Lost or Stolen?

[Plaid Adder]

My position, which I worked out sometime Thursday, is that we must assume that it was both, and respond accordingly.

STOLEN: You've seen all the reports of fucked-up totals coming out of Florida and Ohio and other places, most of them related to electronic voting machines or optical scanners. That alone ought to be enough reason to get rid of the fucking things once and for all, whether or not it's enough to reverse the election. It may never be possible to prove that fraud took place, but here's the point: WE SHOULD NOT HAVE TO ASK THE QUESTION. Before 2006, it should be illegal to use any kidn of vote-counting technology that doesn't have a paper trail. Period. We make that priority #1, or we are screwed forever and a day.

LOST: This election should not have come down to Florida and Ohio. There are huge sections of the country where the Democratic party is not even competitive. We need the South. We need the west. We need the midwest. We have to get them back one way or another.

Now if you have been reading me for long you will believe me when I say that we DO NOT do that by placating the extreme Christian right. Those people cannot be placated. It's part of fundamentalism that anyone who does not buy into your rigid world view is of the enemy and must be cast into darkness if they cannot be brought to the light. Pandering to that crowd is like negotiating with terorrists. It's not a good idea.

However.

You've heard Edwards do his two Americas speech. Well, there are two Christianitys too. Scary-ass fundamentalist Christianity has the Republican party by the balls. But there are loads of Christians out there who are not evangelicals and who, because of their faith, care about issues that *should* be core Democratic issues--care for the poor, human rights, racial equality, economic justice, labor, and so on. Many of those people are also anti-abortion...*but* they are not necessarily one-issue voters *if you give them something else.*

I grew up Catholic. I don't practice any more, for reasons you can all guess. But long after I jettisoned the hatred of women and the body and sexuality, I kept the commitment to social justice that for me was always the heart of the whole religion. Every one of my columns was written out of that commitment, and that's where my politics come from.

There is a moral case to be made for our side. Our politicians have gotten afraid to make it because it makes the money nervous. The money doesn't care how frothy the evangelicals get because it doesn't cost the corporations anything if folks want to persecute gay people or destroy reproductive freedom. The money certainly does care how zealous this country gets about social justice, and that's why since the Clinton era you don't hear much about the poor any more. And since the money owns the media, nobody on TV woudl ever give anyone any idea that there is a different way to be moral that doesn't involve sniffing around bedroom doors.

If we are going to get the 'moral values' people without selling ourselves to the Creationists, we are going to have to be able to stand up to the money. So that's project #2, right after we get rid of the voting machines.

Anyway. that's my story from here, in Milwaukee, on a Friday night, while my partner is hanging out with the progressive Catholic convention she came out here to attend. We were out here a couple weeks ago getting out the vote for Kerry. From one lost cause to another, but we keep on going. You don't get to choose whether you win or lose. All you can choose is the fight.

The Plaid Adder

[mhr]

1. A Modest Proposal - Design And Produce Our Own Voting Machines

Hi All,

Like most here, I have anguished over the election and the possibility of election fraud. This is made more real, personally, since I observed the ES&S touchscreen machines err in Dallas, TX.

So, instead of using much of our valuable energy fighting for existing election machine changes, I suggest that we short circuit the problem by leading an effort to design and produce an Open Source voting system. This is easier than it sounds and can leverage the vast technical resources at DU and elsewhere. One has only to look at all the successful software developed for LINUX.

Using an Open Source model we can build an election system that is open and transparent to all scrutiny. The end-game would be the gift or sale of the technology to all counties, cities, and sates at no more than cost. If managed properly, we could undermine the existing corrupt e-voting companies and enable fairer voting by cash strapped governments. Eventually voters would demand their votes be counted on trustworthy equipment.

Since I have not the resources of a Soros, I can volunteer only time and skill. To that end, I now volunteer to coordinate this effort and look forward to hearing from all similarly motivated individuals. I also suggest that Skinner and company consider setting up some forum space which will enable the initial and continuing dialog on this effort.

Working together we can lick this problem and lick the Repubs at their own game.

Sincerely,

MHR

[Insider]

3. i got your first $100

have you started your own thread on this somewhere?

RAISE IT UP.

[lightbulb]

2. excellent perspective

Thanks for articulating that. I get really tired of my "progressive" friends bagging on Christians as if everyone who claims to follow the teachings of Christ are cast from the same mold. While I steer clear of Christianity myself, I've met many very respectable and truly moral followers, people who do not deserve to be typecast and vilified by anybody. As you point out, it's the dollar bills with pretty crosses stamped on them we need to do battle with, and we have a lot of work to do in clarifying this, both within our party and for the masses.