we saw in Florida, the international community would demand observers for that nation's next election if it were to be considered anything approaching legitimate. Picture it: In central Asia, Strong Man wins an election thanks to the province of Floridistan, which just happens to be controlled by his brother. The highest election official in the province just happens to be the head of Strong Man's campaign in that same province, and, on the day of the election, thousands of Floridistanians belonging to an ethnic group that historically votes against Strong Man's party are turned away from the polls for what turn out to be false reasons.
So, yes, we need international election observers. But that doesn't mean Brown was permitted to bring it up in Congress - that's not the way thing's work. Like I said, Brown just didn't know her place as a Democrat.
Corrine Brown just didn't know her place; she should have never spoken up. If she'd gone about being a Democrat in the correct and accepted manner, the rest of Congress wouldn't have silenced her.
Brown is a Democratic congresswoman from Florida, who, during an argument Thursday over a proposed bill that would require international monitors for the presidential election this fall, dared bring up the 2000 election - get this - in front of people.
During the argument over bill HR-4818 (Why do bills always sound like some devious chemical weapon in a James Bond film?), Brown addressed her peers, saying, "I come from Florida, where you and others participated in what I call the United States' coup d'etat. We need to make sure that it doesn't happen again...we want verification from the world."
The Congressional response? Brown was censured, kept from speaking for the rest of the day, and her remarks were struck from the record, erased. As far as congress is concerned, she never said it.
The election fraud committed by the right wing in Florida in 2000 is the very reason we need international election monitors this time around.
After all, if any third-world strongman pulled the same tricks we saw in Florida, the international community would demand observers for that nation's next election if it were to be considered anything approaching legitimate. Picture it: In central Asia, Strong Man wins an election thanks to the province of Floridistan, which just happens to be controlled by his brother. The highest election official in the province just happens to be the head of Strong Man's campaign in that same province, and, on the day of the election, thousands of Floridistanians belonging to an ethnic group that historically votes against Strong Man's party are turned away from the polls for what turn out to be false reasons.
So, yes, we need international election observers. But that doesn't mean Brown was permitted to bring it up in Congress - that's not the way thing's work. Like I said, Brown just didn't know her place as a Democrat.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
jdo_cmq
jdo_cmq
posted 7/24/04 @ 12:57 AM EST
First of all, to say we need an international entity to come in and oversee our nation's voting procedures is completely outrageous. What next, should we allow the UN to come in and police our streets on major holidays all in the name of "terror"? We shouldn't allow the world to solve our problems, any more than we should try and solve the worlds. (Continued…)
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