Is it OK to try OJ again?

For those of you who found this link thinking I was going to say something about Orenthal James Simpson, my apologies. Maybe some other time. Today, I'm just so thrilled about Al Gore's winning the Nobel Peace Prize that I have to post something about it. I've not had a sip of Florida Orange Juice since the 2000 election, but this is starting to feel like vindication. Not just for the former Next President of the United States. But for all of us who have known for the past seven years that if all the votes in Florida had been counted honestly back then, the world would be a much better place today.

One of the things I noticed during the Florida recount was that the two parties seemed to be living in different worlds. The Democrats realized that the underlying problem was that the margin of victory was less than the margin of error, and that in a real democracy the only viable solution to that problem is to increase the accuracy of the counting process. The Republicans seemed to think they were involved in some sort of sporting contest. They kept talking about how they'd "scored a touchdown" on election night, but the Democrats wanted to take it away...implying that according the moral paradigm of the playground, liberals are "poor sports" who always whine about a "do-over" when things don't go their way.

It was only Mr Gore's willingess to take the high road and throw in the towel following the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision against him (rather than taking the "game" into overtime in the Electoral College and the Congress, thus creating a potential Constitutional Crisis) that gave us the government we have today. Personally, I would have liked to have seen him play the game out to the end, which I believe would have resulted in a Bush Presidency, with Gore casting the deciding vote in the Senate to elect himself to one more term as VP. But instead he chose to step aside, grow a beard (for awhile at least) and return to private life.

And where has this all left us? Well, as promised the Bushies gave their big tax cuts to the rich (but are still dragging their feet on health insurance for poor children); were caught with their pants down on 9/11; started an endless war in Afghanistan and Iraq (and God only knows where next); condone torture (but not REAL torture); and have established a network secret (and not-so-secret) prisons all over the world just so they can not torture with impunity beyond the scrutiny of judicial review; while here at home they have spearheaded an assault on due process, habeus corpus, and the Bill of Rights. Not to mention the collapsing dollar, and, oh yes, the Katrina fiasco. America is now more despised and less respected around the world than it has been at any time in my lifetime. Our military is stretched to the breaking point, but military families can no longer afford to buy houses. And the real irony is that if things keep going the way they have, most of the Sunshine State will soon be underwater too. Just like New Orleans on 8/28.

Those of you who only know me as an aging jock and pick-up basketball maven may not have picked up on the fact that I also have a PhD in American history, so this next part may seem a little out of character. I know that the 2000 Presidential election wasn't the first stolen election this country has survived, and I'm cynical enough to realize that it probably won't be the last. But I don't necessarily think we should be proud of that. As for the open question of whether or not this Bush Presidency will prove the worst in two-hundred plus years of Constitutional government, all I can say is...we haven't seen who the country will elect in 2008 yet. But without question it belongs in the bottom five. Absolutely no doubt in my mind.

And to you Mr Gore, congratulations! Now, let's just see if we can save that frog....