article at freepress

In case you would like to read the full text of this article, it can be found at

http://www.freepress.org/index2.php

or see below .....

Will Bush cancel the 2008 election?
by Harvey Wasserman & Bob Fitrakis
July 30, 2007

It is time to think about the "unthinkable."

The Bush Administration has both the inclination and the power to cancel the 2008 election.

The GOP strategy for another electoral theft in 2008 has taken clear shape, though we must assume there is much more we don't know.

But we must also assume that if it appears to Team Bush/Cheney/Rove that the GOP will lose the 2008 election anyway (as it lost in Ohio 2006) we cannot ignore the possibility that they would simply cancel the election. Those who think this crew will quietly walk away from power are simply not paying attention.

The real question is not how or when they might do it. It's how, realistically, we can stop them.


In Florida 2000, Team Bush had a game plan involving a handful of tactics. With Jeb Bush in the governor's mansion, the GOP used a combination of disenfranchisement, intimidation, faulty ballots, electronic voting fraud, a rigged vote count and an aborted recount, courtesy of the US Supreme Court.

A compliant Democrat (Al Gore) allowed the coup to be completed.

In Ohio 2004, the arsenal of dirty tricks exploded. Based in Columbus, we have documented more than a hundred different tactics used to steal the 20 electoral votes that gave Bush a second term. More are still surfacing. As a result of the King-Lincoln-Bronzeville federal lawsuit (in which we are plaintiff and attorney) we have now been informed that 56 of the 88 counties in Ohio violated federal law by destroying election records, thus preventing a definitive historical recount.

As in 2000, a compliant Democrat (John Kerry) allowed the coup to proceed.

For 2008 we expect the list of vote theft maneuvers to escalate yet again. We are already witnessing a coordinated nationwide drive to destroy voter registration organizations and to disenfranchise millions of minority, poor and young voters.

This carefully choreographed campaign is complemented by the widespread use of electronic voting machines. As reported by the Government Accountability Office, Princeton University, the Brennan Center, the Carter-Baker Commission, US Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) and others, these machines can be easily used to flip an election. They were integral to stealing both the 2000 and 2004 elections. Efforts to make their source codes transparent, or to require a usable paper trail on a federal level, have thus far failed. A discriminatory Voter ID requirement may also serve as the gateway to a national identification card.

Overall, the GOP will have at its command even more weapons of election theft in 2008 than it did in Ohio 2004, which jumped exponentially from Florida 2000. The Rovian GOP is nothing if not tightly organized to do this with ruthless efficiency. Expect everything that was used these past two presidential elections to surface again in 2008 in far more states, with far more efficiency, and many new dirty tricks added in.

But in Ohio 2006, the GOP learned a hard lesson. Its candidate for governor was J. Kenneth Blackwell. The Secretary of State was the essential on-the-ground operative in the theft of Ohio 2004.

When he announced for governor, many Ohioans joked that "Ken Blackwell will never lose an election where he counts the votes."

But lose he did….along with the GOP candidates for Secretary of State, Attorney-General and US Senate.

By our calculations, despite massive grassroots scrutiny, the Republicans stole in excess of 6% of the Ohio vote in 2006. But they still lost.

Why? Because they were so massively unpopular that even a 6% bump couldn't save them. Outgoing Governor Bob Taft, who pled guilty to four misdemeanors while in office, left town with a 7% approval rating (that's not a typo). Blackwell entered the last week of the campaign down 30% in some polls.

So while the GOP still had control of the electoral machinery here in 2006, the public tide against them was simply too great to hold back, even through the advanced art and science of modern Rovian election theft.


In traditional electoral terms, that may also be the case in 2008. Should things proceed as they are now, it's hard to imagine any Republican candidate going into the election within striking distance. The potential variations are many, but the graffiti on the wall is clear.

What's also clear is that this administration has a deep, profound and uncompromised contempt for democracy, for the rule of law, and for the US Constitution. When George W. Bush went on the record (twice) as saying he has nothing against dictatorship, as long as he can be dictator, it was a clear and present policy statement.

Who really believes this crew will walk quietly away from power? They have the motivation, the money and the method for doing away with the electoral process altogether. So why wouldn't they?

The groundwork for dismissal of both the legislative and judicial branch has been carefully laid. The litany is well-known, but worth a very partial listing:

The continuation of the drug war, and the Patriot Act, Homeland Security Act and other dictatorial laws prompted by the 9/11/2001 terror attacks, have decimated the Bill of Rights, and shredded the traditional American right to due process of law, freedom from official surveillance, arbitrary violence, and far more.

