Why Left can't face the defeats of 2004 and 2008? "Spineless Ohio Dems"

[Laura PourMeADrink]

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1018-22.htm

Why Can't the Left Face the Stolen Elections of 2004 & 2008?
by Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman

If some of its key publications are any indicator, much of the American left seems unable to face the reality that the election of 2004 was stolen. So in all likelihood, unless something radical is done, 2008 will be too.

Misguided and misinformed articles in both TomPaine.com and Mother Jones Magazine indicate a dangerous inability to face the reality that these stolen elections mean nothing less than the death of what's left of American democracy, and the permanent enthronement of the Rovian GOP.

As investigative reporters based in Columbus, Ohio, we witnessed first-hand, up close and personal, exactly how the 2004 election was stolen, and how it will most likely be done in 2008. In the precinct in which Harvey Wasserman grew up, and in the one where Bob Fitrakis now lives, we saw the well-funded, profoundly cynical and deadly effective mechanisms by which the Bush-Cheney-Rove-Blackwell GOP machine switched a victory for John Kerry to an easily-repeatable defeat for democracy.

That Kerry and the spineless Ohio and national Democratic Parties have been complicit is a crucial part of the problem much of the left also seems unwilling to face. But if you live in Franklin County, Ohio, and watch the Republican and Democratic Parties run joint pickets against progressive candidate, and cut backroom deals allowing incumbents of either party run unopposed, you may miss the full scope of the disaster. <snip>

[IntravenousDemilo]

1. Very bad title -- whoever wrote it should be flogged by the editor.

It's illogical and confusing to mix past and future dates like that and imply they both happened already: "gee, that happened in the 2008 election, too? I guess I've been asleep all those years, like Rip Van Winkle". You can't combine a definite (past) with a hypothetical (future) and not indicate the difference somehow. That's the mistake of amateurs.

The title should be something like "Why the Left Can't Face the Stolen Election of 2004, and Why 2008 Will Probably Go the Same Way". I know it's longer and a bit cumbersome and clunky, but it's at least correct.

The article itself is fine, though.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

2. catches the attention though

[IntravenousDemilo]

3. Yes, but for the wrong reason. n/m

[formernaderite]

4. my peeve with the ohio dems is that they were in charge of

which machines, and how many were set up in some of the more problematic areas. It's fine to keep harping on about stolen elections, but one has to face the music too. Same thing happened in Florida 2000....dems in charge were useless.

[BeFree]

5. Lesson: Don't trust your democracy to bureaucrats

For far too long, we have placed our trust in the everyday bureaucrats to handle the counting of our votes. That has to change.

They have foisted upon us the e-voting machines which make their jobs so "much easier". Easier has been the driving force behind the corruption, that and private manufacturers seeking control and profit. Heck, those few corporations have so much control over the elections nobody can look at the source code that counts the votes. It's a secret. To hell with that!

We've all got to learn how our individual votes are counted and then make the decision leading to the way votes are counted in the next election. We can't leave it up to the bureaucrats any longer.

[OzarkDem]

9. Political hackery

Often Dems who are appointed to the BOE are there as a political favor and don't know enough about voting to understand or prevent fraud.

[reprehensor]

6. Time is ticking away.

Read the Conyers report:

"What Went Wrong in Ohio"
http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/ohiostatusrept1505.pdf

Just under 4mb pdf.

We have found numerous, serious election irregularities in the Ohio presidential
election, which resulted in a significant disenfranchisement of voters. Cumulatively, these
irregularities, which affected hundreds of thousand of votes and voters in Ohio, raise grave
doubts regarding whether it can be said the Ohio electors selected on December 13, 2004, were
chosen in a manner that conforms to Ohio law, let alone federal requirements and
constitutional standards.

This report, therefore, makes three recommendations: (1) consistent with the
requirements of the United States Constitution concerning the counting of electoral votes by
Congress and Federal law implementing these requirements, there are ample grounds for
challenging the electors from the State of Ohio; (2) Congress should engage in further
hearings into the widespread irregularities reported in Ohio; we believe the problems are
serious enough to warrant the appointment of a joint select Committee of the House and
Senate to investigate and report back to the Members; and (3) Congress needs to enact
election reform to restore our people’s trust in our democracy. These changes should include
putting in place more specific federal protections for federal elections, particularly in the areas
of audit capability for electronic voting machines and casting and counting of provisional
ballots, as well as other needed changes to federal and state election laws.

With regards to our factual finding, in brief, we find that there were massive and
unprecedented voter irregularities and anomalies in Ohio. In many cases these irregularities
were caused by intentional misconduct and illegal behavior, much of it involving Secretary of
State J. Kenneth Blackwell, the co-chair of the Bush-Cheney campaign in Ohio.

Get involved.

Verified Voting.org
http://verifiedvoting.org

[reprehensor]

7. More info.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4369575&mesg_id=4369575

[OzarkDem]

8. Dem leaders still have a problem they won't admit to

For the most part, Dem leaders and their staffs don't understand computer technology, period. Up until a few years ago, most of them hardly even used email. They're still afraid to get behind something that they don't understand. Its a crying shame, very frustrating and I hope we never allow our leaders to become this ignorant of a vital technology again.

[reprehensor]

10. Mark Crispin Miller...

Personally confronted Kerry at a fundraiser before the election to warn him about the dangers of Black Box Voting, and he said Kerry sort of nodded, and never really took him seriously.

Miller then talked to Theresa, and she engaged with him, took him seriously, but then nothing happened.

Was Miller the only person who had Kerry's ear who warned him of what was coming down the pipe? It seems unlikely, but there you have it.