Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing…

You may or may not have heard this tidbit, but it was announced in a State Department briefing this week that, for the first time, elections in the United States of America will be monitored by an independent, outside organization.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe will send observers from their Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. The OSCE, based in Vienna, Austria, has sent more than 10,000 personnel to monitor more than 150 elections and referenda in more than 30 countries during the past decade.
According to the State Department, thirteen Democratic members of the House of Representatives, raising the possibility of civil rights violations that they claim occurred in Florida in the 2000 election, wrote U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan in July, asking for him to send observers.
Their request was rejected by Annan and they were told that the Bush Administration just make the request. At that point, the State Department was petitioned to make the request.
OK…let me see if I’m following this so far. Thirteen DEMOCRATS who are still whining about the 2000 elections charge now that there were possible civil rights violations and appealed to the UNITED NATIONS to monitor our elections?
Why am I not surprised?
Doesn’t this seem a little odd to anyone else? That a group of people who likely had democracy brought or taught to them by the United States is going to tell us if we’re holding proper elections? We’re the cradle of democracy and these thirteen Democrats want to put a baby monitor next to the cradle? Unbelievable.
What’s almost as shocking is that we’re a member of this group that few of us have ever heard of. They’re the “Organization for Security and Cooperation in EUROPE.” Why are we a member and why are they coming to monitor our elections?
Quoting from the Washington Times article on the subject:

“She (spokeswoman Urdur Gunnarsdottir) said the OSCE does not have authority over the election results in any way. ‘We don’t give them a yes or a no or grade them,’ she said. ‘But we monitor, we publicize what we see. You can call it political pressure.’ “

So…wait…their purpose isn’t to ensure that there are fair and accurate elections, but to exert “political pressure?” That’s not observing. Pardon my asking, but if that’s the case then why do the American people need these “observers” here?
Well, the answer is easy. They want to make sure that they can take the election however they can. In addition to bringing in “observers,” the Kerry campaign is going a step further.
From the Sacramento Bee:

“John Kerry’s presidential campaign is putting together an army of volunteer lawyers and readying them to descend on precincts where Election Day problems may arise.”

“California volunteers in the Kerry legal effort – considered unusual because the candidate’s campaign organization is in charge and not the state Democratic parties – say they expect to be dealing mainly with county voting officials to correct glitches rather than suing over deliberate obstruction of a fair election.”

“…A Web site run by the Democratic Party’s Voting Rights Institute says 10,000 lawyers will be deployed.”

Ten thousand. Ten THOUSAND lawyers. Now, I’ve nothing against lawyers, but I’m guessing that they’re going to look for the slightest impropriety and file suit on it if John Kerry loses that particular state. They’ll say it’s because of 2000, and they’re only partially right.
Look, our system works the way it does and it’s been that way for over two hundred years. It’s entirely possible for someone to lose the popular vote and win the Presidency. They act like it’s the first time it’s ever happened in our society, when it’s actually happened at least four times in American history. What they whine about as an injustice is the way the process is designed to work.
Certainly there were some issues in Florida in 2000, and I’m sure that wasn’t the only place. People have been working on these problems for four years and undoubtedly things will have improved. We should at least verify the process improvements before we bring in people to oversee our elections.
So, let them bring in the “observers” and Kerry’s Democrat lawyers. You know, the real danger these people represent is their potential to undermine our process with lawsuits and bad press. That is what we as a society must be careful of because it’s a larger threat to us than “hanging chads.”
The United States already has free and Democratic elections and the Democrats can still be upset over George W. Bush’s election–that’s their choice. It’s about time they learned to get over it. Perhaps, though, they should all go back to Civics class. Maybe they’ll learn a thing or two about how a Republic like ours elects its leader.
That first lesson will be called, “The Electoral College.”
William Smith
ConservativeBlogger.com