Thursday, November 12, 2009

NY 23- Has the majority ruled?

Word in from NY 23 that Conservative Doug Hoffman now trails by just 3000 votes as the official  tabulation process continues. "The new vote totals mean the race will be decided by absentee ballots, of which about 10,200 were distributed."  Among the absentee ballots that remain uncounted are "military and overseas ballots received by this coming Monday (and postmarked by Nov. 2)..."
But Bill Owens "was quickly sworn into office on Friday, a day before the rare weekend vote in the House of Representatives.  His support sealed his party's narrow victory on the health care legislation."
By what right does anyone declare and act on an election outcome before all the votes are counted?  Whatever candidates do to declare or concede victory, elections are decided by what the people do with their votes, not what the candidates do with their speeches.  Or at least that's the way its supposed to be when government of, by and for the people still functions.
Sad on this day after veterans day, to reflect on the fact that among the votes still uncounted when Owens was being sworn in are many cast by people who are right now risking their lives in service to their country.  Yet we let ambitious political parties hijack the electoral process in a fashion that sends the clear signal- your votes don't matter.
By such carelessness does a free people discard the respect for their sovereignty that is the essence of liberty.  I assume that if the vote turns out to favor Doug Hoffman, Owens will have to give up the seat he would thus prematurely have assumed.  But maybe not.  After all, once the candidates and the Parties agree to an election outcome,  why should the voters matter?
It's ironic that when it comes to ignoring the Constitution's eligibility requirements for the Presidency, the politicos want us to accept the notion that all that matters is the electoral majority.  Now when it comes to deciding who's sworn in after an election, the people's votes remain uncounted, and all that matters is the candidates' declarations of victory or concession.  For those willing to understand, this little episode reveals the truth.  Once respect for the Constitution and its principles has been discarded, we'll quickly discover that the notion of majority rule has been thrown away as well.  The American people will find themselves cast down, to languish as other peoples have historically done, under the boot heel of arrogant elites who will resume their accustomed place as the dictators of human destiny.

7 comments:

Marshwiggle said...

It is outrageous! And if Scuzzafava had taken her name off the ballot (since she said she was dropping out anyway), Hoffman would have surely been declared the winner anyway on election night!

If Hoffman has the lead after all of the votes are counted, I think the American people need to speak up and fight for what is right.

I have been living in a state of high anxiety for the last several months because of what is happening to our country. I keep wishing it was just a bad dream that I could awaken from. I have written email after email to our Congresspeople, but got answers back basically in so many words, telling me that they are going to do what they want.

Our only hope IS the electoral process, and if we don't have that, what do we have????

nail-in-the-wall said...

Alan; I don’t know of your pain,.. although quite eloquently stated,..

That pain in the marrow of ones back is not made of a boot heel,..but of a dagger.

The same dagger, which is cutting or gutting, the very heart and soul of a nation suffering, and longing to be free of those who would see her end.

Thanks and may God be swift

In his Justice.

-Guy c.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps it doesn't really matter.

After all, the body of the American people uttered not a peep nor moved the wing as the Constitution itself was demoted from the status of law to that of suggestion and thence to mere cultural artifact. There were fierce battles over any number of actual policy positions, but only the most insignificant minority ever cared about the question of what exactly the Constitution was (rather than what it could be made to imply) until far too late.

And the status of the Constitution as law was emblematic of the sovereign power of the American voter. The Constitution derived its mandate as law directly and expressly from the assent of the people as expressed through their elected representatives, and in turn affirmed the specific processes by which the people's will would continue to determine the composition of their government.

If the Constitution isn't the supreme law of the land, not only does it not matter whether government officials are selected by the democratic processes described in the Constitution, but one must disregard any theory that the electorally expressed will of the American people has authority over government. And the Constitution hasn't been treated as law for decades now.

Indeed, if the sanctity of the electoral process mattered in the slightest...the list of outrages is too long to contemplate. I simply do not understand how anyone can still believe that their votes actually matter. As of the last election cycle, there were two kinds of elections, those in which the outcome was controlled by illegal manipulation of the vote and those in which the outcome wasn't important enough to bother manipulating.

Whichever election you happened to be voting in, either your vote had nothing to do with the outcome or the outcome of your vote didn't matter. And the situation will only get worse. In 2010 there will only be a few congressional seats where the outcome is unimportant rather than controlled. By 2012 your new masters plan to control the outcome of every single election.

By and large, the Republican Party is complicit in this fraud. To some extent out of fear, born of an understanding of how much pent up rage is being channeled into the electoral process. When the charade is finally exposed, those who have sought to make their will felt at the ballot box will turn to more direct methods. I myself long dreaded the inevitable result...though now it has become inevitable there is no rational purpose in fear of it.

Indeed, the only point of fear is to motivate actions designed to avert what you fear. But frequently fear does exactly the opposite, it paralyzes men so that they cannot do what is necessary to survive. Republican fears of exposing the cancerous illegitimacy of the electoral process and the government itself have allowed that cancer to destroy the rule of law entirely...and soon the nation will be torn asunder as well.

Kitty Kitty Cats said...

The telling point is that the Health Care manifesto may very well have failed. Cao the Republican from LA would not have voted for it. Hoffman certainly would not have voted for it. The argument for one more Blue dog democrat to vote against it would have be easier in this scenario as an uncontested election versus an angry electorate would seem a certian loss to be akin to pollen for a bee. Ownes will be removed if the vote turns out that Hoffman wins. But the House bill will now sit in limbo as its clear even Democrates cannot bear to foster abortion on the back of a Christian electorate!

Unknown said...

When the disciples asked Jesus about the end we find starting in Luke 21:7 all the things that are happening in these troubled times. All these things make up what is a very hard pill to swallow. I for one have grandchildren who will be growing up in this sewer pit we call a country, and it gives me pain. In my opinion change will come only by the same method it came the first time, a bloody revolution. The corporations, the Federal Reserve and the government will not give up the power that they have fought so long and so hard to gain. As far as we the people go we are like the generation who grew up not remembering the forty years in the wilderness. We the people have become complacent, apathetic cowards. If you don't think so, let me ask who among you has the courage to fire the shot heard round the world. Our only hope is found in Luke 21:28 our "redemption draweth nigh"

Anonymous said...

I'm actually a melee specialist, surprisingly enough.

Anyway, remember that "the shot heard round the world" was fired in defense. Believe me, just prepare to defend yourselves, and the fight will come to you. Collectively speaking, I mean.

Look, just make sure you have plenty of supplies and the means to hold on to them. Find like-minded neighbors if you can. Know what you're defending and how to defend it, and prepare accordingly.

dymdemcat said...

Hoffman Loses Final Tally

I lay this all at Hoffman's feet. I was shocked when I woke the next morning after the special election to find out Hoffman conceded. Hoffman, if we wants to be in politics needs to realize he will have enemies all around him. It didn't matter what he was told by so & so on the night of the election. He SHOULD have waited til all ballots were counted. It didn't matter if would have taken one week, two weeks, a month. He had the right to wait til all ballots were accounted for before he made a formal statement. This was his screw up & I am highly annoyed that he was this careless. His conceding, & now unconceding makes the conservatives look like bumbling idiots.

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