The idea with this part of the site is that we can fill it in each week with a new OP-ED from one of our guests, listeners or the hosts of the show. Each week a new op-ed on something important to our listeners will appear here. Hitting more information right now will bring up a generic page that will soon be changed.
Test test test
Posted by majority at April 26, 2004 10:21 PMWEAPONS OF MASS ENLIGHTENMENT
So the US finally found something to complain about... a couple of dozen "warheads" stashed away in the junk pile in Iraq. Actually these "warheads" are just empty pieces of pipe, basically, but they could be filled with anything.
My first choice would be LSD. Orange barrels, or something else suitable from the kitchen of the White Rabbit. Load 'em up and fire them at the US troops massing on Iraq's borders. Yeah. Call them "peaceheads". Maybe fill half with LSD and half with doobies rolled from BC Bud. Alternate. Give the US grunts a shot at real "rapture". The mellow sound you'd hear directly after the first one hit would be Tim Leary giggling in his grave. As a humanitarian act, it'd beat the shit out of dropping those nasty little yellow packages of crackers and peanut butter that look just like cluster bombs a la Afghanistan.
Of course then we'd need a whole new category of weapons for the UN inspectors to scurry around looking for over there. We could call them "Weapons of Mass Enlightenment". Dangerous stuff. Imagine the rage of the Shrub, Rummy, the Dick, Wolfie, Pearl et al, contemplating their troops wandering around the desert chasing God, tossing their weapons, getting naked and kissing Iraqis at the drop of a hat. It'd add a whole new dimension to "the sound of gnashing teeth".
Speaking of which... have you caught the Shrub on the telly lately?
The twisted little pissant looks more demented every time they
unchain him and let him out of the attic. Waaaayyy past time for his
chancre mechanics to double up on the Prozac and cut back on the
Jack. I gotta admit that Kim Jong-il comes across as a little goofy
some days, but the Shrub is looking downright starkersevery day. He
seems completely out of touch with the rest of our reality and he's
got those bad Jack the Ripper eyes now. Probably comes from not
getting his own way for the first time in his life. Gotta be
frustrating when a guy whose bottom line has always been
self-indulgence then finds that he isn't gonna indulged by folks in
the real world. Frustration seems to have led to a psychotic
interlude for the Shrubster, and he seems to be enjoying it which
probably isn't a good thing for the planet.
Also interesting to note was Izzy A, Canadian Media Mogul, whining
like a boob because the Lebanon Ambassador said that it was the
Zionists putting heat on the Feds via the Media that resulted in the
banning Hezbolla. He (the Ambassador) went on to say that 90% of
Canadian Media was owned by Zionists. He later scaled it back to
40%, which is about what Izzy and his spawn own now. So what's the
beef, Iz? You gonna tell us that you're not a Zionist? Gimme a
break. If it walks like a... etc. You saying that the media you own
wasn't baying at the Lib heels for the dripping hide of Hezbolla...
and that they didn't report a spurious story to do the dirty? Didn't
actually outright lie and attribute a comment to the Leader of
Hezbolla that never passed his lips? You never did any of that?
Horseshit, Izzard. It was all over the foreign papers, pal. You'll
note that I never post links to stories in any of your papers on
this site. It's not because I disagree with your right wing,
Zionist, vicious views Izzy. No. I occasionally post from that
Moonie rag, the Washington Times, and that paper is a template for
twisted reporting for crissake. No, Iz... It's because the veracity
of the tripe you print can't be trusted and you fire those of your
employees who dissent.
On the upside... Hugo is still hangin' in in Venezuela. The Fascists
are on the run there, one assumes, as they're beginning to whine
that the Guv isn't fair, and now they've rung the Georgia Peanut
Farmer in on the act, looking for a credible shill in an attempt to
get their own way. The lineup for visas and passports outside the
Spanish embassy is blocks long, it is reported, as the rich folks
cover their bets. They and their vicious compadres throughout Latin
America are doomed I believe though, and a good thing too. They've
been on a murderous rampage there for hundreds of years and it's all
coming 'round now. Karma. I love it. I'm a little disappointed in
Hugo though, I have to admit. He hasn't ground them down near hard
enough to suit me. Hasn't slung any on them in the can, nor taken
any out behind the barn to put one behind the ear, nor dropped any
out of airplanes over the ocean nor simply "disappeared" any of
them... all things which they did to their opposition when they had
power... which may explain why they no longer have it. These are,
after all, the same traitors who staged a briefly successful coup a
couple of months ago, and the first things they did were to dismiss
the Congress and the Supreme court, rip up the Constitution and
appoint one of their own as Dictator. Then they began to hunt down
and murder their legal President's supporters. Whacked some 50, or
so the reports I get say. The US called that "a return to Democracy"
and heaped on the accolades. Ari of the loooong forehead was
euphoric. He looked like a cat with bird feathers hanging out of his
mouth. Of course the bird feathers turned out to be from a crow a
short 48 hours later when the Peasants surrounded the castle and the
King had to scarper, but the US of A is still hangin' in there,
hoping for a reversal of fortunes, bad cess to them. I suspect that
their Latin American Adventure is finally toast, however. The only
place they have any traction is in Colombia, where it's starting to
shape up like Vietnam, with US troops beginning by "training" the
locals and then getting in on the action in the field, as they are
beginning to there now. In ten years we should be treated to a
"Peace with Honour" speech and be able to watch the choppers
evacuate the USians from the roof of the US embassy in Bogota.
And then, for comedy relief, there's BC's very own ".149 Gordo". I
imagine that 3/5 of the lottery tickets in BC had those three
numbers in them for the last couple of draws as the citizens tried
to recoup something from the worthless little pinheads they elected.
And why was I not surprised when the little prick lied and said he
only had three martinis and a couple of glasses of wine. Spare me.
I've been drinking martinis for 50 years now and can assure those of
you who have not yet been initiated into the pagan pleasures of
BlueSapphire with just a titch of dry Vermouth, that if you get
pissed on three you're a punk... and a lying punk at that. Nobody
ever blew .149 on three martinis and a couple of glasses of wine
spread out over several hours and a big dinner. Not unless they
injected them. Is that it Gordo? You into cranking your likker these
days? We can expect your support on safe injection sites?
So that's it folks. The roundup. If you have any spare BC Bud or LSD
laying around... or even STP, DMT, DOM, MDA, DET, Mescaline or
'shrooms... then you might think about sending them off soonest to
Saddam so he can load up those nefarious "peaceheads" and turn the
whole fucking US army on.
And if you don't have the postage or his address then I suggest that you just eat the whole shitaroo and kick back.
Something's bound to happen.
AUM
kp
Posted by: KP's Ghost at July 14, 2004 12:51 PM***
help send a message to the WH:
we're starting an email/phone/fax campaign against thomas f. zorn, the WH ethicist on the current admin's payrolls. we'd like him to release a statement detailing his work with bush there and to justify the $124,000 he gets paid each year, as reported this week in the washingtonpost...
check the most recent post at http://thebigwedding.blogspot.com for details and a sample letter -- the info is towards the end of the post.
thanks.
Posted by: ampro at July 14, 2004 05:20 PMHe's a Dick (c) 2004 Duane Galensky
He's a Dick and he knows it
His wife is married to a Dick and she knows it
His children's father is a Dick and they know it
But he's living large
While he's in charge
He talks like a Dick and you know it
He walks like a Dick and you know it
He acts like a Dick and you know it
So how can anyone
Trust this guy?
Money talks or so they say
After all it's the American way
Pick your fights and pick your friends
And the one that dies with the most toys wins
He's a Dick and we know it
His boss is a prick and he shows it
They act real slick but it's all a trick
Yes he's a Dick and we know it
Posted by: Duane Galensky at July 15, 2004 07:14 PM
Here are just a few fun things to read.
Shin Bet in Abu Ghraib:
http://www.daddario.com/ubb/Forum5/HTML/000977.html
http://www.rense.com/general53/poor.htm
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/446801.html
Smedley Darlington Butler (war hero who decries war, and foiled a plan by Wall Street financiers to overthrow FDR in 1934 and replace him with a Mussolini-style military dictatorship):
Glorification of his military campaigns:
http://www.grunts.net/legends/butler.html
What he came to believe about war and war profiteering (and where
to buy his book "War is a Racket"):
http://lexrex.com/enlightened/articles/warisaracket.htm
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0922915865/ref=pd_sim_books_1/002-9743294-1195250?v=glance&s=books
The coup plot he foiled and how it was covered up, with a few
references to follow up:
http://www.carpenoctem.tv/cons/whitehouse.html
http://reformed-theology.org/html/books/wall_street/chapter_12.htm
Have fun.
Posted by: Eric Moss at July 16, 2004 11:21 PMPosted by: Roger Haley at July 20, 2004 08:14 PM
Posted by: Karl Rutz at July 22, 2004 06:00 PM
http://zed.cbc.ca/go.ZeD?POS=2&CONTENT_ID=148761&type=acquisitionCMS&FILTER_KEY=264764&page=content&user=hepworks
Because failure is always an option!
Posted by: John Hepworth at July 22, 2004 10:38 PMI realize ABC is owned by a conservative corporation, but what I witnessed on tonight's 20/20 was nothing short than right wing conservative propaganda in the guise of "reporting". John Stossel hasn't hid his political agenda, but using 20/20 as a platform to berate the integrity of an opposing candidate in John Edwards is beyond reproach. I intend to write letters to the ABC executives in charge, and the FCC. Oh, and my family will discontinue viewing ABC programming in the future. It would serve your producers well to look up the definition of "fascism".
Posted by: darrellt at July 24, 2004 02:07 AMMr. Cheney said yesterday (July 27, 2004) that Terrorist acts are invited by the perception of weakness. Perhaps Americans should consider why 9/11 occurred on that date, early into the administration of the current President. Did the terrorists percieve weakness, and if so, why?
If reports of the administration sending about $26 million to the illegitimate Taliban government by way of Pakistan is true, could that have produced a perception of weakness on the part of the new administration?
The Taliban government was known to be joined at the head, hips, hand and heart with Osama bin Laden and was only recognized by three nations (Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, I believe.) Perhaps this act coupled with the manner in which the President was elected and the division among Americans at the time provided the picture of weakness and precipitated the attack at that particular time.
Spiritone
Posted by: spiritone at July 28, 2004 11:56 AMPosted by: top reality porn at July 28, 2004 10:09 PM
http://www.gop.com/News/MultiMedia/VideoPlayer.aspx?ID=868&T=2
Other than the lame flipper song and bad editing trying to make a point that he flip-flops...the video could be redone, almost exactly as it is, to show Kerry has been absolutely consistent on Saddam Hussein and Iraq.
I think the crux of the Kerry argument lies in two areas.
First is the Senate resolution that authorized GWB to use force
in Iraq.
(b) PRESIDENTIAL DETERMINATION- In connection with the exercise of
the authority granted in subsection (a) to use force the President
shall, prior to such exercise or as soon thereafter as may be
feasible, but no later than 48 hours after exercising such
authority, make available to the Speaker of the House of
Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate his
determination that--
(1) reliance by the United States on further diplomatic or other peaceful means alone either (A) will not adequately protect the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq or (B) is not likely to lead to enforcement of all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq; and
(2) acting pursuant to this joint resolution is consistent with the United States and other countries continuing to take the necessary actions against international terrorist and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.
The second point is that on the Chris Matthews show on 5/2/02,
Chris asked "Do you think we can get past the threat of WMD's
through weapons inspections and diplomatic measures."
and Kerry responds "Outside chance, Chris - could it be done - yes.
But he would only be seeing it as buying time and playing a game in
my judgement. Do we have to go through that process - yes"
YOUR ..
Posted by: jacqueline koren at July 31, 2004 10:06 AMReminder about the dvd:
Hijacking Catastrophe: 9/11, Fear & Selling of American Empire
Narrated by Julian Bond
available at
www.mef.tv
http://www.stategazette.com/story/1072406.html
Posted by: Rusty at August 2, 2004 11:49 PMPosted by: John Leeper at August 3, 2004 07:11 PM
This recent orange terror alert confirms that while the American homeland might be safer than before 9/11, it is still not safe and may never be. In a free country such as America, information on major buildings and infrastructure is available to terrorists and others who might wish to do the U.S. harm. No one should be surprised that terrorists already possess information on buildings etc.
The terrorista have already won a measure of victory. They know that all they have to do is float information about terror targets and they can impact America's economy; cause reallocation of resources; affect defensive postures and engender some fear in Americans, as well as anger about restrictions and delays.
Could it not also be possible that terrorists who would sacrifice their lives to do battle with America (infidels), would surrender to capture to provide false leads to the U.S. thereby obtaining knowledge from the free media about U.S. preparations that could aid their ultimate goal by exposing unprotected sites and alternative targets.
The terrorists must also know that the more times the U.S. administration issue terror alerts and nothing happens the chances increase that the public might let their guards down at a time when it is most critical that they be alert. Thus the upper hand might have shifted to the terrorists.
President Bush said recently that his opponent may have good intentions, but good intentions do not produce results. He must certainly be speaking from experience. His good intentions to remove Saddam Hussein has not really produced freedom for the Iraqi people and succesful democracy in Iraq. His intention of saving the U.S. by engaging terrorists on their own turf has drawn them into making Iraq their own turf and the Israeli people along with several U.S. military personnel are paying a heavy price.
The President might also find that he might have contributed to a vistory of sorts for Saddam If the Iraqi people try Saddam in a democratic Court, the Presidents statements to the world about Saddam being guilty of gassing his own people (Kurds) could have prejudiced the Court. He is also on very shaky ground because a CIA Officer, Stephen C. Pelletiere writing in the N.Y. Times oj January 31, 2003 in a piece titled "A war crime or an Act of War?", suggests that it was Iranian gas, not Iraqi gas that killed the Kurds. His finding was based on the fact that the Kurds were killed with a blood agent that Iran possessed, but which Iraq, who possessed Mustard gas did not have at the time. It is a finding that appears to have been corroborated by the British. The fact that the U.S. and Britain sold gas to Iraq soon after the killing of the Kurds appear to agree with the findings of the article.
How could Americans be safer because of the attack on Iraq when N. Korea who possesses WMd and sells to anyone who could pay is left to carry out its activities? How could Americands be safer, when its President who states that if you assist a terrorist, you are also a terrorist allows Pakistan to parden a Scientist who sold WMD and technology to N. Korea and others unknown?
Mr. Bush and his administration, hopefully would recognize that you could (kill) bring all the current terrorists in the world to justice but others would surface unless all the root causes of terrorism are taken care of. It is an effort that demands the cooperation of other nations if it could be successful.
Posted by: spiritone at August 4, 2004 09:27 AMFrom Tango to Swing Tour
We should should stop saying that Bush hasn't accomplished anything, and start asking WHICH mission has been accomplished. Just as we ultimately discovered that the "War on Drugs" was actually a war on poor people and inner-city residents, it's becoming clear that George W. Bush has accomplished much in office. Looking at the results, we can safely assume that his mission includes:
*marginalizing people who are different (1)Filed an amicus brief in the U Michigan case that attempted to undercut the school's diversity goals in its admissions criteria (ie, affirmative action) (2) Promoted a Constitutional Amendment to ban same-sex marriage (3) Killed (and is killing) THOUSANDS of Iraqis without even keeping track of the damage done. (4) Unlawful detentions at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
*Undermining the American government's fiscal strength: (1) Maintains zany budget planning process doesn't even include the cost of the war (2) Tax cuts for a tiny slice of the population that are effectively bankrupting the Treasury (3) Running up historic deficits, and SELLING DEFICITS IN GENERAL AS A POSITIVE PHENOMENON.
*Crippling the American government's ability to affect positive change at home and in the world in general: (1) Furhter deregulated mass media (thankfully, they played tough with Janet's breast)(2) Turned a blind-eye to corporate malfeasance (but they did get Martha!) (3) Turned back on important treaties and international accords like NATO and the Kyoto environmental accords (where's Gov. Whitman NOW?!?) (4) Pushing unfunded mandates like the education policy that is in fact leaving children behind.
*Dehumanizing and disempowering the average American: (1) The USA PATRIOT ACT (2) The Bush resistance to raising the minimum wage (3) the bait-and-switch Medicare policy (4) the failure to enforce FDA and OSHA standards
*Raising the practice of dissembling (LYING) to an art form, thereby undercutting the credibility of government for decades to come: (1) WMD/Iraq (lied to UN, American people, etc.) (2) Bush rhetoric on Democrats in general and John Kerry in particular (think tax policy) (3) The state of the economy (4) Ongoing lies about Saddam's link to Al Qaeda
That's a lot of missions accomplished. Maybe people need to start becoming concerned about what's next on W's agenda. Four MORE years?!? I humbly reply, "No, thank you."
Posted by: Jay at August 4, 2004 08:35 PMWhy is it GW's Homeland Security Dept. can publicly warn that they're considering postponing the November election, and yet we don't hear such similar dire warnings about possibly postponing the Republican convention....? By all accounts, the upcoming convention in NYC should be garnering much more attention in this regard than Election Day. For one, the Republican convention is 2+ months closer to occurring than the November election. But even more so, based on the "credible" threats received over the last few days, where NYC, DC, and Newark, NJ were the suspected targets, and now we're hearing that Al Qaeda is targeting all corporations based in NYC (!), I must ask: where are the sensible calls for possibly postponing the Republican convention -- by Homeland Security, or any other responsible group that is supposed to offer informed, prudent advice in order to protect us?
Could it be that given the political importance of such an event, and all of the planning that has gone into it, the Republicans are willing to risk life & limb to hold it ("Dems had theirs, we must have ours no matter what!")? Or could it be that the terrorist threats all along, while credible, actually had a very remote chance of occurring, and therefore makes one justifiably question the need for the Homeland Security Dept. to even mention any possibility of postponing the November election at all?? (Yet, by doing so conveniently keeps the country in that frozen state of moderate fear -- always favoring the incumbent, i.e. "don't change course now").
I'm sorry but as I see it, if this administration is going to float the idea of possibly postponing the election, than given all of the evidence as we know it, they must also float the idea of possibly postponing the Republican convention. Not doing so just further makes the intent of the former warning look that much more nakedly political.
# posted by Ed : 8:21 AM
patrick phillips
Posted by: Patrick Phillips at August 6, 2004 12:50 PMPosted by: Patrick Phillips at August 6, 2004 01:31 PM
Posted by: petral at August 7, 2004 06:20 PM
Posted by: jille3 at August 8, 2004 11:27 AM
Remember the Maine! And the Other Ships Sunk To Start a War
by Bill Sardi
February 15, 1898: "Remember the Maine." Mysterious explosion rocks the battleship MAINE in Havana Harbor, Cuba. 266 men were killed. Initally it was believed a torpedo or mine caused the explosion. On April 25, 1898 the US declared war on Spain. A 1976 investigation found that the Maine was sunk due to a self-inflicted blast, probably as a result of coal bunker fire on board.
May 7, 1915: The British steamship Lusitania was sunk by a German torpedo on the high seas of the Atlantic Ocean. 100 Americans lost their lives. The result was the the US was brought into WWI. It was not revealed at the time that the Lusitania, a passenger boat, was carrying arms.
December 7, 1941: How was President Roosevelt going to convince the American public to enter into war with the Japanese when they were wrapping up their war in Europe? Japanese bombers, launched from aircraft carriers, bombed Pearl Harbor and sunk the US Pacific Fleet. Over 2000 died. The US knew of the threat of war and had intercepted the "East-Wind Rain" secret code of the Japanese Pacific fleet. Japan had closed all its embassies in the Pacific rim the week prior to Pearl Harbor, which is an overt sign of war. The US aircraft carriers had been removed from Pearl Harbor days before the bombing.
Admiral Kimmell in Hawaii was intentionally kept in the dark that the Japanese fleet was nearby. President Roosevelt appeared before Congress, declared Pearl Harbor a "day in infamy," and the rest is history.
August 5, 1964: President Johnson orders the US to take retaliatory action against Vietnam after "renewed attacks against American destroyers in the Gulf on Tonkin" (Vietnam). There were no new attacks against American ships.
The news media reported a lie, leading over 50,000 Americans to their death and millions of casualties.
October 12, 2000: USS COLE, an American destroyer, docking in Yemen to re-fuel, was approached by a small docking vessel that carried a bomb. 18 sailors are believed dead and 35 others were wounded. The bombing occurs on the eve of the Presidential debates, and as rumors that Iraq is moving troops in the Middle East, as well as riots in Jerusalem. Benjamin Netanyahu, former prime minister of Israel, says during television interview that the same people who conducted terrorism in Jerusalem bombed the USS Cole.
Don’t be duped into going to war solely over reports of bombings
of US Navy boats in far off lands where we the facts of the event
are completely controlled by one source, the government. Remember
the Maine!
October 16, 2000
Former German Defense Minister Confirms CIA Involvement in 9/11:
Alex Jones Interviews Andreas Von Buelow
http://www.prisonplanet.com/021104vonbuelow.html
Bush Using Drugs to Control Depression, Erratic Behavior
By TERESA HAMPTON
Editor, Capitol Hill Blue
Jul 28, 2004, 08:09
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_4921.shtml
HITLER- THE CREATION
http://www.whale.to/b/hitler.html
http://www.nazis.net/shadowoftheswastika2.htm
How The Bush Family Made Its
Fortune From The Nazis
The Dutch Connection
By Attorney John Loftus
©. 2000-2002 John Loftus 7-2-2
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\How The Bush Family Made
Its Fortune From The Nazis The Dutch Connection.htm
THE RISE OF THE FOURTH REICH
Part I
THE BUSH FAMILY OLIGARCHY
Funding the Hitler Project
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Rise of the Fourth Reich
Bush Family Oligarchy.htm
Understanding 9/11:
Incompetence, Blowback, Perle Harbor or Reichstag Fire?
http://www.oilempire.us/understanding.html
Paul Horsnell, head of Energy Research at Barclays Capital in
London, now says: "The question is not whether $50 [per barrel] will
be breached," but whether there will be any pause before the
half-century mark is topped.
Full Text
Despite this, the US Department of Energy reports prices at the pump
are falling.
DOE web site's graph:Retail Gas Prices
What an odd coincidence that this is happening while an
ex-oilman's presidential campaign numbers are slipping. If I were a
tin foil hat type, I'd suspect some sort of deliberate market
rigging.
http://home.earthlink.net/~jdkleinman/
Posted by: Jon Kleinman at August 14, 2004 12:56 AMActually, don't join. But check out the site, and then tell us what you think we should be praying for.
Posted by not sam at November 5, 2004 7:21 PMPosted by: Des at November 5, 2004 7:46 PM
Posted by: haylee at November 5, 2004 7:52 PM
Posted by: RIRon at November 5, 2004 8:00 PM
Posted by: Megan at November 5, 2004 8:32 PM
Posted by: WalleyeJohn at November 5, 2004 8:36 PM
feeder Bands of Freepers
please note enviromental concern=pagan
it *IS* sickening. How do we fight it?? I think if more
'moderate' repubs REALLY knew about this we might make some
headway...
It is child abuse , imo.
Excerpt from my book
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1932852344/qid=1086103239/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-4140001-9550218?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
which gets more relevant as the days go by.
(Thank you Ricardo for emailing me about this blog as it is a real pick me up to see so many sane minds)
Excerpt number one:(I will try to post a new one ever week)
The New Religion
Let me start by saying the prayer of my right wing friends. In the
name of the Bush, the Cheney and the Donald Rumsfield, amen. I start
with this prayer because it seems there is a new religion in America
these days---The religion of Bush. What brought this new religion to
my attention was a very ironic and if not so serious, comedic
comment of a family member. When I told him of my opposition to the
war he said in a very angry and serious tone "You should read the
Bible." I laughed and replied, "Wait a minute, do you mean the Bible
that says 'Blessed are the peacemakers,' 'Thou shalt not kill,' and
'Love thy neighbor as thyself'? At this he continued a diatribe of
psycho-babble not worthy of repeating and although I love him and we
actually respect each other’s opinions (well maybe just respect
the right to have the opinion) and agree to disagree, it was worth
noting my revelation. The new religion which is the right wing
religion of Bush.
Bush's Ten Commandments:
1) I am the new god Bush; thou shalt not have any gods before me.
2) Kill your neighbor before he kills you.
3) Hate any country that disagrees with you.
4) Thou shalt bail out only rich thieves.
5) Cursed are the poor and lowly.
6) Censored are the peacemakers.
7) Thou shalt follow rules of the Geneva Convention unless you are
the administration of the lord god Bush.
8) Covet thy neighbor's oil.
9) Ending is better then mending.
10) Hate any American that does not agree with the Bush doctrine.
May this find everyone out there in the world happy and well,
Vinnie Vin
www.vinnievin.com
Posted by: Freaked out in the Pacific Northwest at November 7, 2004 12:14 AM
Posted by: alex at December 1, 2004 3:10 AM
Posted by: mike at December 1, 2004 3:10 AM
"Every Friday afternoon, "The Couch Potato," a 62-year-old white man who claims improbably to have been active in the civil rights movement, takes to the airwaves for two hours at St. Louis' WGNU-AM radio station. In a baritone radio voice, "Couchie" offers up "family radio for concerned white people." Read more.
Posted by not sam at November 5, 2004 7:57 PMfeeder Bands of Freepers
please note enviromental concern=pagan
Posted by: Judith Hain at November 5, 2004 8:12 PMSam, could this be the rightwing fascist shmuck frank who's been trolling and taunting the good folks on the regular blog?! Omigod!!
Posted by: RIRon at November 5, 2004 8:14 PMPosted by: Ulrike Quantz at November 5, 2004 8:23 PM
Posted by: Rob at November 6, 2004 10:06 AM
"Islamic fundamentalists" are "conservative Muslim groups".
Saw this on dKos:
-replace "gay marriage" with "family rights"
-replace "Islamic fundamentalists" with "conservative Muslim groups"
-replace "stopping outsourcing" with "America first"
-replace "international diplomacy" with "the Good Neighbor doctrine"
-replace "big brother" with "citizen spying"
And so on.
But, more important, how should we move forward. Slate has a good discussion going here. Entries include:
"Democratic Values: How to start winning the red states," by William Saletan
"Whither Liberalism? Again? Here comes the usual bad advice," by Timothy Noah
"Moralize, Liberally," by Robert Wright
"Gotta Have Faith," by Robert Reich
"More Policy Plans, Please," by Jason Furman
"The Unteachable Ignorance of the Red States," by Jane Smiley
"The Party's Message Is Low Risk, Low Reward," by Tom Tomorrow
"The Indomitable Question That Plagues Liberals," by Katha Pollitt
"Let's Talk About Faith," by Steven Waldman
What are your ideas? Post em.
Posted by not sam at November 5, 2004 8:14 PMPosted by: teachesOfpeaches at November 5, 2004 8:33 PM
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JOE REPUBLICAN
Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to
prepare
his morning coffee. The water is clean and pure because some
tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards.
With his first swallow of coffee, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to insure their safety and that they work exactly as advertised.
All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer's medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance - now Joe gets it too.
He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Joe's bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.
In his morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is
properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total
contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know
what he was putting on his body.
Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for laws to stop industries from polluting our air.
He walks to the subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which everyone can enjoy.
Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards.Joe's employer pays these standards because Joe's employer doesn't want his employees to call the union. If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he'll get workers' compensation or an unemployment check because some stupid liberal didn't think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.
Its noon time and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe's deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Joe's money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.
Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and his below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime.
Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards.
He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers' Home Administration because bankers didn't want to make rural loans. The house didn't have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn't belong and demanded rural electrification.
He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father
lives on Social Security and a union pension because some
wine-drinking,
cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself in his
old age so Joe wouldn't have to.
Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. He doesn't mention that the beloved Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day.
Joe agrees:
"We don't need those big-government liberals running our
lives! After all, I'm a self-made man who believes everyone should
take care of himself, just like I have.
"Which is why I'm voting for Bush!"
Posted by: Shawn at November 6, 2004 12:52 AM
Posted by: Steambomb at November 6, 2004 2:37 AM
Posted by: teachesOfpeaches at November 6, 2004 4:41 AM
Posted by: teachesOfpeaches at November 6, 2004 6:16 AM
Posted by: Glenn Suprenard at November 6, 2004 9:58 AM
Excerpt from my book http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1932852344/qid=1086103239/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-4140001-9550218?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
which gets more relevant as the days go by.
