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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MJ who wrote (654167)	10/31/2004 5:29:46 AM
From: JDN	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

You are absolutely correct IN THEORY, however for the first time we had EARLY VOTING here in Fla. Besides the poll watchers from each side (both attorneys) there are AS USUAL areas outside the polling place roped off for the Democrat and Republican (and I suppose anyone else though I saw no one else) partisans to display their signs etc. Right here in my little part of the world we have had reports ALREADY of the Democrats getting INTO THE FACES of the voters as they were lined up to vote, that is ILLEGAL. There are not supposed to have ANY direct contact with a voter. Funny how the Democrats can break the rules and no one says much but the Republicans cant. Dont you think? jdn

To: MJ who wrote (654167)	10/31/2004 4:59:00 PM
From: Raymond Duray	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

MJ, Thanks for your post. I found it to be quite a bit more lucid than what most Republicans seem to be able to manage to write on SI today. It's nice to think that the GOP isn't a party completely devoid of any redeeming qualities. That said, I'll comment on a couple of points: Re: If dissent can be sown early then people who are not aware of the process of elections are led into believing that the election is not being run fairly and correctly. Well, at least that sentence has an Orwellian newspeak cast about it. The result of which, I presume, is your desire to get your readers to engage in doublethink. Back in reality, it works exactly the opposite. People generally have been reassured that the process is being run fairly and that they can trust the County Clerks and Secretaries of State to run honest, fair and secure elections. That is the norm. In the year 2000, I was naive in my belief that the problem with the vote in Florida was the "hanging chad" issue. That is because we have a lazy, indifferent and ultimately failed corporate media that obsessed over this issue to the exclusion of any other. Only by ferreting out obscure information from alternative media and the foreign press, such as BBC did I become aware of the overall scope of irregularity and outright intimidation, corruption and cheating involved in the Republican campaign to steal the Florida election. What I discovered was the great research of Greg Palast into the illegal voter scrub ordered by Katherine Harris and Jeb Bush. gregpalast.com Further research into allegations made by the NAACP among other groups indicated that there were at least 1,000 separate complaints filed in Florida regarding voter intimidation, attempts to suppress black voters and other illegal activities. You might be aware that blacks in Florida had the unfortunate luck to Attorney General John Ashcroft representing them against Ashcroft's ally Jeb Bush. An unlovely and unwholesome arrangement. After initially consolidating the 1,000 complaints down to a mere 3 causes of action, the Justice Department dragged its heels as long as possible and only successfully completed the litigation about 18 months after the election. The State of Florida stipulated to the charges, the case was closed on a late Friday afternoon and after the briefest of mentions of this in the press, the matter was hidden from the public by the State of Florida and by a compliant media. * Furthermore, it was only after the debacle of the 2000 election that I became aware of the great opportunity for mischief making that is presented by Direct Recording Electronic devices (DREs). These are more commonly known as "touch screen" voting booths. As you must be aware by now, there is generally no paper audit trail from these DREs. Which makes them completely suitable for fraud. Furthermore, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the software running the DREs is proprietary and subject to scrutiny by any public official. This is a completely idiotic situation. The three main vendors of DREs are Diebold, ES&S and Sequoia Systems. Each is owned by a Republican partisan and therefore cannot be considered to be honest, without verification. * Re: THERE IS NO SCHEME TO DEFRAUD AMERICA------ I find your assertion here to be utterly naive. Of course there is a scheme to defraud America. It is abundantly clear. The corporate elites in America are doing everything in their power to suppress voting. For decades it has been planted in the minds of the lower rungs of our society that voting is futile, so they shouldn't bother. This is an active campaign of suppression being run by the very people who prosper due to low voter turnout, i.e. the corporate elites. Furthermore, there is abundant evidence that DREs are prone to any number of fraudulent manipulations and in general have been sold to County Clerks without any audit possible. That is a travesty in a democracy. And as far as I can tell, America is the only nation on the planet with such an embarrassingly obvious way for those who count the votes to cheat. *** Additionally, I am deeply concerned by the thuggish approach that the GOP seems to be taking states such as Ohio where they've hired about 3,500 thugs for $100 on Tuesday to harass voters in predominantly urban, black neighborhoods in cities like Cleveland, Cincinnati, Akron, etc. What the GOP is setting up to do is to gum up the works with grotesquely irresponsible challenges to voters for the opposing party. The idea here is simply to frustrate the will of the people as voters are forced to abandon the long lines created by this skullduggery or may indeed not get to cast a ballot by the end of the voting hours in the state. This active suppression of democracy by the GOP can be easily anticipated. We have the "Caging" lists to prove that the scoundrels in the GOP are doing this harassment on a multi-state basis. Frankly, I don't see how you can feel that the GOP is acting ethically, legally or morally. Everything I see about the way the Karl Rove and his minions are preparing to handle election day indicates that their approach is more akin to what a criminal mafia would be doing, rather than what the honorable party of Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt would be doing to assist in getting as many people to participate in the process as possible. Shame on the Republcan faithful for believing the lies of George Bush and Karl Rove and for doing so little to correct the obvious aberration that is destroying the very soul of the Republican Party.

