An Open Letter to Senator Obama and the Democratic Leadership: On Election Night, DO NOT CONCEDE!
"Eight years is too much" is how Barack Obama explained why we must win the coming election and begin to restore America. But, even if we receive the most votes, will we win the election?
DO NOT CONCEDE!
Both of the last two elections were conceded by the Democratic presidential candidate. The 2004 election was handed to George Bush while votes were still being counted in closely-fought Ohio. While the 2000 election was contested to the Supreme Court, it too was ultimately conceded to Bush "for the good of the country." Some good.
Numerous politicians, investigators and authors, including Robert Kennedy, Jr., agree the 2004 election was stolen, not only in Ohio but in several other battleground states. Tactics included purging of legitimate voters and the use of nefarious voting software--but when even these actions did not yield the required numbers, Republican election officials simply changed the vote tallies in several states, all without a peep from the Democratic Party.
DO NOT CONCEDE!
In the time since the last general election the public has learned much about these scandals, which have led some states to reject electronic touchscreen voting (and which caused the infamous Diebold voting machines corporation to hide behind a new corporate name,) yet the Democratic Party seems to have learned nothing.
THREE STRIKES AND WE'RE OUT!
If we cannot afford another Republican administration, we cannot afford a third concession in the face of election fraud. Already there is evidence of massive fraud such as voter purging and caging of Democratic voters, and "flipping" of votes in early voting on electronic touchscreen machines. It is reasonable to once again expect further manipulation on election night by some Republican operatives and election officials, as was seen in 2004; should we also expect our Democratic Party leaders and candidates to repeat history, by once again conceding in the face of such blatant fraud?
Senator Obama, we need you, our Party and all candidates to stand firm, come what may on election night. You ask us to work for you, contribute to you--and to have your back; we ask that you promise to have our back: We ask that you PLEDGE TO STAND FIRM, AND NOT CONCEDE THE COMING ELECTION in the face of election irregularities, no matter how long it takes to contest such fraud, while there remains any doubt as to any part of the process. Be assured, Democratic voters will be more--not less--energized if we see you promise to stand firm.
Senator Obama, if there is any reason to contest the election, DO NOT CONCEDE!
Signed: (Titles for identification purposes only)
Gore Vidal, Author
Bob Fitrakis, Professor of Political Science, Columbus State Community College Attorney; Editor of The Free Press (freepress.org)
Mark Crispin Miller, Professor of Media, Culture and Communication at New York University; Author of Fooled Again, How the Right Stole the 2004 Election
Linda Milazzo is a Los Angeles based writer, educator and activist. Since 1974, she has divided her time between the entertainment industry, government organizations & community development projects and educational programs.
Linda began her writing career over 30 years ago, starting out in advertising and promotions. From 1976 to 1989, she operated an independent public relations service providing specialty writing for individual and corporate clients. For the past six years, Linda has focused on political writing. Her essays, letters and commentaries have appeared in domestic and international journals, newspapers and magazines. She's an educator and creator of a writers' program she's taught privately and in public schools. She currently facilitates an advocacy writing workshop and is developing an advocacy writing program to be implemented in public and private educational institutions and in community based organizations.
Linda is a senior editor at OEN, a regular contributor to the Huffington Post, and to other respected news and opinion websites. A political and social activist since the Vietnam War, Linda attributes her revitalized-fully-engaged-intense-head-on-non-stop-political activism to the UNFORTUNATE EXISTENCE OF GEORGE W. BUSH and her disgust with greed-ridden American imperialism, environmental atrocities, egregious war, nuclear proliferation, lying leaders, and global tyranny!
What is legal does not seem to be defined like "that which is defined by the law to be not forbidden." But more like "that which is not punished by the authorities." So there you have it. Go get your legal system back people.
by
Han (0 articles, 2 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 213 comments)
on Sunday, November 2, 2008 at 12:01:36 PM
This possibility was one of the main topics addressed by Michael Moore on Friday's Halloween edition of Democracy Now. A stolen election would kill the strength of the resistance in the country OR it would mobilize public outrage.
As James Carville noted on CNN over two weeks ago. According to all we know and can see from polls registrations and other trends if Obama doesn't win there will be a nationwide scene.
mikel weisser, teacher, contributor OpEdNews
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mikel weisser (28 articles, 3 quicklinks, 8 diaries, 69 comments)
on Sunday, November 2, 2008 at 1:23:45 AM
API recently put the race at a dead heat. This is to prep people for a johnny come lately from behind underdog surge by miraculous mccain, who snatches victory from the jaws of defeat. Even though the exit polls show him ten points behind. The US voting system is as corrupt as it gets. And if obombem accedes, we know he was on the take. Either way we lose though, one mainstreamer against one madman. Christ, and I've got to drive to town for a dental apt on nov 5. At least where I live people are too lazy to take up arms, unless it's an honor killing. Ain't no honor in politics. If you're smart, stock up on edibles on the 3rd, vote your heart on the 4th, and be prepared to eat sh*t on the 5th. It ain't gonna be no picnic, but you may as well have a bite.
by
Cinderfella (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 141 comments)
on Sunday, November 2, 2008 at 1:54:12 AM
Thank you, Gore Vidal et al, for sending this letter. For me the saddest, most heartbreaking day in American history was December 12, 2000--the day that the Supreme Court violated the Constitution with impunity by appointing Bush as "president" despite massive, blatant voter fraud and vote suppression in Florida--and then Al Gore abandoned his fight for justice, simply because he did not wish to go against a Supreme Court decision. (Normally such a concession would be a principled decision, but in this case, he was dealing with a malignant clique devoid of principles!)
