Replies to Ernest Partridge's
There were 53 replies to this essay at our HotMail.com
mailbox, and 60 replies to the posting of the essay at "The Smirking
Chimp," which
may be found here (following the article).
Clearly, only a few of these many letters can be posted
here. All negative responses are included, and placed at the end of
the page.
Ernest Partridge
Dear Dr. Partridge,
Thank you for your article (The GOP is Certain to Win in 2006, Unless...).
It succinctly puts the word out that so many of us have been discussing
since November of last year.
On the ground, various people I know have been doing things, and I would
be glad if you would encourage your readership to do the same. Little
truths bubbling up all over the country might eventually topple big lies.
For your consideration, may I suggest the following?
1) Set up appointments with your (Democratic) representatives and
congresspeople. We can't expect to get in the door of the GOP, but
if enough people--and a dozen in one district could represent a
lot--started making appointments to speak to their US Reps, those folks
might begin to sense that ignoring this problem is ignoring their
constituencies. And that is something that vote-dependent people are
loathe to do. We have set up several appointments with our local reps and
encourage others to do the same.
2) Focus on detail-oriented solutions. Perhaps electronic voting machines
ARE the wave of the future, but they can be verified by mechanical ballot
machines (please see www.2pv.org ). Opposing all modernization of the
voting process might make us seem like Luddites, but finding ways to
verify it make that solution moot.
3) As for the media: "Moral Values" was a nonstarter until the neocons got
it worked into a poll as a question after the election. What might happen
if a pollster agreed to include the question "What do you think the chance
that the 2004 presidential election was stolen? (Certain/possible/not
certail/Not at all) into the next nationwide poll? What if even 17% of the
country, it turns out, thinks the election was stolen? Hard to ignore a
nugget of public opinion like that. Has anyone petitioned Zogby (the most
sympathetic) to get on it?
Mostly, let's all keep in touch! Is there a central database of all of
those who see the reality of what happened and is going to happen again?
Should we call it www.thekinghasnoclothes.org and pool all our resources
and ideas there?
Let's keep it up--the revolution will not be televised, but it might just
be emailed!
Lori Lippitz
Skokie, IL
Dear Mr. Partridge:
I just finished reading your article on the GOP in 2006 and 2008 that
appears on the Democratic Underground website. Horrifying and very true,
I’m afraid. I agree completely that unless things change radically, that
is what we have to ‘look forward to’. I’m writing you to you about my idea
for an educational campaign for election reform. I invite your comments.
Although I have been a life-long Democrat since working on the hapless
McGovern campaign, I was not inspired to get involved again until 2004.
This time, I worked hard for Kerry, traveling a number of times to
Wisconsin to canvass and get out the vote and I made hundreds of phone
calls to Wisconsin and Florida voters for Move On. I was crushed when the
exit polls did not lead to a Democratic inauguration.
Since November, I have spent many sleepless nights thinking about the
direction this country is heading. Reports of vote suppression, voter
intimidation and vote manipulation have trickled out online while the
mainstream press has remained curiously silent. Even Rep. Conyers’
Congressional hearings into the matter (now in book form as “What Went
Wrong in Ohio”) garnered little attention from the media. I recently
checked with the Skokie public library about reserving one; not only is
there not a single copy to be found in any Illinois library (including
public and private universities), the nearest copies are in Michigan (one
in East Lansing) and Ohio (one at Bowling Green State University). I find
this a very sad state of affairs. I live in a very blue state and a very
blue city. This is not rural Mississippi. If no one here can even read
about what happened because the press has chosen not to write about it and
the hearings’ findings are unpublicized and undistributed, is there any
chance for change?
One of Tribune Media Services’ editors, Robert Koehler, has written a
number of articles on the subject of vote fraud. For the first time in his
35-year career, his articles were rejected. They can be read only at his
website, CommonWonders.com.
I was hoping to open a dialog with you on the subject of election reform.
This is a topic of great interest to me and some of my friends. We feel
that the key elements in the last two presidential elections were: massive
minority disenfranchisement and manipulation of the voting apparatus to
thwart the voters’ will and subvert the elections. Black voters were
targeted because of their overwhelming loyalty to the Democratic Party.
This single tactic, with many guises, affected many tens of thousands of
votes in numerous states and affected the ultimate outcome of the
elections. The massive disenfranchisement of Black voters in 2000 and 2004
is a civil rights issue of epic proportions. As Rev. Martin Luther King,
Jr. said: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. Jim Crow
is alive and well and gone electronic. Where is the uproar, the debate?
