Why Dems Don't Count: Lessons from the Un-Gore of Mexico: By Greg Palast

[kpete]

July 14, 2006 at 07:13:21
Why Democrats Don't Count: Lessons from the Un-Gore of Mexico
by Greg Palast

http://www.opednews.com



The Exit polls said he won, but the "official" tally took his victory away. His supporters found they were scrubbed off voter rolls. Violence and intimidation kept even more of his voters away from the polls. Hundreds of thousands of ballots supposedly showed no choice for president -- like ballots with hanging chads.

And the officials in charge of this suspect election refused to re-count those votes in public. Everyone knew full well a fair count would certainly change the outcome.

You've heard this story before: Gore 2000. Kerry 2004.

But Lopez Obrador 2006 is made out of very different stuff than the scarecrow candidates who, oddly, call themselves "Democrats."

For six years now, I've had this crazy fantasy in my head. In it, an election is stolen and the guy who's declared the loser stands up in front of the White House and says three magic words: "Count the votes."

This past Saturday, my dream came true. Unfortunately, it was in Spanish -- but I'll take what I can get. There was Andreas Manuel Lopez Obrador, presidential challenger, standing in the "Zocalo" -- the square in front of Mexico's White House, telling the ruling clique inside, "Count the votes!"

more at:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_greg_pal_060714_why_democrats_don_t_.htm

[WildEyedLiberal]

1. Greg Palast is an idiot and a liar

"Kerry immediately surrendered."

What a bullshit LIE that is. Notice how Greg Palast never actually suggests what Kerry should have done in face of the FACTS, which are that he was down by 100,000 votes in Ohio - not 400 like Gore - and that there was NO proof of anything that you could actually take to a court and prove, in a court of law, that he won.

"An army of volunteer observers documented the suppression of votes, and an army of lawyers stood by to challenge it in the courts--and Kerry told them to stand down."

That is a LIE. Kerry has been involved in court cases in Ohio SINCE 2004 - stand down my ASS. You know why they haven't gotten anywhere? Because what Greg Palast claims is "documentation of the suppression of votes" is nothing that can be used in a court of law. There is NO PROOF that "Kerry really won" that any court in America is going to accept. The most you could "prove" is that some voters were disenfranchised. You can't "prove" that enough were disenfranchied to make a difference - the very suggestion is inane. It suggests that you "know" the disenfranchised voters would have voted for Kerry, which is of course, not an observation that would stand up for two seconds in a court of law.

If Greg Palast wants to blame someone, why doesn't he blame the DNC for refusing to press for investigations into election irregularities in both 2000 and 2004? Apparently it's so much easier to demand that Kerry throw a temper tantrum and scream "I wuz robbed" - which would have gained him NOTHING but derision, especially from his own party. The DNC had made it perfectly clear that it would not support a lengthy recount.

So who's really to blame here, and why does Greg Palast keep repeating BLATANT LIES? He's such a piss poor example of a "journalist" it makes my head spin.

[RethugAssKicker]

5. Greg Palast is a GREAT journalist !

Without him, WTF else would be? Palast speaks truth to power...

Maybem he was a little hard on Kerry... but Palast is not and idiot and IMO does not deserve your ire!

[MindPilot]

2. ...

:popcorn:

[WildEyedLiberal]

3. Proof that Greg Palast is a liar

RFK Jr. agrees with me:

By midnight, the official tallies showed a decisive lead for George Bush -- and the next day, lacking enough legal evidence to contest the results, Kerry conceded.

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10432334/was_the_2004_election_stolen/1

Look, he's still involved. So much for Palast's lie that he "called off the lawyers":

Kerry/Edwards file MORE Ohio election motions: http://forum.truthout.org/blog/story/2005/2/24/183243/756

Here are the court records:
http://www.truthout.org/pdf/cobbbadnariktransfertatement22305.pdf
http://www.truthout.org/pdf/kerryedwardsmotionforhearing22405.pdf
http://www.truthout.org/pdf/kerryedwardsmctiguedecl22405.pdf
http://www.truthout.org/pdf/kerryedwardstransferstatement22405.pdf

Oh, and looky here: He's STILL IN THE CASE. Looks like it's set to go to trial in August.
http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2005/08/kerry-and-edwards-to-stay-in-recount.html

Oh, and looks like John Conyers agrees with me, too:

Whether the cumulative effect of these legal violations would have altered the actual outcome is not known at this time. However, we do know that there are many serious and intentional violations which violate Ohio’s own law, that the Secretary of State has done everything in his power to avoid accounting for such violations, and it is incumbent on Congress to protect the integrity of its own laws by recognizing the seriousness of these legal violations.

B. Need for Further Congressional Hearings

It is also clear the U.S. Congress needs to conduct additional and more vigorous hearings into the irregularities in the Ohio presidential election and around the country.

While we have conducted our own Democratic hearings and investigation, we have been handicapped by the fact that key participants in the election, such as Secretary of State Blackwell, have refused to cooperate in our hearings or respond to Mr. Conyers questions. While GAO officials are prepared to move forward with a wide ranging analysis of systemic problems in the 2004 elections, they are not planning to conduct the kind of specific investigation needed to get to the bottom of the range of problems evident in Ohio. As a result, it appears that the only means of obtaining his cooperation in any congressional investigation is under the threat of subpoena, which only the Majority may require.

http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/issues/issues/election.html

John Kerry does not constitute "the majority."

[fasttense]

4. Yes, Kerry was at fault

So was Gore, the Democratic party, the dancing supremes and the repukes. But most of all we the people were responsible for letting it happen twice.

[mntleo2]

6. I Agree100%

Democrats are too afraid to stand up because they do not want to be called "sore losers." So freakin' WHAT if that is what others think when the real truth is that the vote is being messed with against Democrats' interests.

Geez

Cat In Seattle