Hillary Clinton Compares 2000 Florida Recount to Nigeria's Rigged Elections

[kpete]

Source: ABC News

Hillary Clinton Compares 2000 Florida Recount to Nigeria's Rigged Elections
Missing Ballot Boxes, Inflated Voter Counts, Shootings, Among Election Fraud in Nigeria
By DANA HUGHES and KIRIT RADIA
August 12, 2009

Hillary implies 2000 elections were rigged, like Nigeria's.

NAIROBI - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton compared Nigeria's corruption and electoral problems with the 2000 Florida presidential election recount during a town hall meeting today in Abuja, Nigeria.

Answering a question about Nigeria's recent election, Clinton said, "In 2000, our presidential election came down to one state where the brother of the man running for President was the governor of the state. So we have our problems too."

But Clinton praised the 2008 U.S. election as an example of how democracy should work.

"I know a little bit about running elections and I have won some elections, and, I have lost some elections," she said. She pointed to her loss to now-President Obama, and the subsequent joining of his administration, as a way forward for Nigeria's next general election.

"In my country the man that I was running against and spent a lot of time and effort to defeat, asked me to join his government. So there is a way to begin to make this transition that will lead to free and fair elections in 2011," Clinton said.



Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=8314204&page=1

[Happyhippychick]

1. And she is 100% correct.

[Vidar]

2. Bravo Hillary! Someone had to say it.

[InfiniteThoughts]

3. Bill's trip to Korea has def. left an impact on Hillary

It seems a switch has gone on in Hillary and has made her more vocal ever since Bill stepped on that flight to North Korea.

Good for her!

And the statement is gonna hurt quite a few repubs ..

[polmaven]

11. Bill's trip had NOTHING to do with it!

She is her own person with her own thoughts and her own abilities. She doesn't need to be "impacted" by what her husband does.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

17. She's been travelling to other nations and speaking out since before Bill's successful trip.

It's just that the media can't see her as an individual. Because Bill is in the spotlight, they pay some attention to her travels;

But what really got the spin-whores' eyes on her? She GOT EMOTIONAL. THAT is why they are giving it airtime. They look for what fits their stereotype-filters about women.

Yes, her high profile husband's actions influence their attention to her--

If she has a successful trip, stands up for just ideals, succeeds in initiating dialogue, SURPRISE, the media ignores it.

But most of all, ANYthing she does that fits rigid (and uncomplimentary) images of "how women are" will be what they give attention to.

[InfiniteThoughts]

29. let me make myself clear ...

I think Hillary is a great SoS and it has nothing to do with her being the wife of Bill. She will go down in history as one of the best who didn't become the US President (or will she make a run at it in 2016!)

With respect to successful international trips, i should admit that i don't know the full list of places that she visited but i can tell you that her recent trip to India is anything but a major disaster. It is plain misfortune that she missed a lot of key visits because of her injury.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

34. when I replied

I think I had the recent media's misrepresentative focus on her reaction to the translated question on my mind.

I don't follow every trip or thing she (or anyone) does either....
I do tend to react to how the media spins things, so once again, that is what I was talking about.

Anyway, I don't doubt that Bill's trip influenced her. How could it not? We're all influenced by what surrounds us. I'm glad she's the kind of person who is inspired to do more good when she sees good done! :) (did I word that clearly? Hope I made sense there.)

[deep1]

30. So whose fault is that?

Two for one? Remember? Some of you Hillary supporters shouldn't delude yourselves into thinking Bill had nothing to do with her ascension to power.

Many in the primaries voted for her because she was the wife of a beloved president.

It's so funny how defensive her feminist supporters become when you mention Bill Clinton. Ok, yes, she's her own person, yeah......

[BlancheSplanchnik]

33. it's so funny how hostile her anti-feminist attackers become when you mention what she has done.

to paraphrase you.


So predictable. I'm not the "Hillary-bot" you seem to imagine me as.

All human interaction is complex, and there can be no separation between Hillary, Bill and their positions. However, you are reflecting the same state of perception of which you accuse me, viz. wearing blinders.

You broadly and contemptuously accuse "you Hillary supporters" of seeing her as a separate agent. Yet, your blinders channel you into seeing her strictly as an appendage to Bill.



You're attacking me with no clear purpose, as evidenced by your vague taunt, "so who's fault is that?"

Specify please, I don't know what "that" is referring to. And what "fault" do you mean?

I was talking about the media's routine approach to her and anything she does.

[AzDar]

4. Heh. TELL it, Sista Hillary!

:thumbsup:

[bemildred]

5. To be fair, in 2000, it was the USSC that really screwed the pooch.

Not that I want to defend Jeb, but is was the USSC that intervened and determined the outcome.

[Raster]

6. I'm sorry, there was FAR MORE to Selection 2000 than just the illegal actions of the SCOTUS.

Florida was rigged from day one. Jeb as governor, Cruella de Harris as the appointed* secretary of state that managed the state-wide election process AND coincidentally was the co-chairman of Elect bush*/cheney*. She ran the state-wise campaign out of her Secretary of State offices, using Florida state personnel and resources to do so. EVERY key Democratic-leaning precinct had a handpicked republican that supervised the polling. Election infrastructure--machines, ballots, etc.--were prioritized to republican precincts. If you were a Florida Democrat and wanted to cast your ballot in Selection 2000, the state of Florida made it extremely difficult to do so, and even more so if you were a person of color.

Oh, and let's not forget the voter roll purges instituted by Jeb and Harris. Done by a rethuglican-controlled company, thousands upon thousands of specifically targeted potentially Democratic voters were removed from the voter rolls. POOF! One minute you're a registered voter, the next you're not. And excruciatingly appalling, many of those persons ILLEGALLY removed from Florida voter rolls are still missing from said rolls.

