Uncovering the Florida cover-up: The good fight continues

Politicians sometimes claim that hiding governmental misdeeds is good
for the country. They say the public could not handle learning the full
extent of our leaders' lies and cover-ups. For example, former Congressman
Lee Hamilton, chairman of the House select committee investigating the
Iran-contra affair, was shown ample evidence against Ronald Reagan and
George H. W. Bush, but he did not probe their wrongdoing.

Why did Hamilton choose not to investigate?

In a late 1980s interview aired on PBS "Frontline," Hamilton said that he did not think it
would have been "good for the country" to put the public through another impeachment trial.

In Lee Hamilton's view, it was better to keep the public in the dark than to
bring to light another Watergate, with all the implied ramifications. When
Hamilton was chairman of the House committee investigating Iran-contra,
he took the word of senior Reagan administration officials when they claimed
Bush and Reagan were "out of the loop."

Independent counsel Lawrence Walsh and White House records later proved
that Reagan and Bush had been very much in the loop. If Hamilton had looked
into the matter instead of accepting the Reagan administration's word, the
congressional investigation would have shown the public the truth. Hamilton later
said he should not have believed the Reagan officials. However, today, Bush
is considering appointing Hamilton UN ambassador.

Apparently, in the spirit of the Iran-contra cover-up, most members of Congress
today would rather sweep the facts under the rug regarding the recent election.
Republicans, and even some Democrats, claim it is "for the good of the country"
that we give up easily and hand George W. Bush the presidency in order to "give him a chance."

The problem is, Florida newspapers are now counting votes, and at this
time those counts show that Bush did not win the election. How can it be
"good for the country" to accept the results of a rigged election?

The Supreme Court's decision to stop the Florida recount was an illegal,
immoral, partisan, politically motivated cover-up. It was illegal, because:

1.The situation was strictly a state matter (as Herman Schwartz, professor of law
at the Washington College of Law and many other experts have pointed out)

2.In order for the Supreme Court to take the case, it had to be a
genuine case of equal protection under the law, and it was not.

The court did not take into account equal protection for disenfranchised minority voters.
Equal protection was originally added to the Constitution in order to make citizens' rights
uniform and to protect former slaves from discrimination. The Supreme Court's decision
had no constitutional basis.

Do the American people have to accept a tainted Supreme Court ruling?
This not an appeal for a mob of people to storm the Bush inaugural and have Al Gore
ride into town on a tank (although peaceful protests of the inaugural would be a good idea.)
Instead, it is about using an extension of the legal process -- impeachment or some other
procedural method to block the congressional certification of the electoral college vote.

If Democrats do not take the lead in this matter, no one else will.
Consider this metaphor: If the Bush/Gore electoral contest had been a football game,
the game would not be over. In football, if the defense commits a foul on the last play
of the game, the game is not over even though the clock shows no more time remaining.

Since the Supreme Court committed a foul -- namely the illegal, politically motivated
cover-up in which the court stopped the vote count and wrote the decision when it was
too late for the count to resume -- this foul should not be the final play. The fate of the
U. S. presidency is not a game, but the fairness principle is similar.

In an earlier essay for Online Journal, I mentioned that our political leaders and media
pundits often treat the public as children. Those leaders say they know what is best for us,
that they keep secrets "for our own good."

Alice Miller says in "For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots
of Violence," that when families keep secrets, children suffer. In secretive families, says
Miller, "Children who become too aware of things are punished for it and internalize the
coercion to such an extent that as adults they give up the search for awareness."

In a society where political leaders treat citizens as children and keep secrets "for our
own good," the public sometimes gives up the search for awareness, too. When we witness
blatant lies, as we did during the post-election, and our politicians and television news
reporters tell us we should not believe our own eyes, that kind of deceit dampens the
public's hope and sense of personal empowerment.

When politicians get away with corrupt behavior, they will continue to act corrupt.
The American people know that. The natural response is a feeling of hopelessness
-- or the sense that "you can't fight city hall." Nothing stifles democracy or discourages
people from participating in the political process more than that attitude.

When corruption happens in the dark, it is hard to grasp it well enough to respond.
Far from being "for our own good," secrecy and political cover-ups depress the human spirit.

Some folks, Alice Miller points out, do not give up the search for awareness and openness
regardless of external coercion -- whether in the microcosmic family or in the national family.
Miller writes, "For the human soul is virtually indestructible, and its ability to rise from the
ashes remains as long as the body draws breath."

It could make a positive difference if sufficient numbers of people keep enough hope and
muster enough inner empowerment to write and phone congressional Democrats and urge
them to prevent certification of the results of the electoral college vote. This would let our
elected representatives know that many of their constituents do not condone the
post-election secrecy and cover-up.

If we see corruption and fail to speak out, we are complicit.
We can fight city hall if we keep our strength and hope.