Politics

Author: Richard R. Tryon and others

Anatomy of the election failure in America
Can we recover from it?

by Richard R. Tryon

When my wife awakened me to tell me at 2 a.m. CST that George W. Bush had been declared the winner of the closest presidential race in our recent history and that Al Gore had called Bush to concede, my mind spent the rest of the night wondering how George W. Bush should react and what should he say? Here is what I wrote before I learned that “all hell had broken loose with Gore being advised to and retracting his concession call!

What does a Bush win mean?

If I were a President elect named George W. Bush, I would first want to show my sense of humility that I was elected by the smallest margin of victory in the history of modern U.S. politics, and thank all those that made it happen.

Then I would be inclined to make some observations about the path of the nation for the next four years...

First, I would emphasize that it is clear that the opposition has been heard loud and clear! The votes for Al Gore represented a variety of special interests and concerns. It is important to recognize them and keep them in mind in the new Congress, which will also be in Republican control by the narrowest of margins.

a. Perhaps the largest of the group can be characterized by those who want to trust government to take care of them by passing laws that try to ‘save us from ourselves’ and from those perceived as wanting to take something away from us. Be they seniors, afraid that somehow Bush will engineer a restructuring of social security aimed at insuring more for the future retirees at the expense, somehow, of those already knowing what they are getting; or

b. A large proportion of women that fear that they, or their still of reproductive age sisters, will be denied the right to determine if any pregnancy may be terminated, without consideration of the opinion or determination of spouse or any male involved in the conception; or

c. A significant portion of organized labor in industry, but more significantly in government and education has clearly been convinced that we live in a nation where ‘class warfare’ of the type encouraged by Marx is real and that without endless regulation, intervention and control in ways deemed to be politically correct, the workers will be prisoners of industry or the so-called rich exploiters; or that those that fear that public education will be compromised by those interested in promoting some form of non-public, union controlled schools; or

d. Those that fear that Republicans will somehow conspire to reduce taxes for the wealthy in some unfair or greater measure than for the poor or middle classes.

Governor Bush, as president will be challenged to prove that his skill at bringing diverse interests together can be managed so as to bring resolution and not ‘grid-lock’ to the Congress. He will have to work hard to show that he wants to and can do just that; yet, he will still be in a position of showing that, he will get things done, with as much input and compassionate conservative consideration as possible, if the opposition will sit and reason together.

If he is successful, we may see some important rebuilding of our national fabric that will put some of the fearsome issues to bed. He could, for example, build a design for Social Security that permits real investment of incoming funds with certain minimum results protected, if needed, by general revenues to show that when the poor invest in growth and lose, the general revenue will protect them from poverty in retirement; while successful investment in growth will mean a better retirement for all.

A few hours later....

By the time the rest of the story started to unfold, I had to rethink:


But, what if Al Gore wins? What if it takes a divisive, angry, mob of protesters claiming that a Democrat official designed a ballot that confused enough Gore voters who didn’t see the relationship between an arrow and a hole to punch? If that artifice provides the margin of victory, we are perilously close to what a WSJ reader wrote:

“You might best serve your readership by reviewing the election results for what they indicate about the divisions within our republic.
Were a historian to overlay a map of the U.S. in the early 1860s (Union vs. Confederacy) on that which the media color- fully laid out for this election’s results, there would appear an eerie resemblance between the two. To wit: After giving over
a ‘border” state like Missouri and two in the Ohio Valley to the Confederacy along with a few of what were Western territories in 1860, the nation has divided itself along dangerously familiar geographic, now quasi-demographic, lines.
Abraham Lincoln’s famous statement that “A house divided against itself cannot stand” seems all too haunting at this point in our national affairs. Gov. Bush is reputed to be a man with great skill at bringing together disparate groups. If the historical exercise I suggest illuminates today’s division between the two major parties on the direction of our society, then whomever becomes our next president must employ all available skills to bring the electorate together, lest he find himself at a crossroads that only a statesman of Abraham Lincoln’s wisdom and temperament could negotiate successfully.
RICHARD NEWTON MEYER
Boston”



Mr. Meyer wasn’t the only one to observe the demographics of the election results. It was very clear to many as the evening TV representations went on that the “American 30 Years War” by Balint Vazsonyi representations speaks right to the point. America is today as divided as it was in 1860 and again the issue that matters is slavery. Not of people being owned by other people but by the state.

