No, I will attribute those stories to the lawyers. Bush had great lawyers. Several thousand individual ballots were fought over, each in front of the judge. It's amazing, you would see Bush's lawyers arguing to include one ballot having a defect and then 10 minutes later arguing against another with the same defect -- and WINNING!! Do a Wall Street Journal search -- it ran an in-depth article (like 6 pages!) with full blow-up photos of the ballots (circa. January or February after the election, IIRC). It thoroughly analyzed the Bush team's post-election legal blitz. Brilliant, brilliant. Gore forgot Clinton's first rule: he who has the best legal counsel wins.

I don't want to drag out this beaten topic. It is suffice to say that it was a poor moment in time for the Nation that goes around the world policing elections for fairness and accuracy. Let's move past it.

Oh MY GOD! I just read on CNN that you can find a notice on the missing dems on THE TEXAS MISSING CHILD AMBER ALERT WEB SITE!!! I am dumbfounded again!


Heres a news link:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&oi=ne...s.legislature/

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Sounds a bit like the Texicans are loosing their collective minds [img]smile.gif[/img] </font>

<font color = lightgreen>1) As I stated before, the Democrats are hurting only themselves. They are giving the Republicans the most powerful campaign tool for the coming year: "Rather than vote, the Democrats chose to abandon you, the voters." This will only delay the vote until the next legislative session, when there will probably be enough Republican members to meet quorum and pass whatever they please. In a democracy, it is the height of irresponsibility to run away if you cannot win.

2) I don't think the legislators can be "arrested" in the true sense, only detained and returned to the Capitol. However, this sets a very dangerous precedent: vote, or else. What about voting in absentia or by proxy?

3) How DARE they use the Amber Alert system to look for missing legislators? [img]graemlins/madhell.gif[/img] Enough said.

4) The whole idea of legislative boycotts is another dangerous precedent; the most dangerous one, in fact. When will this happen in other states? Or the Congress? By walking out, those who boycott are derailing the entire representative democratic process. This goes far beyond a simple matter of "we don't like how you plan to redraw the lines", this strikes at the very fabric of the process itself. How can you have a democracy when those who are elected to vote run away?

If this story doesn't worry those of you in Texas, and the US in general, it should. Not only will other groups try this in other locations, but someone will get the bright idea of changing the rules on quorums (quora?) to something like "a bill passes if a majority of those present, regardless of how few, vote to pass it" or "I have the implied authority to appoint someone to vote in their place". The backlashes and bickering, as bad as they are now, will only get worse if this is not solved quickly.

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Timber Loftis is right, you know. C-SPAN is great for watching legislators give impassioned speeches to three other members, some interns, a couple of the janitorial staff, and the camera operator. [img]graemlins/laugh3.gif[/img] </font>

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Chewbacca:
Holy cow!!! It is politics time in Texas. I can't believe the majority party would be so darn arrogant to try to re-draw voting districs in their favor and when they are totally shut down and out, they send the police to arrest elected representatives. Were they gonna force them to vote at gunpoint? /QUOTE]

http://www.boottotheskull.com/mb/ima...isory_rsvd.gif

Awwwww, boo freakin hoo [img]graemlins/musicboohoo.gif[/img] What a bunch of damn crybabies http://www.boottotheskull.com/mb/ima...ilies/baby.gif
And since the Demonrats have forfeited their representative duties, replace them with others from their districts. Sending the posse after them is damned funny, though. http://www.boottotheskull.com/mb/images/smilies/axe.gif

Azred is absolutely right. All this does is make these Dems look like a bunch of petulent brats. Like kids who take their ball when the game is going against them. Only, instead of going home, they go to another neighborhood. The way I see it, this is just another sign of the decline of their party.