(Thank you Ricardo for emailing me about this blog as it is a real pick me up to see so many sane minds)
Excerpt number one:(I will try to post a new one ever week)
The New Religion
Let me start by saying the prayer of my right wing friends. In the
name of the Bush, the Cheney and the Donald Rumsfield, amen. I start
with this prayer because it seems there is a new religion in America
these days---The religion of Bush. What brought this new religion to
my attention was a very ironic and if not so serious, comedic
comment of a family member. When I told him of my opposition to the
war he said in a very angry and serious tone "You should read the
Bible." I laughed and replied, "Wait a minute, do you mean the Bible
that says 'Blessed are the peacemakers,' 'Thou shalt not kill,' and
'Love thy neighbor as thyself'? At this he continued a diatribe of
psycho-babble not worthy of repeating and although I love him and we
actually respect each other’s opinions (well maybe just
respect the right to have the opinion) and agree to disagree, it was
worth noting my revelation. The new religion which is the right wing
religion of Bush.
Bush's Ten Commandments:
1) I am the new god Bush; thou shalt not have any gods before me.
2) Kill your neighbor before he kills you.
3) Hate any country that disagrees with you.
4) Thou shalt bail out only rich thieves.
5) Cursed are the poor and lowly.
6) Censored are the peacemakers.
7) Thou shalt follow rules of the Geneva Convention unless you are
the administration of the lord god Bush.
8) Covet thy neighbor's oil.
9) Ending is better then mending.
10) Hate any American that does not agree with the Bush doctrine.
May this find everyone out there in the world happy and well,
Vinnie Vin
http://www.vinnievin.com
And yet Cheney was excused because he's a man of convictions, who feels strongly about what he believes in.
Democrats should undermine the administration at every turn, and when republicans cry foul they should undermine that too.
What went wrong? That's easy. They tried to appeal to the republicans better side.
Posted by: Warrior Lost at November 6, 2004 5:48 PMDemocrats need to campaign from a set of liberal values, namely the "Nurturing Parent" model as described in George Lakoff's latest book "Don't think of an Elephant". Democrats have been on the defensive lately and that is why they keep losing (both the Presidency and House and Senate races). They need to learn to reframe things and hire George Lakoff as a consultant to help them do so. They need to monitor their language in their speeches, ads, and campaign materials to express the "Nurturing Parent" values. George Lakoff does consulting to help with that (he's a linguistics professor in Berkeley). It is false that people always vote their interests, they actually vote their values.
Since most Americans today actually live in many ways with the "Nurturing Parent" model (as opposed to the "Strong Father" model that the Republicans use), especially in how they raise their kids (even Evangelical Christians I know actually raise their kids using the "Nurturing Parent" model, James Dobson, an evangelical Christian expert on childraising who advocates for the Strong Father model notwithstanding).
Two other things that are very urgent for Democrats to do (also advised by George Lakoff):
1. Get the leaders from the different factions of the Democratic party to meet together and agree on a Democratic platform that fulfills this "Nurturing Parent" model on the issues. These factions can be obtained from his book, but a couple are environmentalists and women's advocates. The Republicans did this years ago to unite the different factions of the Republican party, and are now enjoying the success.
2. Liberal Christians need to unite as well. According to George Lakoff, there are actually more liberal Christians that conservative Christians, and if they united and formed a voting bloc, it could be a powerful force to be reckoned with.
I have made a promise to myself that if the Democratic party does these things in time for the 2006 elections, I will make a personal commitment to volunteeer many more hours working on House and Senate races for the state of Washington, or maybe even, in the 2-3 weeks before the November 2006 election, travel to a state with close House races and volunteer full time for a candidate (if I can get the time to do this). If I don't see the Democratic party take these steps, I have lost my motivation to volunteer in the future for a Presidential race.
Posted by: Diane Wills at November 6, 2004 7:26 PMOut,
Mike Webb
Posted by: Mike Webb at November 7, 2004 2:26 PMHowever the party proceeds strategically, it's important to remember that its driving ethos is kindness and compassion and a sense of fairness. Even if those things are going to be in short supply up at the top for the next few years, we can still keep them going strong at the grassroots level.
Posted by: lara at November 7, 2004 6:24 PMI remember listening to your show on election day when you
all were literally congratulating yourself on "winning the
election". Well I have something to say to you: not only did you not
help win the election, you people are responsible for the demise of
the democratic party. Not just your show or AirAmerica but all these
so called "activists" that have a lot of strong opinions but no
strategy at all. All you do it to appeal to the very liberal base of
the democratic party while antagonizing the socially conservative
undecided voters. Unfortunately we are outnumbered by the hardcore
republican base and we need those "swing" voters more than they do.
NYtimes op-ed section had a really good take on this issue
today:http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/06/opinion/06brooks.html?incamp=article_popular_2
As John Stewart would say: "please stop" you are hurting us. Your
pompous Bush bashings and your calling naive bush supporters stupid
day and night does nothing but satisfy your egos and antagonize
middle american against the liberal message. Please stop. If you can
not work under a cohesive plan to win over the socially conservative
middle class american then stop. We dont need the SF coffee shop
liberals to be any more motivated than they already are. Your lettin
out may in fact have cost us dearly in this election. Only time will
tell how these trends will play out. But I'm very concerned abou
this.
Blackboxvoting.org is fighting this election. There has been serious voter fraud in OHIO and FLORIDA. Serious fraud, enough fraud that might change the results. Keep in mind. The election is not over until the electorial votes are cast, not the peoples votes.
Don't sit this one out, HELP OUT
They don't want money, well they do but don't require it. They just want help. I am helping by writing this, you should too. Please check it out, please please please.
Remember what happened to Dan Rather when he tried to pass off the phony letter, just think what will happen if the votes turn out to be tainted.
Please help. This is real and urgent that you help. We need the people on this. You guys can help out more than anyone.
Please. I don't want to move out out this country. I like it here and the bugs in Austrailia are very scary.
HELP PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
That was a great blog, and it is also true. As a republican, I was happy s-man stepped into reality. Bush is NOT stupid, all you liberals need to come to grips with this. Liberals need to stop thinking that everyone who voted for Bush is stupid as well. We as a country need to work together now more than ever. Advice for you Liberals: Start being happy when our economy does well, be happy when our country does something good. Look at the glass half filled instead of half empty. Nothing is perfect, realize this and Move on. org :)
Posted by: shawn at November 8, 2004 8:03 AMIt has been five days since the election.
In that time, accounts of voter fraud and malfunctioning voting machines have flooded into local newspapers in Ohio, to public-interest groups, universities and weblogs.
This message is an overview of those reports.
The stories are summarized here, with links to the original publications. After seeing this evidence -- and there is more still to be rounded up -- I am no longer convinced that Bush won the election.
I hope you will read through these summaries, click on the links to the original stories, and come to your own conclusions.
I've included all the accounts of election tampering that I'm aware of, but have not done a broad search. This is only what I've learned in the past five days.
My education was provided by a group of concerned journalists who posted reports to a chat list. This is a compilation of their research.
I believe there is enough evidence to suggest that the electorate
may have actually chosen Kerry on Tuesday. We don't know for sure --
we can't know till there is a recount. Or, if that's not possible
because of electronic
voting machines, until the election is held over in Ohio and
Florida.
Bush has not yet been chosen by the Electoral College. The Electors meet and vote on Dec. 13. We need to raise questions about the results -- and raise them loudly -- to get an investigation launched before that date.
So far, the mainstream media in not picking up the story. They moved very slowly after the 2000 election.
Here are the accounts of election tampering from four states, plus reports on multi-state problems.
(Please note: some of the newspaper links may expire soon. You may want to print out the stories so that later on, you don't have to buy them from the newspapers' archives.)
FLORIDA:
The most troubling news comes out of Florida. Throughout most of the
state, new electronic voting machines were in use. These machines --
many manufactured by a company called Diebold -- are controversial
because they don't leave a paper trail.
There is no way to double-check the results.
The final Florida tallies on Diebold machines from Tuesday are literally unbelievable.
In 29 counties where Diebold machines (an optical scanner) were
used to count the ballots, large majorities of voters were
registered Democrats. But the final results gave all the counties to
Bush, sometimes by huge
margins.
The individual county data shows how unlikely the machine results were.
For instance:
In Calhoun County, 82% of registered voters are Democrats. But Diebold machines said 63% of the county voted for Bush.
In Lafayette County, 83% of voters are Democrats, but Diebold said 74% of the county voted for Bush.
In Liberty County, 88% of voters are Democrats, but Diebold said 64% voted for Bush.
In Washington County, 67% of voters are Democrats, but Diebold said 71% voted for Bush.
This same pattern appears in the results for 29 COUNTIES in Florida. In every one of those counties, the Diebold Optical Scanner produced the results.
The Optical Scanner has been called the voting machine that is most susceptible to tampering.
Many of you have been watching elections closely for years. Do
you believe that in 29 Florida counties in which Democrats were in
the majority -- in some cases with 4 out of 5 registered voters
being Democrats -- they all
voted strongly for Bush?
Here are the links.
You can find the voter registration/final result data here:
http://ustogether.org/Florida_Election.htm
You can find a story analyzing these results here:
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1106-30.htm
You can read about electronic voting machines -- an untested
phenomenon in
American elections, here:
http://www.moderateindependent.com/v2i21thoreau.htm
THE OTHER PROBLEM IN FLORIDA:
In 6 counties -- again, they were all using electronic machines --
more votes for President were recorded than there were actual voters
in the counties.
Altogether, these six counties reported 188,885 more votes for President than there are voters living there.
Right now, no one knows whether those extra 188,000 votes were cast for Bush or for Kerry. But Bush won the state of Florida by a 5% margin -- contrary to what all the polls were showing only days earlier.
In Glades County:Â 2,443 votes for Bush / 1,718 votes for
Kerry / 27 votes for Other.
Those add up to 4,188. But the machines recorded the official
turnout as 3,446. That adds up to 742 more votes than voters.
In Highlands County:Â 25,874 for Bush / 15,346 for Kerry / 271 for Other. Official Turnout: 33,996. That adds up to 7,495 more votes than voters.
In Miami-Dade County: 358,613 for Bush / 406,099 for Kerry / 3,841 for Other. Official Turnout 716,574. That adds up to 51,979 more votes than voters.
In Osceola County: 43,108 for Bush / 38,617 for Kerry / 453 for Other. Official Turnout 63589. That adds up to 18,589 more votes than voters.
In Palm Beach County: 211,894 for Bush / 327,698 for Kerry / 3,243 for Other. Official Turnout: 452,061. That adds up to 90,774 more votes than voters.
In Volusia County: 111,544 for Bush / 115,319 for Kerry / 1,495 for Other. Official Turnout: 209,052. That adds up to 19,306 more votes than voters.
Use this link to get to the data:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/11/5/18466/2846
STILL MORE PROBLEMS IN FLORIDA
This account comes from partisans. Four Kerry volunteers working in
Broward County sent a letter detailing election tampering to one of
the reporters on our chat list. All four signed it and included
their email addresses.
They report a wide, disturbing range of problems, from voters saying their electronic machines malfunctioned, poll workers denied them assistance, to police putting up roadblocks on the routes to polling places, and so on.
The entire text of the letter, along with the signatures, appears at the bottom of this letter.
OHIO
In Ohio, there were problems in four counties and one city.
In Howard County, a judge ruled on Election Day that everyone standing in line to vote at 7:30 p.m. had to eventually be allowed inside.
The order said the ruling was good for the day of Nov. 2. (You can view the order at the website below.) But maybe it didn't occur to the judge that everybody might not make it inside by midnight.
At the stroke of midnight, when the calendar legally clicked over
to Nov. 3, Republican Ken Blackwell, the secretary of state, told
all the waiting voters to go home. His workers gave them paper
ballots (i.e., provisional
ballots), told them to fill them out and bring them back later.
It was an improvised move that undercut the intent of the judge's
ruling, and created chaos. Many people in Howard County still
haven't turned in those ballots because they don't know where to
take them or what the
deadline is.
The only kind of ballot in a federal election that people can
legally take home, fill out and turn in later is an absentee ballot,
and those are marked as such. They're marked with clear rules
concerning deadlines,
postmarking, and so on.
So an uncounted number of people in Howard County--estimated in the thousands-- couldn't get in and were turned away with what may be ruled an illegal procedure. The vast majority of those votes wre expected to go to Kerry based on the heavily Democratic population of Howard County.
The Democrats have filed a lawsuit. You can click on the Ohio
State University law school website to read about it:
http://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:pKbOJwHH7OMJ:moritzlaw.osu.edu/election
law/analysis/110304b.htm+Ohio+7:30+election+Blackwell+waiting+line&hl=en&sta
rt=4&lr=lang_en
Meanwhile, in Warren County, election officials locked the doors
to the County building and refused to allow bi-partisan observers to
watch the vote-count. They also denied access to the AP reporter (it
is standard
procedure for the AP to observe vote-counting in counties all over
the country.)
The Sheriff of the county said he did it for "homeland security" reasons. He never explained or specified what the security concerns were.
Here is the link to the story in the Cincinnati Enquirer: http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/11/05/loc_warrenvote05.html
Meanwhile, in a Columbus suburb called Gahanna, the same problem
showed up with electronic machines that we saw in Florida: more
votes were cast than there were voters to cast them. In this case,
however, the problem was investigated and the extra 3,893 votes were
shown to have been erroneously
tallied for Bush.
Here is the link to the story on the Ohio Network News:
http://www.onnnews.com/Global/story.asp?S=2524952
Meanwhile, in Mahoning and Mercer Counties, electronic machines again malfunctioned, but the effect that had on the vote count is not clear. The machines had to be re-set, and at one point showed votes of "negative 25 million," according to the head of the local board of elections.
Here is the story from the local Youngstown paper, called the
Vindicator:
http://www.vindy.com/basic/news/281829446390855.php
INDIANA
In Laporte County, electronic voting machines once again appear to
have failed.
They tallied results for 22,200 voters, even though there are 79,000 registered voters in LaPorte County. Assuming the county actually had a 65% turnout rate (comparable to others in the area and its own track record), that means 29,000 votes were not counted.
Here is the link to the story in the Michigan City News-Dispatch:
http://www.michigancityin.com/articles/2004/11/04/news/news02.txt
NEW HAMPSHIRE
This is one of several states where original exit polls (interviews
with voters as they are leaving) do not jive with the results
produced by electronic voting machines. I was told by an
administrator at Bev Harris's group, called BlackBoxVoting (more on
this below) that they are urging Ralph Nader to press for a recount
in New Hampshire. Nader was on the ballot there, so he is in a good
position to ask for a re-count. You can read about Harris and her
work at www.BlackBoxVoting.org.
SIX STATES
In at least six states, there was a large difference between how
people said they'd voted, and how officials said they'd voted.
In Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New Hampshire and New Mexico, there was a large discrepancy between what voters said in the original exit polls, and the final results claimed by election officials.
In each of those six states, electronic voting machines were used in some or most of the counties.
In contrast, in states where paper ballots were the primary method of voting, there was little or no discrepancy between original exit polls and official results.
To see an easily viewable graph of this data, go to
http://www.therandirhodesshow.com/todays_show.html
That graph was originally compiled by a website affiliated with The Raw Story, which often gets quoted in the major dailies. So far as I know, it's a reputable site.
You can see their original posting here:
http://www.bluelemur.com/index.php?p=388
MORE ON EXIT POLLS
These are routinely conducted in elections by major news
organizations. Accounts are surfacing that both the Associated Press
and CNN (and perhaps others) later CHANGED their exit polling data
to more closely resemble the official results.
So far as I know, none of the news orgs has offered an explanation. They may try to justify it on statistical grounds.
Here are two accounts. The first is very brief, the second is
in-depth:
http://www.buzzflash.com/analysis/04/11/ana04025.html
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/KEE411A.html
MORE ON ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES
Here is an except from the Moderate Independent website about Bev
Harris's work. She is a freelance journalist who has been
documenting how unreliable the machines are, and how vulnerable they
are to tampering.
"Bev Harris, author of Black Box Voting and the
BlackBoxVoting.org website, has documented numerous cases of
electronic disasters. One occurred in Volusia County, Fla., in 2000
in which county election officials hand
recounted more than 184,000 paper ballots used to feed the
computerized system, after the central ballot-counting computer
showed a Socialist Party candidate receiving more than 9,000 votes
and Al Gore getting minus 19,000. Another 4,000 votes were received
for Bush that should not have been there.
"Election officials eventually tallied Gore beating Bush by 97,063 votes to 82,214. But the wrong numbers had already been sent to the media, which were used by FOX and other networks to erroneously call the election for Bush and swing the public relations part of the recount battle in his favor."
I urge you to get familiar with Harris and her work as quickly as possible.
Three Members of Congress Have Asked the GAO to Investigate the Election
Three Congressmen have asked the General Accounting Office, a
federal agency, to investigate the election, citing questionable
results in Ohio, Florida, North Carolina and California. Click here
to see their letter to
the GAO:
http://forum.therandirhodesshow.com/index.php?act=ST&f=87&t=34711
Remember These Four Points:
-- Bush's approval numbers were consistently below 50% throughout the campaign.
-- New Democratic registrations in Ohio were 10 times that of Republicans, and in Florida, Democrats held a similar but somewhat smaller advantage.
-- All the polls that were still giving Bush leads after the debates were within the margin of error, and when the undecideds started making up their minds over the last weekend, Kerry's poll numbers were surging.
-- the $10 million exit-poll system, specifically designed not to fail this time, clearly showed, in the original reports, a Kerry victory.
Other Voices to Hear:
Other people besides me and the journalists I know are beginning to question the legitimacy of the election. Here are some of them:
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/kerry_won.php
http://americablog.blogspot.com/archives/2004_10_31_americablog_archive.html
#109970362694815839
http://www.ecotalk.org/VotingSecurity.htm
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/article.php?sid=18588&mode=&order=0
Here is a report of voter complaints in 7 Southern states:
http://www.abcnews4.com/news/stories/1104/185549.html
Again, I urge you to realize that there may still be time to do something about this before the Electoral College meets on December 13th.
The first step is to educate ourselves. The second step is to educate the mainstream media. The local and regional press, and the alternative media, have been doing their jobs; now we need the national press to do its job, too.
If you are concerned about this election being stolen, please do two things:
1) Send your concerns to everyone you know, both inside and outside the United States.
2) Send your concerns to the major news organizations. A list of contacts appears at the end of this message.
Sincerely,
Donna Knipp, New York, N.Y.
The Letter from Kerry Workers In Broward County, Fla.:
"Spurred by the unwillingness of the broadcast media to report
voting problems during the 2004 election race, we want to alert
others to the widespread voter suppression and disenfranchisement
that occurred in
Broward County, Florida. We staffed the emergency hotline for
the Kerry Campaign Headquarters in Broward County from late October
through the election.
"All of us were devastated by the margin of Bush?s win in Florida, particularly since polls predicted the race would be extremely close.
"Many of the calls to our hotline were from voters who had
pressed the ?Kerry? button on their electronic voting screen, only
to have ?Bush? light up as the candidate they had chosen. In
some cases, this would happen
repeatedly until about the 5th or 6th time the voter pressed ?Kerry?
and eventually his name would light up. In other cases, the
voters pushed ?Kerry? but were later asked to confirm their ?Bush?
vote.
"We had calls about a road block, put up by the police at 7am on
Nov. 2, which blocked road access to two precinct locations in
majority black districts. There was no justification for the
road block ? no accident or
crime scene or construction.
"Many of our calls dealt with voter suppression, or manipulation,
of the Haitian population ? occurrences which seem too numerous, and
their targets too indefensible, as primarily poor, first-time-voter,
Creole-speaking refugees, to be anything but systemic. In one
example, a voter whose hands were bandaged could not press the
touch-screen himself; he asked the nonpartisan election official to
press ?Kerry? for him, but the election official pressed ?Bush? and
sent his vote immediately into the machine. Many, many others
were denied the right to vote and were not given provisional
ballots, while others were refused assistance at
the polls, even though provisional ballots and voter assistance are
legal rights.Â
"Others were told they had already voted and were turned away,
although they had never voted previously. This latter
experience was a complaint not isolated to Haitians but also
included other surprised voters with no
recourse except their word against that of the Supervisor of
Elections.
"We spoke with hundreds of voters who were certain they had registered to vote in the past 6 months, well before the October 18 deadline, but were not on the rolls. And those were just the people who had the information to contact us.
"The local paper, citing the Supervisor of Elections office as its source, told all people voting by absentee ballot that they could turn in ballots by hand to any of its seven offices by 5pm on Tuesday, Nov. 2.
"Every single one of those offices except one was closed on Tuesday.
"We had numerous calls from voters on Nov. 2 whose precincts had closed, yet the Supervisor of Elections office had given voters no notification of the closure, and no notification of where to go to vote.
"Thousands of people were likely disenfranchised because of
inexcusable mishaps such as this. We had many calls from people who
had been harassed by poll workers, who were turned away without
being allowed the
right to vote provisionally (another breech of voter rights).Â
Other people were turned away because the address on their driver?s
license did not match the address on their voter registration card;
again, this is in direct violation of election law.
"All of these problems do not even take into account the 58,000
absentee ballots that had been ?lost? by the Supervisor of
Elections, in perhaps the most democratic county in the state,
disenfranchising thousands of people who were disabled, out of the
country, or elderly and unable get to the polls. These
events, and many others, have been documented and also reported to
lawyers, but we fear they will not get the attention they deserve.Â
This is what we witnessed in just one county. We believe that
these ?voting irregularities? raise serious concerns about the
legitimacy of the results in Florida, and more broadly, about the
health of
democracy in this country."
Libby Anker  Libanker@berkeley.edu
Ryan Centner  rcentner@berkeley.edu
Jill Greenlee jillgs@socrates.berkeley.edu
Rachel Van Sickle-Ward rvansick@berkeley.edu
A list of media contacts:
ABC News
47 W. 66 St., New York, NY 10023
ETC.
We live in a humongous country. It was inevitable that we would have a myriad of cultures, each with their own distinct beliefs. Currently, there is a culture war in America and the Midwest will play a key role.
I live in Indiana, which may be the best example for the stategy I propose. I noticed that Indiana tends to vote Democrats for governor, state reps, etc. yet we always vote Republican for president. Why? The Democrats we vote for are either conservative or moderate. Many of us have recognized that Democrats serve our farming communities economically yet we don't accept liberal morals. (Except for me)
Contrary to popular belief the Midwestern morals are drastically different than the Deep South's. We are not as religious as the Deep South, however , most of us do not support gay marriage. (Except me) I've talked to some people who do not support gay marriage and most of them would accept New York or Massachusetts having gay marriage or civil unions as long as our state doesn't have to do it.
If we promote the right of the states to make their own moral laws, then each state can have it's identity. The Midwest will be willing to make this compromise in the culture war. We are not the Deep South. Many of us hold the Deep South with contempt. (I do not hold the Deep South with contempt, I'm just pointing out that many Midwesterners do. I fully accept that you do things differently.) We are afraid that no matter who wins the culture war, we lose. The Democrats are the party of understanding and acceptance. It's time we understand and accept the Midwest's culture.
Posted by: Scott Seibert at November 9, 2004 11:56 PMNot a done deal yet, but it looks like it's Harry Reid from Nevada. What should his priorities be? Should he cooperate, or go on the offensive? Should he save up political capital to filibuster Supreme Court nominees? Should he be trying to turn Chafee, Collins and Snowe? (Reid's the one who turned Jeffords.)
The 109th Congress will be sworn in on January 4th. What should Reid say in his first speech? Post it here. Then let Reid know.
Posted by not sam at November 6, 2004 2:40 PMPosted by: Diane Wills at November 6, 2004 7:09 PM
Harry Reid is simply another moderate from a highly Republican state- he is not the right man for the job. His current job as whip suits his reserved manner perfectly, and he should stay there.
The Democratic Party putting more moderates such as Reid in leadership positions is a bad sign of what is to come. I have already heard House minority Leader Pelosi say Democrats have lost all they can after this election - she is wrong we loose four more Senate seats in 2006 Democrats don't even have the filibuster- that could make Bush's first 6 years in office look like a summer camp compared to what he could achieve with a true majority in the Senate.
Posted by: Little Mike (intern) at November 7, 2004 9:55 AMPosted by: Mary at November 7, 2004 10:33 AM
Posted by: Steambomb at November 7, 2004 3:15 PM
Posted by: Steambomb at November 7, 2004 4:42 PM
Blackboxvoting.org is fighting this election. There has been serious voter fraud in OHIO and FLORIDA. Serious fraud, enough fraud that might change the results. Keep in mind. The election is not over until the electorial votes are cast, not the peoples votes.
Don't sit this one out, HELP OUT
They don't want money, well they do but don't require it. They just want help. I am helping by writing this, you should too. Please check it out, please please please.
Remember what happened to Dan Rather when he tried to pass off the phony letter, just think what will happen if the votes turn out to be tainted.
Please help. This is real and urgent that you help. We need the people on this. You guys can help out more than anyone.
Please. I don't want to move out out this country. I like it here and the bugs in Austrailia are very scary.
HELP PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
Posted by: Little Mike at November 8, 2004 6:51 AM
Posted by: e. meisse at November 8, 2004 1:47 PM
Posted by: click here at March 12, 2005 9:30 AM
I just realized that in each of those "red" states are realistically a MAJORITY of people who want Bush out. Remember, he screwed with the vote. SO... let's use those people not abandon them (not that anyone is suggesting that).
I am ready. And so are the rest of the MAJORITY of people in this country.
SAM & JANEANE & AIRAMERICA:
Please put us to work. We have each suggested things we could do and there are so many battles to fight, but we need some organization. NOW...
If we collectively decide that we must all appear at the inauguration or at our state capitals when the electoral college votes are given, then tell me and I and millions will be there.
If we need to organize another Sinclair Broadcasting-esque boycott of the Faux News or CNN and their advertisers, then I will spend every extra minute of my free time doing so.
WE ARE THE MAJORITY. PLEASE PUT US TO WORK.
------
A concerted project is a great idea. But what should it be? Denying Sinclair relicensing? Going after destructive media douchebags, like Nagourney, for writing garbage like this, or David Brooks, for writing garbage like this? Or, should it be bigger, like working to dent the chances of the GOP 2008 presidential hopefuls, as Chris at Mydd suggests here. Let us hear from you.
Posted by not sam at November 6, 2004 11:44 PMPosted by: shell at November 7, 2004 3:28 AM
We can wring our hands all we want, but the bottom line is this:
if one party has control of all 3 branches of government, and that same party CONTROLS AND MAINPULATES THE ELECTION PROCESS, THEN IT'S GAME / SET / MATCH.
Forget 2006. Forget 2008. We are farting in a windstorm. We have to act NOW AND NOT ACCEPT ELECTION FRAUD:
1) We cannot let the RNC declare victory.
2) We need to co-opt world opinion - the UN, OSCE, the EU, etc.
3) We need a focused, concerted effort to identify, publicize and
prosecute voter fraud, which was a felony that last time I checked.
All of this is a long shot. But if anyone actually thinks we can "regroup" for the next election, then I want some of whatever you are smoking.
SUPPORT BEV HARRIS. DO NOT ROLL OVER.
Posted by: Yossarian at November 7, 2004 5:02 PMI guess it basically amounts to blogging as before, but in a more structured way.
And support Bev Harris.
Posted by: gretchen at November 7, 2004 6:02 PMI remember listening to your show on election day when you all
were literally congratulating yourself on "winning the election".
Well I have something to say to you: not only did you not help win
the election, you people are responsible for the demise of the
democratic party. Not just your show or AirAmerica but all these so
called "activists" that have a lot of strong opinions but no
strategy at all. All you do it to appeal to the very liberal base of
the democratic party while antagonizing the socially conservative
undecided voters. Unfortunately we are outnumbered by the hardcore
republican base and we need those "swing" voters more than they do.
