Pitts: Memo to John Kerry: The election is over, you lost, now move on ACT

[helderheid]

Leonard Pitts Jr.
Leonard Pitts Jr. won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 2004. He is the author of Becoming Dad: Black Men and the Journey to Fatherhood. His column runs every Monday and Friday. Call him toll-free at 888-251-4407.
Email Leonard at [email protected]

"Pitts: Memo to John Kerry: The election is over, you lost, now move on

Leonard Pitts Jr.
MIAMI HERALD
---
ABOUT THE WRITER
Leonard Pitts Jr., winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for commentary, is a columnist for the Miami Herald, 1 Herald Plaza, Miami, Fla. 33132. Readers may write to him via e-mail at lp



I don't want to hear anything else about Ohio.
My apologies to the Buckeye State, but I've had it up to here with overheated Internet postings purporting to prove that massive fraud swung the vote in the state that decided the election of 2004. If you haven't seen them, well . . . I'm sorry your hard drive crashed and I hope it's fixed real soon. The rest of us have been unable to escape the nonstop conspiracy theorizing that began about 30 seconds after John Kerry conceded the election.
I thought it had petered out, but this week, the former candidate himself stoked the fire, making unusually sharp accusations of GOP malfeasance during a Martin Luther King Day breakfast in Boston.
Voting machines, said Kerry, were ''distributed in uneven ways,'' and voters in Democratic precincts had to wait up to 11 hours to exercise the franchise while Republicans breezed on through. What he didn't say - what I have yet to hear any credible expert say - is that these irregularities made any material difference to the bottom line."

<snip>

Full article here:
http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_2532756

Please write Mr. Pitts and let him know it's not about whether or not Kerry won, it's about fair elections so we can ensure that next time around the election won't be stolen!!!

Thank you!

[Benhurst]

1. Pulitzer Prize? BFD. Just another mediawhore peddling his wares. NT

[helderheid]

2. well I hope when you write him

you don't call him a media whore! LOL! :)

[glitch]

3. Poor man, forced to read internet postings. How awful for him. Tsk tsk

go back to sleep, everything is fine.
His head will explode if the fraWd ever reaches the corporate media in any meaningful way.

[blm]

4. Pitts always bends over backwards to prove he's not "liberal media"

and doesn't identify with the left.

Relax, Lenny, we KNOW you don't!!!!!

[pk_du]

5. Pitts price ?...higher or lower than Armstrong Willams 240K? n/t

[The Backlash Cometh]

6. Er...Yo Pitts, you have to go out of your way on the internet to find

articles about the Ohio fraud. Maybe you should try to self-censor before removing information that the rest of the country hasn't been able to read. Of course, your bitching about it in a mainstream paper, might help bring some attention to it. So, for that, er...thanks!

[anamandujano]

40. Good point!

The repukes are falling over themselves ratcheting up the kiss-@ss of their incompetent leaders. Maybe that is our only hope with getting the word out.

They spent the first four years saying Bush won, and they'll spend the next four doing likewise (while they continue to destroy the world.)

It's kind of scary though that they can't tolerate the smallest amount of opposition.

[helderheid]

7. My letter

Mr Pitts,

I read your article about the problems in Ohio and your request that those concerned about it need to "get over it".

The problem with that is that if problems occurred, and they most certainly did and you'd know this if you spent any time reading the over 100 page report of vote irregularities (http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/ohiostatusrept1505.pdf) , then how can we be certain that future elections will be fair?

This is not about whether or not John Kerry won. Bush has been inaugurated for a 2nd term. It's about fair, transparent elections, something we cannot know whether or not we have when computers with secret code tally the vote and don't provide an auditable paper receipt (and the companies who sold the machines are donating massive amounts of money to one political party), and when Secretaries of State are running one of the presidential candidates State election campaign.

Our elections have become privatized and unless that changes, I won't feel confident at all that my vote was counted correctly if at all.

Sincerely,
Name
City state
phone

[Cha]

36. Most Excellent, THank

you, helderheid!

