A Caller to Randi Rhodes made me cry

[Stinky The Clown]

I'm listening to AAR's stream. Randi is on. A woman who worked as a watcher at the polls in Ohio called. She started her day at a rich, white precinct. No problems. Lots of machines. No wait. Finally they were asked to go to a different precinct where there were early problems.

It was one of the poor, largely black precincts. They started with four machines. A man said the last time they had seven. Over the course of the day two machines broke. It was raining. The waiters were told they had to wait outside. This woman asked, pleaded, and finally won by getting them to be able to line up snake-like in the **large empty** gym where the voting was being held.

They called the election board to get more machines. Some snarky, smug man came to see what was going on. He told this woman, "Its not so bad. Think of all these new voters eager to cast their ballots." According to her he was just a disgusting, smug man who, to her, appeared to be gloating.

As night came and the rains came harder the lines were back outside, with no lights. She pulled her car up so the waiters, many of whom had small kids with them could at least **see**.

The woman was really upset and her close was that **she** felt **she** failed the voters. She said she knows she really didn't, but she **feels** like she did.

I was very touched listening to this woman .... just any ordinary person raging against the system. I was proud of her and I was crying listening. I don't how any one else who heared this reacted, but that's how it struck me.

[progressiveboston]

1. I felt the same

Great post!

[buddysmellgood]

2. I was going to say something sarcastic, like "Do you need a hug?" but then

I read your post and it nearly made me tear up.

[LSparkle]

3. You beat me to starting this thread

She moved me, too. I'm still sick at heart over this election, for the very reasons she pointed out -- people went to such herculean extents to vote, only to have themselves disenfranchised. If there's a God in heaven, He'll bring this whole thing down on KKKarl and company; it's just so wrong.

[buddysmellgood]

5. amen

[BlueJazz]

4. Yep..There's more ways to steal an election than by hacking.

I'll alway believe in my heart that the Bush crowd has stolen 2 elections.
...And the ironic thing is these are the people that preach about "Values"

[AP]

6. I heard a story about a precinct -- similar story, poor black neighborhood

-- the polling place was hidden back in a school, there were no lights. A volunteer went to costco and bought 100 cheap flashlights. They brought them back to campaign HQ. Volunteers put them together, loaded the batteries, then volunteers (middle class white women) drove down to the precinct in the dark and set the flashlights up to make a lighted path to the polling place. Kerry got 10% more votes in that county than Gore got 4 years ago (don't know about that precinct though).

[lonestarnot]

7. Kick

[BrklynLiberal]

14. I watched election results onTV until 2-3AM. I live in NYC, and they were

showing people in Ohio, standing on long, long lines outside until well after midnite....as long as 10-11 hours...in the pitch dark and the rain. I could not believe my eyes. It was an obvious case of voter supression.

[FizzFuzz]

8. just reading this makes me want to cry.

Its the frustration and anger, with no one listening who holds to power to change things , no one responding to what is right in front of our faces that makes me feel this churning rage and frustration.

This story happened right in front of hundreds of people and that prick of a man laughed, no media covered it, fascists and their ignorant supporters everywhere know or care not at all.

:nuke:

[impeachthescoundrel]

9. I heard it and I had the exact same reaction

:mad:


That must have been a horrendous experience. She must be commended for trying and try to rid herself of the guilt. I just hope she realizes this is a part of their game and not to play it.

[otohara]

10. I Thought It Was Testimony From The Ohio Hearings?

I got choked up too!

[buddysmellgood]

11. That's it. I'm going to Ohio for the recount.

[BrklynLiberal]

12. I heard it too. Thought Randi was going to cry. A very sad comment

on where this country stands right now when it comes to "Democracy".
This election was such an obvious,total fraud.

[progressoid]

13. As pissed off as I am, I have to believe that this will come back to bite

these pricks in the ass.

[BrklynLiberal]

15. From your keyboard to God's ears................. n/t

[Pirate Smile]

16. I hope at Conyer's Ohio Hearing they have the people with these stories

of what happened get up and share their experiences instead of just opening up the floor like they did at the one this week.

These are the stories that need to get out.

[4democracy]

17. I think stories like this are in the affidavits entered

into the record @ Conyer's hearing on Wed. Of course they are a lot more powerful in person, so it would be great if these people could speak at the meeting on Monday.

[Stinky The Clown]

20. If they need to get anyone to speak live with their story, this woman

would be wonderful. It was clear in listening to her that she felt this ... deeply. She was very affected. The honest moral outrage was obvious and obviously real.

This woman would be as effective at a hearing as a victim's mother at a murder trial. She would move the "jury" to tears.

[m berst]

18. the hidden truth, the invisible voters

All of the convoluted and self-congratulatory speculation about computer voting, and the self-styled investigations, have served as a smokescreen around the true and certain election tampering that happened - millions of African American voters were disenfranchised.

There are a thousand posts at DU about computer voting - most of them hot air or flame bait - for every one post about this.

[THUNDER HANDS]

19. I don't know what's more sad

that this happened, or the fact that the Democratic Party couldn't give two shits that it did.

[knight_of_the_star]

22. Damn those bastards

In that way the DNC is worse than the GOP, for while the DNC doesn't commit the crimes of their alleged opponent, by doing nothing they aid and abbett them.

[Liberty Belle]

21. I heard her, too. I thought if this woman ever gets before a

jury, Blackwell and his merry band of thugs are toast.

We should get her name and start an e-mail campaign to get CNN and the other big networks to interview her. Human interest angles are ALWAYS best.

[Joe Chi Minh]

23. Sorry, Husb2Sparkly,

I saw it was going to become very distressing reading the further I went, so only read the first sentence or two. These people are devils incarnate.