Where are the demonstrations?
It happened in the Ukraine, a nation with a short history of democracy.
Spontaneous protests ultimately led to the reversal of the election
‘results’. Here, on the other hand, the loyal opposition docilely folded.
I admit that it is hard to imagine that a political party would be so
ruthless in its pursuit of victory; it sounds like the plot of an exciting
but unrealistic political thriller. The leadership of the Democratic Party
(with the notable exception of Rep. Conyers and some of his colleagues in
the Congressional Black Caucus) has also been strangely silent. We are
outgunned, but not outnumbered. With the non-participation of the press
and our elected officials, the only way to affect change is to go straight
to the public. But the public is uninformed and apathetic and hard to
reach. 2006 is just around the corner, and after that 2008. The clock is
definitely ticking.
We need to have a huge, grassroots effort to educate and galvanize the
public on the issues of transparent voting, vote fraud, the dangers of
electronic voting machines, fraud purge lists, Election Day as a national
holiday, gerrymandering, etc. We need an extensive consciousness raising
on a national scale that delves deeply into not only the key elements in a
free and fair election but also what has been done to thwart that goal.
This national forum could have numerous co-sponsors: the Congressional
Black Caucus, NAACP, the League of Women Voters, Common Cause, etc. At the
end of the educational portion, there would be a “how-to” portion
consisting of the changes that need to take place for transparent and free
elections that the public can have faith in. This is crucial, since
understanding what happened without offering the tools to change it is a
meaningless exercise. Without the aid of an engaged and active press, we
will have to depend on that clichéd but very real power of the people:
harnessing the energy of the newly mobilized to write letters, sign
petitions, letters to the editor, organize demonstrations, inundate their
public officials with demands for change. Maybe large-scale public outrage
will finally shake the mainstream press out of its lethargy.
We need someone with impeccable credential to host this forum. What about
Oprah? This idea is not dependent upon her participation, but she would be
a very good fit. She has a daily audience of 20 million people. Her
dedication to literacy, education and empowering those at the bottom of
the heap is well known. She has the clout to withstand the tremendous and
unrelenting pressure from corporate sponsors and other naysayers. How to
enlist her participation is another matter.
Thank you for reading my letter. I am interested in your feedback. Perhaps
you can make constructive suggestions on how to accomplish my goal of
waking people up and getting them active and activated. Without a total
overhaul of the election system and apparatus, there will never be an
opportunity to throw the scoundrels out (as you also point out in your
article). That one fact affects everything that happens: our quality of
life, our economy, the war in Iraq, our civil liberties and civil rights,
the composition of our courts, our health care, the welfare of our
citizens. It is like a gigantic octopus with tentacles that reach into
every aspect of our lives. My youngest child is just beginning to drive.
In 2008, he will be able to vote for the first time (as well as be
drafted, for that matter). I’d like to do what I can to insure that his
vote will count and that every vote will be counted. That is a worthy goal
for all of us. Can you help?
Sincerely,
Joan Brunwasser
In January of 04, I wrote the DLC to say that if either of
the following were operable, then it did not matter what Democrats said,
stood for, or did: 1] subliminals on TV and/or 2] hackable voting systems.
[ I did not get a response.]
What I proposed to counter the second possible problem of
hackable voting systems was the following organized system. Pre-election
time, invite persons concerned with vote counts to sign paper-trail
pledges. Set up a 'parallel' voting mechanism, to be applied in some
voting localities at random on election day. All in those randomly
selected voting areas who've signed the pledges have obliged themselves to
first vote at the 'official' site, then travel a block or so and sign in
with a notary, then do another secret vote by paper.
This system would have some advantages. One, organizing
the 'paper trail pledge' signing would be informative and generate
discussions among citizens. Second, any neer-do-wells who planned to hack
those voting or tallying machines would feel more vulnerable to
consequences. Lastly, such a grass-roots system would bypass election
officials who so often can easily thwart fair elections.
The downside to the system is that it really would have to
be a big grassroots effort to achieve significant numbers of signers in
key areas of the country.
Donna Griffiths
EarthLink Revolves Around You.
I read your article on democraticunderground.com.
Have a few issues:
1. I honestly believe that Democrats can't win unless we tone down the
hysteria It is my personal opinion that the Republicans lost the 2000
election (popular vote, etc) because were hysterical for the
whitewater, Impeachment of Clinton, etc. --my opinion--
I feel many more in the Democrat party have now taken the hysterical
approach (comparing our troops to Nazis, saying Bush is as bad as Stalin,
etc.)... they sound like a history morons when they compare to Stalin...
he killed 17 million!! Comments like that are for sure not going to
attract the independent / mainstream US off to our side. Level-headedness
will.
