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Jewish World Review Nov. 15, 2000 / 17 Mar-Cheshvan, 5761

David Limbaugh

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Consumer Reports


Enough is enough, Mr. Gore


http://www.jewishworldreview.com -- WHY AM I shocked that Al Gore's calculated effort to divide this nation along racial, ethnic, gender, social and economic lines for political gain has persisted beyond the election?

I realize it was naive, but I thought that there would be some limits on what Gore would be willing to do to fulfill his lifelong goal of becoming president of the United States.

For most of this week I have been beside myself with concern that Gore would end up tinkering with the system until the election results finally turned his way. The thought of four more years of lawlessness and demagoguery was quite depressing.

After everything that's happened this week, my fears have shifted from the alarming prospect of a Gore regime to the almost inevitable atmosphere of bitterness that will prevail in Washington regardless of whether Bush or Gore becomes president.

Let me be clear. I emphatically reject the conventional wisdom that close elections breed disharmony or even lead to gridlock. We have had close presidential elections many times with no resulting chaos. Competing political philosophies can be as healthy for the political system as free enterprise is to the economy.

It's not the closeness that is problematic, but the polarization that Gore and his camp have engendered throughout the campaign cycle.

And don't tell me that every politician is polarizing. That's intellectual laziness and dishonesty. George Bush isn't dividing people. It's not in his makeup; it's not part of his agenda.

Gore's class and race-warfare is only part of the problem. He is also polarizing the nation through his endless trail of deceit. At least half of the people have had their fill of it and are grievously alienated. Yet it continues, to wit:

On election night, as soon as the networks reversed their premature prediction that Gore would win Florida, the Democratic machine whipped into action. The Associated Press reported that the Democratic National Committee paid TeleQuest Teleservices, a telemarketing firm, to make thousands of calls on election night -- while polls were still open -- to scare Palm Beach voters into thinking they had voted incorrectly and to encourage them to return to the polls and complain. But Florida Democratic Congressman Robert Wexler, one of President Clinton's most obnoxious flacks during impeachment, ran to the press and pretended that he had received spontaneous calls from voters who were distraught over their confusing ballots.

Gore lawyer, Harvard Law professor Lawrence Tribe said that machine ballots are biased toward poor people. What a deplorable waste of a formidable IQ!

The sainted Joe Lieberman criticized the Bush campaign for going to court while Gore had not. Yet Gore's surrogates have filed eight separate lawsuits. Just how dense do they think we are?

Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris announced that she would comply with the state statute requiring her to ignore ballots of any county that were not filed with her within the statutory deadline. The pertinent statute clearly affords her no discretion.

So what do Gore's venerable spokesmen say about Mrs. Harris' statement that she will honor the law? Warren Christopher denounced her as a partisan, saying her decision was arbitrary and unreasonable. Leave it to a former Clinton-Gore official to characterize obeying the law as unreasonable.

Gore press secretary Chris Lehane said that Harris "is trying to do an end run that would frustrate the will of the people. ... She (Harris) is acting in the finest tradition of a Soviet commissar." I can't comment on this remark without cursing.

Gore communications director Mark Fabiani called the Secretary of State "a crony of the Bush brothers" who is "trying to steal this election away."

If you want to talk about political cronyism, you need only consider the prospect of a manual recount in the four most Gore-favoring Florida counties. If that doesn't convince you, watch a replay of the banana-republic style actions of the Democratic-controlled vote commissioners as they used their election-Ouija boards to add votes to Gore's column during the manual recount.

I am not advocating that Gore concede the election before all the absentee ballots are received and tabulated. But I am saying that he ought to stop acting like a frustrated '60s radical who grew up and suddenly found himself in a position to do real harm to the nation and didn't say no. It's time to say no, Mr. Gore.



JWR contributor David Limbaugh is an attorney practicing in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and a political analyst and commentator. Send your comments to him by clicking here.