NYtimes op-ed section had a really good take on this issue
today:http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/06/opinion/06brooks.html?incamp=article_popular_2
As John Stewart would say: "please stop" you are hurting us. Your
pompous Bush bashings and your calling naive bush supporters stupid
day and night does nothing but satisfy your egos and antagonize
middle american against the liberal message. Please stop. If you can
not work under a cohesive plan to win over the socially conservative
middle class american then stop. We dont need the SF coffee shop
liberals to be any more motivated than they already are. Your lettin
out may in fact have cost us dearly in this election. Only time will
tell how these trends will play out. But I'm very concerned abou
this.
Blackboxvoting.org is fighting this election. There has been serious voter fraud in OHIO and FLORIDA. Serious fraud, enough fraud that might change the results. Keep in mind. The election is not over until the electorial votes are cast, not the peoples votes.
Don't sit this one out, HELP OUT
They don't want money, well they do but don't require it. They just want help. I am helping by writing this, you should too. Please check it out, please please please.
Remember what happened to Dan Rather when he tried to pass off the phony letter, just think what will happen if the votes turn out to be tainted.
Please help. This is real and urgent that you help. We need the people on this. You guys can help out more than anyone.
Please. I don't want to move out out this country. I like it here and the bugs in Austrailia are very scary.
HELP PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
Posted by: Dana Welch at November 8, 2004 11:51 AM
http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/1104/184576.html
Kerry, Bush Have Millions to Fund Recount -
Monday November 01, 2004 (AP) - President Bush and Sen. John
Kerry finished their primary campaigns with millions of dollars in
the bank that could help cover the cost of a possible recount.
Kerry had about $45 million in leftover money that he could transfer
to the Democratic Party for that purpose, while Bush had $16 million
that could go to the GOP, the nonpartisan Center for Public
Integrity watchdog group said Monday. In addition, Bush had about
$10 million in his legal fund, and Kerry had about $7 million. Each
could also raise unlimited donations from individua- donors to
finance special recount funds. ... -ABC news
WHERE ARE THESE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS WE CONTRIBUTED FOR RECOUNT?
EDWARDS PROMISED EVERY VOTE WOULD BE COUNTED. 9 HOURS LATER WITH
UNCOUNTED VOTES KERRY CONCEDED.. MOST DEMOCRATS FEEL COMPLETELY
BETRAYED. AGAIN. IRREGULARITIES PLUS VOTING MACHINES MUST BE
INVESTIGATED.
PPG
We need a groundswell here. If everyone contacted their congressmen, senators, and the media, maybe we'd get a real investigation going.
Posted by: Susan at November 8, 2004 10:31 PMMy wife and I listen to your show very often and we both enjoy it greatly. But we are sad that your show seems to be joining the Air-America faction that believes Bush won the election; as opposed to those who believe Bush stole it. Sam made the point that those heavily Democratic areas in northern Florida which went for Bush in this election, also went for Bush back in 2000. This is true, but the difference is in the DEGREE it went for Bush—coupled with the degree all of those districts who went for Bush, went for Bush. And the DEGREE that those who went for Kerry went for Kerry.
In other words, where Bush won, these machines made him win HUGE. And were Kerry should have won, he either won with a way-too tiny vote; or Bush won. This manipulation gives the APPEARANCE of Bush receiving a certain percentage of the popular vote, which he did not.
To me, the whole issue is a no-brainer; and also easily solved. IF it is proven that wherever the computers were the exit polls were wrong; and wherever paper ballots existed the exit polls were correct—then this pattern of error means the election was stolen. Someone needs to do the investigative work. And where their WERE errors in the exit polling, did it heavily or exclusively favor only BUSH? This should not be too difficult for someone to do whose job it is to do investigative reporting. And none of this even includes all the “old-fashioned� fraud and dirty tricks that also occurred in 2000.
And as long as this fraud issue remains unresolved, no one should be talking about what the Dems need to do better—because they already DID better. To me, using an analogy, it is like someone having bank account money stolen via the internet; and they respond by asking themselves, “What better-paying job can I get so I would not be broke right now?�
And even IF the election wasn’t fixed, no Dem revamping is needed. We won the popular vote in 2000, and won Florida & the election in 2000 if it wasn’t for the fraud. And this election was very close anyway, if we pretend it was not fixed. Remember, that the population in the Blue states is higher than the population of the Red states. Therefore, even tho the physical land mass is larger in the Red states, the percentage of the population represented who voted for Kerry, even given the fix, still outweighed the population that went for Bush. To use an analogy, if six people voted for Bush and owned a billion acres; and five people voted for Kerry who owned half an acre that 10 other people lived on—then then map would be all RED almost, yet more people lived in the Blue dot, so to speak, and the vote would be almost 50-50. The land itself did not vote for Bush.
Sadly, I find myself tuning away from Air America, including sometimes your show (sorry) much in the same way I used to and still do tune away from the main stream news shows both on radio & TV. I can’t stomach hearing you talk about what the Dems could do better; how we should regroup, etc etc etc. I know you are entitled to your beliefs and should express them, but they are so in-line (on this issue) with what I believe to be typically untrue, that I can’t stomach to hear them on your show OR on Fox, and so on. And in no other way am I comparing your show to Fox.
Be well & happy,
Barrie
Posted by: Erin Horton at November 12, 2004 11:00 PM
Annatopia will be blogging in real time, covering the RNC protests.
We will begin posting links to protests and groups here starting 8/23/04.
We will also try and post some pdf maps and schedules of protests here as well.
Remember the world will be watching. responsible, peaceful, dissent will be the most effective in bringing down the bush regime.
We will also try and post some pdf maps and schedules of protests here as well.
Remember the world will be watching. responsible, peaceful, dissent will be the most effective in bringing down the bush regime.
Posted by majority at August 23, 2004 02:21 PMCheck out our RNC Convention Archives for more information regarding upcoming events during the GOP Convention.
Posted by Annatopia at August 28, 2004 02:59 PMDon't let sons of bitches like these steal this election. Download this election protection card from Moveon.
THEN CLIP IT. CARRY IT. USE IT.
Posted by not sam at October 29, 2004 5:32 PM*** One DAY LEFT ***
THEY'RE NOT GOING TO GO EASILY. JOHN KERRY IS GOING TO NEED YOUR HELP TO KICK THEM OUT. REMEMBER: THEY CAN'T BE PUNISHED IF THEY'RE STILL IN POWER. DO WHATEVER YOU CAN THIS WEEKEND THE CHANGE THIS COUNTRY:
Election protection:
Help People for the American Way
protect the
election.
Help the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights
protect the
election.
Be an
Election Protection Volunteer.
Swing State Action:
Help win a swing state with
Swing the State.
Join ACT's Florida
Mobilization Center.
Take a Road Trip for
Kerry to any one of 21 critical states.
Swing the swing states with
Moveon.
Make
swing state calls for Moveon.
General:
Volunteer on election day. ACT
needs 25,000.
Volunteer with the Kerry Edwards campaign
here.
Help win back Congress --
volunteer
with the DCCC.
Take a DCCC
road
trip for a new Democratic Majority.
Get involved at your school, at
Democracy on the Quad.
And a great general
Guide to Regime Change, and what you can do to help it along.
Here's an important heads up ...
Yesterday a friend voted early at a polling location in Austin. She voted straight Democratic. When she did the final check, lo and behold every vote was for the Democratic candidates except that it showed she had voted for Bush/Cheney for president/vice pres.
She immediately got a poll official. On her vote, it was
corrected. She called the Travis County Democratic headquarters.
They took all her information, and told her that she wasn't the
first to report a similar incident and that they are looking into
it.
So check before you leave the polling booth, and if anything is
wrong, get it corrected immediately. Report any irregularities to
your
local Democratic headquarters. Make sure you pass this along to your
friends ... hopefully this is all over the airwaves by tomorrow ...
The Texas voting fraud is for real.
I called the Austin office (Dem. Nat. Comm.) 512-637-1737
and they said that it has been happening a lot. They don't know why
but the machines seem more "sensitive" this year and that every
voter MUST check their summary as the presidential choice often
rolls over to the republican choice if you vote straight
democrat
Here is there website.
http://www.democrats.org/
and their main . in DC 202-863-800
There have
been lots of shenanigans regarding poll locations this year...
So even if you're positiverer you know where to vote, check, just to
be on the safe side:
Lots of voting info here:
http://vevo.verifiedvoting.org/
Posted by: Poll Cat at October 31, 2004 8:05 PMALERT: EVERY DEMOCRATIC VOTER NEEDS TO KNOW THIS BY NOVEMBER 2ND!!!:
PROTECT YOUR VOTE!
In view of the possibility electronic voting machines contain malicious code favoring Republicans: DO NOT SELECT THE "Vote Democratic Slate*" OPTION WHEN IT IS OFFERED.
The Reason: If pro-Republican malicious code exists in the electronic voting machines, that code is likely triggered by or tied to this "Vote Democratic Slate" function. To be safe, do NOT identify your vote as Democratic to the machines' program. Instead, select each Democratic candidate individually.
PROTECT YOUR VOTE AND SPREAD THE WORD: SEND THIS EMAIL TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW AND TO EVERY NEWS OUTLET YOU USE!
What follows is a post by UserName, Syndicalist, who wrote on 2004-10-29 12:01:00, describing the danger:
[QUOTE]
Here's an important heads up ...
Yesterday a friend voted early at a polling location in Austin.
She voted straight Democratic.
When she did the final check, lo and behold every vote was for the
Democratic candidates except
that it showed she had voted for Bush/Cheney for president/vice
pres.
She immediately got a poll official. On her vote, it was corrected.
She called the Travis County Democratic headquarters. They took
all her information, and told her that
she wasn't the first to report a similar incident and that they are
looking into it. So check before
you leave the polling booth, and if anything is wrong, get it
corrected immediately. Report any irregularities
to your local Democratic headquarters. Make sure you pass this along
to your friends ... hopefully this is all
over the airwaves by tomorrow ...
The Texas voting fraud is for real. I called the Austin office
(Dem. Nat. Comm.) 512-637-1737 and they said
that it has been happening a lot. They don't know why but the
machines seem more "sensitive" this year and that
every voter MUST check their summary as the presidential choice
often rolls over to the republican choice
if you vote straight democrat. [UNQUOTE]
Original Posting: http://www.livejournal.com/community/anti_...02674#t4102674 :
IMPORTANT: If you vote on electronic voting machines,
DO NOT SELECT "Vote Democratic Slate*" OPTION WHEN OFFERED!
*or similar
PROTECT YOUR VOTE AND SPREAD THE WORD: SEND THIS EMAIL TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW AND TO EVERY NEWS OUTLET YOU USE!
The eVoting machine used in Travis County Texas, home to the incident cited above, is the Hart Intercivic eSlate.
View image of machine: http://www.cybersapian.com/images/eslate_500px.jpg
Here are more incidents from
TRAVIS COUNTY - Election Incident Reporting System: 1-866-OUR-VOTE
as of 10/31/2004:
[QUOTE]
014216 10/22/04, 3:38 PM Machine problem Austin, Travis County,
Texas. Ms. Jones heard a number of reports on the radio in Austin
that people who are voting on the e-Slate machines and are voting a
straight democratic ticket have 2 problems: for a few, it registers
as a vote for Bush; and for all of them, a vote on a referendum
about light rail is not on the "slate" and does not register on the
straight-ticket vote. She would like this addressed. There is no
paper trail on the voting. The election officials appear to be
saying that the Bush-instead of-Kerry incidents are isolated and
few.
014754 10/25/04, 11:32 AM Machine problem Travis County, Texas. Machines are confusing, if you straight Dem, then go back to review or change, a vote for Kerry is changed to a vote for Bush. But there is no paper receipt to verify the problem or if the vote was actually cast for Bush. Voter just received a warning from her precinct chair to that effect.
015252 10/26/04, 9:32 AM Machine problem Travis County, Texas. Caller reported that she knew of 4 people that voted a straight democratice ballot. When they went to reivew their ballot at the end it showed that they had voted for Bush. No return phone call needed, just wanted to make us aware of problem.
015336 10/26/04, 11:29 AM Machine problem austin, Ttravis County, Texas. When you vote straight democratic at the end you have to press "enter" or "cast ballot" some were pressing enter in order to see if there was another page --but when press enter get Bush as your choice- so if you press cast ballot at that point you will then have voted for Bush. Can be fixed if you notice what has happened but may not [UNQUOTE]
REVIEW YOUR VOTE BEFORE YOU PRESS THE "VOTE" BUTTON!
CINCINNATI If a federal judge's ruling stands, Ohio voters won't be facing political party challengers at the polls tomorrow.
The judge in Cincinnati has issued a preliminary injunction that blocks people from questioning voters at polling places tomorrow about their eligibility to cast ballots.
The suit was brought by a black Cincinnati couple who said
Republican plans to send challengers to largely minority precincts
was meant to intimidate and block black voters.
Republicans say they just want to prevent voter fraud.
In issuing her decision early this morning the judge ruled the
statute allowing challengers at polling places was unconstitutional.
She says questioning of voters by inexperienced challengers would
impede voting and would not "serve Ohio's interest in preventing
voter fraud."
http://www.wtvw.com/Global/story.asp?S=2503677&nav=7CPE7F0E
Posted by: shell at November 1, 2004 10:44 AMhttp://www.mypollingplace.com/
Posted by: Nobody at November 1, 2004 11:30 AMStacey Thomas
Buffalo, NY
Posted by: Stacey J. Thomas at November 1, 2004 2:23 PMPosted by: JOHN KERRY at November 1, 2004 7:03 PM
Posted by: rob knedler at November 1, 2004 7:59 PM
Posted by: r knedler at November 1, 2004 8:07 PM
Posted by: firefighter for bush at November 1, 2004 8:09 PM
Posted by: firefighter for bush at November 1, 2004 8:21 PM
From Mordecai, a diarist at Kos:
"...I'm manning the complaint line in southern Florida for ACT and
in the last two hours we have been receiving complaints from
residents in Broward, Palm Beach and Ft. Lauderdale that they have
received calls regarding a precinct change for their voting
tomorrow. We need you to find all the news stations in our region in
time for the 11:00 news. Please make clear that you only want them
to notify Floridians that should they receive a call telling them
that their polling place has changed that they should disregard it.
Florida Kossacks should report any and all shenanigans they have
borne witness to as well.
Here is the full complaint report.
Here's two:
WPTV NBC West Palm Beach News Room (561-653-5700.)
WPEC CBS Channel 12: 561-848-NEWS.
Posted by not sam at November 1, 2004 9:27 PMPlease help spread the word so we can get this on local news stations in Florida tonight.
Posted by: Mordecai at November 1, 2004 9:50 PMPosted by: Mordecai at November 1, 2004 9:54 PM
Posted by: Mary Anne Dijak at November 2, 2004 6:36 PM
An Election Spoiled Rotten
By Greg Palast
TomPaine.com
Monday 01 November 2004
It's not even Election Day yet, and the Kerry-Edwards campaign is already down by a almost a million votes. That's because, in important states like Ohio, Florida and New Mexico, voter names have been systematically removed from the rolls and absentee ballots have been overlooked—overwhelmingly in minority areas, like Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, where Hispanic voters have a 500 percent greater chance of their vote being "spoiled." Investigative journalist Greg Palast reports on the trashing of the election.
John Kerry is down by several thousand votes in New Mexico, though not one ballot has yet been counted. He's also losing big time in Colorado and Ohio; and he's way down in Florida, though the votes won't be totaled until Tuesday night.
Through a combination of sophisticated vote rustling—ethnic cleansing of voter rolls, absentee ballots gone AWOL, machines that "spoil" votes—John Kerry begins with a nationwide deficit that could easily exceed one million votes.
The Urge To Purge
Colorado Secretary of State Donetta Davidson just weeks ago removed several thousand voters from the state's voter rolls. She tagged felons as barred from voting. What makes this particularly noteworthy is that, unlike like Florida and a handful of other Deep South states, Colorado does not bar ex-cons from voting. Only those actually serving their sentence lose their rights.
There's no known, verified case of a Colorado convict voting illegally from the big house. Because previous purges have wiped away the rights of innocents, federal law now bars purges within 90 days of a presidential election to allow a voter to challenge their loss of civil rights.
To exempt her action from the federal rule, Secretary Davidson declared an "emergency." However, the only "emergency" in Colorado seems to be President Bush's running dead, even with John Kerry in the polls.
Why the sudden urge to purge? Davidson's chief of voting law enforcement is Drew Durham, who previously worked for the attorney general of Texas. This is what the Lone Star State's current attorney general says of Mr. Durham: He is, "unfit for public office... a man with a history of racism and ideological zealotry." Sounds just right for a purge that affects, in the majority, non-white voters.
From my own and government investigations of such purge lists, it is unlikely that this one contains many, if any, illegal voters.
But it does contain Democrats. The Dems may not like to shout about this, but studies indicate that 90-some percent of people who have served time for felonies will, after prison, vote Democratic. One suspects Colorado's Republican secretary of state knows that.
Ethnic Cleansing Of The Voter Rolls
We can't leave the topic of ethnically cleansing the voter rolls without a stop in Ohio, where a Republican secretary of state appears to be running to replace Katherine Harris.
In Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), some citizens have been caught Registering While Black. A statistical analysis of would-be voters in Southern states by the watchdog group Democracy South indicates that black voters are three times as likely as white voters to have their registration requests "returned" (i.e., subject to rejection).
And to give a boost to this whitening of the voter rolls, for the first time since the days of Jim Crow, the Republicans are planning mass challenges of voters on Election Day. The GOP's announced plan to block 35,000 voters in Ohio ran up against the wrath of federal judges; so, in Florida, what appear to be similar plans had been kept under wraps until the discovery of documents called "caging" lists. The voters on the “caging� lists, disclosed last week by BBC Television London, are, almost exclusively, residents of African-American neighborhoods.
Such racial profiling as part of a plan to block voters is, under the Voting Rights Act, illegal. Nevertheless, neither the Act nor federal judges have persuaded the party of Lincoln to join the Democratic Party in pledging not to distribute blacklists to block voters on Tuesday.
Absentee Ballots Go AWOL
It's 10pm: Do you know where your absentee ballot is? Voters wary about computer balloting are going postal: in some states, mail-in ballot requests are up 500 percent. The probability that all those votes—up to 15 million—will be counted is zip.
Those who mail in ballots are very trusting souls. Here's how your trust is used. In the August 31 primaries in Florida, Palm Beach Elections Supervisor Theresa LePore (a.k.a. Madame Butterfly Ballot) counted 37,839 absentee votes. But days before, her office told me only 29,000 ballots had been received. When this loaves-and-fishes miracle was disclosed, she was forced to recount, cutting the tally to 31,138.
Had she worked it the other way, disappearing a few thousand votes instead of adding additional ones, there would be almost no way to figure out the fix (or was it a mistake?). Mail-in voter registration forms are protected by federal law. Local government must acknowledge receiving your registration and must let you know if there's a problem (say, with signature or address) that invalidates your registration. But your mail-in vote is an unprotected crapshoot. How do you know if your ballot was received? Was it tossed behind a file cabinet—or tossed out because you did not include your middle initial? In many counties, you won't know.
And not every official is happy to have your vote. It is well-reported that Broward County, Fla., failed to send out nearly 60,000 absentee ballots. What has not been nationally reported is that Broward's elections supervisor is a Jeb Bush appointee who took the post only after the governor took the unprecedented step of removing the prior elected supervisor who happened be a Democrat.
A Million Votes In The Electoral Trash Can
"If the vote is stolen here, it will be stolen in Rio Arriba County," a New Mexico politician told me. That's a reasoned surmise: in 2000, one in 10 votes simply weren't counted—chucked out, erased, discarded. In the voting biz, the technical term for these vanishing votes is "spoilage." Citizens cast ballots, but the machines don't notice. In one Rio Arriba precinct in the last go-'round, not one single vote was cast for president—or, at least, none showed up on the machines.
Not everyone's vote spoils equally. Rio Arriba is 73 percent Hispanic. I asked nationally recognized vote statistician Dr. Philip Klinkner of Hamilton College to run a "regression" analysis of the Hispanic ballot spoilage in the Enchanted State. He calculated that a brown voter is 500 percent more likely to have their vote spoiled than a white voter. And It's worse for Native Americans. Vote spoilage is epidemic near Indian reservations.
Votes don't spoil because they're left out of the fridge. It comes down to the machines. Just as poor people get the crap schools and crap hospitals, they get the crap voting machines.
It's bad for Hispanics; but for African Americans, it's a ballot-box holocaust. An embarrassing little fact of American democracy is that, typically, two million votes are spoiled in national elections, registering no vote or invalidated. Based on studies by the U.S. Civil Rights Commission and the Harvard Law School Civil Rights project, about 54 percent of those ballots are cast by African Americans. One million black votes vanished—phffft!
There's a lot of politicians in both parties that like it that way; suppression of the minority is the way they get elected. Whoever is to blame, on Tuesday, the Kerry-Edwards ticket will take the hit. In Rio Arriba, Democrats have an eight-to-one registration edge over Republicans. Among African American voters...well, you can do the arithmetic yourself.
The total number of votes siphoned out of America's voting booths is so large, you won't find the issue reported in our self-glorifying news media. The one million missing black, brown and red votes spoiled, plus the hundreds of thousands flushed from voter registries, is our nation's dark secret: an apartheid democracy in which wealthy white votes almost always count, but minorities are often purged or challenged or simply not recorded. In effect, Kerry is down by a million votes before one lever is pulled, card punched or touch-screen touched.
Greg Palast, contributing editor to Harper's magazine, investigated the manipulation of the vote for BBC Television's Newsnight. The documentary, "Bush Family Fortunes," based on his New York Times bestseller, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, has been released this month on DVD (www.gregpalast.com/bff-dvd.htm).
Posted by: Bob IRonside at November 2, 2004 7:03 PMWhat we need to do now is to win the buzz war by casting doubt on Bush's second failed attempt at legitimate election. This is a vital window where we can set a tone -- but most importantly, disrupt their "mandate" spin.
First we remind people that the popvote margin is actually very small (though better than his last -500K), and can be parsed in several vivid ways that show how historically insignificant it is.
We also remind everybody that the only thing that tipped the electoral win to Bush -- and the only real surprise on election night -- was Ohio going Red.
And that happened just like Florida in 2000 -- First FOX called it, then the networks, it went back and forth and defied the exit polls. You could see how it was confusing the actual journalists who were covering it. And was called for Bush long before all the votes were ever counted.
But there are huge differences this year -- and not just the army of lawyers and network of cam-phone activists.
First and foremost, the count is still going on in Ohio. Ken Blackwell himself said that the provisionals can't be counted until Nov. 12. That is going to work for us if we can propagate the idea fact that Ohio's electoral votes haven't actually been allocated to either candidate yet. Concession or not, we should remind everybody NOW that Ohio's 20 electoral votes could actually still go to Kerry, tipping the whole thing to Kerry before the Electors meet to do the deed. Wouldn't that be a mindfuck? It's a powerful idea, and that's the only power we can take out of this election right not.
I'll tell you, Donna, that I genuinely feel certain that if all the votes were counted in Ohio (and even Florida), the state would go to Kerry. I doubt we could ever count them all, because they were cast on Diebold black boxes. But we can create a profound and widespread moral realization that if it weren't for a wide array of plainly visible dirty tricks and electoral crimes, Kerry would rightly claim Ohio's 20 Electors when the deal goes down in December.
There is still time. The rot is fresh and the (s)election is only a couple of news cycles old.
Imagine the drumbeat we could build -- focusing the quiet rage felt by every progressive activist who has worked hard for the righteous victory they know they were due and they watched be stolen from them on national TV. Consider the petitions, boycotts, mailslams and whisper campaigns that could make this the REAL story of the election. Think of the protests at the site where the electors meet. It would harness a lot of energy before it dissipates.
The worst we could do would be keeping the Anti-Bush Bandwagon going when they expect us to be stunned, challenging them at their own game just when they think they've out-flanked us -- that will throw them off-step at a crucial time when they were hoping to be coasting.
Or we could actually create a popular movement for election reform energized around making the Electors cast their votes for Kerry -- Focus on the W. Virginia Elector who said before the election that he will vote for Kerry.
If it fizzled, it would still cast a dark pall over his second term even before his second inaugural (which will be remembered for the smell of tear gas and the roar of water cannon).
Or we could create a groundswell of "Draft Kerry" to call for him to make a statement saying he "will accept the Electoral College's choice, whatever it should be."
If we pop the illusion of Bush's popvote "mandate" before they can get it to feel normal, and relentlessly expose and propagate the myriad cases of votes disappearing (4K votes in NC vanished because the manufacturer lied about how many votes each machine could hold), and talk up the daily narrowing of Bush's margin in Ohio and elsewhere as GOP dirty tricks backfire all across the country (because we were watching this time), AND we keep reminding people for the next 8 days that Ohio's Electors really are still very much up in the air.
We could make Kerry's concession moot if we play this hand like Rove would.
PRINT YOUR DISSENT!
http://agitprops.org
PLEASE, SOMEONE Pick up on this tonight. If it happened one place in Ohio, it could have happened a LOT of places in Ohio...maybe 140,000 votes worth?
Posted by: Evan at November 5, 2004 6:58 PMWhat's Wrong with Liberty, Florida?
Liberty County in Florida has 320 registered Republicans and 3,597 registered Democrats, and 158 voters registered to other parties or "No Party".
On November 2nd, 2004, Liberty country delivered 1,927 votes for Bush, 1,070 votes for Kerry, and 24 for other candidates.
Yes those numbers are correct, straight from official postings of the Florida Secretary of State's office as of yesterday.
A county with only 320 Republicans gave Bush 1,927 votes. That is 6 times more votes for Bush than there are registered Republicans (602% to be exact).
For that to happen, based on the voter turnout rate of 74% in Liberty county, about 1600 Democrats had to switch sides to vote for Bush. That's 60% of all the Democrats who voted there.
Sorry, that strikes me as impossible. Exit polls in Florida showed 11% of Democrats voting for Bush, nowhere near 60%.
Was this a temporary madness limited to isolated people in one small county? It doesn't look like it. Here are the numbers from a few other Florida counties:
Baker County: Registered REP: 3,126 Bush Votes: 7,738 248%
Calhoun County: Registered REP: 993 Bush Votes: 3,780 381%
Franklin County: Registered REP: 1,212 Bush Votes: 3,472 286%
Gadsden County: Registered REP: 3,012 Bush Votes: 6,253 208%
Hamilton County: Registered REP: 1,140 Bush Votes: 2,792 245%
Holmes County: Registered REP: 2,344 Bush Votes: 6,410 273%
Lafayette County: Registered REP: 570 Bush Votes: 2,460 432%
Liberty County: Registered REP: 320 Bush Votes: 1,927 602%
Jackson County: Registered REP: 5,962 Bush Votes: 12,115 203%
Someone needs to get a recount in Florida now!
For more info go to http://www.rantworld.com
Thanks, Rob
Posted by: Rob Dixon at November 5, 2004 8:47 PMBlackboxvoting.org is fighting this election. There has been serious voter fraud in OHIO and FLORIDA. Serious fraud, enough fraud that might change the results. Keep in mind. The election is not over until the electorial votes are cast, not the peoples votes.
Don't sit this one out, HELP OUT
They don't want money, well they do but don't require it. They just want help. I am helping by writing this, you should too. Please check it out, please please please.
Remember what happened to Dan Rather when he tried to pass off the phony letter, just think what will happen if the votes turn out to be tainted.
Please help. This is real and urgent that you help. We need the people on this. You guys can help out more than anyone.
Please. I don't want to move out out this country. I like it here and the bugs in Austrailia are very scary.
HELP PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
DON'T LET THIS ELECTION BE STOLEN. IF YOU SEE ANY GOP THUGGERY, REPORT IT TO:
1-866-OURVOTE (1-866-687-8683)
And email your election reports, photos, news, anectdoes, stories, to:
majorityreportradio@earthlink.net
Posted by not sam at November 2, 2004 6:34 PMWhy is everyone so happy, when we probably haven't even seen the real fiasco yet? It's in the COUNTING of all the votes we've gotten out. Republicans are insidious and saw that the Dems and Election Protection was so well organized with polling monitors and lawyers, that they backed off in the disenfranchisement & intimidation department. BUT the whole Diebold scandal with the CEO promising to deliver the election in Ohio to Bush, indicates a profound loophole.
