I just finished watching a movie from HBO called “Recount”. It is based upon the recount of votes in Florida (USA, eh) in the 2000 presidential election of George W. Bush on 7 November 2000. That particular election was “won” by Governor Bush (Republican, Texas) by a very very slim margin over Vice-President, Al Gore (Democrat).

Personally, I do not think that Mr. Gore would have made a better President than Mr. Bush, no matter the following political scenario that followed President Bush’s election. The thing that absolutely amazed me was the error and total lack of responsibility that this individual electoral “process” ignored. One person, One vote. A true example of democracy in action.

Oops! But, in the example of that election in 2000, it was a case of party politics that chose who would be leader of the… I truly hate this phrase, …leader of the free world. Anyhoo, the Supreme Court of the USofA decided that Mr. Bush was “President-Elect” in 2000 mainly, imho, based upon Supreme Justices who were appointed solely by Republican members (notably by President George Bush, father of the so-called President-Elect George W. Bush). They, in their infinite wisdom and “judicial” knowledge, ended a mandatory HAND count of ballots in the state of Florida. Thus ending the brouhaha of who the frak was elected President of the United States of America in 2000.

Whew!! I just gotta say that this movie made me think very deeply on the electoral process we have in Canada. Florida had (has?? gotta look into that…) a system whereby voters need to use punch cards to cast their votes. It appears to be a seriously flawed system whereby if there are numerous choices, the card becomes somewhat “crowded”. In Canada, with its numerous candidates for an elected position, this sort of system would be doomed to fail.

All in all, we seem to get thru it all without too much trouble. Still, it made me think that the so-called “popular” vote of Canada… or first thru the post… is, in itself, flawed. Our current Prime Minister (whom I kinda sorta voted for by marking an X by the Conservative member running in my constituency), was elcted on a 50+% of the vote in this country. But… BUT!!!, many areas had the Conservative vote at far less than 1/2 of the vote. Some were closer to 30 or less percent of the vote. Mainly because we had so many different and differing parties (members?) to vote for in each riding. Is this wrong? No, far from it. But, to me, the issue is whether or not we get exactly who is best to run our own democracy in the Great White North.

Yadda yadda yadda, and blah blah blah. If you get the chance, watch this movie. “Recount”. It attempts to look at all that went down in Florida after the presidential election of 2000. It used the very same people who were involved in the actions of the day, used some of the very same people to ensure the accuracy of what went down, and tried to portray why the presidential electoral process in the US is flawed. Or, at least, that is what I got from the movie itself.

Watch the movie. “Recount”. Kevin Spacey. Laura Dern. Ed Begley, Jr. John Hurt. and so on… Give it a watch. I think that it will show you the fundamental flaws that are inherent within our political systems in a democratic society today. Watch how the political machinations and influence can sway or outright change what is decided in an election. Regardless of where you live, if democracy rules your country, this movie may just make you think twice about how it is run.

Today’s world is far, FAR, different than the one in 2000. And do NOT ask me how, because my tirade against Monsieur Bush would take forever. Just watch the movie and think. That’s it. Just think. If you are able to…….

Keep The Faith*

Yay. Maybe now we can get on with actually doing something in that gaw-fersaken place called Parliament. FOUR frakking elections in the span of seven years. At more’n $300,000,000 a pop for each one, that’s over $1,000,000,000 spent on electoral BS. A billion bucks to get the public to vote for dip-shite dingos who are more in it for themselves than doing what may be right. $143 million a year. I coulda bought myself a pretty nice car for that kinda money. geez…

So. I voted Conservative. I voted for a candidate who is more unknown than Jesus Christ’s second uncle on his mother’s side, thru marriage. Oh well, my vote was wasted ’cause I got me another four years with an NDPer who got in because he has a “Name”, and because of that “Name”… connections.

Next in line is the provincial election this fall. Frakking elections. There was the municipal election last fall, the federal election this spring, and a provincial one in the fall. If I wasn’t so damned duty-bound, I’d skip ‘em all. Or do a protest vote. Like this past one, I nearly voted for the Radical Marijuana Party candidate in my riding. Silly me.

Anyways, this one is over for at least four years. Maybe the Con government will enact that law they’ve been jabbering about to limit terms to four years, then go to the polls. But it’s doubtful. Just like the baffle-gab sent out about a Triple-E Senate. You know, “E qual, E lected, and E ffective”. Isn’t that an oxymoron? No, just moronic. Below is the preliminary results of the election taken from a government website. Let’s hope they sue my ass for stealing the image and posting it here:

Keep The Faith*