I am tired of hearing Republicans and their operatives whine about fairness and allege that Vice President Gore is causing a “Constitutional Crisis.” Why don’t they just cool it, let the legal process in Florida work and see what happens? Republicans are crying about not requesting recounts in certain counties while the Democrats, according to Florida law, requested recounts in certain counties where irregularities seemed to have occurred. The Florida statute in that respect is very clear. It allows for recounts at the request of either side within a certain time frame. (Fla. Stat. Title IX Chapter 104 (2000)) The Republicans missed the deadline. Is that the Democrats fault? No!

The Daily has quoted at least one person as comparing voting and taking a college exam as the same thing. I believe that to be a faulty comparison.

Exercising one of America’s most fundamental rights can not be compared with misreading a test question or the directions on an exam. We are talking about the highest office in the land. We are talking about a right that minorities in our country struggled to gain, a struggle in which many lost their lives for standing up for what they believed was right and just! We are talking about the right to vote that women only gained at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Isn’t it worth a little extra effort to get it right? Another curious thing that everyone is careful to tip-toe around is the fact that we are having these problems in the state where little brother Bush is the governor. Why not let the recounts go forward, let the overseas ballots come in and see where we are?

Tom Blair

Senior

Spanish and secondary education