UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

NEW SPECIMENS OLD SPECIMENS THE SCIENTIST MY LOG CONTACT ME
07/12/2004 - 5:58 p.m.

INTERFERENCE

It�s so comforting to know that the grand high Pooh-bas in charge of national security are looking out for the upcoming election. They have announced that if terrorists try to interfere with the election, they will put off the election. They don�t say how long and they don�t say how the delay will get rid of the interference and they don�t know how they will decide what exactly interferes. Apparently we must make plans to kill democracy to save it.

What is interference exactly? Based upon past election, drawing up ridiculous ballots is not interference. Based upon what has not been done for this election, knowingly failing to replace defective voting methods is not interference. Watching Florida and the Bush reaction, I suspect that unfair and unjustified purging of African-Americans from voter rolls is not interference either.

This question of �interference� is not an idle question. Was there interference with the Spanish elections? How do you know? Our government has been touting the line that there was interference with the Spanish elections but this group is the same group that is still insisting that Al-Queda and Hussein were the terrorism equivalent of domestic partners. The best evidence for interference with the Spanish elections seems to be their belief that the wrong guys won. Is it interference here if the Democrats win?

I do not doubt for a moment that the intent was to target the Spanish elections. But what is done is done. How would putting off the elections have put things back the way they were? Spilled milk does not go back in the jug no matter how much we wish it. In a world in which just watching things can change them, delaying them is itself likely to change them---and not necessarily back.

When our freedoms are threatened, we jettison our freedoms. If our elections are threatened, we are willing to jettison our democracy. What do we stand for anyway? And how, exactly do we know?

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