On The Third Hand

Saddam Hussein Sentenced To Death by Hanging

Now, we’ll see if it actually ever happens…

Local Gold Star Families Take Secret Trip to Iraq

“In a stunning and historic trip under the utmost secrecy, a delegation of families of fallen U.S. troops have traveled to Iraq to counter critics of the war effort, just days before the Nov. 7 midterm elections.”

The anti-war bunch aren’t going to like this.

(Thanks to everyone who emailed me this one.)

This is the first post in a series on the war against tyranny. In the series I’ll be taking a look at just who’s war this is. I’ll give you one hint, it’s not Bush’s. We’ll start by taking a look at why Gore lost in 2000.

First things first, Gore lost. The U. S. Supreme Court did not make George W. Bush President of the United States. The U. S. Supreme Court put a stop to useless round after useless round of ballot recounting in the State of Florida. Vote recounts allowed by the Florida Supreme Court because the Florida Supreme Court wouldn’t muster the courage to say, “No more.”

The whole mess started off by crappy ballot design in (as I recall) two Florida counties. People voted for the wrong candidate. People couldn’t punch out the damn holes. It was a mess. So it became round after round of trying to figure out who meant to vote for whom. Thing is, after every re-count the winner continued to be George W. Bush.

To any reasonable person it became abundantly clear, there were those people who just couldn’t stand the idea of Bush becoming President of the United States. People who would use any excuse, or manufacture any excuse, they could to avoid having to admit their candidate lost. Who, as it turns out, use the SCOTUS decision to halt the endless Florida recounts as proof of a conspiracy to rob Al Gore of his rightful prize.

All the ballot recounts came down to determining who people meant to vote for. This done by careful study of thousands of ballots where the vote was not clear. Because the damn ballots had die cut “chads” that were a bitch to punch through.

So mistakes were made. Sometimes the chad hung on. Those votes weren’t the problem really. Who the voter meant to vote for was readily obvious. The problem lay with those chads that weren’t really punched out at all. Chads that bulged, or where the die cutting was torn. Ballots where, as far as any body could tell, the voter went to vote for one candidate, then changed his mind; so you ended up with a ballot where two chads were partially punched out.

In short, people made mistakes. They either voted twice (or more) for the office of President of the United States, or they did not vote clearly. Simple mistakes really. Mistakes easily corrected by asking for a new ballot. A request Florida poll workers could and would fulfill. But people didn’t feel like correcting.

So they put their errant ballots in the ballot box, and we got the Great Meaningless Recounts of 2000.

All because people couldn’t be bothered to correct their errors, other people couldn’t stand the idea their votes wouldn’t count because of those errors, and still others couldn’t stand the idea of Albert Gore losing.

Round after meaningless round of trying to eke out enough “well, he just might have meant to vote for Gore, so we’ll give him a pass and add another to Albert’s column” votes was a result. To the point even some of Gore’s supporters started to say, “Enough!” With the SCOF (Supreme Court of Florida) aiding and abetting the petulent snit.

Until the SCOTUS said, “Enough” and shut it down.

So, how did it get to that point? How did Gore lose? That’s for the next post in the series.

Beltway Traffic Jam

Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi Dead

Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki said al-Zarqawi was killed along with seven aides Wednesday evening in a house 30 miles northeast of Baghdad in the volatile province of Diyala.

“Today, al-Zarqawi was eliminated,” al-Maliki told a news conference, drawing loud applause from reporters as he was flanked by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and U.S. Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

Looks like his luck ran out. Good.

Friday morning update: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is still dead.

Florida teen skips school, sneaks to Iraq

Via Eclectic Chapbook.

Judging the case for war. A bit long, but well worth reading - and thinking about.

This one may get both sides in defense mode - if any bother to pay attention to it. I got it via Kate at Small Dead Animals - she got it via the Instaguy, so if the site is a bit slow, have patience.

Ok, guys - if you can get through the video Michael Yon has linked here, without getting a tear in your eye and a smile on your face, you’ve no heart.

Iraq the Model. (Check out this post too - and this one.) Hat tip for the dancing to Dave Price at Dean’s World, who has a good roundup/commentary on the election.

Update” You know, it would be nice if Iraq had its own statue of liberty. But with a purple finger held high, instead of a torch.

Hundreds dead in Baghdad stampede

At least 600 people have been killed in a stampede of Shia pilgrims in northern Baghdad, Iraqi officials say.

The incident happened on a bridge over the Tigris River as over a million Shias marched to a holy shrine as part of an annual religious festival.

It was sparked by rumours of suicide bombers in a crowd. In the ensuing panic many pilgrims were crushed and some fell into the river.

Good news from Iraq, part 34

Gates of Fire

Michael Yon, reporting from Iraq.

If don’t have him on your read-list yet, put him there. He’s probably the best war reporter out there - the Ernie Pyle of the war in Iraq - and he’s doing it all on his own dime (and donations). Which may be why he is the best war reporter out there.

Good news from Iraq, part 33