Posted by
On the Right on Sunday, May 25, 2008 4:09:42 PM
Recount, HBO’s dramatic recreation of events surrounding Florida’s 2000 presidential voting fiasco which landed George W. Bush in the White House, debuts on May 25. Early returns look good, at least with regard to the film’s entertainment value, which should come as no surprise given the network’s long track record of high-quality original programming. The consensus of critics who’ve screened Recount — a group that doesn’t include me, by the way — seems to be that, despite its token gestures at evenhandedness, the film makes clear that supporters of Al Gore were more right than wrong while supporters of Bush were more wrong than right.
Recount, therefore, is certain to fire up that
substantial portion of the electorate that still believes the 2000
presidential election was stolen. But before we get our collective
undies in a bunch, here are a few points to keep in mind. On the matter of chads, On the matter of black voter suppression, On the matter of justice being done.
. . . instructions were provided at every polling location in Florida where punch-card ballots were used, . . . not a single black voter has ever come forward with a credible claim. Not one.. . .“The principal issue in the case, whether the scheme that the Florida
Supreme Court had put together violated the federal Constitution, that
wasn’t even close. The vote was seven to two.” Scalia also points out,
“It was Al Gore who made it a judicial question. It was he who brought
it into the Florida courts. [The Supreme Court] didn’t go looking for
trouble. It was he who said, ‘I want this to be decided by the courts.’
What are we supposed to say? ‘Oh, it’s not important enough.’?”