My final take on the election and fraud...

[Andy_Stephenson]

Like many, I believe that fraud was committed Nov 2 2004. Many people have asked me "where is the smoking gun"...That is a hard question to answer...because there is no single smoking gun to be found. There are a lot of little smoking guns that add up to one massive cannon. The Democrats in Congress all talked about individual instances of errors, glitches and outright manipulation, that most would not have changed the election. That is a true enough statement, however, taken together all of them added up to give GW Bush* another 4 years in the White House.

Some people right here on DU have bought the line that there was no fraud in the election only glitches and innocent errors. I have discovered and seen the fraud with my own eyes and know it is there. In another post a DU'er says the 3% recount in Ohio was done correctly. Well yes it was...but the precincts counted were not chosen randomly as was required by Ohio law...Triad hand picked the precincts to be counted and did other things in Ohio to cast a pall of doubt over the results in many counties.

But we are past the election and like it or not GW is President for the next four years. Many of our Democratic Senators stood up and waxed poetic about the problems and what is needed now...but then failed to vote what they had spoken. I was to say the least disappointed and dismayed with the talk versus the action. I know there was no way in hell that the Senators and Congressmen could overturn the results from Ohio...but once again we see many Democrats in Congress with no spine.

So now, the issue of election reform is up to We The People. We The People made a huge impact on yesterdays deliberations...we shut the phone system down on the Senate office buildings yesterday. The issue is now in the record and we must redouble our efforts to have meaningful reforms in place prior to Nov 2006. Several things were mentioned yesterday in the proceedings that should be demanded now as an example...a Constitutional amendment guaranteeing every American the right to vote. Codify it...make it a right just as free speech is a right. We own our vote/ballot...not the politicians...we must not allow then to take our vote/ballot away.

Over the last couple of years I have have literally given every part of my being to preserving and protecting our ballot and right to vote. Last night, I cried because I was feeling like I had let each and everyone of you down. I am very vocal about this issue...prior to the election I was a mad man telling everyone I met about the problems with the voting system...I thought my warnings would make a difference. After the election...I hoped to show fraud on a scale that would change the outcome...but the wind was taken out of my sails when on Nov, 3rd John Kerry conceded.

So here I sit this morning...Feeling a bit blue and also glad that this election fiasco is all over. But knowing that the work has only begun. I was hoping to take time off and get reacquainted with Termite. That last six months have been hard and I have not spent as much time with him as I should have. Unfortunately now is not the time to rest and relax so beginning Monday (I need a weekend off) I will be back at work on the cause of voting and voting rights.

I want to take a moment to thank these people for their support and friendship.

Sheila, Daniel, Catherine, Marti, Ted, Betty, Cheryl, Will, Pat, Susan, Dusty, Harvey, Stephanie, Jeff, Jason, David, Patricia, Gentry, Julie, Julie, Susan T, Joan, Penny, Lori, Annie, Karen, May, James T Kirk (USAF Ret) and many many others. You guys ROCK and I am truly fortunate to count you among my friends.

Andy

[greatauntoftriplets]

1. We love you, too, Andy.

:loveya:

[Patsy Stone]

2. Thanks for all you've done

You are a true inspiration and, I too, will continue to fight for Voting Rights and Election Reform. That is my only New Year's Resolution. Peace and keep up the good work.

[johnnie]

3. Thank you Andy

I have watched from here all you have done and put yourself through in pursuit of what you believe is right for democracy and right for America. I understand your frustration, but I can't imagine to what extreme. I have done some things, but not to the extent that you have and I feel the frustration also.
Once again, thank you for your hard work and dedication to your country.

[IndyOp]

4. Andy - Thank You for everything you have done...

and you deserve a nice long break. Take care of yourself and spend lots of time with loved ones.

Bush will be inaugurated on 1/20th *and* we need to finish uncovering the fraud and indicting and convicting the people who did what they did in November. We can't let bullies get away with it and expect them not to do it in future. And we need to work on dramatic election reform.

:kick:

[candice]

5. Wasn't the point to make a point and continue with the

investigation? Watergate was kids stuff compared to what went on in Ohio.

Was Glenda Hood, hand-picked by Jeb, also chairing the Bush election campaign? Blackwell's dual role in Ohio shows immoral values, and wouldn't be acceptable to most Americans, who do believe in basic fairness. Heck, Kerry was winning by a landslide until the last, and as Zogby stated, "I didn't expect entire states to flip," and "This President defied history and logic" by supposedly winning in the face of 51% negatives for performance and the direction of the country. His polls after the election show either immediate voter regret or the large disenfrancishment of all kinds that has been documented.

