Mr Clinton has now done as much as a President can do, he has served two full terms in office. By the time the next Gold commentary appears on this page, the U.S. will have a new President.
(From the Nov. 3 Commentary)
Not yet, they don't! The unseemly scramble for a few hundred votes in one county of one State in the 50 State Union has been analysed exhaustively already. So has the farcical spectacle of grown men and women baying about an affront to their "Constitutional rights" when, in reality, they could not or did not take the time to scrutinise a simple ballot before casting their vote.
Before anyone reading this asks what the U.S. election has to do with Gold, allow us to point out that the POWER of the U.S. government over its own citizens, which is the goal of both political parties, would not be possible without an ocean of "money" to sustain it. And an ocean of money is precisely what the government could NOT have created if Gold and the U.S. Dollar were still officially tied together.
As Lord Acton said: "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely". What would be hilarious, if it was not so potentially divisive for what once was and could be again a truly great nation, are the fulminations by the Democrats about "voting irregularities". Is there anyone who seriously thinks that such alleged "irregularities" were confined to one county in one State? We are told that the voice of the people has not been heard. Well, almost 50% of the people chose not to be heard. Of those that did, the overwhelming majority managed to read plain English and choose their preferred candidate accordingly.
The result was the closest election in U.S. history. And there's the rub. The combination of playground farce and naked contempt for the documents upon which the United States was founded now being displayed in Florida (and instigated, it must be said, by the Democrats), has torn the lid off the "game" for anyone who cares to look. In a "normal" election, some people vote, one party wins, the other one loses, and Washington goes back to business as usual.
The word "democracy" comes down to us from the Ancient Greeks. Its literal meaning is unlimited majority rule. The words "freedom" and "liberty", on the other hand, had a distinctly American flavor. They still do. In America, individual freedom is protected by the courts of law. Political liberty is protected by the U.S. Constitution. But "democracy" - as now so blatantly exposed on the streets of Florida - has nearly completed the job of destroying both.
The Republicans and Mr Bush have, thus far, conducted themselves in a far more seemly manner. A simple cynic would say that's because they're in front. A more perceptive cynic would say (with some justification) that this is because they are more awake to the danger. The danger is that some portion of the American people, including those who did not vote at all, will awaken to the true situation. The true situation is that the American people have a say in who shall govern them. They have no say in HOW they shall be governed.
To put it kindly, the Democrats and Mr Gore do not share the Republican's caution. To put it accurately, they simply don't care whether or not the true nature of modern American "democracy" comes out into the open. What they are doing is displaying a naked lust for power which gives a whole new meaning to the word "obscene". If America and the world wanted a REAL "civics" lesson, they are getting one.
At this point, we must hasten to add that this situation is not confined to the United States. In Australia, for example, voting is compulsory. On top of that, a vote for a given candidate can be "distributed" to another candidate through what is called a system of "preference" voting. In Australia, one votes for every candidate in descending order of "preference". No candidate ever wins less than 50% of the "popular vote", not once the "preferences" are distributed.
But going back to the election under discussion, the one that took place on November 7 in the U.S., above all the shouting and posturing and baring of teeth now plastered across the television screens of the world, one single fact is struggling not to see the light of day. Whoever wins this election is going to RUN the country. He is going to wield the power of the U.S. government over the "lives, fortunes and sacred honor" of every individual citizen of the United States. The power to do this is what the Democrats in general and Mr Gore in particular are so reluctant to concede.
The Gold price has done nothing at all so far. Last week, the spot future price closed at $US 266.10. This week, it closed at $US 265.50. Keep this in mind. The ability to wield power is directly proportional to the ability to pay for it. With an unlimited ability to create money, the power of the institution which creates the money grows apace. This is the real meaning of what we state at the top of this page: "Gold is a political metal".
And finally, let us reiterate here what we say in The Case For Gold: "...because the money you use is totally controlled by your government, dear reader, so are you. That is the case for Gold as money."
That is why it was actually made illegal for Americans to own Gold in the 1930s, when the foundation of the overwhelming present power of the U.S. government was laid. That is why it only became legal for Americans to own Gold in 1975, four years AFTER the last tenuous link between the Dollar and Gold was cut. And that is why the $US price of Gold has been languishing for so long.
Gold has been a barbarous relic for decades. Now, the Electoral College is being pushed into the same category, with Mrs Clinton reportedly heading the charge. If nothing happens to change the present direction of the U.S., the next barbarous relic will be the Constitution itself. And if you want a preview of what THAT would be like, just blow the present situation in Palm Beach County, Florida up into a nationwide event.