Recount Review

Watching HBO's Recount was an interesting experience. It was a good, informative film that even the major participants that the film is based on agree is accurate. It is something that should be required in political science classes across the country for showing what a farce the legal and political system can become.

The entire battle in Florida for the 2000 US election came down to confusing ballots, archaic equipment, and political ambitions. The movie does an excellent job of covering and easily explaining the voting problem with the confusing ballots and equipment that led to some miscounts. That is angering but expected.

What really angers you is watching the manipulations that took place by the Republican Party to block a hand recount of the ballots and also to prevent the machine recounts in 17 counties that refused to do them. The vacant Katherine Harris was at the heart of this, more concerned about her place in the Republican Party then her concern over doing her job correctly, which was getting an accurate count of who the citizens of Florida wanted as President. Of course the Florida laws on the issue didn't help as they where sloppy and poorly written and allowed for multiple interpretations. The Republican led Florida election board combined with Harris' willing support resulted in the inevitable.

The movie actually tries to be fair to Katherine Harris. Laura Dern does an excellent job. Frankly the Harris in the movie comes across as a flat out ditz, something backed up by books on the subject, her failed political career, and multiple press statements (she could give Bush a run for his money). Of course, being an idiot, she is the last person in the room to know this and is portrayed as feeling under siege for simply doing what her Republican leadership wanted her to do.

Don’t even get me started on the Supreme Court which inserted itself in the process when it’s legal right and moral right to do so is nebulous at best. It was clearly the result of Republicans calling in multiple favors to get the job done - declare Bush the winner.

Now despite my attack of the Republicans, the movie does a good job of trying to stand back and just tell the story from the perspective of both parties, showing the events that occurred without offering an opinion. However, you can't watch this movie and not have an opinion. I honestly don't see how you can't watch this movie and simply not be enraged at how something as simple as counting votes becomes a legal and personal quagmire and still call it democracy in action and rule of law when it was anything but.

Honestly though, the actions of the Republican Party and its supporters where beyond reprehensible. To support it, as many Republicans still do, shows their lack of morals and frankly, to the sadness of this country, we got the candidate we deserved for allowing them to succeed. About the only plus of the whole story is that Bush could have potentially won the election free and clear without any doubts and instead he will always be considered the President that stole an election. Considering how the next eight years went, I have little doubt he will go down as the worse President in this nation’s history and all those many supporters will have to live with the idiot they chose to back and the morals they happily sold in the effort. Many would have sleepless nights thinking about it but I don’t anyone involved in this fiasco have enough of a conscious to be bothered by it.