November 7, 2008 at 15:37:53

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Our fragile dream, the rally last night and a plea to grow the Election Protection movement

By Lora Chamberlain (about the author)     Page 1 of 2 page(s)

opednews.com     Permalink

For OpEdNews: Lora Chamberlain - Writer

To all
 Bob Koehler's article below was an OpEd in the Tribune and I am sure he will write more.

Last night a small group (3) of us stood in the rain at the Fed Plaza talking about what a cliff hanger this election was, how scared we were that it would be stolen again and how we must secure our elections permanently. Some people did take our fliers but not too many people stopped and talked to us in the downpour, maybe it was because of the rain or maybe they were deluded and content that the system actually works.

Well I have a couple of things to say to them and us;
We really have to congratulate ourselves in the EI community, because we have moved this issue of Election Integrity to the National Front Page in the last 4 years. There was a huge effort at Election Protection this year across the country. In Lake County Indiana Obama had a lawyer in every precinct, every single precinct!

But watching our elections is like watching sausage made, you never quite think the same warm fuzzy thoughts again about such an imperfect system!

We have a long way to go to really secure the elections, in fact at www.electiondefensealliance.org they have an analysis talking about how there is evidence that there was significant election fraud in a couple of states, the turnout just overwhelmed the efforts of whomever tried to steal the votes. And in Alaska the Ted Stevens race, the Rep Young race and the McCain race had dramatically unpredicted and improbable leads, so some possible fraud in that state too!

I consider this election a potential disaster that was averted by the overwhelming voter turnout and the Election Protection efforts. Next time, if it is closer, it might not be such a fair outcome.

Please everyone come to our next meeting of IBIP or start a chapter in your own county and become active in the final solution for secure, fair, transparent, accurate, accessible, trustworthy elections, where every vote is counted........accurately!
Wed, Nov 12th, 7-9pm at the Whole Foods on Ashland, north of Belmont, 2nd floor

Sincerely, Dr. Lora



OUR FRAGILE DREAM

By Robert C. Koehler

Tribune Media Services

It had already been a long day for me, and for the country, when
I rode the train downtown to Grant Park on the night of Nov. 4. History was
crowding against my thoughts — my car was full of joyful, youthful,
rock-the-vote noise — as I looked out the window into the Chicago night
and saw a bright orange (papaya-colored, really) quarter moon hovering over the
horizon, beautiful and strange beyond reckoning.

I had never seen anything quite like it and was shaken with a
sense of wonder: Where am I? Am I dreaming?

Later that night I heard a young man from Illinois — our
new president-elect — say: “America is a place where all things are
possible.”

I had to listen to him on a giant screen set up in the park a few
blocks north of where he was actually speaking, along with several hundred
thousand or a million others. All I know is that the crowd was enormous,
raucous, loud, young, diverse (but Chicago crowds always are) and wildly
excited. A cheer surged in the night, one of many, and suddenly I was drenched
from behind with . . . maybe it was water, maybe it was champagne, but probably
it was just lite beer.

By then the speaker was telling us how we had overcome fear and
cynicism to put our hands on the arc of history “and bend it once more
toward the hope of a better day” and for a flickering moment I felt
drenched with enthusiasm as well as beer. Yes we did, by God. This was the cry
of the night — yes, we did! We worked hard, we Americans, to get to this
moment beneath the papaya-colored moon and the hovering helicopters. I
don’t know if I’ve ever felt the raw energy of hope so palpably.

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