Clean Out the Nest of Thugs who Stole America

[David Van Os]

Dear Friends,

In the aftermath of the 2000 election my wife Rachel and I flew to Palm Beach, Florida to support the Democratic efforts to secure an honest vote count. Rachel served as a recount observer. We spent our time at ground zero, the Palm Beach County counting station.

The enormous usage of lies, spin, intimidation, and subjection of public office to political power to prevent all the votes from being counted was obvious and chilling.

We saw the mindless crowds of haters up close, of which the recent outbursts at Palin-McCain rallies are a resemblance.

We also saw amazing public servants, the members of the Palm Beach County tabulation board, stay awake and at their posts for 3 solid days and nights giving everything they had to get every ballot examined and counted in time to meet Katherine Harris' arbitrary deadline.

Rachel and I knew, as did everybody else at ground zero who was hoping to see democracy win out, that our country suffered a coup d'etat when Katherine Harris, purportedly on behalf of the State of Florida but actually on behalf of George W. Bush, declared Bush the winner of Florida even as the Palm Beach County board was still counting ballots and thus was unable to report recount results. (In an unsung act of defiance, they stayed on the job and kept counting until completing their count the next morning, though Harris refused to accept the results.) As we all know, five justices of the U.S. Supreme Court subsequently completed the treasonous coup.

My reaction to the whole thing was this: that having succeeded in stealing the election to the presidency through lying and bullying, once in office there would be nothing the Bush-Cheney gang would feel they couldn't do. They would feel no qualms and no restraints about anything. They would feel that they could lie and bully their way through to getting anything they wanted. They had usurped the presidency illegitimately and thus would stop at nothing to achieve their goals of power, power, and more power for the sake of power.

(Unfortunately and sadly, upon arriving back home I found all too many fellow Democrats telling me to "get over it and move on". Many were afraid to confront the reality of the coup d'etat and afraid of what it meant.)

In any event, we all know what happened to our country thereafter. The election we are facing now is the last, best opportunity to clean out the nest of thugs who stole America from its people. It may be the last chance. It is the election of our lifetimes. We have to win it.

David Van Os
San Antonio, Texas
(2006 Democratic Nominee for Texas Attorney General)


Cross-Posted at General Discussion: Presidential

[tbyg52]

1. I'd happily go rec this in GD:P if I had a link.... ;-> nt

[MagickMuffin]

2. Dear David and Rachel

I too followed the actions that happened back in 2000. Although I was not at Ground Zero, I was home and watched everything as if in slow motion. I watched every Trial, listened to testimony about how the rethuglicons took absentee ballots out of the BOE's offices to add signatures to them. One of those men was an ex FBI/CIA man who got the call while playing a round of golf.

I watched as the NAACP conducted hearings and was appalled about voters stories concerning how they were disenfranchised. I thought perhaps they would have some sort of recourse after the (S)election through the Civil Rights Division. However, after the (S)election the Civil Rights Devision was dismantled and it continued throughout the Coup.

I even mentioned at the time this was a Bloodless Coup. They used the Military to carry out parts of the Coup. The Military Brass with their Candy Stripe Bars across their uniforms took part in telling us how much the Democrats hated the military. They only counted the military votes that would help them "win" and threw the other ones out.


Even before Jr. declared his candidacy, I knew he would run and he would have an extra advantage with Florida's electoral votes with having his brother as the sitting governor and of course Texas with ALL her 34 electoral votes.


I appreciate you and Rachel's service to the cause. I wish that you would consider running again for AG. I think that perhaps you would have a better chance the next time, especially if Barack Obama becomes our 44th President. Hell, I wouldn't mind it at all if you decided to run for the BIG office of Governor of Texas. At least you would get better exposure.:-)