Very clearly, we can see that in an election that is virtually 50-50 in popular count, the nation is split into two camps with slight to significant advantage for each group in the states that they carried. A review of the Michigan demographics below points very clearly to the conclusion that the industrial states are in one camp- Al Gore’s.



Vote by Gender
All Gore Bush Nader

Men 49 % 45 % 52 % 2 %
Women 51 % 56 % 42 % 2 %

Race by Sex All Gore Bush Nader
White Males 49 % 41 % 56 % 2 %
White Females 51 % 49 % 48 % 2 %

Vote by Race All Gore Bush Nader
White 85 % 45 % 52 % 2 % 0%
African-American 12 % 90 % 8 % 1 % 0%
Hispanic 2 % 0 % 0 % 0 % 0 %
Other 1 % 0 0 % 0 % 0%

Vote by Age All Gore Bush Nader
18-29 20 % 53 % 44 % 1 %
30-44 35 % 49 % 49 % 1 %
45-59 30 % 52 % 45 % 2 %
60 or Older 15 % 49 % 47 % 4 %

Vote by Age All Gore Bush Nader
18-64 92 % 51 % 47 % 2 %
65 and Older 8 % 50 % 46 % 4 %

Vote by Education All Gore Bush Nader
No H.S. Degree 5 % 0 % 0 % 0 %
High School Graduate 24 % 52 % 46 % 2 %
Some College 34 % 48 % 49 % 2 %
College Graduate 22 % 48 % 48 % 3 %
Post-Graduate Degree 15 % 57 % 40 % 2 %


Vote by College EducatioAll Gore Bush Nader
College Educated 64 % 50 % 47 % 2 %
No College 36 % 52 % 45 % 2 %


Vote by Income All Gore Bush Nader
Under $15,000 6 % 62 % 34 % 3 %
$15-30,000 17 % 56 % 41 % 2 %
$30-50,000 22 47 % 49 % 2 %
$50-75,000 26 % 45 % 51 % 3 %
$75-100,000 16 % 51 % 49 % 0 %
Over $100,00 14 % 53 % 44 % 3 %


Are You Married? All Gore Bush Nader
Yes 64 % 45 % 52 % 2 %
No 36 % 59 % 37 % 2 %

Do You Have Children Under 18? All Gore Bush Nader
Yes 47 % 49 % 49 % 1 %
No 53 % 52 % 44 % 3 %

Married and Have Children? All Gore Bush Nader
Yes 34 % 43 % 57 % 1 %
No 66 % 54 % 41 % 3 %

Do You Work Full-Time? All Gore Bush Nader
Yes 70 % 51 % 46 % 2 %
No 30 % 49 % 48 % 3 %

Are You a Working Woman? All Gore Bush Nader
Yes 32 % 57 % 40 % 2 %
No 68 % 47 % 50 % 2 %

Party Identification All Gore Bush Nader
Democrat 37 % 89 % 9 % 2 %
Republican 33 % 11 % 89 % 0 %
Independent 30 % 46 % 46 % 5 %

Union Member in Household? All Gore Bush Nader
Yes 43 % 61 % 35 % 3 %
No 57 % 42 % 56 % 1 %

Are You a Union Member? All Gore Bush Nader
Yes 28 % 64 % 32 % 4 %
No 16 % 57 % 40 % 2 %
No 57 % 42 % 56 % 1 %

Vote by Religion All Gore Bush Nader
Protestant 54 % 46 % 52 % 2 %
Catholic 27 % 47 % 51 % 2 %
Jewish 1 % 0 % 0 % 0 %
Other 7 % 60 % 33 % 7 %
None 11 % 72 % 25 % 2 %

Religion - Whites Only All Gore Bush Nader
Protestant 53 % 38 % 59 % 2 %
Catholic 29 % 44 % 53 % 2 %
Jewish 2 % 0 % 0 % 0 %
Other 6 % 0 % 0 % 0 %
None 11 % 70 % 27 % 2 %

