Democracy for New Mexico

Voting Controversies

Sent in by Andrea and David: We listened to the entire four hours of the Randi Rhodes Show today which was totally devoted to the election and the "irregularities." There is a mainstream media black-out of any coverage about a recount. The only person who is covering this issue on broadcast or cable TV is Keith Olbermann on Countdown (MSNBC). On his program last night, Olbermann talked with Jonathan Alter of Newsweek who encouraged him to keep on top of this story.

This issue is being kept alive because of us bloggers. The Kerry lawyers have gone back to Ohio because we are making so much noise. They are saying that even though Kerry conceded, Edwards said that they wouldn't be satisfied until all the votes had been counted. Kerry's concession is not legally binding and can be withdrawn.

During Randi's program, she talked with Laura Flanders, host of the Laura Flanders Show on Air America Radio and author of BushWomen, and Bev Harris, executive director and author of Black Box Voting. Randi and Laura talked about Ohio. Bush is ahead in Ohio by 136,000 votes. The 155,000 provisional ballots, the absentee ballots, the overseas ballots and the military ballots have not been counted yet in that state.

On election day in Warren County (northeast of Cincinnati) county officials sealed off the monitoring of the count to observers and the media stating that the FBI and Homeland Security had put Warren County on a Level 10 (the highest) terrorist alert. Later, the FBI and Homeland Security said they had never issued that alert. There are also other "irregularities" in the state.

Today, David Cobb, the Green Party candidate for President, and Michael Badnarik, the Libertarian candidate for President, said they were going to file a formal demand for a recount in Ohio. They are being supported by Common Cause for Ohio and the Alliance for Democracy and need $110K ASAP. Please click here  to donate any amount.

Randi and Bev talked about Florida. Black Box Voting is going to be able to do a recount in Florida barring the immediate passage of any legislation in Florida prohibiting them from conducting it. Bush claims he won by 3 million popular votes (giving him his "mandate") but popular votes don't win an election - electoral votes do. Every vote has to be counted and every black box has to be examined in Ohio and Florida.

It is vitally important that we stay on top of this in order to have clean elections now and in the future. Please help in any way you can. Please forward this to friends and supporters.
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Editor's Notes: You can also contribute to the ongoing efforts of Black Black Voting and the National Ballot Integrity Project via Help America Recount, a 527 organization formed by these two groups.

Cam Kerry, John's brother, has sent out an email stating that if anyone has specific factual information about voting problems that could be helpful to the lawyers doing their job, they should send it to vri@dnc.org.

Finally, providing an alternate view, here's a New York Times article that takes on some of the the accusations and tries to debunk them.

New Mexico: From Blue to Red

Vote counting has ended. The unofficial results from the New Mexico Secretary of State's website:

Results as of: 11/12/2004 12:08:03 AM
Counties Reporting: 21

KERRY & EDWARDS	341,841	48.9%
BUSH & CHENEY	349,255	50.0%
COBB & LaMARCHE	001,164	00.2%
PEROUTKA & BALDWIN	000,771	00.1%
BADNARIK & CAMPAGNA	002,196	00.3%
NADER & CAMEJO	003,766	00.5%

A sampling of counties won by Kerry:

Bernalillo County (Albuquerque) 51.3% to Bush's 47.5%, or 128,531 to 119,161;

Santa Fe County 71% to Bush's 28%, or 46,553 to 18,315;

Taos County 74% to Bush's 24.8%, or 10,814 to 3,616;

Sandoval County (Albq. Metro) 61.6% to Bush's 37.4%, or 1,720 to 1,045;

Socorro County 51.3% to Bush's 47.1%, or 4,025 to 3,696; and

Dona Ana County (Las Cruces) 50.8% to Bush's 48.2%, or 30,602 to 29,023.

For other counties, click on the link above.

I feel blue.

Mencken -- Journalist, Social Critic ... Prophet?

As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."

H.L. Mencken (1880 - 1956)
(Thanks to John McAndrew for submitting this.)

