Hidden agenda of the Baker/Carter election "commission"? BEWARE!

[Peace Patriot]

I believe that I've figured out what's up with the private Baker/Carter election "commission"…

…why it sprang out of nowhere to address "problems" that the news monopolies have previously said don't exist (have blackholed and Iron Curtained over)…

…why it is acting all "official" and intending to issue a "report to Congress"

…why the "commission" is so lopsided toward Bush Cartelists and bought and paid for pro-electronic, pro-paperless voting advocates…

…and why, suddenly, a bit of election fraud evidence and talk is being permitted in the news monopoly press…

Here's my read on it:

At first I thought it was preemptive strike on emerging election fraud '04 evidence. And I still think that's one purpose. But the main purpose—long in the planning—is to remove the power over elections as far from the People as possible, and into the hands of the Bush Cartel, by creating a "national standard" for elections (Carter used that phrase) that supersedes the powers of state and local jurisdictions, where we the people still have some influence, where the election reform fight is currently occurring, and where, indeed, lay the only hope for election reform.

The "commission" will "recommend" this "national standard" to Congress (their stated intention), and Bush and his BushCon ("pod people") Congress will then impose it on the states, and that will be the end of all efforts at state/local reform, because the states and counties will no longer have the power to choose election systems, procedures and rules.

They needed a "commission" because I think it may involve changes to the Constitution; in any case, they might have deemed such a power grab too brazen even for BushCons to propose and enact on their own. It had to seem non-partisan (at least to the uninformed).

And why is election fraud talk suddenly getting a bit of space in the news monopoly press? Because they intend to USE whatever election fraud evidence emerges in order to bolster the case for a federal (Bush Cartel) grab for all power over elections.

This power grab, if it succeeds, will be the end of our democracy.

The state/local election reform fight is messy and complicated, and there are some very serious problems in the states running elections (problems like Kenneth Blackwell, and electronic voting system corruption among local officials.) I can understand some of us wanting a simple national solution, and thinking maybe we can influence this "commission"'s "recommendations" in the right direction, or discredit it (if it's recommendations are bad or weak—which they likely will be), or get Carter to resign, or whatever.

But say they come out with some good proposals. According to Carter, they might even consider a paper trail requirement. (Gee whiz!) But that isn't the point, at all. The point is to get federal (Bush Cartel) control, and once they've gotten control, they can amend the "national standard" any way they want, and dictate paperless electronic voting throughout the country, and even dictate that it all be run by BushCon voting machine companies (remember those Halliburton no bid contracts?).

The point is the power, not the details. The point is to deprive us, the citizens, of our last remaining chance to put this country right again.

This leaves us with a Catch-22. If we flood them with election fraud evidence (demanding real reform), they will just use that evidence to make the case for a "national standard" over which they will have total control.

I was half-jokingly thinking of sending the "commission" a letter, saying there is nothing wrong with our election system. Go away!

But, on the other hand, there is a desperate need to inform the people of the evidence for election fraud. We just have to figure out a way for this not to be manipulated into more Bush Cartel control over elections.

I think there needs to be discussion of this.

Please see my posts, and the other information, at:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x359448

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x359383

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x359471

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Unfortunately, I think you're correct. All I want is for Americans to

take back the whole process from the 'corporations'/for-profit-only players. I cannot understand why elections for federal office: president, senate, and House, can not be done with paper ballots and hand-counted by members of the community and rolled to the next level. I really don't care if locals and judges and propostiions are counted on tabulators. The other stuff is just too important to have anyone controlling.

[John Q. Citizen]

2. They know they have a credibility problem and they are trying to make

it go away.

The energy for fair free and honest elections created the need to co-opt and direct the discussion.

[tex-wyo-dem]

3. I hate to say this, but you might very well be right...

and this is very, very, very bad.

What I can't figure out is what is up with Carter? Surely you would think he could see through this. Me thinks he just doesn't get it, or doesn't think fraud of this scale could really happen in America.

In any case, I can see it now...down the road when we're yelling from the highest mountain that our elections are complete bullshit, the Reich wing will be saying "Hey, look, this commission made the recommendations, which even the liberal's hero Carter chaired, so why are you whining?"

I have a bad feeling about this.

[Kip Humphrey]

4. Federal control/national registration database/all electronic voting

with feel good paper receipts that will NEVER be counted EVER!
A prescription for TOTAL CONTROL OVER OUR ELECTIONS!

