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It's Time to Take "Emerge 'n See" MeasuresBy Steve Bhaerman
"No matter what the awful truth is about vote count this time, we have the
awesome opportunity to make sure every vote is counted next time."
Maybe we progressive voters aren't sore losers, after all. Maybe the
recount currently going on in secret (at least secret as far as mainstream
media is concerned) will prove we're sore winners instead.
Yes, with all of the lamenting about how the Democrats could have
reached out to more voters, it just might be that the key to victory was
"reaching in" to those optical scam (oops, I mean optical scan) voting
machines and just creating more voters that way.
If you read the newspapers and watch TV news, you may have heard vague
rumors that a few extreme nutcase "flat-earthers" subscribe to the laughable
notion that voters were intimidated in Ohio and Florida, and voting machines
and tallies were tampered with. These "conspiracy nuts" include Green Party
Presidential candidate David Cobb, Libertarian Party candidate Michael
Badnarik, and the public interest advocacy group, Common Cause. A few
fearless journalists like Greg Palast, William Rivers Pitt, Thom Hartmann,
MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and Air America's Randi Rhodes have joined in.
Along with Cobb and Badnarik, Common Cause has raised the funds to
conduct a complete recount in Ohio. If evidence of voting fraud is found,
this may lead to a more widespread recount. And in fact, a committee of 100
prominent Americans is being formed right now to speak out in unison in
support of a completely transparent recount. With the exception of online
news sources and Air America radio, the media has treated folks who say the
vote has been tampered with as if they just announced they were taken aboard
a spacecraft and are pregnant with an alien love child.
But if television won't cover the story, then "tell a person" must.
Therefore we are inviting you to take "emerge 'n see" measures -- to emerge
from frustration and despair and see that this is a battle that cannot be
won from the top down, but must be won from the ground up. And time to
extend that state of "emerge n' see" to all of our friends, family and
neighbors who have fallen prey to the "not-see" mentality -- i.e., insisted
on not seeing what the current ruling cadre is capable of doing, and in fact
has done.
"Not-seeism" is understandable in this sense: No American really wants
to believe that our government is their enemy, and what is passing for
"news" is Orwellian "newspeak." There is an old saying: "The truth shall
set you free, but first it will piss you off." Those of us willing to
emerge from fear and see the truth must therefore act as "midwives" to
others who are ready to peek above the wall of illusion and "impropaganda"
and help them see the "awful truth" and the "awesome opportunity" at the
same time.
In some ways, it's easier to accept the awful truth than to see the
awesome opportunity, but consider that in this election, the electorate was
way, way ahead of the Democratic candidate. In light of the obvious need
for regime change, the progressives gave their all for John Kerry. And once
again, like Lucy pulling away the football just as the hapless Charlie Brown
is about to kick it, the Democratic National Committee conceded quicker than
you could say, "Karl Rover, Karl Rover make Kerry roll over!"
The Swami has said that the prime cause of disillusionment is
illusionment. So now that we the people have been disabused of our
illusions, it's time to stop abusing ourselves with further illusions. The
Democratic Party has proven to us that they will stop at nothing to win, for
indeed ... they stopped at nothing. The awesome opportunity is for we the
people to take the lead in restoring -- if not establishing -- democracy in
this country.
There were (at least) 55 million Americans who cast their vote for
regime change earlier this month. The good news is, those people still want
regime change. The better news is, in taking the lead for honest and
transparent election, we the people embody that regime change and establish
our democracy at a higher level. No matter what the awful truth is about
vote count this time, we have the awesome opportunity to make sure every
vote is counted next time.
So, what is to be done? We recommend a 3-Step Program for Recovering
our Democracy because frankly we have no time for all 12-Steps.
Step One. Educate Ourselves.
Step Two. Tell A Person.
Step Three. Press the Press.
Step One. Educate Ourselves. Fortunately, there are several
clearinghouses for up-to-date and congruent information on election recount
issues. Websites are listed below. Here are several key talking points,
with links back to deeper source material.
1. Voting "Irregularities" Block the Vote in Ohio. In many Democratic
areas (particularly African-American communities), people had to wait hours
to vote, thanks to an unexplained "shortage" of voting machines. Meanwhile,
Republicans "challenged" voters' rights to vote, forcing them to fill out a
provisional ballot instead of a real ballot. The provisional ballots were
not counted on election day and we may never know how many of them there
were, or what rules will be used to qualify them. Flyers were sent to
Democratic areas with an array of false information on them. People were
told their voting precinct had changed, that their voter registration was
not valid, even that they would go to jail of they tried to vote.
