Reply #59: I think the media bias was the biggest problem

[trudyco]

This has been going on since Carter - I remember how every day the networks posted how long the hostages had been held. Reagan made it much worse. Ted Turner selling out was not good. The Democrats have known this for a long time and done nothing about it. I blame Clinton for not doing something about it. This was more important than universal health care. For a brief time he had Democratic control and he blew the chance to set Democracy back on its tracks.

Also, the ownership of vote counting has been leaning towards the right for years, too. I had no clue about this until after Nov 2, 2004. Actually, I think most people think voter fraud goes on but not massive election fraud. They still believe in USA and apple pie and Democracy. Heck, I was just reading "the rights of citizens" to my second grader about how in a democracy we have the right and responsibility to vote. We somehow think that we have better genes than the rest of the world or something. For some reason we assume we don't commit fraud like other countries. We also think the media is reasonably balanced and factual. Myths.

The Democrats, besides being asleep at the wheel, have left themselves open to reframing the question in the Neocons favor. As a quasi Christian parent I am appalled at Private Ryan being played during primetime hours. Clips from adult shows are shown during child viewing time (no nudity but teens jumping into bed together goes too far). Kid shows are really violent. The "liberals" back this lack of TV/Movie standards. This gets in the craw of any parent trying to raise a G rated kid. The "liberals" push too far back on religion, too. This threatens certain religious types and the neocons have really played this group. The "liberals" also champion bilingual stuff and the embracing of illegal aliens. I know a lot of moderate republicans who were kept in the Republican camp because of this.

So I think there was a lot of opportunity to stop the Neocons in their tracks if the Democrats could get organized and grow a backbone. Have a plan. Kerry got the nomination because the RWingnuts managed to make Liberal a dirty word and the other guys were too "liberal". I think it was legit. It was the Democrats playing defense again.

Still, Bush was a terrible president and I think he committed widespread F* to make sure there was no question he won the popular vote. Then there was targeted F* in swing states to make sure he won the electoral vote. The gay stuff I think was just a red herring - a way to explain the vote which was really election fraud. The Republican GOTV was a lie. The fear mongering was probably his best GOTV strategy. A lot of people believed he was somehow the better candidate against terrorism - even people I thought had half a brain. Again, the media control was the biggest asset of all. Kerry could have done some things better but really the media slant always worked against him. Of course, now the media slant keeps people from questioning what happened.

The fraud - 10 phantom votes or so per precinct in Shrubs favor to make sure he got the popular vote. If found, it could be explained as a glitch. Then there was other targetted fraud in specific counties to give him the electoral vote and also to get key senators and congresscritters in office. Probably local people and judges, too.

Now that I know what I know I'd say this has been going on since before 2000. Is this also how the repubs manage to get their people to vote the party line? Do they have this "secret" hanging over their heads?

trudyco