[bleever]

8. Done. Here's my response:

Dear Mr. Pitts,

I read with interest your column which called on John Kerry to "move on".

I would simply like to say that in the face of the Conyers report on widespread disenfranchisement in Ohio, it does in fact, counter to your assertion, give short shrift to the Voting Rights Act of 1964 and the civil rights movement to argue that this level of disenfranchisement is acceptable.

Given the fact that the voting irregularities, including uneven machine distribution and machine malfunctions, overwhelmingly hurt Democratic-leaning and minority areas, we are left with a situation where a black citizen's vote may be, say, three-fifths as likely as a white citizen's vote to actually count.

Regardless of who is president for the next four years, I submit that this is wholly unacceptable, and that the principles of our democracy require that it be fully investigated, with all legal avenues exhaustively pursued.

Three-fifths is not enough. This is why Rep. Conyers, Sen. Boxer, and millions of other citizens are not ready to forgive and forget.

Thank you,


----------

[helderheid]

9. Excellent!!

[sunnystarr]

58. Is that a reference to this?

Under the "Three-Fifths Compromise," slaves were counted as three-fifths of a human being for the purpose of determining a state's representation in Congress.

A slave cannot vote. Today, a large percentage of black men have permanently lost their right to vote for the rest of their lives because of felonies they committed as young adults. These crimes may have been non-violent or even victimless, in connection with the drug war, but there is no possibility of redemption. Again, they are subject to laws made against their interests, but without their representation.

Why does our loss of our humanity and human rights bother us so little? Perhaps because we see everyone else now in our same condition: unlike 150 years ago, there are no free men left to envy. If some people wish to live as slaves, that is their business, but those of us who do not should be free to group together and associate with other liberty-minded people. Let the peasants and slaves have their false security, we will exercise our rights and choose freedom.

http://www.freestateproject.org/about/essay_archive/three-fifths.php

[bleever]

68. Yes, and thank you for your insights. n/t

[lastknowngood]

10. Also ask if the shrub is paying him to

n/t

[helderheid]

11. I hope whomever wrote "Alternate Reality"

Sends it to Mr. Pitts

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=297687&mesg_id=297687

[Cha]

37. Thanks for the fantastic link! n/t

[meganmonkey]

12. Funny how times change us...

They publish Pitts in the Detroit Free Press a lot. Ten years ago, I thought this guy was liberal. Growing up, it was the Detroit News or Free Press, and the News was conservative, and the Free Press was considered liberal. They are surely still construed that way still, by most people, but man-oh-man have I learned a lot since those days. Thank god for some anarchist friends in college ;) and the internet now, or I would be a so-called liberal thinking 'Gee, that sounds reasonable, let's move on now'.

How sad to learn it, but how good to learn FROM it, if you know what I mean.

Okay, now to write the guy a letter...

KEEP HOPE ALIVE!

[helderheid]

13. let us know

what you write!

And yes, thank GOD for DU!

[meganmonkey]

27. Here it is - I am way too wordy today...

I just had so much to say! And I really wanted to quote him in my letter since he seemed to contradict himself a couple times...

Dear Mr. Pitts,

I have a few concerns about this column that I would like to bring to your attention. First, I think the real problem is that people are not hearing about what happened in Ohio except on the internet. The 'mainstream' media should be covering this more so that what you refer to as 'nonstop conspiracy theorizing' can be debunked when appropriate,and investigated further when appropriate. I find it quite unnerving that journalists and reporters are looking to internet discussion boards to get their stories!

In reality there is a wealth of evidence of severe irregularities in the 2004 election, particularly in Ohio. Regardless of partisanship, there is absolutely no excuse for "voters in Democratic precincts...to wait up to 11 hours to exercise the franchise while Republicans breezed on through", as you say. I urge you to read the full preliminary report from the House Judiciary Committee and see the evidence in Ohio, if you haven't already. Here is a link to the government website:
http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/ohiostatusrept1505.pdf

Next, this issue should not be framed as being about John Kerry, or about changing the 'bottom line'. Legislation was passed after the 2000 Florida debacle to ensure fairer elections and it obviously did not work. I, for one, do not want to sit back and wait for another questionable election in 2008. This issue is about the right of all American citizens to vote, and to have their vote counted. It is true that most of the irregularities uncovered have favored Bush, so it is difficult not to frame it in a partisan way. But this is a much bigger picture than 'Us vs. Them'. Everyone would should be concerned, regardless of party affiliation.

