Posted on 08/09/2004 12:13:06 PM PDT by truthandlife
The State Department's invitation for an Austrian human rights group to monitor this year's U.S. presidential election is a "frightening" development and "an absolute threat" to America's independence and sovereignty, according to the head of a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C.
Tom DeWeese, president of the American Policy Center, said he's especially angry that the Bush administration would reach out to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which is based in Vienna, Austria.
"Bush continues to give conservatives the rhetoric of sovereignty, independence and strength of the United States, and he continues to give the [opposite] actions," DeWeese told CNSNews.com. "It's just outrageous this administration would allow this to happen," DeWeese added.
The spokesman for U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) was equally critical of the State Department's reported invitation. "It's exactly the type of entanglement that results from our continued insistence on being a member of the U.N. and having an interventionist foreign policy," said Jeff Deist, press secretary for Paul, a Republican who once ran for president as a libertarian candidate.
Paul believes that the United Nations and other international organizations are illegitimate and threaten American sovereignty.
"We're all supposed to accept this growing notion of world government ... that's obviously the opposite of sovereignty," Deist said, adding that "a lot of Americans are going to take offense" with the decision.
OSCE is "the largest regional security organization in the world with 55 participating States from Europe, Central Asia and North America," according to the group's website. "It is active in early warning, conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation" the website states.
OSCE observers will arrive in the U.S. from its Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. It will be the first time such a team has been present for a U.S. presidential election, though the OSCE monitored mid-term elections in 2002, and the California gubernatorial election last year.
An official with the State Department said on background that the OSCE mission is "more of an assessment" designed to verify election results. "The OSCE-participating states all agreed, including the U.S., in 1990 to allow each other to observe elections," the official said.
However, the State Department's invitation coincides with lingering Democratic charges that George W. Bush and Florida Republicans stole the 2000 presidential race by preventing many African Americans from casting ballots. Bush's eventual 537 vote winning margin in Florida allowed him to gain the state's 25 electoral votes and the presidency.
Earlier this summer, 13 Democratic members of the U.S. House sent a letter to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, requesting that the agency monitor this year's presidential election between Bush and Democrat John Kerry.
The spokesman for Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), who was among those who signed the letter to Annan, said the State Department's invitation to the OSCE "represents a good first step."
Stuart Chapman, press secretary for Lee, said the U.S. should set an example for other countries by allowing an independent group to monitor the balloting.
"We bill ourselves as the greatest democracy, so therefore, we should have applied to our own situation what we send out and promote and claim that we are to the rest of the world," Chapman said. "There clearly was a demonstrated, systematic effort to ensure that the votes of certain people were not counted in the last election," Chapman asserted.
"I have already been told by one of our True Conservatives (tm) that they do not care what I say and that any explanation that is factual is *belittling* their opinion.
What we have here are folks who adore our few minority bomb throwers and have been looking for an excuse to stand on their so-called principles and not vote or vote for whatever-his-name-is, the isolationist, anti-Israel, so-called Constitution Party candidate who is probably not even on that many ballots."
No, you are wrong. In reference to me (the one who said you were belittling my opinion)-- it was not because of facts you presented, but the illustration of the guy you knew..."he carried around a copy of Einstein's Theory of Relativity and pulled it out whenever possible to make points on science. He may or may not have really understood it, but it sure impressed anyone who didn't."
Sorry, I'm probably just too sensitive-- I should have ignored your remark.
But again you are wrong on the voting point also. Because
I very definitely plan to vote, and I will be voting for George W. Bush for President. I am strongly pro-life, and Bush is my only choice for President.
Then again you say: "Several of us have spent several threads trying to explain the situation. They do not want an explanation. They want to foment dissension."
And I have to say it once again, you are wrong. I have no desire to "foment dissension." My statement was that no matter what you say, regardless of the explanations you give, I still do not think that we need foreigners to monitor our elections. That is my opinion on this issue.
Please, you are way off base on these accusations. Let's try to remain on good terms in our discussions here at FR.
I think this is a state department think.
Much of the state department is infested with career beareacarats who LOATH hands on politicians.
They STILL hate reagan for killing their cushy nuclear treaty jobs when the USSR is around.
IF the president goes around eliminating enemies then the state department becomes an arm of the commerce department.
Somebody AT THE STATE DEPARTMENT should loose their job over this, at the minimum kill their carreer.
Thanks for responding. Glad we understand each other a little more!
I share your feelings about the media bias. It's forced me to now just briefly scan even the local paper here. Amazing how they can be so bold with their liberal slant. For my own peace of mind, I've decided on the quick skim of their writings (and I don't even watch the major networks' news anymore). Life is better without their bias.
With your deep involvement in the campaign (for which I am grateful), I can surely understand those tense feelings, as you are more on the front lines of battle than many of us.
As an explanation, what bothers me (and maybe bothers others like me) is that what once was considered normal and sensible thinking is now considered to be far right.
This shift in thinking throughout the country, gradually adapting a more liberal point of view, is not good.
To remind people of the original standards in this country (of morality, good policy, etc.) is why I feel obligated to speak out on certain issues.
IMHO, it is absolutely 'none of their business' how we conduct our elections.
What you know about my family would fit comfortably in the same thimble as your understanding of law and the Constitution. Your rudeness and arrogance will not be missed. Good day.
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