The Silence of the Vote Scams
By Diane Perlman,
www.OpEdNews.com
Few Americans know about the historic event that happened on January
6, 2005, the official date for counting electoral votes. For the
first time since 1877, congressmembers challenged the electoral
count. Representative Stephanie Tubbs-Jones of Ohio, accompanied by
the lone senator, Barbara Boxer of California, led the challenge to
the Ohio vote count. Although massive fraud was reported around the
country, only Ohio was officially cited.
It is curious that an issue so profound and consequential is barely
on the radar screens of most Americans, especially those who
supported Kerry.
Though we are not certain of the actual outcome, statistically
impossible discrepancies exist between results of exit polls and
official counts in counties without paper trails. Also documented
are patterns of anecdotes about corrupted procedures and accounts of
strange behaviors, phenomena and illegal interventions in Ohio,
Florida, Pennsylvania and other places. Many say there is fraud in
every election, but there was far more in 2004 than in any previous
year, and if the errors were random, about half would go in Kerry's
favor. Virtually all went in Bush's favor.
But rather than demanding a thorough investigation, the American
people seem eager to forget the incidents and put the election
behind them, thus implicitly supporting such corruption.
A Political Psychological Puzzlement
Under what conditions do millions of allegedly "free" people
knowingly acquiesce to being deceived, dominated and deprived of
their own political will? How is it that even those who were
politically engaged for the first time resign themselves to an
unjust fate, refusing even to consider what happened to our country?
Why do progressive citizens actively dismiss and even malign a small
group of courageous, devoted people working day and night on their
behalf to uncover, calculate, analyze, and evaluate the extensive,
varied forms of criminal sabotage that undermined their democracy?
How are Americans becoming complacent with escalating fraudulent
activity? In other words, how do so many people live with the
knowledge that they have been tricked before, were just tricked
again--and then submit to life under the power of those who tricked
them?
Why were hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians out for days in the
freezing cold, refusing to accept fraud, while Americans helplessly
colluded with forces of domination? Granted, we face a conspiracy
of silence in the media, a propaganda campaign discrediting exit
polls (which are accurate in counties with paper trails and other
countries), and a dismissal of those who challenge the vote as nuts,
sore losers and "conspiracy theorists." Censorship, brainwashing and
intimidation create an environment of passivity and fear in subtle
yet powerful ways that keep the system going with the complicity of
those who have been robbed.
Another significant reason, pointed out by readers commenting on an
earlier version of this article, was that Yushchenko himself was
bold and courageous about challenging the vote. Unlike Gore, who
discouraged a challenge, and Kerry who backed down easily after
Edwards promised to count every vote, Yushchenko, who was poisoned
and scarred, provided a powerful model of leadership, inspiring his
supporters to be brave as well. The Democratic party itself, except
for the few who lead the challenge, acted cowardly, hardly inspiring
the public. Why should they rise to the challenge if theier maligned
leaders wimped out?
Another reason is that citizens of the Ukraine know their history of
oppresive, deceptive government. Unlike Americans, they are not
inclined to trust the integrity of their leaders and system, and
hunger instensely for justice and the freedoms that we have
enjoyed.
Even with these explanations, we must still wonder what is going on
in the collective psyche that allows mass submission to the
systematic and progressive usurpation of power.
The Dance of Domination
The psychology of electoral domination has two parts--what is being
done to people and how they allow it.
Psychological techniques, used deliberately, allow many tricks to go
unnoticed and unchallenged. For example, "mystification" is a
plausible misrepresentation of reality in which forms of
exploitation are presented as forms of benevolence. Like magic and
the use of distraction, the issue of voting reform was manipulated
and misrepresented, so people felt calmed by the illusion that the
problems from the 2000 election were being corrected. In fact, the
exact opposite is true. Elements of the Help America Vote Act, HAVA
(a name as Orwellian as the Clear Skies Initiative, should be more
accurately called "Hide America's Voting Anomalies"), includes
intrusive identity checks, the introduction of the "provisional
ballot" most of which were not counted, and the use of electronic
voting machines. Each of these was brilliantly misused for the
opposite intention--to corrupt and deny votes to Kerry in ways
people wouldn't notice.
The subterfuge was successfully accomplished with use of censorship,
illusion, distortion, brainwashing, propaganda, misinformation,
disinformation, mystification, intimidation, shaming, and
domination. As Bush might say, it was a "catastrophic success."
