Tuesday, January 04, 2005
Will John Kerry Report for Duty?
Two months after the 2004 Presidential Election there is still much speculation about the authenticity of the election in states like Ohio and Florida. There are multiple election related complaints that have been filed and the actions of Partisan election officials in both battleground states have only fueled this speculation. Now I would not wish the current congress on my worst enemy, so I only want to see that future elections are run in a more unified and fair fashion, throwing out state based rulings, ridding the process of partisan secretaries of state and board supervisors. If we cannot know with absolute transparency that are elections are full and fair, our democracy will die. Voter turnout had waned in the past due to voters feeling that they were being left out of the process. The 2000 election was clearly tampered with in Florida and it looks as though it may have been once again in 2004 and we will see the voter turnout drop once again, as the voters will be feeling that their votes do not count again.
The HAVA Act (Helping America Vote Act) was supposed to alleviate many of the problems of the past and help to create more uniform standards, but the rush to the untested and unreliable touchscreen voting machines (produced by partisan Republican manufacturers) introduced another layer of speculation. So why don't our legislators work to fix these problems? Corporate money always trumps the needs of the electorate.
In 2000 Florida was in trouble with humdreds of reports of voter intimidation, voters wrongly being eliminated from the voter rolls, broken machines, etc... The Congressional Black Caucas arose to dispute the validation of the election and only had to have the support of one Senator in order to initiate a investigation. I cannot fault Al Gore for not being the one Senator to support the investigation, as the far right had already worked hard to demonize him in the press. Will John Kerry step up to the plate, not to overturn the election in his favor, but to object to the destruction of our democracy? Senator Kerry, please do the right thing. Our democracy needs you and now!!!
Will John Kerry Report for Duty?
By Robert Parry
January 4, 2005
Early in Campaign 2004, Sen. John Kerry challenged George W. Bush’s operatives to “bring it on,” fully expecting that they would try to smear his patriotism despite his Vietnam War medals. In accepting the Democratic nomination, Kerry again highlighted his national service by snapping off a salute with the words: “Reporting for duty.”
Yet one of the biggest disappointments for many Democrats was that the “bring it on” John Kerry didn’t show up at key moments in Election 2004. He failed to respond aggressively when a Republican front group spread lies about his war record. He then meekly conceded defeat on the day after the Nov. 2 election rather than fight for a full examination of voting irregularities.
Now, John Kerry may have one more chance to “report for duty.” On Jan. 6, after the new Congress convenes, he could join with Reps. John Conyers, Maxine Waters and other members of the House of Representatives in supporting their expected motion for a full-scale investigation of Election 2004, particularly the widespread allegations of voting fraud in the pivotal state of Ohio. Read the full story here.
The HAVA Act (Helping America Vote Act) was supposed to alleviate many of the problems of the past and help to create more uniform standards, but the rush to the untested and unreliable touchscreen voting machines (produced by partisan Republican manufacturers) introduced another layer of speculation. So why don't our legislators work to fix these problems? Corporate money always trumps the needs of the electorate.
In 2000 Florida was in trouble with humdreds of reports of voter intimidation, voters wrongly being eliminated from the voter rolls, broken machines, etc... The Congressional Black Caucas arose to dispute the validation of the election and only had to have the support of one Senator in order to initiate a investigation. I cannot fault Al Gore for not being the one Senator to support the investigation, as the far right had already worked hard to demonize him in the press. Will John Kerry step up to the plate, not to overturn the election in his favor, but to object to the destruction of our democracy? Senator Kerry, please do the right thing. Our democracy needs you and now!!!
Will John Kerry Report for Duty?
By Robert Parry
January 4, 2005
Early in Campaign 2004, Sen. John Kerry challenged George W. Bush’s operatives to “bring it on,” fully expecting that they would try to smear his patriotism despite his Vietnam War medals. In accepting the Democratic nomination, Kerry again highlighted his national service by snapping off a salute with the words: “Reporting for duty.”
Yet one of the biggest disappointments for many Democrats was that the “bring it on” John Kerry didn’t show up at key moments in Election 2004. He failed to respond aggressively when a Republican front group spread lies about his war record. He then meekly conceded defeat on the day after the Nov. 2 election rather than fight for a full examination of voting irregularities.
Now, John Kerry may have one more chance to “report for duty.” On Jan. 6, after the new Congress convenes, he could join with Reps. John Conyers, Maxine Waters and other members of the House of Representatives in supporting their expected motion for a full-scale investigation of Election 2004, particularly the widespread allegations of voting fraud in the pivotal state of Ohio. Read the full story here.