For example, your article, which does do a decent job of being 'fair' and
mention about it being excessive conspiracy theorist... doesn't really
mention that CNN/ABC news, Gallup, Zogby and every other single polling
agency the weeks running up to the election showed Bush on popular vote by
2-3%. which is what (unfortunately) he got.
You have Democratic politicians exhibiting the same, sick top-secret
sharing with the media, and they're ALL getting away with it. Sadly.
I'm a liberal who _strongly_ believes in environment, clean fuel, getting
off foreign oil, women's choice rights, _and_ anti- large corporation Not
exactly a right-wing fanatic... but I am about to stop voting Democrat in
favor of some 3rd party.
The problem I see with the United States population (I've been to 23
countries and lived in 3, and speak 3 languages) is that there are
hysterical people on both sides.
If you want the Democrats to win... it's VERY VERY SIMPLE:
1. Criticize the UN for their atrocities in the Oil for food, don't just
give them a pass for believing in Socialism. We're paying billions into
that organization, and tons of people died at their corrupt guidance.
Americans (_most anyway_) don't want to hear how _wonderful_ the UN when
they know it's crap.
2. Criticize when other Democrats do wrong, but not hysterically... debate
in a calm well-mannered way, not calling people Nazis, dictators, or
comparing hundreds of people in Guantánamo to Nazi and USSR torture camps.
Sorry, but there is NO comparison. I've seen Eastern Germany when
Soviet Union had control, and have been to the concentration camps.
There's NO comparison.
3. take a tone-down version!!!! Kerry was a great pick , because was a
clam guy, but all the idiots that were advising him, were telling him to
pander to the loud lefties, not the calm- versions. His orchestrated
arguments were so not him. Sad.
4. Start proposing _working_ fuel alternatives. I read the Kyoto Protocol
and think it's not that good. There are so much better ways to curb
pollution than try to force a world-taxation scheme. Wont work. Sadly,
every single .. EVERY single person I've debated with about Kyoto...
hasn't read it. *sigh*...
Cold fusion doesn't exist. There's no conspiracy. Fuel Cells are on
the way, but the HUGE amount of reconstruction to implement it isn't being
taken into account. That and the "supposed" Liberal leaders off the coast
of Boston (cape cod) voted to NOT put in wind farms. Because it'd be too
ugly. There is a great place to start the real debate and criticism.
Everyone admits that Kerry's concession speech was amazing, and that if
he'd have just been like _that_, which is what he was really like, he'd
have won.
Democrats can win easily. Just have to tackle things we can tackle. Taking
a soft line on hard line issues is the way to go.
Take a soft line on software vote fraud. Don't say there was a problem,
say you want to make sure there wont be one in the future... get the
difference?
Just my 2 cents.
World traveler,... Eric Sidle.
p.s. I think Rove should be fired and investigated, but becuase I'm level
headed I read the public CIA report on Wilson, and he was an idiot too...
Not exactly a "model" liberal.
Dr. Partridge,
As you note in "The GOP is Certain to Win in 2006 — Unless..." there is a
great possibility of a dramatic disruption at any time. Anticipating it is
waiting for the other shoe to drop. I like your idea of trying to make it
happen. In fact, I've been doing just that and would like to call your
attention to
the Voter Confidence Resolution.
This is an open attempt to catalyze peaceful revolution. The strategy
involves local communities, through their City Council or perhaps County
Supervisors, questioning whether the government has the Consent of the
Governed. The resolution illustrates that such Consent is not even being
sought. The press release below offers more context. It was issued last
week when Arcata, CA became the first in the nation to formally adopt the
resolution. I'd like to know if and how you can support this?
In Respect and Peace,
Dave Berman
Dear Ernest --
Forwarding a note I received from Brad Friedman (BradBlog.com) on your
latest, who requests you make a correction to the statement below.
Please contact Brad directly with questions or follow-up.
Best,
Kat L'Estrange
[Partridge writes]:
To be sure, Congressional Democrats have recently held
unofficial hearings on the 2004 voting irregularities in Ohio, on The
Downing Street Memos, on media reform, and on the Karl Rove scandal. But
these have all been rather toothless affairs, boycotted by the
Republicans, with all testimony volunteered and none under oath.
Actually, not true. Clint Curtis' testimony at the second
Conyers hearing on Election Irregularities in Ohio was under oath.
