Greg Palast: "Black Americans Discovered By Democratic Party"

[GreenPartyVoter]

Like Christopher Columbus blinking in shock at first seeing an American Indian, John Kerry has just discovered African-American voters.

On Thursday afternoon, Kerry landed at the NAACP convention, stepped off his slow-moving campaign boat and announced that he was exploring for one million missing Black voters.

Let me explain -- because the New York Times won't. In the 2000 elections, 1.9 million ballots were cast which were never counted --"spoiled" is the technical term. Ballots don't spoil because they are left out of the fridge. There's always a technical reason: a stray mark, or my favorite, from Gadsden County, Florida, writing in Al Gore's name instead of checking a box.

According to data from the US Civil Rights Commission and the Harvard University Law School Civil Rights Project, about half the nation's spoiled ballots -- one million -- were cast by Black folk. Just as African American communities get the worst schools, the worst hospitals, they also get dumped with the worst voting machines, which eat, mismark, mangle and void ballots.

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0720-08.htm

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. Tough. It was a good article and Greg Palast is a great journalist.

Besides, I am voting for Kerry, so I guess I am allowed to talk about him in that case.

[SeattleRob]

3. Huh?

This is a real issue that needs to be brought to light. We are the Democratic Party - an inclusive party. We want all votes counted, don't we?

[rock]

12. Bizarre but true

We even want the Repugs votes counted. We simply want an honest count.

[sandnsea]

16. 20,000 lawyers

Kerry already talked about this and has been talking about it for a long time. Palast doesn't know that???

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sandnsea]

13. Don't like MY free speech?

The article was shit. That's my free speech. Don't like it? Don't read my posts. You know where I stand.

[GreenPartyVoter]

17. Sorry

replied to wrong post.

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sandnsea]

21. Shut Up??

Did I say shut up? Nah, I said this kihd of bashing doesn't help. Fuck Greg Palast for writing this shit, fuck the people who find it so goddamned necessary to post it.

Now, I've said over and over again that it is GREAT to discuss the issues. Counting votes, minority disenfranchisement, intimidation, liberal slander, and all the rest are serious issues to discuss. What's with people that they can't discuss issues without bashing Kerry or the Democratic Party in the process? Because I know if they're doing it here, they're doing it out in the real world and out there is where it's going to cost us the election.

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sandnsea]

23. Not trying to "broaden" anything

Trying to get people to see this shit does not help at all. If bitching and moaning about everything makes people feel they're included in the "broadened" party, more power to them I guess.

[Connie_Corleone]

25. I heard Palast last night

on the radio. He's just trying to make sure what happened in 2000 doesn't happen again. The only way to do that is to keep pressure on Kerry and the Democrats to put action behind their words.

[sandnsea]

26. By berating them???

By insinuating Kerry isn't doing anything, that he and the Democrats don't give a shit? They have the most ambitious plan for voter access and counting votes in years. You'd think Palast would be cheering that and rallying blacks to vote because their vote will count, instead of sending out the message that Democrats don't care. Ass-backwards way to win an election, seems to me.

[sangh0]

30. It worked for Nadir, right?

:crazy:

[GreenPartyVoter]

32. Lord knows Dems have never berated Nader...or the Greens.

[sangh0]

36. Is there a point?

Or is this just the reflexive "I can't defend Nadir, so I'll attack the Dems"?

[GreenPartyVoter]

38. Just found the berating thing ironic. Seems to only work one way around

here.

[Name removed]

40. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sandnsea]

49. Not at all

I'm a bitch, I admit it any day of the week. I also have absolutely no patience for anybody who doesn't understand this election is about one thing, getting Bush OUT. Anything that gets in the way of that, fuck it, it's gotta go. THAT is MY single issue.

[GreenPartyVoter]

51. I won't argue that issue with you, as I am voting Kerry for that reason.

But I do think that folks should be talking about where they think Kerry might be falling short.

Yes, it's negative, but we have to consider what we want of our government and when it falls short figure out how to get it.

Putting Kerry in the Oval office will be a grand start, but certainly not the end of it.

[sandnsea]

54. NOVEMBER 3

What GOOD does it to to help plant doubt now??? There will hopefully be a long, long time to harp at Kerry AFTER he's elected. What is so hard to understand about that? I'll be leading the way to The Mall if he doesn't do what he says he'll do. Right now, it's time for UNITY.

[GreenPartyVoter]

59. I don't see it as planting doubt

Suggesting that Kerry is not as strong on say, the Isreali/Palestinian situation as I would like, probably isn't going to sway someone to vote for *. I just don't see that happening.