The integrity of our election system is fundamental to our democracy. Right now, that integrity is severely compromised. Our elections are run by partisan Secretaries of State and underinformed local Election Boards. The majority of our citizen's votes are counted by just a few companies who have close relationships with politicians. This is a recipe for disaster.

The icing on the cake is that there is no verifiable way to audit many of our votes, because there is either no paper trail, or a compromised one. People may wonder why we believe so strongly that something went wrong when we have little physical evidence. Well, thanks to our magic vote counters, there IS no physical evidence to use! There is no way to verify who did or didn't vote, who they intended to vote for, and who their vote ended up going to.

Finally, you say "If there is a smoking gun, let's see it. But until and unless there is, we have little to gain from complaints like Kerry's.". My question to you is simple. How can we find the smoking gun if we 'move on'? I don't plan on moving on until I can feel confident in our elections.

On a slightly more personal note, I read your columns in the Detroit Free Press for years. Ten years ago, I truly considered you a liberal voice. In retrospect, it is hard to tell if you have changed or I have, but I was disappointed to see you write off this issue as 'conspiracy theories that won't change a thing'. I implore you to recognize the importance of this issue. Do you really think your vote will matter in 2008 if things don't change?

Regards,

[Cha]

38. Another awesome letter to

mr pitts! Thank you, meganmonkey!

[Helga Scow Stern]

14. Perfect timing. I just sent him my newly written LTE about this very thing

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=203&topic_id=299795#299815

Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

[helderheid]

18. thanks for bringing THAT to my attention! :)

[IndyPriest]

15. Hah! He just gave the movement more momentum than it

had the day before. Who in Florida even knew that Kerry had pasted the elections at the MLK breakfast?? Love this stuff!

[bush_is_wacko]

16. Done. Here's what I emailed him. I thought it prudent to let him know

He does not have a right to USE my name or address to further HIS cause, since it seems to be the new form of retaliation among members of the media who do not want the citizen voice heard.

Dear Mr. Pitts,

Guess what? The citizens of The United States of America are not basing their opinions on your own! While we all agree you have a perfect right to your opinion AND a perfect right to send that opinion to anyone you wish, Senator Kerry is well aware of the number of people that wish to see him pursue ELECTION REFORM and other issues that represent THE MAJORITY OF HIS CONSTITUENTS opinions. Senator Kerry was elected as Senator to serve his constituents. If the MAJORITY of his constituents are asking him to pursue these MANY issues Senator Kerry is making the correct choice to pursue their interests. It seems that our current administration and the DELUSIONAL members of their party have forgotten they were elected to represent their constituents.

I, and millions of other Americans, are pleased to see that Senator Kerry and MANY other Senators, even Republican ones, have clearly decided to take their duty seriously! I would think ANY American would feel the same.

I have asked my OWN elected officials to do the same as Senators, Kerry, Boxer, Obama, Cobb and others. I believe they have that obligation to those that put them where they are, not by monetary contributions, but by VOTES! That is how the system is supposed to work!

By the way, I am formally notifying you that you do not have my permission to use, broadcast, sell, give away, or publicize my name, address, phone number, email address, or any other personal information about me. If you do so, I can assure you I will take legal action against you. This is not a threat, it is a simple statement of fact. The law is on my side, not yours.

Sincerely,

[unpossibles]

17. I wrote to him

This is regarding Mr. Pitts' memo to John Kerry; Mr. Pitts, you have contradicted yourself several times in your column, and I feel you are making light of a very important issue.