Attend Religious Services All Gore Bush Nader
More Than Weekly 17 % 36 % 60 % 2 %
Weekly 25 % 42 % 57 % 1 %
Monthly 12 % 52 % 45 % 2 %
Seldom 30 % 56 % 40 % 3 %
Never 12 % 70 % 26 % 3 %
Member of Religious Right? All Gore Bush Nader
Yes 21 % 30 % 67 % 3 %
No 74 % 57 % 40 % 2 %

Vote by Ideology All Gore Bush Nader
Liberal 24 % 85 % 13 % 2 %
Moderate 49 % 53 % 44 % 3 %
Conservative 27 % 16 % 82 % 1 %

Family's Financial Situation AllGore Bush Nader
Better 54 % 64 % 33 % 2 %
Worse 9 % 33 % 63 % 2 %
Same 36 % 35 % 61 % 2 %

1996 Presidential Vote All Gore Bush Nader
Clinton 48 % 82 % 16 % 2 %
Dole 29 % 8 % 90 % 1 %
Perot 7 % 29 % 67 % 5 %
Other 3 % 0 % 0 % 0 %
Did Not Vote 13 % 48 % 48 % 1 %

Clinton Job Rating All Gore Bush Nader
Approve 57 % 78 % 20 % 2 %
Disapprove 41 % 11 % 84 % 3 %

Opinion of Clinton as a Person All Gore Bush Nader
Favorable 38 % 85 % 14 % 2 %
Unfavorable 58 % 28 % 69 % 2 %

Opinion of Clinton All Gore Bush Nader
Approve/Like 35 % 87 % 12 % 1 %
Approve/Dislike 20 % 62 % 35 % 2 %
Disapprove/Like 2 % 0 % 0 % 0 %
Disapprove/Dislike 37 % 9 % 87 % 2 %

Vote in Two-Way RaceAll Gore Bush Nader
Gore 51 % 95 % 3 % 2 %
Bush 44 % 2 % 97 % 0 %
Would Not Have Voted 3 % 0 % 0 % 0 %

Which Issue Mattered Most? All Gore Bush Nader
World Affairs 15 % 43 % 53 % 3 %
Medicare/Rx Drugs 8 % 60 % 37 % 3 %
Health Care 7 % 59 % 38 % 3 %
Economy/Jobs 23 % 70 % 29 % 1 %
Taxes 11 % 11 % 83 % 4 %
Education 13 % 56 % 42 % 1 %
Social Security 11 % 57 % 43 % 0 %



Which Quality Mattered MostAll Gore Bush Nader
Understands Issues 16 % 77 % 20 % 2 %
Honest/Trustworthy 27 % 20 % 76 % 3 %
Cares About People 14 % 69 % 28 % 2 %
Has Experience 14 % 82 % 18 % 0 %
Likeable 2 % 0 % 0 % 0 %
Strong Leader 10 % 40 % 58 % 2 %
Good Judgment 10 % 42 % 55 % 1 %

Which Is More Important? All Gore Bush Nader
Issues 59 % 55 % 42 % 2 %
Qualities 37 % 44 % 53 % 3 %

Government Should Do... All Gore Bush Nader
More 46 % 77 % 21 % 1 %
Less 49 % 26 % 70 % 2 %

Priority for Surplus All Gore Bush Nader
Tax Cut 29 % 30 % 67 % 1 %
Debt Reduction 24 % 54 % 42 % 2 %
Social Security 35 % 62 % 35 % 3 %
Other Programs 6 % 72 % 17 % 8 %

Who Would Say Anything? All Gore Bush Nader
Only Gore 33 % 18 % 80 % 1 %
Only Bush 20 % 89 % 10 % 2 %
Both 35 % 59 % 35 % 4 %
Neither 8 % 55 % 43 % 2 %

Would Gore Say Anything? All Gore Bush Nader
Yes 68 % 39 % 57 % 2 %
No 29 % 79 % 19 % 2 %

Would Bush Say Anything? All Gore Bush Nader
Yes 56 % 70 % 26 % 3 %
No 41 % 25 % 73 % 1 %