Quisling & Company

Quisling (1940): A word Norwegians are not very proud of having given to the world: it derives from Vidkun Quisling (1887-1945), a Norwegian politician who collaborated with the Nazis during World War II. He established his name as a synonym for "traitor", someone who collaborates with the invaders of his country, especially by serving in a puppet government. From .

I thought I'd look up the word "quisling" after reading an excellent article in The Guardian about the situation in Iraq by a political refugee from Saddam's Iraq. Excerpt:

The US generals will no doubt deliver Falluja to Bush and Blair after bombarding its neighbourhoods with artillery and rockets. But they are doomed to deliver neither the Fallujans nor the people of Iraq. Perhaps they are unaware that Fallujans defied Saddam's rule during his last years in power. Falluja - known as the city of a thousand mosques - attracted Saddam's wrath in 1998 when its imams refused to hail the tyrant in their Friday sermons. Many were imprisoned, and the city punished as a result.

But the generals certainly do know how resistance began in Falluja. On April 28 2003 US soldiers opened fire on parents and children demonstrating against the continued military occupation of their primary school - killing 18 of them in cold blood and injuring about 60 others. Until the killing of those demonstrators, not a single bullet had been fired at US soldiers in Falluja or any of the cities north of Baghdad. But, remorselessly, little-known Falluja became a world-renowned centre of defiance, where a poor and poorly armed people has courageously faced the military wing of the new empire.

More than 100,000 Iraqis are estimated to have been been killed since the US-led invasion; the country's infrastructure has all but been destroyed; people are exposed to the danger of US and British depleted-uranium shells; hospitals have been reduced to impotence in the face of mounting injuries and disease; the centre of Najaf and entire neighbourhoods of several cities have been razed. How much more should the Iraqi people be subjected to for Bush and Blair to have their "democratically" chosen puppets installed in Baghdad?

These are war crimes of Saddamist proportions, and there is evidently more to come. Bush's latest pronouncements and Blair's declaration of a "second war" have made clear that the occupation governments are ready to kill (as "collateral damage", no doubt) even more Iraqis to enforce a pro-US order. Without a shred of evidence, Bush, Blair and Ayad Allawi's quisling regime shamelessly declare that they are only pursuing the Jordanian kidnapper Zarqawi and other "foreign terrorists". The people of Falluja, their leaders, negotiators and resistance fighters have always denounced Zarqawi and argued that such gangs have been encouraged to undermine the resistance.

After reading such commentary, it becomes difficult to imagine how Bush's "resolute" and "stay the course" brand of stubborn ignorance can ever bring anything resembling a victory to Iraq or Falluja. Especially with a quisling like Allawi at our service, I would guess Iraqis will be resolute themselves in banding together to oust their occupiers, or die trying.

The Depressed Democrats Guide to Recovery.

comes through again.

Tell America About Your Values

Purple Ocean, the public membership arm of the SEIU, will be purchasing an ad in the NY Times at the end of the month that will use comments submitted at the website called My Moral Values about what people believe are genuine moral values:

How did Republicans claim the moral high ground in this election? Is wanting health care for all immoral? Is believing in the value of community and helping others immoral? Don't let them call your values into question. Fill in the form . . . to tell America how your moral values have affected your vote. We'll use some of the most compelling stories in a New York Times advertisement to be published on November 26th. America needs to have this conversation. They may have won the election--don't let them win this battle of ideas.

We know what to do, don't we?

And if you need some motivation, here's a few excerpts from of congratulations to Bush sent by Bob Jones, of the infamously right-wing-nut Bob Jones University:

In your re-election, God has graciously granted America—though she doesn't deserve it—a reprieve from the agenda of paganism. You have been given a mandate.

....Don't equivocate. Put your agenda on the front burner and let it boil. You owe the liberals nothing. They despise you because they despise your Christ. Honor the Lord, and He will honor you.

....Undoubtedly, you will have opportunity to appoint many conservative judges and exercise forceful leadership with the Congress in passing legislation that is defined by biblical norm regarding the family, sexuality, sanctity of life, religious freedom, freedom of speech, and limited government. You have four years—a brief time only—to leave an imprint for righteousness upon this nation that brings with it the blessings of Almighty God.

