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"I'm with the Bush-Cheney team, and I'm here to stop the count." Those were the words John Bolton yelled as he burst into a Tallahassee library on Saturday, Dec. 9, 2000, where local election workers were recounting ballots cast in Florida's disputed presidential race between George W. Bush and Al Gore. Bolton was one of the pack of lawyers for the Republican presidential ticket who repeatedly sought to shut down recounts of the ballots from Florida counties before those counts revealed that Gore had actually won the state's electoral votes and the presidency. The Dec. 9 intervention was Bolton's last and most significant blow against the democratic process. The Florida Supreme Court had ordered a broad recount of ballots in order to finally resolve the question of who won the state. But Bolton and the Bush-Cheney team got their Republican allies on the U.S. Supreme Court to block the review. Fearing that each minute of additional counting would reveal the reality of voter sentiments in Florida, Bolton personally rushed into the library to stop the count. Bolton was in South Korea when it became clear that the Nov. 7, 2000, election would be decided in Florida. At the behest of former Secretary of State James Baker, who fronted the Bush-Cheney team during the Florida fight, Bolton winged his way to Palm Beach, where he took the lead in challenging ballots during that county's recount. Then, when the ballots from around the state were transported to Tallahassee for the recount ordered by the state Supreme Court, Bolton followed them. It was there that he personally shut down the review of ballots from Miami-Dade County, a populous and particularly contested county where independent reviews would later reveal that hundreds of ballots that could reasonably have been counted for Gore were instead discarded. Miami-Dade County Elections Supervisor David Leahy argued at the time that 2,257 voters had apparently attempted to mark ballot cards for Gore or Bush but had not had them recorded because they had been improperly inserted into the voting machines. A hand count of those ballots revealed that 302 more of them would have gone for Gore than Bush. That shift in the numbers from just one of Florida's 67 counties would have erased more than half of Bush's 537-vote lead in the state. But attempts to conduct a hand count were repeatedly blocked by the Bush-Cheney team, culminating with Bolton's Dec. 9 announcement, "I'm here to stop the count.

Black Feminist Theory Essay

Sula is Morrison’s main character and is a perfect example of a Liberated woman. According to Lois Tyson’s definition of a Liberated Woman, Sula has â€Å"discovered her abilities, knows what she needs, and goes about getting it. † Along with all these activities, comes pride and independence. It began when Sula was younger as she had Nel, her best friend, by her side. â€Å"In the safe harbor of each other’s company they could afford to abandon the ways of other people and concentrate on their own perceptions of things,† (55). Her friendship gave her the comfort to be herself and confident on acting on her own terms. Sula continued this attitude into adulthood but not everyone agreed with her actions towards getting what she wants. Sula leaves for 10 years to go to college and live her life beyond the Bottom. When she finally comes back, she and Eva get into an argument. Eva brings up her disappointment in Sula for not settling down with a family and Sula lashes back with, †I don’t want to make somebody else. I want to make myself, † (92). She displays her aversion to not have anyone dependent on her and she wants to only care for herself. Having a family and a husband, in her opinion, would stop her from getting what she wants or needs and would put herself second in her life. Sula doesn’t want to be tied down and oppressed by a man, she wants to be independent and she’s not ashamed about being the only woman wanting her independence . When Nel finally confronts Sula about her affair with Jude, Nel accuses Sula of being proud but she responds with â€Å"‘What you talking about? I like my own dirt, Nellie. I’m not proud’,† (142). This shows how Nel, along with everyone in the bottom, thinks she’s proud or conceded, but in actuality, she’s just not ashamed of her decisions or life style. Lois Tyson continues the definition of a liberated woman with â€Å"the ‘liberated woman’ has already found herself and likes what she has found. † When sula says â€Å"I like my own dirt† she supports Tyson’s definition because Sula also â€Å"likes what she has found. † Sula’s independence, and her pride in being so, fully supports Tyson’s complete definition of a Liberated Woman. Nel’s character fits into an Emergent Woman as she â€Å"[comes] to an awareness of her own psychological and political oppresion†¦ usually through a harsh experience of initiation that makes her ready for change. † On Nel’s trip to meet her grandmother, Nel witnesses her mother’s â€Å"custard† being revealed. From then on Nel â€Å"resolved to be on guard- always. She wanted to make certain that no man ever looked at her that way. That no midnight eyes of marbled flesh would accost her and turn her into jelly† (22). Ashamed of the â€Å"jelly† or the weak substance â€Å"custard† that Morrison also associates with Helene, Nel makes certain that no man shall look at her, and make her into anything weak. In this secne, she becomes aware of her mother’s oppression and makes the decision to never allow it in her life. At the end of their trip, Nel lays in bed thinking about the possibility of ending up like her mother. To establish her independence separate from her mother, Nel states, †I’m me. I’m not their daughter. I’m not Nel. I’m me. Me,† (28). As an Emergent woman, she demonstrates her ability to make her own choices and establish her own independence. Years Later, filled with resentment towards Sula, Nel visits ill Sula in her deathbed. For years, her depression was encouraged by the thought that her husband was taken and now she is alone to take care of her children. She believed it was all Sula’s fault and she hated her for this, but one day she confronts Sula about taking Jude away from her, and Sula asks â€Å"What you mean take him away? I didn’t kill him, I just fucked him. If we were such good friends, how come you couldn’t get over it? † Nel starts to think of the idea of it not being Sula’s fault, that Jude was the one who put her through the heart break of being alone. Sula dies and Nel attends her burial. There she realizes that â€Å"all that time, [she] thought [she] was missing Jude,† but actually, she missed her friendship with Sula (174). Their friendship was more supportive than her marriage as Sula helped bring out the ’me’ in Nel that she lost in her marriage to Jude. Her epiphany helps her to notice how Jude was the one who hurt her , and now she can move on. Toni Morrison portrays Eva Peace as a suspended woman. According to Mary Helen Washington, a suspended woman is a â€Å"victim of men and of society as a whole, with few or no options. † Morrison starts off Eva’s story with her discontented marriage to her husband, BoyBoy. BoyBoy â€Å"liked womanizing best, drinking second, and abusing Eva third,† (32). Eva, disappointingly, tolerates all his abuse, because of her dependency on BoyBoy. One day, when he leaves her and their three children, her dependency becomes clear. Being inconsiderate of his family’s welfare, he leaves as his worst affliction to his wife. Now, abandoned with nearly no money,Eva realizes that â€Å"the children needed her† and â€Å"she needed money,† (32). This shows her desperation and how BoyBoy belittled her as she had to beg and rely on the neighbors for basic necessities like food for her children. Her Neighbors â€Å"were very willing to help, but Eva felt she would soon run her welcome out† and the fact that she had to continue begging, knowing she had ask for enough, embarrassed her. Eva struggles to raise them on her own and one day her son, Plum, stopps having his bowel movements. When all the stress and pressure gets to her, â€Å"Eva squatted there wondering†¦ what was she doing down on her haunches†¦ She shook her head as though to juggle her brains around, then said aloud, ‘Uh uh. Nooo,’†(34). Eva leaves her children with her neighbor for more than a year and comes back with one leg, losing the other for money to care for her children. If BoyBoy had never abused or had left her, she would have never been a victim and never would have had to sacrifice her pride and her leg. This proves she’s a suspended woman because BoyBoy’s abuse and abandonment left her with the only option to leave her children and sell her leg, because as a black woman in their society, she had very few options. Toni Morrison exemplifies Mary Helen Washington’s definitions in Nel, Sula, and Eva through out Sula, using their experiences and personalities. Sula’s independence, Nel’s epiphany, and Eva’s abuse all characterize them into their type of African American female character, making Sula a Liberated Woman, Nel an Emergent Woman, and Eva a suspended woman.