The current Attorney-General, Alberto Gonzales, has not backed away from his announcement to Congress that the Constitution does not guarantee habeas corpus. The administration continues to act on the assumption that it can arrest anyone at any time and hold them without notification or trial for as long as it wants.

The establishment of the Homeland Security Agency has given it additional hardware to decimate the basic human rights of our citizenry. Under the guise of dealing with the "immigration problem," large concentration camps are under construction around the US.

The administration has endorsed and is exercising its "right" to employ torture, contrary to the Eighth Amendment and to a wide range of international treaties, which Gonzales has labeled "quaint."

With more than 200 "signing statements" the administration acts on its belief that the "unitary executive" trumps the power of the legislative branch in any instance it chooses. This belief has been further enforced with the administration's use of a wide range of precedent-setting arguments to keep its functionaries from testifying before Congress.

There is much more. In all instances, the 109th Congress---and the public---have rolled over without significant resistance.

Most crucial now are Presidential Directive #51, Executive Orders #13303, #13315, #13350, #13364, #13422, #13438, and more, by which Bush has granted himself an immense arsenal of powers for which the term "dictatorial" is a modest understatement.

The Founders established our government with checks and balances. But executive orders have accumulated important precedent. The Emancipation Proclamation by which Lincoln declared an end to slavery in the South, was issued under the "military necessity" of adding blacks to the Union Army, a step without which the North might not have won the Civil War. Franklin Roosevelt's Executive Order #8802 established the Fair Employment Practices Commission. Harry Truman's Executive Order #9981 desegregated the military.

Most to the point, FDR's Executive Order #9066 ordered the forcible internment of 100,000 people of Japanese descent into the now infamous concentration camps of World War II.

There is also precedent for a president overriding the Supreme Court. In the 1830s Chief Justice John Marshall enshrined the right of the Cherokee Nation to sovereignty over its ancestral land in the Appalachian Mountains. But President Andrew Jackson scorned the decision. Some 14,000 native Americans were moved at gunpoint to Oklahoma. More than 3,000 died along the way.

All this will be relevant should Team Bush envision a defeat in the 2008 election and decide to call it off. It's well established that Richard Nixon---mentor to Karl Rove and Dick Cheney---commissioned the Huston Plan, which detailed how to cancel the 1972 election.

Today we must ask: who would stop this administration from taking dictatorial power in the instance of a "national emergency" such as a terror attack at a nuclear power plant or something similar?

Nothing in the behavior of this Congress indicates that it is capable of significant resistance. Impeachment seems beyond it. Nor does it seem Congress would actually remove Bush if it did put him on trial.

Short of that, Bush clearly does not view anything Congress might do as a meaningful impediment. After all, how many divisions does the Congress command?

The Supreme Court, as currently constituted, would almost certainly rubber stamp a Bush coup. If not, like Jackson, he could ignore it as easily as he would ignore Congress.

What does that leave? There is much idle speculation now about what the armed forces would do. We also hear loose talk about "90 million gun owners."

From the public side, the only conceivable counter-force might be a national strike or an effective long-term campaign of general non-cooperation.

But we can certainly assume the mainstream media will give lock-step support to whatever the regime says and does. It's also a given that those likely to lead the resistance will immediately land in those new prisons being built by Halliburton et. al.

So how do we cope with the harsh realities of such a Bush/Cheney/Rove dictatorial coup?

We may have about a year to prepare. Every possible scenario needs to be discussed in excruciating detail.

For only one thing is certain: denial will do nothing.

--
HARVEY WASSERMAN'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES is at www.solartopia.org, along with SOLARTOPIA! OUR GREEN-POWERED EARTH, A.D. 2030. The FITRAKIS FILES are at www.freepress.org (where this article was originally published), along with HOW THE GOP STOLE AMERICA'S 2004 ELECTION & IS RIGGING 2008, which Bob and Harvey co-wrote.

by michal54 (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 15 comments) on Monday, July 30, 2007 at 8:20:49 PM
 

Cancelling the 2008 election.

People have been joking about this since '06, but a year of watching Pelosi, Reid, Conyers and their ilk has killed the laughter. The camps are in place, and Bush can declare martial law anytime he wants. I am in the Tampa Bay area, and the special forces are based here. I expect them to ignore the constitution and to back the Bush "policy" (which they seem to hold in reverence), although most of the armed forces would probably rather see him and his wars gone.

