The Florida election was certified

on Sunday, Nov. 26. After an initial vote count, a recount, and in some

cases, a third and fourth count, Governor Bush is still the winner in

Florida and has been awarded the electoral votes.

It is time for the country

to get on board with the winner of this election, and put Indecision 2000

behind us.

Public opinion has shifted

dramatically from last week when most people indicated that they were

content to see the process play out for the sake of a fair count. Now,

most Americans believe there has been a fair and reasonable representation

of voter will, and would like to see this matter resolved. By Monday,

a C-Span poll indicated that 65 percent of those polled felt that Vice

President Al Gore should concede the election to Gov. Bush.

I know we live in a Republican

county, so we would be hard pressed to come up with lots and lots of people

who felt that this whole process should continue in the judiciary, but

I'm seeing virtually NO support for Gore to continue fighting this battle.

Initially, I think there was widespread public interest in getting to

the bottom of questionable voting issues in Florida. Now it seems that

the scrutiny is beginning to resemble the theater of the absurd.

What is voter intent anyway?

And who has the right to make that determination for anyone other than

themselves?

In my mind, there is either

voter action or voter inaction. You either did or you didn't. There is

no legitimate way that a canvassing board can arbitrarily determine if

a dimpled chad indicated the voter intended to vote for a specific candidate.

This whole farce of the past

weeks, last week in particular, has become an insult to those voters who

were serious, informed, and prepared when they entered the polling booth.

It makes me thankful that in Fayette County, we have succinct little bubbles

and number two pencils. At least there is no question here about what

a voter intended to do.

The rules were set before the

election. The ballots were approved by both parties before the election.

Sample ballots were published. If problems emerged after the fact, then

we must learn from our mistakes and seek to rectify these issues before

another election rolls around. Changing the rules after the game in hopes

of changing the score is completely inappropriate.

There are three things that

bother me about this whole saga. One is that there seems to be something

missing in both candidates involving character and the ability to gauge

and hold sacred the overall welfare of the country in the case of such

a close, close, disputed race. Both candidates seem too bent on winning

at any cost.

Some really idealistic part

of me yearns to see someone step forward and concede because this is hurting

our country and chipping away at our very foundation, and yet each candidate

truly believes that he has won. Why should either concede if each is so

certain that he has been elected by the people? Isn't there just something

fundamentally wrong here?

Another thing that REALLY bothers

me is the casual way in which the votes of our armed service men and women

have been considered. While we watched as the slackest standards were

applied to voter intent in Florida, the strictest standards were applied

to our military personnel. Through zero fault of their own, failure to

stamp a postmark on overseas military ballots has, in some cases, caused

them to be excluded from the count. This is disgraceful and dishonorable,

and should not be tolerated.

The other things that bothers

me is that "We, the people" seem at the same time numb and agitated.

We seem to feel in equal amounts powerlessness and the overwhelming urge

to do something. We seem to be set on simmer heading for a boil.

I applaud those who are protesting

and intensely scrutinizing the events of the past three weeks, and yet

I fear for those in the streets and what they might do. The worst thing

that could happen is for the people to lose control and act on their frustrations.

We seem to be losing a fundamental

trust here, and if the government can't trust the people to conduct themselves

in an orderly and peaceful fashion, and the people can't trust the government's

reaction to disorderly people, then we could find ourselves in real trouble

here. It's time for closure.

Education First Watch:

There are two preliminary a nd one final subdivision plat applications

pending for land already zoned residential in Fayette County which are

estimated to bring an additional 27 students in to our school system.

There is a request to REZONE 34.806 acres in the north Fayette

area from A-R to R-50 by Bertha Morris of Fairburn, which could bring

an additional estimated 35 students. To comment, call the Fayette County

Zoning Department at 770-460-5730.

[Your comments are welcome: [email protected].]