quarterly-report.com Political Commentary by James R. Audet

November 11, 2000
Veterans Day

On Veterans Day, Americans are obliged to remember the sacrifices of its uniformed men and women. This Veterans Day, however, one could easily conclude, based on the the hysterical, contemptuous rhetoric coming out of the State of Florida and the TV studios in Atlanta, New York, and Washington, that Veterans Day is an anachronistic holdover from the 20^th Century.

Today, CNN characterized the Palm Beach ballot recount as the "Florida Recount Battle."  How dare CNN denigrate the sacrifices of our military personnel by equating an administrative process with combat.  ^1/

Led by reckless television anchors and on-site reporters, the TV media dances the United States Constitution like a marionette in front of its viewers.  It gives a platform for the nihilistic claims of Richard Daley, the Chairman of Al Gore's campaign, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and other Democratic Party minions, to advance allegations that there is widespread fraud in key Democratic precincts.

This year's election coverage may be reduced to three simple concepts: Competition, money, and power.  In an insolent, irresponsible rush to judgment, each of the big five television networks, ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX, and NBC wanted to be the first with predictions.  Any conformance with a 1985 agreement to withhold election results until local polls had closed was utterly tossed aside.

The Big Five declared Al Gore the winner in Florida well before the polls in the western part of the state had closed.  Yes, we have a free press.  However, in exchange for that freedom, We the People demand and expect a responsible press.  The fact that the TV media gave, then took back the state from first Gore, then Bush, based on a central clearinghouse of exit poll data ("Voter News Service") was not a legitimate mistake.  Rather, utter incompetence and irresponsibility to the ethics of journalism produced this iniquity.  ^2/

After being embarrassed by his network, CBS anchor dolt, Dan Rather, advocated a uniform, poll closing time across the US.  Why, Dan?  So as to make your job easier?  Is the West Coast to conform its poll closings to the State of New York?  No way.  An imbecilic idea, Mr. Rather.

Not to be outdone, chief CNN drumbeater, Larry King, acts as if he does not have a brain cell in his head, a condition he shares with Sam Donaldson at ABC-TV.  King's Democratic bias is so obvious as to make journalistic independence a laughable expression of self-delusion.

The NBC television and cable networks get the "yellow journalism" award for biased reporting. Transparently prejudiced against the Republican Party, it employs wide-eyed, Democratic Party enamored children to do its reporting and commentary. Tom Brokaw's "Punch and Judy" show was so biased, often nonsensical, that studio juveniles could be heard laughing during the Tuesday night broadcast.

Palm Beach County, home of some of the wealthiest Americans as well as some of the poorest, is so behind the times that it has compromised the integrity of the national election with its confusing "butterfly" ballot.  However, they are not alone.  Cook County, Illinois, the home of Chicago, is another example of a jurisdiction that uses the same flawed ballot.  ^3/  For the moment, Palm Beach County holds America hostage, a state of uncertainty that is worse than the Ayatollah Khomeini's imprisonment of U.S. citizens after the attack on the embassy in Iran.

The Palm Beach Board of County Commissioners should be ashamed of its failure to overhaul its obsolete ballot system, as they had a similar problem of voter confusion in 1996.  The Board should resign, en bloc, for its carelessness.

We -- except the asses in the television media -- demand legitimacy and finality in the count of election returns.  If it takes a hand count of a ballots in Palm Beach County to get an accurate tally of election results, then do it.  If we fail to do this in a bipartisan manner, the television media will divide this country into fanatical, bigoted factions that will take a generation of Americans to heal.

For the cost of one B-1 bomber, all America could have up-to-date, computerized election equipment such as that used in Clark County, the home of Las Vegas, NV.   What is more important to national security, another bomber, or the integrity of our national elections?

The television media claim that the United States is faced with an epic constitutional crisis.  There is no constitutional crisis.  One man will win the election, another will lose.  All we, the voters, need is honesty.  It is as simple as that.

Footnotes

1/  CNN has suffered a ratings decline, and Time Warner is desperate to prop up its ratings as it looks to merge with America Online.  It's chief anchor, Bernard Shaw, one of the few bright lights in this year's election coverage, has announced his retirement.  He will be sorely missed.  Go with God and enjoy your retirement Mr. Shaw.  Time Warner does not respect your journalist integrity.

2/  The networks share this common news resource for but one reason: MONEY.

3/  There is absolutely no legitimate reason why the Rev. Jesse Jackson should be in Florida enflaming the electorate with baseless charges of disenfranchisement.

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