Writing

November 21, 2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GORE TRYING TO STEAL ELECTION
BY APPEAL TO SUBJECTIVISM
MARINA DEL REY, CALIF.- In a move chillingly reminiscent of PresidentClinton's subjective re-definition of the word is, Al Gore and his campaign managers are applying the same subjectivist re-definition to the vote in Florida. They are trying to win the presidency by undermining the objective reality of the vote, said an Ayn Rand Institute Fellow. The punch card ballots in Florida are tabulated by machine precisely to make the system objective, said Robert W. Tracinski, a syndicated columnist for Creators Syndicate. The automatic operation of a machine is nonpartisan, unbiased, and incapable of fraud. The result produced by a properly functioning machine is a fact established beyond reasonable doubt. Tracinski said the hand recount has been demanded by the Gore campaign precisely because it is non-objective. And thus America has witnessed the spectacle of voting officials divining that voters meant to choose Gore on the basis of a pregnant chad.
Are the votes for Gore being created out of thin air? Tracinski asked rhetorically. Well, to paraphrase Clinton, it all depends on what the meaning of the word 'vote' is. If 'vote' now refers not to an individual's decision as expressed by the physical actions of actually knocking some perforated rectangles out of a piece of paper-and leaving others intact-but rather to what a third party divines the individual 'intended' to select, one has destroyed the process of voting. Any punch-card ballot can then be 'reinterpreted' and then it can be claimed that the voter 'intended' something different from what his punch-card ballot in fact indicates-allowing more 'votes' to be 'reinterpreted' in Gore's favor. It is crucial that we reject such divination and count votes by an objective process-a process which, like any legitimate legal process, must be specifically delimited, known beforehand, and devoid of any taint of personal caprice or subjectivity.
Ayn Rand Institute Fellow and Creators Syndicate columnist Robert W. Tracinski is available for interviews.

Design copyright Scars Publications and Design. Copyright of individual pieces remain with the author. All rights reserved. No material may be reprinted without express permission from the author.

Problems with this page? Then deal with it...