Brad
Ernest Partridge Replies:
As I understand it, Clint Curtis presented a
statement previously sworn under oath, which I have read. I don't
know the jurisdiction under which that oath was taken. My point,
which I most certainly should have made more clear, was that, qua "unofficial," the organizers of the hearings (Conyers, etc.) were not
authorized to require that witnesses testify under oath.
If Curtis raised his right hand at the hearing and
swore, under penalty of perjury, "to tell the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth," then I stand corrected.
With regard to your essay Has the Case for Election Fraud been Refuted?
In your next essay, could you please find the space to reference our work
on Florida? We began this work immediately after the 2000 election, have
looked at the statistics in much, much greater depth than most
commentators, and have been very conscientious in reading, reflecting on,
and responding respectfully to all points of view in the debate, including
yours.
I admit to being annoyed that our detailed refutation of the "Dixiecrat
hypothesis" (Mebane/Sekhon/Wand) was ignored, even as mutually
contradictory work by Liddle and Hout (which Sekhon satisfactorily showed
was also flawed because of demographic clustering) continues to be
presented as proof of fraud. (Our position is that Liddle, Hout, and
Sekhon are probably all partially correct, but that the best explanation
is that there was fraud in both optical scan and touchscreen counties.
Sekhon's point on demographic clustering is correct but not evidence
against fraud.)
We also did a refutation of Russ Baker's claims, a refutation that was
ultimately published by TomPaine. The reality is that Liddle did find a
significant hole in the reasoning connecting fraud to the disparity
between Ohio exit polls and the reported results. She also said that this
is not proof that there wasn't fraud. Our position is that the
preponderance of evidence suggests that fraud is a more likely explanation
of the data than "shy Republicans," but that the data itself is awful and
may prove nothing at all. But Liddle's work needs to be acknowledged as
original and valuable, not argued around.
I realize that statistical issues are difficult for lay people to follow.
I do my best to present them in simple language. Intellectual honesty, of
which there has been far too little in this conversation, requires that we
listen to one another, not just try to support a favored position.
Sincerely,
Oliver T. Dawshed
Dear Sir,
Unless YOU have personally interviewed Kerry or any of his close friends
you have no proof that he did nothing.
In fact, I KNOW for a fact that he worked a hell of a lot BEHIND the
scenes to discover the facts.
Now that YOU know the truth, I doubt you'll have the courage to apologize!
So stop the bashing.
Susan Krueger
Ernest Partridge Replies:
Sorry, but just on your say-so, I do not "know the
truth." Kindly provide the evidence and testimony, and I might
reconsider.
What I do know is that Kerry conceded the day after
the election, and that he released no funds in support of the Ohio
challenge.
I also know that Kerry and all "establishment
Democrats" (the Congressional Black Caucus honorably excepted) have been
totally silent on the issue of voting fraud in 2004 (and 2002, for that
matter).
Dear Dr. Partridge,
Regarding your article dated July 25th, "The GOP is Certain to Win in 2006
-- Unless..." I'm afraid I don't share your optimism. That is, I just
don't think there's an "unless" possible. For instance, had the 43
so-called Democrats in the House who supported expanding the PATRIOT Act
simply stuck with their party, the measure would have failed - and that
would have been a rare and important victory for the pathetic, spineless
"left," for the "opposition party." But for whatever their personal
reasons and/or unfathomable stupidity, they joined right in with their GOP
colleagues and stuck the knives deeper into our civil liberties. That day,
I finally tore up my voter registration card. Maybe I'll register
Independent. Or maybe I'll just leave the country...
As your article points out, there's no point in voting in states that use
the bogus machines. Fortunately, I live in Portland, Oregon - one of the
bluest of the blue areas, a rare peak of intellectual high ground for the
dwindling few Americans who seem to have ANY BRAINS LEFT, and even here I
can see the red tide rising all around... but our voting is done on paper,
by mail, and is not only easily verified, but encourages higher turnout as
well; we receive our ballots a couple of weeks before the deadline, along
with a very thorough voters pamphlet to research the candidates and
issues, and we can mail in or drop off our ballots at any time before the
close of polling on election day. The system is _inexpensive_, virtually
fraud proof, easy to use, convenient, and it just Makes Sense.
So there's no way in Hell it would be adopted nationwide. Not a chance.
You wrote:
"Something's gotta give" - and when it does, if the Democrats are smart,
resourceful and bold they will seize the moment. But if they sit by and
ponder, as they've been inclined to do of late, then they, and we, are
done for.