These people have built concentration camps. There is a certainty that they will use them, unless we can make a big enough scene about them with enough politicians. We need to use spreading the news on the camps as a way to announce this Bush Treason, as well as warning about the elections cancellations.  The real question, as in all coup de etats, is whether the military would back an open coup. We need to get to the military people we know, and fast. Remember, there is an Air Force Locomotive parked at the Beech Grove, Ind. death camp.

by GitarChris (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 124 comments) on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at 12:13:37 AM
 

I wonder...

I too fear the implementation of the "enabling law-like" EO's that Bush has put in place to establish dictatorial control.

However, I know that it would dampen the operations of our economy, and that would hurt the super-rich class that Bush lives to serve.

They would much more prefer to keep everything humming along with the majority of American people placid, stupid, and drugged by a lying mass media (present company excluded, of course).

If you had asked me eight years ago if a Rethuglican administration could steal an election where they came into election day down by 30-40% I would have told you that would start a revolution.  I'm not so sure any more.

Perhaps even if they DO come into the final days with the Republican Presidential candidate and many of the Senators and many of the COngress races looking like the Republicans will lose by MASSIVE amounts, they will decide to still go ahead with the election and AMAZINGLY, the Rethuglicans will win by 52% to 48%.

What would happen?

The mass media would "explain it all away" and the exit polls would be revised to match the results.

Thousands.  Maybe even tens of thousands.  Perhaps even HUNDREDS of thousands of progressives (the readers of Buzzflash, bradblog, truthout, blackboxvoting, and a few dozen other sites) will protest in the streets, and be arrested, perhaps even killed.  In fact, if they KILL a few protestors in the first few hours and put THAT out on the mass media, it might have the effect of dampening all the other protests.

If things get TOO bad, they can always use THOSE riots as the excuse, but if they can pull it off, they achieve two of their objectives -- they keep the economy going and they get rid of the "rabble" that causes them trouble.

They are, of course, not worried about the Congress causing any trouble, and I'm sure the Democratic candidate will roll over and play dead.

by Charlie L (2 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 715 comments) on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at 12:42:44 AM
 

Will Bush cancel election?

I've been saying for the past 4 years that I believe he would overturn the term limits. Somehow I have a deep suspicion that he will not let go of power when his term is up. Even if I'm wrong about the term limits, I do believe he would do something to prevent the transfer of power to the next leader. Declaring martial law? He would do it. Postponing the election - indefinitely? Sure. He'd do it. Whatever it takes to hang on to his tyrannical reign of terror.

by PLR (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 7 comments) on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at 12:41:26 AM
 

Sure Bush would do it

but then, it isn't really Bush who is in charge, is it? He likes to call himself the decider, but he isn't -- it's the big corporate powers and money, and it's international. Bush will do what he is told by them, or will be falling off his bike a very great deal. For the fascists, Bush is easily replacable -- even by a Democrat.

by Blue Pilgrim (0 articles, 3 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 997 comments) on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at 2:12:05 AM
 

A Front Man Is Always A Front Man

You're absolutely correct, Blue Pilgrim!

by Edward Ulysses Cate (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 221 comments) on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at 7:08:39 AM
 

Don't assume the (D) can't be for Dictator as well

I agree Blue Pilgrim. 

I have little trust for the front runners of either party.  Clearly Fred Thompson is the first choice of the Cheney/Rove crew, but I'm not sure their true power would weaken under Mitt, Rudy, Barack or Hillary.

What we can do at this stage is throw our support to the honest candidates in each race.  Gravel, Huckabee, Kucinich, and Paul are all magnanimous men with altruistic motives.  Please check out each of their websites and decide which of these you can support.

DavidN@TampaBayFairTax.org

by David N-V (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 34 comments) on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at 11:55:05 AM
 

2008 Coup

 Watch for massive MSM reporting of increased terrorist threats, and more Paris-Britney-Lindsay and Missing White Woman stories. Except False Noise; they'll proclaim this as a "Decisive move to strengthen our Security".  John Kerry will remind us that he was in Vietnam.

by jnik (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 22 comments) on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at 12:45:16 AM
 

Last Days of Bush

Assuming Bush would do the dictator cha cha, he would be the first to go. He would be the patsy to blame if it didn't go down, but if it were successful, he wouldn't be smart enough to hold on to that power.