We might have gotten record numbers to vote, but right now key Election Officials might be changing our sacred votes. All votes cast are sent from the polls and go though a Central Tabulator. It's made by Diebold, and are highly suspect and very easy to tamper with. These machines take all the votes, whether electronic or absentee and tabulate them. They take 2 million votes and compile them. But they can be altered by a simple non-password 2-digit code.
BlackBoxVoting.org has tracked this very carefully.
WHY ARE WE NOT MONITORING ALL VOTES AFTER THEY LEAVE THE POLLING PLACES??? THAT IS WHERE WE ARE MOST VULNERABLE!!
I actually heard Howard Dean around 1:00pm on the Ed Schultz Show
say "Well once we cast votes then they are out of our control."
and Ed said "Yah, so we'll just wait and see."
What is going on?? Why are we so complacent about this critical phase of having an accurate picture of how America votes? It's like we could only focus on the front end, but then got paralyzed when dealing with the way Republicans actually think. They won't let us take this easily or cleanly! They will act in the places they know we are not looking! They are now, right now, stealing our hard earned votes.
Let's turn our team of 12,000 lawyers to the issue of keeping our votes SAFE, and accurate!!
We want Kerry's Landslide to show-up as a LANDSLIDE!!
Blessings on our Voice!!
Rev . Alexandra Childs
Posted by: Heather at November 2, 2004 9:34 PM
Posted by: Richie at November 3, 2004 12:57 PM
Posted by: Jess Dailey at November 3, 2004 1:19 PM
Posted by: Chuck at November 3, 2004 4:19 PM
this thread is not the
active one today, Nov 3 04
todays active thread is here.
http://www.majorityreportradio.com/weblog/archives/001109.php
eya Gang
this thread is not the
active one today, Nov 3 04
todays active thread is here.
http://www.majorityreportradio.com/weblog/archives/001109.php
eya Gang
this thread is not the
active one today, Nov 3 04
todays active thread is here.
http://www.majorityreportradio.com/weblog/archives/001109.php
Posted by: Sunshine Jim at November 3, 2004 4:26 PMPhil felt energized by the fact that he was working on something that wasn't a lost cause. Like me, he's been a Democrat since McGovern. Little did we know that we would be betrayed by the 18-29 age group. I might live to see another election, but I know Phil won't and he knows it too.
Thanks a lot you dead-ass, dead-mind, losers. Won't it be ironic when the boy-idiot king ships you off to Iraq on your one-way trip?
Typical reponse today:
"I didn't vote because I wasn't committed enough to choose between the lesser of two evils."
Jen
Posted by: Jen at November 3, 2004 5:22 PMPosted by: june at November 3, 2004 7:05 PM
Posted by: devinevision at November 3, 2004 10:53 PM
Posted by: janice ward at November 5, 2004 8:24 PM
Posted by: payday loan at November 30, 2004 12:07 AM
when the majority of Bush supporters don't even know what he stands for.
Posted by not sam at November 3, 2004 7:41 PMPosted by: Carol at November 3, 2004 7:58 PM
Posted by: robbbc at November 3, 2004 8:03 PM
Posted by: bushwins at November 3, 2004 8:13 PM
Posted by: Logan at November 3, 2004 8:27 PM
Posted by: robbbc at November 3, 2004 8:27 PM
Mandate? It was a fraud! I am sooooooo
sick of the mainstream spinning that
we need to unite. Aaron Brown mused
last night that the country needs to
move past the division. Excuse me?
This is what I wrote him:
am writing to address
your question of resolving
a divided America. Your
rheotorical questions about
the nature of America's
division did little justice
to the true nature of
that division. It is
not America that created
the division. It is
your own news organizations
that parrot the fallacies
of a crown prince
President -
And, his name is Geore
W Bush. Mr. Bush has
governed this nation to
his far right agenda. He
broke his pledge to serve
as a "Uniter not a divider"
He has abused the public
trust, by presenting
cherry picked and
manipulated intelligence,
in launching America's
first pre-emptive war. He
betrayed his own party
by abadoning the fiscal
and small government
policies that traditional
Republicans (& many
democrats) honor as
hallmarks of their
party affliations.
Today, George Bush asked
us to unite as a nation.
But, I must ask - Unite
behind what?
Myself & millions like me,
find the very principles
and policies George
W Bush represents as
the antithesis of American
values. We are not
unpatriotic or spiteful.
We are aghast in horror.
I invite you to come
to a blue state. I
invite you to talk
to those of us who feel
that we have just been
gut punched full out
in the liver.
We are devastated.
We are confused.
We are trying to figure
out what we can possibly
do now to preserve the
fragments of our shredded
democracy.
You do a great disservice
in not examining the
true nature of this
divide. I don't believe
that you even realize that
millions of us don't even
believe Mr. Bush was
honestly elected. And,
would you expect us to
believe such a thing?
There is no way to even
verify the vote in
Ohio and Florida - there
is no paper trail.
I realize this e-mail is
very long. But, I am
absolutely broken-hearted.
Posted by: Shelly at November 3, 2004 8:40 PM
Posted by: Diane at November 3, 2004 8:59 PM
Posted by: Timothy at November 3, 2004 9:10 PM
Hmm, I wonder why they think such silly things. Oh, I know. Maybe because Saddam DID have ties to terrorists, WAS a terrorist, DID use WMDs against his own people and neighbors and wanted to reconstitute his programs. But because there was no smoking gun and the UN has a monopoly on morality, we're all idiots, and Saddam is innocent.
"Wake up" liberal minority America. You lost. Bush gained voter share in almost every demographic, not because Americans got dumber or were scared into voting for him, but because he has a clear vision, and it is more in tune with the founding principles of this country, and is why millions around the world want to join us.
Jeneane thinks only republicans have the "Cultural raw materials to workw ith: ignorance, apathy, fear"
Who brought up the draft scare? Social security scare? Who tried to influence the election by publishing the story of missing explosives for the sole purpose of hurting Bush, when hardly any of the facts were known? Who tried to get Dan Rather to lie to the American public about those memos?
Democrats. Despite what you's like to believe, you're not all angels. The Michael Moore element of your party lost the election for you. It would be best to weed out that faction before your next attempt.
Good luck!
Posted by: Matt at November 3, 2004 9:12 PM
First, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to Janeane and Sam
and all the other great folks at Air America--both on the air and
off--not just for your superb efforts during the campaign, but for
your strength and steadiness on the day after. You are a wonderful
example to all of us.
Secondly, we must not engage in the blame game. The painful
sacrifices and exhausting efforts made by our Democratic
leaders--especially Senators Kerry and Edwards and their
families--deserve our utmost honor and respect.
Thirdly, unless we want America to remain a one-party system, we
must determine what went wrong and then act on it NOW.
At the moment, the three primary reasons for the loss suffered by
America's true patriots (those of us who actually know the meaning
of the phrase "American Values") appear to be:
(1) LOW TURN-OUT: Had only 5% more Democrats voted, America might
still be a democracy today.
(2) IGNORANCE: Clearly, (a) Democratic non-voters did not understand
that their failure to vote was life-threatening; and (b) most of
those who voted for the Bush regime did not know that they were
voting against themselves.
(3) VOTER FRAUD: So long as electronic ballots without paper trails
remain legal, we may never regain our voice.
Hopefully, cleaning up VOTER FRAUD is an achievable goal, but only
if we act quickly (before we are overtaken by one-party judges).
The LOW TURN-OUT is probably a side effect of IGNORANCE, an ailment
that can be cured only by perpetual strong doses of EDUCATION since,
as Thomas Jefferson wrote on January 8, 1789:
"Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with
their own government: that whenever things get so far wrong as to
attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights."
Apparently (see VOTER FRAUD), over fifty million Americans were NOT
"well-informed" yesterday, and although our heroes at Air America
Radio (and hundreds of thousands more) have made a great start,
every Democrat who believes in liberty and justice for all *must*
join them since giving up is NOT an American Value.
Posted by: ricky at November 3, 2004 9:21 PM
We lost it is a fact. We have to
start accepting it. We can feel sad, even very depressed as I do. It
doesn't make me feel any better to think that we were supposed to
have lost by a greater degree!
Also,
I believe they cheated a lot - but I don't know if it is clear yet
whether we would have won had the Republicans not cheated.
I certainly hope that we can discover the ways and extent to which voter fraud was perpetrated against us, even if the red majority will never believe or know about it.
Finally, perhaps it is the job of AirAmerica to try to make us feel better by talking about a silver lining, but I just am not ready to really hear it yet. I need to wallow in this depression for at least another day or week or month or year.
Posted by: Kim at November 3, 2004 9:26 PMPosted by: Davey at November 3, 2004 9:31 PM
But what terrifies me, however, is the Bush voter who DOES know what he stands for: and still voted for him.
I hope the next four years serve as a waking call to americans.
Posted by: Margarita at November 3, 2004 9:46 PMPosted by: Cynthia at November 3, 2004 9:50 PM
You all think the Bush team is too incompetent to run a war and find (or plant) WMDs, but somehow he's able to steal an election without anyone finding out about it?
do you guys ever question each other? It might actually help you win elections.
Posted by: Matt at November 3, 2004 10:23 PMIt seems most of the supporters of Kerry here believe Bush cheated. We will examine this claim. Now, instead of engaging in the tiresome and futile cataloging of facts supporting or refuting this claim let us instead examine the likelihood of the parties involved to engage in the actions nesseccary to produce such a claim. We will not examine the veracity of the claim directly but perhaps the truth will become self evident during our exercise.
First possibility: Bush actually did cheat.
As is made clear by the comments on this board Bush is involved in a nefariously legalistic and exclusive sect of christianity. It takes only a cursory examination of the tenets of that christianity to realize that it regards falsehood as utterly reprehensible. I understand that many here will exclaim that the aforementioned religion is inherently hypocritical and therefore capable of such a contradiction...but why then would it be so vociferous in it's condemnation of deceit? It seems this theory leaves us weaving ever widening and complex webs of deceit within deceit... all the while ignoring the most simple explanation expressed by the very words we started with: that the exclusive and legalistic sect of christianity that Bush adheres to actually condemns falsehood on the strongest terms. If we take this on face value it seems highly unlikely that Bush cheated.
Second possibility: Bush did not cheat and somebody is just saying he did.
Notice I carefully avoided the allegation that those who are
saying he cheated are lying. That is because lying infers they are
not telling the truth and therefore "truth" must be defined in order
to prove a lie has been told. As the governor of New Jersey (?)
stated when he came out of the closet recently "MY truth is...." I
dare say many on this board hold with his sentiment. To them truth
is a personal definition to be worked out in private and then
defended courageously in public. It is the same sentiment expressed
by the great Bill Clinton when he said "it depends on what you mean
by the word 'is'".
I would dare say many on this board hold that the right to define
one's own "truth" is sacred and universal. Those are the same who
have the capacity to hold (as their own personal "truth") that Bush
cheated. To them the facts that support that Bush did not cheat mean
very little so that cataloging them for their benefit would be
tiresome and futile. To these folks they are just opposing "truths"
that threaten their own personal "truths" to which they have pledged
to defend with all the vigor that a small child musters in his
belief in santa clause when presented evidence to the contrary.
Once again let me urge you to examine the parties involved in the claim in question in order to resolve the issue: did Bush cheat or are some just saying that he did?
Posted by: devinevision at November 3, 2004 10:28 PMWhich patriot said "Give me diversity or give me death!"?
Posted by: devinevision at November 3, 2004 10:38 PMPosted by: Robert Whelan at November 3, 2004 11:05 PM
I doubt that anyone thinks that BUSH went to a polling place and rigged the machine. So his religious beliefs have NOTHING to do with whether or not the EVIL conservatives were able to pull some "shenanigans". We aren't talking about a 5th grade math quiz here.
And while your post does provide a good laugh at its silliness, really get a clue, here is one:
Karl Rove - the most evil human alive and possibly the most evil one that has ever lived.
Get the book "Bush's Brain" and try to read it if you can.
Posted by: Kim at November 3, 2004 11:24 PMP.S. You don't need a "mandate" to be elected. Just the most electoral votes.
Posted by: Jerry at November 3, 2004 11:43 PMWho is the most evil human alive and possibly the most evil one that has ever lived?
A)That guy who hacked a prisoners head off in that video with a dull butcher knife.
B)Osama Bin Laden
C)That peterson guy in california who drowned his pregnant wife.
D) Karl Rove
Perfect example of my "personal truth" v/s "objective truth" theory...thanks Kim
Posted by: devinevision at November 3, 2004 11:46 PM
So...I guess it all depends on what you mean by the word
"evil"...doesn't it Kim?
wait...where have I heard that line of defense before!!!?
Posted by: Joe at November 4, 2004 1:05 AM
http://www.cafepress.com/ivoted4kerry
Posted by: ds at November 4, 2004 3:26 AMIn the end, the Bush campaign focused its message on only one huge demographic, and that was the Religious Right. With only one target group to reach, they only needed a handful of messages that they could repeat over and over again. The main message was that "Terroists are bad. We need to fight them over there. Kerry would be bad for fighting Terroism."
Kerry didn't have the convenience of having one or two simple ideas. He had to appeal to such a wide ranging demographic, and that is what killed him. Because his message was more complex, the media portrayed him as indecisive. So diversity is actually a crutch when it comes to campaigns.
Perhaps the Democrats should focus their messages on a more generic level. Like morals and values. I think Sam was hitting on this during tonight's show. The Democratic view, I think, is actually more morally grounded than the Republicans. The Dems, for instance, want to help the less fortunate, avoid war at all costs, and have equal rights for everyone. These are the fundamental attributes that we as Democrats should turn everyone's focus to.
Posted by: Davey at November 4, 2004 4:13 AMPosted by: ian at November 4, 2004 4:14 AM
ummm.. Jerry...maybe you should learn the meaning of the word "mandate" before you post on this again. (http://www.merriam-webster.com)
But thanks for providing more evidence that the people who voted
for Bush are not the brightest bulbs.
Posted by: jj at November 4, 2004 9:53 AM
Posted by: Shawn at November 4, 2004 9:59 AM
Michael Albert offers some perspective on the election results, what they say about the american public, and how they relate to authentic leftist activism.
I highly recommend that everyone here reads this:
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=41&ItemID=6571
all the best,
finn
My suggestion to everyone reading this: get over the 2004 NATIONAL election. Focus your anger and your energies on the Legislature in your own home STATES. With this, the national congressional map can be "corrected" and then we can think about electing more left-leaning people to national seats.
Posted by: GeoHerr at November 4, 2004 10:50 AMPosted by: GeoHerr at November 4, 2004 10:57 AM
Posted by: Cruz at November 4, 2004 11:21 AM
Posted by: nat at November 4, 2004 11:55 AM
Posted by: TRUSTYOUROWNBUSH. at November 4, 2004 12:03 PM
Kerry lost the election. He ignored advice
from Clinton and Carville about what he should do. Any democrat
should have been able to own bush this election.
What do democrats stand for anyways?
If you are for gay marrige, then why didn't Kerry come out and make
a stand?
Democrats will not win an election until they make a stand for what
they believe in. Love or Hate Bush, everyone knows what he believes
and he won't change these beliefs for anyone.
Posted by: stronger america at November 4, 2004 3:38 PM
Posted by: Roy at November 4, 2004 3:40 PM
Why can't you just admit that you will never accept Bush or any other Republican no matter what they do. He got 280+ electoral college votes and won the majority of overall votes.
So instead of just being big about it and admitting you lost and saying that you'll just try harder to get your message out, you put out some bullshit spin.
You sound like a bitter sports fan who just can't admit that his/her team lost. "The refs cheated us, we had injuries, the other team made lucky plays, etc." Why can't you just take your lose like a man?
I'm a Republican, but in no way do I agree with everything that Bush does. I almost voted Libertarian, but people like you and Michael Moore etc, pushed me to Bush.
If you ever want open minded people to take you seriously, you got to learn to be objective. It's the only way you maintain credibility.
Posted by: Brad at November 4, 2004 4:56 PM<But thanks for providing more evidence that the people who voted for Bush are not the brightest bulbs.
From Merriam-Webster: 2 : an authorization to act given to a representative
ummmm.... Athena1955, you don't get it. You seem to think that being elected president doesn't count unless you win 60% or more of the popular vote and almost all of the electoral vote. WRONG. President Bush received an authorization to act because he received the most electoral votes. Case closed. By the way, turn up your wattage.
Posted by: Jerry at November 4, 2004 5:02 PMPosted by: LUIS at November 4, 2004 5:16 PM
Are you people really so arrogant as to not think for even a second that maybe, just maybe you really are in the minority of the country? That maybe the majority of the country thinks that the war on terror is absolutely necessary? And it's not because we are stupid, crazy, blind, deceived, evil, ignorant, etc.
Are you so arrogant as to think that you're the only ones mourning the loss of our troops, or human life in general? I'm sure none of the 59,313,309 people that voted for President Bush wants any of our soldiers to die or get wounded!
President Bush is not King, and he's not God. He can't do much of anything on his own - it has to go through what is a relatively evenly split congress. He can't magically reverse Roe v. Wade. He can't suddenly ban gay marriage (the majority of the voters are doing that).
A little advice: use a little more common sense and a lot less anger and hatred. It will make life a little easier for you. Make an attempt at having a truly open mind and try to understand why President Bush was re-elected with a greater percentage of the popular vote than Clinton ever was.
On a more personal note, I am surprised (shocked is more like it!) with the disdain that many left-leaning people have when referring to the "religious right". I thought you folks were supposed to be accepting. I thought that the democrats were supposed to be the party of love, compassion and understanding. I guess that only applies to people who think like you, or if it serves your purposes.
Try living by the doctorine you preach before lashing out at others.
Posted by: Dave at November 4, 2004 7:04 PMPosted by: Libs are Morons at November 4, 2004 7:12 PM
Jerry, you idiot, what the hell are you talking about? This blog
topic is asking whether or not there is a MANDATE for bush to govern
this nation like a right wing theocrat because he won the election
even if his idiot supporters are so stupid that they don't even know
what he REALLY stands for. YOU posted some moronic drivel saying
"You don't need a "mandate" to be elected. Just the most electoral
votes.".. which has NOTHING to do with anything.. a mandate is about
AFTER the election, not before, idiot.. learn to use the frickin'
english language.
"On a more personal note, I am surprised (shocked is more like it!) with the disdain that many left-leaning people have when referring to the "religious right". I thought you folks were supposed to be accepting. I thought that the democrats were supposed to be the party of love, compassion and understanding. I guess that only applies to people who think like you, or if it serves your purposes."
Or, it could just be a bunch of bull shit!!! Sure smells like it to me!
Posted by: Demsuck at November 4, 2004 7:56 PMPosted by: Jerry at November 4, 2004 9:14 PM
republicans to dupe the American public. The economy is in the toilet, employment
figures have taken a dive, our national deficit is sky-rocketing, and our children are
dying in an unnecessary war...yet, the morons who vote for Bush cling to the spin that
"things are lookin' up." I'm truly ashamed to be a member of a public that
unashamedly wallows in ignorance.
Everytime you hear the pres hold forth on our responsibilty to
"spread democracy"
throughout the world, try replacing the word "democracy" with "Christianity" and all
of a sudden the phrase "Manifest Destiny" should ring in your
ears.
I hope all you middle-class, poor, uneducated, paycheck-to-paycheck
citizens will one
day realize that the Bush elite do not have your best interests at heart. I hope one
day your eyes are opened to the reality that you have been used. They will take your
vote, your money, and eventually your life in exchange for under-performing schools, a
laughable healthcare system, and a job market that offers little hope to the majority
of Americans.
Just like the poor white sharecroppers during Reconstruction who
were tricked into
believing that poor blacks were the "real enemy," a majority of americans (mostly
white) have again submitted to the lie that the "brown people" are a threat. When will
you people see that the Bush administration and everything it represents is NOT on
your side? When will you look back on history and see that its not other poor people
you should fear, whether they live in Iraq or Indiana? Unless you earn over $200k a
year you have no business supporting the Bush regime. And if you did, youre truly
contributing to your own demise. It saddens me that this nation is so eager to worship
at the alter of capitalism that we willingly empower an ignorant warmonger with no
respect for other cultures or the sanctity of human life.
I like to think that I am a Christian. It offends me on so many
levels that we have
allowed this administration to cloak itself in the banner of Christianity while
shedding the blood of the innocent. The Right's misuse of the faith I hold dear is
most glaring in this sham of a debate on gay marriage.
How can Christians support the legal discrimination of an entire
group of people based
on the Bible? Isn't it the Bible that also provides us with very narrow grounds for
justified divorce? So why don't I see the Religious Right calling for a ban of the
second marriages of the people who divorce for reasons other than those deemed
acceptable by God? Where is all the moral outrage at the unholy second marriages in
this country which threaten to breakdown the american society at its most fundamental
level? That's hypocrisy at its finest. Congratulations hypocrites on so cleverly
high-jacking a faith based on love, compassion, and forgiveness. Kudos on a campaign
of distortion so successful that this administration is able to effectively justify
violence, intolerance, imperialism, discrimination, and even war.
For all you poor deluded fools out there who tossed your hat into the ring with Bush,
I truly hope the next four years turn out to be a time of unparalleled prosperity in
America. I hope the Bush tax cuts create an economic boom unlike any other in the
history of our nation. I hope No Child Left Behind leads to record-setting
improvements in our public education system. I hope the healthcare crisis we face is
defused by Bush's Prescription Drug policy, medical tort reform, and the privatizing
of Medicare. I hope that the Bush forecast turns out to be right and true, because if
it doesn't, I cringe at the prospect of how history will judge us. But mostly, I pray
to God that Iraq is secured and democracy flourishes as we engage in this global war
on terror. I desperately hope that all the decisions we made, the risks we have taken,
and the sacrifices we will endure prove worthwhile, because if we are unsuccessful and
innocent men, women, and children die in vain, how will you people live with
yourselves?
Posted by: pudley_kgb at November 4, 2004 10:45 PMPosted by: Shawn at November 4, 2004 10:49 PM
why do you say our economy is in the toilet?
Posted by: Shawn at November 4, 2004 10:53 PMPosted by: Big Tom, a Canadian who is influenced by USA at November 5, 2004 3:19 PM
On both sides.
You progressives may want to deny this, but there are quite a few Christian Democrats out there, just because we have %49 of a high turnout does NOT mean that %49 of America are progressive, or atheist, or anti-war or anti-poverty or what ever other idea you espouse.
In fact I am anti-abortion and anti-war and anti-death-penalty as well as anti-embryonic-stem-cell-research.
Yet I voted for Kerry.
I am a Catholic and I don't believe that a human killing another human is EVER justified.
What I do note of this election that you can make any excuse you want, but the longer that the Democratic party justifies death the less people will be on your side.
The reason I voted for Kerry? I believe that Bush will kill and harm more people than Kerry will with his politics. Simple as that.
They say that there was a 22% evangelical turnout? If they count evangelical's that vote for Bush only, then I can assure you that the real amount of Evangelicals is more like 40%, also the amount of Christians is likely to be more like 80%.
America is a Christian nation that is tolerant of other religions, you have a freedom to practice religion, and I see the Democrats working on a dangerous mandate of freedom FROM religion. Beware Atheist dogma, it will make us lose and even destroy our party.
A Christian Left needs to rise and be counted. A Christian Left is ready to be born, watch for it.
Posted by: Lojack at November 5, 2004 3:45 PMPosted by: Shawn at November 5, 2004 10:20 PM
Excuse me? What election are you talking about? In 92 Clinton won with 49% of the popular vote to H Bush's 37%, nearly 6 million votes more than the senior bush. In 96 he won with 49% to Dole's 40%.. that time there were 8 million votes in his favor.
>So I would say about 4 million votes is pretty decisive.when it comes down to it,
No.. it doesn't
>the Dems NOT the republicans need to reach out, not the other way around.Like I said before, start making nice you Dems or you will get pushed aside.
Sorry, I don't play nice with ignorant, fear mongering bigots.
>You can be a Democrat,
oh thank you mein Führer
> just remember YOU lost and with that comes some renewed thinking on your part.
I agree... thinking would be helpful, since your side clearly doesn't spend much time doing it
>Maybe start with: maybe I am not as intellectually superior as I think I am? just some advice.
Sorry.. bush won this election by pandering to people's
ignorance, bigotry and fear.. intellect had nothing to do with it
In a
story about Bush's desire to use his Mandate
blindate to privatize social security
The future of Social Security and the financial strains it faces when 77 million baby boomers begin to retire was a major issue in this year's presidential elections.
I'll give an example. The fed stops funding Amtrak.
Won't affect the northeast won't affect the west coast. We could
band together and come up with a "regional" rather than national
health plan.
This is the only pragmatic solution I can think of. Otherwise we spend time and money trying to do nationwide and losing what we can do regionally and winning.
Peace....Dee
Posted by: Dee at November 4, 2004 4:37 PMhttp://www.tompaine.com/articles/kerry_won_.php
Posted by: J at November 4, 2004 5:16 PMAN OPEN LETTER RO SENATOR JOHN F. KERRY
SIR:
I am one of your millions of ardent supporters, and I applaud you
for a very dignified campaign. Despite the ugly machinations of your
opponents, you managed to not be brought down to their beastly
level. I know that, again, it was a stolen election: rigged voting
machines with no paper receipts and widespread voter
disenfranchisement.
On second thought, who would be bold enough to straighten the mess that President Bush has fostered on America? Too, why don’t we just let him pull the whole nation into the abyss? I guess President Bush and his zealot minions deserve one another. Let us see if they can handle it once the refuse hits the fan.
Talk of a damaged culture. Out the window goes our hope of a program for energy independence which you could have successfully implemented. Out, too, is our hope of ever utilizing stem-cell science in search of cures for myriads of human illnesses. Ditto with your vision of fiscal responsibility in government and providing health care and gainful employment to the American populace.
Owing to what happened, I have decided to bail out of America. I guess I have no patience for a stubborn and misguided leader such as George W. Bush.
Finally, I wish to thank you for the opportunity to work with you during your campaign, albeit my role was only peripheral. I enjoyed every minute of it.
Godspeed! You will always be my president.
Yours faithfully,
BENITO B. MARAY
benmaray@yahoo.com
WE
BOYCOTT ALL COMPANIES THAT ARE BIG BUSH SUPPORTERS. There are lists
of these on the Internet. Air America has also mentioned companies
that are big Bush contributors such as MBNA, WalMart and Home Depot.
I will not step foot in those stores ever again. Other big
contributors are Ameriquest, Merrill Lynch and Citibank. We need to
close out our accouts at those companies.
Also on the lists of Bush supporters were the Dairy Fairmers of
America. Now we know why milk is so expensive. I cannot boycott
milk, but I would if I could. If 54,000,000 people stop going to
Home Depot, maybe, just maybe these corporate giants will start to
listen to the Truth about what Bush is doing to this country ie;
leading it into an economic and moral ditch.
PS. I do not believe that Bush won the election. I believe the exit polls that had Kerry the winner. For years and years, the exit polls were used to predict the winner acurately. So why are the exit polls wrong now? Because Bush rigged the polling machines in the Florida and Ohio.
Today, Bush said today that he is going to start spending the economic and political capital he has from "winning" the election. He has no capital to spend from Kerry supporters and we have to let him know that - not that he cares. Mr. Bush you have nothing but contempt from me. Spend that.
Posted by: Mary Poppins at November 4, 2004 5:43 PMFighting any or every other
issue will be unavailing if the black box machines are rigged (as
the Ohio and Florida exit poll/vote count disparities suggest they
were Tuesday). And even if they weren't rigged this time, it's just
too easy to fine tune the result, and partisans always will be in
control of counting the vote.
Transparency in voting is so obviously the American way--an
embodiment of our core values and a matter of fundamental fairness,
not to mention common sense, good management, and economy--that the
dangerous partisanship of those who build and program these machines
is an issue that shouldn't even have to be reached, in deciding to
require an honest paper trail from the machines that tabulate our
elections. Moreover, even with no hanky panky, the black boxes'
error rates are many times higher than much cheaper systems that use
paper ballots and optical scanners.
Right now we have to spend and fight for paper ballots, or at least paper trails. You guys know this better than anyone else except maybe Bev Harris and Greg Palast. It is simply insane that we used machines which left no record after the fractious 2000 election (and why John Kerry gave up yesterday instead of fighting to force the spotlight on this scandal, this dagger in America's heart, is incomprehensible to me).
