Until we make fraudulent elections THE issue, FORGET ABOUT IT

[debbierlus]

It is SO obvious. The Republicans have TWICE stolen the Presidential election. I would bet hard money they have stolen congressional seats, as well. Why on earth would they not do it in 2006 when the President stands to be impeached and prosecuted, if the dems retake the Congress? We KNOW they will do ANYTHING. And, when they feel threatened - they will do worse.

We MUST make the election fraud the issue NOW. If we don't, FORGET ABOUT 2006.

I wrote the following letter to my editor, you are welcome to send it to your local papers and e-mail it out to your friends (it was published).

To the Editor:

2006 is now upon us, and with it comes the hope of restoring checks and balances in our government.

Every seat of the U.S. Congress will be open for reelection bids and challenges this November, with many states seeing senate and governorship races, as well. For many of us, this has been an eagerly awaited opportunity, a bright light to lead us out of a very dark tunnel of corrupt total Republican leadership. However, we are in very real peril of having this hope and opportunity come to nothing due to an election system that is subject to fraud, manipulation and tampering.

The mainstream media has been underwhelming, if not out and out irresponsible, on its coverage of this vital issue. Indeed, it has been lax to the point that the many Americans still believe claims of fixed elections are in the realm of "conspiracy theory." This is despite overwhelming objective and substantiated evidence of vote manipulation, insecure voting equipment that is easily subject to outside hacking, discriminatory voting policies and unequal distribution of monies and equipment to ensure accurate and efficient voting implementation and tallying.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO), tasked with investigating election reliability and security due to the widely reported problems occurring with the presidential elections in 2000 and 2004, released a troubling report on Oct. 21, 2005, documenting the system's widespread flaws. In addition, the GAO report indicated that national initiatives to improve voting-system security and reliability of electronic voting systems either lack specific plans for implementation or are not expected to be completed until after the 2006 election.

According to GAO, "Until these efforts are completed, there is a risk that many state and local jurisdictions will rely on voting systems that were not developed, acquired, tested, operated or managed in accordance with rigorous security and reliability standards - potentially affecting the reliability of future elections and voter confidence in the accuracy of the vote count."

The full report is available at the Committee On Government Reform's Web site, reform.house.gov.

The implications for American democracy are severe. How can citizens have any assurance of enactment of their political will in 2006 when the very system designed to reflect that will is admittedly broken? It is imperative that Americans become educated about this issue. In addition to the GAO report, there are numerous resources that provide detailed accounting, factual documentation and context for understanding this complex issue and ideas for advocacy and change.

"What Went Wrong in Ohio; The John Conyers Report On The 2004 Presidential Election," available from most booksellers, is a must read for every citizen vested in understanding the current situation. Harper's Magazine's Sept. 7, 2005, article, "None Dare Call It Stolen; Ohio, The Election and America's Servile Press," is now available for free in Web-site archives on Harpers.org. Blackboxvoting.org and Verifiedvoting.org offer extensive archives and developing coverage of both state and federal voting issues. By understanding the context and implications of America's broken election system, we can begin to advocate for change and demand action from our media and elected representatives before the 2006 elections.

Communist tyrant Joseph Stalin once said, "Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything." It is ironic and sad that Americans now are confronted with the stark truth that we, too, are not exempt from the corruption of unscrupulous political power. There is every reason to believe that those vested in maintaining power and control will utilize every means available to do so, including manipulating the election system.

It will be the test of the character and courage of all of us as citizens, whether we rise up and demand change or we continue to allow the powers that be to frame this debate into a partisan divide and deny the truth that is right before our eyes, if we only choose to see.

[Flying Dream Blues]

1. Absolutely right. Thanks. K&R nt

[robbedvoter]

2. But, but, if we work harder, we can win by enough votes that it won't be

stolen! We only need to throw at Diebold enough votes that the machines yell "uncle" and give up. :sarcasm:
I totally agree with you. In 2002 we took back the senate - I am certain of Minnesota and Georgia at least.
This is the original issue - everything - wars, SCOTUS stem from it.
yet, as Kerry conceded without a fight in 2004, most people are blissfuly unaware of 2004 and continue with plans of reinventing ourselves and "working harder" while sticking their fingers in their years when stolen election is mentioned.
So, we're even more powerless, because of ignorance.

[debbierlus]

6. I think people (even many dems) don't want to accept it HAS happened

Not that it is GOING to happen.....

