Editor, Daily Nexus:
I am writing to respond to the staff editorial, “Take One for the Team, Al” (Daily Nexus, Nov. 28). A Gore concession, framed in light of the situation painted by the editorial, is not simply a concession of defeat; it is a concession to unfairness.
Are we long past the possibility of getting a more accurate recount? With a razor-thin margin, the standards of accuracy must be higher than ever before. I disagree with the editorial that further legal actions will “mire election results in deeper confusion.” If there are rational concerns that the vote is not accurate, then those concerns must be heard and considered. To concede now is to acknowledge that we will tolerate inaccuracy and the grim possibility that our president was not rightfully elected.
Legal maneuvering is never pretty, but the concept behind our legal system is that a clearer truth will emerge when adversaries fight it out in court. The U.S. Supreme Court should hear Gore’s case; it is not “overstep[ping] its bounds.” The high court is simply reviewing whether the Florida Supreme Court acted unconstitutionally in allowing recounts. The electoral proceedings in Florida are not simply “a state’s prerogative;” the voters, through all of their votes, should have the ultimate and final word.
Right now, is our country on the verge if instability? Is the United States losing so much credibility in the international community that it can never recover from this mess? Are people fighting and dying in the streets because the vote hasn’t been resolved yet? I think not. We should feel fortunate that we have a legal system that allows for wrongs to be heard and cleared up. We should be patient and let the system run its course.
The world looks to our nation as a model of the rule of law and democracy. Should we show the world that inaccuracy and unfairness can prevail? If the situation in Florida were to happen in a Third World country, the U.S. would be the first to denounce the election as unfair and in violation of human rights. United Nations observers would likely be sent to investigate and monitor the situation. (Personally, I wouldn’t mind UN observers in Florida). We cannot set unfairness as a precedent for the world. We must be fair.
As the editorial states, “there is simply no reason to rush a delicate process.” Due process, of both the law and the vote, takes time. No one ever said fairness was easy or painless. But it is priceless.
SHINE LING
