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[Sunday night: Updated with further thoughts below.]

For a long time I felt that the preposterousness of the theft of the 2000 Presidential Election was unsurpassable by satire.

The sheer implausibility of the coincidence of factors that made the theft possible!

It all hinged on Florida, where Bush’s brother, who was the governor, had illegally purged the roles of predominantly African American voters, who favored Gore inordinantly.

It all hinged on Florida and a flawed design of a ballot in Palm Beach County, where a fringe, xenophobic candidate named Patrick Buchanan, who had spoken admiringly of Hitler, received thousands of votes almost certainly intended for Gore, in a jurisdiction with a large Jewish population.

It all hinged on Florida and the charisma of a civic hero -- Ralph Nader -- who put considerable thought and energy into denying the significant differences between Bush and Gore, deliberately courting voters who predominantly would have been predisposed to have voted for Gore otherwise. If only 6/10ths of one percent of Florida Nader voters had pulled the lever for Gore, Gore would have won on the first tally.

It all hinged on Florida and an initial miscount of ballots, which erroneously showed George Bush to have won the state by 547 votes.

It all hinged on a corrupt Supreme Court, including three members appointed by Reagan, whose Vice President was Bush’s father, and two members appointed by Bush’s father, which prevented the State of Florida from completing an accurate count of the votes; in an unprecedented decision, the Court declared its decision to have no authority as a precedent -- they knew that their decision made no legal sense, and they explicitly ordered that its reasoning not serve as precedent for future decisions. (Note: One of Bush’s father’s appointees voted for the accurate counting of votes; the idea that any court would decide against the accurate counting of votes makes my head swim and stomach churn.)

It all hinged on an antiquated, anti-democratic Electoral College, which allows for the possibility of a candidate losing the vote of the people by half a million and still ostensibly winning the election. I say “ostensibly” because an accurate count of the votes showed that Gore won more votes in Florida, despite the Palm Beach ballot confusion, and despite the illegal purging of eligible voters from the roles; and Florida’s electoral votes would have won Gore the Presidency.

Theater Oobleck
The Strangerer by Mickle Maher
Barrow Street Theatre
27 Barrow St.
New York City
Opens July 9, 2008
Tues-Sat at 7:30pm
Sun at 2:30pm + 7:00pm

Tickets available at
Telecharge.com
(212) 239-6200 or at the Barrow Street Theatre Box Office

Theater Oobleck
Barrow Street Theatre