But, that the days of a one party rule, a fixed election system, and imperial Presidential power are NOW...

I think that is one of the additional reasons that true democrats have such a hard fight ahead. Human nature is to deny that things are really THAT bad until there is absolutely no denying they are! Democrats have the truth on our side, but the neocons have 'Ignorance is bliss'. It is much more comforting to think that we have a strong leader who is going to protect us, take care of us, and fix things. My god. If people actually acknowledged the truth, they might (gasp) have to do something and (gasp, again) CHANGE. And, that's another weapon in the neocon arsenal. People HATE change. They kick and scream against it. They fear it.

Unfortunately, I believe the luxury of ignoring the truth will soon be taken away. A depression ought to smack most people back into reality. It is too bad.

[no_more_rhyming]

27. We just need to get the registered ones to vote

That would offset any theft of votes.

[stevebreeze]

3. The last two elections should not have been close enough to steal

We have to have a clear agenda for reform the public will understand. We need serious campaign financing reform too. Public financing is the ONLY way to accomplish this. Until politicians are wholly on the public payroll they will not serve the public interest.
http://www.publicampaign.org/
read this to see it can and how it should be done.

[donkeyotay]

14. Real change requires the courage to make it, and what most people

want is to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic. Don't want lobbyists buying your representation out from under you? Publicly fund elections. (I believe loony-left, commie countries like Great Britain do this.) Don't want to have Bush's corporate buddies profiting from the elderly's drugs? Make health care universal. All this posturing about health care cards and lobbying reform is bull. If you want to reap the benefits, you have to be willing to make the change. The vested people who benefit from the existing system are gonna squeal that the end of the world is coming.

[robbedvoter]

23. Define "close enough to steal" - is it like "asking to be raped"?

Please define for us the maximum amount of votes that can be stolen - so we can deliver over that limit....
There is a limit, no? And you do know the actual result of the past 2 elections - so you can assert they were "close enough".
Please share that info with us as we only have the Diebold numbers.
Thanks for the clichee (I anticipated in my post you ignored)

[glitch]

25. This is why I think smart coupers would ALSO rig the exit polls.

IMO in 2004 they rigged the polls based on the 2000 returns, not expecting a blow-out. But a blow-out did indeed happen, which is why they had to pull their midnight adjustment.

Pure speculation, no proof. Just my opinion based on my assessment of their means, opportunity, motive and character.

[robbedvoter]

26. They simply ELIMINATED exit polls - after the 2002 stinker.

As all exit polls were looking the opposite of the results, the company all TV networks used for their news suddenly declared a glitch - and scrapped all results (we still know them based on latest polls). In 2004 there were different exit polsters.
Both in Ukraine & Romania when you had such discrepancies between exit/results - people protested - election was re-done and the rightful winner put in power. But then again, THOSE are democracies.

[KaryninMiami]

4. Great letter! You have inspired me to do one here in Miami.

Thank you.

[boobooday]

5. An excellent letter

And you're right. This is THE issue.

[Ladyhawk]

7. We need to be reminded of this on a daily basis.

I let the Alito nomination distract me. Yes, the Alito nomination is important, but I should be able to keep two important things in mind at once. Eyes on the prize and all that.

[debbierlus]

18. I wrote that right before Alito hearings

I, too, have been absolutely consumed from trying to figure out a way to stop this disaster of a nomination. From what I have read on Raw Story and Buzzflash, it looks as if the dems have already waved the white flag. It is so pathetic. They sit there before the hearings and say that if he doesn't answer the questions and provide true answers, they won't abide by it. But, that is EXACTLY what he does...

I wrote every single dem senator PLEADING with them to please fight. I sent out a mass e-mail alert to all my contacts. I will call and fax them this week. I won't stop fighting, if the tinest chance remains that we can stop this atrocity. I wish the dems in the Senate had as much passion and courage as the dems on this board.

We have the wrong leaders.

[Talismom]

8. I was recently shocked to have a couple of elderly activists at a Move-on

gathering wag their fingers at me and lecture me about how the dems can't be seen as the party of sour grapes...blah, blah, blah.

When I told them that I had travelled to Cleveland and watched the vote stolen and asked if they had read the Conyers report, they didn't know what I was talking about and just blabbed on about how many years they've been active in politics and someone my age (48!!!!) didn't know enough to talk to them like that.

