internet hysteria

[rodeodance]

sad to say--but I think we have contributed to some of this.


"The campaign's inquiries come against a backdrop of increasing hysteria among Internet activists who, in chains of e-mails and articles, claim that Ohio's election was so riddled with problems that the outcome may not be legitimate.
For example, a confusing counting method used in Cuyahoga County's election totals wrongly suggests that more than two dozen suburbs had more votes than voters. And a computer glitch in Franklin County added nearly 3,900 phantom votes for Bush in one precinct."

"http://www.cleveland.com/cuyahoga/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1100169336227680.xml"

Kerry Campaign Scrutinizes Ohio
By Scott Hiaasen
The Cleveland Plain Dealer

Thursday 11 November 2004

Checks provisional ballots, other issues.
Lawyers with John Kerry's presidential campaign are gathering information from Ohio election boards about uncounted ballots and other unresolved issues from last week's election.

Attorneys say they are not trying to challenge the election but are only carrying out Kerry's promise to make sure that all the votes in Ohio are counted. They describe this effort, which began this week, as a "fact-finding mission."

[Demit]

1. I think the hysteria is coming from the MSM, more like.

I think they do protest too much.

[wtmusic]

2. well

a nice chunk of history depends on the outcome of Ohio. There were and are irregularities in the Ohio balloting and the Ohio SOS is extremely partisan.

Not hysterical at all in light of what's at stake.

[Eric J in MN]

7. It's not just the Sec. of State in Ohio. It's also Matt Damschroder.

Whites in Ohio had to wait half-an-hour to vote while blacks in Ohio have to wait hours because a Republican, Franklin County Board of Elections Director Matt Damschroder, sent machines to the suburbs which were needed in the city.

That is a violation of the Equal Protection clause of the US Consitution.

I wish the NAACP or ACLU would sue Damschroder.

I hope members of the NAACP or ACLU will contact them about this.

For more on this, go to:

http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/3/2004/977

[teach1st]

3. Yes...

...we should stop questioning immediately, because if the media says "hysteria" it must be.

The elections are fair. Nobody was disenfranchised.
Same with the 2000 elections. On the up and up.
Kerry was not a war hero.
We are liberating Fallujah.
There were WMD in Iraq.
Saddam had something to do with 9/11.

How could we have been so stupid and hysterical?

[eleny]

4. Didn't Freud used to say that women were hysterical?

And they had every right to be back in his time. Same now. I often feel somewhat hysterical over what's going on. Btw, read my sig line. These are bad times with more bad ahead.

[JAbuchan08]

10. When I read your post I suddenly felt like the woman in the room

with the yellow wall paper. Things may not be as f*d up as I think, but that doesn't mean they are not f*d up.

[neohippie]

5. Don't be Sad, get GLAD!

LOL... not many times you can turn the corporate jingle into a cry for voting reform.

Our country suffers from ELECTILE DYSFUNCTION, we need to get the word out and start a national discussion on election reform. There are too many "glitches" and problems with our current system.

Voter suppression, negative advertising, poor turnouts, vote spoilage, fraud, errors, no accurate means of recounts, no national standards, corporate involvement in vote counting, secrecy, lawyers... all point to REAL problems, not some INTERNET conspiracy.

Just some of the major problems with our current elections process can be found at the following website.

www.votersunite.org

[Eric J in MN]

6. a computer glitch added bogus votes to Bush in Ohio,

and that's our fault?

[Cerridwen]

8. Or is it: outrage, panic, enthusiasm, upset, action, activity

agitation, buzz, commotion, confusion, instigation, motivation, motive, movement, passion, perturbation, provocation, rage, stimulation, stimulus, stir, turmoil, urge, warmth, wildness?

or any of another hundred "positive" sounding words which could be used to describe rather than incite current public opinion?

Just a thought; from a passionate (shrewish), assertive (aggressive), concerned (meddling), informed (deluded), self-assured (uppity) woman (chattel) who is willing to speak her mind (shrill, loud) and is unwilling (heretical) to behave as a doormat (ladylike).

[m berst]

9. it is sad, yes

It is very sad that you read the phrase "internet hysteria" somewhere, and rather than applying some common sense or critical thinking skills to what you read, you come here and accuse people of contributing to this presumably horrible situation of increasing hysteria.

"... increasing hysteria among Internet activists who, in chains of e-mails and articles..."

Does that phrase bear any resemblance to anything you have observed? Does reading it in a newspaper make it true for you? It is obviously a filler paragraph where the writer has surreptitioulsy inserted their opinion as though it were fact. "CHAINS of emails and articles..." - come on, use your noggin rodeodance. Who would put the word "chains" in that sentence? Why would you give a sentence like that - or the author - any credibility?

And what is this "hysteria" supposedly about? "...that Ohio's election was so riddled with problems that the outcome may not be legitimate."

Do you disagree with that statement that the outcome may not be legitimate? Apparently the author of the article does. Is it not true that the election was riddled with errors? How could there be hysteria over something that "may" be true? If these email chain people are using the prudent and cautious word "may" then does that not contradict the charge that they are spreading hysteria?