Recalling some sage advice...

Soon after the last comm pass this morning, I took a moment to tune in one of the news programs - CNN I think - just in time to hear (I know you're not going to believe this) a report about the ongoing struggle in Florida. Gore was shown offering to expand the recount to the entire state, in exchange for which he would stand by the "final" count and not pursue any of the suits that have apparently been filed in this matter.

This immediately reminded me of a short paragraph from Damon Runyon's short story The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown, where Runyon wrote:

  "Son," the old guy says, "no matter how far you
travel or how smart you get, always remember this:
Some day, somewhere," he says, "a guy is going to come
to you and show you a nice brand-new deck of cards
on which the seal is never broken, and this guy is going
to offer to bet you that the jack of spades will jump out
of this deck and squirt cider in your ear. But son," the
old guy says, "do not bet him, for as sure as you do you
are going to get an ear full of cider."

Personally, I've been puzzled all along as to why the recount was being promoted in places where only Gore really stood to gain ground (heavily Democratic counties). What's been happening in the rest of the state? How secure have the ballots been in the remaining Florida counties? And how easy would it be to subvert just one (maybe two) people to introduce (or replace) a paltry few hundred ballots? The Bush folks have one thing right: the longer this goes on, the more likely is "human error," either of the natural variety, or deliberate. The Gore offer sounds all wrong. Too slick. Too late.

By the way, according to the New York Post, Buchanan's percentage of the Palm Beach County vote (0.79%) is smaller than his showing in at least 7 other Florida counties. Also, ABC apparently reported that Carol Roberts, the obnoxious (IMHO) Palm Beach County canvass board leader, has been, um, "manipulating" some of the ballots to loosen the "chads" and cause them to separate, thereby invalidating the ballot. Nobody else picked up on it, preferring to concentrate on the fact that the Florida Secretary of State is a Republican who comes from a rich family.

Ultimately, this struggle is for bragging rights, because neither candidate is going to have a pleasant time getting Congress to do his bidding, though there is no doubt that four years from now, life in these United States will be less free, no matter who wins in Florida.

Cheers...