Jan. 6 and Dems - not all good, not all bad

[pberq]

I come down in the middle on yesterday and the future of democracy in the U.S.

Yes, Democrats passed up an opportunity to stand up as one against the disenfrachisement of thousands (maybe millions) of voters.

On the other hand, it is now clear that the grass roots has power, and we need to build on that, continue the fight.

http://www.newsdissector.org/weblog/

<snip>
A handful of Democrats made a rare stand for democracy in a Congressional debate on voting rights in the election of 2004. Thanks to California Senator Barbara Boxer who had the guts to break from a consensus of complicity, rare truths about our broken electoral system were heard in the well of the House and Senate.

<snip>
"After two months of work by Greens, Libertarians and groups such as Progressive Democrats of America – which highlighted flaws in the practices and procedures of Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell – there was little question that a legitimate case had been made for challenging Ohio's electoral votes during what is usually a perfunctory post-election review by Congress. U.S. Rep. John Conyers, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, did precisely that with his remarkably detailed and well-reasoned report, "Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio."

"That report, which was circulated to members of Congress on Wednesday in anticipation of Thursday's formal review of the Electoral College results, bluntly stated that, "We have found numerous, serious irregularities in the Ohio presidential election, which resulted in a significant disenfranchisement of voters. Cumulatively, these irregularities, which affected hundreds of thousands of votes and voters in Ohio, raise grave doubts regarding whether it can be said that Ohio electors selected on December 13, 2004, were chosen in a manner that conforms to Ohio law, let alone federal requirements and constitutional standards."