Has Knowledge to be President? All Gore Bush Nader
Only Gore 39 % 93 % 5 % 2 %
Only Bush 21 % 5 % 94 % 1 %
Both 30 % 31 % 67 % 2 %
Neither 7 % 37 % 39 % 11 %

Does Gore Know Enough? All Gore Bush Nader
Yes 69 % 66 % 32 % 2 %
No 28 % 13 % 80 % 3 %

Does Bush Know Enough? All Gore Bush Nader
Yes 51 % 20 % 78 % 1 %
No 46 % 84 % 10 % 3 %

Who Attacked Unfairly?All Gore Bush Nader
Only Gore 24 % 10 % 89 % 0 %
Only Bush 17 % 88 % 9 % 3 %
Both 35 % 55 % 41 % 3 %
Neither 18 % 61 % 36 % 2 %

Did Gore Attack Bush Unfairly? All Gore Bush Nader
Yes 59 % 36 % 60 % 2 %
No 35 % 74 % 23 % 2 %

Did Bush Attack Gore Unfairly? All Gore Bush Nader
Yes 52 % 66 % 30 % 3 %
No 42 % 32 % 66 % 1 %

Stricter Gun Control Laws All Gore Bush Nader
Support 56 % 69 % 29 % 2 %
Oppose 41 % 27 % 69 % 2 %


Are You a McCain Supporter? All Gore Bush Nader
Yes 27 % 30 % 66 % 3 %
No 65 % 59 % 37 % 2 %


Where Do You Live? All Gore Bush Nader
Large City 29 % 64 % 33 % 1 %
Suburbs 50 % 45 % 52 % 2 %
Rural Area 21 % 44 % 53 % 3 %

This apparent exit poll statistical tabulation may be reasonably accurate and it tells volumes about the ability of the Gore camp to project evidence of class warfare through its control of the combination of municipal, educational, and industrial union forces, which took funds from all members regardless of their individual preferences and used them to promote the results so clearly tabulated above. They were very successful and we should be aware that WE HAVE NOT SEEN ANYTHING YET! This new found political muscle, hammered out after many unions were slow to accept Gore, came to realize that in their unity there is political strength. This success will show up again in the next mid-term election in 2002.

If Gore fails to be inaugurated, these forces will be clamoring for a simpler way for mob or majority rule to win control of the White House. The venerated Electoral College system that has worked so well to avoid regional domination will be fought for by this political force with all of its might. The average voter will be ‘blind-sided’ and they have already shown their profound ignorance of the electoral system with its many built in flaws driven by human nature and man’s inability to avoid system errors. That about 4% of all ballots in the nation fail to work with exact precision is a given. That more and more voters are incapable of reading directions and following them is to be expected in a nation where 20% of our high school graduates can’t read!

Next, look at what started to unfold in Florida.


Florida recount:
Latest Florida Recount Numbers as of 2:13pm CST on AOL

.c The Associated Press

With votes in 53 of 67 counties recounted, the tally collected by The Associated Press shows Republican George W. Bush leading Democrat Al Gore by 787 votes.

Gore has a net gain of 1,343 votes from the election night count. Bush has a net gain of 346 votes. The last count of all 67 counties before the recount showed Bush leading Gore by 1,784 votes.

The vote totals at bottom reflect the totals at this stage of the recount.

The AP county-by-county tally is an unofficial survey. The vote totals are subject to verification by the Florida Secretary of State's Office.