We must resist this, protest this, provide a clear alternative.

They're coming to Houston in June.

Do we protest?

Do we hold a counter commission hearing?


I want to know because I live in Houston and it will likely fall to me to organize. Do I have everyone's support and backing?

Will you come to Houston to meet and protest?

A reluctant activist wants to know!

[garybeck]

5. but it's not a "hidden" agenda

it's "in your face" to the max

to those of us who have been following the real issues, our faces are being rubbed in dog crap right now.

this is completely blatant. nothing is hidden. They are saying all the problems are the democrats who registered illegally. it's completely "in your face" to anyone in the know (most of the people reading this included).

[dzika]

6. "This power grab, if it succeeds, will be the end of our democracy"

We have a democracy? I'll need some proof.

[Peace Patriot]

10. If I could take back that statement, I would.

"This power grab, if it succeeds, will be the end of our democracy."

I was in a rush to get this thought out there--what I think this "commission"'s true purpose is--and said the above for dramatic effect, rather than thinking it through. I do think our situation is dire. But a better way to express it would be this: If this power grab succeeds, they will have removed the last venue for election reform that is open to us.

Democracy is an organic living thing, and has many elements. It doesn't ever really "end," even in circumstances of tyranny. It doesn't "end" until the last person who believes in democracy is dead, and even then, democracy will always be reborn, because it is so obvious to almost any human brain that "all men are created equal" and that we all have certain inalienable rights endowed by our Creator. Tyrants try to override the basic human condition that makes democracy obvious, but it is still obvious that even they are just frail and vulnerable beings like everyone else, who cannot escape death, and who are born, like everyone else, with great spiritual potential that may or may not be realized.

So...it was too glib a statement to say that one particular circumstance will "end" our democracy. And I don't really believe it.

To get back to my point about this private Baker/Carter election "commission": After Florida 2000, the outcry for "election reform" resulted in HAVA, the hasty and highly corrupt and manipulable conversion to electronic voting in many states. The method used to corrupt the states' election systems was plain old money: $4 billion in federal dollars. With that much bribe money (and other corruption methods, such as "revolving door" employment between state/local election officials and the private electronic voting machine companies), the Cartel has managed to create a highly insecure, hackable, fraud prone election system in many states, with Cartelists running the machines on secret, proprietary software.

The Bush Cartel turned the outcry against Florida 2000 into an opportunity to privatize and control the election system. But they have not entirely succeeded yet BECAUSE OF THE POWER OF THE MANY STATES OVER ELECTIONS. Citizens are putting up fights against electronic voting controlled by BushCon companies, in our state and local venues, where we still have some power.

This "commission" didn't really spring out of nowhere. It's looking to me, anyway, like it was part of a plan to complete the "HAVA" process of corrupting the states' election system, by, at this point, TAKING AWAY THE STATES' POWER OVER ELECTIONS--that is, removing the power over elections as far away from The People as possible.

Electronic voting is esoteric, among other anti-democratic characteristics. Most voters don't understand how their votes are counted in these electronic voting systems. The system thus removes the power of ordinary people over the counting of the votes. A "national standard" will go further, and take away ordinary peoples' local/state power to get rid of electronic voting, if they so choose (and can get organized enough to do), or to insist on strong auditing and verification rules.

A "national standard"--Carter's stated goal with this "commission"--will likely be enforced by this Bush Cartel-controlled Congress or a Bush Cartel controlled national election commission of some kind that Congress will create. Currently, the states choose election systems, procedures and rules--which vary quite a bit throughout the nation--and are threaded with various political controls and "checks and balances." Secretaries of State are elected, for instance. So are many county registrars. State legislatures and official commissions are involved.

I think the goal of this "commission" is to wipe out all that "balance of power" stuff, and place all power over elections in a federal (Bush Cartel) authority.

This will not "end" our democracy. But it will make it nearly impossible to reform our election systems. That last avenue of people power, with regard to elections, will gone.

-------

Note on Kevin Shelley: One of the things the Bush Cartel had to do, in order to proceed with Part 2 of the takeover of the election system, was to get rid of Kevin Shelley, the California Secretary of State who was crying the alarm about Diebold and unverified voting, and whose activism as an honest public servant seeking election integrity was serving as an example to others, and epitomized what the Baker/Carter "commission" wants to destroy: local power to oppose insecure voting systems. They had to destroy him.

And that they did. That they did.

