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We Do Not Consent - Open Letter To The Media (redux)

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We Do Not Consent - Open Letter To The Media


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October 24, 2008 Press Release

A Public Media Campaign Launched by Dave Berman of We Do Not Consent

A current list of this letter's signers can be found at http://usacoup.scoop.co.nz/?p=835.  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.

SEND THIS LETTER AS AN EMAIL TO YOUR MEDIA

(Note: you can find an email address at this link)

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 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 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

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/

David Earnhardt, filmmaker,UNCOUNTED: The New Math of American Elections

Carolyn Zaremba, Socialist Equality Party

Ron Baiman, PhD, Economist/Statistician, Vice President National Election Data Archive/U.S. Count Votes

Donna Norton, Member Elect, Sonoma County Democratic Central Committee; Member, Progressive Democrats of America, Sonoma County

Josh Mitteldorf, PhD, statistician for Election Integrity and Election Defense Alliance

Kathy Dopp, MS Mathematics, Executive Director, US Count Votes

Allene E. Swienckowski, author http://www.whenmeangirlsgrowup.com

Lisa Finerty, Chair, Democrats Abroad - Rome Chapter

Dave Stancliff, freelance journalist

Sam Smith, The Progressive Review

Danny Schechter, http://www.mediachannel.org

Michael Cavlan, Ohio 2004 Recount Official Observer

SEND THIS EMAIL TO THE MEDIA

(Note: you can find an email address at this link)

A current list of this letter's signers can be found http://usacoup.scoop.co.nz/?p=835. 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

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Rady Ananda Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

In 2004, Rady Ananda joined the growing community of citizen journalists. Initially focused on elections, she investigated the 2004 Ohio election, organizing, training and leading several forays into counties to photograph the 2004 ballots. She officially served at three recounts, including the 2004 recount. She also organized and led the team that audited Franklin County Ohio's 2006 election, proving the number of voter signatures did not match official results. Her work appears in three books.

Her blogs also address religious, gender, sexual and racial equality, as well as environmental issues; and are sprinkled with book and film reviews on various topics. She spent most of her working life as a researcher or investigator for private lawyers, and five years as an editor.

She graduated from The Ohio State University's School of Agriculture in December 2003 with a B.S. in Natural Resources.

All material offered here is the property of Rady Ananda, copyright 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009. Permission is granted to repost, with proper attribution including the original link.

"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." Tell the truth anyway.

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