Musings

http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com - A CONSORTIUM of newspapers has released the latest recount of last year's presidential election or, at least, the votes in Florida.

The tally originally was supposed to appear in September, but the National Opinion Research Center, which conducted the study, agreed to withhold the results at the behest of the report's sponsors -- The Washington Post, The New York Times and some other media outfits. Frankly, I don't give a darn and neither do most Americans. Not only is the election over; the investigation itself is suspect.

The participants are looking only at a selection of uncounted ballots in Florida and they are neglecting to check out other potential sources of fraud - double voting, votes by dead people, that sort of stuff in Florida and elsewhere.

If there's a point to this: it's that a fool and his money are soon parted -- because this probe is costing major dough. As for the rest of us, There's a war to win.

As the war continues in Afghanistan, a fascinating thing is happening on our soil. Russian President Vladimir Putin is sitting down with President Bush, and the two are trying to figure out how their countries can become allies. Now, Russia has suffered for centuries through an identity crisis: It hasn't been able to decide whether it is a European or Asian power, since in truth it is both.

Now Putin wants to join the West and in time, maybe even sign up for NATO, which was first formed to foil the Russians. This wonderous, improbable development shows what happens when nations stick to their guns. The United States fought off Soviet opression for a half century, and in time our might and our determination vanquished the forces of totalitarianism.

Make no mistake, Russia will remain a mess for some time. But now, it's made a decision that could produce a much safer world and give us a much-needed ally in fighting the likes os Usama bin Laden.

Another good one from Snow! So far, of all the conservatives whom i've heard comment on the recount boondoggle, he is the first one to effectively smack down this sham of a recount. This news consortium claims to be doing their recount to investigate fraud on behalf of voters who alleged one form of abuse or another and to make sure that the presidency was won fairly and that everyone's vote was counted. Fine- but they are only investigating ballots in Florida where Democrats made claims. If they are truly concerned about making sure that all ballots (throughout the country) are counted and counted properly, then why aren't they investigating all of the claims made by Republicans from across America.

There were plenty of allegations of legitimate Republican military ballots being thrown out and absentee ballots, as well. Democrats (as a party), have long been under suspicion, and were accused again last year of registering dead people and illegal immigrants to vote and/or getting citizens to vote twice. It has become such a problem, that Republican poll volunteers have sought to sneak in video cameras to catch them in the act. But, the news consortium isn't bothering to investigate any of those claims- exposing that fact was my favorite part of Snow's article.

But, maybe the worst thing is that we're in the middle of a war, and they could care less. So, if I ever come in contact with any of these 'news counters', i'm going to tell them to count my fingers- i'll only be holding up one (i'll leave it to you to figure out which one it'll be)!

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