By Anthony Wade
January 5, 2005
www.OpEdNews.com
In two days Congress
will convene to
accept the electors
for the presidential
election held in
November. Normally,
this is a formality.
This year however,
this obscure event
takes on more
significance then it
ever has, as our
country waits to see
the true state of
our union. The
country waits to see
if the truth matters
anymore in our
democracy. We all
wait to see if the
people really govern
anymore, or just the
corporate entities
that rule our
corrupted system. We
wait for
vindication, for
acknowledgement, and
for truth.
Especially, for
truth.
If that sounds like
a lot, you are
right. If you think
it is over-dramatic,
you are mistaken.
The drama remains
because no Senator
has vocally agreed
to contest the
election results,
and join the House
members who have
already indicated
that they will be
standing up for
democracy. I do not
expect any Senator
to announce their
intent, until
Thursday, to avoid
the political
pressure that would
surely reign down
upon them. It is a
shame when a Senator
who is elected to
represent the will
of the people,
cannot be openly
honest about wanting
to protect
democracy, because
of politics. The
truth is that EVERY
Senator should
object to the
results in Ohio, and
probably a handful
of other states.
That is every
Senator, regardless
of party. Of course,
in latter-day
America, where party
comes before people,
that is never going
to happen. The GOP
could see a video of
George W. Bush
removing ballots by
hand and burning
them, and I am not
sure if there would
be one GOP Senator
willing to stand up
and do their job.
The saddest part
however, is that
there are some
doubts whether a
democratic Senator
will even stand up.
After all, none did
in 2000.
In 2000, Al Gore
beat George Bush.
Any honest,
objective recount
has proven such.
Unfortunately, the
“Gang of Five” came
in and stopped the
recounts. Al Gore
thought he was being
noble, and skulked
away into the
obscurity of future
trivia questions.
When Congress met in
January to accept
the electors, there
were plenty of
willing
Congresspersons, but
not one willing
Senator to stand
with them. There are
political
ramifications for
such an action.
Washington DC is at
heart, a political
town. The decisions
you make today,
well, they could
have political
consequences down
the road. For a
great portion of our
government, not
rocking the boat is
the way to go. In
2000, the senators
concluded that the
political risk, of
standing with their
colleagues in the
house, was not worth
it, especially in
light of the fact
that Gore had
conceded.
Fast forward to 2004
and we see that
history is always
doomed to repeat
itself if we do not
take the lessons we
learn and apply
them. There are
reports of
widespread voter
fraud throughout
this country. There
are statistical
analyses completed
that relegate the
numbers acquired by
Bush to the realm of
statistical
impossibility. There
are sworn affidavits
of GOP elected
officials attempting
to create
vote-stealing
computer programs.
There are sworn
affidavits of GOP
backed companies
stacking the deck in
the RECOUNT, with
cheat sheets to
ensure the numbers
match exactly. There
are accounts of
nation-wide minority
voter suppression.
These are not
partisan tales. This
is what happened to
real people on
Election Day. I have
had conversations
with people on the
right who think this
entire to-do is
about nothing more
then a cheap attempt
to de-legitimize the
second Bush
presidency. I have
never heard such
ridiculous tripe in
my life. I could
care less about the
right, the left, or
the middle. This is
about one thing and
one thing only, the
truth.
The truth says that
all votes should
count. It says that
people who vote in
black neighborhoods
have an equal right
to the same number
of voting machines
as those in white
neighborhoods. It
says if it takes two
hours to vote in a
minority
neighborhood, it
better take two
hours to vote in an
affluent
neighborhood. It
says you do not
provide LESS voting
machines in a
district than it had
for the primaries.
It says that if you
are so sure that
your state did
things fairly, then
you should testify
to those facts. The
truth is not
partisan. It
believes that if you
have laws governing
a recount, that you
follow them. It says
that if you are the
state chair of the
Bush reelection
campaign, then it is
a clear conflict of
interest of you are
also in charge of
ensuring fair
elections for that
state. The truth is
very transparent. It
is not ideological
or partisan. It
simply is.
Make no mistake
about it; the
results of this
election will not be
overturned,
regardless of the
events of this
Thursday. Unless
there is an
unbelievable smoking
gun, the GOP
controls everything.
They control the
Senate, the House,
the Courts, and the
Presidency. If a
Senator stands for
democracy this
Thursday, what it
means is there will
be further debate,
PUBLIC debate about
the MULTIPLE
problems in Ohio. It
means they get on
record. It means the
GOP has to
participate. It
means the government
controlled media has
to actually cover
the story. Even in a
worse-case for Bush
scenario, the vote
goes to the
Congress, with each
state getting one
vote. Since there
were more red than
blue states, the
results are in. It
is the process
which is at stake.
It is our system
that is at risk. It
is the truth
that is in need of
rescue.