Might it push someone to vote "left other"? Possibly, but hopefully not as when I encounter someone who feels that way I suggest that we vote Kerry in, who has the best chance of getting in, and then hold his feet to the fire.

But to not say we have issues with his stand on the issues, is to say we back his stands. I am not comfortable with pretending to go along with something I don't feel is right. :(

[sandnsea]

63. Cumulatively

It does have that affect. Little things here and there, and pretty soon people either vote "left other" or don't vote at all. Momentum, bandwagon, group think, whatever you want to call it, it really is important. It isn't a question of saying something you don't believe. It's focusing on where you agree instead of where you differ.

[noiretextatique]

55. having expectations of our candidate is not negative

nor is it negative to have expectations of our political parties, and our government. the RW certainly has expectations, and they are not shy about trying to force their expectations down our collective throat, as they did in 2000. as to what are realistic expectations, perhaps we also need to follow the lead of our friends on the right as to what is and is not realtistic...they seem to have a better grasp on how to acheive their aims.

[JNelson6563]

57. You have no patience for any dissent

I also have absolutely no patience for anybody who doesn't understand this election is about one thing, getting Bush OUT.

Translation: In my mind all that matters is that there is a different warm body in the WH and I have no use for any other views.

Ok wait, don't tell me, who does this mindset resemble....? Hmmm.

Julie

[Name removed]

61. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[noiretextatique]

24. the article discusses how pressure

was applied by some afican-american leaders to make sure there won't be a repeat of 2000, i.e., the democratic nominee ignoring the disenfranchisement issue. since that is exactly what happened in 2000...i fail to understand how this is considered "bashing."
i was talking about this very thing in another thread yesterday, and i think it's something democrats better damn well keep in the FOREFRONT of their minds regarding the upcoming election. i know kerry is preparing as he should...that's not largesse: it's what democrats should have done in 2000. and if it happens again, i will work tirelessly to convince african-americans to support another party. if you can't expect representation anyway, you may as well be "selfish and narcissitic"...the new code language for the expectation of representation.

[sangh0]

31. Oh, I think it does a little more than that, noiretblu

It says "On Thursday afternoon, Kerry landed at the NAACP convention, stepped off his slow-moving campaign boat and announced that he was exploring for one million missing Black voters. "

Since Kerry has announced that he will have tens of thousands of lawyers monitoring polling stations in all 50 states, what do you think the odds are that this effort began last Thursday, as this author implies?

But change is coming, and not because John Kerry and the men who think for him have changed

Is name-calling how they intend to pressure Kerry?

Here's how Senator Kerry got the message: Two weeks ago, when I was in Chicago, Jesse Jackson asked me to join him for breakfast at the Marriott Hotel. To my surprise, he'd also invited Senator John Edwards. Jackson had made copies of my editorial for the San Francisco Chronicle on the missing one million votes ... and wouldn't let the wannabe Veep touch his bagel until he'd read every word.

Just when Edwards thought he could have a sip of coffee, Jackson required him to watch the segment of our BBC television special, "Bush Family Fortunes," with the latest analysis on the non-count of Black votes in Florida. In the 2000 race, 95,000 African-American votes were dumped in the Florida swamps, marked as spoiled.

Edwards, succumbing to hunger, caffeine deprivation and Reverend Jackson's intense interrogation, caved in and promised to take the message of the missing Black votes to the white side of his party.

Do you really believe that the reason why the Kerry campaign has arranged for 40,000 attorneys to monitor the election is because Edwards needed a cup of coffee?

The author is so biased it's not funny.

[GreenPartyVoter]

33. True, he tends to tell it like it is about both Dems and Repubs

Have you read anything else by him? If not, it's really too bad.

[sangh0]

39. He tends to lie

According to the article, Kerry didn't learn about the disenfranchisement until last Thursday, and since then he's organized 40,000 attorney's to monitor the elections.

Do you really think he organized 40,000 attys in the last 5 days?

It sounds like this author is a liar. He also claims that the reason why Kerry even knows about this is because Edwards was needing a caffeine fix.

[GreenPartyVoter]

43. Visit his website and see if you feel the same about his other writings.

Bear in mind, he does inject his opinions into his work, yes. But he also does some very solid investigative journalism, and if it wasn't for this guy this whole subject might not be on the radar screen at this point because no one else was willing to dig into it.

