Posted on 06/23/2002 12:38:38 AM PDT by Johnny Shear
MIAMI (AP) - Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris criticized the chairwoman of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission on Friday for saying they have not done enough to ensure Florida's flawed presidential election isn't repeated.
Bush called the Mary Frances Berry's commission "a badly discredited institution" and saying it is reopening a controversy "that most Floridians have long forgotten." President George W. Bush, the governor's brother, won the White House in 2000 after a partial recount of the state's ballots.
"Florida is indisputably a national leader in election reform," Bush said, saying the state will spend $30 million to ensure future elections run smoothly. "The commission appears stubbornly determined to ignore the progress our state has made."
A statement issued by Harris' office called Berry the "doctor of distortion" and said the chairwoman "maintains the absurd pretension that she possesses the moral authority to speak regarding the fairness of elections in Florida."
"Florida remains the only state in the nation that has passed and funded comprehensive election reform legislation," Harris said, saying election reform has been her top priority.
Berry, who was in Miami to assess legislative and policy changes adopted since the 2000 election, had said Thursday she believes the election reforms go only about a third of the way toward addressing problems the commission examined after the U.S. Supreme Court stopped the recount.
Berry had said she was "especially disappointed" that no state officials attended the meeting and blamed Bush and Harris for "shrugging off" responsibility for voting reforms.
When contacted Friday, Berry said she was "flabbergasted" by Harris' comments.
"It's not a question of moral authority, it's an issue of practicality and our hope that everything will go well for the September primaries," Berry said. "We are sounding an alert and hoping she and other officials get the system fixed."
The U.S. Justice Department, which also examined Florida's elections, decided earlier this month to sue and immediately settle with three counties. No other suits were planned because the department didn't expect it could get much more than the new state laws provide.
Democratic National Chairman Terry McAuliffe said Friday that the Justice Department has not addressed all the allegations in Florida and that President Bush should look into this.
"If he remains passive and uncommitted, the country will see a repeat of voter disenfranchisement in 2002," he said.
Katherine Harris ROCKS!! :-)
She definately needs something but I don't know what a Dutch rub is.
Dutch rub -- mild teenage 'torture', knuckle-rub to back of one's head
found here -->http://www.uta.fi/FAST/US8/PC/estereo.html
That's when you rub your fist rapidly back and forth across the top of someone's head.
BTW, I wish you had written, "What's a Dutch rub?"
I had some good answers.
If state officials blew off a chance to meet with Berry, it's probably because they know they would have difficulty resisting the urge to tell her what they think of her in front of the media.
I feel about Berry the same way I do about Clinton -- it is probably for the best that they will likely never come within my spitting range.
I'm quite sure you did this as a child, or had it done to you as a child...But under a different name, maybe?
Hold your oponent in a head lock and proceed to rub their head very briskly with a nuckle...Preperably the middle nuckle for maximum effect. The pressue that is applied with the nuckle is dependent apon how much pain one wishes to inflict.
I would define a noogie as pecking (Briskly) on someone's head with the nuckle. As oposed to rubbing with said nuckle.
Regards,
No. A swirlie is picking someone up, and holding them upside-down while placing their head in a toilet and flushing. The water "Swirls" around their head.
Then of course there's the "Chocolate" Swirlie...
That's when you rub your fist rapidly back and forth across the top of someone's head
We call that a "Noogie", I think that Berry could use a good "*itch Slap" or would that be "Butch Slap". We have some nerve for even allowing this "racist" to sit on this committee, she stated back in 99' that "Civil Rights were never meant for the white-man", go figure!
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