Unfortunately, we can recount Ohio all day long, and even if the results show that Kerry won the state, Bush will still be elected President. How can this be?
The Kerry campaign has finally joined the Libertarian and Green parties in requesting an Ohio recount. However, there’s a problem. The electoral college meets on December 13 and the recount might not even start before then! The earliest that the recount would start would be December 11. If the recount is not complete and certified before the electoral college casts its votes, then the recount is pointless and will have no effect. Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell will not have the election certified until December 6, perhaps later.
You’re smart, you can figure out what this means. The election has been stolen and we have no recourse. All attempts to start the recount early have failed. This is the second time in a row the election has been stolen. Problem is, when the person who stole the election is the President, what can you do?
Earlier I commented that there are four boxes every American should use: the soap box, the ballot box, the jury box and the ammo box. I also said the soap box and ballot box had failed, and the jury box was in a deep coma, perhaps never to recover. The prospect of four years of what Bush has in mind (and I’ll comment on this later) should frighten every red-blooded, blue-blooded, patriotic, dissident, God-fearing, atheist, military-serving, draft-dodging, straight, gay, conservative, liberal, immigrant, native, person living here in these United States.
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anonymous
Dec 04, 2004
Ironically, I’d rather have a President I don’t like who “stole” the electoral college vote BUT WHO WON THE POPULAR VOTE than a President I do like who legitimately won the electoral vote but LOST the popular vote.
I usually don’t like to “break the rules” but if it means respecting the will of the people in a Presidential election I am.
Dump the electoral college.
pluggo
Dec 05, 2004
Ah yes, the popular vote. For one thing, if I remember correctly, Al Gore won the popular vote last time around.
Now, this electoral college, I think, is complete bullshit. Sure, I see the reasoning behind its creation; it’s just obsolete now that people can communicate in microseconds as opposed to weeks.
However, it is still in the Constitution. And the Constitution is the supreme law of the land. So in order to dump the electoral college, a Constitutional amendment is required. As none was made, the electoral college system is still the system we use. If you don’t like it, write your congressional representitave.
Now, back to the popular vote. How was the popular vote tabulated? Exit polls. After all, a real election takes a while (until Dec. 6, in this case) to get counted and certified; we’re Americans, so we demand results NOW. And exit polls are conducted by third parties, who ask people who they voted for. For one thing, people could lie. I can’t think of any reason to do so right now, but I’m sure some people did just to see if they could get away with it- compulsive liars, if you will. I also know people who would vote one way and then tell the exit pollster and everyone else they know they voted the other, because of so-called peer pressure and fear of a lack of acceptance. This is why we have a secret ballot; so people can vote their conscience and not worry how people will look at them later.
The exit polls also are conducted privately, if I remember correctly. I doubt there’s anyone overseeing these things; my guess is that they’re not anywhere near as well-regimented as the real election, and the so-called real election could well have been stolen.
How is this? Bush has connections. He’s probably one of the more politically well-connected people in the world. This doesn’t mean he’s not an idiot, or that he’s a good president, or even that he’s a good person. It just means that he’s well-connected and knows the right people.
Like the Saudis. Bush and his kin receive billions annually in “investments” in their private oil companies and “campaign donations.” As they say, one dollar buys one vote; either through advertising in smear campaigns (which both sides indulged in), or through bribes to election officials. I’ll let you decide the ratio.
Warning: what follows is pure conspiracy theory. It is simply a thought on one possible scenario, which I do not necessarily believe to be true or untrue.
So people responsible for counting in certain key districts modify their results a bit. Just a little; it’s all that’s necessary to steal an election when you just need a simple majority.
Combine this with the rollout of the Diebold election machines. These things leave no paper trail, thus making recounts an impossibility. Not only this, but the election results are reported as a simple number; X votes for candidate A, Y for B, Z for C, etc. Granted, this is the final format necessary for tabulation, but since there is no paper trail, and these machines have been demonstrated time and again to have massive security problems, it would be trivial to essentially tell the machine that the results had been different. And there would be no paper trail to retrieve the actual results, if such foul play were actually detected.
What we’re left with is a system that’s hopelessly outdated that’s trying to graft new technology on to keep things “up-to-date” in such a way that the worst of the technology and the worst of the old system synergize. The new capabilities of the old system simply allow the old system to be even more flawed in even more ridiculous ways.
So, write your representative in congress. Write your senator. Write anyone you can think of who actually has the power to change the system, rather than bitch anonymously on someone else’s blog about the system that you didn’t try to get changed until way after it was too late.
Me, personally, I hate this fucking country. I hate America. I’m not violent; I’m not a terrorist (Oh, wait; thanks to the patriot act, I am a terrorist for simply saying that I hate this FUCKING COUNTRY). My solution, rather than try to fix Rome mid-collapse, is to make for another country. I think there’s too much wrong with this country now for anyone less than a dictator or a complete redesign of the government to fix. Thomas Jefferson has a fairly famous quote with a similar sentiment; he says that every few centuries, there must be a revolution in order to keep a republican (not the party, the form of government) system operational and fair, and that the blood of a few is little sacrifice if it secures liberty. We can see the rot now, can we not? So either change it, shut up, or move out.
Aug 27, 2005
Has America become fascist? The 14 defining characteristics of fascism - IO ERROR
Feb 10, 2006
Ohio recount lawsuit thrown out - Homeland Security or Homeland Stupidity
Anonymous
Dec 31, 2006
You say “Me, personally, I hate this fucking country. I hate America. I’m not violent; I’m not a terrorist (Oh, wait; thanks to the patriot act, I am a terrorist for simply saying that I hate this FUCKING COUNTRY). My solution, rather than try to fix Rome mid-collapse, is to make for another country.”
Which country would you go to? Which one has a better or more fair system of government?
And as for changing this country, would you like to take the power of vote buying away from the politicians? It can be done by enough people pushing to have the “Fair Tax Plan” implemented. Check out Congressman John Lender, he is the sponsor of the bill.
Jan 30, 2007
Ohio poll workers convicted of rigging 2004 recount - Homeland Stupidity