 Out of nowhere something would happen and Cheney would be dictator. This would open up purges and power struggles. No telling who would end up being dictator when it was all over. Bush thinks the democrats are his enemies. Wait till the power grab. All those loyal Bushies will be drawing their daggers.

by skyreader7 (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 181 comments) on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at 2:24:57 AM
 

last days of Bush

Your Shakespearean innuendo, very good. In the aftermath of Caesars assassination, in "Julius Caesar", the author recounts the assassins and how they were all "honorable men". Even Mussolini, who created fascism, forewarned how treacherous the industrialists that supported him were, saying he couldn't trust them and they would dump him in an instant for the sake of expediency. Thanks for the comments.

by Swami Bogananda (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 38 comments) on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at 3:27:46 AM
 

cancelling freedom

With the last Exec. Order we face martial law on any pretext out of the White House labeled (by them) as a catastrophic event..which could be Bush with a hangnail! It would render The House & the Senate null and void as well as State Govs. They can confiscate anything they want for any reason they choose. They will have absolute power over everyone and everything.

There are over a 1000 detention camps in the U.S., ready, (most are empty) and guarded. Mindfully.org had a list of 800 with the locations a year ago.  Allen L Roland had a link recently which was on OpEd and would be in the archive articles. KBR was given the contract to build the last 300 plus.

With the mercenary troops they have trained (think of Katrina which they used as practice!) along with the ones creating havoc in Iraq, the muscle to control the people and who like this admin. don't give a darn about right and wrong, the Constitution or anything else, is in place to control us.

In my view it will be a miracle if we see anything that resembles an election in 2008. The Corporate Global elite goals are within sight.

We are in deep doo doo.

by Rae (0 articles, 1 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 218 comments) on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at 12:00:48 PM
 

When the time comes...

...they will outlaw the color orange, the letter V, and the peace sign.

by Charlie L (2 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 715 comments) on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at 1:34:47 PM
 

Vitally important to share this

This is a vitally important article. We all need to keep it around to read, re-read, study carefully and share widely.

Wasserman's analysis and conclusions (viz., the only democratic options left to us are a general strike, etc. and carried out SOON) are right-on; our governmental apparatus is too comprised to effectively stop the swiftly moving Bush regime.

by Bruce Toien (6 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 5 comments) on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at 1:39:18 PM
 

Putting on my 'lawful evil character' hat

such as I used to do when playing 'dungeon master' in a D&D role playing game, when I would have to challenge the players...

OK -- I'm a very weathy fascist who wants to keep control. I've got a number of 'poket' candidates lined up (all in my pocket). Let Bush try a coup! I'll have one of the other candidates make noises and congress people stop him cold, saying they are defending freedom. The people will love it! What a great show. The other cadiditate gets in, looks like a hero, and goes right on manipulating behind the scenes, while the people drift off back to sleep. I still control the cultural hegemony and the mass media -- as always. The rebel candidates fade away.

In an actual D&D game I had to have the evil non-player characters make numerous mistakes or the player characters would not have survived -- there was too much stacked against them. That's the thing with being a 'dungeon master': you control all the context and framing -- the rules. It's all an artificial reality, and the only things the players know of it is what you tell them -- sort of like the real world. If you attack them with a party of nasty goblins -- while an orc who has a ring of invisibility sneaks up behind them, the party of adventurers are doomed -- and the game master doesn't care how many goblins get killed -- they are completely expendible -- lots more where they came from. It takes very experienced players to know to protect their backs and look for deception, and even then the game master has the upper hand.

So start thinking like a dungeon master -- what would YOU do maintain control of the world? Leave it up to idiots like Bush and Cheny to treat you right? And if they don't -- you just take them out. Plenty more politicians where they came from.

The biggest danger to the 'deep' fascists now is from people bypassing the mass media -- and their own miscalculations, from hubris and their own limited intelligence and vision (they aren't super men, after all).

Consider the last great depression: many rich people went under as well as poor, but there were those who made fortunes, scooping up properties and winning substantially in the long term. No, it's not some weird conspiracy of illuminatti -- just ordinary conspiracy as part of the hierachical structures and the power accrued by the wealthiest of the wealthy, and most powerful of the powerful : the 'game masters' who control the perception of reality.

by Blue Pilgrim (0 articles, 3 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 997 comments) on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at 2:59:42 PM