The sad reality of 2000 comes back yet again

In November of 2000, Vice President Al Gore was given a premature victory via faulty exit polling and a media eager to rid themselves of the Texas misfit cowboy. Hours later, Gore conceded the election to George W. Bush and within hours of that, rescinded his concession. It was at that moment, the American political system would forever be changed.

Hanging chads, absentee voters, military ballots, butterfly ballots, voter intent, and the list went on and on; it was nothing really out of the ordinary as far as elections go, but it happened in the narrowest of margins and during the biggest election of the free world.

Since the 2000 Presidential election, there have been a number of post-election challenges from state congressional races to the US Senate. The 2000 precedent of recounting and legal wrangling has been seen over and over again. The last big spectacle was between Norm Coleman and Al Franken for a senatorial seat representing the state of Minnesota. Coleman won the election initially, but team Franken kept the recounts going until their candidate was sworn in.

Now, in the wake of the tide-turning gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey, the District 23 race in New York between democrat Bill Owens and conservative Doug Hoffman seems to have been decided. By a narrow victory on election night, Mr. Owen’s bested his opponent but the race wasn’t over. Out of the media spotlight, this race was close, close enough for Doug Hoffman to imitate Gore’s un-concession – leading to the dreaded chicken-or-egg electoral guesswork. Last week, the last of the district’s absentee ballots were counted, and challenger Doug Hoffman trailed the earlier declared winner, Bill Owens, by 3,129 votes.

Mr. Hoffman would have to come with a 500 vote margin to continue his challenge, a goal that is quite unlikely to be met. Staring defeat in the eye for the second time, Mr. Hoffman has made allegations that state unions and ACORN had stolen the election.

Elections are held in precincts, not courtrooms and the 2000 Presidential Election proved that; there is often a lamenting of how few Americans actually turn out to vote on Election Day, but with candidates like these, who can blame them?



-- Killswitch Politick

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Global cooling, 1970s, Global warming, 1990s, Global climate change, 2000s

June 24^th, 1974, Time Magazine featured a cover story with a family gathered around a busted out console television and a fire burning inside, warming them – the cover exclaiming, ”The Cooling of America”. Inside, the story told of a coming ice age, “Telltale signs are everywhere —from the unexpected persistence and thickness of pack ice in the waters around Iceland to the southward migration of a warmth-loving creature like the armadillo from the Midwest. Since the 1940s the mean global temperature has dropped about 2.7° F. Although that figure is at best an estimate, it is supported by other convincing data.”

Thirty-five years later and no such catastrophe unfolded. But we are still being told of the coming climate catastrophe…

• Ted Danson stated that the oceans would be dried-up in ten years…about twenty years ago.
• "We'll be eight degrees hotter in 30 or 40 years and basically none of the crops will grow, most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals." - Ted Turner in PBS interview with Charlie Rose

What has angered some scientists is the miscasting of carbon as some evil, destructive element. Humans are made of carbon; in fact, most every organic thing on this planet is made of carbon. Trees emit oxygen and take-in carbon. Geologist Ian Plimer, a professor from Adelaide University, contends that a modern rise in temperature around the world is caused by solar cycles and other "extra terrestrial" forces. He stated carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, commonly blamed for global warming, is a natural occurrence caused by volcanoes erupting.

"We cannot stop carbon emissions because most of them come from volcanoes. It is a normal element cycled around in the earth and my science, which is looking back in time, is saying we have had a planet that has been a green, warm wet planet 80 per cent of the time. We have had huge climate change in the past and to think the very slight variations we measure today are the result of our life - we really have to put ice blocks in our drinks."

Scientists such as Dr. Roy Spencer, Professor Ian Clark, and Dr. Tim Patterson, just to name a few of the most vocal “skeptics” have raised many questions regarding the science behind the anthropogenic contention and not only have pointed to the shaky evidence, but have sounded the follow the money bell.

Last spring Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) asked former Vice President Al Gore during a House hearing if his investments in green energy meant he would personally profit from cap-and-trade. Mr. Gore’s answer was a combination of incredulousness and condescension. Mr. Gore said that he’s not stumping for money, but rather the good of the environment. Really? In 2000, Mr. Gore was worth between $1M to $2M, and in eight years, his reported worth was about $100M – a nice perk for talking about melting iceburgs.

-- Killswitch Politick

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