http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/7/2004/991
2. In Some Ohio Counties, There Were More Votes for Bush Than Registered
Voters. Maybe Pat Robertson was right and God did have His Thumb on the
scales for Dubya, because in a "miraculous" occurrence not unlike the
multiplying loaves and fishes, votes for George Bush in certain Ohio
counties exceeded by 93,000 the number of voters actually registered in
those counties. Considering that Bush won Ohio by a mere 136,000 votes,
this could be significant.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/111404z.shtml
3. Odds of Mismatch in Exit Polls and Election Results Being
Coincidental: 250 Million to One. According to University of Pennsylvania
statistician Dr. Stephen Freeman, "As much as we can say in social science
that something is impossible, it is impossible that the discrepancies
between predicted and actual vote counts in the three critical battleground
states [Ohio, Florida, and Pennsylvania] of the 2004 election could have
been due to chance or random error... The likelihood of any two of these
statistical anomalies occurring together is on the order of
one-in-a-million. The odds against all three occurring together are 250
million to one." Dr. Freeman's contention, by the way, is backed by the
respected pollster, John Zogby.
http://truthout.org/unexplainedexitpoll.pdf
Complete US Exit Poll Data Confirms Net Suspicions
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/hl0411/s00227.htm
http://www.freezerbox.com/archive/article.asp?id=321
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/112004x.shtml
4. Mass Media Seems to Be Covering Up the Story By Not Covering It.
Actor / activist Peter Coyote says he received a call from a producer friend
at CBS who told her, there is a "media lock-down" on the election fraud
issue and "there is to be no TV coverage of the real problems with voting on
November 2nd." His source also said they've also been forbidden to talk
about it even on their own time. With the exception of MSNBC's Keith
Olbermann and Air America, the only articles or reports on the issue have
been those "reassuring" Americans that all of the anomalies are easily
explainable (but not really explaining them).
Resources for Accurate Information
http://www.blackboxvoting.org
http://www.verifiedvoting.org
http://www.nov2truth.org
http://www.commondreams.org
http://www.truthout.org
Step Two. Tell A Person. While emails can be effective in
communicating to large numbers of people quickly, there are limitations.
First of all, many people suffer from information overload and often delete
messages before they read them. Secondly and more important, the very
people we want to reach are the ones who don't go online for their news
sources. Can you think of ten friends, relatives and associates who may
have voted for Kerry but probably don't know much about the recount
activities? Time -- and money -- are of the essence. Could you call these
people, concisely make your case (see questions below), and send them where
they can get more information? Writer Lilian Friedberg has actually put
together flyers that she hands to neighbors, co-workers, associates and
strangers. You can go to this website to find some sample flyers.
http://www.bigpath.net/politics/home/home.html
In communicating with others about this volatile issue, it's important
to lead with questions, not answers. Your tone should evoke curiosity and
then concern, but without paranoia or panic. As communicators we must hold
the good news and bad news in our consciousness simultaneously: Our power
has been taken from us, and here is how we will take our power back.
Remember, invoking fear is a short-term strategy with diminishing returns.
Invoke encouragement, and you evoke power.
Here are some key questions to lead with as you "tell a person":
1. Did you know there is an official recount effort in Ohio?
2. Did you know that in certain Ohio counties, George Bush got 93,000
more votes than there are registered voters?
3. Did you know that some voters in African-American precincts in Ohio
were sent official-looking flyers telling them to vote on Wednesday, not
Tuesday?
4. Do you wonder why you haven't seen this in your newspapers or on TV?
5. Are you aware that all the companies that make the electronic voting
machines are Republicans who supported Bush?
6. In the light ot this information, what are you willing to do about
it?
a. Educate yourself further, and speak with ten others?
b. Contact your Representative and Senators asking them to support
recount efforts?
c. Call your local newspaper and TV station and ask them why they
aren't covering this news?
Step Three. Press the Press. Mainstream media has been silent and
dismissive about the issue. Even the "liberal" San Francisco Chronicle has
printed hatchet pieces on "those sore loser liberals" and a few longer
articles which "disprove" any major fraud. Few if any letters to the editor
have been printed. So ... how do we press the press? This is clearly an
area which requires some thinking, and broad concerted action. Of course,
you can write letters to the editor, but those are too easily ignored. So
here are a few ideas to develop and adapt:
1. Mass phone calls to local and national newspapers. Find the national
news editors, and call them directly. Using some of the talking points
above and questions below, clearly and concisely demand they cover the
story.
2. In a more in-your-face press-the-press press, have a group
(including a prominent citizen or citizens) stand outside the local or
national news outlet and confront the executives, editors and anchors
directly with a camcorder and mike, Michael Moore-style. These clips can be
broadcast on Indy or foreign press.
3. Create local actions or petitions in front of city council asking
for solidarity with recount efforts. This was a successful strategy in
getting local governments to come out against the Patriot Act. Even if the
resolutions aren't passed, they will be covered by local news.
4. Create other newsworthy actions. A good example is the November 3rd
committee that, in Martin Luther style, nailed their "theses" to the door of
the Democratic National Committee, and are encouraging others around the
country to do the same.
http://www.3nov.com
5. Mass phone calls to mainstream media cancelling subscriptions in
protest. If just a fraction of the 55 million who voted for regime change
shifted their money from mainstream to alternative media, we could actually
create the financial resource for a truth-telling network. As Swami says,
"If you get your news online, put your money where your mouse is." Click
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