Not my words, but another must-read:
...I and a great many others believe that something profoundly wrong occured in Ohio. We are haunted by the events of 2000. Our party in her entirety did not all rise and stand in 2000 in the halls of congress and challenge Florida's electors. Not one senator stood with the black representatives whose constituents came to the polls in astounding numbers to make a statement: they did not like George W. Bush. Al Gore would represent them and to elect Bush was a threat to black america. And now, in 2004 our black brothers and sisters have once again faced hurdles that no man or woman should face on election day. If we are a nation of equals then we have all failed. Our party failed her african american voters in 2000, now will it do so again? Let us pray not...
To all of those intimidated on election day, to every african-american who came to vote and was harrased by GOP lawyers simply for being black and a Kerry voter, to every college kid in ohio and elsewhere who recieved bogus calls from republicans telling them not to vote because of no registration, and for every black who waited for 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 10, 11, 12 hours in line simply to cast their ballots while most white Bush voters had little problem cast their vote I say this: the term "Fuck Ohio" is saying "Fuck you" to them... Maxine Waters stated today on the radio with randi rhodes that it looks like she will once again be forced to contest the electors, this time not of Florida, but of Ohio.
Shelia Jackson Lee, the honorable congresswoman from Houston, who has signed many letters to Ken Blackwell demanding fairness and equality, is a woman of great diginity. She sat on the Judiciary committee during Clinton's impeachment, and spoke with words of power and elegance about the situation at hand. The honorable Jackson Lee saw beyond the disgusting smears of Kenneth Star and fought the hard fight against the Republican men of the U.S. House of Representatives whose sole goal was not to preserve the Constitution but to obliterate the elected popular president Bill Clinton. This was attempted not out of an understanding of the true meaning of "High Crimes and Misdemeanors," but out of their desire to hunt down and destroy him and his wife (a woman who continues to remain a role model for women:be independant, smart, and express your opinions, for women are the equal of men.) The Clintons stood for something those conservatives hate: they were (are) fierce defenders of the impoverished, the ever pressed middle class, and not the rich white men who are always trying to assert their dominence over the the peoples of this great nation. The Clintons are also Baptists. They go to church and read the Bible every Sunday, and the GOP conservatives simply could not stand a man of poise, a man who was more articulate in discussing the Bible and its values than they were.
The honorable Jackson Lee saw the GOP for what it was then and sees that party for what it is now: one which will stop at nothing for power. Nothing. It does not matter if a black mother has to wait in for hours to simply cast a ballot, and then must walk away because its time to run home and feed her children. The lines that our African-American brothers and sisters stood in was a form of intimidation, we know that now with certainty, as revelations reveal there were dozens more voting machines which were simply never used and to this day we have not been given a reasonable answer as to why these men and women had to wait in monsterous, exhaustive lines to cast their rightful votes...
Too many black boys and girls were blown up, lynched, beaten, and raped by a white society which allowed their repression to go on for too many long years. It took from 1865, and the death of some 600,000 men, to 1965 to finally be given their right as Americans to vote. Lyndon Johnson,the leader of our party some thirty odd years ago bravely ensured through the Civil Rights Acts the right for all men and women to go to the polls to vote without being harassed by white men, to go to the polls and be able to cast their ballots with no obstruction, to go and vote with the same dignity and respect as every white man and woman had in this nation. This did not occur this past November 2nd 2004 and this certainly did not occur on election day 2000 in the state of Florida.
I must also say this: we cannot, we must not, betray our black bretheren in the state of Ohio. If the honorable Maxine Waters, the honorable Jackson Lee, the honorable Jesse Jackson Jr., the honorable Conyers, the honorable Barney Frank, the honrable representative Nadler, and other congresspersons deem it fit and necessary to challenge Election 2004 and Ohio's electors, then we owe them nothing but the same bravery and courage which they have exhibited throughout this process. What does this mean? It means that unlike in 2000 one senator must rise with representatives whose people have been disenfranchised twice already in the 21st century, so many years after Reverend King died for the cause of liberty, freedom ,and equality for God's children. ALL OF THEM. It means that we must take the deep, serious accusations of the black and white members of our party with at least a modicum of respect. We must ensure now, not in 2006 or 2008 or perhaps never, that all citizens of this nation will not have their votes defrauded, will not have their people intimidated, and will not be taken for granted or abused by this party, the party of all people--black, white, Latino, Jewish, Catholic, Vietnamese, Chinese, Puerto Rican or whatever be their race or faith...
We value this democracy so very much that the very hint of undemocratic practices runs afoul the liberties and equalities that Washington, Madison, Franklin, and others so dearly fought for over 200 years ago. The founders may not have been perfect men, but they tried to set in motion something unheard of: a free, open nation with equal rights for all. It took much blood and toil to actualize these words--a civil war which cost us so many young men, a violent invalidation of the civil rights of black citizens in Reconstruction, and then a subsequent 100 years of bloody apartheid and disgrace for our country. Finally, a great number of Americans had enough of Emit Tills being hung and fought in the streets and at the captiol of our nation for justice and the equal right to vote. Now this sacred right seems under attack, but this time it is not with billy clubs, water hoses and dogs, it is with a more subtle intimidation, one that will not be as shocking as being physically beaten at the polling place.
The GOP failed decades to provide equal rights to black citizens, so the Democratic party did so and with that millions of blacks cast their trust and their vote to the party which showed them true decency and respect. We must not betray this loyal constituency. We cannot do so again after the 2000 debacle. Betrayel is surely not honorable nor worthy of the true party of values, the true party which claims civil rights for all--be they straight or gay, white or black, and so forth.
...I urge all of those who call themselves "progressive" to be so and support the efforts of the black caucus and others. We simpy cannot keep saying the tired old phrase "move on, in 2008 things will be different." Well, those words were said in 2000 while black congressmen told a nation on January 6th that their rights were violated. They were rewarded with boos and Al Gore's gavel. I hope that we all try and prevent such miscarriages of justices again by urging all members of congress to stand for equality and democracy.
...Our democracy is everything. As evidence mounts that John Kerry lost an election not on "values" but supression and fraud in Ohio we must support the lawyers and congresspeople as much as we can. Isn't it worth it, at least for those of us in the "other America" who lack health insurance and other basic rights, to challenge everyone in our party to unananimously stand and say with the disenfrachised...
Found here:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/12/14/23137/756
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