Faced with such challenges, the GOP and e-voting companies have offered no cogent replies. Instead, they have attacked their critics: "Get over it!," "Sore losers," "Paranoid fantasies." Faced with the hundreds of authenticated cases of vote anomalies, "lost" registrations, mis-allocation of voting machines, etc., assembled by the Conyers group and Fitrakis and Wasserman, we hear refutations of a few particular anecdotes which, even if valid, reduce the accumulated tons of evidence by ounces. Then there is the pathetic hypothesis of "the reluctant GOP voter" to explain away the exit poll/official tally discrepancy in the 2004 election - a phenomenon which, as it turns out, was somehow confined to e-voting states and absent in paper-ballot districts. The "reluctant voter" hypothesis is offered with no independent evidence; it is ad hoc, like the creationist's "explanation" that "the devil put dinosaur bones in the ground to lead us astray."
Amazingly, the official Democratic Party, along with some prominent progressive publications, websites and personalities have bought the GOP line, refusing to face the evidence of vote fraud, much less deal with it. Salon.com, TomPaine.com, Mother Jones, John Kerry, Bernie Sanders, Al Franken, Paul Begala, Arianna Huffington, fearful of appearing as "sore losers" and "paranoid nuts," are all serving as "useful idiots" to the Great GOP Fraud Machine. But why? Perhaps they simply can not bring themselves to believe that a crime of such magnitude has been committed against our republic and its citizens. Another intriguing explanation that I heard somewhere from the Democratic establishment, is that if the party talks up the voting fraud issue, "the base" will not show up at the polls on election day. Well, so what?! If the election is rigged so that the GOP can't lose, what does it matter whether or not the base shows up?
And so, ignoring the 800 pound gorilla in the room, the Democrats and progressives prattle on about "taking back the Congress in November." As if...! Pathetic! Meanwhile, hearing all this, those of us who are convinced that the fix is in, are consumed with silent, unavailing fury.
"Wait 'till next time!" Well, 2000, 2002, and 2004 were "next time." The voters gave us those elections, and the damnable machines and conniving GOP Secretaries of State took them away! And unless we clean up the election process, and pronto!, they will surely do it again next November.
And as we strive to take back our elections, and thence our country, we must not forget that problem is not confined to paperless touch-screen voting machines and secret software. For as the 2004 Ohio fiasco vividly demonstrated, even if touch-screen machines were made totally reliable, that would not assure valid elections. Let us not forget Kathryn Harris' infamous purge list, Ken Blackwell's myriad attempts to suppress Democratic registration, and the misallocation of voting machines. There is evidence that much of the switching and alteration of vote totals was accomplished, not only by individual touch-screen machines, but also at regional compilation centers. The theft of the 2004 election was a many-faceted enterprise.
When Nixon resigned the Presidency in August, 1974, the would-be oligarchs in the GOP had two options: henceforth play by the rules, or take control of the three institutions that brought down Nixon - the media, the appellate courts, and the threat of electoral defeat. Clearly, they chose to take control of these institutions. So now they have the media and the courts on their side, and they have neutralized the threat of the ballot.
It still might not suffice to give them permanent control of our government. Many criminal and civil courts are still independent, as Tom DeLay, Jack Abramoff, Randall "Duke" Cunningham and others are discovering to their regret. In addition, elections are still administered on the state and municipal level; thus prosecutorial investigation and indictments of voting fraud are still feasible. It may be an uneven struggle, but the facts and evidence are on the side of reform, and reality can be a formidable ally.
Aid in the coming struggle may come from unlikely sources. At last, a few voices in the mainstream media are speaking out against the Bush regime with a candor not heard in the past four years. The Republican monolith is fracturing. Libertarians and authentic conservatives are finally coming to realize that George Bush is not one of them. A few conspicuous Republican Senators and Members of Congress are coming to the belated recognition that when they took office, they swore allegiance not to Bush but to the Constitution of the United States - a document that Bush is reported to have dismissed as "just a goddam piece of paper."
And finally, as a recent Editorial in Barron's Magazine suggests, at long last some important corporate and financial "movers and shakers" are waking up to a grim realization that where the Busheviks are leading, they should not wish to follow: that Bushenomics is leading to an economic tsunami that will sink all boats, yachts included.
Following the publication of such jeremiads as this, I have often received numerous letters telling me: "OK you've convinced me, we're in a helluva hole. Now what do you propose that we do about it?"
Here are some suggestions.
1. Light a fire under the Democrats. If you get a solicitation for donations from the Democratic National Committee or the Senate and House Campaign Committees, send them back with the message: tell them "no dice" unless they address the voting issue. Instead, send your donations to the election reform organizations listed here.