You say that the election was close, but you also maintain that the strong-arm tactics and unfair allocation of voting machines was not a deciding factor to the bottom line. Which is it?

I voted when the polls opened at 6:30 in the morning and waited an unprecedented hour and a half. My wife and many other friends had waits ranging from 3 to 10 hours long, all in democratic-leaning, poorer sections of town. All of us witnessed people leaving the polling stations because they had to go to work or they had to take care of their children and could not afford to lose half of their day in line.

How can a large but unknown number of people leaving not affect the outcome? With the number of precincts in Ohio, only a few people per precinct leaving would easily make a difference in the reported vote total.

Add to this the literally thousands of irregularities and errors on voting day and the breaking of Ohio laws during the recount, and what you get is a very large number of angry Ohioans who feel disenfranchised with our voting process. If people feel their vote was not counted, and many do, then how are they going to justify ever voting again, or ever feeling truly represented in this supposed democracy we all should cherish?

All I ask of you and of your fellow journalists is to please do not undermine the very difficult tasks we have been facing to try to get to the bottom of what has happened to us and our right to vote. Please do not belittle attempts to fix and feel good about the very process which makes us the "good guys" in the world theatre. Please do not ask your fellow citizens to lie down and take the abuse of yet another fraudulent election.

We the people are the true holders of power in this country, and we need the press to help get our voices and concerns heard, to help get our message to our fellow citizens, and to get our point across to the politicians in their ivory tower that we will not stand for this corruption. Please do not fail us.

thank you,
xxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx
Columbus, OH

[Warren Stupidity]

19. ok so in summary

Mr. Pitt has no problem with the systematic disenfranchisement of primarily black voters in Ohio because "these irregularities (didn't make) any material difference". Wonderful. I guess that is a big thumbs up to the Ohio GOP-run election commission to go do it again next time. Just make sure that nobody can prove that your outright fraud made a material difference.

I didn't know that the Pulitzer had a category for "self hating media whore".

[super simian]

20. What an idiot!

Like someone holds a gun to his head and forces him to read all the "overheated Internet postings"! Sheesh! You can even log on to DU without having to read anything about election fraud if you prefer to avoid the subject, and the issue of election fraud was totally sidelined on Daily Kos! There is just no way you can see anything about election fraud on the Internet unless you go looking for it!

:dunce:

It's like your hard drive has to crash so you won't be subjected to those "overheated internet postings." Boy, JK certainly deserves a tinfoil hat for mentioning the fact that voting machines were distributed unevenly, doesn't he? </sarcasm> Do the math, Mr. Pitts. The voting machines were unevenly distributed.


If JK has done ANYTHING, it's pretty much to move on and (to all appearances) leave us "fraudsters" (quoting Markos) in the dust.

:wtf: Get real, Mr. Pitts!

[drummer55]

21. Wonder how much the bush administration pays him? n/t

[seabeyond]

22. he wants to fix it without knowing what the problems are

see this is kinda messed up and why we dont fix things. if we cannot even discuss, even know what problems are, how much faith am i going to have in anyone fixing it.

he can be quiet and learn the documented evidence and then come to me and say, ok, so we need to do these things to address

what a moron

and i have listened to this man. he is cool. i like. he is smart. i dont agree though

[helderheid]

23. suppose he was trying to get attention to the issue?

Perhaps he's more on our side than we know? He DID point out all the problems... maybe he's working the system the way he can?

[Warren Stupidity]

24. is assuming the best of people a progressive personality flaw?

I take people at their word and more importantly at their deed. I keep seeing posters here rationalizing odious behavior with explanations that the actor is really being clever, playing a chess game, outsmarting the opposition, etc. Sorry, but those explanations do not pass the sniff test AFAIC.

When Kerry failed to fight for every vote, he failed to fight for every vote. When Democrats voted for Condi Rice, they voted for Condi Rice. When they didn't vote in support of the motion to reject the Ohio electors, they didn't stand up for election integrity. They didn't have some secret plan to make it all good, they acted like cowards. By their words and by their deeds, they are cowards.

