Postponement of Nov. Election Proposed by Counterterrorism Officials

The BBC's already on it…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3885663.stm

On Jul 13, 2004, at 11:31 AM, Lee Wells wrote:

> Get ready for the conspiracy theories to start flying.
> GW is going to try to stay in office by inviting the terrorist in to
> do the
> dirty work just in time to keep him in office.
>
> FYI
>
>
> Exclusive: Election Day Worries
> By Michael Isikoff
> Investigative Correspondent
> Newsweek
>
> July 19 issue - American counterterrorism officials, citing what they
> call
> "alarming" intelligence about a possible Qaeda strike inside the United
> States this fall, are reviewing a proposal that could allow for the
> postponement of the November presidential election in the event of
> such an
> attack, NEWSWEEK has learned.
>
> The prospect that Al Qaeda might seek to disrupt the U.S. election was
> a
> major factor behind last week's terror warning by Homeland Security
> Secretary Tom Ridge. Ridge and other counterterrorism officials
> concede they
> have no intel about any specific plots. But the success of March's
> Madrid
> railway bombings in influencing the Spanish elections

There are two different scenarios that get mixed up in this discussion,
which is how Shrub wants it.

The first is the possibility that a terrorist attack shortly before the
election might influence the results of the election, as was arguably
the case in Madrid. I personally don't see this as a problem: Terrorist
attacks are events that happen in the world, like wars or ecological
disasters or sex scandals, and people should be able to vote based on
what those events tell them about the world. Personally I believe the
analysis that the Spanish voted out the ruling party because it
cynically tried to pin the Madrid bombings on the ETA. But even if you
accept the rabid NY Post line that the Spaniards are being cowards
about the Great War on Terrorism, hell, being a coward is an entirely
legitimate way to vote.

The second is the possibility that terrorist attacks on or near the
election will make it unsafe or logistically difficult to hold
elections, the way that on Sep 11 we stopped elections in NYC. This
makes a lot more sense, but given the administration's use of terror as
a way to extend a regime of fear I don't exactly trust Tom Ridge to be
the best judge of when to cancel elections. (What was it he said last
week–that the risk of terrorism had gone up, but he wasn't going to
elevate the Threat Level anyway? So what's the Threat Level for? Is it
just some bizarre interior decorating scheme?)

I would trust, say, a panel appointed from positions across the
political spectrum–some Republicans, some Democrats, hell, throw in
Ralph Nader to give him something constructive to do. Then give them
the power to postpone the election if they vote to do so with, say, a
66% majority.

But any democracy that blindly gives the power of deciding election
schedules to its ruling party deserves whatever it gets.

F.


On Jul 13, 2004, at 4:09 PM, ryan griffis wrote:

> The BBC's already on it…
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3885663.stm
>
> On Jul 13, 2004, at 11:31 AM, Lee Wells wrote:
>
>> Get ready for the conspiracy theories to start flying.
>> GW is going to try to stay in office by inviting the terrorist in to
>> do the
>> dirty work just in time to keep him in office.
>>
>> FYI
>>
>>
>> Exclusive: Election Day Worries
>> By Michael Isikoff
>> Investigative Correspondent
>> Newsweek
>>
>> July 19 issue - American counterterrorism officials, citing what they
>> call
>> "alarming" intelligence about a possible Qaeda strike inside the
>> United
>> States this fall, are reviewing a proposal that could allow for the
>> postponement of the November presidential election in the event of
>> such an
>> attack, NEWSWEEK has learned.
>>
>> The prospect that Al Qaeda might seek to disrupt the U.S. election
>> was a
>> major factor behind last week's terror warning by Homeland Security
>> Secretary Tom Ridge. Ridge and other counterterrorism officials
>> concede they
>> have no intel about any specific plots. But the success of March's
>> Madrid
>> railway bombings in influencing the Spanish elections