Hacking Democracy

Well.. it would seem that the American voting system is still honest enough that an overwhelming popular vote can make itself heard. I had wondered.

Let's assume for the sake of argument that Dubya is in fact a genuine Psychopath as characterised by the PCL-R test. (I suspect as much from circumstantial evidence but have no way of really knowing, neither am I qualified to make that diagnosis — I'm not his psychiatrist!) What is going to be his likely reaction to the loss of Congress (and possibly Senate) to the Dems?

One of the main motivations of a P is the desire to overcome and dominate any perceived challenge. Reality control. So he's never going to genuinely co-operate with a Democratic Congress in a spirit of compromise. We know that's not the way Ps work.

So...is he likely to engage in a frenzy of aggression and 'initiatives' in an attempt to intimidate the Congress or retreat into a sulk — bunker mentality like Hitler and Nixon during their final days? I fear his frustration — he has not got the patience or negotiating skill to cope with this situation — might make him even more irrational and hyperactive. Let's hope Congress, the Courts and the military top brass have the balls to keep him on a leash for the next two years. I think he's going to keep on pushing the boundaries of Presidential power until somebody (hopefully) stands up to him. After all, he is the Decider.

The other typical psychopathic trait that Dubya exhibits ( like many politicians) is the inability to take responsibility for his own actions. When things go wrong it's always somebody else's fault. (Psychopaths tend to be mildly, but not grossly delusional — their view of reality is warped and limited — especially in the time domain, but they don't see pink elephants.) He's going to be pissed about the election results and somebody is going to have to take the rap. I wouldn't be surprised if Donald Rumsfeld resigns for 'health reasons' sometime in the next few months.

It will be interesting to see if the Dems have the desire to fix the voting system over the next 2 years, or whether they have as much invested in its corrupt nature as the Republicans.

Personally I would dump every electronic and electromechanical voting and vote counting machine in the Potomac and insist that only pen, paper, and eyeball mark 1 are used in elections (as is the case where I live in the UK).

In the digital domain there is no such thing as an original (every 1 and 0 in the universe is the same as every other) and fraud is far too easy. There is no such thing as a secure computer system any more than there is a perfect legal system. The human element involved in either design or operation is always fallible.

It's a simple argument, but American election officials just don't seem to get it. There is the perception that spending more money on ever more complex and expensive systems will somehow cure the problems. Unfortunately the reality is exactly the opposite. The simpler, more robust, and more visible to public scrutiny any system is the more difficult it is to interfere with it without anybody noticing.

Ha! Well that was quick. Not a lot of decency and decorum there. Rummy got the bums rush.

Well, on second thoughts that also fits the psychopathic interpretation of the Presidents character.

A rant, a rave, an argument, then 'You're fired!' Impulsive, off the cuff decision making. Nothing ever properly thought through or mulled over for any length of time. Typically psychopathic.