Oh man! If these are our allies, we're lost!

[Flabbergasted]

9. Personally I decided the best approach to winning elections

this year is to start a wide ranging public campaign of the spying issue. There is a chain flyer (take 1 make 12 copies pass them on) advertsing Impeach Bush around which I put up where I work a relatively slow cafe. Six down in one week. Multiply that to a 1000 cafes across the US and you could have a grassroots campaign and public opinion on our side in no time. This would result in two things, more votes for us, preasure on congress to act.

[mod mom]

21. and leave that literature where the public can pick it up: Dr offices,

oil change shops, or anywhere where unsuspecting readers might pick it up and read it!

[Flabbergasted]

22. Well I'd put it up in every independent coffee shop in the nation

There is no chance of taking back the election system unless it is so obvious that they have to act. 10's of thousands of Impeach Bush flyers everywhere.

[Joe Chi Minh]

10. It seems that in the US, both parties are actually terrified of

a genuine representative democracy. As Chomsky observed in the article currently on DU, when they talk about being politically unrealistic, they mean, not that the people wouldn't "wear" it (they are the ones who want the significant change), but Big Business wouldn't. Still when the countries is essentially run by armaments racketeers with the ever-present threat of sanctions on dissenting individuals "with extreme prejudice"...., perhaps we shouldn't be too self-righteous about this deficiency on their part.

Hence the apparent ambivalence even of the majority of the Democrats in opposition towards demanding draconian punishments for election fraudsters at every level, and really getting the system sorted out once and for all.

[Wilms]

11. .

[bpilgrim]

12. we can't seem to get our leaders to listen after 5 years of this BS

sure there are a handful but they are always pilloried as being part of the loony left :eyes:


more...
http://GlobalFreePress.com

peace

[Atmashine]

13. What's the penalty...

..for throwing electronic voting machines in the closest river or lake?

[suziedemocrat]

15. I soo agree!!! Without accurate elections - nothing else matters.

Next on the list - and end to Corporate Media. We'll just be standing on the sidelines in horror until elections are fair and we have some real news with our propaganda.

[Stevepol]

16. Excellent Letter!! K&R

[autorank]

17. Our party is happy being "Hertz" but they don't "try harder"

You are right but when "they" lose as a party, the majority of "them" keep their jobs because they're secure through redistricting.

As Chompsky said, we need a real "opposition" party. I think that Reid, Dean, Durbin, Kennedy, and a lot of the House really want to fight. But Dodd, LIEberman, Clinton (Hillary), Nelson, Nelson, the majority of them are "weak sisters" -- they lack the guts to clear the bench when their team is in a brawl.

We the citizens have to handle the crooked elections and we need some help but we won't get much. Just one leader, prominent, with the rest going "hmmm..." and some MSM articles or scandals. We're golden.

I think if you did a poll right now: "Did George Bush steal the 2004 Election" you'd get at least 50% yes.

[mod mom]

20. This is exactly why it is up to us to make bring this issue to life, and

not wait until their polls tell them it is safe to bring it up.

In Ohio, we have a ODP that have been too silent despite the obvious blatant disregard for the Democratic low income voting base. If they don't want to bring it up, then we must bring it to the public by whatever it takes. The Dems should be courting those that were disenfranchised, but they aren't. Example: Dean is coming to Franklin County to speak. Instead of heading to the Low Income African American neighborhoods that were hard hit by disenfranchisement at the hands of the Repukes, and were not supported afterward by their own party, he is speaking at a Dem bond fundraiser in which you have to donate at least $10/mo to the Democratic Party. He needs to go into the inner city neighborhoods, to talk to the people who waited for 5+ hours to vote and explain why they should bother to come out in full force, like they did in '04, again! These voters are their base, but can't afford $10/mo. The Democratic Party can't win Ohio without their support!

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

19. Great letter. Let's hope it...

...sinks in with enough people before its too late.

[chimpymustgo]

24. Don't let the issue sink. We have to keep screaming, or we will never

see a glimpse of freedom again.

[debbierlus]

28. Here is the link to my published letter;

People have expressed interest in using it;

Why don't you get a bunch of co-signors and then send it to your local papers?

You have my permission to use it.

Thanks for your recommendations and compliments. I appreciate it.

[debbierlus]

29. OOPS - Here is the link!

http://www.advocateweekly.com/fastsearch?runSearch=true&query=Lusignan