Oldest relevant articles are at the bottom: http://gregpalast.com/columns.cfm?subject_id=1&subject_name=Theft%20of%20Presidency

Also, you might check out his documentary on the subject: http://www.propagandamatrix.com/141003bushfamilyfortunes.html

[sangh0]

45. I know about Palast

and while he has done some good work, he is not a friend

[GreenPartyVoter]

48. No, I suppose he isn't, seeing as how he doesn't praise up the DNC.

[noiretextatique]

52. that's palast's style....but the criticism is deserved

on a party level. and you know very well that african-americans, even those the democrats couldn't bother to stand up for in 2000, will vote solidly democratic in 2004, regardless of whether or not greg palast likes kerry/edwards. as to bias...that's in the eye of the beholder.

[Skidmore]

6. Our party should never have forgotten

African-Americans. We need them front and center in all we do, all the time. Yes, our party lost its soul for a while and hopefully it is rediscovering these people and all the others it claims to represent.

[Forkboy]

44. Unbelievable

Breathtaking in it's ignorance and simple mindedness.

[mzmolly]

5. THIS is a MUST read!

"I have a dream. I imagine John Kerry taking this message to the floor of the convention next week and proclaiming, "Three decades after Martin Luther King's murder, one million African-Americans cast ballots never counted. This will not stand!" Imagine it: At that moment, for the first time in a generation, the Democratic Party will have nominated a Democrat."

HERE HERE! :toast:

I bet Dean will say something about this when he speaks, and I am glad the Rev. Jackson brought this to the attention of the campaign.

[GreenPartyVoter]

8. Me too. The fact that Edwards watched "Bush Family Fortunes"

just thrills me to my very soul.

If you haven't seen it yet, I have a link to it on my website. :)

[mzmolly]

11. I have not seen it but am highly interested.

I'll check out the link, thanks. :hi:

[GreenPartyVoter]

14. It's on the news and view page, and you are welcome. :)

[mzmolly]

34. Thanks, watching the trailer now!

Such a great website! :hi:

[GreenPartyVoter]

37. Thanks. :^) The documentary is longish, but well worth the watch.

Don't you just love the intro, set to the theme of "Dallas"? *lol*

[JohnKleeb]

9. Kerry I believe has mentioned the voter disenfranchisement

He quoted W.E.B DuBois and a Hughes poem while he was in Philly at the NAACP convention, Kerry had his black shipmate campaign with him if I recall and he was inspired by a black teacher while in school and he was a supporter of civil rights early on. So I think Kerry has his heart in the right direction on this.

[sandnsea]

10. Silly facts again

Of course he talked about Florida and the voting debacle. Been posted here several times as well as the team of lawyers. Who cares about facts. It's more fun to pretend Dean is God and Kerry is shit.

[JohnKleeb]

19. whats that shipmate of his's name David ?????

Kerry's record on race is excellent, I believe I read a 100 from the NAACP. I'll say what I told you yesterday afternoon, its personality, thats how a liberal senator like Kerry is made out to be a moderate, and if Kerry is a bush lite democrat, then what are people like John Breaux and Ben Nelson, I call them conservative democrats, if Kerry is a bushlite to people, then these guys must be actual republicans though they aren't even if I disagree with them on most issues. You saw when he mentioned Hughes' let america be america again, he knows his stuff, was reading in another thread how LBJ was expected to be conservative, then he became a progressive president, yet Kerry has the liberal record, and I believe he will be like his record. I remember reading that Kerry's liberalism on most issues may help him in the primary but will hurt him in the GE, its just funny that a man who is one of the most liberal senators is regarded as like Bush to many and a reluctant vote, and he and Wellstone had nearly identical records, the difference I think is personality. Personality is what is secretly important to those who say its about issues, its not a problem with me, thats how I came to appreciate Edwards.

[noiretextatique]

27. i believe you are missing the point: kerry is a member of the same party

that ignored the issue in 2000. surely you can understand why that make some people nervous. it's not about kerry's personal commitment to civil rights; it's about his party's abandonment of disenfranchised folks in 2000. kerry promises to keep an eye on florida...which is great. but let's not pretend that democrats didn't seriously fuck up on this issue in 2000.

[sangh0]

35. I think you just made up a point

The article describes how Kerry doesn't think for himself - that's the job for his advisors.

The article also says that Kerry "discovered" that a million people were disenfranchised just last Thursday, which is a bald-faced lie.

But this has nothing to do with Kerry, right? It's about the DNC.

[noiretextatique]

47. it's about whomever decided not to challenge the 2000

disenfranchisement issue. as to who has been discovered suddenly, perhaps you should take that up with some voters in florida.
will this article change anyone's mind about voting for kerry? i think not.

