George Bush will go down in history as commander in thief, not as commander in chief. With the help of his brother, the governor of Florida, the secretary of state of Florida, a Republican; and the U. S. Supreme Court (the majority of the justices were appointed by GOP presidents), they actually stole the election from Vice President Gore.

They also had an ace in the hole with two-thirds of the Florida Legislature being Republican and ready to step in and hand the presidency to Bush if Gore was able to get an honest recount of the votes.

The American people are the big losers in this crooked election, especially the African-Americans, the middle-class workers and organized labor. Safety in the work place and better wages and benefits for union members will be on hold for the next four years as the Republican Party has always been anti-labor.

On Election Day, the polls had Gore ahead in Florida by three to five points. Bush called his brother Jeb. Jeb told George not to worry, that Florida was in the bag – and why not with the antiquated voter machines, confusing butterfly ballots and road blocks set up to prevent voters from going to the polls.

The bottom line is that Gore was bushwhacked in Florida. If anyone thinks that the Republican Party didn’t steal this election from Gore, they should have their head examined.

Ralph xxxxxxx
Old Conemaugh Borough

NOTE: The above letter to the editor appeared in the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat on December 20, 2000. The editor made sure the term "George Bush - commander in thief" received large bold lettering! The greater Johnstown area is a sort of Democratic “mecca” – the kind of place that if the Devil himself decided to run on the Democratic ticket, and the people really knew it was the Devil, they would vote for him anyway, being that if he is a Democrat, he’s an OK guy and has their best interests at heart! It has been interesting that in the past election union labor and its leaders pulled out all the stops in supporting Gore! And the author of the above letter makes an issue of union labor, getting better wages, etc. Strange is it not that the Clinton/Gore administration sold us out to the Chinese and now the United States is being inundated with consumer goods made in China – anything and everything ranging from house decorations, appliances, clothing, tools, and in the future maybe cars since GM has struck some kind of deal with the Chinese!Why does organized labor and its leaders who have long regarded the Democratic Party as its “savior” and “messiah” not raise a cry of protest about this “foreign invasion” and appeal for all of us to “buy American” as they used to do, especially under past Republican presidents? -- cdh