Palast on the voting. Some really sad comments.

[madfloridian]

I won't post much, just the part that really upset me. And yes, I wonder why our Democrats are not fighting at all, not even before the election to insure our votes matter.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/kerry_won.php

SNIP..."So here we go again. Or, here we don't go again. Because unlike last time, Democrats aren't even asking Ohio to count these cards with the not-quite-punched holes (called "undervotes" in the voting biz). (WHY, for god's sake??)

Ohio is one of the last states in America to still use the vote-spoiling punch-card machines. And the Secretary of State of Ohio, J. Kenneth Blackwell, wrote before the election, “the possibility of a close election with punch cards as the state’s primary voting device invites a Florida-like calamity.”

But this week, Blackwell, a rabidly partisan Republican, has warmed up to the result of sticking with machines that have a habit of eating Democratic votes. When asked if he feared being this year's Katherine Harris, Blackwell noted that Ms. Fix-it's efforts landed her a seat in Congress.

[Philostopher]

1. He's pissed off because he couldn't get everybody to buy into

E-voting with no receipt. So the districts that have E-voting were punished, and punch-card districts were punished.

Asshole Blackwell could have solved the problem by offering optical scan systems, but instead, he let Wally O'Dell talk him into trying to shove Diebold down everybody's throat.

At the last minute, they all started kicking.

The machines that were used in the several counties were Sequoia machines. Many of them flat-out didn't work first thing in the morning, when the polls opened.

Guess where most of them were? If you said 'minority precincts' you were right.

We voted punch. Our punch machines worked just freakin' fine. There's no excuse but a deliberate effort to screw up the vote, for them not to work fine.

I've seldom been as pissed off at a public official as I am right now at that guy. They did everything they did in Ohio deliberately. If they'd offered optical scan updates for everybody, there wouldn't have been a problem -- but instead of doing that, they pushed no-receipt Diebold machines. That asshole knew. He knew they could manufacture all the problems Ohio had, and they did it on purpose.

[Paxdora]

15. It is so easy to 'slightly' damage those punch machines...

...AFTER THEY'VE BEEN INSPECTED. A simmple nail file can do the trick...

[redqueen]

2. I was wondering about that too.

The only answer I can work with is that we didn't press them hard enough to pay attention.

I wonder if they're even counting the rest of the votes in FL.

[skypilot]

4. And people still aren't paying attention.

First thing this morning I had to insist to two of my coworkers that we didn't lose simply because the Republicans got out the "religious vote".
They don't seem to be paying any attention to stories about "spoilage" or fishy voting machines.

[redqueen]

7. It's the 'liberal media'

Black box voting and massive fraud just aren't issues that are on their radar. We need to do a better job of educating our fellow Americans.

[SeanQ]

3. It's the 'just-roll-over-and-take-it' aspect of the leadership

of the Democratic party we need to toss out on their asses!

[goddess40]

13. Terry out, Howard in nt

[LibDemAlways]

5. I heard Palast on Pacifica radio

in LA this morning. He said the newest voter suppression tactic is to simply challenge black and minority voters when they show up and offer them provisional ballots, which he said were being handed out "like candy." Guess where most of these ballots end up?

Also said he twice called Blackwell's office and asked for the over and undervote totals. Was hung up on both times. Also said Blackwell won't commit to the number of provisional ballots cast. His office issued a statement they were "trending" toward 175,000. What the hell does that mean?

Also intimated that the Kerry people were afraid to go after Blackwell, who he characterized as meaner and more rabid than Harris.

What does all of this mean for us? We're stuck with a goddamned, warmongering, shit-for-brains chimpanzee for four more long years. I'd rather go through every legal challenge imaginable than let the chimp back in without a hell of a fight. Kerry disappointed bigtime.

[skypilot]

6. delete

[Catherine Vincent]

9. Blackwell is a republican, I know, but isn't he a black guy?

[skypilot]

11. Yes.

Yes he is. From what I've read about him he seems to be cut from the same mold as Clarence Thomas.

On edit: And it's especially disgusting when you stop to think that supressing the black vote is part of the right's M.O. and here is a black man helping them do it. Words almost fail me.

[brainshrub]

8. The answer:

Your question: I wonder why our Democrats are not fighting at all, not even before the election to insure our votes matter.

My answer: There is no Democratic Party. It was a myth that was just shattered. The damage done last night by Kerry & the Democratic leaders is generational in scope.
They didn't just disappoint us... they sold us down the river.

[OneBlueSky]

10. the question that's been bothering me since Tuesday is . . .

Why? . . .

the Democrats -- including John Kerry -- KNEW that the election was stolen in 2000 . . . they KNEW that Rove would try it again in 2004 . . . they KNEW about the BBV machines . . . they KNEW about the gerrymandering . . . they KNEW to the extent that they said they'd have 10,000 lawyers at the ready, and that they would NOT let it happen again . . .

and then they let it happen again . . . without so much as a whimper . . .

and the question I have is "WHY?" . . . why didn't they make fair elections an issue for the past two years? . . . why didn't they point out to the press all of the dirty tricks that took place during this election? . . . and why, after assuring us that they would NOT let it happen again, did they just roll over and let it happen again? . . .

I just don't understand it . . .

[0007]

12. Who does? To add insult to injury the media catches a dummy

[billbuckhead]

14. What about the stolen election in Georgia in 2002?

We've been Diebolded before. I'm bitterly disappointed that the Democratic party hasn't brought more attention to this issue.

[ladjf]

16. I'm afraid that too many Dem leaders are in on the scam.

It sure as hell looks that way.

[madfloridian]

17. What's the status on Holt's paper audit bill?

I can't think of the name of it now.