Nearly a dozen Democratic members of Congress have asked the U.N. to monitor the U.S. elections in November. They argue that the "deeply troubling events of the 2000 election dictate that international election monitors step in.”
This is partisan politics at its worst and an effort to embarrass the nation in the eyes of the world.
No matter what you think about the outcome of the 2000 election— and I was very critical of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling as a matter of law— it was still so reassuring to see that our system worked. There was no anarchy, no concern that there would be a revolution, and yet these rogue Congress people act as if the U.N. could somehow help our fledgling nation conduct an election.
That doesn't mean our system doesn't need work. We don't need the U.N.. In the past 10 years, U.N. monitors have been used in Tanzania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Sierra Leone, Mali, Nigeria, Figi.
These Congress people knew Secretary-General Kofi Annan would reject their request, only in part because they have no right to ask the U.N. to do anything. Now they’re asking Secretary of State Powell to make the request on behalf of the U.S. And of course he is going to ignore this nonsense, but it's beyond partisan. It's a slap in the face of the nation.
A few days ago, I bemoaned the fact that lawyers for both parties have invaded every county to begin legalizing this election— to battle over voting machines, poll times, et cetera. What a shame that we may have to wait for election results until after the legal battles are over. However, they're working within our system of law.
We may need to make changes, but we don't need the U.N. to make them for us. And these Congress people should be ashamed for even making the request.
