July 03, 2004

Moonbats

Jack Douglas Jr.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Jul. 3, 2004 12:00 AM

U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona and 11 other Democrats in Congress on Friday asked the United Nations to watch for "questionable practices" in this year's U.S. presidential election.

They wrote in a letter that they do not want a repeat of the controversy and resulting legal wars of the 2000 race between George Bush and Al Gore, which was ultimately decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

A U.N. spokesman, Ari Gaitanis, said the request will be rejected because it came from elected officials rather than directly from the government, as required by U.N. policy.

"We don't intervene in such affairs unless there is a proper request," Gaitanis said.

Despite the quick rejection, the request raised the ire of some conservatives, including radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh.

Other signatories to the letter sent to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan were Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas; Jerrold Nadler, Edolphus Towns, Joseph Crowley and Carolyn B. Maloney, all of New York; Corrine Brown of Florida; Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland; Danny K. Davis of Illinois; Michael M. Honda of California; and Julia Carson of Indiana.

The Democrats said they feared a repeat of the 2000 election, which was won by Bush, a Republican, through the Electoral College count, even though he lost the popular vote.

The Democrats had asked in the letter for "international election monitors" to watch for "questionable practices and voter disenfranchisement on Election Day."

The close outcome between Bush and Gore in 2000 was clouded by accusations that ballots, many of them cast by minorities who traditionally favor Democrats, were not counted because of faulty voting machines and improper election instructions.

"We are deeply concerned that the right of U.S. citizens to vote in free and fair elections is again in jeopardy," the letter to Annan said.

The Democratic Congress members wrote that they did not think sufficient reforms had been implemented to prevent another voting debacle. "As the next Election Day approaches, there is more cause for alarm rather than less," the letter said.

A campaign spokesman for Bush declined to comment on the request.

A spokesman for presumptive Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry did not return a phone call.

UPDATE: see also

Posted by Vox at July 3, 2004 02:27 PM | politics
Comments

Jackasses. That deserves a major ass kicking.

Posted by: Lori at July 3, 2004 05:25 PM

Yes, and one of them is from Arizona - aren't we just so proud!

Posted by: Vox at July 3, 2004 05:33 PM

The little editorial in there, "despite the quick rejection, the request raised the ire of some conservatives." Like somehow it's the conservatives fault for getting mad; the Democrats aren't to blame as long as the rejection comes quickly.

Posted by: Michael at July 3, 2004 08:53 PM

Exactly.

And why weren't they soundly rebuffed for not knowing how our system works? Perhaps they need to take a grade school civics class for a refresher - and perhaps their constituents need to know how weak is their understanding of American government procedures.

Here is info on the Arizona guy, Grijalva: MeCHA member, moonbat

Posted by: Vox at July 3, 2004 09:05 PM

fortunately, since they decided to have the UN watch us, we can be sure it will take at least 14 resolutoins beofre anyhting can be done aobut improper elections in the US.

Posted by: ted at July 13, 2004 08:56 AM