By Nancy Thomson

The presidential election certification process has been a media bonanza. Photos presented Floridian workers in various stages of ballot interpretation. Several people were using a magnifying glass while others were holding ballots up to the light. Some tabulators are seen removing their reading spectacles with the addition of new ballots while others proceeded to count by putting them on. Floating descriptions of what to consider a vote, pricks, dents, chads in different stages of dangling were sometimes viewed differently even at the same table to say nothing of the discrepancies experienced between the counties.

This political operation reminds one of Alice in Wonderland where the reader is advised that events in life are similar to peering in a looking glass. The glass makes objects appear in reverse.

"Wonderland" twists everything, right is wrong and day is night. Thus no one in "Alice’s" book has to deal with reality because there wasn’t any.

Unfortunately many people nowadays are illiterate about politics, US history, and the workings of government. They didn’t recognize the absurd manipulation used by Democrat operatives who were reinventing the way ballots were read so Gore could come out the winner. It became "right" to change processes mid -stream, and "wrong" to insist on a legal standard. Slogans by Gore, such as "I’ll fight for you" and "every vote must be counted" caught fire with supporters who ran around shouting these meaningless words every chance they got.

All votes were counted at least 3 times and who is Gore going to fight and for what? In his concession speech Gore again stated he would "fight for the American people." Considering his association with the Buddhist monks, Armand Hammer, and Russian Premier Chernomyrdin it would seem that the American people are really low on the totem pole of Gore’s concern.

It was discovered that Bob Beckel, a Democratic analyst and chairman of Walter Mondale’s 1984 presidential campaign was gathering background information on Republican electors. If only 3 Bush electors defected and voted for Gore, the Democrats could win the White House regardless of all the court battles. Beckel became defensive stating that he only wanted to send the Republicans "a slip of paper" suggesting they vote for no one. This was ok people were assured because he wasn’t suggesting the electors vote for Gore. But there are others attempting to change the minds of Bush electors. Two Claremont Mckenna College seniors, a new Hampshire lab technician, and a state representative from Pennsylvania are all involved in trying to get Republican electors (some of whom have been swamped with e-mails) to change their vote.

A web site has been set up to lobby Republican electors away from Bush. This site has received more than 54,200 hits since it was posted two days following the election.

Pundits are saying the Bush administration will have to practice bipartisanship which translated means US citizens won’t be able to hold either party responsible for the domestic or foreign policies. As with Clinton’s administration liberal Republicans helped push many Democrat programs through Congress. Instead of a trade surplus we now have a $300 billion dollar trade deficit and our country has become the biggest debtor nation in the world. Our military (some under UN and NATO commanders) are spread throughout the globe. These are just a few of the results of bipartisanship and those devoid of reality insist on more of it.

What is the cause of the American’s venture into "Wonderland" that is turning into bizarre politics? Common sense has been unhinged by decades of a failing educational system stressing diversity and eliminating studying the Constitution, US history and academic subjects. Psychologists and counselors have replaced parents and religious leaders at schools when problems arise. Left wing foundations such as Ford, Carnegie and Rockefeller finance social scientists and their committees in universities who then write papers and conduct polls slanted to reduce the importance of traditional values. The universities soon become dependent upon the huge amounts of grant money supplied by the foundations and the research projects keep multiplying. Because it is the foundations that do the financing, they also dictate the results of these projects.

Political correctness got its start in academia. A college is supposed to represent many divergent viewpoints so as to develop the student’s mind. Generations have passed since this paradigm was the norm. With help from the ACLU, political correctness swept from the halls of ivy to institutions throughout the nation. We now have hate-speech penalties, co-ed dorms, housing for homosexuals and lesbians demonstrating a common denominator for all. Still concerned about bias a group of 45 teachers and college professors supported by the Rhode Island Department of Education put together a handbook for teachers. Covering kindergarten through college this 400-page effort is called "The Gender Equity Handbook." It offers advice and gives lessons on how to mix up traditional jobs usually held by men and women. The sexes just reverse job descriptions while combating gender bias in school, society and their personal lives. This sort of reasoning would delight the Alice in Wonderland characters because of the topsy- turvy effect on society. Remember many of our present as well as future staffers and legislators are representatives of this system.

In Kentucky high school students with a Grade Point Average of C up to a 4.0 can earn a $500 dollar- a- year scholarship. Some of these scholarships are open only to specific groups. All of these incentives haven’t shown a lot of promise. A comprehensive report states that only one in four students in the US has writing proficiency. California ranked among the lowest in skills.

What is scary, California has 54 electoral votes which means thousands of uneducated people will be instrumental in deciding political elections.

The knowledgeable informed voter pool is diminishing due to political correctness, Goals 2000 and diversity training. Religion was traditionally another influence in establishing ethical standards in politics. With the attack on Christianity under the guise of separation between church and state, a void has occurred. Any mention of Christmas, Easter or the Ten Commandments has been banned for several years in our public school district. Most music department’s busiest schedule occurs at Christmastime with requests for holiday appearances. But traditional carols are religious. A compromise allows the students to sing "Rudolph" and other secular holiday music for their concert and other public engagements.

This year the extent of the extermination of Christmas religious vestiges in the business world was startling. Crosses on public land were a target and there is an effort to rid our coins of "IN GOD WE TRUST."

All of a sudden this year new age key -board music in our malls has replaced the various groups who used to sing the European Christmas carols. In years past Christmas carols were heard as bumper music between programs on the radio and in the retail stores. Again we’ve heard "March of the Toy Soldiers" and other Santa songs but no carols.

It is a shock to realize that an important part of public recognition denoting our religious heritage has disappeared without a whimper. This happened gradually one segment of society at a time. Our churches will now be responsible to keep alive the music that has been handed down for generations.

In keeping in tune with the times, Saint John Knits, an upper scale clothier, longtime headquartered in Orange County entertained their employees this Christmas with a Mariachi band.

Sacramento and Washington start their day with prayer. In all probability the other states follow the same routine. I understand many politicians wait until the prayer and flag salute are given before entering the legislative chambers. With the moral guideposts moved so far from the seat of power is it any surprise the rule of law is suffering the consequences? We have reaped the whirl wind of under educated diversity trained people whose ethics are always situational.

What we should not do is follow the advice of those who instigated all these problems by going over to their side in order to "heal the nation." This latest debacle has caused many to take note that something is wrong, a good start on the road to reality.

December 15, 2000