Voter registration fraud (US)

Have all of you in the US heard about this? Republican-backed voter registration companies destroying / throwing out forms from Democratic registrants:

http://www.alternet.org/election04/2004/10/002569.html
http://www.alternet.org/election04/20183/
http://www.blueoregon.com/2004/10/whats_up_with_t.html
http://communique.portland.or.us/04/10/the_convoluted_story_on_voter_registration_fraud.html

Its disgusting and makes me furious.

Smells like Rove.

Well, that makes it official. Bush will win. The complot machinery is already hard at work.

The I-Team and Internet blogs <- Great source for news. Fill 'em at 11.


-tito

It's not over 'till it's over Tito.

Well, hey. Why play fair, when you can win, instead?

Is that you Chance?

Could be Card too.

All this makes me sick. Since the United States became the only world power, its become one greedy SOB (yes I live in it). Because of this, the United States has ignored its friends, allies, AND the U.N. which for so long it has been a partner of. Now, since apparently with this Bush character in charge, we don't need the U.N anymore. Hmm.. makes me wonder if there wasn't a U.N., we wouldn't be here today.

Anyway, politics is driving me up the wall with alls the Bush camp says 'well he said this and he said that blah blah blah blah blah' CRY ME A RIVER for cryin out loud. I must admit Kerry is well spoken and addresses most issues.

When it's to be said that the U.N is called upon to monitor 'OUR' elections, there is definately a serious problem.

(end of rant)

I think what scares me more is that your nation won't let the UN monitor your 'elections'.

The democrats are also scoring many victories to make sure they can get some fraud of their own going on:

In Ohio, Democrats succesfully fought for the right for ANY voter to go to ANY polling location in their COUNTY. If the voter is in the right county, even if they are at the wrong polling place, they can vote.

The county I live in has at least 30 polling places, probably much more. All I have to do is show up at each of them with my driver's license showing that I live in this county and I can vote at each and every single one of them.

Yay Democrats!

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/10/14/155324.shtml

A few random thoughts for the disaffection evident in the above post...

The US is no "greedier" than it was at the end of WW2 when it essentially inherited the role of Big Brother from the dying/dead French and British empires. With Europe in tatters and Japan essentially gutted, there were only two powers in the world and a third on the rise... Who basically bankrolled the FreeWorld for over half a century since then - the US did. There is a huge academic body of argument that the UN was essentially a sop/bribe to the vanquished and pale-shadows-of-what-they-once-were nations to go along with our (US) assumption of the role of world leader against the Red Menace. WE created the UN... not Britain, France, Russia or China. The UN could have been created without any of thier participation but not without ours - and WE have bankrolled it ever since. It's always been a toothless organization claiming a moral high ground even above freedoms and guarantees within American society.

I have yet to see any other nation stake a legitimate claim to the argument "we could do better". If they have, I missed it and I certainly haven't seen any evidence of it. UN oversight of our election process? Why? Our own media will subvert any chance at an "honest" election just as it has (and has been manipulated into) made honest campaigning a joke. Through snapshot journalism purporting to represent the entirety of the campaign and election process, faith in our system has eroded so much over just the period of my lifetime that my parents barely recognize it as the election system they grew up with (of course, my Mother told me she used to think that FDR was President for life!).

"This Bush character in charge" deserves the respect of being in the Office if nothing else. Neither you nor I truly have any concept of the difficulties of actually fulfilling the duties of the position. Have a little respect why don't you?

I will cry you a river for the inanity of your "I must admit Kerry is well spoken and addresses most issues" comment. Hitler was well-spoken so that only proves being well-spoken can get you elected to a national office, not anything about your ability to actually serve in the office. Personally, I disagree that he is well-spoken, but that's a different question.

I am pretty tired of all the US bashing going on ... People make up the US and the US is NOT our leaders and our leaders alone. Hell, I've been spat on by my fellow citizens just because I wore a uniform for Christ's sake. If there is a better system elsewhere, and this is not directed at Einsman personally, and you don't like what is going on here, either run for office yourself or go elsewhere. If you aren't a US citizen and you want to criticize the US system, go for it. Your opinion of our system doesn't f'ing matter - that is a simple fact. Deal with it.