Whatever other issues our elected officials care about are less
important than this one. The principals and affiliates of the
companies that make the black box machines are Dominionist
extremists, who advocate a Christian version of the Taliban. They
will have it, unless we stop them. We would not let Islamist
extremists program and run our voting machines, so how can we let
Christian extremists do it?
For the last twenty-five years, the religious right has been running
a creeping tender offer for control of America. After Tuesday, they
are five Senate votes away from a filibuster-proof majority, which
will complete their hostile takeover of federal, state and local
government. After they get those Senate seats in a mid-term election
that only partisans care about, our lives will be in their hands.
Read their manifestos and see if Pastor Niemoeller's poem doesn't
come to mind.*
The extremists who build and run our voting machines will have their
theocracy in short order, unless we galvanize the vast supermajority
of Americans whom they threaten. It won't matter how much Democrats
improve at articulating values and running the right people in
tough, smart campaigns if we don't get transparency in voting.
(BTW, Janeane, as sad as I am to say it, Hillary or Barack Obama in 2008 is a loss, and a ticket with both of them is a historic wipeout. Like many other Jews, I have no doubt that Gore would have easily won with no Lieberman on the ticket in 2000. Please don't encourage Democrats to demand more proof of Americans' abiding racism and bigotry. This is how Bushco wins).
The demand for transparency in voting has to become a public outcry, as "unsexy" as it sounds. A people with nothing to hide count their votes in the sunshine. We're Americans, dammit! A free people who do our business fairly. We pride ourselves on our "free and fair elections."
The Republicans must be shamed into dumping these machines or at least generating receipts or a paper trail. I've discussed it with many, and none have disagreed with me on requiring a paper trail. Americans believe in winning fair and square. It's a core values argument, one that true Republicans understand and respond to. "As Americans, we love and honor our freedom. We have real elections here, not fake ones like the communists used to stage."
And, for the Neo-Republicans, who are name-calling bullies, it's also a macho dare, the kind that bullies can't back down from. "Hey. Whatcha hiding in there? I bet you're hiding something. If you're not hiding something, you won't mind if I have a look around. Hmm, if you won't let me look, you must be hiding something."
This is issue number one, and I do not believe it is alarmist to
suggest that we are already fighting a rear guard action. The
religious right's twenty-five year creeping tender offer and hostile
takeover is all but completed. If we get transparency in voting,
Democrats will be in a position to win enough votes and elections to
hold back the fall of night. If we don't, the Republicans are five
Senators away from total control of all branches of the federal
government.
We've got two years.
*Pastor Martin Niemoeller's poem:
First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me--
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
I like the boycott idea and would really like to see this put into action. I am going to email that text to several of my friends right now.
I think another goal is to start using the word "progressive" whereever possible (since the word "liberal" has been spoiled). Because what is helping me through right now, is that progressive thought always wins in the end... may take years/decades for others to catch up to progressive thought, but it always happens. I am PROUD that Sen. Kerry didn't run a smear campaign (even though I wish the Carlyle Group/Bush investments would have become a real issue/story), and I am SO HAPPY that he actually took a stand on abortion instead of being wishy-washy. I don't want to compromise any of that EVER in the hopes of getting more votes.
Please God (if there is one?).... let AirAmerica stay on the air
for four more yrs.... how can we get through without them?
Posted by: Frank at November 4, 2004 7:33 PM
Posted by: Frank at November 4, 2004 7:40 PM
Posted by: Steambomb at November 4, 2004 8:02 PM
From his own biographer (check it out) at http://www.gnn.tv/articles/article.php?id=761
"Bush and his advisers were sold on the idea that it was difficult for a president to accomplish an electoral agenda without the record-high approval numbers that accompany successful if modest wars."
Posted by: Sari Karkus at November 4, 2004 8:04 PMPosted by: Rob at November 4, 2004 8:05 PM
Posted by: Rob at November 4, 2004 8:05 PM
Posted by: Steambomb at November 4, 2004 8:06 PM
Yesterday was a horrible day. I was grieving and hurting for what has happened to my country.
Today I feel like I'm living in an occupied country, but I'm not going to let them scare me. My top priority in life is to fight for free elections in the United States. Without that, we are screwed.
Yours truly from deep in the heart of redneck America..
John
Posted by: John Sheldon at November 4, 2004 8:09 PMPosted by: Rob at November 4, 2004 8:13 PM
Posted by: Rob at November 4, 2004 8:17 PM
Mandate? 51% is a mandate? Even the "liberal" media fosters the lie that Bush is the first president since 1988 to break 50%. Duh, this was the first two-person election since 1988. Remember Perot and Nader?
After the 2000 election theft, AWOL George acted like he had a amandate. Imagine how dangerous he's going to be now.
One last thing - the voting populace has long been more swayed by style than substance. AWOL George kept repeating the applause lines fed to him by Svengali - excuse me, Rove - and the populace ate it up. Kerry by contrast was analytical and thoughtful, but BORING. The voters aren't thoughtful, why would they vote for someone who is? And then he brought all the baggage with him - running almost entirely on his Vietnam experience (a disaster as it turns out), letting the Bush storm troopers define him and letting them frame the entire debate. To play the game well we need a star player, another Bill Clinton. Do we have a democratic version of McCain or Powell? Maybe Barak Obama in a few years?
Posted by: Tom Iarossi at November 4, 2004 8:20 PMUh it wasn't Kerry's fault that he lost this election. The deck was stacked agains't him. BUSH/ROVE USED CHURCH GROUPS TO GET OUT THE VOTE. This should be deemed unconstitutional. An effort should be made to determine if any activities were within the churches themselves. I hear that they made lots of phone calls. I suppose phone records could be brought into it.
Posted by: Steambomb at November 4, 2004 8:26 PMYou take your constituents for granted. I saw Al Franklen tell a
Democratic voter (TV), who was on the fence, to vote John Kerry,
period. As if she would bow to Al and just do as he says, like
sheep. How arrogant! Typical behavior on the leftist, elitest, that
you guys somehow have a monopoly on intellect. You have to earn our
voters respect & confidence. It is not an entitlement. But you guys
go ahead and continue down your socialist, weak & bitter road and in
2006, your party will pay even more
You are right about the religious looneys, but in spite of that, Kerry's weak campaign garnered over 50 million votes. Imagine what might have happened with a better candidate...How is it possible that a decorated veteran (I was there too) lost the militsry vote to someone that ditched on the Guard?
We'll never capture the religious right, nor do we probably want to. But they represent a lot less of Ameica than the media lets on. I agree with you about investigating their tax exemptions.
Posted by: Tom Iarossi at November 4, 2004 8:35 PMExodus 22
25 If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou
shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him
usury.
Deuteronomy 15:4
Save when there shall be no poor among you; for the LORD shall
greatly bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee
for an inheritance to possess it:
Deuteronomy 15:11
For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command
thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to
thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.
Deuteronomy 24
14 Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy,
whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy
land within thy gates:
15 At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go
down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he
cry against thee unto the LORD, and it be sin unto thee.
Psalm 37
13 The LORD shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.
14 The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to
cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright
conversation.
15 Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows
shall be broken.
Psalm 10
2 The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken
in the devices that they have imagined.
3 For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the
covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth.
Psalm 41:1
Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him
in time of trouble.
Psalm 72:12
For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and
him that hath no helper.
Psalm 72:13
He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the
needy.
Psalm 82:3
Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and
needy.
Psalm 82:4
Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.
Psalm 140
11 Let not an evil speaker be established in the earth: evil shall
hunt the violent man to overthrow him.
12 I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted,
and the right of the poor.
13 Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright
shall dwell in thy presence.
Proverbs 14:21
He that despiseth his neighbour sinneth: but he that hath mercy on
the poor, happy is he.
Proverbs 17:5
Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker: and he that is glad at
calamities shall not be unpunished.
Proverbs 19:17
He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that
which he hath given will he pay him again.
Proverbs 19:22
The desire of a man is his kindness: and a poor man is better than a
liar.
Proverbs 21:13
Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry
himself, but shall not be heard.
Proverbs 28:27
He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his
eyes shall have many a curse.
Proverbs 29:7
The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked
regardeth not to know it.
Proverbs 31:9
Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor
and needy.
Isaiah 3
14 The LORD will enter into judgment with the ancients of his
people, and the princes
thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor
is in your houses.
15 What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the
faces of the poor? saith
the Lord GOD of hosts.
Ezekiel 16:49
Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of
bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters,
neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
Zechariah 7:10
And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the
poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your
heart.
Matthew 5:3
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 19:21
Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou
hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven:
and come and follow me.
Mark 10:21
Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing
thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the
poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the
cross, and follow me.
Luke 6:20
And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye
poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.
Luke 14:13
But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame,
the blind:
Luke 18:22
Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest
thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the
poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
Luke 19
7 And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone
to be guest with a man that is a sinner.
8 And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord: Behold, Lord, the
half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing
from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.
9 And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house,
forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.
Tom, so you are saying that 54 Million who voted for Bush are Bible Thumping, crazy religious folk, back woods , snake carrying crazies. Well, you continue thinking that way, and let your political leadership think and act along those lines and in 2006, you will see the republicans capture a 60 seat senate majority, then you should really worry.
Let me ask you, what do you think kept our nation's population from acting iniquitous back in the 1700's? Police, Goverment, Mayors, ..tc
No, with people living in remote parts of the country, what would stop people from acting unlawful or doing things that were wrong.... it was religion. Our founding fathers even quoted back then that for their nation to grow right and be self-sustaining that people need to know the difference between right & wrong! Back in the 1700's religion kept the masses from getting stupid. But then the Age of Enlightment came and then it got much tougher.
Read up on our history and you will understand
Denial is not just a river in Egypt. Nope bud, most "conservative" papers and magazines either endorsed Kerry or didn't endorse either. Bush is not a republican. It wasn't moderates that voted for Bush it was the religeous right.
Posted by: Steambomb at November 4, 2004 8:47 PMPosted by: Steambomb at November 4, 2004 8:51 PM
This is a proposal for the “New Democratic Platform�. This is a strategy to win over America with ideas righter than the right.
Its obvious Americans hate Gay’s so we ought to take a stand against them. This is where we should stand on gays:
1. Hand them over to the KKK.
2. Ban all Gay Paraphernalia such as : Barbra Streisand records &
videos, Madonna records, videos, and SEX book, all Gym’s, Parks,
high end clothing stores (men and women), coffee bars, leather
good’s stores, Bravo cable channel, the internet, high tech
gadgets like the IPod, Mini Cooper cars, Loft apartments, San
Francisco, Miami, New York, The Keys, Hair salons, dance school’s,
art schools, Hell get rid of all schools, overbearing mothers,
pussy-ass fathers, Catholic church’s (except the one’s that
behaves like southern Baptist), fat girls (a.k.a. fag hags),
extremely hot straight guys that get other men all hot and bothered,
metro-males, men divers, jock straps, pouch underwear, heck all good
underwear, decorative items, travel to Europe, and much, much, more.
3. Release Matthew and Tyler Williams, as well as those guys that
killed Matthew Shepard. These guys could really thin out the gay
population.
4. Fund medical research for early gay detection. Technology could
help mothers identify their child as gay before they are born. We
could allow abortion only if the child is to be gay. Otherwise
abortion is illegal under all other circumstances.
5. Make Gays wear pink triangles on their clothes so that the normal
population can easily identify them. Hitler did have one good idea
after all. Get the ovens ready.
6. Federal holiday where we remember with love all other hated
minorities. In fact we should reenact slavery, the holocaust, the
war on Native Americans, and other favorite bigot past-times. In
fact we should require black’s to be called niggers, Spanish
people called spicks, Asians gooks, so on and so forth. We don’t
want the other minorities to forget their place.
This is just the beginning. The next thing we should focus on is
the lazy ass poor people who refuse to get a fucking job. After that
we could start in on the stupid religions that aren’t Christian.
Etc, Etc… It’s all uphill from there. Folks we could take back
this country if only we would agree with the majority of this
country.
Posted by: crash at November 4, 2004 8:53 PM
Are you denying that the extreme left has not taken over your party? Socialist , anachists & the like
Posted by: Peter Zurita at November 4, 2004 8:55 PMBut dont forget short fat guys that wear tupays I cannot stand them either.
Posted by: Steambomb at November 4, 2004 8:55 PMAnyone interested in joining a class action law suit??? It must be done now before the poop dries...
(Otherwise it's armed revolution!)
E-mail me -- terry@spectrecom.com
Posted by: Terry Edward Allen at November 4, 2004 9:00 PMPosted by: Steambomb at November 4, 2004 9:01 PM
Sorry, but it comes down to tradition. Let me put it this way, every society, culture has some basic traditions.. Marriage, Baby Showers, Arranged Marriages, Funerals...etc and when a minority group tries to impose its value system on the majority, then the majority will fight back.
The gay community should have stuck to civil unions
Posted by: Peter Zurita at November 4, 2004 9:03 PMPosted by: Fred at November 4, 2004 9:04 PM
I can't believe the DNC has not fired that guy! Last three elections, were dismal for you guys. You need to scream change!
Posted by: Peter Zurita at November 4, 2004 9:08 PMPosted by: AVotingChristian at November 4, 2004 9:08 PM
In my opinion if America doesn’t want to grant Gay Americans
equal rights, then they should not have to pay equal taxes
Well said!!!
Posted by: Peter at November 4, 2004 9:10 PMCivil Unions should have taken care of that! Also, the private sector steps up, I work for the largest Technology Company in the world and it gives full benefits to life partners , same as married couples.
The fact is the Gay community was focusing itsattention on the tradition of marriage, they should have just sticked to civil unions and lobby to make civil unions more secure & have strong legal binding rules
Posted by: Peter Zurita at November 4, 2004 9:14 PMWhat we need to do now is to win the buzz war by casting doubt on Bush's second failed attempt at legitimate election. This is a vital window where we can set a tone -- but most importantly, disrupt their "mandate" spin.
First we remind people that the popvote margin is actually very small (though better than his last -500K), and can be parsed in several vivid ways that show how historically insignificant it is.
We also remind everybody that the only thing that tipped the electoral win to Bush -- and the only real surprise on election night -- was Ohio going Red.
And that happened just like Florida in 2000 -- First FOX called it, then the networks, it went back and forth and defied the exit polls. You could see how it was confusing the actual journalists who were covering it. And was called for Bush long before all the votes were ever counted.
But there are huge differences this year -- and not just the army of lawyers and network of cam-phone activists.
First and foremost, the count is still going on in Ohio. Ken Blackwell himself said that the provisionals can't be counted until Nov. 12. That is going to work for us if we can propagate the idea fact that Ohio's electoral votes haven't actually been allocated to either candidate yet. Concession or not, we should remind everybody NOW that Ohio's 20 electoral votes could actually still go to Kerry, tipping the whole thing to Kerry before the Electors meet to do the deed. Wouldn't that be a mindfuck? It's a powerful idea, and that's the only power we can take out of this election right not.
I'll tell you, Donna, that I genuinely feel certain that if all the votes were counted in Ohio (and even Florida), the state would go to Kerry. I doubt we could ever count them all, because they were cast on Diebold black boxes. But we can create a profound and widespread moral realization that if it weren't for a wide array of plainly visible dirty tricks and electoral crimes, Kerry would rightly claim Ohio's 20 Electors when the deal goes down in December.
There is still time. The rot is fresh and the (s)election is only a couple of news cycles old.
Imagine the drumbeat we could build -- focusing the quiet rage felt by every progressive activist who has worked hard for the righteous victory they know they were due and they watched be stolen from them on national TV. Consider the petitions, boycotts, mailslams and whisper campaigns that could make this the REAL story of the election. Think of the protests at the site where the electors meet. It would harness a lot of energy before it dissipates.
The worst we could do would be keeping the Anti-Bush Bandwagon going when they expect us to be stunned, challenging them at their own game just when they think they've out-flanked us -- that will throw them off-step at a crucial time when they were hoping to be coasting.
Or we could actually create a popular movement for election reform energized around making the Electors cast their votes for Kerry -- Focus on the W. Virginia Elector who said before the election that he will vote for Kerry.
If it fizzled, it would still cast a dark pall over his second term even before his second inaugural (which will be remembered for the smell of tear gas and the roar of water cannon).
Or we could create a groundswell of "Draft Kerry" to call for him to make a statement saying he "will accept the Electoral College's choice, whatever it should be."
If we pop the illusion of Bush's popvote "mandate" before they can get it to feel normal, and relentlessly expose and propagate the myriad cases of votes disappearing (4K votes in NC vanished because the manufacturer lied about how many votes each machine could hold), and talk up the daily narrowing of Bush's margin in Ohio and elsewhere as GOP dirty tricks backfire all across the country (because we were watching this time), AND we keep reminding people for the next 8 days that Ohio's Electors really are still very much up in the air.
We could make Kerry's concession moot if we play this hand like Rove would.
PRINT YOUR DISSENT!
http://agitprops.org
Posted by: outsideTB at November 4, 2004 9:21 PM
Posted by: Fred at November 4, 2004 9:25 PM
Posted by: Fred at November 4, 2004 9:28 PM
What Federal Benefits? Social Security ? Hell, if they would allow me to keep it in a private account and not let it go into the current piramid scheme that it is, then I can "Will" or "trust" it to who ever I please
Posted by: Peter Zurita at November 4, 2004 9:29 PMWell I don’t think the Army cares about a civil
union. Married soldiers have many more benefits than the others.
That’s just one more to add to your short list of benefits.
Posted by: Peter Zurita at November 4, 2004 9:43 PM
You don’t really think Oregon is exempt from whackos do you?
You should recognize the bigot ways of Americans. Why should Gays settle for less? Why should we agree to stay on the back of the buss?
My own mother, who listens to right-wing radio all day, said that she heard that Gays are trying to Ban Religion. She believes this crap just like half this country. Apparently not only do gays want marriage but we also want to take away the rights of others. WRONG!
Gays have been demonized. And for what? For wanting to be
considered equal. My fear is that straight liberals will abandon
Gays just to stay in the political game. That was the point of my
first posting. Here we are being portrayed as the spoilers of this
election. How far will this blame go and where will gays be left
standing? I’ve already begun thinking about applying for political
asylum outside this country.
Posted by: Frank at November 4, 2004 10:21 PM
Posted by: Frank at November 4, 2004 10:24 PM
Wait until Bush makes an abject mess of Social Security just like everything else he has touched. Then all you single issue voters will be singing a different tune. I hope I hear just one of you complaining about it. Boy will I take off when I hear it. You have been duped again.
Posted by: Steambomb at November 4, 2004 10:42 PM1. Procreate.
2. Keep anyone else from being with that person.
3. Fill the natural tendencies of man and woman to fill male and
female roles of proctector and nurturer.
My biggest problem with Gays is that I wholly believe they want my children to accept their lifestyle as OK in the eyes of God. It is not. He destroyed Sodom for rampant homosexual activity.
The spirit of God is in each of us, letting us know the truth of Right and Wrong. If we choose not to listen, we only condem ourselves and anyone else we manage to drag down with us. This is Truth.
Posted by: curt at November 4, 2004 11:11 PM
omegamaxzee
why dont you come next door anymore? chicken?
Posted by: frank at November 5, 2004 12:47 AM
Once again the GOP has us discussing and voting on an issue that means nothing. (Gay marriage) The items that needed to be discussed were barely touched upon. The Bush plan to destroy Social Security, the lies about Iraq, the dismal failure to capture Bin Laden and illegal imigration. But I must give credit to Rove he is the master of diversion.
Posted by: Joe at November 5, 2004 1:05 AMPosted by: Don Goldmacher at November 5, 2004 1:15 AM
Social security is setup like a pyramid scheme. I pay into it and it goes to my parents & other like them. Then when my kids start to work, it goes to me. We never get what we pay into it. Bush is not going to destroy S.S. but save it by allowing my to take a portion that I pay to stay in my control & invest in the Open Market. That way, the Gov't won't be responsible for me. I will be held accountable for my retirement and future, not the gov't.
As for Irag, ready up on the WWII Wolverines, German terrorist who reaked havoc & death throught German after the war was over. They killed their own citizens who worked with the Allies to build their country back, also put the Irag deaths in perspective. We lost 77K in one island in the pacific in WWII and don't tell me that IRAG is not part of the war on Terror, it is key in winning it. The Middle East is a hot bed of discontent and power struggle, and that is the fault of the non-democratic countries there. Freedom will lift the massess out of boundage the way it did Russia.
As for Bin laden, one man is not the end all , be all for Terrorism. Even if he was killed today, War on Terror will go on and on and on , until the Middle East moves to a more open society and the Extreme Muslims no longer have the people willing to die but to live
As for illegal immigration, I am with you on that, that is out of hand
Posted by: Peter Zurita at November 5, 2004 8:37 AMThe primary problem we face is the INCREASING majorities of the GOP in both houses, which will continue as long as they retain the support of Christian conservatives. One thing in our favor is the tenuous coalition the GOP has formed, which could easily tear apart if a new Supreme Court addresses Roe v Wade. However, we need to neutralize the conservative Christian base and cause them to revolt against a party that only speaks to their social agenda but actually works against their economic interests. Here's how we do it:
1) Over the next few years we need to develop more liberal think
tanks and get the media exposure necessary to explain our positions
on issues and legislation...most important: to speak in a "loud
voice" to the public as does the now unchallenged RW media machine.
2) Democrats in the Senate and House should NOT block legislation
proposed by the GOP majority. They should simply vote against it,
using the media and support from liberal think tanks to communicate
to the public their reasons for opposing. No Senate filibusters,
unless a SECOND Supreme Court replacement is nominated who is far to
the right and would acutally jeopardize Roe v. Wade. Although the
Republicans will be able to employ their agenda (which would happen
anyway) Democrats could not be accused of obstruction, a weapon
which the GOP effectively used to defeat Dems in general & Daschle
in particular.
3) Over the next 2-5 years the actual effects of GOP policies (eg.,
shortfalls in SS due to privatization resulting in benefit
reductions or increases to withholding, further huge deficits,
tanking of the dollar against foreign currencies, runaway inflation,
failing public schools, failure to achieve stability in the middle
East, massive US casualties in Iraq and new theaters of war, etc)
will become readily apparent, resulting in mass disillusionment and
anger with the GOP within THEIR OWN BASE.
Having distanced ourselves from the GOP policies yet not obstructing their free reign to carry them out, and having communicated this clearly through effective media strategy, the Christian conservative base will revolt. The importance of their social agenda will pale relative to other issues as they face the disastrous consequences of the policies and party they supported. They will be demoralized, perhaps not to the point of changing parties, but at least enough to cease active support of the GOP. This will allow the motivated base of Democrats to regain control of Congress & the Presidency.
This is not a cynical approach, but realistic. There is nothing we can do now to block the GOP agenda from being realized other than obstructing it. And, obstruction will only give the GOP excuses and the ability to point the finger of blame for failure of their policies at the Democrats. Let them have their way. Let the American people suffer the consequences of their own stupidity in re-electing Bush and strengthening the GOP's control of Congress. What else can we do except position ourselves for the moment when Americans finally realize they have been duped into believing the GOP agenda represents what is in their best interests? Don't worry, we'll be able to reverse the damage. Because when the American electorate finally realizes that the Democratic agenda IS in their best interests (contrary to GOP propaganda) they will elect Democrats to sweeping victories in Congress and the presidency. That will be a TRUE MANDATE.
Posted by: Mike at November 5, 2004 3:21 PMPosted by: Independant at November 5, 2004 5:31 PM
Click here for a real picture of the terrorists:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49503173192@N01/174438/
People are saying the election was about moral values.
Is it moral to send other people's children to fight and die for
Halliburton profits under the pretext that Iraq had WMDs? Is it
moral to make a joke about looking around your office for those
missing WMDs? Is it moral to govern through fear? Is it moral to
underfund education? Is it moral to cut veteran's benefits? Is it
moral to be indifferent to people who work 80 hours a week and still
cannot afford health care? Is it moral to provide repeated and
significant tax relief to your elite cronies three times while
tossing most Americans only crumbs? Is it moral to portray two
people who love each other and want to commit their lives to each
other as a threat to marriage just because they are gay? Is it moral
to perpetrate voting fraud and take away the only voice citizens
have against tyranny?
George Bush is the poster child for immorality.
If America does not stand for justice and equality, if America does
not care about its poor and disadvantaged, if America does not lead
in the world by example and with respect rather than by
intimidation, if America dismisses the truth as irrelevant, then
America is over.
And as far as all the "good people" that we keep hearing about who
voted for Bush, I do hope that the knowledge that you have succeeded
in denying civil rights to your fellow Americans, who happen to be
gay, will bring you sufficient comfort as you continue to lose your
jobs, your health care, your social security, your veterans
benefits, and your sons and daughters in Bush's immoral invasion of
Iraq. When your vote is based upon religious extremism rather than
personal self-interest, how are you any different from the jihadists
who strap bombs to their children and send them off to blow up
buses?
Enjoy your victory, Mr. Bush. You may have been able to fool and/or
scare enough of the American electorate to get your disgraceful self
re-elected, but, if what your good old fundamentalist buddies say is
true, you'll surely be held accountable for the travesty you have
inflicted upon this world when you get to the next one.
And make no mistake about it: there will be no coming together in
this country. Nor should there be. Mr. Bush had his chance to bring
this country together after the 2000 election, and again after 911.
He purposefully chose to divide us. The divisions are deep, and the
bitterness is visceral. These divisions, more than anything else,
will be his legacy.
First of all your characterization of liberalism is condescending and dismissive. Secular humanism and socialism are not the pillars of modern liberalism. In fact socialism is distinctly opposed to liberalism. And liberalism does not promote or suggest atheistic ideology. In fact the greatest accomplishments of American government in the 20th century found their roots in liberalism. To in effect claim that liberalism is rooted in socialism & atheism is false and a cheap shot, much as would be claiming that conservatism is rooted in fascism & fundamentalist Christianity. It ignores the core beliefs of modern liberalism, which include constitutional government, representative democracy, the rule of law, and such outlandish concepts as "human rights", "civil liberties", "tolerance" and "multiculturalism". And yes liberal parties are "secular", but that is exactly what the founding fathers intended. This is not necessarily "anti-clericalism" but it does resist the interference of religion (NOT religious or moral values) in governance.
Here is part of the "liberal" objection to the GOP strategy: There is NO DOUBT that the Bush Administration used fear of terror and the vulnerability we feel as a WEAPON against us. Dick Cheney's disgusting comments about likelihood of a nuclear attack under a Kerry administration, the "wolves" ad, and MANY other examples are what we feel was a despicable manipulation for political gain. And, YES you social religious conservatives WERE duped by the GOP into believing they wholeheartedly support YOUR social agenda. In fact, they will soon reveal their true loyalties when a likely 2nd Supreme Court nomination occurs in the next four years. And they have completly masked their economic agenda which is to the gross detriment of middle class and poor people (many of whom form part of the Christian conservative block).
Perhaps instead of taunting people on this site, you should spend some time investigating the radical ideologies of many in the Bush government. You might be shocked at what they believe and what their agenda is, which can now be promulgated without interference from the Democrats. Their Straussian ideology and its resulting PARANOIA is very likely to result in perpetual war, and that will take a heavy toll in American lives (probably the majority of them from families of the conservative heartland).
God Bless America? No, more appropriately, "God Help Us All!"
Posted by: Mike at November 5, 2004 6:38 PMPosted by: Paul Revere at November 6, 2004 2:18 AM
Posted by: vic at November 9, 2004 7:35 PM
Rick Hertzberg, writing in this week's New Yorker, on, among other things, Bush's supposed "mandate." We also won some state houses, and governships in Montana and North Carolina. And it's not just crowing. Destroying this hackey media meme about a large mandate is important if we want House and Senate Dems to stand up to Bush. Got any other links to stats that show that the Democrats actually did kick some ass in non-Presidential races? Post em here.