2. If your Senator or Congressperson is a republican-lite DINO (Democrat in name only), urge someone to oppose the DINO in the primary and give that alternative candidate your support. The challenger may lose, but even so the "republicrat" on the Democratic ticket will still get the message.
3. Boycott the mainstream media and their sponsors - and let them know that you are doing so, and why. Conversely, reward those rare journalists such as Keith Olbermann who dare to report crucial issues, such as electoral integrity.
4. Demand that your state Attorney General or Secretary of State, and your local district attorneys, investigate and prosecute voting fraud.
5. Demonstrate, send letters to the state capitals and to Washington, support election reform organizations, and talk-up the issue among friends and associates whenever possible. Shout bloody murder, and raise Hell.
Amazingly, the official Democratic Party, along with some prominent progressive publications, websites and personalities have bought the GOP line, refusing to face the evidence of vote fraud, much less deal with it. Salon.com, TomPaine.com, Mother Jones, John Kerry, Bernie Sanders, Al Franken, Paul Begala, Arianna Huffington, fearful of appearing as "sore losers" and "paranoid nuts," are all serving as "useful idiots" to the Great GOP Fraud Machine. But why? Perhaps they simply can not bring themselves to believe that a crime of such magnitude has been committed against our republic and its citizens. Another intriguing explanation that I heard somewhere from the Democratic establishment, is that if the party talks up the voting fraud issue, "the base" will not show up at the polls on election day. Well, so what?! If the election is rigged so that the GOP can't lose, what does it matter whether or not the base shows up?
And so, ignoring the 800 pound gorilla in the room, the Democrats and progressives prattle on about "taking back the Congress in November." As if...! Pathetic! Meanwhile, hearing all this, those of us who are convinced that the fix is in, are consumed with silent, unavailing fury.
"Wait 'till next time!" Well, 2000, 2002, and 2004 were "next time." The voters gave us those elections, and the damnable machines and conniving GOP Secretaries of State took them away! And unless we clean up the election process, and pronto!, they will surely do it again next November.
When Nixon resigned the Presidency in August, 1974, the would-be oligarchs in the GOP had two options: henceforth play by the rules, or take control of the three institutions that brought down Nixon - the media, the appellate courts, and the threat of electoral defeat. Clearly, they chose to take control of these institutions. So now they have the media and the courts on their side, and they have neutralized the threat of the ballot.
It still might not suffice to give them permanent control of our government. Many criminal and civil courts are still independent, as Tom DeLay, Jack Abramoff, Randall "Duke" Cunningham and others are discovering to their regret. In addition, elections are still administered on the state and municipal level; thus prosecutorial investigation and indictments of voting fraud are still feasible. It may be an uneven struggle, but the facts and evidence are on the side of reform, and reality can be a formidable ally.
Aid in the coming struggle may come from unlikely sources. At last, a few voices in the mainstream media are speaking out against the Bush regime with a candor not heard in the past four years. The Republican monolith is fracturing. Libertarians and authentic conservatives are finally coming to realize that George Bush is not one of them. A few conspicuous Republican Senators and Members of Congress are coming to the belated recognition that when they took office, they swore allegiance not to Bush but to the Constitution of the United States - a document that Bush is reported to have dismissed as "just a goddam piece of paper."
And finally, as a recent Editorial in Barron's Magazine suggests, at long last some important corporate and financial "movers and shakers" are waking up to a grim realization that where the Busheviks are leading, they should not wish to follow: that Bushenomics is leading to an economic tsunami that will sink all boats, yachts included.
Following the publication of such jeremiads as this, I have often received numerous letters telling me: "OK you've convinced me, we're in a helluva hole. Now what do you propose that we do about it?"
Here are some suggestions.
1. Light a fire under the Democrats. If you get a solicitation for donations from the Democratic National Committee or the Senate and House Campaign Committees, send them back with the message: tell them "no dice" unless they address the voting issue. Instead, send your donations to the election reform organizations listed here.
2. If your Senator or Congressperson is a republican-lite DINO (Democrat in name only), urge someone to oppose the DINO in the primary and give that alternative candidate your support. The challenger may lose, but even so the "republicrat" on the Democratic ticket will still get the message.
3. Boycott the mainstream media and their sponsors - and let them know that you are doing so, and why. Conversely, reward those rare journalists such as Keith Olbermann who dare to report crucial issues, such as electoral integrity.
4. Demand that your state Attorney General or Secretary of State, and your local district attorneys, investigate and prosecute voting fraud.
5. Demonstrate, send letters to the state capitals and to Washington, support election reform organizations, and talk-up the issue among friends and associates whenever possible. Shout bloody murder, and raise Hell.
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