Newsweek: "In Defeat, a Victory?"

[ailsagirl]

This was probably posted here already but in case it wasn't, here it is.

Jan. 7 - When Americans flocked to theaters to see Michael Moore's controversial film "Fahrenheit 9/11" last year, many were surprised to see footage of a riveting political drama they didn't even know had taken place. During the official tally of Electoral College votes for the 2000 presidential election, several black members of Congress stood to deliver wrenching, emotional pleas for a senator, any senator, to vote in support of their plan to challenge the election results. None did, including Senate president Al Gore, shown in the film stoically reading the Electoral College results that sealed his defeat.

As a similar scene played out on the House floor yesterday, critics dismissed it as another exercise in futility. With the House and Senate both firmly in Republican hands, and many Democrats leery of being seen as sore losers, President George W. Bush's second official certification as the nation's president was a foregone conclusion. As expected, the challenge was defeated in both the House (267-31) and the Senate (74-1). But this time around, there was one important difference. Thirty-one congressional Democrats were joined in their challenge by Sen. Barbara Boxer, forcing both houses of Congress to hear debate and to vote on the issue. As only the second time since 1877 that Congress has been forced to consider such a challenge, the protest did more than stall certification of the Electoral College vote. It also marked Jan. 6, 2005, as a historic day. "We've breached the silence that has always prevented us from employing this statute," said Rep. John Conyers.


http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6800367/