The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will be sending a delegation to monitor our presidential process for the first time in this nation's history. Exciting, huh? I confess, I'm fascinated beyond belief, and much relieved.
What makes the 2004 election so special or different that it warrants this extra presence? One only need to look back to November, 2000 and the shame bestowed on the populace and the electoral process. The OSCE monitors represent an effort to correct illegalities and irregularities that plagued the last election. Lord knows, we don't want the U.S. Supremes making the decision about who sits in the big White House on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Again.
The OSCE is composed of fifty-five members, including the United States, and as one might suspect, they typically roam around in troubled lands like the former Soviet Union territories and historically hot spots, like Northern Ireland. Could the USofA be considered a troubled spot? Oooh, I shudder to think. I would argue that in many ways, it is. Yet, we're a resilient group, frequently rising to the occasion, whatever that may necessitate - but we have to realize that there are problems. To the OSCE's credit, it recognizes where one of those problems exist in this great land (sorry to shatter the myth, for some, that we are perfect people in this massive, diverse country of ours).
To be clear, it was that oversight organization's decision to monitor the U.S. election, although several members of Congress initially requested that U.N. observers watch over electoral activity.
The OSCE hasn't shared how many observers it will send or where around the country they will be monitoring. I'm betting that the Sunshine state is high on the list of possibilities.
During the controversy swirling around the 2000 election, many people who never had much use for the Supreme Court and its doings, were glued to their television screens watching, waiting for that truly groundbreaking decision, and there were many more who were fortunate enough to actually witness the process of rendering the decision. Under the most traumatic and unbelievable circumstances, I was never so proud of those who chose to get involved - if only by finally paying attention to a too often ignored, yet powerful branch of our constitutional government. The Supremes have an aweome and life-changing authority; our last presidential election is a modern example, and reminder of that authority.
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