-------

"We have a democracy? I'll need some proof." --dzika

We have a very undemocratic, and, indeed, fascist federal government, but we, at the same time, have a majority of voters--most likely a big majority--who voted them out. So, democracy IS happening. Part of democracy is information--free speech, freedom of the press, freedom of communication. Somehow, as the result of a lot of patriotic effort, the truth about Iraq WMDs, and other vital information, got out to the people, who overcame the "Iron Curtain" blockading real news, and figured things out for themselves.

That is an astonishing thing. Really. That the Bush Cartel HAD TO steal the election is astonishing, given their control over the news monopolies. And that they acted to kill this voter revolt--and smash the grass roots democracy movement that made it possible--is no surprise (given who they are), and further proof that democracy is actually alive in this country.

I think there is actually quite a lot of life in our democracy. Air America Radio is an example. The Nashville conference is an example. The protests against Schwarzenegger are an example. DU is an example. That so many top statistical experts and Ph.D.'s are risking their necks to cry foul on the 2004 election is an example.

But we have two problems: 1) The Bush Cartel is way ahead of us--they've thought this thing through--and grass roots democracy methods and ideas have not caught up with them; and 2) we are not unified--we're all over the map in striking back.

One GOOD thing that might come out of the devious Baker/Carter "commission" is that, while it pursues ITS goal of nationalizing (and getting total Bush Cartel control over) elections, election '04 fraud information is getting out there. It has been a very divisive issue on the Left (truly, the center). As more people become informed, I think we will be seeing more of a consensus about it. (The facts are very convincing--if you can get TO the facts, and get PAST denial, etc.) This will help unify the anti-Bush forces. And since we ARE the majority (I am quite convinced of this--that our country is mostly progressive; and that fascism is an aberration), once we are unified, we will evict the Bush Cartel from the government and re-establish democracy.

[applegrove]

7. I believe Carter will come out with the truth. They will try and

intimidate him, but he will talk about the redistribution of districts and the targeting of only black felons on voters lists, etc.

I do not believe he will find any widespread diebold voting machine fraud because the fraud took place in the heart and minds of Americans.. sociopaths find that much easier.

Though I do not doubt that Rove will put into place RNC people in positions of power for recounts etc... he will do that to drive the conspiracy theorists nuts and separate them from the rest of the DU.

On other boards, they do not let you post if you stir the conspiracy theory pot. There is not evidence of voter fraud.. just the mean spirited reading on laws. Just the delivery of fewer voting machines to some precincts.

All that stuff I expect Carter to touch on. I saw Carter on TV a few months ago. That man still has the most incredible brain. He will do a great job. And he has nothing to loose.. they already attack him and his credibility on the radio shows.. because they are afraid of what he will say. But it will just be about uneven distribution of voting machines and the ilk. Things that we already know happened because there is much proof. And I imagine Carter will be scathing on all that stuff.

I hope you guys are prepared to find that nothing 'new', no new info on the voter fraud you crave so much, will be found.

A craving to find voter fraud is not a reality. It is just a need for the horror of a second Bush term to be undone.. and it will not be.

Don't let the freepers and the Rovbots masquerading as conspiracy theorists work you into a frenzy. There has not been any proof of voter fraud.

[Peace Patriot]

13. I don't think you've been paying much attention, applegrove.

"Though I do not doubt that Rove will put into place RNC people in positions of power for recounts etc...." --applegrove

"will put"? "WILL put"?

-----

"I hope you guys are prepared to find that nothing 'new', no new info on the voter fraud you crave so much, will be found." --applegrove

"voter fraud"? "VOTER fraud"? (--you don't have a clue, do you?)

----

"A craving to find voter fraud is not a reality. It is just a need for the horror of a second Bush term to be undone.. and it will not be." --applegrove

Again..."VOTER fraud"? (what IS that?)

"A craving to find voter fraud..." --I have a craving for a verifiable vote count, transparent elections and an effective, working democracy. Currently, we have an inherently fraudulent (non-transparent) election SYSTEM...AND strong evidence of a wrong outcome. You are simplifying and reducing what my cravings, and those of others here, are.
-----

"Don't let the freepers and the Rovbots masquerading as conspiracy theorists work you into a frenzy. There has not been any proof of voter fraud." --applegrove

WHO is "masquerading" to do WHAT? (--you think we can't figure these things out? give us a little more credit!)