The Movie Pleasantville - 1281 Words

The film Pleasantville shows the changes in American society over the past 50 years by placing two teenagers into the Pleasantville show, which was from the 50’s. The movie depicts how there is no longer the â€Å"American Dream† and no longer a perfect way of life and the changes the world has made. The world that the teenagers come from is filled with sex, drugs, money, and is very different from the way the world was in which the Pleasantville Show took place in. Morals and values have changed in the people and in society that the teenagers came from and shows it would be impossible to return back to the kind of life style the world had in the 50’s. In the early 1950’s to late 1960’s the American Dream is what everyone strived for.†¦show more content†¦David and Jennifer are zapped into the 50’s Pleasantville show and become the son and daughter. While in the Pleasantville show, David and Jennifer cause some trouble in the town and begin to change the views of the other students as well as their own. David and Jennifer show other students that they can ask questions and that they can make decisions on their own. You are able to see how people and environment are influenced by David and Jennifer by how color is added to people and things around them. Some embrace the changes as others fight against any change. As more people become influenced by David and Jennifer’s ideas the more color is added to the show, which is depicting how certain changes can have a ripple effect. As more people accepted the changes, the more color was added to the show and the changes became their new normal and life wasn’t so defined as it had been and there were a lot more choices and acceptable scenarios of life. In the world we live in today we understand that experiencing different things is OK. The black and white in the film is represented by a more traditionalist value which is how most of the world was. It was when people’s personalities were kept hidden from the rest of the world and even family members. Later in the Pleasantville show, some characters were starting to change colorShow MoreRelatedThe Movie Pleasantville 1541 Words   |  7 PagesPleasantville is a movie where significant change occurs based on the theories of social change. In the movie, the TV show Pleasantville is set in the 1950’s and everything and everyone in that show is in black and white. And being that they’re set in the 1950’s the have the same outdated morals, values and beliefs that are associated with 1950’s culture. However, the town of Pleasantville slowly but surely turns into colour when they go against their societal norms and beliefs and have sex, readRead MoreAna lysis Of The Movie Pleasantville 1325 Words   |  6 Pagesfriendly. 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