My Comment to Craig Crawford

Craig Crawford wrote a brief entry on his blog, Crawford's List, about the likelihood that Alito will overturn Roe v. Wade. He says that Alito probably will do so because that's why Bush picked him. Crawford concluded by saying that Americans elected Bush, so we asked for it: "You get the Democracy you deserve," he wrote.

In a rare opportunity to correspond with a member of the mainstream media, I replied in his comments section as follows:

Whether the mainstream media wants to cover it or not, the evidence strongly indicates that Bush was not legitimately elected in either 2000 or 2004, Mr. Crawford. So, no, sir, we didn't ask for this president.



On what evidence do I state my opinion, you may ask? There is no shortage of such evidence, and it is not the stuff of crazy conspiracy theorists. Eminent scholars and mathematicians have even shown the statistical impossibility of Bush's victory in 2004 (Google it for yourself). Furthermore, it has been proven (although you would never know it by the mainstream media) that Diebold voting machines, among others, allow vote tampering, not only at the local level, but at the much more crucial central-tabulator level, where one person can change the overall tallies that are compiled from the hundreds or thousands of precinct machines with a couple clicks of the mouse. The conclusion of one participant in an official test is that such flaws could not have been accidentally built into the software (see the Leon County paragraph below).



A few examples:



Bev Harris [of Blackboxvoting.org] showed Gov. Howard Dean how to get into Diebold's main server through an "unlocked back door" that she had discovered by accident. This demonstration took place prior to the 2004 election. He was able to switch votes in a mock election in just a few seconds without leaving a trace of his presence. This all happened on the actual Diebold servers without Diebold's knowledge. I saw it happen. It is recorded in a 30-minute documentary film, which is available for free online [here] (may require QuickTime software).



Still skeptical? The Department of Homeland Security's very own web site warns about Diebold's back-door security flaw. In fact that flaw was listed on the site prior to the 2004 election, yet absolutely nothing was done about it. Even more amazingly, the warning is still there. Click here to see for yourself.



Still skeptical? Click the following link to read the findings of an OFFICIAL Leon County, FL, test of a Diebold optical-scanning machine in December 2005 (yes, just a little over one month ago). This particular report was written by one of the participants. You can Google "Leon County" and "Diebold" to find a number of local press reports of the test. It's funny how the mainstream national media has not covered it.



Finally, how come the exit polls were way off base ONLY in those states that used voting machines? And in each discrepancy, the final "official" tally always benefitted Bush. Yet, in counties that used paper ballots, every exit poll was almost a perfect match of the official vote tally. Here are some very revealing charts; and never mind the strange URL title, because the information is still very legitimate.



Exit polls are so very accurate that Bush even hired the same exit-poll company/companies to monitor the election in the Ukraine. In that country, Bush used the exit poll data to force a second election, because it showed that the challenger had won, while the actual election results showed the incumbent had won. How come we consider the exit polls sacrosanct there, yet they are the objects of scorn here, even though they came up with the very same discrepancies here as were found in the Ukraine?



So, no, sir, we didn't ask for this president.



Other links that reveal overwhelming evidence of an environment in which elections have been/could easily be stolen:
The United States Goverment Accountability Office
Steven Freeman, University of Pennsylvania (pdf)
Video documentary of 2000 election in Florida (requires RealPlayer)



There are so many others out there. Just Google it in every way you can think of. Suspend your skepticism long enough to read the evidence for yourself. Don't dismiss it because of what you might consider the "lack of credentials" of the initial web sources. In the majority of cases, they are merely relaying information from very reputable sources.

The Enemy of My Enemy...

Many of you will probably remember the John Birch Society. Founded in 1958, it is one of the oldest and most arch-conservative groups / societies / clubs, what have you, in the United States. On their web site (found via BuzzFlash), they ask, "Should George Bush be impeached and removed from office." I will let you read the results for yourself. Click here and be sure to read the caption above each bar graph. I swear... What is this country coming to? ;-)

Chalk One Up Against Christian "Subversives"

Katrina Vanden Heuvel, editor of The Nation Magazine, posted an editorial on The Nation web site, listing a few of the year's "sweet victories" for progressives. She made an excellent list, but left out one of my favorites, so I commented on it at the end of her article. That comment, which you will find there, reads as follows:

