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Useful links this week:
Ohio Recount Steeped in Fraud The presidential vote recount in Ohio is over - or is it? The Green and Libertarian Party candidates who paid for the recount may have a claim of fraud against election officials and at least one voting machine company. If they can't get a new recount, they ought to at least get their money back. Help Send our Reporter to the Counter-Inaugural Events Here's what happened. Any Ohio county did not have to do a full hand recount if a random sample of three percent of the ballots in their county matched the original count. The first fraud count: Not all the counties, if any, pulled the test precincts at random, nor did they allow the trained observers to see how the test precincts were selected. Democracy Week Commentary The progressive and peace community is still a bit dazed and confused, as if we had all awakened on November 3 with some sort of emotional disorder: a dissociative problem of some kind, where our own country seems like someone else's Spain under Franco, and our own family members seem oblivious to the rising waters; "Don't all the young people look nice in uniform?"; It is that moment when one doesn't know whether to continue arguing or to simply fall into a glassy-eyed stare, as if behind a martini and too much dark information. Going on is what everybody says must be done, and what nobody feels much like doing. Shall we pass some election reforms, get another cosponsor for the Department of Peace, stand up for our Bill of Rights in our city council chamber? Or shall we just try to meet Rick and Ilsa at the Paris train station and head for some mental Marseille? Do we have the libido in us to see this New Year as a bouncing baby 1776, or is it a defunct 1937 cabaret? Are we energized Tea Party Indians, or Dietrichs longing to be alone with our memories--Kennedy's promised America, the Great Society, the New Deal, honest elections, such as they were? Oh, but the CIA was always out assassinating these Guevarras and Allendes and Kennedys and Kings and Wellstones and the emerging people's movements of the world anyway, so vats ze use? America has always been abottoir and executioner and enabler of Sauds and Husseins and Pinochets, no? Depression of the soul operates by blacking out the love and the positives and smirking behind another martini. There is always enough information to justify any mood one falls into. If 1776, we have voices that resonate with all that: William Rivers Pitt and Ronnie Dugger walk Boston streets today. The inquiring, investigating, white-angry newsroom of the Columbus Free Press reminds us that such things are still possible. The organizations that bring us together to protest, to fund efforts, to give voice to an ever more marginalized Common Sense are still here, and not sent into hiding just yet - though we hear the tanks squeaking nearer. It is now quite clear that, if everyone who wanted to vote in November was allowed to vote, and if every vote was counted properly, the move toward fascism would have been stemmed. It is also clear that it was not bumbling errors that prevented an honest election, but creative, purposeful work by many people dedicated to the hard work of disenfranchising millions of Americans. The most troubling aspect of this is that they have no shame about it; they admit it openly and proudly. If you want to be frightened for the future of this country, that is all you need to know. Read More by David Swanson January 3, 2005 -- The Cleveland Federation of Labor is sending busloads of demonstrators to a rally in Columbus, Ohio, today to take part in a protest of election fraud in the 2004 presidential election. As detailed below, there is strong evidence of vote theft in Ohio. But to anyone who gets their news from a television or from most print media, these protesters are kidding themselves or kidding the rest of us, but certainly they are not onto anything worthy of investigation. Last week I received this Email from the Columbus Dispatch: "Dear Mr. Swanson: Two months after the election, an editor at ground zero was (seriously or sarcastically) asking a stranger and an amateur to tell him from Washington where the fraud had occurred. I immediately sent him a reply.1 And I didn't hear anything further. I expect the Dispatch and probably the Associated Press (AP) will cover today's rally, albeit in the way they would cover a disliked visiting sports team. They'll dismiss the concerns of disenfranchised voters in a very wise manner, but they won't actually investigate any of the charges of election fraud - not if they adhere to the practices established by the media over the past two months. When forced to talk about ethics, media big shots often insist that they draw no conclusions. They endlessly reported Dick Cheney's claims that Saddam Hussein was behind the attacks of September 11, 2001, but it would not have been their place to label that a "conspiracy theory." When it comes to election fraud in Ohio and other U.S. states, on the other hand, the media has jumped straight to reporting that it's all a "conspiracy theory" before ever reporting any of the facts.2 The Bush Administration has recently presented the media with a nutty theory that our Social Security system is broken, which the media in turn has3 presented to us as established fact.4 But to anyone who reads more than just the news that's fit to print, it's our election system that has broken down. [Continued] JANUARY 6 On January 6 th, 2005 Congress will meet in joint session to certify the 2004 presidential election. On that day, if one member of the House and one member of the Senate object to the certification of the vote, then all members of Congress will finally discuss these issues. On January 6, 2001, not a single Senator would join with the Representatives who demanded an inquiry into the Florida recount. This year, let's make our Senators take a stand! Join Medea Benjamin, John Bonifaz, David Cobb, Congressman John Conyers (invited), Alysia Fischer, George Friday, Rev. Jesse Jackson (invited), Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (invited), Rev. Lennox Yearwood and many others as we: Rally at 10:00 a.m. in Lafayette Park across from the White House. We will then march to Capitol Hill to join with others at the U.S. Capitol at noon. Inaugural Protests Planned "Public" space along Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C. will, for the occasion of the Bush-Cheney inaugural parade on January 20, become tightly-controlled private space, with police turning away protesters in favor of corporate sponsors. Protesters are nevertheless planning to attend, officialdom’s lapse of etiquette and constitutionality notwithstanding. The D.C. Antiwar Network (DAWN) is planning a 9am counter-inauguration rally in D.C. at Malcolm X Park, 16 th St. NW & Euclid. Details http://www.dawndc.net/ For rides to Washington, housing, and information about other counter-inaugural events in D.C. and around the nation, click HERE. http://www.counter-inaugural.org/ The ANSWER Coalition, an antiwar, pro-justice group that was heavily involved in organizing protests against the US attack on Iraq, is hoping to occupy space along the parade route. They are encouraging protesters to arrive before 9am at a location yet unannounced. The group’s lawyers are working to secure permits but have been unsuccessful for nearly a year. Details http://www.ANSWERcoalition.org Other groups are planning to seed the crowd with people who will not carry signs, but who will turn their backs on Mr. Bush when his motorcade approaches. Some will likely reveal banners or shirts as they do so. Details http://www.turnyourbackonbush.org WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19 - TAKOMA - WASHINGTON, DC - 8PM The amazing performance poet Chris Chandler performs his biting political and social satire in this Counter-inaugural concert with David Rovics at The Electric Maid - 228 Carrol Ave - Adjacent from the Takoma Metro Stop, admission: $5-20. Can't make it to the show? Here is Chris' tour schedule . You can also sign up for his ever-so-insightful "Muse and Whirled Retort" e-mail newsletter here. You'll enjoy hearing of Chris' regular brushes with Americana as he continues his 14(?) year tour across the county. If you want to hear Chris now, check out these cuts from his latest CD, "Live from the Wholly Stolen Empire." NEXT WEEK'S FEATURES: Democracy Week is a common calendar and toolbox for the progressive community, launched by Doris "Granny D" Haddock and volunteers associated with her efforts. Watch it grow each week into a resource to make the next four years imaginable and even a bit joyful. You can be a part of our team! We need experienced activists in every part of the US to serve as volunteer calendar coordinators. Please send us a note if you are willing to participate: Yes@DemocracyWeek.org Subscriptions to Democracy Week are free, but we welcome financial contributions to help us with the costs of publishing Democracy Week. Click here to donate. Home - Past Issues - eCards - Classifieds - Blog Spot - Free Subscription - About Us |