And if you think you have the stomach for it, check out Focus on the Family's Mullah Dobson's hateful pronouncements at a "Christian" rally before the election, including this gem:

“Homosexuals are not monogamous. They want to destroy the institution of marriage,” Dobson said. “It will destroy marriage. It will destroy the Earth.”

Love Rocks (And Is Always Moral)

Love Rocks CD: A Star-Studded Benefit Album to Celebrate Marriage Equality

The Dixie Chicks, Melissa Etheridge, Christina Aguilera, Pink, Mandy Moore, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Dido, B52s, Carole King, Yoko Ono, Simply Red, Cyndi Lauper, Kimberly Locke & Oleta Adams are only some of the 32 artists that have joined forces to celebrate marriage equality by donating songs of love and inspiration to the Human Rights Campaign’s newest benefit album, Love Rocks. Love Rocks shines a light on the fact that the love and commitment between two people, regardless of sexual orientation, should be treated with dignity, respect and equality. 100% of the net proceeds from the album, co-produced by Centaur Entertainment & HRC, will benefit HRC’s work towards marriage equality.

Available exclusively from the Human Rights Campaign. PRE-ORDER TODAY FOR LATE NOVEMBER DELIVERY. (Just in time for your Red State holidaze!) Cick .

For more info on marriage equality and to sign the pro-equality petition, visit the Human Rights Campaign's Marriage Center.

Tanks in the Streets

 

Indymedia reports this:

LOS ANGELES November 9, 2004 - At 7:50 PM two armored tanks showed up at an anti-war protest in front of the federal building in Westwood. The tanks circled the block twice, the second time parking themselves in the street and directly in front of the area where most of the protesters were gathered. Enraged, some of the people attempted to block the tanks, but police quickly cleared the street. The people continued to protest the presence of the tanks, but about ten minutes the tanks drove off. It is unclear as to why the tanks were deployed to this location. Uploaded here is video from the event.  Be patient. Apparently the site is getting swamped.

(Thanks to Andrea S. for this item.)
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I wonder how many tanks they'll have on the streets of Washington DC when Bush is inaugurated. According to this Washington Post article, the "security" that will be imposed in the nation's capitol will be tighter than anything we've seen so far.

Ironies, Ironies

OHHHH NOOOOO, as Mr. Bill used to say on Saturday Night Live. Bush has chosen Alberto Gonzales to replace asscroft as attorney general. You may recall that Gonzales wrote the memo that said it was just fine if Rummy wanted to ignore the Geneva Conventions and torture people at Gitmo and Abu Graib. Alberto also served as Enron's general counsel back in their heyday of fraudulent stock-price pumping. It's just another piece of evidence that undermines the BushCo claim that they are bringing back "integrity" to American politics. If this is integrity, especially in terms of the top law enforcement post in the nation, I would hate to see what the opposite looks like.

OH YES! In other news, Cat Stevens was awarded the Man for Peace prize from former Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev's Foundation at a Rome meeting of Nobel Peace Prize laureates. Yusuf Islam was honored for his charity work and for standing by his convictions despite personal hardship. This is the guy BushCo kept out of the country because of his "terrorist connections." Lordy (to use the Red State jargon), what the world must think of us now.

We're Sorry

Check out the Sorry Everybody  website, where Blue People are apologizing to the rest of the civilized world for not defeating BushCo. The site explains:

Most people who think carefully understand that Americans are not really any more jingoistic or xenophobic than people in other countries, but it never hurts to reinforce, especially considering what happened on November 2nd, 2004. What must it have looked like to the world outside our borders? America proudly re-appointed her reckless, incompetent and corrupt government. How much of America? Fifty-two percent. The rest of us are aghast and dismayed . . . Rarely do people on the internet apologize. I thought it was high time. The world needs to understand that there are people in America who don't like what our government is doing. And from the mail we're receiving, there are people in the international community who appreciate this.

Also, come on, it's kind of amusing.

Once you're done with the photos on the page, click "Next" and you can see lots more. (Thanks to Nancy G. for the heads up on this one.)

And yes, I'M SORRY! How about you?