"Though the Republicans won nineteen of the thirty-four Senate seats that were up for grabs last Tuesday, for a gain of four, the number of voters who cast their ballots for Republican Senate candidates was 37.9 million, while 41.3 million voted for Democrats—almost exactly Bush’s popular-vote margin over Kerry. When the new Congress convenes in January, its fifty-five Republicans will be there on account of the votes of 57.6 million people, while the forty-four Democrats and one independent will be there on account of the votes of 59.6 million people. As for the House, it is much harder to aggregate vote totals meaningfully, because so many seats are uncontested. But the Republicans’ gain of four seats was due entirely to Tom DeLay’s precedent-breaking re-gerrymandering of the Texas district lines."
Posted by not sam at November 8, 2004 7:15 PMPosted by: Boyd McCamish at November 8, 2004 8:32 PM
Posted by: B. Coveney at November 8, 2004 9:10 PM
Posted by: Yoodig at November 8, 2004 9:12 PM
Posted by: Dr. Liberty at November 8, 2004 9:21 PM
Posted by: Keri at November 8, 2004 9:22 PM
Posted by: newmoonpuppyhead at November 8, 2004 9:56 PM
Where is the media?
Where is the action?
Posted by: Charles Bryon McLeod at November 9, 2004 12:13 AMPosted by: zero at November 9, 2004 2:21 AM
WELKOME TO AMERIKA
Ruminations while on a walk in the country
on the day after the elections
By Luciana Bohne
http://www.onlinejournal.com/Commentary/110504Bohne/110504bohne.html
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan
and others have warned that a military offensive could trigger a
wave of violence that would sabotage the January elections by
alienating Sunnis, who form the core of the insurgency. About 60
percent of Iraq's 25 million people are Shiite. U.S. intelligence
estimated about 3,000 insurgents have dug in behind defenses and
booby traps in Fallujah, a city of about 300,000 that has become a
symbol throughout the Islamic world of Iraqi resistance to the
U.S.-led coalition. Sgt. Maj. Carlton W. Kent, the top enlisted
Marine in Iraq, told troops the coming battle of Fallujah would
be "no different" than the historic fights at Inchon in Korea,
the flag-raising victory at Iwo Jima, or the bloody assault to
dislodge North Vietnamese from the ancient citadel of Hue they
seized in the 1968 Tet Offensive. "You're all in the process of
making history," Kent told a crowd of some 2,500 Marines. "This is
another Hue city in the making. I have no doubt, if we do get the
word, that each and every one of you is going to do what you have
always done -- kick some butt."
Schedule of Upcoming Extremist Events: 2004
http://www.adl.org/learn/Events_2001/events_2003_flashmap.asp
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Star, Mississippi Klan rally Sponsored by the
Mississippi White Knights. 5th annual KKK rally along with the
new White Knight Alliance. Gates open at 12 P.M.
For information please contact: .
http://www.mysticknights.org/unity.html
http://www.mysticknights.org/home.html
Realm of Ohio:
http://www.mysticknights.org/Ohio.htm
With the support of the Mystic Knights, the Ohio Senate
passed a law Wednesday that would bar the state from
recognizing same-sex marriages. Click Here to Read More!!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4018447/
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Altoona, Pennsylvania White power music show Sponsored by the
Keystone State Skinheads "The Keystone State Skinheads are
helping to preserve, advance, and educate the White culture
of the state of Pennsylvania."
http://www.keystonestateskinheads.com/
Sunday, November 14, 2004
Charleston, West Virginia Monthly meeting Meeting of
White Revolution's West Virginia chapter in conjunction with the
West Virginia Skinheads:
http://www.whiterevolution.com/events/
Monthly:
White Revolution's West Virginia chapter will be holding monthly
meetings in conjunction with the West Virginia Skinheads
[
http://www.WVSkinheads.com ] in Charleston, West Virginia on
the second Sunday of each month. Meetings are open to all
White Nationalists willing to make the trip. If you are interested
in attending, please contact Tom Martin, Webmaster, and
Deputy Governor of West Virginia either through
email:
or via telephone: (304) 395-HATE OR 800-488-1644
White Revolution :: PO Box 2024 :: Russellville, AR 72811 :: USA
http://www.whiterevolution.com/links.shtml
Saturday, November 20, 2004
Kentucky Training exercise Sponsored by Kentucky State Militia
http://www.freekentucky.com/ksm/contents.html
http://www.freekentucky.com/
Monday, December 06, 2004
Osceola, Indiana Ku Klux Kristmas Gathering and cross lighting
sponsored by National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
http://www.k-k-k.com/nf2004.htm
Ku Klux Kristmas with Ku Klux Klaus
http://www.freewebs.com/nkkkk/ralliesevents.htm
When - December 4th, 2004
Where - at Klan Farm 58901 Ash Road, Osceola, IN. 46561.
Phone Number: {574}256-0315 and Day of rally call: {574}674-8072.
Time Noon Till Dark.
To find out more, contact: Imperial Wizard,
Ray Larsen at:
Wisconsin City Allows Teaching Creationism
http://www.stormfront.org/
Georgia Evolution Case Heads to Court
http://www.stormfront.org/forum/showthread.php?t=141878
National Alliance -
http://www.natvan.com/
P.O. Box 90,
Dept. W,
Hillsboro, WV 24946
Erich Gliebe
http://www.davidduke.com/conference/speakers/gliebe.html
Cleveland, OHIO (440) 230-2450
Columbus, OHIO (614) 470-3400
http://www.natvan.com/
GOD HATES AMERICA -- Westboro Baptist Church Commentary on the
USA
"The humble little group of souls that inhabit the Gospel-barren
wasteland of Topeka, Kansas are the sole beacon of Truth in a
waste, howling wilderness, publishing the unvarnished, plainly
spoken Word of God to a corrupt and perverse generation."
http://www.godhatesamerica.com/index.html
info@godhatesamerica.com
GOD HATES FAGS
http://www.godhatesfags.com/fags/fag.html
"America refuses to acknowledge the vengeful hand of
God. America continues to arrogantly shed the
innocent blood of unborn babies and elevate sexual
perversion (fornication, adultery, divorce and
remarriage, sodomy) to levels of respect and honor.
America continues to greedily lie, cheat, steal and kill.
America continues to go a whoring after strange gods
and worship their own lusts. "Will ye steal, murder,
and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn
incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye
know not; And come and stand before me in this house,
which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to
do all these abominations?" Jeremiah 7:9-10. Shame on
America! Her people, led by false prophets like Billy
Graham, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and George W. Bush,
have turned to an impotent god that doesn't exist.
God's punishments will only become more severe, and
America will never ultimately win a war without God on
her side. Please email us at; .
If you would like to send a fax, the webmaster of this
web page can be reached at (954) 337-0400."
http://www.godhatesfags.com/
A M E R I K A
http://www.adl.org/learn/Events_2001/events_2003_flashmap.asp
WELKOME TO AMERIKA
Ruminations while on a walk in the country
on the day after the elections
By Luciana Bohne
http://www.onlinejournal.com/Commentary/110504Bohne/110504bohne.html
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan
http://www.un.org/News/ossg/sg/
and others have warned that a military offensive could trigger a
wave of violence that would sabotage the January elections by
alienating Sunnis, who form the core of the insurgency. About 60
percent of Iraq's 25 million people are Shiite. U.S. intelligence
estimated about 3,000 insurgents have dug in behind defenses and
booby traps in Fallujah, a city of about 300,000 that has become a
symbol throughout the Islamic world of Iraqi resistance to the
U.S.-led coalition. Sgt. Maj. Carlton W. Kent, the top enlisted
Marine in Iraq, told troops the coming battle of Fallujah would
be "no different" than the historic fights at Inchon in Korea,
the flag-raising victory at Iwo Jima, or the bloody assault to
dislodge North Vietnamese from the ancient citadel of Hue they
seized in the 1968 Tet Offensive. "You're all in the process of
making history," Kent told a crowd of some 2,500 Marines. "This is
another Hue city in the making. I have no doubt, if we do get the
word, that each and every one of you is going to do what you have
always done -- kick some butt."
Schedule of Upcoming Extremist Events: 2004
http://www.adl.org/learn/Events_2001/events_2003_flashmap.asp
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Star, Mississippi Klan rally Sponsored by the
Mississippi White Knights. 5th annual KKK rally along with the
new White Knight Alliance. Gates open at 12 P.M.
For information please contact: mwk_2000_99@yahoo.com
http://www.mysticknights.org/unity.html
http://www.mysticknights.org/home.html
Realm of Ohio:
http://www.mysticknights.org/Ohio.htm
With the support of the Mystic Knights, the Ohio Senate
passed a law Wednesday that would bar the state from
recognizing same-sex marriages. Click Here to Read More!!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4018447/
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Altoona, Pennsylvania White power music show Sponsored by the
Keystone State Skinheads "The Keystone State Skinheads are
helping to preserve, advance, and educate the White culture
of the state of Pennsylvania."
http://www.keystonestateskinheads.com/
Sunday, November 14, 2004
Charleston, West Virginia Monthly meeting Meeting of
White Revolution's West Virginia chapter in conjunction with the
West Virginia Skinheads:
http://www.whiterevolution.com/events/
Monthly:
White Revolution's West Virginia chapter will be holding monthly
meetings in conjunction with the West Virginia Skinheads
[
http://www.WVSkinheads.com ] in Charleston, West Virginia on
the second Sunday of each month. Meetings are open to all
White Nationalists willing to make the trip. If you are interested
in attending, please contact Tom Martin, Webmaster, and
Deputy Governor of West Virginia either through
email: Webmaster@WhiteRevolution.com
or via telephone: (304) 395-HATE OR 800-488-1644
White Revolution :: PO Box 2024 :: Russellville, AR 72811 :: USA
http://www.whiterevolution.com/links.shtml
Saturday, November 20, 2004
Kentucky Training exercise Sponsored by Kentucky State Militia
http://www.freekentucky.com/ksm/contents.html
http://www.freekentucky.com/
Monday, December 06, 2004
Osceola, Indiana Ku Klux Kristmas Gathering and cross lighting
sponsored by National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
http://www.k-k-k.com/nf2004.htm
Ku Klux Kristmas with Ku Klux Klaus
http://www.freewebs.com/nkkkk/ralliesevents.htm
When - December 4th, 2004
Where - at Klan Farm 58901 Ash Road, Osceola, IN. 46561.
Phone Number: {574}256-0315 and Day of rally call: {574}674-8072.
Time Noon Till Dark.
To find out more, contact: Imperial Wizard,
Ray Larsen at: raylarseniw@netzero.com
Wisconsin City Allows Teaching Creationism
http://www.stormfront.org/
Georgia Evolution Case Heads to Court
http://www.stormfront.org/forum/showthread.php?t=141878
National Alliance -
http://www.natvan.com/
P.O. Box 90,
Dept. W,
Hillsboro, WV 24946
Erich Gliebe letters@natvan.com
http://www.davidduke.com/conference/speakers/gliebe.html
Cleveland, OHIO (440) 230-2450
Columbus, OHIO (614) 470-3400
http://www.natvan.com/
GOD HATES AMERICA -- Westboro Baptist Church Commentary on the
USA
"The humble little group of souls that inhabit the Gospel-barren
wasteland of Topeka, Kansas are the sole beacon of Truth in a
waste, howling wilderness, publishing the unvarnished, plainly
spoken Word of God to a corrupt and perverse generation."
http://www.godhatesamerica.com/index.html
info@godhatesamerica.com
GOD HATES FAGS
http://www.godhatesfags.com/fags/fag.html
"America refuses to acknowledge the vengeful hand of
God. America continues to arrogantly shed the
innocent blood of unborn babies and elevate sexual
perversion (fornication, adultery, divorce and
remarriage, sodomy) to levels of respect and honor.
America continues to greedily lie, cheat, steal and kill.
America continues to go a whoring after strange gods
and worship their own lusts. "Will ye steal, murder,
and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn
incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye
know not; And come and stand before me in this house,
which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to
do all these abominations?" Jeremiah 7:9-10. Shame on
America! Her people, led by false prophets like Billy
Graham, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and George W. Bush,
have turned to an impotent god that doesn't exist.
God's punishments will only become more severe, and
America will never ultimately win a war without God on
her side. Please email us at; ghf@godhatesamerica.com
If you would like to send a fax, the webmaster of this
web page can be reached at (954) 337-0400."
http://www.godhatesfags.com/
A M E R I K A
http://www.adl.org/learn/Events_2001/events_2003_flashmap.asp
Seriously. I heard that.
Fraud, fraudy, fraud, fraudness, fraud-ie-fraud.
Posted by: rustle of luv at November 9, 2004 2:06 PMPosted by: rustle of luv at November 9, 2004 2:10 PM
PART 1 OF 4
TIME TO FEEL THE WOUNDS
John Kerry may have come up with nothing better than a modestly estimated five-year exit strategy for Iraq, but he sure had one speedy exit strategy for the election.
We’d better adjust those strategies and tactics and get these votes counted with or without Kerry, and soon - or we may lose our chance to know this count or any other future count.
Prologue: Tactical déjàvu?
In 2000, after “Bush vs. Gore� was decided in the Supreme Court for W, Republican attorneys laughed after and teased Democrats for their silly tactics: Democrats should have fought for more than just Miami Dade. They should have fought not only for the uncounted “undervotes� (the so called “hanging chads� not fully punched through for Gore) and they should have fought for the overvotes (where Gore’s name was checked off AND written in on the line at bottom: “Write in your candidate here�). Republicans gloated that Democrats should have fought for more than just one county. Also, Republicans snickered, Democrats should have fought for the tens of thousands of illegally disenfranchised mostly Black citizens who were wrongly accused of being felons and thus purged from the voting rolls. This was an admitted “error� made by the Secretary of State Ms. Harris and the company she contracted (key Republican supporters) to purge all ex-felons. Under the Voting Rights Act, the disenfranchised voters may have been entitled to cast ballots that would have been counted for that precarious 2000 Florida race. But Gore’s team didn’t pursue that tactic.
Yet even without those legal tactics, the Associated Press finally did finish the official state-wide count after a few months of using the most conservative methods. The NY Times was going to run their results on September 12, 2001. Unfortunately, more pressing news blocked the story the day before. After that, it just was not good for the country to release it. It was time for the nation to unite and heal. The words of Supreme Court Justice Scalia echoed from 2000: “If the count went for Gore, it might undermine Mr. Bush’s presidency.�
In the opening of Fahrenheit 9/11, Gore, Kerry, and all other Democratic senators refused to sign onto the Congressional Black Caucus’ demand to fight and continue the count. Only one Senator’s signature would have restarted the count, yet no one signed.
Then came Al Gore’s televised concession:
“President-elect Bush inherits a nation whose citizens will be
ready to assist him in the conduct of his large responsibilities. I
personally will be at his disposal, and I call on all Americans
� I particularly urge all who stood with us to unite behind
our next president. This is America.�
Yes, plenty of unhealed wounds from 2000.
But don't blame Gore. Blame a certain third-party candidate who
attracted the thousands of Florida votes that tipped Bush’s
“official� 537 Florida vote margin and handed the
Presidency over to Bush. Yes, I still cannot forgive that third
party spoiler -- Socialist Presidential hopeful David McReynolds. We
have a mutual friend and I dined with that Judas in early 2000. Sure
he seemed sweet enough then. “Peace� this,
“Justice� that. Blah blah blah. If only I had known what
his candidacy would do to Gore in Florida! I missed my chance to rid
the 2000 election of that nonviolent spoiler right there. I could
have reached over and bashed his head in with his mug of herbal tea!
2004: “There are no losers…� -- John F. Kerry, November 3, 2004
Luckily for us, John Kerry promised that would never happen again. Even at the midnight rally in Boston on election night, John Edwards swore, “ We’ve waited four years for victory, we can wait one more night. And this time every vote will be counted! So go home and get some sleep.� Go to sleep. Whenever you hear a politician say go to sleep, whoever they are, reach for the No Doze. As much as Al Gore was criticized for rolling over to Bush in 2000, at least he fought for a few weeks. I hadn’t even finished my Apple Jacks Wednesday morning before I heard Kerry had telephoned Bush to concede the race. In his concession speech, he told us "it's time to heal the wounds", "build bipartisan bridges", and "unite around the President". "There are no losers in an American election", Kerry reminded us.
Kerry is right. There are no losers - at least not yet. No one has lost this election because the votes have yet to be counted! If they were counted correctly, it still appears by exit polls (see http://img103.exs.cx/img103/4526/exit_poll.gif ) and other proof (see below) that Kerry had won Ohio, thus won its electoral votes and the Presidency. Yah! Kerry wins, or at least, didn’t lose yet!
The problem is, former President G.W. Bush and most of the country didn’t understand the nuance of this “There are no losers in an American election,� comment Kerry made. Worst of all, I don’t think Kerry understood it.
Bush supposedly won Ohio by a 136,000 vote lead. But that does not include either provisional or absentee ballots. Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell (R) said he will not release the official count of the 250,000 (perhaps as high as 500,000) provisional ballots, and separately, an untold number of absentee ballots for 10 days. “That’s the law", he said. Yes, the law is that all votes, regular, provisional, absentee are officially certified in no more or less than ten days from November 2. Absentee ballots must be postmarked by November 2, but must arrive by November 12.
Still, this didn't stop the Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell from calling Ohio for Bush that very night having no clear idea of the number of provisional nor absentee ballots, let alone a count of who voted for who, and we still don’t know. Go home and count sheep tonight, we’ll count the votes tomorrow, Edwards promised us. The next morning, Blackwell was forced to schedule a press conference to explain the situation in detail. Reporters packed their cameras and headed to Ohio. Blackwell’s stage was lit and ready. Kerry heard this and before Blackwell got under those third degree media lamps, Kerry called Bush to concede. Blackwell cancelled his press conference. Reporters heading to Ohio, turned around. Lights on the Ohio stage were switched off.
Lights have to come back on to probe the two parts of the vote: 1) We can still prove Bush lost Ohio and thus the Presidency by the number of provisional and absentee ballots, as well as voting machine voting records, and how they count out for the candidates and 2) We can still prove violations of the Voting Rights Act which may lead to a restructuring of our broken system. Exposing these violations may even legally and rightfully trigger a re-vote. These violations include but are not limited to problems in these same electronic voting machines. There is proof machine violations took the form of both glitches, and perhaps purposeful hacking and rigging. An investigation of both the count and the violations now are the only way to take structural measures to ensure this breakdown and/or hijacking of the process never happens again. Maybe John Kerry won’t fight for the count, but we have to. This is not the time to move on, this is time to move in on this scandal while we still can.
On November 12 they “certify� the count and on December 18 the Electoral College convenes to cast their votes, including the state of Ohio. It’s not just Kerry’s win or Bush’s loss that is at stake over the next few days, it could be our last chance to resurrect whatever Democracy we had left in this country.
A closer look at the provisional ballots: There are between 250,000 and 500,000 provisional ballots in Ohio. After the Florida debacle of 2000, Republicans and Democrats pushed through and Bush signed the Help America Vote Act. Did this Act force e-voting machines to have a paper trail, get rid of voter intimidation that turned away so man y voters or get rid of the chad ballot? No. Instead the Act offered the provisional ballot, the one paper trail a voter could be sure of. It would be collected, put in a separate pile and if verified, counted after Election Day, the Act promised.
These provisional ballots would be put aside, investigated and counted only if they were shown to be “legitimate� over the next ten days (in some cases longer than ten days if they end up in court.) Why might voters be challenged in the first place? Ohio had relatively lax residency requirements. One only needed to show they “intended� to live in Ohio long term in order to register there. Many of those who wanted to vote were Ohio college students. If for example a freshman had moved to Ohio recently, a Republican poll worker might challenge their intent to reside in Ohio long term.
Nationally, 4.7 million MORE young adults voted in this election than in the last one. All these numbers are likely to go up when the millions of provisional ballots (and absentee ballots) are counted. Many people, especially the young and people of color, were challenged on a variety of technicalities, including residency and insufficient proof of identity. Statistically, these two groups came in for the most part intending to vote Democratic.
Republicans staffed the swing state precincts, especially key
states like Ohio, with highly paid attorneys to challenge would-be
voters on these issues and many, many other technicalities. (See:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/02/politics/campaign/02ohio.html?hp&ex=1099458000&en=19fed453a7e009ac&ei=5094&partner=homepage
)
Precinct captains would assure nervous would-be voters to just use a
provisional ballot, and their vote would be counted. Not only have
they not been counted for a candidate, the Blackwell won’t
even say how many there are. Blackwell offers vague answers to
questions pertaining to the provisional and absentee ballot
security, or no response at all. That press conference would have
come in handy.
And what of these untold number of absentee ballots? In all probability, Ohio absentee votes are not largely military votes. Ohio isn’t exactly covered with U.S. military bases the way Florida or the Middle East are. First, again many absentee votes in this cycle were from college students away from their home in Ohio. Also, pointing to suspicious past Diebold results and the lack of a paper trail, progressives have warned for months to vote absentee or provisional in order to avoid the murky Diebold, Inc. e-voting touch screens. Even in Venezuela, electronic voting machines produce two hardcopies: one for you, and one to drop in a box for a recount if the margin is too close. Diebold, one of the country's leading manufacturers of ATM machines, can produce a receipt of all your banking transactions to the penny. But these machines offer no paper trail. Kerry and his team never pushed for the paper receipt, despite overwhelming protests from the public, especially after Diebold President, Mr. O’Dell, promised to "deliver all the votes I can for President Bush.�
Exit polls predicted Kerry the clear winner in Ohio, but in the end Diebold had a far different result. Exit polls were accurate in solid states and states that used paper ballots. Only in the swing states where electronic voting was implemented were the exit polls inaccurate far beyond a reasonable margin of error. (See: http://img103.exs.cx/img103/4526/exit_poll.gif ) . In NC, they admitted to “losing� 4500 votes for Democrats. In just one Ohio precinct, Diebold admits that at least 3900 votes that were meant for Kerry went to Bush instead. “Franklin County's unofficial results had Bush receiving 4,258 votes to Democrat John Kerry's 260 votes in a precinct in Gahanna. Records show only 638 voters cast ballots in that precinct.� (See: http://www.boston.com/news/politics/president/articles/2004/11/05/machine_error_gives_bush_extra_ohio_votes/ )
Many Democrats recommended voting provisional ballot or absentee to avoid the chad ballot. Many recommended voting absentee after predicting voter intimidation, confusion and lack of resources on Election Day, and their prediction was an understatement. (see: www.votersunite.org ) With too few precincts open, Ohio voters waited in ten hour lines and were directed and re-directed from precinct to precinct as machines broke down. Poll workers were understaffed and ill-prepared for the masses of people who turned out at their polling places, which added to the confusion. Those highly paid Republican attorneys on the other hand were very prepared.
So this tactic that many, many in Kerry’s camp, and across the 527s like MoveOn.org had long suggested – to Vote Absentee or by Provisional ballot rather than trusting the Diebold machines – may have been a wise one. There’s just one little hitch to this Provisional/Absentee tactic. This whole clever tactic falls apart if you don’t take one small step in the process – you have to count them!
I suggest we move fast to secure and count them before they get “lost� like 60,000 Florida absentee ballots recently were.
Take a look at just some of the Ohio Count facts at:
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/kerry_won_.php
and
http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20565-2004Nov3.html
and
http://www.movingideas.org/activism/networks/post_election.html
and
http://www.gnn.tv/articles/article.php?id=800
and
http://www.CommonDreams.org/views04/1106-30.htm
and
http://www.StolenElection2004.com/
“Votergate�: The Movie:
http://www.archive.org/stream/VotergateTheMovie/votergatethemovie_256kb.mp4
and for updates on this and more, stream www.democracynow.org daily
Blackbox Voting (www.blackboxvoting.org ) has filed Freedom of Information Act demands in all states, especially Ohio and the swing states “to obtain internal computer logs and other documents from 3,000 individual counties and townships. Networks called the election before anyone bothered to perform even the most rudimentary audit.� It is the largest Freedom of Information Act request in history. In response, Minnesota initially has denied their request for information, but the fight even there has just begun. If you feel moved to donate your time or money to Blackbox Voting’s efforts, it could make a huge difference especially over the next few days. Colorado officials are charging them $20 an hour plus the cost of paper to research their request.
Three Democratic Congressmen co-authored a letter to the General Accounting Office to express displeasure at these “irregularities�, but that’s about the extent of the official outrage as far as the Party is concerned. As the hours pass, a legitimate demand to count votes in a national election is being spun into a silly request to “recount� Bush’s victory. Sound familiar?
Of course it is not just Kerry and Edwards that feel we should put the vote behind us and move on. It seems the desire from Democrats to forget the count and just gear up for 2006 is overwhelming. If we dwell on the past, we will threaten our future, they warn. Bush seems to have led the popular vote by 3.5 million and if Democrats are perceived as fighting for the Presidency based on the Electoral College vote… bad taste. Democratic leadership warns us such a fight would create a backlash against trial lawyers “fighting in the courts instead of in the election,� as Kerry himself spelled out. The Republicans would use that ammo to fill the House and Senate in two years, Democrats warn.
Progressives who stand against the Electoral College tell us we should forget this one because we don’t want to look like hypocrites. It may be legal but again it wouldn’t be tasteful. It would be stooping to Bush’s level to preference the Electoral Vote over the popular vote as W & Co. did in 2000. Nevermind that the only decision makers in 2000 was the Supreme Court. Bush had neither the popular nor the Electoral Vote. But still, bad taste. Forget it. Move on.
Some shrug and say we are better with Bush because now he will be responsible for his failed wars and failed economies. Yes, so many of the same Democrats who screamed that Bush was the anti-Christ and warned of the End of Days if Nader were to spoil the vote, now don’t seem so concerned with a spoiled election. How did the ABB-ers (Anybody But Bush) go to sleep and wake up on November 3rd as the BWB-ers (Better With Bush)?
Many Kerry voters especially warn of the worst consequence of fighting to count the vote and fix the Diebold mess now. After having conceded, Kerry cannot reverse his position by associating or even refusing to condemn those fighting “on behalf of his vote,� otherwise he would be engaging in the ultimate disgrace… a Super-Sized Flip-Flop! Good God, not that! I’d rather be drafted!!
So most Kerry supporters I have seen and heard have turned lemons into lemonade, and turned their frowns upside down, proclaiming we’re better off with Bush for the next four years. The blood of Iraq and the Economy will be on Bush’s hands alone (but whose blood is that? Our blood? Iraqis’ blood? Muslim detainees’ blood?) On the other hand, Democratic leaders and pundits point out, if Kerry had inherited the war, the economy, and a right-tilting House and Senate, we may well lose all branches of government for 12 years while a right-wing media backlash on President Kerry and the Democrats creates a one term lame duck, then even more Republicans winning the House and Senate in 2006. Yes, we hate Bush so much we are far better off with Bush. Sounds a bit like a masochistic love of Big Brother, no?
It’s interesting that many of the same Democrats I know who are now instructing me in this Better With Bush “strategy� after Election Day, scolded me for blasphemy when I suggested months ago of this possible BWB Reality (not preference, but Reality) even if Nader does “steal� votes that “rightly� belong to Kerry. But now that the votes actually do appear to be literally stolen, and Nader is not to blame, well, we’re better off with Bush.
Even if we fight and we find Kerry won, could we imagine Kerry would reverse himself and accept the Presidency? Of course not. That would interfere with Bush’s mandate. However, with or without Kerry’s help now, a Kerry “win� may help others interfere with Bush’s so-called mandate.
Bush says he has a mandate to hand over Social Security to the mutual fund companies, since that was a key issue he campaigned on. Ah yes, I remember that centerpiece of his platform, that’s why all the Evangelical snake-handlers turned out in droves to let Bush take their Social Security to the local OTB. Call me nutty but preserving Social Security, and other New Deal entitlements Bush wants to kill in his second term, makes me a tad edgy, especially if Canada doesn’t accept my application for citizenship.
Which worries you more, that Bush might draft you to Iraq (or Syria or Iran) in his second term, or that once you get there the shotgun-toting Robot Soldiers Bush is sending with you won’t turn on you the way Bush’s Diebold machines did? (No joke, see: http://www.newstarget.com/002080.html )
We are told to forget it and move on. Voices demanding the voting mess be untangled now are spoiling it for the Party’s chances in 2006.
So I guess it is appropriate that the only major leader who has taken up the gauntlet and is fighting for a full and accurate count, to untangle this mess and make sure it never happens again – is the Democrats worst enemy… spoiler extraordinaire – Ralph Nader.