There are a lot more on our side than we think, and we are now invigorated and ready to be citizen activists as never before since Viet Nam. Bush II's election makes history again with Tubbs/Boxer.

[papau]

6. We do love you Andy - and you did great - relax and enjoy the weekend :-)

:-)

like you earned a weekend off!

:toast:

:-)

[BeHereNow]

7. ANDYEEEEEEEEEEEE

(((((((YOU ARE LOVED)))))))))
:loveya:
:hug:
:loveya:
BHN

[demodonkey]

8. Thank you ANDY for all you do... we now have a NEW BEGINNING

Being there yesterday myself, I honestly think that this CAN be the beginning of a new civil rights movement -- IF WE WANT IT TO BE AND MAKE IT SO.

Thanks to people like you Andy, this movement has gone from "X-Files tin foil hat stuff" to being poised to get real attention -- but we must keep working. Gonna be a long haul and it's not just about one election.

I hope that you will keep working on this Andy because we need people like you who are ahead of the curve on this to helped get voting rights people, observers, etc. trained and on the ground for 2006. And NOT by "soaring with the eagles" or whatever crap; by doing what it takes and getting it done with real people -- as you have been doing! :-)

My one regret about my trip to DC is that I was out at the revival with the Ohio Bus folks until about 9:30 on Wednesday night, and I didn't get to RDF in time to meet you and Will Pitt (and missed you at the revival if you were there at the beginning Will because I got there late from spreading flyers in NW DC). You guys are a true inspiration!

Well, gotta go... somebody just sent me a poll report where there was 506 voters with 857 ballots cast and it needs "looking in to"! ;-)

Thanks again and KEEP US POSTED Andy!

:yourock:

[wiggs]

9. Those who work as hard as you do have nothing to regret.

Thanks for your efforts and sacrifices.

[garybeck]

10. but the investigations shouldn't end now

election reform is vitally important but as conyers said, the investigations must continue. if laws were broken there should be prosecutions. just because B is in office doesn't mean the investigations and lawsuits should end. they may even result in grounds for impeachment.

[BeHereNow]

13. And it will take time.

This insidious mess did not happen over night.
It has been years in the making and it may take
years to undo and to bring all that is hidden to light.
However, as we know, everything is eventually
revealed in time.
BHN

[garybeck]

17. yeah, like the Kennedy assassination?

[blm]

19. Yesterday was a giant first step that happened because of all our little

steps over the last 4 years.

Let's keep moving forward.

[bleever]

11. So many people are grateful to you, and proud of you, Andy,

and I'm honored to count myself one of them.

This is a great beginning, not an ending, and time will show that those who were looking for a "smoking gun" were missing the bigger picture, like a frog sitting in a pot of water saying he'll wait til he sees bubbles to worry about boiling.

The slow and steady leak of evidence will go hand in hand with the incremental progress towards the day when the consensus of history is the illegitimacy of both of the elections that put * in office.

Thanks, bud. Onward.

:)

[crispini]

12. Amen, Andy!

Thanks for everything. :yourock:

[DoYouEverWonder]

14. No one will ever be able to say

that you didn't try your best. You gave it all and we are grateful for everything you have done.

Keep up the good fight but take better care of yourself to. At least take the weekends off.

[hippiegranny]

15. Every prison escape starts with that first chink

being carved out of the wall. That is the metaphor for what I am feeling after yesterday. In my heart of hearts, I believe that computer hacking combined with disenfranchisement (and other dirty tricks that, as always, benefitted only one party) were what put the Idiot Boyking back into office for four more years, NOT the voters. But believing that and proving such are two different things. The disenfranchsement is easier to prove right now, so that is what they went with. It is the opening round in a long uphill battle, but just like Watergate, the undoing of the evil that has encompassed us will not happen overnight. We need to celebrate each victory, see each glass as half full, it is the sustenance from which we will draw to be able to continue the fight.

[rainy]

16. Hi Andy, I'd like to get involved in the effort as well and here in

Va they are using the black box machines almost everywhere. I'd like to get the state to pass a resolution forbidding the use of the machines and tabulators that count the votes. Do you have any recommendations about how to get the resolution passed like it was in California?

