Post your letters here. Inspire others! Suggest targets!

[pat_k]

Writing to Members of Congress? Editors? Pund-idiots? Allies?

See the Action Alert in the "Kerry Christmas" thread or the "ACTION OPPORTUNITES" MASTER LIST.

Post your letters here. Inspire others! Suggest targets!

[pat_k]

1. Not in My America!

Here's what I've been sending to a number of the bigger papers that published this AP story

Although sending the same letter to multiple papers should be avoided, I would wanted to "ping" as many editors as possible on this -- See this search for candidates if you are interested in sending something similar.

=============
Re: {title as it appears in paper, date}

Steven Huefner's observation, that "Courts are just incredibly reluctant to overturn the results of an election absent a really strong showing that something happened that affected the outcome" reflects a theme we have long heard, but which makes no sense.

By far the most disturbing circumstances that have occurred in this election are the confirmed cases of disparate treatment being afforded to certain classes of voters. When systemic barriers to exercising the franchise exist that correlate to a citizen's age, race, religion, socio-economic status, or other identifiable characteristic, the election is neither free and fair, nor lawful in the absence of any corrective remedy being applied.

Those who assert that the results of such an election should stand are complicit with a violation of our shared democratic principles. If such an assertion comes from our courts, then judicial reasoning is flawed and must be overturned. We the People, through our representatives, have set out our election laws to ensure free and fair elections that yield results that reflect OUR will.

10-hour poll-tax-lines for poor, minority voters AND no lines for affluent, white voters may be tolerable to racists, but it is time for true American patriots to draw the line. We must not continue to tolerate the intolerable.

It doesn't matter what the margin of victory. An unfair and discriminatory election must be struck down. To claim that a large margin of victory puts an election outside the zone of litigation is to assert that election officials in a state that leans heavily for one candidate or the other are free to discriminate to any degree without consequence.

Not in my America.

Name<
Address
Phone

[Hamoth]

2. More than politics.

What I am fighting for is democracy itself which is clearly in grave danger.

We have spent hundreds of billions and countless lives and limbs to give democracy to Iraq. By what justification do we keep our heads buried in the sand when our own democracy is at steak? How can anyone stand against counting, recounting, and even counting again our votes? This is a nonpartisan issue. We have the radically left wing Greens, fighting along side the staunchly right wing Libertarians, Democrats and Republicans also have contributed greatly to this effort. A political move to prevent this effort form transpiring in a swift and transparent process is clearly someone who isn't only partisan to an extreme fault, but against democracy itself. Is there anything more un-American than trying to prevent the counting of votes for one's personal wishes?

Behind every spoiled vote, every uncounted computer error, and every over-voted circle or chad, there is an American who now lives in a dictatorship. What possible justification is there for making this anything other than the highest priority? How can we look a soldier returning home from the wars directly in the eye and say "Good job fighting for Freedom. We didn't get your absentee ballot." How can I look into my photo albums and see my dead relatives, lost on beaches of France and beneath the Pacific seas and say that we are really protecting freedom at home, as they did abroad? We are not worthy of our noble legacy should we fail to jealously guard our voting rights with every drop of blood and bile we possess. Failing that, can we at least double check it?

In the Ukraine, there are people rioting in the streets over just such an election result as this. Had we leadership form either of the major political parties, we might see at least some enthusiasm to save our freedom here in America. A united States presidential envoy examining exit polls there stated that the case for voter fraud was clear. He cited the exact same kind of evidence that is being shown here. To that effect we still have thousands of reports nationwide of machine errors, discriminatory voting practices, and accusations of fraud from the Republican party here in Washington.

I am currently working to help fund organizations like votecobb.org, the alliancefordemocracy.org, and blackboxvotingl.org. I am also volunteering my time to write letters, opinion, and organize the sharing of information and planning for possible demonstrations should events take a darker tone.

[pat_k]

3. Weasel was probably not worth the time, but...

In reponse to this weasel's article, I wrote the following

To [email protected]

By far the most disturbing circumstances that have occurred in this election are the confirmed cases of disparate treatment being afforded to certain classes of voters. If systemic barriers to exercising the franchise exist that correlate to a citizen's age, race, religion, gender, socio-economic status, military status, partisan status, absentee status, immigration status, or other identifiable characteristic, the election is neither free and fair, nor lawful in the absence of any corrective remedy being applied.

Your assertion that the results of such an election should stand makes you complicit with a violation of our shared democratic principles.

10-hour poll-tax-lines for poor, minority voters AND no lines for affluent, white voters may be tolerable to you, but they are not tolerable to any true American patriot.

It doesn't matter what the margin of victory. An unfair and discriminatory election must be struck down. To claim that a large margin of victory puts an election outside the zone of litigation is to assert that election officials in a state that leans heavily for one candidate or the other are free to discriminate to any degree without consequence.

Not in my America.


Patty Keeshan
Westfield, NJ

P.S., Asserting we are a republic is meaningless. Any non-monarchy is a republic. Yes, we are a federal republic, but what distinguishes us is that we are a Constitutional Democracy.

[pat_k]

4. Sent this one to MediaMatters

Sent this one to MediaMatters:

Urgent message to David Brock:

I met you at Juliefest, not long after the release of "Blinded by the Right." I imagine that night was difficult for you, but your courage then, and your commitment to exposing media lies since, has given many of us a reason to hope.

I am writing to you because I am surprised and disappointed that MediaMatters has been silent about the suspect results of Election 2004.

Where is the fury about the flawed voting systems and practices? How can you fail to inform people that the results in nearly every state are wide open to corruption by systematic vote suppression, data manipulation, human and machine error, and even willful fraud?

Silence can be more powerful than a lie.

Silence is complicity.

Even in the face of blatantly false characterizations of a "problem-free" election, the "move along, nothing to see here" messages, and the near universal silence on the horrifying problems that have corrupted the results of the election, polls show that 20% believe the Bush "victory" to be fraudulent. Of course, the percentage of the electorate that has NO confidence in the results of this election is much higher.

Your silence and the silence of other opinion leaders are silencing the people. They are withdrawing. It is dangerous. Where there is no confidence in election results, how can there be hope of influencing those results through political action?

This is one of those "in the balance" moments. If called upon to stand up and fight for the integrity of this election, people will respond with a chorus of "Yes, We Must Fight!" that will sweep up and engage large numbers. If we fail, we face the opposite -- a new period widespread withdrawal and silence.

Help us break our silence by breaking yours!!

Go to http://thedeanpeople.org