County......Gore........Bush.....GoreChg....BushChg
Baker.......2,392.......5,610
Bradford....3,075.......5,414 .......3..........1
Brevard....97,318.....115,185
Broward...386,561.....177,323......43.........44
Calhoun.....2,155.......2,873
Clay.......14,632......41,736.......2.........-9
Collier....29,918......60,433......13..........7
Columbia....7,047......10,964
Dade......328,764.....289,492......62.........36
Dixie.......1,826.......2,697.......1.........-1
Duval.....107,864.....152,098.....184.........16
Escambia...40,943......73,017.....-15........-12
Flagler....13,897......12,613.......6..........5
Franklin....2,046.......2,454.......4..........6
Gadsden.....9,735.......4,767 .....170.........17
Gilchris....1,910.......3,300
Glades......1,440.......1,840
Hamilton....1,722.......2,146 .......4........ -7
Hendry......3,240.......4,747.......1..........4
Hernando...32,644......30,646
Highland...14,167......20,206......15.........10
Hilsboro..169,557.....180,760......28.........47
Indianrv...19,768......28,635......-1..........8
Jackson.....6,868.......9,138
Jeffrson....3,041.......2,478.......3.........-3
Lafayete......789.......1,670 .......1..........1
Lake.......36,553......49,974......-2.........11
Lee........73,560.....106,141......30.........18
Leon.......61,425......39,053
Levy........5,398.......6,858......-5.........-2
Liberty.....1,017.......1,317 .......6..........1
Madison.....3,014.......3,038 .......3
Marion.....44,665......55,141......17..........6
Monroe.....16,483......16,059
Nassau......6,879......16,280.....-73........-124
Okaloosa...16,948......52,093 ......24..........50
Okeechob....4,588.......5,057 ..................-1
Osceola....28,181......26,212 .......4..........-4
Palmbech..269,696.....152,954.....751.........108
Putnam.....12,102......13,447......11...........8
Sarasota...72,853......83,100......-1
Sntarosa...12,802......36,274.......7..........26
St Johns...19,502......39,546......20..........49
St Lucie...41,559......34,705
Sumter......9,637......12,127.......3...........1
Suwannee....4,075.......8,006......-9..........-8
Taylor......2,649.......4,056.......2...........6
Union.......1,407.......2,332.......8...........6
Volusia....97,063......82,214
Wakulla.....3,838.......4,512 .......3...........1
Walton......5,642......12,182.......5...........6
Washngtn....2,798.......4,994.......2..........11
TOTALS..2,187,571...2,170,347...1,343.........346

AP-NY-11-09-00 1437EST


How strange it is...for months we heard that both Gore and Bush were two peas in the same pod! Now we find that the 50-50 tie is found to be concentrated in each case- one in about 30 heartland states and one in 20 public, school and industrial union dominated states. God forbid that we need two countries! One that wants to 'save us from ourselves' and one that is compassionately conservative.

This lack of understanding of the importance of this election reaches around the world. One letter asking me about it came from Germany. I responded on Nov. 10, 2000:


“You, in Germany, and all of us are witnessing history in the making. I almost think it is Divine intervention of our God trying to make us see the folly of our ways.

The closeness of the election has started a split in America that may become as great as that which divided North and South in 1860, when we fought initially over economic advantage, and then over the right to own slaves. The South was wrong. The North was heavy handed and lacking in compassion.

Now we act like it made no difference who was elected and half of the voters didn't bother to vote. The other half are split exactly 50-50 in terms of popular vote- give or take 100,000- an amount that gets lost in the shuffle every election via such 'calamities' as those brought on by voters that can't read and follow an arrow to the hole to be punched! Add mis-information about some 19,000 cards that were rejected (some part of which were apparently turned in for replacements by folks that discovered their error) and some managed to be punched twice by people that did not think the machine couldn't tell that the second punch was the one they wanted!

As a veteran designer of business systems, I know very well that nobody makes a system that is literally 'fool proof'. Even God lets some conceptions fail to live, as almost 40% of all such are spontaneously aborted just because they did not attach to the chance to grow. We are mere mortals and our systems are grossly inferior. In most elections the failure is not large enough to count. In this one some 327 votes look like the whole election.

We have to accept that we will have some error and the poor Democrat in Palm Beach who tried to help the seniors see the type better apparently will now live in infamy because she failed to know that some Democrats are not smart enough to follow the arrow to the hole! I wonder if the Republicans in that county would have made the same mistake? She even printed flyers and sent instructions to all polling stations to help when this problem surfaced in the early morning hours, as a few voters came out with spoiled ballots and asked for new ones. There spoiled ballots are part of the 19,000 as near as I can tell.

Reporters often fail to ask the right questions and those giving answers are often causing confusion in the minds of the reporter. Especially when that reporter is looking for an 'angle' - a lead punch line- on which to gain personal fame as a reporter.