[hootinholler]

18. Andy, Andy, Andy...

It's so hard when we expect the impossible from ourselves, and then fall short in our own eyes.

Please understand that your self view right now is a tad myopic and certainly in direct conflict with my observation. For you, this needs to be a time to decompress, and to allow yourself to sort through your feelings, and yes, grieve.

So go ahead, I'll give you 5 mins and then back to work :P

Seriously, for a while, stay among friends and walk gently on the earth. Recharge return when *you* are ready rather than when you perceive the cause needing you.

May Mother earth hold you to her breast, Father Sky watch over you, and the Lord lift you up with his countenance.

-Hoot

[troubleinwinter]

20. I feel, Andy, that we have come a LOOONG way,

thanks to you and so many others. I am encouraged by the Dem challenge and speakers in Congress yesterday, Conyers' hearings, his 101 page report, and calls for a Congressional Investigation and a Constitutional Amendment.

NONE of this would have happened, were it not for the hard work and devotion of you and others "on the ground" and activists here.

I am encouraged by posts here on DU today, people making new plans to keep working on this issue. We have momentum, information and experience, and we will keep up the fight.



The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

[Andy_Stephenson]

21. We have come a long way...But we have a long way yet to go

but with courage and fortitude we will win this one.

[go west young man]

23. What if?.....

What if a pattern emerges in the machines?
What if the defaults were set to Bush?
What if it can be traced back to the manufacturers and the white house?
What if New Mexico's recount goes forward?
What if the exit poll data gets released and shows even stranger discrepancies?
What if further analysis of the data by computer experts,number crunchers, and math scientist show more anomalies
What if Ken Blackwell violated the Constitution of the U.S? And is prosecuted?
What if those few brave Democrats who stood yesterday become icons?
What if the left wing of the Democratic party gives it its soul back?
What if we used this momentum to further weaken Bush's presidency by taking our collective energy and bombarding the foreign media with the theft of our democracy?
What if someone talks and reveals the so called "smoking gun"?
What if we coalesce further here and purge the Democratic party of the spineless individuals that don't fight?
The possibilities are endless and up to us? We had an impact yesterday and everyone here should be proud. A lot of people on these boards said it was for nothing but now something has happened.
We literally pissed on Bush's parade. And it felt good!

[Andy_Stephenson]

24. I am proud of what we accomplished yesterday...

don't get me wrong...But the fact remains the fight is not over and we have a long way yet to go.

Andy

[troubleinwinter]

26. Hey, Andy...

Did you receive the material that was wending its way from FLA?

[loudsue]

22. You have done us all a great service, Andy....

You have worked tirelessly for years, and I know all DUers truly appreciate what you have done, and PUT UP WITH, through it all.

If you're feeling a little battle fatigue, it is more than justified. Rest up, and buck up!! You're a great warrior in all of this, and now you deserve some R & R.

There are many more battles left to fight, and I know you will help identify those battles when the time comes, and get to the heart of where we need to marshal the forces.

:loveya: You da' MAN!!! :loveya:

:kick::kick::kick:

[fooj]

25. Thank you for all of your dedicated efforts, Andy!

Ours is a moral and just cause. I believe this with my whole heart and soul!

[pixelthief]

27. your FINAL take?

The fight is far from over. It's time to build the case(s) for impeachment.

[SueZhope]

28. that was a beautiful post

thank you...you are one of the hero's in this,
you never let us down.

Thanks for all your great work and determination...
You have been through so much .Yet you kept on going
seeking truth.

You are an inspiration .


:yourock: :loveya: :hug:

[leanin_green]

29. I'm with you Andy, but. . .

you fail to understand one thing. There can be no election reform when there are no true elections. All this last election proved is that they have completed the ability to take away our vote. They have gotten away with it. We have no right to vote. The vote we make is no longer of any value. It has become a charade. Take some time and focus on just what the fight is. This reality is hard for all of us to take, but we lost our country, RIP 2004. A new American Revolutionary seed has been planted in the hearts of many Americans. What that flowers into is anyones guess.

[Coexist]

30. Thanks Andy, I am on the ground in the Tampa area

if you need me.

[corbett]

31. Thomas Jefferson Would Be Proud

People like you help to counteract the global vitriol which so many of our "elected" officials have fomented against us.

[FreepFryer]

32. A toast to one of the visible heroes on the Reality-Based front. (n/t)

[adolfo]

33. Inspired

:toast:

You are an inspiration to us all Andy. Even those you are unaware of.