[TeacherCreature]

62. What does Dean have to do with this?

Are you TRYING to drive people from the party?
Dean is working his ass off to get Kerry elected and doing a hell of a lot more than you are posting shit here on DU everyday. Why bring him into this? Not everyone who says anything negative about Kerry is a Dean supporter and MOST of us are voting for Kerry. So what the hell is your aggenda here?

[mzmolly]

15. I realize that he has spoken about it. I am simply glad they have some

hard numbers.

I meant not to imply that Kerry didn't give a rip before. The article isn't really that scathing either IMHO.

In a nutshell I'm glad Edwards met with JJ to hear his concerns, BRAVO :toast: to him! And, BRAVO to Kerry and the campaign for confronting this head on. :hi:

[sangh0]

42. "not because John Kerry and the men who think for him have changed"

So Kerry doesn't know how to think?

No, not "too" scathing.

[GreenPartyVoter]

46. There have been times when I have wondered if he does know how to think

And then, too, you have to consider that elected officials at that level DO have staffs for a reason. No one human can possibly stay on top of every issue all at once. So, in a sense yes he does have people thinking for him.

And yes, the way the writer phrased it did sound like he didn't think much of Kerry's not thinking. I will give you that.

[GreenPartyVoter]

18. Speaking, good. Doing, better. Hope Kerry does everything he can

to see that all our votes are counted. Maybe he won't be able to this time around, but once he is in office I hope he passes legislation that guarantees it. (Hope he does more on voting reform, but this one should come first.)

[EEgrad2003]

28. to avoid the "coup d'etat"

I think that this topic should keep being emphasized to avoid what happened 4 years ago. The only group that spoke up about this mis-justice was the black caucus, and no one even bothered to support their concerns. No matter if the issue was closed or not, they were disenfranchised by the very system they fought to support. Maybe if people would have addressed their concerns, we would not be in the muck of a presidency.

[Shakespeare]

29. Kerry isn't just speaking about it, he's paid to put together a legal team

Kerry knows that the voting problem excludes primarily African-American voters, and he's putting more legal muscle (and being very public and very vocal about it) than any candidate I'm familiar with has, ever.

I was pretty lukewarm about Kerry the candidate until a few weeks ago, when the local news here in San Francisco played a rather long clip from his address to a predominantly African-American crowd at the big union convention here. Kerry--who's maligned (unfairly, I now believe) for not being charismatic--put aside his scripted remarks and spoke TO the crowd, not AT them. He said, and I'm parapharsing, "look, I know you're wary of me, and I'm wary of you, but we have to work together. I know you've been treated unfairly, and I give you my word that I will do everything I can to ensure that that never happens again."

It was honest--surprisingly so. It was sincere. It was straightforward. And I found myself moved by the man, as many in the crowd obviously did, too.

Palast is right to keep shouting from the rooftops about voter disenfranchisement, and he's right to expect Kerry to do something about it. The good news is, Kerry IS doing something about it.

[GreenPartyVoter]

41. I will say that the speech to the NAACP really made an impression on

my very apolitical hubby. He said that listening to Kerry, it sounds like he is speaking fro the heart about what he believes in, whereas * just sounds like he is reading a speech written for him. :)

[ulysses]

50. wow - Palast should be careful

lest the purists who will brook no criticism of the party descend upon him.

[GreenPartyVoter]

53. Dadburn purist!!. *tongue in cheek laugh*

[Name removed]

56. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

58. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[noiretextatique]

60. especially around election time eom

[nomatrix]

64. Failure is Impossible has account of Votermarch

Maia Cowen reports... http://failureisimpossible.com/essays/myvotermarch.htm

Catherine Danielson spoke about Nashville, TN
"It's sickening: People lined up for TWO MILES outside polling places because the precincts in Black neighborhoods didn't have anywhere near enough voting machines for the projected turnout. Many people who registered through "Motor Voter" whose names weren't on the rolls. People who were illegally required to produce two forms of ID, and not permitted to vote when they couldn't. Polling places that were moved without notice. Students who were denied the right to vote where they went to school, even though they'd been able to in a previous election. People told, "Take that NAACP sticker off your car or you won't be allowed into the polls. People told, "Get behind the white voters in line. You know what it's like to sit in the back of the bus." Catherine gathered much of this evidence herself when she realized the local government wasn't going to investigate the reports. She's shared her finding with the NAACP, which will be holding hearings."

[nomatrix]

65. Loads of links on how votes were stolen

Investigations into voter disenfranchisement

http://failureisimpossible.com/needtoknow/votehearings.htm#crc

Hundreds!!