And if you are Canadian... eat your heart out. We are what Canada has aspired to be but can't because of its location, resources and lack of population. It is only natural that Canada has a love-hate relationship with the US.. We are literally the richer next door neighbor with toys you can't afford but like to borrow... including a good portion of your national poltical, legal and social history, not to mention commerce. That's right, eh? Get over it.

I know this post is gonna tick people off. It's been a bad day .. I've let this sit on my screen for five full minutes after I wrote it. I decided to send it anyway. Tough.

Our system is what it is. The election process is what it is. Beleive what you want. Deal with it.

Or like someone once said.... "With friends like these, who needs enemies?"

Israel and Britain (and maybe Canada (half of it) and Australia) are the only nations that are and have always been our friends, through good times and bad times. In my book, fair weather friends are no friends of mine.

The U.N. even though mostly funded by US taxpayers, has always been a pulpit for bashing the USA. It has no power and no say. Rogue nations ignore it. Another 'League of Nations'. A waste.

Is this deja vu or am I living through the second coming of the Age of Aquarius?

-tito

Hey, I live in Chicago. I know everything about vote fraud!

D A L E Y

-tito

I saw a sneak preview of Team America (funny movie!) and one of the many funny scenes is Hans Blix and his conversation with Kim Jong Il.



You can see the whole scene here: http://www.moviecitynews.com/arrays/media/2004/team_america2.html

That's pretty much all the power the UN wields anymore -- letter writing. They wrote hundreds of letters to Saddam. He probably used them as toilet paper.

Uhm excuse ME! I AM A FREAKIN US CITIZEN. I know what these clowns are doing and I know where the US is headed. For the reasons of your posts is just simply slander and it goes no where without bringing points. You obviously do NOT know me and automatically assume I'm just making up my own judgement call. For what its worth, people like you need to get a grip and see the light. Cause if you don't the United States will go back to what Germany was back in 1933, it's happening all over again. The parallels are staggering.

Not to mention, because of this post YOU kind SIR, have no idea what I'm going through right now so I can have any freakin opinion I want about my country that I can spit out. When you have kids and suddenly find yourself in a situation where YOU can be DRAFTED because of idiotic people in the presidency, then you might want to think twice before posting.

I AM AN AMERICAN! I WANT MY FREEDOM BACK!

This will brighten your day.... O Reilly done for sexual harrassment.. maybe they can rename his show to 'O'Reilly Fucked Her' - then again even though I work in News the only news show I watch is The Daily Show (along with the other pinhead-stoner-idiot-slackers -- according to O'Reilly Himself).

Keep your chin up Eins... when Fox News decides to cover Baseball over a Presidential Debate, you know things can't be as bad as people think.

Side note : I know here in Nevada (on NBC) all the info of how you can still vote on the federal election, even if you were a victim of this scam, has been put out... Not the end of the world, and certainly not the last thing we'll here on the 2004 Presidential Flying Circus.

Siggy.

Yeah? Well, enjoy your killer bees, suckers!

I specifically said " this is not directed at Einsman personally". I never claimed to know what you are going through - and that has nothing to do with what I responded to. Lastly, unfortunately the word "you" as I used it above swaps back and forth between the personal and the collective - sorry for the inherent confusion that may have caused.

I simply responded to the disaffection in your (and other's) post(s).

I HAVE been in a position of being drafted - my draft number WAS 62. What IS yours? Right. I didn't think you had one. No US citizen alive today is under the real threat of being drafted - there is no current legislation saying that the US will conduct even a preliminary lottery today much less an actual draft tomorrow.

Your opinion obviously differs from mine. I think your reasoning is a bit flawed logically - filled with post-modernist parallels which exist only in the imagination. For example, your argument "the United States will go back to what Germany was back in 1933, it's happening all over again. The parallels are staggering" is absolutely flawed in its basic logical and semantic constructions. You can't go back to something/place you have never experienced. The US has never resembled Germany of the 1930s in the sense I must assume you are suggesting (storm troopers, ChristalNachts, etc.).