This is the dilemma
facing our senators
this Thursday. To
make an apolitical
stand in a political
town, with real
political
consequences. All I
might add, with the
tangible end result,
in no doubt
regardless. To make
that stand goes
against the nature
of the town, and the
system. It is a
shame that the truth
is the victim in all
of this, but it is.
There are real
people out there in
Ohio who have had
their votes
disenfranchised. One
citizen with their
vote disenfranchised
is worth standing up
for, let alone the
thousands that have
been reported. In
Coshocton, Ohio we
just saw what can
happen when there
are no politics
involved with the
truth. Coshocton was
the only Ohio County
to perform a full
hand recount. They
decided to do this,
instead of the 3%
model because they
believed the truth
was important. It is
because of this full
recount, done not in
a spirit of
partisanship, but of
one simply searching
for the truth, that
1080 more votes were
found. That is 1080
voters that are no
longer
disenfranchised,
whose votes count
again. That is just
ONE county. It is
these people that
demand that senators
put aside the
political-business-as-usual
mentality that
permeates our system
and for one day,
truly represent the
people.
What is at risk
Thursday is not
tangible. It is
central though to
what kind of a
government we have
moving forward.
There were mistakes
made in the 2000
elections and we all
walked away. Four
years later we see
not only the same
problems, but an
escalation of them.
We cannot walk away
again and ever
expect our republic
to be the same. Make
no mistake about it,
there is a lot more
at stake this
Thursday than a
political statement
or partisan stunt.
Ask yourself if
these things bother
you at all:
Does it matter that
80% of the votes in
this country are now
counted by two
companies, which are
heavy GOP
contributors?
Does it seem odd
that the president
of one of these
companies is the
brother of the vice
president of the
other, essentially
meaning 80% of vote
counting in this
country is done by
one family, which
has made no secret
of their allegiance
to Bush and the GOP?
Is it wrong that
there is no federal
agency with
regulatory authority
or oversight of the
U.S. voting machine
industry?
Doesn’t it seem
unfair that the GOP
actually fought for
and won the right to
have no verifiable
paper trail for
nearly all of these
machines? If an ATM
can give a receipt,
why can’t a voting
machine?
Does it seem fair
that the person
responsible for
ensuring a fair
election in a state
can also be a
partisan operative
for one of the
campaigns?
Shouldn’t it take
the same time to
cast a vote,
regardless of where
you live?
Shouldn’t any
recount be done
objectively, and
fairly?
This is not about
party. This is about
what is left of our
system to trust. If
you cannot trust the
sanctity of your
vote then we have
left the vital
underpinnings of
democracy behind and
have headed toward
fascism. Joseph
Stalin once said,
“It
is enough that the
people know there
was an election. The
people who cast the
votes decide
nothing. The people
who count the votes
decide everything.”
Is it enough for you
to just know that an
election has
occurred? That is
what the “move
along, nothing to
see here” crowd
would tell you. They
will say that the
votes were counted,
but neglect to
mention the rampant
fraud and
disenfranchisement.
They will now say
the votes have been
recounted but will
fail to mention that
they violated the
law in how the
recount was
conducted, rendering
it meaningless. They
embrace the
Stalinesque virtue
that says that your
vote means nothing,
only how they decide
to count it has true
value.
In the most
political of towns,
this Thursday will
hopefully see the
most apolitical
decision being made
by at least one
brave Senator.
Hopefully there will
be one Senator
willing to make the
stand that the truth
demands. Four years
ago we were all told
to get over it, move
along, nothing here
to see. Now, the
problems we were a
party to in 2000
have come back home
in 2004. We again
hear the same cries
of get over it. We
have been given one
more opportunity to
stand up for the
truth, or suffer the
final blow to our
democracy. If no one
stands up this
Thursday then we
move forward into
another four years
without addressing
the problems from
2000, let alone from
2004. Do you
honestly believe
that the GOP will
change anything?
They are now in
control of
everything. They
will control all
three branches of
government, and the
companies that count
your vote.
Don’t be fooled.
Don’t think that
this Thursday
represents a chance
to overturn any
results, it does
not. What it does is
allow us to
collectively say, no
more. It allows us
to say that this
country still means
something. It is an
opportunity to say
that we will not
complacently accept
the widespread
disenfranchisement
of our votes. It is
a chance for us to
say that Stalin was
wrong, and that the
power rests with the
people who vote, not
the people who count
the votes. It is our
final chance to say
that the truth is
worth fighting for
in this country,
regardless of party.
Anthony Wade is
co-administrator of
a
website devoted to
educating the
populace to the
ongoing lies of
President George W.
Bush and seeking his
removal from office.
He is a 37-year-old
independent writer
from New York with
political commentary
articles seen on
multiple websites.
A Christian
progressive and
professional
Rehabilitation
Counselor working
with the poor and
disabled, Mr. Wade
believes that you
can have faith and
hold elected
officials
accountable for lies
and excess.
Anthony Wade’s
Archive:
http://www.opednews.com/archiveswadeanthony.htm
Email
Anthony:
takebacktheus@gmail.com