"There has not been any proof of voter fraud." --applegrove

You're right about that. The voters did not commit fraud.

But probably your point is that "there has not been any proof that the Bush Cartel committed election fraud."

What you are asking is for people to switch on their Blindness and Stupidity buttons, and screen out the overwhelming evidence of a wrong outcome in the 2004 election, the lack of provability that Bush won, the actions that Bush Cartelists took to prevent a verifiable election, the control of the vote count with secret source code owned by Bush supporters, and the red herring use of the "proof" word to toss the work of a dozen Ph.D.'s and expert statisticians, of John Conyers and his staff, and of numerous volunteers out the window.

If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, and flies like a duck, and has baby ducks, is it a duck? Yeah, I guess it COULD BE a hologram.

----

Your point about what this private Bush Cartel election "commission" might do is a good one--that they will focus, if anything, on Ohio Voting Rights violations--violations of a law that is already on the books, and that the Bush Cartel failed to enforce. And it is my point that they will use this evidence (and any other evidence that is submitted) to nationalize elections, and thus gain total control over election systems, procedures and rules, removing it as far away as possible from the People in the states and counties (the only remaining venue of election reform).

[loudsue]

14. THANK YOU, Proud Patriot! Applegrove's statements are out of place.

People like that are part of the PROBLEM, not part of the solution.

Anybody that looks at even one piece of the evidence, and who has two viable brain cells to rub together, cannot believe this election was anywhere near "fair" or "honest".

But, they'll sure keep trying! And they have the temerity to come to a thread, where people have been researching the topic in depth, for YEARS, and try to gain some support for their impotent argument? Sheesh. Who do they think they're going to convert here?

Thank you, again, for your post. :applause:

:kick:

[liam_laddie]

20. frame the fraud

Can we stop using "voter fraud" as a topic? The subject is
VOTE COUNTING FRAUD. Please remember this phrase
when discussing reform. It'll help change the mindset of the doubting applegroves and like.

[torque]

8. Yep, this is the grand finale. This game is for ALL the marbles. n/t

[kster]

9. You may be

right,even if Carter comes forward with good recommendation the bad guys will just shoot it down,thats what I fear.

Also I can't figure out why Carter stepped down from his own organization.Does he plan to give a shoddy report and stepped down so it doesn't make a reputable organization look bad?

I'm hoping the first is true,so it gives us something to run with,even if they do try and shoot it down.

[KaliTracy]

11. interesting theory. When I first wrote my congress people about the

Election -- One (Vonovitch or Boehner I'm on my lunch hour at work) --wrote me back something totally unrelated to my original not (punch card/machine mis-allocation and disparity) about how we should NOT go to a centralized system or even centralized rules to vote/to count votes. It was quite long if I remember. In any case, this very republican congressperson was not in favor of a centralized system at all.

[rumpel]

12. I am really struggling with this. What I can clearly see is that they want

us to go away. I see an effort to discredit all the evidence, research and opinions by utilizing this commission to rubber stamp misinformation. The general public will see the commissioners as"bi-partisan" and lend credibility. It is designed to dupe naive or uninformed people on both sides.
It seems a clever ploy to silence us and cover the fraud committed, while expanding their ability to commit more fraud.

Important issues are designed to be left out. So the final report' value is to strongarm one or two issues? Perhaps which would be convienent for a few?

So I think you are right.

What good is a paper trail, when the whole system is rigged? Starting with the registration database. Can the database be hacked? Voters purged or added?

..and this brainwave ID. For crying out loud, last night I dreamt of having to step up close to a computer monitor screen so it can read and register my retina.

This is the realm of Voter fraud paranoia. They are trying to replace the real problem with an imaginary one. Please the majority of the genral public does not even know how elections work, much less how to commit voter fraud.

Then what do we do? Check on who is really behind the creation of this commission, who is really funding this?

So far I could not find much of mention on the American University. Does anyone know?

[loudsue]

15. Good point! Who really IS funding this thing?

:kick:

[Amaryllis]

17. Uh..Sequoia? Diebold? ES & S? See this for a few ideas:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x360179

[LatePeriduct]

19. Oh my gosh I'm sorry but people really need to...

Just read everything and look at the EIRS itself, it doesn't lie.

http://www.votersunite.org

"Starting with the registration database. Can the database be hacked? Voters purged or added?"

No nothing has to be hacked at all with voter databases, everything I have read proves that the election boards control these systems and many of them are just plain nasty. Nobody has to hack anything to purge anybody and erase the vote!