As for "idiotic people in the presidency", there's an unbiased and well-constructed argument. I can't think of a single time where an idiot has been elected President. Now, I have disagreed with almost every President in office during my lifetime on one issue or another - sometimes quite vehemently. Despite that, I always gave them the respect due their having risen to the position and actually doing the job to the extent they did.

"P)eople like you(me) need to get a grip and see the light"? I have been to the mountaintop and I have seen the light - and your statements/argument are not what I saw. Where you see darkness I see light. Where you see real argument, I see emtpy polemic.

You are an American who wants your freedom back? What freedom don't you have today that you held yesterday? Come on. Get real.

Which obviously justifies throwing out voter registrations. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, and George W. gets his instructions directly from the Lord. (He does.)

Besides.

This isn't illegal. And I'm surprised the conservatives haven't said so. If you trust someone else to register to vote, that's your problem.

Aaron, your proper response would have been "WAAAH CRYBABY DEMOCRATS, CRY ME A RIVER!"

Once again, the bigger bully in the schoolyard has won. As it was, as it always shall be.

But that's OK, because really all I want is a government handout, for "The Terrorists" to win, and to ban the Bible.

Bush will win, because the conservatives throw harder punches and kick liberals in the nuts better than we do, to them. That's what wins an election. Cowboy boots and cojones. (And perhaps a torrid description of a wet vagina by Mr. "There Are No Protections for Famous People" O'Reilly.) The issues are just fluff.

I'm not voting for Bush, but I'm not fooling myself for a nanosecond that he isn't going to win. Of course he is. I mean just LOOK at how HOT Ann Coulter looks in leather next to a blackboard. And Kerry IS orange.

People act so SHOCKED at shit like republicans throwing away democratic registrations.

.... If you have a republican help you register to vote, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU EXPECT HIM TO DO? I don't think I know a single Republican on EARTH who wouldn't tear up a Liberal ballot if he had the chance.

This is simply the way the game is played.

If you want to vote,

1. REGISTER EARLY.
2. REGISTER WITH A TRUSTED OFFICIAL.
3. VERIFY YOUR REGISTRATION
4. REVERIFY YOUR REGISTRATION.
5. REVERIFY YOUR POLLING PLACE.

Why any Dem would let a Right-Winger even TOUCH their paperwork is beyond me. After all, you CAN spot Republicans by how they look. Don't tell me that you can't. So far I'm something like 5000 for 5000.

---

P.S.: Truly, the only reason I'm a liberal is because I wish I was born white and male. Honestly, my mud-race brain just can't grasp the shining glory of Their God, compared to my false one.

Gotta get back to killing babies and converting children to Lesbianism, Organic Foods, and as Frank Zappa would say, "prackitin' Ritchcraft..."

The End Days are almost here already, so who the hell cares at this point. Sheep go to heaven, goats go to hell. (The barber will give you a haircut, the carpenter will take you out to lunch.) This election is done. Move along. Watch more TV. (Like the new hit show "WifeSwap", by us here at the Spin Zone at ABC.)

According to most of the country, Things are The Way They Ought To Be. Ayn Rand, eat your heart out.


60%-80% of this post was cynicism. I report, you fucking decide.

How about the right to not be detained by my government without charges or access to legal counsel for indefinite periods of time? Or maybe the right to be notified if the police search my home? How about the police actually needing a warrant before they can search? Another good one might be the ability to attend a speech given by a presidential candidate without having to sign a loyalty oath. Einsman might be overstating things a bit, but if you don't think the seeds of fascism are growing in this country you might want to take the rose colored glasses off.

Sigh. Okay. Check your historical facts.

The US Government, despite domestic propaganda in the form of idealistic history books, has a long history of doing just such things as you are speaking of - since the earliest days of the Republic. State and local governments as well, and not only in the Reconstruction Era South, routinely acted in ways far from the democratic ideals of the US Constitution. That doesn't mean that I should or will condemn the entire system and make wild predictions about the impending end of civilization/the world if Bush gets reelected.... or conversely if Kerry gets elected in his stead.

