ATTACK OF THE PHANTOM CHADS:
California's Recall Election is Recalled, At Least for Now

It seems the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found a problem with the voting machines in six counties --the same machines which, albeit rather antiquated, were used to help elect Governor Gray Davis only 12 months ago.

These are punch-card machines similar to those used in Florida prior to the Gore-Bush election fiasco. Thus, apparently fearing the prospect of hanging chads, the judges decided the recall election should be post-poned until the machines' more modern replacements sometime next Spring.

But given the track record of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals --the same folks who issued that lamebrained decision a few months ago which found the Pledge of Allegiance "unconstitutional"-- the decision may not stand once it reaches the Supreme Court, which it may very well do in the very near future.