Well, my friend, I think we're way past "done for." You don't think that
this group of power-mad FASCISTS would stop at merely rigging elections,
starting wars, looting the treasury? Would they really allow themselves to
be caught off-guard by a "real" terrorist attack? I don't believe the
official story of 9/11 and I sure as hell don't believe the garbage coming
out of London these days - al-CIAda is getting way too sloppy, but it's
okay; the American people are too jaw-droppingly stupid to notice or even
care anymore, so the media can feed them anything they want... See, that's
what "gave". Our collective IQ. I think it's gone into negative numbers.
No, the Bush cronies have done more damage than most people can accept, or
even contemplate. The rule of these FASCISTS has been unfathomably
destructive on every single front - there isn't ONE area that they haven't
set about turning the clock back. And I think at this point it isn't up to
"us" anymore - that is, the voiceless, spineless, useless "Left" is dead
in this country. The brainless, vicious, brutally ignorant, violent
"Right" has won, plain and simple.
All that can happen now is for the rest of the world to realize
their power - that is, for China and Japan to start squeezing the US
financially, cripple our ability to go launch more aggressive wars... or
for the OPEC nations to simply slow production - drive the price of gas up
a dollar or two - and send the American people into a frenzy, crashing the
domestic economy... for the US military to start to face open revolt as
the quagmire in Iraq deepens and "the troops" begin to rebel in serious
numbers. Think the military has any interest in going into a country like
Iran, where the people there will actually FIGHT BACK? Think the gutless
American lazyass on the couch will finally start to notice with the body
count starts climbing into the 100's per day, instead of just the 1 or 2
per day getting picked off now? Think Russia and China and India will sit
back if the neocon morons go charging off into Iran?
Nope, the Bushies have pushed the country beyond any hope, twisted it
beyond recognition. It's totalled. The engine is siezing up. Ain't no
fixin' it. Time to start over anew.
And I think that will be, in a way, our saving grace. (Here: I'll inject a
little bit of optimism of my own, rare as that is for me. :-) See, in a
way, the idiots on the Right have *finally* achieved their millenia-old
goal of total power, and in doing so, have exposed just how morally,
conomically, ethically, and even ideologically bankrupt their entire
stupid world view is. Seriously, think back throughout ALL OF RECORDED
HISTORY and show me *ONE* "right wing paradise". Just one. No hurry, I'll
wait.
My question is, why does *humanity* tolerate these backward, fear-driven,
greedy, small-minded ASSHOLES any longer? Well, thanks to their drive to
destroy the environment, representative government, spirituality, and
basically anything else that makes human existence meaningful, they have
at last shot their final load. Their useless ideas are hollow, empty, and
just ugly. The only real contribution that I can think of that the "hard
right" has ever given to mankind is the idea that "haves" vs. "have nots"
is the way things should be; that whatever form that idea has taken
throughout the ages - kings and courts, feudalism, oligarchy, patriarchy,
theocracy, military junta, corporatism, whatever - all the Right has ever
done for the world is establish and maintain that conflict. And what is
"the Left"? Seems to me it's simply everyone else who wants to behave like
a generous, SANE, loving, aware human being. And because "the Left" is
simply defined as "not the Right", getting them off their asses even in
times of extreme crisis like this is ridiculously hard to do.
But, like I said, this time it doesn't matter. The Bushies won't
even acknowledge that the oil is running out - even though they know it to
be true. Nobody disputes the facts, even though they haggle over the exact
year on the calendar when it'll happen. Some say 2007! Some say 2012, or
2020, or some real optimists think we'll have oil until 2050, although at
this rate it won't matter because we won't have an OZONE LAYER that long.
Nevertheless, the oil will run out. With it, the entire
capitalist house of cards begins to collapse. And as money and wealth and
power are suddenly no longer measured in paper (or electronic) dollars, as
humanity faces the prospect of breaking down into tribal groups again,
spreading out from the cities to live on farms, form small communities,
learn how to be sustainable, how to live cleaner, healthier, less "busy"
lives, the entire right-wing ethos evaporates. People will look back (no
doubt by candlelight) at the history books and realize with horror just
how much we wasted, how badly we abused our precious world, and how much
further along human society could be if the morons hadn't been in charge.
The Industrial Revolution and the rise of rampant consumerism/capitalism
run amok will be as shameful as the Dark Ages, and if we even survive as a
species, hopefully we'll have FINALLY learned something from it.