Democrats kicked him off the ballot in 20 states including Ohio. This will make it harder for him to file to count Ohio, but he can still do it. Already he has filed to set court precedents in New Hampshire, in part targeting Diebold, and this will offer a legal door into Ohio, etc. (see: www.votenader.org ) He didn’t swing one state, not even close (click on a state on this breakdown at: http://www.startribune.com/stories/1752/ ) and this offered a reprieve from the wrath of the Democrats after Election Day, until now.
Democratic leadership blasts Nader now with thee same damning charge they have used all along: Nader can’t possibly win this fight to bring Democracy to the Homefront. He has zero chance, they say. And since he can’t win, Nader will only make things harder for the Democratic Party. “Give it up and leave the vote behind, Ralph, Bush won, don’t spoil things,� Democratic leadership cries.
Ralph’s response, as usual, you can’t spoil what is already rotten to the core.
Stay tuned. Tomorrow…
PART 2 OF 4
“TIME TO KNEEL FROM WOUNDS?�
Posted by: KR at November 9, 2004 4:18 PMPosted by: KR at November 9, 2004 4:36 PM
Posted by: moondog at November 9, 2004 6:59 PM
o Dick Cheney (VP & Attack Dog)
o Arnold Swartzenegger (Governor & Killer Android)
o Senator John Kerry (former Presidential Candidate & Vertabrate)
o Gene Simmons (Once The Tongue of Kiss)
o Kevin Costner (former Wolf Dancer)
o Dennis Hopper (former Easy Rider)
o LL Cool J (formerly cool)
o Sylvester Stallone (still Rambo)
o Dennis Miller (once mildly amusing but mostly annoying)
o Chuck Norris (Bruce Lee kicked his...)
o Ted Nugent (Gun Nut)
o Jean-Claude Van Damme (da "Muscles from Brussels")
o Bruce Willis (Cybill Shepard kicked his...)
o Tiger Woods
(see: http://www.gnxp.com/MT2/archives/002811.html)
Posted by: Miles West at November 9, 2004 11:00 PMTurnout in some precints -- over 100 percent!
Posted by not sam at November 8, 2004 9:09 PMi don't know if this was brought up anywhere on the blog here. but i thought i put it up cos it's pretty good. it is a recap from a story run by MSNBC's keith olbermann. he mentions all the strange results, such as counties in Florida where registered democrats largely outnumbered registered republicans, only to go to bush. or counties in ohio that tallied more votes than they had registered voters.
while fullajah gets bombed they'll still say that iraq and the world is better off without saddam hussein. as stephen gloor says, "So what he is basically saying is that the Iraqi people are better off now because we only killed one third of the people that Saddam did and that we did not really mean to kill them it was an accident."
Posted by: teachesOfpeaches at November 9, 2004 7:31 PMWe cannot make good assessments of strengths and weaknesses and "where we go from here" until we know what actually happened.
What if, based on an honest election, Kerry's strategy worked? You would be having a very different coversation right now.
Posted by: Shari Helaine Lichtman at November 9, 2004 8:03 PMThe reports posted to the Cuyahoga board of elections site (http://boe.cuyahogacounty.us/boe/results/default.htm) are inconsistent. The Canvass Report, which reports the voting results of each precinct, is showing different turnout and ballots cast than the Current Election Results page. The actual vote totals reported are from the Canvass Report and they add up correctly to the ballots cast for Bush, Kerry and in total including spoilage.
Examples:
Precinct: Registered / Election Results / Canvass Report
Beachwood: 9943 / 13939 / 5298
Brooklyn: 8016 / 12303 / 4936
Chagrin Falls: 3557 / 4860 / 2029
Highland Hills: 760 / 8822 / 261
Moreland Hills: 2990 / 4616 / 1782
Pepper Pike: 5131 / 6479 / 3133
Valley View Vil: 1787 / 3409 / 1252
Woodmere Vil: 558 / 8854 / 298
Total votes cast per the Canvass Report when adding all the
precincts:
Bush: 215624
Kerry: 433262
All other: 3495
Total ballots for president: 652381
This is consistent with what was reported to the Ohio Secretary of
State webite
(http://serform.sos.state.oh.us/sos/results/index.html). The
difference between the total ballots (665334) and the ballots cast
for president (652381) is the "spoilage" rate -- a total of 12953
ballots which were cast which either did not reflect a vote for
president or which were not counted for other reasons (hanging
chads, etc.)
If we total the votes per the Election Results report (which shows
the incorrect voter turnouts of over 100%), the total is 738752
votes cast, which is not what was reported in the results of the
presidential race.
I do feel strongly that the electronic voting machines and the
central processing machines need to be audited and the security of
these machines verified. There are substantive reports of errors;
however, this apparent evidence of "overcounting" in Cuyahoga county
isn't going to hold up as one of those.
I read an article about Karl Rove and his reaction the all the Exit Polls coming in that he was getting when he was flying on Air Force One ................ HE KNEW THE FIX WAS IN !!! THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE !!!
here it is:
WASHINGTON - As Air Force One made its final approach to Andrews
Air Force Base on Tuesday afternoon, White House senior adviser Karl
Rove juggled a telephone, a pen and a piece of paper, anxiously
copying down the first wave of exit polls that showed President Bush
trailing John F. Kerry.
"I saw this look on his face and then the phone died," said White
House communications director Dan Bartlett. "He said, 'Not good.' "
It was, Bartlett added, "like a punch in the gut."
At that point, years of planning and preparation appeared in doubt. Skeptics in the Democratic and Republican parties believed the strategy created by Rove and the rest of Bush's team was about to come crashing down.
Had that happened, it would have put Bush in the history books with his father for having been denied a second term after achieving a 90 percent approval rating, and relegated Rove to the long list of strategists whose theories and assumptions have been undone by the voters.
"I was sick," Rove said in an interview as he talked about those moments on the president's plane. "But then angry when I started seeing the numbers. None of them made any sense."
Those exit polls, of course, turned out to be wrong, as many
inside the Bush headquarters believed once they began to examine
them in detail, and today Rove is celebrated by none other than the
president as "the architect" of the re-election victory.
Posted by: Kimberly at November 10, 2004 9:23 PM
http://www.selekta.com/map.jpg
Don't lose your anger. Use it. We want to pick a project to do for the next month, but what should it be? Should we
a) Go after Sinclair?
b) Go after media outlets for caving into the Christian Right for not calling them the Christian Right?
c) Focus on Congress and try to get them to open an investigation into voting irregularities?
Posted by not sam at November 9, 2004 7:11 PMPosted by: Elizabeth at November 9, 2004 7:17 PM
Posted by: Benjamin at November 9, 2004 7:17 PM
Posted by: Joe at November 9, 2004 7:20 PM
Posted by: Diane at November 9, 2004 7:22 PM
Posted by: Roni at November 9, 2004 7:23 PM
Posted by: Dean Dotoli at November 9, 2004 7:23 PM
1) Sinclair - a very specific task with very good impact. We cannot let this go ignored and let them play foul and have no repercussions
2) Black Box voting: We need to keep this on the radar and keep it an issue for 2006. Even if we cannot turn this election, we can work as hard as possible to show fraud and work to eliminate it for the future
3) Keep bringing hard working people of faith on the radio like Jim Keady - we need that and I really enjoyed his interview
Posted by: Noel Manerud at November 9, 2004 7:25 PMBOYCOTTS, BOYCOTTS, BOYCOTTS: VOTE WITH YO $$$
Let's get third world on em: National Strike!
Posted by: Andrew at November 9, 2004 7:26 PM
Posted by: lethoina at November 9, 2004 7:26 PM
Posted by: Wes at November 9, 2004 7:28 PM
Posted by: Jeff M at November 9, 2004 7:29 PM
Posted by: Andrew at November 9, 2004 7:30 PM
Posted by: Brian Webber at November 9, 2004 7:31 PM
By: Jack Dalton
What would you do if you were a woman serving your nation in uniform, in this case the N.J. National Guard as an officer and platoon leader, and then found yourself being treated like a criminal for no other reason than you had the temerity, the nerve to report having just been raped by someone that is an officer in the very same unit you were attached to?
This is exactly what 1st Lt Jennifer Dyer of the N.J. National Guard is now confronted with.
Full updates and legal fund drive for one female in uniform
located:
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/jennifer.htm
First reported by Jack Dalton for the P.O.A.C. and featured in over 89 newspapers throughout the U.S. today. This is breaking as the story to cover... and we at the POAC are here to help and support Jennifer..
You talk about supporting your troops.. now is the time to do it!
Please help Jennifer and other female soldiers in our time of faux news and fake wars!
Yours in our fight for democracy;
Robin
Okay - here's what we ought to do: Expose the problems in e-voting, do our best to get ALL the votes counted in areas where they have yet to be counted... And then?
LOOK FORWARD, DAMNIT!!!
Obviously, when we have close national elections, the present system t'ain't workin'! We knew of these problems in 2000 (or earlier) and did virtually nothing... '04 comes down the pike and well, here we are again~!
A thousand blogs and dot org's aren't going to get the job done! We need a National organization that will hit the ground running on fixing our election processes. I propose 1-Country, 1-Voter, 1-Ballot, 1-Standard! I truly think the best way to do this is by using optical scanning machines in EVERY precinct in the country that keep the ballots locked up in their innards... It's high tech while still providing a paper ballot to citizens!
peace, love + cigarettes~!
scott
p.s. - we're going to need you in Minnesota in '06... Senator Dayton will be vulnerable!
Posted by: s.d. scheid at November 9, 2004 7:37 PMPosted by: Noel Manerud at November 9, 2004 7:38 PM
Posted by: elsiegel at November 9, 2004 7:44 PM
Posted by: Ray at November 9, 2004 7:46 PM
They are neither religious, conservative or christian! Simply... They are fascists - plain and simple! Fascists!
peace, love + cigarettes~!
scott
Posted by: s.d. scheid at November 9, 2004 7:47 PMThe media failed in the build up to Iraq, and should have taken a harder look at many of the President's claims. Perhaps challenging the media to do more than just report claims and counter claims, but to actively search for the truth will be one way to ensure that all voices are heard -- and that the truth gets out to the voters.
Posted by: will in chicago at November 9, 2004 7:48 PMPosted by: Andrew at November 9, 2004 7:50 PM
The media is at the root of all our other
troubles.
The other 2 can wait and be done in 3-6 months. If we don't get the voting issues investigated NOW, we will never be able to.
Posted by: tito at November 9, 2004 7:56 PMPosted by: ian robinson at November 9, 2004 7:57 PM
Posted by: Charles Cobb at November 9, 2004 7:58 PM
Posted by: Ray at November 9, 2004 7:59 PM
Wouldn't it be
ridiculous to make changes in the democratic party on the basis of a
Kerry loss if he really won the vote,but he lost due to voting
fraud. One way to discern the voting fraud problem would be to
examine the results in key districts in Florida which use optical
scan machines which leave a paper trail. To get this information we
would need to have Sensenbrenner subpoena the machines and the
results and compare them to the results in the main computers.
Also we need to find out what really happened with the Ohio vote. We
know that there are major problems but we need to determine the ones
that caused the worst problems that are proveable.
The other 2 can wait and be done in 3-6 months. If we don't get the voting issues investigated NOW, we will never be able to.
________
I totally agree!!!! This is a clear priority. We have to keep the voting front and center because it is the foundation. If it is honest, the rest will follow.
Two angles on this - top down - keep getting the raw information on the vote totals out and try to push it onto PBS or other local and mainstream media
bottom up - organize at the local level and get liberals and
progressives in control of the sec of state and other local, state
seats
Posted by: Charles Cobb at November 9, 2004 8:03 PM
Posted by: DJUNA at November 9, 2004 8:05 PM
What could be worse than the voting and election problems in 2000 and 2004?
More voting and election problems in 2006 and 2008!
From Common Cause:
Election Day 2004: A Fragmented, Underfunded System Continues to Frustrate Thousands of Voters
Read more at:
http://www.commondreams.org/news2004/1105-11.htm
Posted by: Erin Horton at November 9, 2004 8:14 PM
Posted by: RachelinJax at November 9, 2004 8:21 PM
Start referring to them as "Pharisees" or "neo-pharisees." The
Pharisees were obsessed with the letter of the Jewish law, not the
true spirt as Jesus tried to teach. We true Christians need to point
out that they are not Christians, but Pharisees.
Have Dominionists on the show. Let's hear what they have in mind. Get some Biblical Prophesy "experts" on and hear what they have to say.
Investigate the "christianization" of the Military high command.
Posted by: syd barrett at November 9, 2004 8:24 PMI talk to God all the time; he never mentioned hating as acceptable in any of his religions. It takes a real Christian to 'hate the sin, but love the sinner'; why do these guys always get the 'hate' part and can't manage an iota of the 'love' part. Further I refuse to have these people define 'sin'; when they've managed to adhere to all the commandments, they can start discussing the codicils. These are people who covet that which belongs to others, murder with impunity through policies that worship the unborn and murder the born and place Mammon so far before God, He isn't even in the picture any more. Why can't we get in their faces and ask them to leave the speck in our eyes alone and see to the enormous plank in their own? What kind of "Christianity" climbs into bed with the gun lobby, the pro-death penalty advocates, the drug companies and support policies which murder humans by the millions, through war, disease, poverty, neglect, starvation? I refuse to allow them to assume the moral high ground to which they have no right. They are the whited sepulcher that stands on the street corner with religion in its mouth and death in its heart. They are NOT moral they are NOT Christian and we have to start taking the battle to them, because OUR moral positions, love, acceptance, and tolerance are the morals of God and all his prophets, their moral positions are those of the 'God's Brightest Angel'. They are his servants and they are doing his work. We must confront them and defeat them on the battlefield they have chosen, because we will win, unless, in cowardice, we retreat without ever having fought.
Posted by: Irene at November 9, 2004 8:34 PMHowever, as far as the "Christian right" thing goes, wouldn't this new ABC policy of Peter Jennings' necessarily mean than he must start calling liberals "progressives" instead, if he were asked to as well? After all, that term has taken on an equally pejorative cast as "Christian right," and in a comparable context.
(Just to head off an argument over terminology, I should point out that the objective is not necessarily to actually get him to start saying "progressive," but instead to expose the fact that these mainstream "journalists" are bending over backwards to make allowances for conservative causes which they would not for liberal ones. It's the hypocrisy, stupid.)
Posted by: eternally at November 9, 2004 8:37 PMWrite to all advertisers of air america that you
love the show.
The is BETTER than a boycott of say Fox because all the other
stations look like them and there is too much cross advertising.
Encourage the good...esp if there is a boycott from the other side
It will preserve them being on the air.
Posted by: TalkieToaster at November 9, 2004 8:49 PMPosted by: Sharon Pankau at November 9, 2004 9:02 PM
OK
1. voting
2. religious right
3. Sinclair.
The reason to persue voting first is to undermine any public perception of Bush as legitimate, hence of course - NO MANDATE.
Then continue to undermine anything he tries.
He's a Bad Boy.
Posted by: rustle of luv at November 9, 2004 9:03 PMDems have to learn to fight multi-front wars.
Posted by: nicethugbert at November 9, 2004 9:06 PMohio, florida, new mexico, iowa, and anywhere else that looks suspicious. count all the votes, especially the provisional ballots!!!
Posted by: fear_monger at November 9, 2004 9:06 PMhttp://leftroundtable.blogspot.com
Posted by: PatLovesJaneane at November 9, 2004 9:08 PMPosted by: True Blue at November 9, 2004 9:15 PM
Posted by: Zak Spence at November 9, 2004 9:17 PM
Posted by: RoxyCA at November 9, 2004 9:18 PM
Sometimes it's just an offhanded comment that contains the seed of a great idea. Â Like this one, where the writer joked that problems with voting wouldn't go as unnoticed if George Soros owned Diebold. Â It got me thinking. Â Why should't George Soros own Diebold?
I'm not an anti-trust attorney, so there may be some obvious problems with my idea, but in rough form, here it is: Â George Soros, Peter B. Lewis, John Sperling and the rest of the mega-wealthy people who care about this country and are willing to use their money to make a difference, should make hostile takeover attempts of any publicly-owned manufacturer of voting and tabulating systems. Â Try to buy out the owners of the privately held companies like Diebold by offering them obscene amounts of money. Â If that doesn't work, drive them out of the voting equipment sector or completely out of business. Â Use the companies purchased or new companies formed with large amounts of capital to drive down the price of the equipment, and after they achieve market dominance, put the companies in a public trust.
Sure, there have to be some practical problems. Â But the lack of competition in an industry that sells exclusively to the public sector isn't without precedent. Â Nobody with any knowledge of Department of Defense procurement policy can tell us that we have competition in the high-tech weapons industry. Â And if there were a vibrant market for government-purchased goods, we would have all the flu shots we could want. Â So I doubt the idea can be easily dismissed without some explanation of how a monopoly in the voting machine industry would be illegal but the monopolies of weapons and vaccination producers is not.
So, Mr. Soros and others with wealth in the billions, how about
buying those voting machine companies?
Posted by: Beverly Lumm at November 9, 2004 9:31 PM
Posted by: sparkey at November 9, 2004 9:34 PM
We can't keep letting them get away with voter fraud.
We have to legitimize this election if we can, then work toward
standardizing and ensuring fair elections. Media reform after that,
in conjunction with a reform of the DNC. Nothing else will matter
until we can get a fair election. Kerry won even with a biased media
and bad leadership/vision from the DNC.
Enlightened people
agree that this planet is on loan to us by our children, and our
children's children. For their sake, we must educate and galvanize
Americans for an all out effort to reinstate honesty and integrity
into our electoral system. What message is the adult generation
leaving our children?... That cheating, although blatant, goes
unchecked... That an "unprincipled compromise" is the norm.
Regardless of the new outcome, we must fight for a true voter
count... in particular, in Ohio and in Florida. We must, then, fight
for a nationalized (and redundant) voting system that is developed,
deployed and managed by a nonparitisan agency.... much like the GAO.
Not to mitigate what happened, but history will dictate that in the broader progress of our democracy, 2004 will have been a much needed wake-up call for the American people. A reminder that this is a "govenment of the people, by the people, for the people" ... and that we must refrain from acting as sheep!
If something is not working... thinking people go back to the basics... Let's fight to make voting rights bulletproof!
Posted by: Rick at November 9, 2004 10:01 PMPosted by: jimhmcnair at November 9, 2004 10:23 PM
WE NEED A PAPER TRAIL!!! WRITE TO YOUR SENATORS AND HOUSE REPRESENTATIVES.
Posted by: tt01 at November 9, 2004 10:32 PM
Posted by: MoveOn.Libs at November 9, 2004 10:49 PM
What ever will we do?! Run, run away!
Hey thanks, creep, you just doubled my determination.
Posted by: eternally at November 9, 2004 11:28 PMPosted by: Mike at November 9, 2004 11:37 PM
Going after Sinclair is far too narrow, but if you look, A and B are both about media control and reform.
Posted by: Jeany at November 9, 2004 11:54 PMAfter that, then we have to go after the corporate media, while Sinclair and Fox News are the most blatant examples, the myth of the "liberal media" has to be exposed and notice how these people have become mouthpieces of the Bush Crime Family. In the interest of "fairness", they will report both sides of an issue and then they don't check the accuracy of those sides. As a result, right wingers have been allowed to lie and this probably explains why so many Americans still believe that Saddam was behing 9/11 no matter that the facts contradict it.
At the same time, we can also expose the deceitful, hypocritical nature of the religious right who get a free ride because no one in the mainstream media looks at the theocratic nature of these fundamentalists and show how they display the same intolerance and backwardness as Muslim fundamentalists. Any religious fundamentalism is a blight on society with its backward thinking and refusal to deal with the real problems in society by scapegoating the "others" like gays, feminists, liberals, intellectuals, anyone who believes in the ideas of the enlightment, etc.
That's my two cents.
Posted by: Stephen at November 10, 2004 12:19 AMPosted by: Becca at November 10, 2004 12:42 AM
"OMG! That is so Red State!"
This will be the new mantra for anything tacky, white-trash, or otherwise reaking of ignorance or unabased stupidity.
Girls ex:
"Did you see those shoes?! Ewwww.. Red State!"
Guys ex:
"Bob's a total Red Stater, he thought that stripper actually liked
him"
Be creative.
Like all things music, entertainment, fashion(albeit ten years
later) everything eventually works from us to them. The payoff will
be when they themselves start unwittingly using it.
So don't just sit there looking like a stupid Red Stater!
Forward this message on and help get the ball rolling.
Posted by: tt01 at November 10, 2004 12:52 AM
Thanks- if we take all the ferver we had and keep going we can live in a democracy. I think I'm going back to the African American neighborhood I canvassed and tell them what happened to others around the country. Things went very well her in Oregon, but I don't think the military votes are in yet. I talked to a man whose son was frustrated about his ballot and his name was still on my list as not having voted. Please don't give up and don't let others.
Posted by: Sue Ann at November 10, 2004 1:02 AMPosted by: phungus at November 10, 2004 1:26 AM
"The attached news story briefly described the untimely Friday, March 12th death of perhaps America’s most influential advocate of a verified voting paper trail in the era of touch screen computer voting...
http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/3/2004/853"
Definately worth a read.
D.) All of the above.
I have faith in you.
Wait--Don't be DNC sympathizers. Where is the true left? As we move closer and closer to moderates (on a Democrat level), we're just encouraging candidates to bust out the "I'm more conservative than my opponent" arguments.
THIRD PARTY REVOLUTION
Posted by: CMT at November 10, 2004 3:02 AMget rid of the whole government and start over.
RE-FOUND AMERICA.
founding fathers my ass!
Posted by: shell at November 10, 2004 3:19 AMhttp://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/ConstitutionRestorationAct.htm
The rationalization from the right:
http://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=1644862
More on Dominionism:
http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/TheDespoilingOfAmerica.htm
http://homepage.mac.com/akitzmil/iblog/B113165770/C1395963441/
opt
Natick, MA
http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/ConstitutionRestorationAct.htm
The rationalization from the right:
http://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=1644862
More on Dominionism:
http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/TheDespoilingOfAmerica.htm
http://homepage.mac.com/akitzmil/iblog/B113165770/C1395963441/
opt
Natick, MA
As it appears right now, there are thousands of anomalies that have been reported all over the country, most or all of which benefit the GOP. In 3 successive elections the GOP has increased its power base in all branches of government.
Right wing strategy papers have long advocated that the GOP gain total control of our government. Everything the GOP has done for the last 4 years indicates this is exactly what they have intended to do. And their actions indicate they are more than willing to manufacture the will of the people and taint our elections to accomplish that goal.
The GOP is now just a few senators away from having veto proof control over every decision made by our government, including the repair of our elections. If we do NOT make the investigation of election 2004 our top priority, allowing another 2-4 years to pass before we have the answers, we may find ourselves in a position where we are absolutely powerless to fix the system (why would a majority party, with veto-proof power, who rigs elections to maintain their power want to lift a finger to fix the elections process?).
Therefore, I urge you to please recognize the urgency and seriousness of this issue and keep it as a top priority.
Posted by: Steve in CT at November 10, 2004 3:53 AMPosted by: Joseph at November 10, 2004 10:47 AM
Posted by: Joseph at November 10, 2004 10:49 AM
Posted by: buggss at November 10, 2004 12:06 PM
Okay, enough with the gushing & fawning...
#1. Voter fraud is the most important issue, definitely. I've just received my first dispatch from blackboxvoting.org and I will be doing what I can to help out and to make people aware of the irregularities.
#2. This morning's I learned of the nomination of Alberto Gonzalez, to replace Asscroft. We ALL need to bear down upon our Senators and other Representatives. They are there to serve us, are they not? It's time to be there with them, every step of the way. To make sure that we do everything possible to prevent them from rolling over and playing dead when bush et al. attempts to push through their unacceptable demands.
Posted by: ava at November 10, 2004 2:00 PMBut I would broaden #2 to include the total breakdown of the traditional media in this country. I'm old enough to remember the days of good investigative journalism. But now there are very few journalists who I can trust to dig deep into the facts and give the straight story. I think this trend has several causes, including control of the media by big business interests. But the most frightening cause is the administration’s intimidation and harassment of journalists who question the party line. This may be a tough trend to fight right now, but it’s probably the most important to accomplish. If the press could and would do their job and reveal the Bush administration for what it truly is, it would be a lot more difficult for the Bushies to get away with the very long list of wrongs committed in the last 4 years, including the possible hijacking of the election last week.
So who's going to tell the story about all the journalists who aren't telling the story and why? I think it's up to us to get it done, but we could use the help of like-minded organizations already in place. Could Air America Radio form an action alert group that could partner with other organizations such as blackboxvoting.org, Media Matters for America, Center for American Progress, etc. to define important issues and the best mechanisms for change? Such an action alert group could also respond to suggestions from listeners about emerging issues. Then the alert and proposed action could be relayed to listeners during all Air America shows and posted on the AAR homepage and websites/blogs for individual shows. Or maybe Air America could form it’s own daily newspaper for publication on the web? Or a television news show? All with AAR’s commitment to truth, of course. But whatever you decide to do, count me in!
Posted by: Sue at November 10, 2004 2:57 PMPosted by: Fanstar at November 10, 2004 3:55 PM
Have news shows.
game shows.
tv shows.
We are Americans, the majority of us do not read. We sit our fat asses in front a couch and complain about everything, while watching tv. If someone did this, I would actually get cable.
Posted by: QueerArt at November 10, 2004 6:45 PMPosted by: MB at November 10, 2004 7:14 PM
Posted by: Beth at November 10, 2004 7:16 PM
If we need a focus that focus has to be votes. The successes of the 1920s and 60s do not deserve failure in the 00s. Unless we want a theocracy?
Kevin
San Luis Obispo
Posted by: JIK at November 11, 2004 1:13 AM
who are neither really
Posted by: me at November 11, 2004 1:54 AMI'd like to know more about this; are you covering the story?
Posted by: Micheal VanElzakker at November 11, 2004 3:32 PMPosted by: Diane at November 9, 2004 07:22
PM
The next project should be massive amounts of teach ins or a media
commercial campaign like the Truth (anti-smoking) folks.
~~~~~~~~
Love you guys! Thanks for giving me hope and keeping me sane, rant
on Sam!
Posted by: John Smith at November 11, 2004 6:36 PM
Posted by: P & R Edwards at November 11, 2004 7:41 PM
Do you want to protest Diebold? Then Check out my new blog.
http://deardiebold.blogspot.com
Posted by: That Damn Hippie at November 11, 2004 8:07 PMAnd I agree that we need to, first and foremost, fight for election investigation and reform. Without investigation, they'll be emboldened. Imagine that.
Posted by: Susan at November 11, 2004 9:42 PMPosted by: PS at November 11, 2004 11:09 PM
Posted by: Proud Liberal! at November 12, 2004 1:26 AM
Posted by: Proud Liberal! at November 12, 2004 1:44 AM
Posted by: Alyssa B at November 12, 2004 2:08 PM
Here's a clue - YOU LOST!!! By the largest margin since George H. W. Bush took office! There's no conspiracy, there was no cheating (at least not by the Republicans), no voter suppression, etc.
Quit your crying. I know you are blinded by your hatred and immorality, but you loosers will get another chance in 4 years.
I have 2 suggestions for you:
1) Go get some mental help!!! Let someone help you through your anger and hatred of anyone that wants what's good and right for our country.
2) If you look at things without being in your drug and alcohol induced state you will see how stupid you are, and that John Kerry would have been a huge disaster for our country!!!
George Bush IS the right man, in the right place, at the right time!
Boycott all you want - you are such an insignificant percentage of the population that no one will even notice!
Posted by: The Right at November 12, 2004 3:07 PMPosted by: jessan at November 12, 2004 4:01 PM
voting irregularity has to be uncovered. Or else it will keep poping up in 2006, and 2008 again.
those screw balls was falling asleep in 2000.
Posted by: wanda at November 12, 2004 10:00 PMPosted by: geminite at November 12, 2004 10:18 PM
Posted by: jenise at November 13, 2004 1:52 AM
80% Democratic counties voting 60% Bush in Florida? I don't think so. Let's subpoena those op-scan cards and learn the truth!