These techniques combine to form something like a collective
hypnotic induction, which creates an illusion of a consensus that
cannot be challenged. Few have the insight, training, or tools, to
see through the manipulation. Even fewer have the courage to take on
the challenge. For many, responses to domination may include
disbelief, learned helplessness, psychic numbing, fear, cowardice,
conformity, denial, cognitive laziness, avoidance, and submission to
authority. These items are inter-related and the list is not
exhaustive.
Before the psychological explanations, it is necessary to
acknowledge a basic factor: the overwhelming ignorance of the facts
. This can be exacerbated by a lack of desire to know the facts, and
an avoidance of the awesome responsibility that comes with this
knowledge. Of course if the facts were accurately reported in the
mainstream media, the collective psychological climate would be
conducive to a healthier public response. People accept fraud for
reasons which may be conscious or unconscious. Some of the ways that
they do this are described below.
Confusing Outcome with Process
Many don't want to deal with the corruption because they believe
that challenging fraud won't change the outcome, so there's no
point. This might be a self-fulfilling prophecy. It represents a
kind of immature, black-and-white thinking, as the outcome is a
separate issue from the process. Even if it doesn't affect the
outcome, voter suppression is criminal.
Paradoxically, refusal to examine the process prevents discovery,
which might change the outcome. The Ohio vote challenge required
two-hour debates in the House and Senate. Most Democrats who
supported the challenge, emphatically stated that they didn't expect
it to change the outcome, as if they were intimidated into making
that point first or they would be ridiculed and dismissed. Most
Republicans ignored their actual words and made emotional, even
hysterical accusations of them not accepting the outcome, being sore
losers, and worse. Republicans ignored the issue of voter
suppression and praised Kerry highly for not making a big deal out
of this.
Numbers, Imagery and Perceptions
People believe that Bush won by 3,500,000 votes--a margin too large
to challenge, compared to Gore's 500,000. They are not aware of the
long list of dirty tricks, and knowing of one or two, don't believe
they can add up to 3,500,000. To bring the popular vote to a tie, it
only has to add up to half that, 1,750,000, or an average of 35,000
votes per state, Correcting for Ohio's fraud could change the
electoral vote. People may believe subliminally that even if Ohio
went to Kerry, the difference in the popular vote is too great. The
report of the Conyers Committee may be the best single summary that
we have at this time to suggest estimates of the numbers affected.
Ignorance of Extent of Dirty Tricks
If people knew about the amount and extent of dirty tricks,
3,500,000, or 1,750,000 may not seem so unsurmountable. Some of the
tricks documented include throwing out of Democrat voter
registration forms, broken machines, misplaced machines, machine
errors, reduced numbers of machines in Black and predominantly
Democratic areas, less than in 2002, causing long lines, unmailed
absentee ballots, absentee ballots requesting 86 cents, insufficient
postage, which were returned, certification of more votes than
registered voters in some areas, reversal of percentages of
registered Democrats and votes for Bush in many counties, modem
connected voting machines and tabulators, different standards for
provisional ballot recounts in different areas, many provisional
ballots, also called Â"placebo ballotsÂ", not counted at all, voting
machines defaulting to a Bush or 'jumping' by recording a vote for
Bush when Kerry's button was pushed, phony companies registering
voters and then tearing up the registrations of Democrats but not
Republicans, exit polls not corresponding with reported votes in
counties with no paper trail, while exit polls matched reported
votes in counties with paper trails, voting elections officials
creating what look like phony election machine poll tapes and
tossing original, signed tabulations in the garbage, people posing
as technicians coming in and tampering with machines, Republicans
posing as Democrats, a lock down, refusing to let observers in, with
the excuse of terrorist alert to observe the counting of votes in a
country in Ohio, misinformation about the date and location of
voting in Black neighborhoods, threats of arrest for voters with
traffic tickets or any record, unusual discrepancies between numbers
of votes for Kerry and Democratic candidates on same ticket, and
widespread refusal of media to report on any of these, and a media
campaign trashing exit poll data with made up reasons. And these
are just the ones we know about.
