So it was the Democratic party that directly broke the law by filling out absentee ballots on behalf of the voters? It was Al Gore's campaign manager and brother who had the final say on Flordia election policy? It was Gore's brother who gave the order to turn away black voters? It was men and women appointed to their post by Gore's father who wound up appointing the President of the United States?

Wow. I must have watched the wrong election.

I have to admit, reading a quote from a former Soviet dissident arguing against dissident speech by declaring it's not really dissident speech may have just confused me out of even thinking anything political for the next two weeks.

I think maybe you did watch the wrong election.

Absentee ballots:

Junior's campaign sent the ballots to the U.S. Army bases. Everything was filled in except for social security numbers. This includes not only the voter's name and home address, but also who they were voting for. This is illegal. The result is meant to be that these ballots are thrown out. They weren't. Which brings us to...

Nepotism:

Junior's campaing manager, Katherine Harris, was secretary of state in Florida. His brother, Jeb Bush, was governor. Between the two of them, they had final sway over many election policy decisions.

Black voters:

Several hundred black voters in Florida reached the polls to be told "we're out of ballots. Go home." After these voters left, white voters were allowed in. Several anonymous election volunteers have stated that they were acting under orders from the governor's office. There's no direct proof, which makes it an utterly baseless and vile accusation. A little like suggesting that Reagan was directly involved in the Iran-Contra scandal.

If you want to get it, I'll explain it to you. The NY Islander fans were booing the Toronto Maple Leafs, because of their really cheap and dirty play. I agree that it's wrong to boo a national anthem, but the series had gotten out-of-hand at that point. I think that the fans were booing the song that was for the benifit of the hated visiting team. If that song would have been "Freebird", they would have booed that.

Poorly placed enthusiasm. BTW, I support GWB, I think he's doing a good job in extremely difficult circumstances. I also think he's got a good sense of humor. And I think that pisses Democrats off. That here's a guy who is pretty likable, who understands that he ain't perfect, and can take a joke.

I just hope that this "slagging" has something original to say. Not just another "GWB is so stupid..." collection. Good luck, with your book. Screw the Maple Leafs.

_Pat D

Don't forget all the retired Jewish-American that voted for that anti-semite I think his name was Pat Buchanan or Chad or something...

Is this damn thread still going?

I have to agree that the recent incidents of our anthem being booed has more to do with athletes and sports fans being a bunch of jackasses than any real indication of the state of relations between our two nations.

Personally, I'm more worried that a recent poll revealed that 30% of Americans didn't realise that Canada is a sovereign nation, and not an American state. THIRTY PERCENT!!! What in the livin' blue hell is going on down there?

Like Ed says, I've always considered Canada and the US to be brothers. The US is the responsible older brother who leads the way and shoulders a lot of the responsibilities. Canada is the sort of laid-back younger brother who isn't always sure of his place and is scared to death of being overshadowed. And like any brothers in the same family, they're more alike than they are different. But it's BECAUSE they're so alike that sometimes all they can see in each other are the differences.

And also like brothers, they are occasionally the worst of enemies (the War of 1812), and occasionally the closest of friends (we did a lot more than give blood on 9/11--we also filled our airports with literally thousands of planes that could have been carrying more terrorists, AND filled our hotels and even our homes with stranded travellers).

I sincerely hope that the latter will continue to be the case, as do most Canadians. But like I said before, since 9/11 the US has been an unpredictable neighbour to say the least. Nobody really cares about trampling our flag or booing our anthem; we're not really as wrapped up with our national symbols as you guys are. Ed mentioned a few hot-button issues, and I can also tell you that the US's new initiatives regarding Canadian immigration policy are making a lot of folks up here nervous. Perhaps most importantly, the death of four of our soldiers at the hand of a hot-shot flyboy American pilot are making many reconsider our support of the war on terror, as well.

The message that seems to be coming in many different ways from the US recently is "we don't need you, Canada". Which is scary, because we sure as hell need the US.

Oh yeah, and happy Canada Day!

There was a recount. Bush won.

I hate to state the obvious, but the Supreme Court stopped the recount.

A newspaper consortium did conduct a recount, and Gore won the majority of all votes cast.

See the Katherine Harris comments above. The recount was done under her supervision, and she laid down rules that heavily weighted toward Bush. It was a dubious recount, at best. The recount that Gore asked for started to get underway, until the supreme court put a stop to it. A recent recount under those standards has proven a victory for Gore.

This of course, leaves out the fact that the dubious recount included the illegal absentee ballots. Under the law, Gore won without a recount. When we pick and choose what laws we want to follow, Bush won.