I pray that Obama wins a theft-proof landslide, of course, but if he doesn't, I hope and pray that he doesn't just roll over and play dead...that he legally challenges Republican voter fraud wherever it takes place.
We all need to keep a hawk eye on irregularities at our polling places, video the vote, and do anything and everything we can to keep this election from being stolen as the last two were. And if it IS stolen, let us hit the streets in such a huge outpouring that even Blackwater goons won't be able to stop us!
by
Tom Ellis (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 23 comments)
on Sunday, November 2, 2008 at 7:32:05 AM
Civil Disobedience Preferable to Dean/Kerry Roll Over Again
It is outrageous that here in the USA we bear a closer resemblance to Third World vote rigging dictatorships than we do to our own professed ideals of "democracy".
What a disservice the Democrats do to be too passive in the face of Republican criminality. I surely hope Gore Vidal's letter is heeded and not ignored. Howard Dean, in my opinion has been a LOUSY DNC president. He didn't say anything when Kerry conceded in 2004. He and Kerry should have led a national strike and demanded a new election and called for investigation into vote fraud. At the time the fraud was cleverly concealed, but hopefully by now the methods have been exposed well enough for the DNC to just call people out into the streets and we do like Mexico did a couple years ago when the opposition refused to concede to the pro-government rigged vote down there. They had weeks of demonstrations and since Bush was in office, the cause of democracy in Mexico was stabbed in the back and the opposition eventually lost out to the rigged pro-establishment fraudulent politicians and the leftists had to lose and go home by sheer dint of no support from countries that should have stepped in and tried to help ensure a fair vote in Mexico.
Now it looks like we are in the same boat here as Mexico was....We need to call in the United Nations and have them bring printed ballots and ink for peoples' thumbs. I guess the Republicans have reduced us to the Robert Mugabe style of holding elections: i.e., intimidate opponents to keep them from voting and changing votes so that he would win. Bush got in twice that way.
Our country would have better off coming close to civil war than it has been under a George W. Bush "preidency" for two terms.
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JOHN LORENZ (17 articles, 91 quicklinks, 73 diaries, 230 comments)
on Sunday, November 2, 2008 at 9:09:16 AM
The correct term is, "hear, hear!" It is an abbreviation for "hear, all ye good people, hear what this brilliant and eloquent speaker has to say!"
Of course, if the speaker is actually asking a question, such as "and just where do you think we should open the new strip club?" it's not hard to imagine that at least one yahoo in attendance might yell, "here, here!" But this would be the exception that proves the rule.
Living in Perry County, Ohio, I saw first-hand the vote fraud in 2004. Precincts certified with 25% more votes than registered voters, a 137 year old woman voting, elections officials who testified to 'signing voter's names for them', and whiting out and re-signing names- 4th degree felonies in Ohio with absolutely NO punishment. Fitrakis and Wasserman have written extensively about it, and Conyers listed us as #2 on his findings. Before 2004, no politician had ever won all of the major cities (except, of course, GOP stronghold Cincinnati) yet "lost" the state. Our repeated entreties to the Kerry Campaign weren't even replied to. The GOP stole the election in the rural counties- where "we" weren't watching. This is America's last chance, and I, for one, will be joining our Ukrainian brothers that stood up to prevent their vote theft.
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Pete Myer (0 articles, 1 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 3 comments)
on Sunday, November 2, 2008 at 3:53:57 PM
Now here's a quote from Goethe, "No one is more a slave than he who thinks he is free without being so." Wake up sheeple, you're getting sheered and the sheering is only going to get a lot worse if the sheeple keep sticking their heads in the sand and repeating, "it's only a bad dream, this is America, no one would steal elections!"
Perhaps election fraud could explain why so many members of Congress risked the overwhelming wrath of the voters and went along with Bush’s banker bailout while throwing millions of Americans out in to the streets? If you really want an idea of what the Neo-Cons are up to and who they are, see Senate Bailout a.k.a. Bank Robbery Bill and If I were a Terrorist No, it couldn't be. This is America, and Bush says that he is a good Christian. Yet, so did Hitler! Do you recall what happened when most Germans stuck their heads in the sand?
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Mark Adams (19 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 275 comments)
on Monday, November 3, 2008 at 11:40:22 AM
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