Pitt says the problems in Ohio were 'no problem', and that is what he actually believes, or at least what he would like his readers to believe.

[helderheid]

25. maybe

but he sure went into detail where others have refused to do so.

[Peace Patriot]

26. This Pitts bit doesn't surprise me at all! Pitts is the pits!

His column appears in my local paper, so I've read a lot of him. He's like Alan Colmes--our worst enemy, a waffly "liberal" who lacks focus, lacks rigorous thinking, wants to get along with everybody, and will never understand what a whore he is, or what his whoring for the Dark Lords does to the rest of us.

Janeane Garofola UNDERSTOOD what was happening when Bush lapdog TV news shows would invite a comedian (herself) to speak against the Iraq war, but NOT a knowledgeable activist or expert. She did her best, KNOWING that NO OTHER ANTIWAR ADVOCATE WOULD BE GIVEN AIR TIME, and spoke much about it afterwards.

But people like Colmes and Pitts don't UNDERSTAND how they are being used, or what this means. So how could they ever be smart on an issue like the second stolen election? They take the party line--the centrist DNC line--which has gotten us into so much trouble: LOSS OF OUR RIGHT TO VOTE!

Jeez. These people drive me nuts!

[genieroze]

28. His name fits he is the Pitts, what an a-hole. eom

[WilliamPitt]

47. I resemble that remark

:P

[genieroze]

50. You name is Pitt and that other guy is the Pitts.

[corbett]

61. At Least YOU Have A Sense Of Humor!

[emlev]

29. My letter to Pitts

Dear Mr. Pitts:

I read with interest your "Memo to John Kerry" column. I appreciate your
understanding of the importance of thoughtful strategizing in the upcoming
period. I heartily agree with you on that.

I wonder what research you have done into the investigations of election
fraud. The evidence is very significant and mounting. If you are looking for
"the smoking gun," though, you probably won't find it. Because the Neocons
know the importance of strategy, too, their strategy was to do many,
many smaller things to make sure Bush remained president. So there are land
mines everywhere. But grassroots activists are digging them up. It's a
laborious process and couldn't be done in time to prevent Bush's
re-inauguration. But still, it must be done.

Why must it be done? Because if a second presidential election can be
stolen, this time with even clearer evidence than in 2000, then I truly believe we have no hope of ever having another fair election in this country. Especially not with the Republicans already controlling all three branches of government, and with four years to consolidate that control. The constitutional timeline for certifying the electoral vote and inaugurating a president cannot be allowed to mean that an election can be stolen simply by running out the clock on investigations, as happened this time.

I invite you to take a hard look at the evidence:

• Look at the discrepancies between the exit polls and the official vote
tallies. While you're doing that, look at the fact that there were no
significant discrepancies except in the swing states, and that the
discrepancies were greater percentagewise for the swing states with the most
electoral votes. And if you want to understand how dependable exit polls
are, read what the U.S. Government had to say about the exit poll
discrepancies in Ukraine. There, if I'm not mistaken, these discrepancies
were the sole indication of a stolen election, and a revote was held based on the evidence they provided.

• Look especially hard at Ohio.

Read the status report of the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary
Committee on the Ohio election. Download it here:

http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/ohiostatusrept1505.pdf

Read the work of Richard Hayes Phillips, Ph.D., who has been conducting a
precinct-by-precinct analysis of election anomalies there. Here are some
links to his work:

http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2005/1071
http://freepress.org/images/departments/Dep_Phillips.pdf
http://web.northnet.org/minstrel/alpage.htm

• Look at New Mexico, where thousands of people's votes for president were
never tabulated:
Here's one place to begin:
http://www.votersunite.org/info/newmexicophantomvotes.asp

• Look at Florida. Look at Nevada. Look at North Carolina. And then you will see there are even more states to look at. Here's another place to get you started:

www.flcv.com/fraudpat.html

All of this evidence has been collected without the benefit of access to many of the official records. If we could look, for example, at the ballots in Ohio where recount observers saw stickers covering up the darkened ovals for Kerry's name and Bush's name blackened, or the ballot images in the electronic voting machines, or the computer source codes, the evidence would be even more overwhelming.