Katrina, we should also remember the double defeat of the subversive proponents of "intelligent design" in Dover, Pennsylvania. It was incredibly encouraging to learn that voters there kicked out all eight school-board members (not just a few, but ALL OF THEM!) who were in favor of teaching "intelligent design" (aka "religion") as science in the district schools. Then, last week the icing was put on the cake (as if the vote wasn't satisfying enough): A republican, church-going judge, John E. Jones, ruled against the proponents of "intelligent design" in Dover, telling them in no uncertain terms that the concept is nothing more than religion masquerading as science. He "decried the 'breathtaking inanity' of the Dover policy and accused several board members of lying to conceal their true motive, which he said was to promote religion."

The Dover story, therefore, is one of the most encouraging of the year for me.

A final comment: Let the proponents of "intelligent design" preach their totally non-scientifc "science" on the streets or in the incredibly vast number of churches that dot the American landscape (a number that puts the lie to the supposed "siege" on Christianity), where most people (adults, at least) have a choice of listening to them. They have no business trying also to indoctrinate young, captive audiences with their particular view of spiritual reality. Outside of public schools, government institutions and some private businesses, Christians have practically no limitations on their movements or their mouths. They always have and always will pester the hell out of us, at practically every turn, to their heart's content (pun intended). Their true goal in all of this (with "ID science" being merely a false front) is, very simply, to gain access to all those captive, impressionable young minds in our public schools. Sadly, Christians of this sort (even if they believe their intentions are "pure") will never be made to understand that they are working against the intentions of the founding fathers, not for them; and so their efforts to subvert public schools in other parts of the nation will continue for some time to come.

Red State-Blue State... Get a Clue!

Hey, people! Knock it off, already, with this red-state/blue-state name calling, especially by progressives who live in blue states! I and millions of other red-state progressives are wholeheartedly on your side, even if we do happen to live in red states. We despise the Bush Administration as much as you do. And, no, we are not all blue staters who reluctantly migrated to red states to pursue careers. Most of us (probably) were born and raised here.

Lower Your Noses a Little, Please
Blue-state progressives do not have that much room for self-righteousness. The antiquated, unfair Electoral College (with the help of modern, self-serving conservative strategists) has messed up Americans' perceptions of our nation. Burn these numbers into your brains: George W. Bush received a total of 25,132,439 votes from supposedly enlightened "blue staters." John Kerry received a total of 26,004,540 votes from supposedly backwards "red staters" (there were probably even more red-state Kerry voters than that number indicates, if you take a few stolen state elections into account). The red states are not a vast wasteland populated only by hillbillies, rednecks and evangelical christians. There are a lot of Americans "out here" who are none of those things.

A Few More Sobering Statistics
Kerry won six blue states by five (5) percent or less (actually three percent or less), as follows: New Hampshire 1%, Wisconsin 1%, Pennsylvania 2%, Michigan 3%, Minnesota 3% and Oregon 3%.

Kerry "lost" six red states by five percent or less: Iowa -1%, New Mexico -1%, Nevada -2%, Ohio -2%, Colorado -5% and Florida -5%.

In Other Words
There are six blue states that came very, very close to being labeled as "red states," which would have earned them the stigma of being viewed as states populated only by hillbillies, rednecks and evangelical christians.

On the other hand, there are six red states that came very, very close to being labeled as "blue states," which would have earned them the honor of being viewed as states populated only by progressives, democrats and enlightened peoples.

Furthermore, even those red states that voted overwhelmingly for Bush are inhabited by many millions of people who voted for Kerry.

In Conclusion
Let's stop this talk of wanting to split into two different nations, even if said in sarcastic jest. There are a lot of us in the red states who aren't interested in moving to the "blue states" or to Canada merely because we are outnumbered by incredibly close-minded "anti-liberal" voters (most of whom, at least here in the midwest and west, are very friendly and welcoming, in spite of their political leanings). Besides, I suspect that it won't be too long before Bush/Cheney's bungled policies and criminal acts (aided and abetted by a republican congress) come back to bite conservative voters in their rear ends. Not only will their immature political illusions be shattered (even if temporarily), but their religious illusions (as they relate to "born-again" Bush's manifest destiny) may also receive a few scratches and dents. That's when it's fun to live amongst them.

Election statistics interpreted from a November 2004, article in USA Today.