Discomfort with Numbers
The best evidence for fraud in the 2004 election is statistical,
according to Josh Mitteldorf of Temple University's Statistics
Department. Many are uncomfortable with numerical and statistical
science that quantifies judgments about likelihood. For example,
statistician Dr. Steve Friedman of University of Pennsylvania, and
graduate of MIT found that the discrepancy between exit polls and
the actual vote count in each of three states, Florida, Ohio and
Pennsylvania, is 1 in 1,000,000, but the likelihood of all three
states being discrepant in the same direction is 1 in 250,000,000.
What people heard in the news was a smear campaign invalidating the
credibility of exit polls, even though they are considered highly
accurate, are used in many countries as indicators of fraud, and
that exit polls in counties with a paper trail matched the official
vote count, and in counties where there was no paper trail and
evidence of computer irregularities, the official count was
different than the exit polls and always favored Bush. They even
made up fake reasons for this discrepancy regarding response
bias--which did not exist where there were paper trails.
Disbelief
Many people don't believe the allegations of fraud because they
didn't read about it in the New York Times or hear it on CNN. (The
only mainstream media to report it was Keith Olberman on Countdown,
MSNBC.) We might wonder about the media censorship on this story and
intentions to promote disbelief in the populous, in addition to
ignorance.
Conformity and Herd Mentality
Because of the media blackout, ignorance, and emotional tone of
reporting, Americans have a false perception of consensus about
objective reality. The majority conforms to this misperception and
most do not have the psychological make-up to challenge the status
quo. The few that are courageously addressing this are not heard, or
else they are severely shamed, ridiculed and viciously accused of
causing problems. Thus, even the thought of questioning is
suppressed.
Learned Helplessness
Psychologist Martin Seligman's theory of learned helplessness
explains how when one's repeated actions have no effect, people
learn that what they do doesn't make a difference and give up, even
in situations where they can potentially make a difference. People
worked hard on this election and believe that they lost. They are
burned out. They feel all their hard work, time, energy and money
didn't help so they don't want to deal with it. Learned helplessness
is also associated with elevation of levels of cortisol and immune
suppression--suggesting it is ultimately not adaptive or healthy to
give up. Conversely, taking action in the face of injustice is a
sign of health, enhanced immune response and can be an antidote to
depression.
Cowardice
It is reasonable to fear sticking one's neck out and challenging the
powers that be. There may be legitimate reasons to be afraid of
individual action, but this becomes part of the problem and rewards
domination. As long as people remain silent and isolated from one
another, we don't realize the safety implicit in concerted
collective action. The safety in numbers can reduce fear.
Denial and Psychic Numbing
We are comforted with the belief that our leaders are good people
who are protecting us. Many decent, well-meaning people believe the
best about our system of government and democracy and can't believe
that corruption is going on. It is frightening, unsettling, and
intolerable for many Americans to question these core beliefs about
our leaders and to accept the reality of extensive fraud. Also,
ignorance is bliss, but for the moment, and knowledge implies
responsibility, which may be feared and avoided.
Denial and numbing--not knowing and not feeling--protect us
from this painful awareness in the present, but they cannot protect
us from the real effects of these hidden realities which render us
vulnerable to increasing domination and danger in the long term.
If one is in an impossible situation, these habits serve as survival
mechanisms to avoid the pain of awareness. However, if one can do
something to make a difference, then psychic numbing and denial are
maladaptive.
Submission to Authority
The thought of challenging powerful, dominating authority with the
prospect of losing is overwhelming. Increasing authoritarianism
reinforces this dynamic in gradual, subtle ways. Some may also be
afraid of challenging a president during a war and falsely believe
it will harm national security.
Political Egocentrism
Many feel that there is no action that they can personally take on
this level. It is too big for them, so they don't even seek out
information or support or value the work that others are doing on
their behalf.
Avoidance and Compartmentalization
People want to retreat, to focus on their own survival, family,
daily life and pleasure, which are manageable. They are less focused
on the scary bigger picture. This is completely understandable and
even enviable. Furthermore, those struggling with high unemployment,
lower wages, and other hardships created by the Bush administration
are too preoccupied with their survival issues to pay attention to
politics. In this way, disempowerment of certain segments of the
population works to the administration's advantage.
Evolution, Adaptation and Survival
All of these reactions are understandable, but all become part of
the problem. In the short run, they may minimize pain, but in the
long run they are counterproductive and serve to magnify and
multiply problems that are not being faced. Such avoidance
mechanisms are not adaptive, as they play into the game of the
destructive forces, allowing them to dominate. The continuation of
the processes of systematic domination requires the ignorance,
passivity and complicity of the majority of decent people, including
the millions who supported Kerry. These people are colluding with
their own domination.
