Opinion: Now Can We Doubt All Politics?

--The Rev. Jesse Jackson at a pro-recount rally in West Palm Beach last week.

America's political system is not in a state of chaos. It's in a state of denial.

It started with Al Gore, but I fear that it could infect government from Congress to the city clerk's office.

I can almost forgive the vice president. It can't be easy to lose the election that you were raised to win.

If he had lost in a landslide, he still would have raged: "It can't be true!" As it turned out, it almost isn't true -- and if not for a few hundred votes in Florida, it wouldn't be.

That made it impossible for Gore to resist the lure of denial. He could not retrain himself from trying to see this unacceptable fact in a different light, sifting through the ballots compulsively like a man searching through the bathroom garbage can for the sixteenth time after losing his wedding ring.

Now, I'm as committed as the next guy to doing everything possible to prevent an interruption in Al Gore's heretofore-promising political career, even if takes eight months of O.J.-esque constant-interruption-of-regular-programming-for-the-latest-legal-development coverage.

But I am worried that, if by some bizarre fluke Gore should prevail and reveal to all of us that the "Bush Barely Wins" election was actually a "Gore Wins Anyway" election, then all of government could be thrown into a state of perpetual questionableness.

Governor Jones Files For Re-Election -- or does he? Are you sure all the people who signed his candidacy petition knew which Jones and which governor's office? Do they really know the guy, and can they list the actual duties of the office? Better file those papers again.

Bill Passes Congress -- or did some of the House members lose their balance and press the wrong voting button? Were the older congressmen confused by the green-means-yes, red-means-no color scheme of the buttons? Send that bill back to the floor.

Council Meeting Adjourned But wait -- did the chairman utter the magic words after he banged the gavel? Is that the official gavel? Are you sure?

What other dubious consequences can we expect? E-mail dan@.com with your name and city to insert your comments here.

Get Over It!

Michael Hartling of Enid, Okla. wants us all to face the facts. He e-mailed:

"The election took place Nov. 7th, 2000. And it's over. ?
"These ballots were proposed by a panel on the election board, reviewed by both parties and voted on after both parties approved them. That means that these ballots, however unfair or confusing, have [gone] through the proper channels and have been approved by both sides. That makes them legal, lawful, and appropriate. If people think there is a problem with the ballot, or they feel that the ballot was unfair, something can be done in the next election. They are also saying that a lot of new voters didn't understand the way the ballot was laid out. This is a funny statement because the ballot is posted in the paper, on the wall of the polling place, and on the voting booth, too.
"Therefore, saying that they didn't understand the ballot, because they had to flip it over is. again, 'YOUR FAULT!' QUIT CRYING! This election is over."

I hear ya, man. The same party network that Gore's campaign told to seek hand counts should have been told before the election to make sure the ballot was comprehensible. Game over. But one point of clarification: The ballot that was printed in the papers in Palm Beach County was vague and did not show voters the actual layout of the weird "butterfly ballot." The voters were blindsided, but the party activists should have squawked weeks earlier.

Anybody else in denial? Oh, look: Here's an e-mail from a Nader voter who says that her voting for Ralph had no relation to her not voting for Al. Kay Lee of Portland, Ore. wrote:

"I thought about voting for George Bush but finally decided to vote for Nader. Who says Nader stole Gore votes? I think that is someone's made-up assumption."

Sure, ma'am. I'm sure there were a lot of people who voted for Nader -- whose platform includes outlawing automobiles that burn anything but tofu -- who would otherwise have voted for Bush, who supports drilling for oil in George Washington's forehead on Mt. Rushmore. No doubt, Nader's proposal to send CEOs to prison once their compensation exceeds $1 million drew hordes away from Bush, who was endorsed by the political action committee for rich white guys who employ 7-year-olds in Southeast Asian factories, SWEAT PAC.

Why are you Naderites are so defensive when someone suggests that your boy took votes away from Gore? Nader was trying to bite the butt of Clinton-Gore's increasingly conservative, pro-corporate Democratic Party. Did you not realize what would happen if it worked?

When you were worried about wasting your vote, Nader had to reassure that you that every vote counts. Now you're saying that your vote didn't contribute to putting Bush in office. Which is it?

Nader voters may not have been numerous enough to win federal funding and solidify the Green Party as a competitor to the Democrats in the future. But they are assisting the Democrats in putting this year's election into the land of unreality.

What, Me Hurry?

One of the rare voters who has fully accepted his refusal to accept the facts is Tobias Brust of St. Louis Park, Minn., who e-mailed as follows:

"I am tired of everyone wanting this thing to end. Why does it need to? 'Just elect someone and move on.' NO! The answer is to drag this thing out until something actually gets changed. Until we can guarantee that this will never happen in history again. Until the country has a universal ballot with no possible room for human error. Until ballot boxes are not going to be lost when they are driven in by a county sheriff. ... Or until anyone but Bush is elected! -- personal preference."

On the other end of the patience spectrum, one of you suggests ending this immediately by amputating Florida from the electoral map. The proposal comes from someone in -- Florida. Wanda Bell of Deltona, Fla. e-mailed:

"I think the only fair thing to do is drop Florida from the election altogether. At this point it would NOT be fair for either party to get Florida's electoral votes or to carry Florida in any way. I am a Democrat here in Florida and I also voted for Gore. I would hate to see my vote not counted, but I would love to see this be settled fairly. If Gore votes can't be counted then Bush votes shouldn't matter either."

Ms. Bell, please get a clipboard and start gathering petition signatures around your city.

Hurry.

Previous Columns:

• Recounts: Why Stop With Elections?
• The Never-Ending Election
• Ending The Non-Election: Creative Suggestions