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First, here is the moveon.org petition: click here
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[BACKGROUND ARTICLES CORROBORATING THIS STORY:
Hillary Clinton Trolls Shut Down Pro-Bernie Sanders Facebook Groups usuncut.com/politics/bernie-facebook-groups-trolled/
Shaun King's article: Hillary Clinton camp now paying online trolls to attack anyone who disparages her online
Explanation for the petition at Moveon.org:
This is requested under Section 78, the New York equivalent of statutes in other states about petitioning for a Writ of Mandamus, in which the court orders a government entity to do something. This is all very workable and would be considered appropriate relief under Article 78 in New York. In the other states in which the primary is being investigated for election fraud, like Arizona, Nevada, probably Illinois, and Rhode Island after its primary, that would be in the form of a petition for a Writ of Mandamus in state level courts. Relevant Federal Election laws apply ad could also be used.
This is the text of the petition:
To Attorney General Eric Schneiderman: Under New York Article 78 and related federal statutes, a brand new NY York Primary should be ordered by a federal judge at your request. Only this would correct the egregious violations, disenfranchisements, voting machine failures, and other 'irregularities" in the 2016 NY primary. This must be done very soon. The Sanders campaign and other plaintiffs could join your effort, but this must begin with your office.
Why the petition is being made:
We are outraged by the growing voter fraud and manipulations of our electoral process, which has turned into an international disgrace comparable to Third World nations needing UN observers. Correcting the egregious disenfranchisements of hundreds of thousands of voters in the New York Primary can only be achieved by conducting a new one, ordered by a Federal Court.
This is very relevant to all Americans. If your voices and needs are ignored by a corporate manipulated plutocracy and oligarchy.
All of this boils down to one question: what kind of democracy are we going to have after the next election? What is at stake is a democracy with its premises refreshed by true and honest elections. The US
Constitution was partially modeled after the premises of the Iroquois Confederacy, and with deeper roots in Athenian Democracy going back to the age of Pericles.
I am certain that Hillary Trolls, paid to disrupt and "re-educate" Facebook groups for Bernie by reporting them as pornography, did something similar on my Facebook group postings of the Petition above. Our petition made some Hillary trolls or some unknown person angry who complained and got me restricted for two weeks on posting to groups on Facebook. I have had to ask all 4000 of my Facebook friends to take on sending it out and posting it to groups.
This seems like a real omission that Facebook can't prevent such things from happening and prevention just "drops through the chinks."
On one hand, legally speaking, Facebook is a private entity and they can do whatever they want, but on the other hand, there are First Amendment issues about free speech, and what could be more part of a democracy than a Moveon.org petition to ask the New York Attorney General to ask a Federal Court to order a new New York Primary? Is the First Amendment still intact in this primary election? It is called a "petition for a redress of grievances."
We all know how indispensably valuable Facebook is to our efforts to help Bernie win the primary nomination, so this is a very serious abrogation of the best of democratic processes: the petition for the redress of grievances, as guaranteed in the US Constitution from 1791. These are the immortal word of the First Amendment:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Apparently, our petition made some Hillary trolls or some unknown person angry who complained and got me restricted for two weeks on posting to groups on Facebook. I have had to ask all 4000 of my Facebook friends to take on sending it out and posting it to groups.
Everyone realizes how urgent this is. Schneiderman is by statute the best source of such legal action, as the chief law enforcement officer for New York. Some pundits have pointed out to me that Schneiderman was listed only seven months ago as part of Hillary's "leadership team." What was this "leadership team"? According to a press release from the Clinton campaign published in Politico in October 2015:
"The more than 100-strong committee will serve 'as the in-state leadership for the campaign, amplifying the campaign's national voice to New York families aiding the campaign with rapid response, organization building, grassroots organizing events, recruiting volunteer leaders, and identifying leaders for Get Out The Vote activities." according to a press release from the Clinton campaign.
One highly perceptive political insider in the Legislature there told me today that the harsh reality that the state of New York is as corrupt as it was in the Tammany Hall days!
So, who to whom should this Moveon.org petition be addressed? George III? Nope, he's dead. Definitely not Governor Cuomo or the two U.S. Senators; they are supporting Bernie's opponent! Directly to a federal judge or a whole bunch of Federal judges in New York State? I don't think so. Petitioning the court is a very formal process which requires standing in federal court, and I am a Native American art dealer blessed with a sense of justice, but I am not a lawyer.
Therefore, although these are less than ideal circumstances, the petition was directed to Eric Schneiderman because of his position and his statutory powers, and not to the New York Comptroller, who is also investigating the Primary. Schneiderman, again, is the chief law
enforcement officer for New York. You really don't have to totally trust the recipient of a petition to sign this petition, and until we see otherwise, we have to trust Eric to take this action.
There must have been some merit in this petition for it to have been so quickly censored. This may have been some kind of a kind of self-tortured reaction, a sort of spasmodic damage control resulting from the kind of news like recently, Robert Gates, former Secretary of Defense under both Bush II and Obama, now President of Boy Scouts of America, said that it was highly likely that Russia, China, and Iran probably accessed the internet server of Bernie's opponent.
This Troll action to disrupt Facebook group pages the night before the primary may also have been in place and planned long ago. When you don't want the truth getting sent out, you put the Trolls to work! The real victim of these Trolls is this petition for a new Primary. That guy who did so much of this wreckage should be prosecuted (at the request of Facebook, actually). These Trolls have taken a page right out of the internet suppression and oppression at the heart of both Russian and Chinese politics, as if Vladimir Putin were their tutor.
Of course, realize that this is all wonky child's play compared to the computer manipulations that will occur in later primaries an in the General Election in the fall. Hijacking election results in every state? Not a problem for the bad guys.
See also Greg Palast's brilliant article on the coming mayhem in November: New York voting fiasco just the warm-up for the November game
We have to ask whether Facebook operate under rules that differ from the First Amendment, that preemptively strike out petitions to redress grievances like this one does? Is the First Amendment no longer in effect at Facebook? Regardless of the answers, I will continue all efforts to get a new New York Primary.
Like they did to knock down several key Facebook Bernie groups last night, the Trolls probably reported this petition being posted to groups as pornography. Then Facebook restricted me for two weeks. But the move on.org petition should not have to wait, unless the First Amendment's clause on "petitions for a redress of grievances" is not still intact at Facebook. I appealed this to Mr. Zuckerberg and to the VP General Counsel of Facebook, Colin Stretch, but, sadly, they haven't answered.
By all means, while it is still up, please check out Mr. Stretch's scary video of himself on his Facebook page; I know it is supposed to be all in good fun, but holy cow! this is Facebook's #1 lawyer doing some stuff that looks like it came out of that Chainsaw Massacre video! Unless it gets taken down and you can't see it anymore...
I do implicitly trust Mark Zuckerberg and the board of directors at Facebook. After all, his personal motto from his own page is clear: "Making the world more open and connected." However, thus far, my appeal to Facebook for group posting reinstatement has been ignored. One has to wonder about the obvious flaws in Facebook, this brilliant social media tool that has forever changed and improved American Politics, to permit hostile undemocratic actions reminiscent of Soviet Russia made by Trolls working for Bernie's opponent who were able to manipulate it easily enough to shut down for several hours just before five primaries take place?
What has happened to our constitutional right to petition for a redress of grievances?
Stephen Fox
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Founder,
Facebook Group, Bernie Sanders: Advice and Strategies to Help Him Win. Email address
(Article changed on April 27, 2016 at 10:09)
(Article changed on April 27, 2016 at 13:55)
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