The Courageous Minority
The reactions listed above are completely natural. Carl Jung said
that consciousness is a work against nature. To go against the
collective tide of ignorance, conformity and cowardice is a work
against nature taken on by the courageous few. This collective,
archetypal drama described by Jung was popularized by Joseph
Campbell in The Hero's Journey. The Hero is the one who is willing
to take on challenges that most people fear. According to Jung, the
hero archetype represents the progressive force in society.
The people I have witnessed working intensely to investigate and
challenge voter fraud, have a particular psychological profile. They
are courageous and willing to face pain and fear. They call up their
strength to challenge authority, as our lives, our freedom and
democracy depend on it. They are unable to deny what is going on or
remain silent. They are heroes in our mythical, archetypal Hero's
journey, willing to face the dragons who are guarding our "National
Treasure."
They are acknowledged in a piece by William Rivers Pitt called
"Heroes" on Truthout.org. Pitt quotes Bob Dylan: "I think of a hero
as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes
with his freedom."
Only by facing the pain can we transcend it. Consciousness is the
first step. Action is an antidote to depression. It would be a sign
of health, freedom, and conscious evolution if more people could
muster up the courage to face the painful truth of what is happening
in our country and support the great work of those courageous
souls--who are not nuts or conspiracy theorists, but evolved,
conscious, healthy leaders taking personal risks and sacrifices to
elevate our democracy, restore our integrity and ultimately to
increase our security on the world stage ... if we let them.
*****************
Some Links for Detailed Accounts of Voter Fraud
For a proper psychological understanding of suppression, it is
necessary to recognize the quantity and quality of information being
suppressed. The extent of fraud and ignorance of it are
mind-boggling. Below are some links with detailed information.
Links for detailed information about voter fraud
http://www.auditthevote.org/briefing.jsp
A Guide to Ohio and New Mexico Recounts: Statistical Anomalies and
Evidence of Voting Machine Malfunction and Fraud in the 2004
Presidential Election January 5, 2005
By: Audit the Vote and Help America Recount
http://www.helpamericarecount.org/election.html
Analysis of 2004 Election Irregularities
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/123004B.shtml
TV Networks Officially Refuse to Release Exit Poll Raw Data
By Gary Beckwith, The Columbus Free Press, 22 December 2004
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0103-32.htm
Thom Hartmann in "Dialing for Democracy--Now Is Critical January 3,
2005, CommonDreams.org
http://nightweed.com/usavotefacts.html
20 Amazing Facts About Voting in the USA
http://www.votersunite.org/info/mapflyer2004.htm
Partial list of incidents reported in the news
http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2005/1065
by Bob Fitrakis, Steve Rosenfeld and Harvey Wasserman
 � Newtopia Magazine
Reprinted from Newtopia Magazine:
http://www.newtopiamagazine.net/modules.php?
op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=12
Diane
Perlman, Ph.D. 202 775 0777 cell 610 667 6703
ninedots@aol.com www.consciouspolitics.org
www.humanchainreaction.org
* Licensed clinical psychologist Individual, couple, family
therapy, Jungian therapy, trauma, EMDR psychoneuroimmunology
* Political psychologist
* Co-chair, Committee on Global Violence and Security
Division 48, the Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict and
Violence of the American Psychological Association
Psychologists for Social Responsibility
* Member, Global Council, Abolition Now
* Member, TRANSCEND Peacebuilders Practitioner Network
* Roster of Experts, Institute for Public Accuracy
* Fellow, The Solomon Asch Center for the Study of Ethnopolitical
Conflict
* Author in The Psychology of Terrorism, Â"Intersubjective Dimensions
of Terrorism and its TranscendenceÂ"
* Senior Fellow, Global Dialogue Institute
* Research Associate, the Citizens Panel on Ultimate Weapons at the
Center on Violence and Human Survival.
* Founding member and Research Associate, The Transcending Trauma
Project
* Speaker for Physicians for Social Responsibility in the 1980s and
1990s
* Media Task Force, Psychotherapists for Social Responsibility
an earlier version of this article was published on Newtopia Magazine
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