Third Party & Independents: Archives

I predicted this and you Democrats told me that it was offensive to suggest it…remember?
I focussed on New Jersey and Frank Lautenberg…I said that the Democrats would use the “law” to avoid a recall and you said that I was crazy. Alas, I was ,in fact correct. The Democrats always use lawyers to usurp the will of the people. Before you bring up Florida, realize this…
The vote was not stopped by the Supreme court. The Supreme court ruled that if votes in Florida were to be re-counted they must ALL be re-counted and in EVERY district. That was the final ruling as it has stood. and so it has.
I just wanted to point that out before you bring it up because that is what you will do. Hire your trial lawyers all you want.
Tell the people that they can’t have a recall even though it is in the California constitution. Have some whacko from the 9th circuit court of appeals ( the most overturned court in the history of the United States…EVER)
tell us that our voice cannot be heard. Go ahead and feel the backlash that is about to happen.
Keep it up guys.
Prediction….
Bush is a shoe in if this type of stuff continues.

Pete, the ACLU brought the case. I wouldn’t call them a bastion of Democrat, but in this case it does help Davis. It does seem underhanded to get the courts to “block” (why this term is used remains a mystery) the recall. Taken from another angle, this could also help lesser known contenders. I personally don’t like Arnold because he doesn’t seem to be thinking at all (and likes to make statements that are spins of his old movie cliches) and I don’t like Davis because, well he hasn’t done anything to fix the debt problem, and continually whines about things.

I think partisan politics has a lot to do with it, as you pointed out. Davis supporters rally behind the postponement, just as the anti-Davis crowd in the state congress blocked any forward movement in fixing the state. Both parties are showing their worse side in this farce.

Pete et. al—

I hasten to point out that the third branch of our government is there for a reason; it’s called checks and balances. The Courts are the final arbiters of the Constitution. And the Courts are there to protect the people (you know those of us the government was from to serve), from unfair and unequal treatment before the law. Yes the California Constitution gives the citizens of the state a right to re-call their governor; the 9th Circuit DID NOT take this power away from the people, it only postponed the election until (March) touch screen voting machines were available to ALL counties and not just those with deep pockets.

Equal protection under law; re: 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution which the Supreme law of the land. The Court, in its ruling also stated that it did not want a repeat of the 2000 elections and sought to forestall that inevitability by postponing the elections until they could be made fair for all. I for one see no problem with that, and I fail to see why you do.

As a quick aside, the whole of the 9th Circuit is also considering re-hearing the case with the full eleven-member court. This is a fairly usual procedure with the circuit courts: a travelling 3-judge panel makes a decision in a case, but if it’s a particularly controversial decision, they’ll bump it up to the full court. So, the 9th court might overturn its own decision in the near future.

A note of clarification, as well: only the punch-card ballot machines have been declared unuseable (both by the secretary of state and a court decision in a seperate, non-recall-related case). Counties are not required to upgrade to the touch-screen systems, just to a “more reliable” system. For example, my county uses scanned ballots, similar to the familiar “number 2 pencil” sheets that any former student is quite familiar with.

Finally, the full text of the decision can be read at the 9th Circuit’s Website (www.ca9.uscourts.gov).

I would encourage anyone interested in discussing the decision to be sure to have read at least the opening sections. Of special note is that the ACLU is not listed among the plaintiffs.

Okay, carry on.

I have a question. Where do I find the text of the law being used for the recall?

Now, the comment. One person stated that the big flap seems to be that the recall election is possibly going to be delayed, and asks why that poses a problem for some people. gee, I dunno, but if its all the same when the election is held, why is Gray Davis the one initiating the suit to that effect? I think that the various press releases have established at least one thing: this is not an altruistic move on the part of Davis. He clearly wants to salvage his governorship in whatever way he can. I’m not saying thats bad, its just not objective. Im not buying that he is the great voter advocate here—-just the great democratic voter advocate. He clearly sees an advantage in the delay, probably along the lines, first of enertia and apathy setting in, and mostly by having the recall election fall into the orbit of the larger national election, where the energy will be decidedly Democratic by dint of the fait accompli in the Republican camp.
Last point—-it matters because timing is implicit in the recall law- otherwise it would be a normal election and not an in- betweener The idea is also damage control, Lets not see how much more damage Davis can do, given enough time. Since sports analagies are popular in politics, we all know what happens when a coach has a disastrous season. Nobody waits three more seasons to see what happens—-and thats just a freaking GAME. (like politics isn’t)
Final question:(ACLU lead attorney wouldnt touch this one the other nite in the press conference) Why is it that the minorities, the impoverished and the elderly are the ones that have all the trouble with those dadgum chads and other voting intracacies? Do we really think computers are going to be less baffling to these voters who have nevr used a computer before. You can explain how to handle a chad in 10 seconds. But a computer? Lord have mercy.