WND

Up

11/13/00: Al Gore: Thy country or thyself?
11/08/00: Bill and Al: Your time is up
11/06/00:The impending Bush mandate
11/01/00: Can't stop thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
10/30/00: George: Give Gore the ball back
10/25/00: Mr. Gore: A few more questions
10/23/00: It's the big government, stupid
10/18/00: Gore's down, so will he panic?
10/16/00: We're fresh out of new Al Gores
10/11/00: Gore: Fuzzy math = dirty politics
10/10/00:Gore: Renaissance man or unbalanced?
10/04/00: Where have you been, Albert Jr.?
10/02/00: Clinton’s fragmented presidency
09/27/00: Liberal media doth protest too much
09/25/00: AlGore: Turning dreams into nightmares
09/20/00: Something fishy's going on
09/18/00: It's the liberalism, stupid
09/13/00: An open letter to open-minded cynics
09/11/00: The virtues of going negative
09/06/00: On a mission for marriage
09/04/00: Al Gore's 'Trivial Pursuits'
08/30/00: Lieberman and the paradox of liberal 'tolerance'
08/28/00: A campaign divided against itself
08/23/00: Al Gore's trickle-down populism
08/21/00: Prosperity without a clue
08/16/00: AlGore can run but he can't hide
08/14/00: When hate speech is OK
08/09/00: Bush: The pundits' enigma
08/07/00: GOP convention: Live or Memorex?
08/02/00: The first attack dog
07/31/00: The Cheney taint?
07/26/00: The anti-gun bogeyman
07/24/00: The raging culture war
07/19/00: Is Hillary 'Good for the Jews'?
07/17/00: How dare you, George?
07/12/00: Jacoby's raw deal
07/10/00: The perplexities of liberalism
07/05/00: Big Al and big oil
07/03/00: Partial-birth and total death
06/28/00: Some questions for you, Mr. Gore
06/26/00: Supreme Court assaults religious freedom
06/21/00: Waco: We are the jury
06/19/00: "Outrage" just doesn't quite cut it anymore!
06/14/00: Al Gore: Government's best friend
06/12/00: Say goodbye to medical privacy
06/07/00: Elian: Whose hands were tied?
06/05/00: Who, which, what is the real Al Gore?
06/01/00: Legacy-building idea for Clinton
05/30/00: Clinton: Above the law or not?
05/24/00: Not so fast, Hillary
05/22/00: Gore's risky, fear-mongering schemes
05/17/00: Can Bush risk pro-choice running mate?
05/15/00: Right to privacy, Clinton-style
05/10/00: Patrick Kennedy and his suit-happy fiddlers
05/08/00: Don't shoot Eddie Eagle
05/03/00: Congress caves to Clinton, again?
05/01/00: The resurrection of outrage
04/28/00: A picture of Bill Clinton's America
04/19/00: President Clinton: Teaching children responsibility
04/17/00: Elian, Marx and parental rights
04/12/00: Elian, freedom deserve a hearing
04/10/00:The fraying of America
04/05/00: Noonan: End Clintonism now
04/03/00: Bush: On going for the gold
03/29/00: Phantasma-Gore-ia
03/27/00: Treaties, triggers, tobacco and tyrants
03/22/00: Media to Bush: Go left, young man
03/20/00: Stop the insanity
03/15/00: OK Al Gore: Let's go negative
03/13/00: Deifying of the center
03/08/00: The media, the establishment and the people
03/01/00: McCain's coalition-busting daggers in GOP's heart
02/28/00: Bush's silver lining in McMichigan
02/24/00: A conservative firewall, after all
02/22/00: Bush or four more of Clinton-Gore?
02/16/00: Substance trumps process
02/14/00: The campaign finance reform mirage
02/09/00: President McCain: End of the GOP as we know it?
02/07/00: From New Hampshire to South Carolina
02/02/00: SDI must fly
01/31/00: Veep gores Bradley
01/26/00: The issues gap
01/24/00: GOP: Exit, stage left
01/20/00: Nationalizing congressional elections
01/18/00: Do voters really prefer straight talk?
01/12/00: Media's McCain efforts may backfire
01/10/00: Conservative racism myth
01/05/00: Just one more year of Clintonian politics
01/03/00: McMedia?
12/27/99: Al Gore: Bullish on government
12/22/99: Bradley's full-court press
12/20/99: Bush: Rendering unto Caesar
12/15/99: Beltway media bias
12/13/99: White House ambulance chasing
12/08/99: Clinton's labor pains
12/06/99:The lust for power
12/01/99: In defense of liberty
11/29/99: Are Republicans obsolete?
11/24/99: Say you're sorry, Mr. President
11/22/99: Architects of victory
11/17/99: Trump's tax on freedom
11/15/99: GOP caves again
11/10/99: Triangulation and 'The Third Way'
11/08/99: Sticks and stones
11/03/99: Keyes vs. media lapdogs
11/01/99: Signs of the times
10/27/99: The false charge of isolationism
10/25/99: A matter of freedom
10/20/99: Clinton's mini-meltdown
10/18/99: Senate GOP shows statesmanship
10/13/99: Senate must reject nuclear treaty
10/11/99: Bush bites feeding hand
10/06/99: Jesse accidentally opens door for Pat
10/04/99: Clinton and his media enablers
09/29/99: Reagan: Big-tent conservatism
09/27/99: The Clinton/Gore taint?
09/22/99: Have gun (tragedy), will travel
09/20/99: Hillary's blunders and bloopers
09/15/99: GOP must remain conservative
09/13/99:Time for Bush to take charge, please
09/10/99: Bush's education plan: Dubya confounds again
09/07/99: Pat, savior or spoiler?
09/02/99: Character doesn't matter?
08/30/99: Should we judge?
08/25/99: Dubyah's drug question: Not a hill to die on
08/23/99: Should Dubyah start buying soap ... for all that mud?
08/16/99: 'W' stands for 'winner'
08/11/99: The truth about tax cuts
08/09/99: Hillary: Threading the needle
08/04/99: What would you do?
08/02/99: No appeasement for China
07/30/99: Hate Crimes Bill: Cynical Symbolism
07/26/99: It’s the 'moderates', stupid
07/21/99: JFK Jr. and Diana: the pain of privilege
07/19/99: Smith, Bush and the GOP
07/14/99: GOP must be a party of ideas
07/12/99: Gore's gender gap
07/08/99: Clinton’s faustian bargain: our justice
07/06/99: The key to Bush's $36 million
06/30/99: Gore: a soda in every fountain
06/28/99: 'Sacred wall' or religious barrier?
06/23/99: GOP must lead in foreign policy
06/21/99: Crumbs of compassion
06/16/99: Compassionate conservatism: face-lift or body transplant?
06/10/99: Victory in Kosovo? Now What?

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