It's an actual ballot from the 2000 election, complete with hanging chads.
Seeing the picture, and hearing my sister, Carla, who's a precinct worker there, talk about it made me remember the whole debacle. Actually, I've been thinking about it a lot since the Iranian election, when a questionable result inspired people to take to the streets in protest, even to risk their lives. Which in turn made me wonder how we Americans became so blase about liberty and democracy, that when something like that happened here, we just said, essentially, "Oh, well."
I decided to channel my energy into my favorite pastime - fiction. If you read my post on speculative fiction, then you know it starts with "What If?"
Today's challenge is to write a short comment with your thoughts on "What if Al Gore had won in 2000?" I'm interested in hearing all viewpoints, but please be respectful and logical. If your thought is "the world as we know it would have ended," tell me why you think that. If you think global warming would be a thing of the past, support your statement.
This is way too early to use such brain power. One cup of coffee evidently isn't enough for me today. Back to the coffee pot I go.
ReplyDeletethen my husband would PROBABLY still have a job. (He says he starts back tomorrow, but I'll believe it when I see it.)
ReplyDeleteI am of the opinion that one man can't make that big of a difference, but in this case, I certainly don't think we would have invaded the wrong country. Or even gone to war.
ReplyDeleteRetrospective
ReplyDeleteSept.11th gave us suicide jumpers in NYC. The following days I felt safer than I ever have in my entire life. We were finally all ONE. I finally looked at every single American as equal, as my friend and brother. Not a plane in the sky for days; an eerie postmortem for the execution of 3000 involuntary jumpers
Soon after came the war. Then came Mike Peter’s HATE of a president, echoing a nation’s disgust for its revenge, boiled in right wing spew.
I could support a President Gore, or Clinton, or Obama….if there are no more suicide jumpers.
(100 words)
Would September 11 be a day we'd all remember? Who knows? But just maybe...
ReplyDeleteNo war with Iraq, think of all the money we wouldn't have spent on that, of all the lives that would not have been lost.
Maybe we'd be years ahead on this new power grid they're talking about now.
It's hard to predict what else might have happened, since we can't say who Gore would have picked for his cabinet members, and how his presidency would have affected Congressional elections in the years since.
This will be interesting, especially since Gore hasn't exactly been doing nothing since he lost.
ReplyDeleteI, too, thought about this during the recent Iranian elections. Why DIDN'T we hit the streets and set things on fire? I think we just have a complacent attitude toward our 'elected' officials that they would never purposely lie to us.
ReplyDeleteThe entire past eight years was a prison for us all, no matter what your political beliefs, but I do know one thing for sure...if all the planets lining up combined with our society being fed up with the Bush administration did something positive for us...we can now honestly say that any native born American citizen can truly become President! The world is now embracing us again. Phew! It's a nice feeling.
Quite an interesting question, and some very interesting responses. I won't speculate, I'm just glad that things have turned out for the best.
ReplyDeleteHard to say. I think we may well be on our way to solving some of the Global Warming issues, had that happened, BUT it may also be true that Gore could have slipped into the path of least resistance and not been on this crusade at all. We'll never know for sure.
ReplyDeleteHowever, many other things would surely have been different (better), but I don't want to ruffle any feathers.
Kat
Can't pass this up.
ReplyDeleteIf Al Gore had won in 2000, there would be an end to World Hunger and Peace on the Earth.
No, not really. But seriously, we wouldn't have gotten attacked in 2001. Before you jump on me and pound me with an Iraqi sword, hear me out. Former President Clinton knew what was brewing. Our intel community was already working on it. We had the bad guys in our sights. President Bush was clueless, wasn't briefed in time because of Supreme Court justices voting collectively for all of us, and nothing was disseminated.
Gore and Clinton's relationship would have kept policies smooth, political ties un-severed and Washington-based networks alive. Issues such as climate change, health care, domestic worker's rights (keeping jobs in the US), and the US' status in the world would have been smoothly continued over another 8 years.
Instead, we tried to cling to our guns, and wound up in two wars we couldn't--and can't--afford.
I love this challenge of yours but am completely unqualified to comment as pay scant attention to the politcal arena. Love reading all the comments though! :)
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteEvery accomplishment starts with the decision to try. Keep sharing ideas. Have a good day :)
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