So, are the people uncovering these anomalies "conspiracy theorists?" Or are those who believe that the vast irregularities--all of which benefitted one candidate--are simply coincidence "coincidence theorists?" Even if the evidence is circumstantial it is significant. And circumstantial evidence is admissible in court.

This is not about John Kerry. This is about the future of the election system in our country. And, because of the dangerous policies of this administration that has never won a fair election, it is about the future of the world. Your name-calling and dismissal impugns the work of honest people who are fighting for the future of the world. I respectfully ask that you examine the evidence and, should you find it compelling, that you write another column honoring these fine human beings who are working (in nearly all cases without pay) for the good of the nation and the world.

Thank you for your time.

[helderheid]

30. BRILLIANT!

Thank you so much!

We may want to send these letters on to our local newspaper editors.

[bunny planet]

31. Great letter. Thanks so much for writing and sending it.

:)

[bleever]

33. Great letter. Save it to send to others.

:thumbsup:

[emlev]

46. Thanks. I'll do that. It would be even stronger

with links to the exit poll analysis, and a good strong link each for Florida, Nevada and North Carolina. I think Bernie1's Florida work is probably the best place to send him (which I did with one link), but I didn't take the time to find the best page of his work to include.

If anyone's up for helping me by suggesting other links to include in my letter, I'd sure appreciate it!

[Alizaryn]

45. Nice job. Very well written.

[Straight Shooter]

32. Does anyone know if Pitts told anyone to "move on" with the Rather memo?

That scandal began on the Internet, from all appearances. I don't recall that Mr. Pitts, et al., ever blasted Buckhead of FreeRepublic and his conspiracy cohorts to "move on" with regard to the Rather memo. Instead, the SCMSM* dug and dug and dug into it, until they found out -- lo and behold -- the memo may have been a forgery but the facts within it were true, said point being totally lost on the dull-minded American public.

So, I think Pitts should shut his mouth, because he clearly demonstrates a convenient sense of principles when it comes to responsible journalism.

*SCMSM = so-called mainstream media

[pacalo]

34. I wonder what he's getting in return for writing this article.

I've read Pitts' columns for years & he always seemed to have good judgement & a good sense of fairness. Dismissing thousands of legitimate complaints from voters has crossed the line of fairness. Something isn't right when Leonard Pitts closes his eyes to these complaints. And isn't he from Florida, of all places? He should know as well as most well-informed people how this corrupt administration operates in elections.

This calls for a letter! I'm shocked that he has sold out.

[Blue_In_AK]

63. I agree. I usually enjoy Leonard Pitts' columns

Has he been threatened or something?

[merh]

35. Is Leonard Pitts trying to take Armstrong Williams place in the

eyes of the BFEE in the hopes of making a few extra $$$$$$$$$$$$???
:shrug: What a schmuck!

[Name removed]

39. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[LittleClarkie]

41. Was that meant to be an expression of apathy

Normally, one demonstrates apathy by being, you know, apathetic, as in not responding.


Of course, you might have a brain injury which has caused you to lose your short term memory. If so I'm sorry. In the interest of helping you in your disability, I will introduce you to John Kerry. John Forbes Kerry.


Him as a puppy.

He is a man who may very well become a leading voice in the party and who may try to do good things within that party within the next couple years. I'm hoping he will make himself increasing hard to forget, especially if your last name is Bush.

I'm heartened that Kerry's speech, which got alot of flak when it was given, seems to have annoyed this person. I'm now glad he said it if it got Leonard Pitt to say, "Get over it." That should anger a few people.

[helderheid]

42. that's one cute puppy!

Awwwwwwwww!