I could go on and on and on. Yes, the SCOTUS ultimately put cheney*/bush* in the White House, but the ground was laid far in advance.

And for the record, jeb bush* is a low-life cretin. Every breath he takes is a waste of good oxygen. And no, Agent Mike, that is not threat. Just a factual observation.

[bemildred]

8. I'm sorry, I never said there was not. nt

[Stevepol]

23. The ex-felon lists done by Choicepoint alone was enough to take thousands of votes from Gore.

Here's one link of many you could probably find on it:

http://www.gregpalast.com/floridas-flawed-voter-cleansing-program-saloncoms-politics-story-of-the-year/

Here's another link with more numbers, upwards of 50,000 on the list.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Central_Voter_File

[tocqueville]

9. which is even worse...

reminds of Honduras

this is a fundamental problem in the US. In many Western democracies constitutional problems (specially at that level) are not delegated to the judiciary but to separate appointed bodies composed of "multipartisan" representatives with a consensual political record and the help of some experienced lawyers. The idolatry for the Supreme Court skews the political debate and decisions thereof. It's not to judges to make law, but to Congress. A blatant example of this misunderstanding is the Roe/Wade story : it's a court ruling, not a law passed in Congress (which is the case in Europe), so it can be constantly challenged by judiciary processes instead of electoral ones.

And the fact that the SCOTUS is elected for life makes only things worse. In Europe tha mandates are much shorter and rules prevent reelection after a certain period.

The day the US understands that a Constitution is merely a framework for the rule of a country and needs to evolve with society and not a Bible that must be read through exegesis by life-appointed priests, democracy and transparency will take a tremendous leap forward. I am very aware that I am preaching in a desert.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. 
[link:www.democraticunderground.com/forums/rules.html|Click
here] to review the message board rules.

[bemildred]

10. Enjoy your pizza. nt

[florida08]

12. aren't you clever

[DesertDiamond]

13. WOW!!! Did she REALLY actually come out and SAY it??

Now that's a breakthrough in my book!

[jonestonesusa]

14. A day late and a dollar short...

but at least she acknowledged that the election was "questionable." If it weren't three U.S. elections later, this might actually matter.

[seafan]

15. Hillary Clinton's Comparison of the 2000 U.S. Recount to Nigeria's Elections Spur Criticism

Source: ABC News

For the second time this week, the former first lady is embroiled in a controversy over remarks she made in Africa. At a town hall in Abuja, Nigeria, a land of corrupt elections, Clinton tried to push the message that embracing violence is never the answer. But it was her mention of U.S. elections that caught people's attention.

"Our democracy is still evolving," the secretary of state told the crowd. "You know we've had all kinds of problems in some of our past elections as you might remember. In 2000, our presidential election came down to one state where the brother of the man running for president was the governor of the state, so we have our problems, too."

Republicans pounced on Clinton's remarks.

"Governor Bush is declining to weigh in on these ill-advised comments," a spokesman for former Florida governor Jeb Bush said. "But wishes Secretary Clinton a safe and successful trip."
Others accused her of comparing the Florida recount that gave George W. Bush the presidency to the kind of wholesale fraud in Nigeria.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=8315671&page=1

---

Hit a nerve, did she?


Maybe Jeb Bush is worried about more scrutiny over his shady Nigerian water pump deals.


Funny, wherever there is fraud, there is the stench of Jeb Bush.

[alsame]

16. She stated facts, nothing 'ill advised' about the truth. nt

[Raster]

32. The Re-thugs are starting to get a might touchy over ol' Jeb.

The Bush* Family Evil Empire would love Jeb to complete their Presidential trifecta.

Memo: To the BFEE
Subject: Jeb
Re: Presidential aspirations

Probably too dirty to really sanitize and America may not be as tolerant (read: stupid), considering we all still reek of the last bush* brother shoved down our throats.

Here's a thought: Run Neil!

Neil Bush*:kick:President 2012:kick:

[disndat]

18. Unfortunately, most elections are rigged..

As someone once wisely observed, elections are not by who has the most votes, but by whoever does the counting. Also, democracy is not free. It requires constant vigilance.

[bemildred]

19. That's often attributed to Stalin, I'm not sure how accurately. nt

[Captain Hilts]

20. Oh my! nt

[eppur_se_muova]

21. HRC and Al Gore were WH "co-workers" for eight years ...

you've got to figure she takes this personally.

She had to keep her distance in the election because Bill's antics made a strong Clinton association a potential hazard for Gore. Now she can speak her mind.

[Indydem]

22. If it was such a damn big deal, why did she,

as the newly elected senator of New York sit silently while the CBC BEGGED any senator to help them stop the delegate count?

[IndianaGreen]

24. She could have also mentioned the last Presidential election in Mexico

In Mexico, as in the US, they refused to count ballots.

[arikara]

25. Only 9 years after the fact

They obviously know there was skullduggery. Makes me wonder who really runs the show. No one spoke out when it happened, Gore accepted the theft without a whimper so they all had the word from somewhere to let it happen.

[Hippo_Tron]

26. She said it in an official capacity as Secretary of State representing the US overseas

That's a big deal even if it is 9 years after the fact.

[Hippo_Tron]

27. Republican media ought to heed the advice of Admiral Akbar

The last thing they want to be caught doing is defending Resident 27% approval rating's legitimacy.

[Ignis]

28. Good for her.

I hope that all history books will give Shrub the * he truly deserves.

[Alamuti Lotus]

31. Hey, 9 years ago that reference might've made a damn difference

Now it's just low-hanging fruit.