To: MJ who wrote (654167)	10/31/2004 6:00:11 PM
From: Raymond Duray	Respond to of 769670

ANALYSIS: The Vote Theft Begins progressivetrail.org [NOTE: It is of special concern that decent Republicans really search their souls and see if they want to be party to a fascist overthrow of the American Republic. Time is short, casting a vote for Bush is casting a vote to end the American Dream and bring on Perpetual War For Perpetual Profits for the few, the devious and the despicable.] progressivetrail.org <COPY> The Vote Theft Begins by Margaret Kimberly published by The Black Commentator The Vote Theft Begins Political scientist Lawrence Britt identified fourteen characteristics common to fascist regimes around the world. The United States has the dubious distinction of exhibiting all of them. The promotion of nationalism, disdain for human rights, scapegoating of “enemies,” military supremacy, sexist public policy, media control by the powerful, obsessions with national security, use of religion to manipulate public opinion, protection of corporate power, suppression of labor power, disdain for intellectuals, obsession with crime, and rampant cronyism have all come to full fruition in the last four years. Britt’s fourteenth characteristic, last but certainly not least, is the prevalence of election fraud. Their man is in trouble, so the 2004 vote theft has begun in earnest. The use of faulty voting machinery, the destruction of Democrat’s voter registration forms, and rulings that suppress voter participation have already taken place. Republican officials across the country are doing everything they can to prevent as many Democratic voters as possible from casting their ballots. The man most likely to play the Katherine Harris role in 2004 is none other than Ken Blackwell, Ohio’s Secretary of State. Derisive terms like Uncle Tom should be used rarely. It is easier to use invective rather than well reasoned debate. Name calling can be an easy out. On the other hand, it works perfectly for the Ken Blackwells of the world. Mr. Blackwell not only has a name filled with irony, but he may have replaced Clarence Thomas as the worst Uncle Tom in the nation. Blackwell began his descent into turncoat hell by doing everything in his power to suppress the vote in Ohio, one of the so-called “swing states” that will decide this election. He tried to uphold an obscure and seldom enforced law mandating that voter registration forms only be accepted if they were on paper of a certain weight. Blackwell still wasn’t finished. A federal judge ordered him to count provisional ballots that may be cast in the incorrect voting precinct. The legal fights will continue in Ohio and many other states until well after Election Day. It is likely that on November 3rd the outcome may still be unknown. The voting booth is not the only place where the Bushmen are boldly engaging in thuggish behaviors. Mothers of dead soldiers, teachers and teenagers have all been ejected from or threatened at Bush campaign events if they say, wear or do anything that the Bushies don’t like. A group of teachers in Medford, Oregon wore t-shirts emblazoned with the plea, “Protect our civil liberties.” They didn’t walk in with Kerry/Edwards posters, they just believe that civil liberties are important. Unfortunately, their thoughts are in direct conflict with number two on the fascism top fourteen list. The teachers were told that their shirts were “obscene” and were shown the door. An 18 year-old Iowan wearing a t-shirt that read, "Bush-Cheney '04: Leave No Billionaire Behind" faced an even chillier reception. He was warned that he ought not have any big ideas about exercising his first amendment rights. He was told, “If you protest, it won't be me taking you out. It will be a sniper.” What is the standard bearer of the Democratic party doing while teenagers are threatened with execution? He is hunting ducks, or perhaps it is geese. John Kerry is dressing up like Elmer Fudd and shooting any bird that moves in a battle ground state, all in the hopes of getting the gun guy vote. I hope he succeeds. It would be a shame if he dressed up like an idiot and still lost the election. While the man we want to fight the good fight is fighting game birds, a possible omen of things to come is happening because of flu season. Americans are going to Canada to get the flu vaccine they ought to have here in their own country. If Kerry loses many Americans will flee to Canada. We may become like undocumented Mexicans, sneaking across the border in hopes of finding decent health care and honest elections. In the spirit of hope, optimism and accuracy it should be pointed out that Kerry has a good chance of winning. Most polls are skewed in favor of Republicans. If the race is allegedly a dead heat it means that Kerry is actually ahead. There have been huge surges in voter registration in swing states. These new voters are overwhelmingly anti-Bush and are unlikely to be included in polls. Will a President Kerry be up to the challenge from Fox News and a Congress in all likelihood still controlled by Republicans? If his campaign skills are any indication of his governing skills then voting for him on November 2nd won’t be enough. We will have to simultaneously fight his battles for him and take over the Democratic party that has led us to this sorry situation. If there is a fifteenth characteristic of fascism it is the existence of an extremely lame opposition party, but that must change. This should be the last year that Democratic incumbents get a free ride back into office. In 2006 there should be primary challenges for the Kerryesque members of the House and Senate. If we don’t lay down the law to the people who brought us to this precipice, we will be biting our nails again in October 2008. As I bite my nails I may be packing my bags for Toronto. Margaret Kimberley’s Freedom Rider column appears weekly in Ms. Kimberley is a freelance writer living in New York City. She can be reached via e-Mail at margaret.kimberley@blackcommentator.com. You can read more of Ms. Kimberley's writings at freedomrider.blogspot.com