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  Andrew Jones Is Jesse Jackson a media whore? Send votes to rffan34@ucla.edu. Click Here for more articles by Andrew Jones

The controversy regarding the election of our next president has been one of the most extensively covered topics in recent history. Judging from the amount of newsprint and punditry generated, it might seem possible that each side in the controversy has “had its say.” But the coverage, despite its surface appeal as far-ranging and unbiased, has in fact ignored a vast amount of information that, unfortunately for the liberal media, is conclusively positive for the Bush campaign.

Let television’s “Big 3” networks thump their chests, lauding their “fact-based coverage.” But remember that every story has two sides – even the story that claims to present “both sides.” That said, let us examine some of the stories you didn’t hear.

A main issue that the Gore camp still pursues at this point is their contention of “confusing” ballots in Palm Beach County. These are the notorious butterfly ballots that we have all heard about. Jesse Jackson, the tired liberal hack, made a predictable appearance to express his outrage at the purported “disenfranchisement” of those poor Palm Beach seniors who supposedly voted for Pat Buchanan instead of their intended choice of Al Gore.

To their credit, the major networks included a graphic of the ballot’s appearance while reporting on the subject, and somehow managed to avoid guffawing at the implication that the ballots were “confusing.” What Dan Blather, Peter Jennings, and Tom Brokaw should rightly have posed as the rhetorical question regarding these seniors is “Are they dumb, or just plain stupid?”

Putting a finer point on the issue, there is a previous court case involving allegations of a confusing ballot; in that case, the judge decided in essence that a voter must be expected to exercise reasonable judgment and discernment when presented with a voting instrument. Moreover, if the voters are confused by the ballot, they are obligated to raise the issue with poll workers, and the poll workers are likewise obligated by law to assist the voters in making their intended choices. Some of these seniors, when asked on a network-arranged roundtable regarding their concerns, acknowledged their failure to request assistance.

But this is not the end of arguments justifying the use and validity of these Palm Beach ballots. Before any voting even took place, not one, but both parties sent officials to review and approve the design of these butterfly ballots. And yes, a Democrat party official reviewed and approved the design, despite free reign to raise objections. But what of predictable party activists like Jesse Jackson? He certainly was happy to tell the world that the ballots had “robbed” Al Gore of a Florida victory.

  Illustration by JARRETT QUON/Daily Bruin But you didn’t hear him tell the world that he has a close family relative who ran for office in Cook County, Illinois, and won overwhelmingly. Ol’ Jesse didn’t mention this because – surprise, surprise – the ballots used in Cook County are butterfly ballots, the very same design which he claimed confused seniors in Palm Beach.

Of course, as a Democrat party hack, Jackson is not obligated to present both sides of the story, especially when the counterpart destroys the very argument he tries to make. After all, no one ever accused Jesse of being politically impartial in his work on behalf of the black community.

Having dispensed with the limp assertion that Palm Beach is at all an issue in this election, let us examine the larger issue behind the whole ongoing controversy in Florida. Specifically, the Gore camp seized upon the subjective, post-elective, and generally ineffective method of hand counts for some of Florida. 

But the hand count only applied to the counties that had been officially contested within 72 hours of the election. The only counties petitioned were traditional Democratic strongholds, because Bush had chosen not to drag out the process by contesting all Florida counties.

In this case, the Gore camp had neatly outfoxed the Bush organization. Gore would love nothing better than to beat George W. Bush by a legal loophole, and the prospect of “picking up votes” in Democratic counties, while likely gains for Bush in more Republican areas went uncounted, was a prospect looked on with glee by the Democrats and their trusty contingent of lawyers.

As soon as a window of opportunity for legal battles appeared, the Democrats could let out a sigh of relief, for they knew that the trial lawyers were solidly behind them, owing to years of mutual back-scratching. The subsequent call to arms of a stampede of lawyers into Florida on behalf of the Gore team was just a step on the road to the prospect of a messy legal victory for Gore.

The first court decisions by the Florida Supreme Court certainly put a cheery glow into David “Baldy” Boies’ cheeks. In a unanimous decision, the court, Democratic appointees and “legislators from the bench” all stomped on the sovereignty of the Florida Secretary of State office and ordered a later, arbitrary deadline to allow the recount of hanging chad, swinging chad, pregnant chad, and dimpled chad, to continue on its messy path.

So this is the point at which we arrive in Florida – “Big Government” Al advocating in one situation for state’s rights, and days later, as in the case of Miami-Dade county, advocating for judicial intervention to countermand the right of Florida and its county canvassing boards to decide how and more importantly, whether, to conduct a manual recount.

“Flip-Flop” Al made a gala reappearance – dancing a wooden jig when he found that Florida law could be twisted to allow for endless recounts, and throwing a fit when Miami-Dade’s canvassing board asserted its decision-making power and decided against a manual recount.

As I said in my Election Day column, and I will say again: Al Gore is for using the rules when they favor him, and for altering the rules when they don’t. His only true principle is “an absolute commitment to changing his beliefs whenever necessary to further his personal gains.” This principle is the reason that our country is in political gridlock, and it is the reason that Al Gore is so popular with liberals and Democrats alike.

But the American public sees through this glossy facade, and sees the heartless, wooden-man for who he is. That is why, as I predicted on Election Day, the presidential election will be won by George W. Bush. So Alec, if you’re reading this – pack some warm clothes. Canada’s cold this time of year.

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