Lost in the shuffle over the potential for endless legal battles is the real issue... we are on the edge of the jump into the European models for socialism. Read Balint Vazonyi, a fine concert pianist, who wrote "America's 30 years War- who is winning". He is an escapee from Hungary in 1956. He lived under Hitler and then Stalin- both socialists. He notes that we are fast moving in America to embrace the same winning combination for socialism. At first, you only want social justice, social equality, social welfare, social rights and about 250 other nouns so modified with the prefix that eventually is folded into just 'socialism'.

We are now looking at a U.S. that has a slight majority or more in 30 states, where folks tend to want to be individually responsible for themselves vs. those in 20 states that want to be slaves to the state that will "save us from ourselves". So we see the same slavery issue again, only in this case the minorities want the majority to be enslaved to the state to fund the entitlements that these defined minorities of all types claim to need because of class based unfairness. Guess who is to pay? The goal of socialism is to take from the rich until all are equally poor and only the politicians can control what people will do for work.

When the process in Florida, and maybe elsewhere in other states, with very close votes, is done, we will have a president. If it is George Bush, we will have a chance to work together to restore the American unity with a Congress that can serve as a very light anchor to avoid gridlock while seeking compromise. If we let Gore in as a populist because some do not like the founding fathers advice to use an electoral college to give us a more lasting union, we will have gridlock and a tough time resolving differences. It is interesting that the first person to step up to promoting an amendment for populism is our new Senator Clinton of NY.

The electoral college device was and is intended to help Americans put their differences aside after the will of the majority has been expressed in each state. The formula of electoral votes (2 Senators from each state and representatives according to the state population) achieves two things:

First, small minority states have a slight advantage as they all have just two senators. It is a little harder to steamroller over them this way. Still the 435 representatives outnumber the 100 senators pretty well and that has grown quite a bit since the founders days with 13 states.

Second, the idea is that people in a state are more likely to want to live in peace with their near neighbors than with those at the other end of the nation. Therefore, it is good to put aside the differences and vote all of the electoral votes of their state for the candidate that won the majority or the largest plurality as was the case for Clinton in 1992 when Perot did his mischief.

So, today we are looking at the potential for another American Civil War- not likely to be a shooting war- just an idealogical war over slavery of citizens to the state vs responsibility for self.

Unfortunately, we have invented enough minority groups in the key industrial states that Gore won to show that by a slim margin these people are willing to let Gore save them; while the other 30 states are slightly more prone to the other position.

Personally, I do not think that we as a nation are capable of deciding which is the better way because we do not any longer have a nation where almost everyone puts their trust in God. The laws of man are winning the war for the socialists. Unless we can find a way to fix the problems that cause the endless failure of all religions to win the hearts and minds of Americans, our experiment in democracy will continue to fail until mob rule of the perceived majority will do to us what the French Revolution did to France in 1789.

We have come a long way from the days when voters in America had a reason to vote from a position of intelligence to one where the only reason needed is for selfish special interest perceptions. Lenin understood the importance of class war and so did Hitler. I do not know if anyone in America can wake us up to see that we are systematically "killing the goose that laid the golden eggs".

Which do you suppose God wants for us? An Al Gore to foment more class struggle as he encourages greater numbers of lawyers to make rules to implement legislation already on the books aimed at making us victims of a government that is only benignly interventionist, when it really takes us all into another chapter of what the 'chosen people' have experienced in Babylon, Egypt and elsewhere? Or does he want a George Bush to try to bring harmony among a people, half of which are wanting to believe that his only purpose is make them slaves to the rich? I do not envy his task, but I know he will need all of the help he can get. I only wonder if I have courage to stay around to try to help; or if it makes more sense to move to Australia, the most 'American' land I have ever visited.”

