# Welp, Democracy was fun. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 30, 2004, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956 "2004-06-30T22:09:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/21 "2004-06-30T23:01:15Z")
Well, no _new_ revolution, at any rate. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/22 "2004-06-30T23:06:22Z")
> [@Zoff](#): > > From the article you cited it seems to me that he’s using canceling and suspending to mean the same thing. In reference to the Sept. 11 elections the article says: > > “Soaries noted that Sept. 11, 2001, fell on Election Day in New York City — and he said officials there had no rules to follow in making the decision to cancel the election and hold it later.” > > That phrasing looks to me to mean that he’s really talking about postponement. (Tinfoil Hat ON) Sure … that’s what he _wants_ you to think! But once things change, they’ll pull the ol’ switcheroo on us, and faster than you can say “we have always been at war with Eastasia,” it’ll be dictatorship time! (Tinfoil Hat OFF) ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/23 "2004-06-30T23:12:17Z")
September 11th, 2001 was an election day in New York. Elections were canceled, and held a couple weeks later. Big whoop. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/24 "2004-06-30T23:16:58Z")
Yeah, we gotta have Zero Tolerance for anyone that tries to make new rules! ZERO TOLERANCE! ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/25 "2004-06-30T23:23:34Z")
Hey, I know! Let’s stick our heads in the sand and not worry about any contingency plans. Don’t wanna let “Bushco” (who came up with term, anyway :rolleyes: ) pull a fast one on us. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. And what is “Welp”? ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/26 "2004-06-30T23:24:13Z")
> [@andros](#): > > Nor is there anything in the Constitution about the right of the President to suspend _habeas corpus_, but it’s been done. And no revolution occurred. That’s because the ‘revolution’ was going on at the time! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/27 "2004-06-30T23:25:24Z")
Way ahead of ya, **Brutus**. Just a little behind myself, is all. > [@andros](#): > > Well, no _new_ revolution, at any rate. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/28 "2004-06-30T23:26:47Z")
> [@gatopescado](#): > > And what is “Welp”? Welp = Waal = Wellnow = Well then ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/29 "2004-06-30T23:28:37Z")
> [@Exgineer](#): > > Nobody, absolutely nobody, would stand for that. Let’s conduct a thought experiment. If President Bush were to cancel an election due to a terrorist attack, which is more likely to be heard? (A) **Rush Limbaugh:** “My friends, this is an absolute outrage! The cornerstone of our nation is a free and open election, and to cancel it in the wakeof this terrorist strike is nothing more than naked ambition. This makes our country to be nothing more than a glorified banana republic, and I won’t stand for it! I urge all of you to call your Congressional representatives and tell them – no, DEMAND – that they let the election proceed!” …or… (B) **Rush Limbaugh:** “My friends, there is no need to panic! We must be strong in this, our time of war, and not question the President nor his motives in this move. Our nation needs your support more than ever; stop spreading dissent, and don’t listen to those filthy liberals! If President Bush wants to cancel elections indefinitely, I’ll proudly salute and say ‘Yes, SIR!’” :rolleyes: …IMO, the odds of (A) happening are so low, even an electron microscope can’t find it. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/30 "2004-06-30T23:29:11Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Rescheduling a local elections a few weeks later because of attack - sure. Cancel an election and you’ll see me right the on the barricades with **Reeder**. (Well, not on the same barricade, mind you. We live on opposite sides of the country. But the same metaphorical barricade nonetheless.) 😃 Count me in, too. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/31 "2004-06-30T23:43:08Z")
While we’re being over-the-top paranoids, [remember the relevant CV of this Bush appointee](http://fbcsomerset.com/about/staff/senior.shtml). I can see it now-- “Elections cancelled due to imminent End Times Scenario.” ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/32 "2004-06-30T23:43:59Z")
Y’know, Rjung, I can make things up, too. Game time! Okay, everyone, which is more likely for Rjung to say in the event of a nationally disruptive terrorist attack? A: “Well, this has prompted me to dump my Mac and go with a PC.” OR… B: “BUSH DID THIS!!! BUSH DID THIS PERSONALLY!! MURDER HIM!!! STRING HIM UP BY HIS BALLS!!!” … Y’know, after having written that, it suddenly occurred to me just how on-the-dot I just might be… ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/33 "2004-06-30T23:59:00Z")
Having contingency plans in place to postpone and reschedule elections seems sensible to me. I’m a bit leery as to interpretation of what would qualify as a sufficient terrorist attack though. Something on the scale of 9/11, definitely. _Any_ terrorist attack or a Code Red/Magenta/Maroon threat of one: definitely no. It looks like terrorism will be part of our lives for the future so we may as well get down to the nitty gritty of figuring out how far we’ll allow it affect our society. I’m very uneasy with the idea that _any_ party in power could use this as a tactic to avoid elections under the guise of “people are too upset right now”. I don’t like having this much cynicism toward Bush and his bunch, but their track record isn’t pretty when it comes to government vis a vis citizens. The antithesis of conservativism, in fact. I’m trying hard to remain fair but this does raise an usual degree of skepticism with me. Veb ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/34 "2004-07-01T00:04:21Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > While we’re being over-the-top paranoids, [remember the relevant CV of this Bush appointee](http://fbcsomerset.com/about/staff/senior.shtml). > > I can see it now-- “Elections cancelled due to imminent End Times Scenario.” I confess that I’ve already lost track of who’s serious and who’s lampooning the OP in this thread. If you’re in the former group, do you have any evidence that Soaries is a fundamentalist? A quick and dirty Google didn’t turn anything up except that he’s deeply suspicious of paperless voting schemes. If you’re in the latter, you’re the second Doper whose joke I’ve ruined today and I apologize. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/35 "2004-07-01T00:08:25Z")
The clue is “over-the-top paranoids.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/36 "2004-07-01T00:12:06Z")
Dammit! :smack: Well, I’m signing off and seeing about a Pabst or two so I don’t ruin anyone else’s fun. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/37 "2004-07-01T00:14:23Z")
Buster Soaries is no more a fundaloony, IMO, than Jesse Jackson or MLK. Not that I’m comparing their politics, mind. Just saying he’s not a nut. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/38 "2004-07-01T00:16:12Z")
What Manny said. My posting lag is just killing me today. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@The\_Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tim)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/39 "2004-07-01T00:18:08Z")
Wait, there are people being serious in this thread? ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2004, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956/40 "2004-07-01T02:12:17Z")
Why, exactly, do we need to postpone elections, for ANY reason? I mean, let’s look at 9/11, the single most devastating attack on US soil by terrorists. Here in Texas, the ground did not shake. Not to belittle the WTC disaster, or anyone affected by it, but we could have held elections that same day. True, we Texans would likely have voted to turn the entire Middle East into a radioactive parking lot, but we could have held elections. Same thing happened with the Oklahoma City bombing. Why, exactly, is the entire country suddenly holding still simply because one maniac or group of maniacs succeeded in killing people in one place? And if the maniacs can successfully pull off simultaneous terrorist attacks in all fifty states, then what the hell are we voting FOR, again? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welp-democracy-was-fun/252956.md?page=3)