If we find a hacked vote, it may not overturn the election, but at least it provides major ammo for election reform:
Standardized machines
Paper receipts that can be reviewed by the voter
NO MODEM TRANSFERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bipartisan Quality Control Checks and Security Regardless of who
runs the state
I'm sure Bev Harris could flesh this list out more. Go Bev, Sam and Janeane!
Posted by: Ted Couillard at November 13, 2004 10:48 PMPosted by: aimie at November 13, 2004 11:33 PM
I don't think you can choose one thing. We need to make a multi-pronged attack on the selfish affluenza that has blinded and numb the minds of so many.
I do not think that just fixing voter fraud will make a difference. Starting now we need to get people out there on a consistent basis to get peopole unplugged from the brainwashing coporate machines (TV). These people don't see passed their wallets immediate future. They think low taxes is always the remedy when time and time again this has caused fiscal disaster.
These people don't want to pay taxes but want to reap the benefits of what government provides. They are the biggest welfare queens.
I believe the only way to get these people to wake up is to totally change their way of thinking. We need to show them that if you make policies that benefit everybody it will include yourself. People just need an enlightenment.
Posted by: another"kooky"liberal at November 14, 2004 10:36 PMI don't think you can choose one thing. We need to make a multi-pronged attack on the selfish affluenza that has blinded and numbed the minds of so many.
I do not think that just fixing voter fraud will make a difference. Starting now we need to get people out there on a consistent basis to get peopole unplugged from the brainwashing coporate machines (TV). These people don't see past their wallets immediate future. They think low taxes is always the remedy when time and time again this has caused fiscal disaster.
These people don't want to pay taxes but want to reap the benefits of what government provides. They are the biggest welfare queens.
I believe the only way to get these people to wake up is to totally change their way of thinking. We need to show them that if you make policies that benefit everybody it will include yourself. People just need an enlightenment.
Posted by: another"kooky"liberal at November 14, 2004 10:38 PMThe Bush Regime's involvement before, during and after 9/11 is the vehicle with which to both bring the regime down [if possible]..but more importantly, to get the american public up to speed regarding the extreemes of domestic policy, both established and soon to be created, that our government creates to satisfy political debts our multinational corporations in order to sustain our imperialistic foriegn policy. I suggest an ongoing "9/11 Update" be thrown out there...even if its only a responsibility. This puppy will hunt and "LOTSO" greedy politicians will be exposed.
Also, the handcuffs are now off, and the democratic 9/11 commissioners will be more and more available to the expository press...such as AAR. They bought off on going along with a "single report" by cleverly agreeing to "assign" to US citizens the task of "useing their imaginations" about this entire event. They surepticiously stated that the "govrnment agencies"..and its leaders lacked imagination before this event...bullshit...they were all onto it. The commissioners were actually empowering the polulace to get their thinking, and maybe even their conspiracy hats on and to connect some dots on their own.
Quietly keeping 9/11 alive will keep AAR even healthier and more highly rated, and perhaps be part of reviving our democracy.
Love and Peace
Robin Hordon
Posted by: Robin Hordon at November 15, 2004 7:36 PMPosted by: zyban at November 16, 2004 10:03 AM
Wow, that took a lot of creative juices! I'm really surprised - not that you have the hatred to write such vitriol, but that you were coherent enough to actually think of it! What happened? Your dealer got arrested? Did the cops confiscate your crop of pot plants? Can’t afford to shoot up every day last week?
I came to this web site to see what was going on, and was shocked at the asinine comments from the losers like you that can’t believe that President Bush was re-elected. I can understand being disappointed, I was very disappointed when Clinton was elected, and devastated and embarrassed when he was reelected! Try to have some class about it though. Just try to comprehend you are the minority – the majority of the country is elated and relieved that President Bush will be in office for 4 more years!
I know from extensive personal experience that the more liberal and more open-minded you people claim to be, the more closed-minded and judgmental you actually are. So, go ahead with your name-calling – whatever makes you feel better. Live in your own little world where you convince yourself how superior you are to anyone that disagrees with you. I know your type and I know better than to think you may open your eyes to reality. People like you are just incapable of it. Just keep in mind that you lost! HUGE!!!
Give my regards to Prime Minister Martin (he’s like the President of Canada you idiot). Don’t let the border guards shoot you in the ass on your way out!
Posted by: f at November 16, 2004 5:37 PM
Posted by: Bush = Widowmaker at November 17, 2004 9:17 PM
Posted by: ddorr at November 18, 2004 2:31 PM
Posted by: SeattleTed at November 18, 2004 7:58 PM
Posted by: Stefan at November 19, 2004 10:50 AM
Does the potentate need a gold barge?
Worth some exploration when the Republicans are spending the
future of social security!
Posted by: E at November 23, 2004 7:55 PM
We're the majority, and we better not be silent about the November 2 election until all of our questions have been investigated and answered in a satisfactory manner.
Not only do we have to make sure that the Ohio hand-recount happens, we need to make sure the recount is unhindered by the partisan oversight of Blackwell. We need to make sure the recount results are legally meaningful, even if it takes until January.
We need to make sure that the lawsuit in Volusia Cty, FL is not adulterated by a partisan court.
We should call for all states to go to mail-only balloting, like Oregon has already done. Then we would never need fear that machine malfunctions, precinct confusion, or long lines would hinder future elections.
And while we're at it, we should add a Constitutional Amendment guaranteeing both the right to vote and to have every vote counted. All convicted criminals should have their voting rights restored as soon as they are released from prison.
But back to the questionable outcome of the last presidential race- If we cannot be sure who really won, then we need to follow the Ukraine's lead and organize a mass demonstration to occur well before G.W.B's inauguration.
Posted by: Anna Winnett at November 27, 2004 5:14 PMWhat the Ohio Democratic Party says.
Posted by not sam at November 10, 2004 4:16 PMPosted by: Cassidy at November 10, 2004 4:44 PM
The People's Email Network believes that by automating the process of connecting people to the right mail links and input gateways we can maximize participation in speaking out on this issue. In sufficient numbers this must result in either (1) movement on the part of our representatives and/or (2) the mobilization of a virtual community to vote out of office those who will not listen. Because the voice of the people depends on free, fair and honest elections to do the latter, it is critical to raise this question now.
Peace,
The Pen
Posted by: The Pen at November 10, 2004 6:36 PMLatest news is that HelpAmericaRecount.org
a 537 to get the recount underway in OH and FL was launched.
More to come:
up-to-date news can be found at :
http://www.nickdickey.com/vote_fraud/
Posted by: Nick D. at November 10, 2004 6:53 PMLatest news is that HelpAmericaRecount.org
a 537 to get the recount underway in OH and FL was launched.
More to come:
up-to-date news can be found at :
http://www.nickdickey.com/vote_fraud/
Posted by: Nick D. at November 10, 2004 6:54 PMPosted by: Lyn at November 10, 2004 7:15 PM
--------------------------------------------------
Dear Editor:
It has come to my attention that numerous instances of voting irregularities at the polls last week have been and continue to be reported. The House Judiciary Committee is being petitioned by a number of representatives to investigate instances of voter disenfranchisement. I refer you to the following links:
http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/gaoinvestvote2004ltr11504.pdf
http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/gaoinvestvote2004ltr11804.pdf
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/110804A.shtml
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1106-30.htm
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/kerry_won_.php
http://www.la.indymedia.org/news/2004/11/118675.php
This is nothing less than massive electoral fraud -- on an even bigger scale than in 2000 -- by the Bush administration. To date, only MSNBC's 'Countdown' and ABC News have discussed this issue in any detail. The national media and the printed press have a duty to look into this to determine if Bush has won this election by violating the most basic tenet of our nation, the right of the American people to vote and in so doing elect those who serve in government.
Diebold, which manufatured many of the electronic voting machines used in this election, is has donated large sums of money to the Bush campaign (this may be confirmed by a Google search). The company had the motive, the means and the opportunity to program electronic voting machines to give votes cast for John Kerry to George W. Bush in key swing states such as Ohio and Florida where the votes would affect the outcome of the election. All that is missing is physical evidence. This is certainly grounds for investigation of this matter. But if you fail to launch one, then we can kiss our democracy goodbye.
There is not much time to report on this. The election result will be certified by Congress on December 12th. Once that happens, it will be difficult if not impossible to force the legislature to investigate this matter. I urge you and your colleagues in the national media to report this and join in pressuring Congress for a full investigation. Remember, Congress must certify the election results before they become legally binding. If the results are allowed to be rigged by those whose only goal is to acquire and retain political power at any cost -- as long as somebody else is left to pay the bill -- then we can no longer call the United States of America a democracy (or a republic, if you prefer). What the country will be is a dictatorship where leaders choose themselves while offering only the illusion that we have a say in the process, because the outcome is rigged to favor those who hold power.
There is an oath sworn by all American military personnel to defend our country "against all enemies, both foreign and domestic." But this oath does not apply solely to our military; it applies to all Americans particularly the press, whose primary function as you know is to serve as an unclosed eye, continuosly watching the government for signs of corruption and reporting on it to the public at large. In short, yours is a duty to tell people the truth. If you allow yourself to sit on it, for whatever reason, then what is the purpose of a free press? What is the future of our nation?
I urge you to report on this as soon as possible, and most importantly as loudly as possible. Thank you.
--------------------------------------------------
There is as you probably know a very small window of opportunity to do something about all this. Once that window closes, so do our chances. And without pressure from the media and the public, the petition by the Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee to investigate voter fraud will fail. We cannot let this happen. Get to it folks, time's-a-wasting!
Posted by: Michael Kwiatkowski at November 10, 2004 7:43 PMPosted by: butch at November 10, 2004 7:45 PM
Posted by: Jeffrey Sanger at November 10, 2004 7:49 PM
It seems like voting machines were intentionally withheld from Democratic-leaning precincts in Franklin County Ohio.
We can't recover the votes that were lost when legal voters turned away from the polls because of 7 hour waits. But we can expose or even prosecute the people who intentionally caused these conditions.
Matthew Damschroder, the Franklin County Elections Director used to head up the Franklin County Republican Party. Damschroder even met with Bush himself in Columbus, Ohio on election day.
Damschroder had machines redirected from inner city precincts to affluent suburban precincts. He probably expects to be rewarded by the Republican Party for successfully reducing Democratic votes in Franklin.
Let's make sure everyone knows about the tactics used by Damschroder and others to stop Democrats from voting. Let's make sure the "Katharine Harris Career Path" doesn't work for Damschroder or Ken Blackwell!
Click my name for more details. Thanks, Rob
Posted by: Rob Dixon at November 10, 2004 7:52 PMhttp://rantworld.blogs.com/rantworld/2004/11/whats_wrong_wit_1.html
Posted by: Rob Dixon at November 10, 2004 7:55 PMMy question is how can you have one part of the exit polling be accurate and worthy of our time but another part be faulty? Am I off base here? Is there something I'm missing? This just doesn't make sence to me.
I take issue with people citing the exit polling data claiming that the "moral issues" answer to the question of why did you vote the way you voted is some how more valid than the answer to the question of who you voted for. It seems mighty weird that AAR and the main stream media are falling in line with the idea that "moral issues" is a valid result of exit polling but a Kerry lead isn't.
Why is it so hard to believe that this election was stolen?
Posted by: kimma at November 10, 2004 8:13 PMPosted by: Michael Kwiatkowski at November 10, 2004 8:29 PM
49 more states!
Voter Fraud, It's ALIVE!
I'm bored.
Posted by: nicethugbert at November 10, 2004 9:19 PMPosted by: nicethugbert at November 10, 2004 9:26 PM
Posted by: carolkay at November 11, 2004 7:48 PM
http://www.petitiononline.com/xxx2004/petition.html
It will at lest voice our opinion, which is better than nothing, which means it does matter and not a waste of your time. We need to work together.
Posted by: Brian Albano at November 12, 2004 7:30 PMFeaturing anchor Keith Olbermann
http://homepage.mac.com/duffyb/nobush/iMovieTheater270.html
Stefan
and it's not the movies. Your government at work.
Posted by not sam at November 10, 2004 7:43 PMPosted by: concrete cookie at November 10, 2004 7:51 PM
Posted by: Yentz at November 10, 2004 9:48 PM
Tanks stopping in
front of peaceful demonstrators for five minutes? Not an accident --
in my view, a show of intimidation and force....
Posted by: Yentz at November 11, 2004 1:10 PM
It seems that events -- specifically the leaning tide of "right-ness" (extreme right-wing direction of our country) -- come in increments...it almost appears as if "experimentation" is occurring.
It's as if the masses are being "tested", so that their reactions to such incidents are being evaluated.
In other words, the powerful whom have the designs to clamp down and create a police-military state would perhaps facilitate events that may require a heavy police presence or a looming military lock down...
It's a somewhat loose (or maybe awkward) analogy to using fear to justify the Patriot Act, in order to scare people away from dissent. Sooner or later, some of us will begin to challenge what we are being told, and perhaps will be met with resistance, who knows, maybe in the form of a sinister attack of mass terror...
Taking the soldier's comments as true, It is worth looking at the events as a cautionary tale. While I am not advocating that there is necessarily a nefarious/bad design in the action of tanks in Westwood, L.A., I certainly won't mark the tank's appearance in the midst of a peace demonstration as a trivial event (not that you are doing so).
Posted by: The Big O at November 11, 2004 3:56 PMhttp://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-tank12nov12,1,3910246.story
LOS ANGELES
Military's Presence at Antiwar Rally Is Called a Coincidence
By Wendy Thermos
Times Staff Writer
November 12, 2004
Photos and a video posted on the Internet this week depicting tanks at an antiwar demonstration in front of the Federal Building in Westwood provoked hundreds of outraged postings.
But police and witnesses said the armored vehicles were on their way to a Veterans Day event at the nearby Veterans Affairs grounds on Wilshire Boulevard, stopping only for a red light near the Federal Building.
"It's a whole lot of nothing," said Officer Kathy Simpson, a Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman. "The 'tanks' were there for Veterans Day. They ride in the parade and wave."
The antiwar protest, sponsored by the group Act Now to Stop War & End Racism, was held Tuesday evening near the VA grounds, where a parade and exhibit were staged Wednesday.
Blurred photos posted on the Internet showed military personnel in battle gear standing at their hatches, behind gun turrets mounted on two tank-like vehicles rolling through traffic. Closer inspection showed the vehicles were not tanks but light-armored vehicles, which are smaller than tanks and ride on rubber tires instead of treads.
Several websites denounced the vehicles' presence and accused the military of trying to intimidate peaceful protesters. "There was absolutely no excuse to deploy tanks against a law-abiding crowd," said one site.
A statement posted Wednesday by Answer said, "It is an outrage to see tanks rolling through the streets of Los Angeles."
By Thursday, however, a representative fielding phone calls for the nonprofit group was considerably calmer. "I can't speak for everybody, but I think people are overreacting a little bit," said Darrin Downey, who saw the vehicles driving by. "It didn't seem hostile. I believe they were just going around the corner."
The demonstration was already over, he added.
It's not clear which branch of the military the vehicles belonged
to. A Camp Pendleton spokesman said he believed his base sent one or
two armored vehicles to the exhibit and parade, which celebrated
Veterans Day and the Marine Corps' 229th birthday Wednesday. "I can
guarantee you we didn't send them over there to scare a bunch of
protesters," Sgt. Mark Ledesma said.
Go here to learn more about public hearings that organizations like Common Cause Ohio and The Ohio Citizens Alliance for Secure Elections are planning to hold. Voters and poll workers from across the state will testify..let's find the truth!
Posted by not sam at November 11, 2004 8:54 PMPosted by: Steambomb at November 11, 2004 10:51 PM
I'm not going to trust the dems to protect my rights. If I want it done right I will have to do it myself.
I'm not surprise the corporate media is dismissing this. That means it's a really big story. I saw an article by the NYT. The same NYT that gave a crappy apology for suppressing stories that cast doubts about the WMD. The same NYT that help lie about the war.
Now we are expected to believe them when they dismiss the fraud story. No way.
Corporate media can hee and haw, call us tin foil hat people all they like. It still will not cover up the fact that this is the story of the century.
Thank you for your time.
Posted by: spirittoo at November 12, 2004 2:07 AM
I THINK THIS IS PRETTY SERIOUS, so, I am sorry for the all-caps, and
it being a little off topic, but it is tangentally related and I
think this needs to be noted and delt with.
The NYTimes has a story on their home page this morning that
effectively accuses the only community of only being a rumor mill,
and gives no credit to the online community for truth seeking and
fact checking and policing itself.
Here is the title:
Vote Fraud Theories, Spread by Blogs, Are Quickly Buried
Here are paragraphs two and three from the story:
In the space of seven days, an online market of dark ideas
surrounding last week's presidential election took root and
multiplied.
But while the widely read universe of Web logs was often blamed for the swift propagation of faulty analyses, the blogosphere, as it has come to be known, spread the rumors so fast that experts were soon able to debunk them, rather than allowing them to linger and feed conspiracy theories. Within days of the first rumors of a stolen election, in fact, the most popular theories were being proved wrong - though many were still reluctant to let them go.
Some more choice quotes:
"It becomes a snowball of hearsay,"
"but no one from these blogs has called and said, 'We want to know
what really happened.' "
And they use Clay Shirky too - this one particularly hurts:
Clay Shirky, an adjunct professor in the interactive
telecommunications program at New York University, suggests that the
online fact-finding machine has come unmoored, and that some
bloggers simply "can't imagine any universe in which a fair count of
the votes would result in George Bush being re-elected president."
- Although I think they are probably pulling his comments out of
context.
Here are the last words of the story:
"The 'facts' that are being circulated on the Internet," the study
concluded, "appear to be selectively chosen to make the point."
Whether that will ever convince everyone is an open question.
"I'd give my right arm for Internet rumors of a stolen election to be true," said David Wade, a spokesman for the Kerry campaign, "but blogging it doesn't make it so. We can change the future; we can't rewrite the past."
THE NYTIMES STORY IS HERE (reg bs req):
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/12/politics/12theory.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5088&en=4d92304c5edc7155&ex=1258002000&partner=rssnyt
I'm working on a longer essay response. Please check the story out.
Maybe I am too excited, but I think the NYTimes is attempting to do
some damage.
Posted by: ND Pendant at November 12, 2004 1:09 PM
If anyone knows, please e-mail me.
Posted by: rustle of luv at November 12, 2004 3:37 PMPosted by: rustle of luv at November 12, 2004 3:41 PM
in whitehouse lawn picnic scene, Karl Rove: "it is all over but the counting, WE will take care of the counting"
http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/diaryofapoliticaltourist/
Posted by: SropVotePirates at November 12, 2004 6:47 PM
I am contacting you because like many Ohio voters I am outraged by
the stories I have heard regarding voter irregularities and would
like to see a recount. Good news: Both issues are being addressed -
details below.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ITEM #1:
PUBLIC HEARINGS ON ELECTION IRREGULARITIES AND VOTER SUPRESSION
We are calling on anyone who experienced or observed election
irregularities or voter suppression this election season to come to
give testimony at a public hearing before public officials,
community representatives and the media. Your stories will be
documented, recorded and put into a report and formal complaint to
the Board of Elections. If you have any information about election
irregularities please participate.
Citizens, voting experts, and investigative journalists will be
invited to present testimony for the pubic record documenting
instances of voting irregularities and systematic voter suppression.
The coalition (members listed below) hopes to expose the systemic
undermining of our democratic process that occurred leading up to
and on Nov 2, and assess how to respond to racial disenfranchisement
and suppression of democratic rights.
Saturday, November 13, 2004, 1-4pm
New Faith Baptist Church
955 Oak St., Columbus, Ohio, 43205
Call 253-2571 or truth@freepress.org.
Monday, November 15, 2004, 6-9 PM
Auditorium, Meeting Room A
Franklin County Court House
373 S. High, Columbus
Also, if you have specific factual information about voting problems
that could be helpful to the Kerry lawyers who are reviewing
Election 2004 in Ohio, please send it to vri@dnc.org.
Susan Truitt, Co-founder
Citizens' Alliance for Secure Elections (CASE Ohio)
www.caseohio.org 614-487-1759 614-270-5239
Sponsored by CASE Ohio: Citizen's Alliance for Secure Elections,
the CICJ, League of Pissed Off Voters, Election Protection
Coalition, Common Cause, WVKO Radio, This Time We're Watching,
Driving Votes, International Labor Communications Assoc., Code Pink,
Global Exchange, People for the American Way, IPPN, Election
Protection Coalition, Truth Force Training Center, No Stolen
Elections Coalition, Liberty Tree.
Currently referenced in Michael Moore's Website.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ITEM #2:
GREEN & LIBERTARIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES TO DEMAND OHIO RECOUNT
*NEWS RELEASE* November 11, 2004
David Cobb and Michael Badnarik, the 2004 presidential candidates
for the Green and Libertarian parties, today announced their
intentions to file a formal demand for a recount of the presidential
ballots cast in Ohio. The candidates also demanded that Ohio
Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, a Republican who
chaired the Ohio Bush campaign, recuse himself from the recount
process.
The Cobb and Badnarik campaigns have displayed a level of
cooperation and civility rarely found in electoral politics. The
campaigns jointly participated in and/or sponsored a series of
independent debates. Cobb and Badnarik were also simultaneously
arrested in St. Louis protesting their exclusion from the
restricted, two-party corporate-sponsored debates.
The Cobb and Badnarik campaigns are in the process of raising the
required fee, estimated at $110,000, for filing for a complete
recount.
The campaigns are accepting contributions through their websites:
1. The Cobb-LaMarche website is
http://www.votecobb.org
2. The Badnarik-Campagna contribution page is
https://badnarik.org.
For more information contact:
Blair Bobier, Media Director at 541.929.5755 or 414.364.1596
Or
Stephen Gordon, Badnarik campaign at 256.227.8360
By Jimmy Carter
Monday, September 27, 2004; Page A19
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52800-2004Sep26.html
After the debacle in Florida four years ago, former president Gerald
Ford and I were asked to lead a blue-ribbon commission to recommend
changes in the American electoral process. After months of concerted
effort by a dedicated and bipartisan group of experts, we presented
unanimous recommendations to the president and Congress. The
government responded with the Help America Vote Act of October 2002.
Unfortunately, however, many of the act's key provisions have not
been implemented because of inadequate funding or political
disputes.
The disturbing fact is that a repetition of the problems of 2000 now seems likely, even as many other nations are conducting elections that are internationally certified to be transparent, honest and fair.
The Carter Center has monitored more than 50 elections, all of them
held under contentious, troubled or dangerous conditions. When I
describe these activities, either in the United States or in foreign
forums, the almost inevitable questions are: "Why don't you observe
the election in Florida?" and "How do you explain the serious
problems with elections there?"
The answer to the first question is that we can monitor only about five elections each year, and meeting crucial needs in other nations is our top priority. (Our most recent ones were in Venezuela and Indonesia, and the next will be in Mozambique.) A partial answer to the other question is that some basic international requirements for a fair election are missing in Florida.
The most significant of these requirements are:
• A nonpartisan electoral commission or a trusted and nonpartisan official who will be responsible for organizing and conducting the electoral process before, during and after the actual voting takes place. Although rarely perfect in their objectivity, such top administrators are at least subject to public scrutiny and responsible for the integrity of their decisions. Florida voting officials have proved to be highly partisan, brazenly violating a basic need for an unbiased and universally trusted authority to manage all elements of the electoral process.
• Uniformity in voting procedures, so that all citizens, regardless of their social or financial status, have equal assurance that their votes are cast in the same way and will be tabulated with equal accuracy. Modern technology is already in use that makes electronic voting possible, with accurate and almost immediate tabulation and with paper ballot printouts so all voters can have confidence in the integrity of the process. There is no reason these proven techniques, used overseas and in some U.S. states, could not be used in Florida.
It was obvious that in 2000 these basic standards were not met in Florida, and there are disturbing signs that once again, as we prepare for a presidential election, some of the state's leading officials hold strong political biases that prevent necessary reforms.
Four years ago, the top election official, Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, was also the co-chair of the Bush-Cheney state campaign committee. The same strong bias has become evident in her successor, Glenda Hood, who was a highly partisan elector for George W. Bush in 2000. Several thousand ballots of African Americans were thrown out on technicalities in 2000, and a fumbling attempt has been made recently to disqualify 22,000 African Americans (likely Democrats), but only 61 Hispanics (likely Republicans), as alleged felons.
The top election official has also played a leading role in qualifying Ralph Nader as a candidate, knowing that two-thirds of his votes in the previous election came at the expense of Al Gore. She ordered Nader's name be included on absentee ballots even before the state Supreme Court ruled on the controversial issue.
Florida's governor, Jeb Bush, naturally a strong supporter of his brother, has taken no steps to correct these departures from principles of fair and equal treatment or to prevent them in the future.
It is unconscionable to perpetuate fraudulent or biased electoral practices in any nation. It is especially objectionable among us Americans, who have prided ourselves on setting a global example for pure democracy. With reforms unlikely at this late stage of the election, perhaps the only recourse will be to focus maximum public scrutiny on the suspicious process in Florida.
Former president Carter is chairman of the Carter Center in
Atlanta.
On Tuesday in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The nominee is Thomas B. Griffith. What kind of guy is he? The kind that says stuff like this:
“The rule of law, the idea that each human being is entitled to the protection of the law, is most firmly rooted and grounded when we approach an understanding of what the Savior has done for each human being. Thus the calling of lawyers is to build communities based on the rule of law, communities that reach us in the direction of a Zion society, a place where the power of the Atonement unites us.�?
And also thinks it's okay to practice without a license.
Read the Alliance For Justice Report on Griffith here.
Here are the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Contact them and tell them to take their constitutional duty of advise and consent seriously. This hearing will be an important precedent for the next four years, at the end of which Bush will have appointed approximately 50 percent of the Federal judiciary.
Posted by not sam at November 12, 2004 4:12 PM
http://mysite.verizon.net/biz8ua4a/
Or, as Noam Scheiber argues here, both?
Posted by not sam at November 13, 2004 12:37 PMPosted by: sundaytrucker/christianmotherf-er at November 14, 2004 2:02 AM
Why worry about the environment when the end is near? We won't be here in hundred years, they will remind you.
The current battles in the Middle East are the early skirmish in a much larger, apocalyptic battle to come- the Prophecy assures them. The details of the war in Iraq don't really matter that much- it is God's will.
Bush is a prophet to the Christian Right. Why question the President? There is no need to resist- just go with God, the will advise. "Let Go, Let God"
By appealing to the Christian Right you have a base of fanatically devoted followers who won't ask difficult questions.
Karl Rove, the president's chief political adviser, famously said that the key to this election was turning out four million evangelical Christians who did not vote in the year 2000.
Well, this year - unlike four years ago - Mr Bush won the popular vote. And his margin was just short of four million voters.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/3992067.stm
Posted by: Stefan at November 15, 2004 12:35 PMInstead of supporting the red states, the Blue States can get more bang for our buck as part of Canada. Let the South and the Red States keep their culture, we do not need them, and presumably they are a drag on our culture and social evolution.
Posted by: wakeupamerica at November 30, 2004 10:38 PMNice column in the Washington Post. Regardless of what the statiticians and academics are saying, Donna Britt can't understand why the issue is being brushed off so easily:
"...citizens who insist, election after election, that each vote is sacred and then shrug at hundreds of credible reports that honest-to-God votes were suppressed and discouraged aren't just being hypocritical.
They're telling the millions who never vote because 'it doesn't matter anyway" that they're the smart ones.'"
Read the rest here.
Posted by not sam at November 13, 2004 12:45 PM
Dear On the Media:
While I otherwise adore your show, I found this week's piece on potential vote fraud smug and patronizing. Your desire for "closure" and other journalists desire for a day off are utterly irrelevant in the face of something that possibly undermines our entire political system and might mean an illegitimate president gets another four years at the helm. Your poo-pooing "bloggers with tinfoil hats" is not only insulting, but it belies your own insecurities and fails to understand who the people are with concerns about the validity of this election: we are extremely qualified and highly paid computer scientists, we are lawyers, we are university professors of political science, history, sociology, linguistics and media studies, and we are civic leaders of minority communities. I understand and sympathize with your desire not to have America cast as a banana republic, but your wishing it won't stop the hemorrhaging of faith people have (at home and abroad) in our electoral po