I guess my friend and others just have taught me alot more. If someone is crooked and works the simple board of elections, they can simply login and purge or erase votes immediately like happened in the states such as Florida. They have routine access all the time to the elections, and the broadcast feeds which display the quirky numbers on websites across the country.

[Amaryllis]

16. Damn. I think you're right. Aren't the good guys supposed to come along

adn save the day any time now?

[Amaryllis]

18. Is it possible that Carter has a plan we don't see?

[kster]

22. I sure hope so

I would hate to be let down by a man of his integrity.I'm hoping they made their first big mistake when they picked a guy who has secret service protection to head up their election theft cover up commission.

[marions ghost]

21. good points all, Peace Patriot

you have put words to the gut feelings of many, I'm sure.
My warning flags went up immediately after watching this group on C-Span, and then hearing that Director Robt Pastor tried to deliver a firm elbow check to Bradblog for encouraging public response --only confirmed my suspicions.

Yeah, this feels like a set-up for an end-run. I wonder how long it will be before we have grounds to lodge a vote of total "no confidence" in this commission. If they make no effort to address the initial complaints, then I think it won't be long. At this point I think we should direct comments to the few who still have a shred of integrity, such as Carter and the conflicted Pastor. After being so badly abused by the Neocon agenda, who could put any real faith in this obviously biased commission. It's not unreasonable at all to see it as part of an overall strategy for control, brilliantly arrogant in scope as usual. Anyone who thinks that controlling elections is not occurring in front of our noses is very, very naive.

[Peace Patriot]

23. The Bush 'pod people' in Congress have the power right now to...

...change the Constitution, nationalize elections, mandate paperless voting everywhere, with no-bid contracts for Bush-friendly election machinery companies to own and control it all.

I've been worrying about this ever since Jesse Jackson, Jr., proposed a Constitutional amendment on voting rights. It's not that we don't need such an amendment, but rather, my concern was that the Bush Cartel, cynically using the Ohio violations of the Voting Rights Act as the impetus, would throw a sop to the civil rights factions (a Constitutional amendment supposedly protecting the right to vote)--which wouldn't be enforced, either, and which might take much of the steam out of the election reform movement.

When I started thinking about this, I realized that this terrible and illegitimate Congress (the "anthrax" Congress, the "Paul Wellstone's plane fell out of the air but no investigation is needed" Congress) might well use election fraud evidence to gain yet more Bush Cartel power over elections (or might do so with no excuse at all), and that they have the power to do so NOW. There is nothing to stop them. Nothing.

However, this private "commission" makes me think that grabbing the state/local control over election systems might have been judged a bit too brazen even for this crowd of fascists. Thus, the "commission"--an entity that may look non-partisan to the uninformed. One of the first things they said (acting all "official") is that they were going to issue a "report to Congress."

So, I think all election fraud evidence will be gathered up and blackholed in this way (black holes suck in all light and matter, and emit no light)--all to the purpose of completely non-transparent elections, which the public will then have no power to fight, and no local/state venues in which to conduct a fight.

All power sucked into the black hole of DC.

Carter may be a dupe. I don't know. (Truly, I do not know--he's hard to read.) But whatever he does--so long as they keep him on the "commission"--it won't matter. He can even issue a minority report full of objections. (He's not showing any sign of preparing to do so, but maybe he will.) The REAL PURPOSE--or perhaps I should say, the MAIN purpose--is to nationalize elections, not to prove or disprove election fraud.

What this private "commission" recommends might even end up looking positive for election integrity (not likely, but say it does), or headed in the right direction. Doesn't matter. If it results in federal (Bush Cartel) control over election systems, procedures and rules, the game's all over for us, as to election reform. "What the Lord giveth, the Lord can taketh away." They can then change the election systems, procedures and rules any way they want--without Secretaries of State and county election officials (mostly all elected) and the rest of us (the voters and citizens) having anything to say about it.

Think of trying to convince Dick Cheney or his operative to give you paper ballot. Now think of arguing the same point with your local election official or Sec of State.

That's the difference. With your local official, you have a chance. And if they won't listen, you have a better chance of getting them ousted than you do of getting Dick Cheney or his operative ousted.

Cheney and his buddies want the same power over elections that they have over military contracts. Total power. That's what this "commission" is about, in my estimation.

