Cascade of slaps in the face: How George W. Bush became US President

By Rene Delavy

(written in the year 2000, just before George was elected)

How shall we explain to humanity - born many years after our time - the pyramid of power at the beginning of the third millennium? It’s very simple: Show them how a dull power with little intelligence was established in the richest and most powerful country in the world.

A new president of the USA is to be elected. Over a period of thirty days after the election-day, there is still a stalemate situation between Al Gore and George W. Bush, because both made throughout the country and especially in Florida almost the same number of votes. Would the ballots be accurately counted, including all given votes that the ancient machinery could not count, Al Gore would most probably be the winner. However, his counterpart Bush and his lawyers declare these hand counts as “illegal” and the result is: poor Bush runs into the presidency of the most powerful nation on earth. In fact, he would become the most powerful man in the world. Would he?

Now, the cascade of “slaps in the face”-theory or the theory of “Democracy = Dictatorship of dull majorities” stands in the way of this stupid belief. In fact, there is a real pyramid of power in the world, but only very few people can see it in all its dimensions. To recognize the true facts, let us start at the beginning:

Although the programs of the “Wish-to-be-presidents” are almost identical, the mighty men of American economy are buttering billions in the campaigns of their darlings. Naturally, they expect a decent counter-service, they expect that their choice - once in power in the White House - would take care, that as many weapons as possible can be exported, lots of cigarettes and liquor can be sold, many of agricultural existences will be governed in bankruptcy, only the richest persons would really profit of lowering taxes, almost half of the population would not have health care that deserves this name in this “high-standard” land, the laws of ecology would remain as miserable as they always were and in Texas are, all countries other than the USA would be confronted with a dictation of globalisation to the rules that enrich the US most powerful companies to the detriment of the poorer countries and companies, and both - Gore and Bush - have in principle accepted that these mighty spenders are completely entitled to see the “right results” of policy, for the good money they spent.

You witness here the slap from the economy in the face of politics. The top step of the pyramid stands firmly. But look closer, because there is still the third power in the state, the gamblers of justice. And - naturally - the first power, the electors, the people of the great nation. But now see with astonishment, how these “powers” can deploy in reality:

Justice people decide under democratic majority of judges that votes in Florida should be counted by hand at once. The federal lawyers of the right wing party will immediately stop the program of counts and would do this so frequently and so radically, that the counters cant even start to count and the same lawyers would cunningly argue, that the delay in the counting would shorten the political deadlines so badly, that a proper designation of a president would be impossible and therefore, it would not be reasonable to find out in a legal manner, whom the voting people (remember: first power in state…) wanted to see as president.

The absolute point of amazement in this pyramid of power in late modern times: The economy, the politics, justice systems and the voters can see all this madness and still they do not understand anything of it. They do wish to see a president in the office, and especially the one, who promised to read all wishes from their lips. They do not want any moral justification for the authorisation in office, no real democracy deserving this word and above all, they do not want to see any enlightenment, why everybody is being sold for stupid by the parties in the country, by their lawyers and judges.

And now we understand how it goes, the cascade of slaps in the face: The slaps of the economic powers of the USA in the face of democrats, the slaps in the face of judges and the slaps of judges in the face of all US-voters, is a funny cascade never seen before in the world. And why was it possible? Because capacity of logical thinking - in times of chaotic developments in the world - has reached its lowest level imaginable. Those capacities have vanished in a hereafter of all that could be recognized as common sense - and nobody, absolutely nobody is prepared to shed a tear of regret for this state of facts.

That’s all folks for today. This text will be enough to explain my theory of “Democracy = Dictatorship of dull majorities”.

RENE DELAVY - is author of “Power x Stupidity = Self destruction” and regular contributor to RINF.