[StephanieMarie]

43. Just wrote him this lovely diatribe:

It’s not about who won. It’s about free and fair elections. When tens of thousands of citizens are prevented from voting, we have a problem. When tens of thousands of votes are not counted because of trumped up reasons, we have a problem. We need national standards for federal elections. That’s what we’re about. Ensuring every citizens' right to cast their vote without intimidation, suppression, misinformation, unduly long waits, purging of voting rolls, machine breakdowns, machines defaulting to one candidate over another, etc. If you paid any attention at all, you’d be outraged by the shenanigans that went on nationwide this past election! Follow this link for a clearinghouse of articles from every state in the union. I dare you.
http://www.solarbus.org/stealyourelection/

[helderheid]

44. Thanks!

[helderheid]

52. kick before bed

[stillcool]

48. Here's mine!

Memo to Leonard Pitts Jr.--Elections in this country have been over for quite some time now. It is very well documented and requires very little reading to grasp the extent that our current voting systems have been corrupted. Americans of all stripes should demand election reform for any hope of a continued democracy. You, sir, do a disservice to your readers by expounding an opinion that is not based in fact. I encourage you to do a little bit of research on the irregularities that are very well documented here:http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/ohiostatusrept... Or if you find that too taxing try this: http://www.jqjacobs.net/bush/. I would also suggest that you expand your internet viewing to include those sites that contain facts rather than hyperbole. For your sake and that of your readers lets hope that someday soon you can get a grip on some truth.

[Pam-Moby]

49. Just sent an email

to Leonard Pitts about my disgust with what has taken place the last two elections.

[feelthebreeze]

51. My turn...

Here is my letter to Mr. Pitts:
Dear Mr. Pitts:
It saddens me to see how unaware you are with the problem that this country has with verifiable voting. By now I assume you have received many emails detailing where your bigotry has led you. I ask you now to do the ultimate soul searching and ask yourself the question "Does it not make this country stronger to have a reexamination of our voting procedures?"
Surely you can't believe this is just a sour grapes issue. If this is all you see it as, then I believe you need to reexamine just what you think it means to be an American citizen. Our responsibility is to question and strive to make "a more perfect union." That is at its base what all this is about. If you cannot honor that and see it for what it is, than perhaps you should reacquaint yourself with the protests of thousands upon thousands of your fellow citizens who do understand this burden.
Yours in the strength of this mighty ideal,


The winds of change are blowing...do you feel the breeze?

[Imagevision]

53. Pitts - Blackwell -- they make a good pair

[helderheid]

54. so sad

[berniew1]

55. The election's definately not over: the fraud and dirty tricks can't be

covered up and forgotten as long as the public doesn't accept such fraud and corruption.

Widespread systematic vote machine fraud, and dirty tricks and suppression of minority registration and voting in many states in 2004 Election: summary of some of the documentation

http://www.flcv.com/ussumall.html

[helderheid]

56. kick

[MellowOne]

57. Fantastic letters everyone!

Very impressive and informative.

[dandrhesse]

59. here's my email to him, thanks for the address!

Mr. Pitts -

I found your article "Memo to John Kerry" both informative and interesting. In particular two points you made really struck home. The first was your well reasoned and valid arugument for the right to vote being of utmost importance, I couldn't agree more. And Secondly the assertion that the election was won legitimately and by more than a very small margin.

The right to vote is the most important issue in our country in my opinion. It should be an automatic given in any democratic society that all eligible citizens are able to cast their vote and their votes be counted correctly thus granting the winner, the mandate of the people.

So given that argument, if there are intentional and premeditated efforts to obstruct citizens from exercizing their right to vote those actions would be crimes against our democracy. Equally criminal would be any attempts to tamper with or incorrectly count the ballots that have been cast. If there is any reason to doubt whether or not the votes were correctly and fairly cast or counted it certainly throws in to question the legitimacy of the outcome.

We cannot and should not "move on" without finding out what went wrong in this past election. Not just in Ohio, but all over our country. We need to investigate the tens of thousands of complaints voiced by voters. If we ignore the complaints and just "move on" we are damaging our democracy. I would hope that any citizen and or leader of our country would want to make sure that all citizens right to vote is protected and assured.

