Reply #1: Would that we had a president like Hugo Chavez, elected and re-elected

[Peace Patriot]

legitimately, under the closest of international scrutiny, a man who believes in TRANSPARENT elections, champion of the poor, a representative of the majority, a good balancer of social needs and the needs of trade and individual rights, a visionary who sees the country's oil riches as a means for long term prosperity, diversification and justice, a military man who overthrew the horrifying oppression of centuries of elite rule without firing a shot--by writing and passing a Constitution! (--a Constitution with a RECALL PROVISION IN IT, which the Bush Cartel immediately exploited by funding a recall of Chavez--an election that the Bushites lost, big, in a highly scrutinized vote!)

No wonder Bush and US global corporations hate him!

But know this: The peaceful Venezuelan revolution WILL survive, no matter what happens to Chavez. It is strong and deeply rooted in its citizenry. It is based on education and awesome community organization. It is in fact a miracle of democracy. And it is one of the tragedies of this era of illegitimate rule in the U.S.of A. that we are not CELEBRATING this amazing development in South America, and that Hugo Chavez is not an honored guest at the White House!

I weep for my country! And to the Venezuelans, I say: Go, Venezuela! Go, go, go! Keep on creating peace and democracy! It will grow and spread. It is how human beings were meant to live. And we will catch up with you some day, when we get our country back!

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The answer to the stink in Washington DC is restoring our right to vote, by throwing Bushite electronic voting machine companies--Diebold, ES&S and brethren--out of the election business NOW--or, at the least, achieving some measure of election transparency with paper ballot backups, strict auditing, and no secret, proprietary programming code owned and controlled by major Bush donors and campaign chairs! The only place where we can get this done is in state/local jurisdictions, where the authority over election systems still resides, and where ordinary people still have some say. The bipartisan corruption in the electronic voting business at the state/local level is daunting, but it is nothing compared to the bipartisan corruption in Washington DC, and it is local and therefore much more fixable. See the DU Forum "2004 Election Results and Discussion" for information and action ideas:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=203http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=203

Join your local election reform group--or form your own--and help get this done! It is our best hope for restoring democracy in the U.S.A.