Seeds of fascism? You are stretching it there a bit, aren't you? Have you really ever spoken to people who lived through the 1930-style fascism you and others are so glibly fearful of? In five and a half years in Germany, I made a point of seeking out older Germans and befriending them so that I could find out what had caused them to follow/accept Herr Hitler. Their stories are quite different than what the American history books have painted - at least as I remember those stories. Based on that, I don't see the parallels except when theri "truths" are stretched and abused ala Moore's "mockumentary". He is probably as talented as Leni Reifenstahl in his own way (though certainly not in terms of "pure artistry" )- talk about your fascist propagandista!

You want to talk about loyalty oaths? Go back to the 1915-20 era. Look into the history of governmental seizures of published materials and prosecutions for treason due to transmission of these materials through the postal service. You want to talk about witch hunts? Go back to the Macarthy era... His party affiliation has little to do with what happened in my opinion. Yet we still deal with that legacy today. It may not have been morally right or even legal. It happened. Nothing can change it. Get over it.

I repeat. I can't see any freedoms I had yesterday that I don't have today. None.

How old are you Korg? Were you alive during 1915-1920? Were you alive in the 30's? Of course these aren't new things, but if we're talking about our individual freedoms then we're talking about the span of our individual lives. For me, that's 38 years. Historical precedent is hardly a justification, especially to people just waking up to how unlike the "domestic propaganda in the form of idealistic history books" this country really is. Fascism isn't a status quo I choose to defend. Your mileage may vary.

I am old enough to have had a 22 year military career and nearly a decade more in a second career. You do the math. I never said that historical precedent was a JUSTIFICATION. I implied it give perspective against which specious argument may be measured.

I think that you missed my point. I will try again - as plainly as I can.

Any freedoms you think you have are illusory. What you were taught in school is an ideal. Any objective view of the real world brings into clear focuse the contrast between the ideal and the real worlds. One is fantasy and the other is experiential - and yes, everyone's milage does vary. I was lucky enough to be born American and not Ethiopian during the midst of their famine. I never did anything to earn that distinction - so what? I can't undo my birth and don't feel I should apologize to anyone for that fluke of Nature/chance.

Who is defending fascism? I didn't. I don't accept the premise that America is heading towards fascism - the argument that we are heading towards a fascist state is a rhetorical argument based on polemic not rational logic or evidence in my opinion. It garners attention by making a strong fear appeal that strikes a cord in the ignorant yet often intelligent public. The widespread influence of the media serves to increase the effect of that fear appeal - which is definitely unfortunate.

Before calling anyone a fascist, as many people have called Cheny and Bush, one should really take a look at what the fascists did. That was my reason for mentioning that I sought out people who HAD lived through Hitler's Germany. A few of them are still alive and I count them as my friends. Two were Hitler Youth. They are still fine people. They are not fascists.

"Fascism isn't a status quo I choose to defend"? Huh? Look at the dual premise you seem to imply. That I am defending fascism. That the current situation is one of a fascist state. That both implications are specious is not even worthy of further response.

edited to add:
"if we're talking about our individual freedoms then we're talking about the span of our individual lives" - I neve reallized that this was the limit of the topic under discussion. It is quite an arbitrary limit as we are not all the same age - thus essentially limiting the discussion to the freedoms people think they have had during the last 18 years. If that is the case, I won't discuss it further as that is a totally pointless topic.

Are you saying Michael Moore is now a loyal Republican? I think I saw him at a nationally televised Republican event not too long ago.




I have never worried about the police having a need to search my home. Should I? What would they find? Should I hide my books on Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, Marx, the Zapatistas? Or how about the ones about Ronald Reagan? Oh! maybe that Cuban cigar I have had for 30 years. Yes, that is it!

-tito

Nor I, but this argument scares me.

Clark Kerr shouldn't have had to worry about the FBI investigating him, either:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2002/06/09/MNCF1.DTL

How do you feel about national identity cards with RFID chips embedded in them? Do you think it would be prima facie evidence of intent to commit a criminal act if you wrapped yours in aluminum foil when you carried it around?

Laugh now, but talk to me again in ten years.

I am convinced that today's Justice Department is only concerned about protecting us from terrorists; but we are putting the infrastructure in place which will allow them to have complete information and control when they eventually go bad. If it takes fifty years or a hundred for that to happen, it's just that much more time for them to get all of the infrastructure up and running.