At this time it is not. Please read John Conyers report, there are obviously some very serious issues that need to be looked into and if necessary corrective actions need to be taken.

By mocking the people who have filed complaints and those that question the tabulation process you mock democracy. You can't have it both ways. You can't claim to be a defender of the right to vote and be unwilling to defend the voters that were denied that right.

This situation requires you to make a choice, you either defend the right to vote or you don't. You either want free and open elections or you don't. I would hope you would side with democracy.

Sincerely
Denise Hesse

[helderheid]

60. WOW

Well done, BRAVO!!

[corbett]

62. Wrote To The Paper Instead

Since I live in Florida and since the Herald has had a mixed record in accurate reporting of political issues, I decided to fire off a letter to the editor. Their flummery must be called out. My missive is as follows:

---

I just read Mr. Pitts’ piece, “It's too late for a replay on the Ohio vote” and I tend to take the word of a highly respected member of the House Of Representatives and his staff’s 100-page report when it says that Ohio was riddled with disenfranchisement, fraud and irregularities over that of a columnist.

However, let me quote Representative Conyers in a recent interview with regard to why his contribution to the January 6 Congressional challenge of the election results focused on Ohio and not Florida:

= = = = = = = = = =

John Byrne: You don’t think that was simply because there was more focus on, say, Ohio in this election, and Florida in the last?

Congressman Conyers: It all came down to the same thing, John, the one state that would make the difference was the one state that was plagued with the most irregularities and the most complaints. I did not pick Ohio; Ohio leapt to our attention because that is where the majority of the calls came from.

= = = = = = = = = =

The entire interview is available at

http://www.bluelemur.com/index.php?p=567

Let me be clear, I was a volunteer during the presidential election. I knocked on doors on behalf of the League Of Conservation Voters and MoveOnPAC. Both of those groups endorsed Senator Kerry. However, I also was an Election Protection volunteer poll observer on Election Day and in that capacity, I was non-partisan. I was assigned to a precinct in Orlando which has a high percentage of minority voters and saw several disturbing irregularities during the 4 hours I was there.

In other words, yes, there was fraud in Ohio but there also was plenty of it here in Florida and Senator Kerry is but ONE voice in a chorus of voices clamoring for an investigation of all election fraud in 2004. Many of those voices are non-partisan and others are from Greens, Libertarians and Republicans.

If Mr. Pitts really wishes to understand this issue, he should attend the election fraud hearing scheduled for 6PM on January 27 in Orlando. It is being sponsored by Election Protection, which is a non-partisan voters’ rights organization. I will be there. Details are available through Lucy at the Miami office of People For The American Way at 305-573-7329.

Sincerely,

[MadisonProgressive]

64. Lenny, you're a douchebag!

[LittleClarkie]

65. Hey Lenny

http://www.the-earchives.com/wavs/p/python11.wav

[SaveAmerica]

66. Is it possible that it's as simple as telling this moran that the reason

he isn't hearing "any credible expert say...that these irregularities made any material difference to the bottom line" is because every legal attempt to investigate the irrularities and disenfranchisement are being shot down in Ohio's courts? You have to wonder who he would accept as a credible expert?

[Land Shark]

67. My email to Pitts

I remember from my college studies of Soviet dissidents that when their ideas made the media, it was only for the purpose of denouncing or making fun of them. This was considered “responsible journalism” by the Soviet media of the time.

I’ll bet you’re thinking of yourself as a really responsible journalist now, telling us to “move on” from this last election. Who cares about election security or protecting our democracy, eh? We’ve got a democracy to implement in Iraq we can’t be concerned about our own…..

PS I don’t car much what Kerry thinks either. But I fault you for not caring about whether or not people’s votes are properly counted. Regardless of whether it makes a difference in the outcome or not, whether a candidate loses by 1% or 5% affects lots of things like extent of mandate, etc. Perhaps your vote should be taken away and we can all ask you to “get over it”.

[Gloria]

69. The "bottom line" is VOTING RIGHTS..this guy is an asshole...

Is he on the take, too, I wonder??