And I think we should be wary of investing too much energy and hope in possible "commission" actions, and letting their real purpose escape us. I DON'T think it can hurt--and it may be useful, as to public education--to provide this stinko "commission" with input. Just be cognizant of the fact that they fully expected it, and their own agenda was undoubtedly pre-set long ago. It could be just a preemptive strike on the emerging election fraud story--a way to smear everything over, cloud the picture, ignore the strongest points, etc.--and/or, a way to make it look like the Bush Cartel cares about election reform (just as the election fraud evidence is emerging). But I strongly suspect it's more than that--that what they're really up to is legitimizing a Bush Cartel power grab over elections (via nationalizing elections).

In this situation, I'm for all the messy, difficult variety in our states. It is a strength.

[RedEagle]

24. It's a Chess Game

It's been one all along.

It's played on different fronts with different potentials for each.

Florida 2000- Chads were a diversion. We weren't supposed to pay attention to the optical scans.

2002- Get over it, change your message, move to the right.....

DRE's have come under fire and rightly so. On to an alternative front just in case they lose that battle.

People asked Carter to get on board so what did they do? Got Carter. Try to get control of the message, control the information.

The biggest hurdle is probably state's rights. It's a fine line. You have to have some Federal standards so voters supposedly aren't disenfranchised, therefore, the voting rights act.

But for the Federal government to totally take over control of the elections- at least up front, that probably won't fly.

Trick is, how do they conceal that's what's happening?

What are their potential moves, variants on those, and how to thwart them?

How many avenues can they skittle down before they run out of options?

It's not only how to respond to the most recent insult, it's figuring out how many more are in their bag and preemptively stop those.

[LatePeriduct]

26. Their next move is basically....

To make voter fraud so serious it compromises elections, so they must control all the voters with machines.

[RageKage]

25. You need a national standard for national elections.

Even if you have a perfect system in your state/county/precint, what does it matter if other states/counties/precints do not? You don't need to commit fraud everywhere, only some places.

National standards for elections to national institutions is a pre-requisite for demecoracy. Obviously those standards have to be ones that prevent fraud (ie a paper trail), but with national standards you are nowhere.

[Peace Patriot]

27. Not right now, RageKage. Not with the Bush Cartel in total control of...

...the federal government. You want them to have total control over election systems, too--in addtion to control of the White House, the Congress, the courts, the military, the intelligence apparatus and the news monopolies? You trust these guys to create a "national standard" and to implement it fairly, and not use it as a power grab?

I don't. And I don't want them anywhere near election reform.

HAVA was the beginning of destroying people power over elections. It bribed the states with large amounts of money to take a precipitous plunge into unreliable, hackable, fraud prone electronic voting machines, many with no paper trail (let alone paper ballot, with status in recounts). These systems are beyond the comprehension of most ordinary voters. They are esoteric. Elections thus became the purvue of a small group of "professionals" and "experts" who know how they run. Most people now don't have a clue how their votes are counted. It also made all the old precinct people obsolete--those older people and other volunteers who have always stood watch over voting and the handling of ballots. They don't know what to do when these machines malfunction. Electronic voting was a vast poorly tested experiment, very unwise, and very subject to tampering by tech experts (one hacker, a couple of minutes).

So I see nationalization as on contiuum of Bush Cartel planning toward total removal of all people power from elections and election monitoring, and the choosing of systems and procedures. I fully expect that this private "commission" will propose it--or will propose something (a "national standard") that the Bush Cartelists in Congress can use to gain even more control over elections. They will use the Voting Rights Act violations in Ohio, Florida and elsewhere, as an excuse (when all they had to do, on those, is properly enforce the Voting Rights Act).

What they want is to be able to push a button in the White House and instantly re-elect Bush Cartelists everywhere and forevermore (while hand-picking a few Democrats to maintain an illusion of democracy). Monitoring all the states and their various systems is too difficult and too messy--and too prone to probing by people like us. That's my educated guess--they want to nationalize it, and this private "commission" is their political cover to do just that.

You may think you are getting something if they propose a weak paper trail provision (it won't be a real paper ballot, I guarantee you that). So you may get sucked in. But what they will really be doing is grabbing state power over elections. Then they can get rid of the "paper trail" whenever they want to. (I can just hear it--a big announcement about how more secure electronic systems are now, and how they don't need a paper trail any more.) Meanwhile, OUR ability to influence election systems and procedures at the state/local level will be taken away, and that will be the end of election reform.