Tuesday, August 06, 2002
But Were They Wearing Brown Shirts with Their Brooks Brothers Suits?
Probably not...but the ReTHUGlican mob that shut down the vote counting in Miami in November 2000 might as well have been.
In an article published on Monday, journalistic treasure Robert Parry described the scene of that day when Totalitarianism American-style reared its ugly head for all to see:
On Nov. 22, 2000, after learning that the Miami canvassing board was starting an examination of 10,750 disputed ballots that had previously not been counted, Rep. John Sweeney, a New York Republican, called on Republican troops to “shut it down,” according to Down and Dirty. Brendan Quinn, executive director of the New York GOP, told about two dozen Republican operatives to storm the room on the 19th floor where the canvassing board was meeting, Tapper reported.
“Emotional and angry, they immediately make their way outside the larger room in which the tabulating room is contained,” Tapper wrote. “The mass of ‘angry voters’ on the 19th floor swells to maybe 80 people,” including many of the Republican activists from outside Florida.
News cameras captured the chaotic scene outside the canvassing board's offices. The protesters shouted slogans and banged on the doors and walls. The unruly protest prevented official observers and members of the press from reaching the room. Miami-Dade county spokesman Mayco Villafana was pushed and shoved. Security officials feared the confrontation was spinning out of control.
The canvassing board suddenly reversed its decision and canceled the recount. “Until the demonstration stops, nobody can do anything,” said David Leahy, Miami’s supervisor of elections, although the canvassing board members would later insist that they were not intimidated into stopping the recount. [Down and Dirty]
As Parry notes, not only weren't any of the Miami mob arrested -- as they surely would've been had they been left-wing radicals or, horrors, angry black folk -- but several were congressional aides and three are now working for the ReTHUGlican "administration"!
Ironically, this assassination attempt against American democracy occurred on the 37th anniversary of President Kennedy's murder. The corrupt Supreme Court dealt the final blow less than two months later, on December 12, 2000, The Day American Democracy Died.
Probably not...but the ReTHUGlican mob that shut down the vote counting in Miami in November 2000 might as well have been.
In an article published on Monday, journalistic treasure Robert Parry described the scene of that day when Totalitarianism American-style reared its ugly head for all to see:
On Nov. 22, 2000, after learning that the Miami canvassing board was starting an examination of 10,750 disputed ballots that had previously not been counted, Rep. John Sweeney, a New York Republican, called on Republican troops to “shut it down,” according to Down and Dirty. Brendan Quinn, executive director of the New York GOP, told about two dozen Republican operatives to storm the room on the 19th floor where the canvassing board was meeting, Tapper reported.
“Emotional and angry, they immediately make their way outside the larger room in which the tabulating room is contained,” Tapper wrote. “The mass of ‘angry voters’ on the 19th floor swells to maybe 80 people,” including many of the Republican activists from outside Florida.
News cameras captured the chaotic scene outside the canvassing board's offices. The protesters shouted slogans and banged on the doors and walls. The unruly protest prevented official observers and members of the press from reaching the room. Miami-Dade county spokesman Mayco Villafana was pushed and shoved. Security officials feared the confrontation was spinning out of control.
The canvassing board suddenly reversed its decision and canceled the recount. “Until the demonstration stops, nobody can do anything,” said David Leahy, Miami’s supervisor of elections, although the canvassing board members would later insist that they were not intimidated into stopping the recount. [Down and Dirty]
As Parry notes, not only weren't any of the Miami mob arrested -- as they surely would've been had they been left-wing radicals or, horrors, angry black folk -- but several were congressional aides and three are now working for the ReTHUGlican "administration"!
Ironically, this assassination attempt against American democracy occurred on the 37th anniversary of President Kennedy's murder. The corrupt Supreme Court dealt the final blow less than two months later, on December 12, 2000, The Day American Democracy Died.
