 October 24, 2008 Press Release A current list of this letter's signers can be found (as of 10/23 @ Noon PT) at www.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: unprovable@scoop.co.nz.
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 no one this November when the outcome is a spoiled mess, riddled with controversy.  In fact, we can already say the resultsÂ--based on the conditions-Â-are guaranteed to be inconclusive, unknowable and unprovable. We must challenge our industry to refuse to report as fact what cannot be proven and has not 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, www.Scoop.co.nz Michael Collins, "The Money Party," http://usacoup.scoop.co.nz/?tag=michael-collins; http://electionfraudnews.com/MichaelCollins.htm Ernest Partridge, Co-Editor, The Crisis Papers www.crisispapers.org Bernard Weiner, Co-Editor, The Crisis Papers www.crisispapers.org Rob Kall, Executive Editor & Publisher www.OpEdNews.com Joan Brunwasser, Election Integrity Editor www.OpEdNews.com Rady Ananda, Senior Editor www.OpEdNews.com; Executive Director Re-media Election Transparency Coalition, www.re-mediaetc.org Jan Baumgartner, Managing Editor, www.OpEdNews.com Cheryl Biren-Wright, Managing Editor, www.OpEdNews.com Amanda Lang, OEN Managing Editor, www.opednews.com Linda Milazzo, Senior Editor www.OpEdNews.com; HuffingtonPost blogger Tom Courbat, Founder, SAVE R VOTE, www.savervote.com Dan Ashby, Co-Founder and Director, www.ElectionDefenseAlliance.org Lynn Landes, freelance journalist, www.thelandesreport.com David Swanson, Co-Founder, www.AfterDowningStreet.org Andi Novick, Legal Counsel, Re-media Election Transparency Coalition, www.re-mediaetc.org Joanne Lukacher, Communications Director, Re-Media Election Transparency Coalition, www.re-mediaetc.org Valerie Lane, Chair, SAVElections Monterey County, California Peter B. Collins, syndicated talk show host, www.peterbcollins.com David L. Griscom, Ph.D., impactglassman.blogspot.com; Co-Founder, AUDITAZ, auditaz.blogspot.com; Member Coordinating Committee, Election Defense Alliance, 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
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