a sense of hope on the side of the Democrats, the Republicans
will retain the House and Senate this November. Why? The GOP and their
corporate allies have control and the security of the voting machines we
have been forced to use without our consent.
The most fundamental and primary consideration for this country, and the
world, is voter disenfranchisement and fraud in the vote count. This crime
occurred in 2000 and 2004 and nothing has changed for this election or
2008. Ohio and Florida are being stolen again, and other states are vulnerable.
On a near daily basis, the fraud and corruption of the voting machines is
now being exposed for what it really is: a GOP power play to monopolize
all aspects of voting.
The system now in place was created by a corporate/government program
called Help America Vote Act, which is essentially a federally mandated
program of vote counting, without any independent security oversight, done
by machines made and controlled by GOP supporters, including Diebold,
whose CEO publicly guaranteed Ohio to Bush in 2004. That was the
presidency and they knew it. But, none of the $3.9 billion HAVA funding
may be used to purchase new punch card machines or to update an existing
punch card system. In simple terms, there is no verifiable vote counting
process in these machines or in this GOP controlled process, nor are other
systems permitted!
voting machine. Burger King can count the number of french fries sold
daily, and all other major industrial countries have accurate and fair
voting systems, but we do not. This is intentional.
The question, then, should be asked, what is the purpose of government and
who controls it? The corporations or the people? Lincoln wrote,
"Government of the people, by the people and for the people...shall not
perish."
Well, folks, this administration is not for the people and we are
perishing. Not one single piece of legislation has been passed willingly
by the GOP where the people benefit over profit. The charade of helping
America vote is in fact a velvet coup d'etat, ignoring what this country
was founded on: no taxation without representation. The Declaration of
Independence reminds us, "Governments....deriving their just powers from
the consent of the governed"
We have no representation if we can't vote, and the consent of the
governed has been hijacked by GOP/corporate/government manipulation under
the guise of fair voting.
The freedom our forefathers fought for has been prostituted by no bid
private profiteering, our values and ideals perverted, our resources
plundered, our treasury emptied and our hopes dashed by corporate greed
lubricated with this administrations's planning and collaboration.
Solution? Today, and tomorrow, and the day after, ask every official
representing you, from the local city council to federal senators, for
emergency legislation for this coming election requiring that all voting
equipment produce a paper record that lets voters verify how they voted,
regardless of the cost or inconvenience, and to decertify the voting
machines in their current configuration, as they are attempting to do in
Colorado.
Do not relent. Create a groundswell. If enough towns, cities, counties
and states refuse to accept this stranglehold, we will make a difference.
Ultimately, this outcry will go up the political foodchain, forcing a fair
federal system of vote counting.
It is time to take this country back, demanding NOW that the charade for
this November's election cannot continue under the current stacked deck.
Anything less is acceptance of what Mussolini called Fascism, "... the
merger of State and Corporate Power."
Please make me wrong, please make this column incorrect.
Stuart Kiehl is a resident of Sonoma County, CA.
