Also in GD at:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4304200This is being widely cross-posted. Readers are requested to send the letter to the media and encourage media contacts to sign on and discuss the topic in their work.
http://usacoup.scoop.co.nz/unprovable (re-directs to:
http://usacoup.scoop.co.nz/?p=835)
We Do Not Consent - Open Letter To The Media
October 24, 2008Press Release
A current list of this letter’s signers can be found (as of 10/23 @ Noon PT) at
http://usacoup.scoop.co.nz/unprovable. If you would like to add your name, please use the form on that page or submit your name and affiliation via e-mail to:
[email protected].
We Do Not Consent - Open Letter To The Media
SEND THIS LETTER AS AN EMAIL TO YOUR MEDIA
(Note: you will need to provide an email address)
A Public Media Campaign Launched By Dave Berman Of We Do Not Consent
Dear Media Colleagues,
You are receiving this message because you are known to American progressives as a truth-teller. In this presidential campaign, despite the typical horse-race coverage, we also see the overall corporate media narrative influenced by daily debunking efforts from candidates’ rapid response teams, the blogosphere, and the reality-based coverage and reporting that you provide.We need to take this to the next level.
There are three very simple basic facts about the way US federal elections are conducted now, and we think they lead to an inescapable conclusion that must be addressed.
See if you agree:
1. We have secret corporate vote counting computers counting more than 95% of the votes cast in the United States;
2. The absence of paper ballots, and in some cases state’s law, prevents meaningful re-counts throughout much of the country;
3. These electronic voting machines frequently produce results impossible in a legitimate election, such as John Kerry’s negative 25 million votes in Youngstown, OH (Nov. 2004), or Palm Beach County’s 12,000 votes in excess of the number of voters (Aug. 2008).
To us this suggests the conclusion that federal election results are unprovable, even though the media reports them as fact.
Can you draw any other conclusion?
It will surprise nobody this November when the outcome is a spoiled mess, riddled with controversy. In fact, we can already say the results–based on the conditions–are guaranteed to be inconclusive, unknowable and unprovable.
We must challenge our industry to refuse to report as fact what can’t be proven and hasn’t been independently verified, particularly when the only source of the information is the government itself.
The reality is that the media should be the greatest advocates of hand counting paper ballots because this method of counting allows media greatest access to observing and documenting the process, affording the reported results the greatest credibility.
Transparent coverage of a transparent counting process would create a basis for confidence in the reported results where none currently exists.
As we all know, there is a vibrant community of engaged citizens across the US who collectively self-identify as the “election integrity community.” They are asking us truth-tellers to challenge our industry, essentially reframing the debate.
Many of them have appeared on our shows and in our columns over the past few years, and they are eager to be sources for us now. But they are also counting on us to take this message forward and we don’t see how we can be truth-tellers without doing that.
Please join us in this concerted effort to use truth-telling yet again to change the corporate media narrative of this presidential campaign.
Respectfully yours,
Dave Berman,
http://WeDoNotConsent.blogspot.com; Voter Confidence Committee of Humboldt, CA
Mark Crispin Miller, Author, www.markcrispinmiller.blogspot.com
Alastair Thompson, Co-Editor/General Manager,
http://www.Scoop.co.nzMichael Collins, "The Money Party,"
http://usacoup.scoop.co.nz/?tag=michael-collins; http://electionfraudnews.com/MichaelCollins.htm Ernest Partridge, Co-Editor, The Crisis Papers
http://www.crisispapers.org/Bernard Weiner, Co-Editor, The Crisis Papers
http://www.crisispapers.org/Rob Kall, Executive Editor & Publisher,
http://www.OpEdNews.comJoan Brunwasser, Election Integrity Editor,
http://www.OpEdNews.comRady Ananda, Senior Editor,
http://www.OpEdNews.comTom Courbat, Founder, SAVE R VOTE, www.savervote.com
Dan Ashby, Co-Founder and Director,
http://www.ElectionDefenseAlliance.orgLinda Milazzo, OpedNews Senior Editor; HuffingtonPost blogger
Lynn Landes, freelance journalist,
http://www.thelandesreport.com Jan Baumgartner, Managing Editor,
http://www.OpEdNews.comCheryl Biren-Wright, Managing Editor,
http://www.OpEdNews.comDavid Swanson, Co-Founder AfterDowningStreet.org
Joanne Lukacher, Communications Director, Re-Media Election Transparency Coalition, www.re-mediaetc.org
Andi Novick, Legal Counsel, Re-media Election Transparency Coalition, www.re-mediaetc.org
Amanda Lang, OEN Managing Editor,
http://www.opednews.com Valerie Lane, Chair, SAVElections Monterey County
Peter B. Collins, syndicated talk show host,
http://www.peterbcollins.comDavid L. Griscom, Ph.D.,
http://impactglassman.blogspot.com; Co-Founder, AUDITAZ,
http://auditaz.blogspot.com; Member Coordinating Committee, Election Defense Alliance,
http://www.electiondefensealliance.org/ SEND THIS EMAIL TO THE MEDIA(Note: you will need to look up an email address)
A current list of this letter’s signers can be found (as of 10/23 @ Noon PT) at
http://usacoup.scoop.co.nz/unprovable. If you would like to add your name, please use the form on that page or submit your name and affiliation via e-mail to:
[email protected].
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