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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=ilvey@jps.net href="mailto:ilvey@jps.net">David =
Ilvedson</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> November 12, 2000 9:27 =
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> RE: Politics!</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=630112617-12112000><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ah,
Dave...</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=630112617-12112000><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=630112617-12112000><FONT face=Arial size=2>I =
guess I should
have put in the happy face. I thought the sarcasm was pretty =
evident,
but apparently not.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=630112617-12112000><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=630112617-12112000><FONT face=Arial =
size=2>David
I.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=630112617-12112000><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV><SPAN class=630112617-12112000>
<HR>
</SPAN></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT size=2>Just so we can put the whole thing to =
rest, here is
how it is all going the shake out:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT size=2>Washington state is going to finally =
finish counting
all of the absentee ballots cast for its open US Senate seat and it is =
going to
turn out that Maria Cantwell (D) has won the election she spent so many =
millions
purchasing. That makes it a draw in the Senate.
So...</FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT size=2>Florida is going to get so tied up in the =
so-called
<EM>legal challenges </EM>to their election process and to the ballots =
that a
few folks with attention spans of less than 30 seconds could not figure =
out that
on December 18th the Electoral College is going to vote without the =
Florida
electors. As is their right and duty. (Florida has until =
December
12th to work their way through all of this and to certify their =
results.
Normally this would give them adequate time, but never in recent history =
has
there been a political system or a court system that has shown the =
slightest
willingness to move that fast.) As it stands now, that vote =
could
well result in a tie.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT size=2>So, the responsibility to select a new =
President will
then go to the House of Representatives. There being a slim, but
significant, Republican majority in the House, this vote, =
obviously, will
go to Herbert W Bush (R) -- despite his behavior of late hardly being =
what one
could call <EM>presidential</EM>.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT size=2>The responsibility to select a new Vice =
President,
however, will go to the Senate where, with neither party dominate, there =
will be
much haggling back and forth with, of cour$e, $everal more billion$ of =
dollar$
being $pent on new poll$, political televi$ion ad$ and lobbying =
effort$.
Ultimately, however, in a rare display of Fairness, =
Truth, Justice and
the American Way, Joe Liebermann (D) will be selected to serve as Vice
President. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT size=2>Could be interesting, no?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT size=2>There is, of course, one other possible =
scenario that
comes to mind:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT size=2>Both candidates, their respective parties =
and the
various Federal and Florida courts will manage to get themselves so tied =
up in
political and legal wrangling that neither side will win the current =
squabble
until sometime in 2007. December 18, 2000 will come and go and the =
Electoral College will not vote at all and on January 20, 2001 =
(Inauguration
Day) the likely Republican Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, will be =
sworn
in as President. The then-President Hastert will select his own =
nominee to
serve as Vice President, subject to confirmation, of course. If Mr =
Hastert
is unable, or, most wisely, unwilling, to serve, the lot would then fall =
to the
next-in-line, the president pro tempore of the new Senate, Strom =
Thurmond
(R) who will, by then, be 98 years of age and who would surely not =
pass up
the opportunity to invade Cuba or Puerto Rico or someplace before =
passing
on. Before doing so, however, he is going to surprise everybody by =
selecting Ralph Nader to be his Vice President. The House and =
Senate will
be so stunned by this that they will confirm Mr Nader's nomination in =
record
time.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT size=2>Ain't we got fun? It all makes me so =
very glad
that I did not vote of either Bush or Gore...</FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT size=2>Del</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>