bastards in the end. The Election Reform movement is one year old--sprung into life on a large scale by the 2004 election theft. It took Nelson Mandela THIRTY YEARS to get out of jail and become president of South Africa. It took TWO HUNDRED YEARS for black US citizens to obtain full citizenship and voting rights. And before that, it took, I don't know, ten thousand years for human beings to declare that "all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights."
True, the Bushite fascists are hell bent on undoing ten thousands years of human progress, including all recent gains. But they are virtually alone in the world in doing so. Most other countries are way ahead of us now, in progressive thinking, in devotion to democracy, in transparent elections, in understanding ECONOMIC as well as political democracy, in repairing our planetary environment, in the goal of world peace and international cooperation, in protection of human and civil rights, and in promoting free speech and news media diversity. We share the bottom of the barrel, as to democracy and progress, with countries like Saudi Arabia and North Korea--countries run by religious fanatics, sheiks and despots.
Once the "beacon of democracy"--the place to which the "huddled masses yearning to breathe free" fled from the world's tyrannies and oppressions--we're now the world's prime example of the evils of militarism and corporate rule, and LOSS of democracy. I mean, bloody secret prisons in middle Europe where our tyrants Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rice are torturing god knows whom, for god knows what reasons--unnamed prisoners, sent on black flights to nowhere. Secret vote counting. Secret torture chambers. What next?
But the Bushites' over-reaching will do them in, I think. They have not convinced the American people of anything. All the approval polls and issue polls show that overwhelmingly. The propaganda is NOT working. That's one of the reasons why they had to get control of the election system--that we are mostly a peace-loving, justice-loving people. That, and the incredible power of an American vote, which, used as it was meant to be used, to exercise collective sovereignty over our leaders, has the potential for dismantling these global predator corporations, which have become such a menace to the world, stopping war, and contributing significantly to world peace and justice.
That's something Americans need to know--not just THAT they took our right to vote away, but WHY. Its potential power.
As for the current struggle, we've come A LONG WAY since Nov. 2, 2004, when only a few people were aware of what happened--aware of the details of it. I think many suspected a stolen election, but didn't have the information or the wherewithal to get the information, they needed to confirm their vague suspicions. They were thus left in a state of depression and disempowerment. Also, many had too much simple faith in the election system, in the war profiteering corporate news monopolies, and in our Democratic Party leadership. It's not realistic to expect most people to shed the scales from their eyes on ALL our institutions, all at once. That's what's needed. All our "balance of power" systems failed us, all at once, on Nov. 2, 2004 and afterward. But we cannot expect instant understanding of this--especially since the news monopolies were collusive in the stolen election, and are trying their damnedest to keep a lid on it. The one I keep continuing to hear--that keeps echoing through the months since the election--is, "But the Democrats wouldn't let that happen, would they?" (!@#$%*&^$!!!)
Anyway, election reform movements are afoot, and are fighting hard--educating people, organizing, exposing the fraud, filing lawsuits and pressuring politicians. The good Dems have a bill in the House, Russ Holt's HR 550, that will stop the corporate privatization of our elections in its tracks, and reverse it (changes mandated for '06). Sign the petition at:
http://www.rushholt.com/petition.html Possibly the weakening of the Bush junta with scandal and revulsion at their worst deeds will create conditions to get it passed. Word is most certainly getting around. Opposition to this rigged system is mounting, with election reform battles in many states--struggles that were non-existent before the last election. We now have the GAO report on the horrendous insecurity of our election system in 2004, and dire warnings for future elections.*
Writers like Bob Koehler continue to tell the truth. His column on the recent Ohio election reform initiatives is stunning. Four election reform initiatives predicted to win by 60/40 votes, flipped over on election day to 60/40 LOSSES!--the most audacious flipover yet. (The machines and their masters are now dictating election policy!)
They've gone too far, is my opinion. Hubris is already at work. But I still think it's going to be a long slog to restore our right to vote. And we may have to endure a "selected" War Democrat in '08 before we get there. (Lots of reasons for them to go with a War Dem at that point--need for a military Draft, which Bush can't do; need to start placing the blame for Bush's disasters on the Dems; need to continue big US military presence in the Mideast, to expand the war, etc., etc.). I worry that they're going to install Hitler II right away, rather than after an interim of Dem struggle and civil disorder, but we'll see. A War Dem would give us what may be our only opportunity to get election reform quickly, nationwide. And, frankly, I think we should forget antiwar protests**--even when "Gulf of Tonkin II" is sprung on us--and concentrate solely on election transparency, because that is the ONLY way we can achieve peace, or any reform. Honest elections. (And this is coming from a current, and very old, antiwar protester, going back to 1967!).
**Note: I would never oppose anyone's antiwar protest--and I would join any that are organized. I didn't really mean "forget" them. I just mean, we should concentrate our effort, targeting the MECHANISM of power. Not the effects of power. The MEANS by which we exercise our sovereignty as a people: our right to vote. Without it, we are nearly impotent to bring about change. The other option is widespread, non-violent civil disobedience--the type of movement led by Gandhi and Martin Luther King. But we are not there yet, in my opinion, while we still have a chance to restore our right to vote. The unjust war on Iraq is an effect of our powerlessness. 70% to 80% of the American people oppose it now--and nearly 60% opposed it BEFORE the invasion. And the reason we cannot stop it is that our right to vote has been taken away. Restoring that sovereign power should be our first priority.
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*GAO report on the 2004 election:
For the recent GAO report on the horrendous insecurity of our election system in 2004:
Access to pdf:
http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/abstract.php?rptno=GAO-05-956Text only:
http://www.gao.gov/htext/d05956.htmlOther info.: www.votersunite.org, www.verifiedvoting.org, UScountvotes.org, TruthIsAll.net
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"Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything."--Josef Stalin