Events and personalities are combining in ways that point to a very strong showing by the Democrats next month. With the last debate scheduled for this evening, it appears that Obama has calmed the fears of the late tuners-in that he might be too Other. So the competition for the White House is now mainly a prism for viewing the Senate races.
If, that is, the election isn’t stolen again.
Greg Palast and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. believe that the 2008 elections have already been stolen. What’s an American to do given these circumstances? They suggest: “Steal it back”.[…]
Those who are at most risk for having their vote stolen are new voters, people of color, low-income, elderly and swing state voters, Palast told Truthout.
In 2006, Palast says that 40 percent of citizens who were purged from the voter rolls in California had Islamic, Vietnamese, Chinese and Hispanic names. These names were at most risk for misspellings.
The Steal Back Your Vote Guidelines promote the importance of going to the secretary of state Web site for your state to confirm that you are registered ahead of the election.
So make sure you’re registered, eh?
The local Republican party here in my part of Pennsylvania sent me a very confusing form that could easily have kept me off the ballot. However, I included a letter than could not make it any clearer where I now lived. My wife did not even get hers, even though that is required when you apply for a state driver's license. She applied for her new drivers license about 7 months ago. So we went to the voting office to clear the problem up. The local Cumberland County election folks blamed it on Pendot. If I had bothered to call Pendot, I'm sure they would have told me that it was Cumberland Counties fault. The nice thing is that I'm a lawyer and come from a place more than 50 miles from any flagpole in Pennsylvania. And they have no idea what I've done in the past or what I may now do or not do and what I may do in the future. It is enjoyable just being a witness rather than a lawyer involved in the prosecution of such crimes.
However, these crimes need to prosecuted from the highest to the lowest levels. Our Democracy is at stake. And if Democratic officials are engaging in it, they should be prosecuted as well. But all these ACORN complaints are just silly. They might be registering Mickey Mouse because some creep makes up names to get that dollar, but Mickey Mouse doesn't show up to vote. Those who engage in that kind of conduct need to be prosecuted as well. The lower level crooks need to be required to do hundreds of hours of public service and the upper level ones need to be fined enough to bankrupt them. Some just need to be given lengthy jail terms. That's the only way to stop the shenanigans. A bipartisan committee that has a reputation for honoring country over party needs to be chosen to do the work to set up the legislation to be forced upon the Congress.
John McCain praised the Acorn organization two years ago. Now they are the devil incarnate according to his supporters.
I'd like to think that most people will go to the trouble to jump through the all the hoops required to make sure they're able to vote. I doubt that many will, but the ones that do could make the difference in an election where one side (and sometimes the other) believes that cheating is honorable when it comes to voting. That needs to change in this country and it needs to be done swiftly and without too much compassion towards those who engage in the practice. Letting one side set the agenda for prosecution is not the answer. The Republicans have proved that they like cheating, as long as it favors their candidates. The evidence of that conduct is overwhelming. And it's been going on at least since Chief Justice Rehnquist was a young man.
The Republicans picked up on it when it was common in the Democratic party years ago (not so much now), but they have made it an art form and don't even try to hide what they're doing. When the ax falls, a good many heads are going to roll.
David Iglesias, who knows a lot about the topic, is mad: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/iglesias_im_astounded_by_dojs.php
Posted by: Joyful Alternative on October 17, 2008 11:15 AM