As time goes on, I'm more and more inclined to bet good money on this fiasco of a "democratic" election turning into a fullscale Constititional Crisis, within 60 days. Especially now that the latest buzz coming from Capitol Hill, according to MS-NBC, is that the official verdict of the Electoral College, due to be delivered in about a month --whichever way it goes-- is likely on January 8th to be CONTESTED by our chief legislators in Congress, a body ALSO split 50-50 along party lines. Such an action would surely result in Inauguration Day passing with NO President holding office.. In that case, it would then be up to Congress to APPOINT** our next President, from amongst its own members, according to the provisions of the Presidential Succession Act, which is already being studied very carefully in Washington DC. The difficulty with THAT option, however --as the fundamental problem here merely gets moved around from place to place-- is that no majority vote can be expected in either the House or Senate, both being deadlocked like the rest of the nation --from national to precinct level-- in a "Mexican standoff" of Democrats and Republicans. "Democratic" politics in 21st Century America is slowly beginning to resemble the politics of pre-Hitler Germany, when the Left and Right carried their uncompromising "partisan" politics into the street, with civil disorder and bloody hand-to-hand combat. Never since the Civil War has this nation ever been so DIVIDED --so split down the middle, evenly-- and ironically, by its own "democratic" political process. Clearly, now there is not one but TWO Americas, each self-righteously claiming some statistically non-existent "mandate of ALL the people" to rule BOTH (so-called "democracy" at its most absurd and oxymoronic), with each too paranoid to negotiate with its opposite number and, in that paranoia, perfectly willing to SUBVERT the normal democratic process -- for example, by calling in corporate lawyers to BYPASS the legislative process through legalistic red tape, contesting countless minutiae in court forever, and by accusing the opposition of illegal "vote-fixing" (while trying to "fix" the vote itself). When both politrical parties resort to such underhanded tactics, purely for the sake of "winning," they DISHONOR the political process. Such behavior on the part of our exemplars demonstrably NEGATES rather than affirms the American people's faith in the fundamental honesty and fairness of our otherwise imperfect democratic process. Attempts by either party to DELEGITIMIZE the authority of opponents elected to hold high public office contest the legitimacy of GOVERNMENT ITSELF -- beyond being, most egregiously, expressions of their desire for a hegemonic, NON-democratic, ONE-PARTY system (such as advocated by Republicans in their 1984 convention). In MY opinion, BOTH these junkyard dogs fighting so amorally and mercilessly over the quite meagre bone thrown them by voters, should be barred from ever holding future office in this country. Let the LEGISLATIVE branch of our government --as they MAY-- decide who shall be the next "President," meaning simply PRESIDING OFFICER rather than a would-be EMPEROR espousing some ideological equivalent of "divine right." Both Gore and Bush are UNWORTHY to govern us, in having demonstrated that they attribute no validity to the democratic -- except insofar as they are able to profit from it personally. This is a presidential election worthy of Milosevic. (Maybe we ought to call in UN observers to supervise the accuracy of the vote-count for El Presidente?) Any demagogue so shamelessly, so hypocritically, hungry for POWER, "by ANY means necessary," should be DENIED it -- lest there be hell to pay, BY US, later ... That said, let me remind you that the clock for the 20-year cycle*** of presidential deaths in office (not always by natural causes) is about to strike midnight again. If Al Gore, especially (because of his natal chart), succeeds to the Presidency, he is not going to have much of a future ahead of him. Just glancing at his horoscope, by March this will become all too apparent -- and if he takes office under a cloud of bitter enmity from Republicans (and their retrinue of Bible Belt trailer-trash right-wingers) accusing him of "stealing" the election, the stage will already be set. And if "popular" sentiment, in certain quarters, remains as heated as it was after the contested election of John F Kennedy over Richard Nixon, the odds are high that some "lone nut," with or without a larger conspiracy, will try to decide the ULTIMATE winner with a bullet, not a ballot. Then, say hello to the first Jewish president of the United States -- and by that fact hampered even more in any attempt to UNITE the two armed camps of US politics. At the very least, we can expect an attempt in Congress, by March, to IMPEACH our next President, on the grounds of "election fraud" in Florida -- proven more easily than any of the charges that led to Bill Clinton's impeachment not so long ago ... Is there a Constitutional Crisis looming ahead? My guess is, YES, and WORSE. For those who care more about their wallet than their ballot, the question is more, Will this political chaos hurt our "booming" economy? I'd say, YES, and WORSE. Welcome to the new Millennium -- beginning officially on December 31 THIS year, not last. Everything feared LAST New Year's Eve is MORE likely THIS year-end ... Major political upheaval here, plus a HIGH probability of "World War III" beginning in the Middle East, where Israelis and Arabs are behaving like Democrats and Republicans. __________ **What happens if the situation in Florida isn't settled by Dec. 18th? [By DAVID HO .c The Associated Press] Florida has until Dec. 12 to designate its electors, who will vote on Dec. 18th. If Florida's votes are not delivered, the electoral process will continue without them. That would mean no candidate would have a majority of the 538 electoral votes, bringing the decision to select the president to the House of Representatives, as it would if there had been a tie. In the House, each state would have one vote and, at least in theory, there could be another deadlock. The Senate would select the new vice president. And the Senate, where each member would have one vote, also theoretically could end up tied. If no new president or vice president had been selected by Inauguration Day, the Presidential Succession Act would kick in, with the new speaker of the House - likely to be Republican Dennis Hastert who would have to resign from Congress - in line to serve as acting president. Next in line would be the president pro tempore of the new Senate - who could be Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who turns 98 in December. " ___________ ***The 20-year Jupiter-Saturn conjunction cycle is part of a 60-year "super" cycle in which those planets conjoin in the same sign again. In 1940, and earlier in 1880, Saturn and Jupiter were conjunct in the sign of Taurus (governing the direction of the economy), like now. In 1880, President Garfield was elected. He was killed in 1881. The only "break" in the 20-year cycle was thec SURVIVAL of Ronald Reagan after an attempted assassination. Astrologers have pointed out that the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction marking the 1980 election occurred "out of range," so to speak, in 1980. In the year 2000, Jupiter and Saturn conjoined once more in the "standard" range. So, odds are that the so-called "king sacrifice" clock has been REWOUND, again ...
