It gets a little tiresome to continuously read about how Ralph Nader and
the Greens cost Al Gore the election. The last I heard Gore had won by more
than a half million votes. If Al isn't occupying the White house right now,
then the problem lies with him and the spineless wing of the Democratic party.

Bushes people had no problem doing what ever it took to get their guy in.
Lie, steal, cheat, intimidate and bully tactics -- they did everything legal
and otherwise to win (or at least be declared victor). Everything they did,
they did as a united front with absolutely no distention in their ranks.

There was no call from Republicans for Bush to step aside and cede the
election for the betterment of the nation. There was no compromise with the
Democrats on what the rules of engagement would be. It was all out war and
anything goes. The Republicans even had plans in the works for the eventuality
that Bush would win the popular vote and lose the Electoral College.

That's all true.

The Democrats on the other hand seemed less than enthusiastic about their
guy, and were even apologetic in nature about the last eight years. Instead
of campaigning from the strength of their record, they were almost silent
about their accomplishments, least someone bring up a blow job. Yet despite
the self imposed restrictions and the media imposed omissions and cover ups
favoring Bush, Gore was still able to win the election by a half million votes.

It all came down to Florida and who was willing to fight harder (dirtier).
The Democrats had no stomach for controversy, name calling, dirty tricks and
politics as usual, so the Republicans who had honed these skills over the last eight
years continued to use them. Of course the media did everything in its power to
legitimize Bush as winner and Gore as sore loser, but even that shouldn't have
been enough to 'seal the deal' at this point.

Again, that's all true.

No, it took a fractured Democratic party, worrying about the effect a long drawn out
process would have on the Nation (and their careers if the Republicans pointed it out,
or so they worried). This despite the fact that poll after poll showed the People were
willing to wait as long as it took to sort out the votes, only the Republicans and the
media were concerned about the time frame.

So slowly but surely the less than enthusiastic, and apologetic (for the last 8 years)
Democrats began to desert Gore and the election he had won. They deserted the
majority of People who voted for Gore, because they were afraid of the vocal
minority who shouted at them, and the media who represented the minority of shouters.

That's truer than true North.

Finally it came down to the Supreme Court to decide. On the one side is a minority
of privileged shouters, all homogenous in nature and voice, and on the other, a majority
of people abandoned by their party, just like their leader. Because the Court could see
that the majority of People were without representation, they knew they could hand over
victory to the minority of shouters under the flimsiest of pretexts.

All that was left was for Gore to preside over the counting of the electoral votes in Congress.
Up to and including that point, the outcome of this process could have been challenged by a
united Democratic front, but only the Black Caucus was brave enough to stand up. Imagine if
the timid and apologetic (for 8 years of unprecedented growth) Democrats had half the balls
of the Republicans and walked out in mass and refused to be seated or continue government
business until all the votes were counted?

That's all true.

Imagine if the Democrats abandon their middle of the road stance (squat),
came back to their constituencies and adopted the more populist positions
that poll after poll shows the American people support?

The Greens and Nader didn't cost Gore the election, the Democrats did.

Gary
 

Gary, that's all true.

When a team loses a football game, it'd be very easy for the coach to walk around and
point a finger and say say, "We would've won if you hadn't missed that tackle in the first quarter."

Then, "We would've won if you caught that ball in the second quarter."

Then, "We would've won if you'd tried harder as a team in the third quarter,"

ending with, "We would've won if the referees weren't so goddamn crooked."
 

Bush won in 1988 because he said, "Let's stay the course" 1,000 times.
Gore didn't have the brains/courage to say that in 2000, even tho he was co-captain
of the team that brought America the finest years in her history, and we ended up losing.

The Florida Democrats decided they'd rather have a Thanksgiving holiday
than have their votes mean something at the polls, and we ended up losing.

The GOP sent their hired thugs to Florida to shut down the vote like you said,

and the Democrats stood there like scared bunnies and refused to fight back,
so we ended up losing.

I remember giving them a primer during these GOP strong-arm tactics:
Demand extra police protection from Jeb or let him know any further violence
   would be his fault for refusing to authorize the protection.

 But did they listen to me?
 Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.
 The Democrats were too timid to put Jeb in a box.
 It was so goodamn cheap it was FREE!, but they never asked for it.

 Dozens of Republican senators representatives flew to Florida to be on camera for Fox News
 and CNN, but the Democrats were content to sit home and watch to see what might happen.

 I, BartCop, treehouseboy with drink in hand
 could've won Florida for the spineless democrats,
 but they just didn't want it bad enough.
 They didn't care enough.
 It didn't mean enough to them to fight for it.

 
 ...on the other side,
 

 Your boy Nader was the difference, no matter how you slice it.
 Nader got a couple of thousand votes in Florida, and Bush only "won" by 500 votes.
 Don't pretend your boy Nader wasn't a factor.

 That's why this cartoon continues to run  on  bartcop.com