It Is Time To Stand Up For Democracy; This is not about party. It's about country.
By Anthony Wade
December 25, 2004
Four years ago this country stood at the crossroads of democracy. The new president had been appointed, by a partial Supreme Court, instead of elected by the will of the people. In early January, Congress was in session to accept the electors. Congressperson after Congressperson stood up for democracy and said they objected to the election, due to the obvious appearance of rampant fraud. Due to government rules, the Vice President at the time, Al Gore, presided over the session and had to ask if there was one Senator who would be willing to stand up and object with them. There was not one Senator that day brave enough to simply do their job and stand up for democracy, not one.
Four years later we find ourselves at these crossroads again. Seemingly, our entire democracy is teetering on a precipice, ready to fall toward fascism. The fraud that is apparent in the 2004 election puts the 2000 election to shame. Rigged machines, cheat sheets for recounts, widespread minority vote suppression, and outright thuggery are not only apparent, they are being documented, thanks to the courageous work of John Conyers and his refusal to bow to the powers that be and truly represent the people who elected him to do so. So, here we stand, on that precipice on Christmas Eve, a few weeks away from redemption. On January 6th, 2005, Congress will convene as they did four years ago and it will be time again to see if there is anyone left in the Senate who is willing to stand up for democracy. Just one will do.
It appears that there will be at least 13 members of Congress who will boldly stand up and say the obvious, that this election is not valid. The rules state however, that there must be at least one Senator to join them in their objection. Just one. The pro-Bush mainstream media has done their level best to pretend Votergate 2004 is not happening. We have hours on end to pontificate about Scott and Lacey, or the election fraud in the Ukraine, but no coverage of the Congressional hearings that cut to the very heart of our republic. It is a sham, and it is a shame. Regardless, they cannot continue forever. On January 6th, 2005, they will not only have to report it, but explain where they have been for two months on the most important story in modern political history.
We are not talking about sore losers, or wild-eyed conspiracy theories. We are talking about willful, purposeful attempts to defraud the nation. We are talking about statistical improbabilities. We are talking about voter suppression on a grand scale. Votergate 2004 started out silently enough, people noticing anomalies here and there. As it grew though there became the obvious feeling that something far more egregious was going on. The Secretary of State for Ohio was also the State Chair for the reelection of George W. Bush, a clear conflict of interest. Mr. Blackwell made his intentions known early on, before the election, when he tried to use an archaic 1800's law to discount voter registrations due to paper weight. While that attempt to suppress was thrown out of court, Blackwell persisted. Democratic precincts were purposefully understaffed, and provided with fewer machines than comparable republican precincts. The purpose was clear. To cast a vote in a pro-Bush area would be a 15 minute excursion. To cast a vote a minority district however, would be a nightmare. At this link you will see a brief documentary, taken on Election Day, from various precincts that experienced this mass voter suppression:
Watching this video leaves you no doubt that the plans of Ken Blackwell worked quite well on Election Day. This is not how democracy is supposed to work. Someone needs to answer for this, and that someone is Ken Blackwell. Not content with disenfranchising votes, Mr. Blackwell has continued to stonewall Congress and delay any fair opportunity to investigate these problems. He has never responded to 36 questions asked of him by Congressman Conyers and has instead had the gall to pretend that he can dictate to Congress. This has all led to depositions being served this week to Bush, Cheney, Karl Rove and Ken Blackwell, compelling them to give testimony under oath to their knowledge of these matters.
What is the response from Kenneth Blackwell? In his consistently weaselesque manner, he had the Ohio State Attorney General's Office, which is republican, say that any attempt to put Blackwell under oath would be "harassment". For those of you, who do not speak the dialect of the weasel, allow me to translate. "Any attempt to get Mr. Blackwell to tell the truth, will not be tolerated". There can be no doubt at this point that Kenneth Blackwell is a liar and he is trying desperately to cover up the fraud that he and his office perpetrated. If there was no fraud, then he would not be as resistant, it really is that simple.
Moving beyond the pre-election day fraud/voter suppression and the post election day cover up attempts, we also have apparent fraud within the recount process as well. In Fairfield County, we had the 3% test sample not match the official vote totals, which demands a full recount under Ohio law. Blackwell however decided to simply suspend and scrap that recount and restart it another day. The Green Party members of the recount were ejected from the building while the republican faction was allowed to stay. In Summit County observers were not allowed close enough to actually observe the recount and threatened with expulsion if they even spoke with the counting teams. In Medina County the selection of the counties to recount were not randomly selected and instead were chosen because they had already been recounted for another contest. In Cuyahoga County witnesses' state that the order of the ballots were nowhere near random, clearly implying that the ballots had been handled prior to the recount. In Huron County the punchcard tabulator test was only observed by republican witnesses, the day before the recount was to actually start. Lastly, in Henry and Fulton Counties, it was discovered that the Triad Company can reprogram voting machines using remote connection, which calls the entire process into question (source - Common Dreams News Center).
This last issue has prompted Congressman Conyers to write a letter to Triad demanding they answer questions related to their remote control of the election machines. All of these circumstances have led to electors in at least five states to call for a congressional investigation of voting violations during the Nov. 2 election for president. It seems that a great many people have taken notice of Votergate, even if the mainstream media still blacks it out. People from all over this country have stood up for democracy, and you can too. It is imperative that we let our Senators know that it is time for them to stand up for democracy or be held to account when they are up for reelection. You can contact them by phone, via the Congressional switchboard: 202-224-3121 or 800-839-5276. Just ask for your Senators. Doing a simple web search will also get you their email, which is another great way to get the point across that we expect no less from our elected officials than to protect our right to vote fairly. We also need to call and write our media and tell them that if they persist in ignoring the theft of democracy that they too can be held to account by a simple boycott.
This country stands at the crossroads again. In two weeks it appears that there will be 13 brave Congresspersons who will take a stand for democracy. We need just one Senator to stand up. Just one. One Senator who can put aside the business as usual politics and simply stand up for the American people and the sanctity of their vote. One Senator to carefully back us away from the precipice. I have heard people on the right cry foul. I have heard them scream sore losers and I would say to them now, save it. This is not about party, it is about country.
Anthony Wade is co-administrator of a website devoted to educating the populace to the ongoing lies of President George W. Bush and seeking his removal from office. He is a 37-year-old independent writer from New York with political commentary articles seen on multiple websites. A Christian progressive and professional Rehabilitation Counselor working with the poor and disabled, Mr. Wade believes that you can have faith and hold elected officials accountable for lies and excess.
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Email Anthony: takebacktheus@gmail.com
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