Yes, the terror that can visit the U.S. is not far off. With a U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton from New York already having announced that her first piece of legislation will be introduced, as soon as she is seated in the new Congress, will be to eliminate the electoral college; who can doubt her agenda. She will strive to revisit the massive universal socialized health care legislation that she authored in 1993 and had to see it crash to defeat. Now she can have the position as a leader of the Senate from one of the largest and most pro-socialism states to show how she wants to save some perceived number of millions who are dying every day because they could not afford to have health insurance. Never mind that most of these are either too healthy to need it; and many are cared for anyway when they do need it. What she wants is universal equality at whatever level of service she can make us provide by pointing government ‘guns’ and controls at us.

If we just want cheap drugs and doctors, all we need to do is eliminate the FDA and licensing while doing away with liability for injury. Not that we would like the resulting lack of testing for safety, or the chance to sue for liability, but we would get a far cheaper system. But, we seem to want to have it all; and we seem to want it for everyone from pre-birth to age 130 or whatever. We seem to prefer entitlements to responsibilities.

Yes, we have lost our ‘common sense’.


Wish I could claim authorship of this one. It was sent to me by a friend:

“Today I am mourning the passing of an old friend by the name of Common Sense.

Common Sense, aka C.S., lived a long life but died from heart failure at the brink of the millennium. No one really knows how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red
tape.

He selflessly devoted his life to service in schools, hospitals, homes, factories and offices, helping folks get jobs done without fanfare and foolishness.

For decades, petty rules, silly laws and frivolous lawsuits held no power over C.S. He was credited with cultivating such valued lessons as to know when to come in out of the rain, the early bird gets
the worm, and life isn't always fair. C.S. lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (the adults are in charge, not the kids).

A veteran of the Industrial Revolution, the Great depression and the Technological revolution, C.S. survived cultural and educational trends including feminism, body piercing, whole language and "new math". But his health declined when he became infected with the "If-It-Only-Helps-One-Person-It's-Worth-It" virus. In recent decades his waning strength proved no match for the ravages of overbearing ruled by self-seeking lawyers and enlightened auditors. His health rapidly deteriorated when schools endlessly implemented zero tolerance policies, reports of 6-year-old boys charged with sexual harassment for kissing classmates, a teen suspended for taking a swig of
mouthwash after lunch, and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student.

Finally, C.S. lost his will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband, churches became businesses, criminals received better treatment than victims, and federal judges stuck their noses in
everything from Boy Scouts to professional sports. As the end neared, C.S. drifted in and out of logic but was kept informed of developments, regarding questionable regulations for asbestos, low flow toilets, "smart" guns, the nurturing of Prohibition Laws and mandatory air bags.

Finally when told that the homeowners association restricted exterior furniture only to that which enhanced property values, he breathed his last.

C.S. was preceded in death by his parents Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by three stepbrothers, Rights, Tolerance, and Whiner.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

Author Unknown”

P. S. Add to this the Development in North Carolina which placed into their covenants a "NO FLAGS" rule in the front of homes, This of course, includes the American Flag and the rule has been enforced. This last from someone named Lynn.

So, at the end of this chapter we can have only one real conclusion:

We still do not know if our election system will provide us with a president in the way known and accepted by so many for so long- one where the votes are counted, the electoral college is assumed to be ready to certify, and the loser has conceded the election; or if we are on the edge of a national crisis of potential disastrous proportions.

The scenario could be as ugly as to be driven by:

1. Legal challenges in the Courts of both the State of Florida and the U.S. Federal system.

2. Jockeying for position in the new Congress for control of the committees and the succession, if the Courts can’t determine what the candidates refuse to do.

3. A Congress so badly divided that it can not govern.

4. An attempt to eliminate the last piece of beauty in the founding fathers plan to give us a nation where differences are resolved inside of each state in a way that allows the popular winner to gain full support of that entire state, with a check and balance rule that protects the smaller, less populated states from being dominated by a few big ones, as is the case before us. Gore with either 19 or 20 states and Bush with either 30 or 31 may come on to father the destruction of the electoral college in the name of simple populism.

The founders excluded all but land owners in most states from voting. Now anyone of age can vote usually by just buying a driver’s license. Ability to read, hold a job, own property, are now irrelevant. If you are able to give some sign of your preference, you are entitled to vote and be counted in the land of egalitarianism. Unless someone can teach us to want something better, we are not far from the time when the socialists will rule. Let us hope that there is a next chapter....

more to come..