Since Americans are going to be hit the hardest when it all falls
down, I think we will, in some ways, be able to bounce back. I mean, we
are pretty resilient and resourceful. We _could_ actually transform
ourselves from the most piggish, thoughtless, greedy, wasteful group of
jerks on the planet to the most inventive, generous, thoughtful, creative
group instead. As we start to realize just how much USELESS CRAP
consumerism creates and consumes, and that stuff all goes away when the
cheap oil goes away, we'll have to go back into our own past (no, not to
have another genocidal war against the Indians) and draw upon some of the
strength of our ancestors, who were a hearty lot. We _have_ our own
history to draw upon. Of course, Americans - not the least of which, the
usurper in the White House who was allegedly a History major? - have
virtually NO knowledge of our own history, besides what was on the tee vee
last week, and even that's a stretch.
So, I dunno. My advice to my teenage son was "learn Chinese, and organic
farming." That's pretty much my advice to anyone under 20 these days And
while I'm waiting for the jackbooted GOP thugs to kick in my door any day
now, I figure it probably won't actually get that far; see, the illogic
and incongruity of the Right wing mentality and their unwavering support
for gun rights - at the expense of all other rights, apparently - means
that the brown shirts probably won't be showing up in deep "blue" areas
like Portland for some time. Sure, they'll get here eventually, because we
live in a nation of morons and sheep. The brainless outnumber the
spineless, it's simple mathematics. But I have a feeling that the whole
thing will simply collapse, swiftly, and it's preparing for the aftermath
that's way, way more important than trying to "save" or prop up the
rusted-out hulk we have now. Forget it. It's gone. Time to build anew. I
think the rest of the world will eventually forgive us for these dark
years, and I look forward to the day when we can rejoin the human family
and start working on real solutions to real problems.
To start, I say we divide Australia up into thirds, and ship all the
insane right-wing fundamentalist Jews, Christians and Muslims to separate
camps. Give them each _one_ small nuclear bomb. And then maintain a naval
blockade around the continent and just wait. I mean, how just and perfect
a resolution would that be? People that thrive on fear, greed, the thirst
for power, who are driven to impose their backward views on everyone
else... to watch them stew in their hatred and bigotry and paranoia...
meanwhile, the rest of us can go about living and loving and making the
world anew.
In the meantime, take a bat to the next polling place, and SMASH one of
the bogus, unauditable GOP voting machines. It's called "civil
disobedience". The TEEVEE can't _help_ themselves, they'd have to air it.
There have to be at least a couple of vertebrates left
around here, right?
-- Skeez
Ernest Partridge
Sir,
I would suggest to you that the overt absolutist coup' of 2000 relegates
all of our buttonholing dissent to the equivalent of say, the resistance
of WWII protesting over the lack of frilly dinner napkins at Auswitch's
dinner tables. The Supreme Court's suspension of law on December 12, 2000,
is the very definition of absolutism. No further discussion is necessary.
Though we may be fascinated by our rhetoric over this administration's
atrocities, the rest of the world is growing increasingly impatient with
our inability to restrain our government.
By failing to impeach our outlaw regime, or
institute a general strike, as is the custom in countries with far less of
a democratic history than our own, we can only be seen as explicitly
condoning our government's actions. Thus, we risk total catastrophe, since
we put the rest of the world in the position of either continuing to
suffer the effects of our criminal government, or attempting to restrain
it by force.
Given our "scorched earth" policy to date, any attack on
our country would be have to be calculated to require nothing less than
near-total annihilation. Unthinkable? Let us hope so.
Sincerely,
Jim Becker
Scenario: 2008 President-elect Hillary Rodham Clinton is
assaulted with charges of "Vote Fraud." The Rove Machine has enlisted
Diebold to frame Clinton -- to win, via vote fraud.
Congressional investigations begin into Democratic Party vote fraud in
Washington State, New Mexico, and Massachusetts.
Schwarzenegger/Giuliani immediately sue to overturn the election.
(Schwarzenegger's sagging Poll Numbers were reversed in 2006 when cameras
captured the "Governator" springing into "Action Hero" mode during a
California Earthquake disaster, with Arnold displaying feats of heroism
rescuing some Californians from his Executive Helicopter). GOP faction led
by Delay refuses to recognize "Hillary's Illegitimate Administration."
After 3 years of gridlock and assault, GOP foments a Constitutional
Crisis. Emergency Session of Congress is called by President HRC. GOP
boycotts.
During this session on APRIL 4, 2011, attended mostly by Democrats and the
President, two planes are hijacked and enter D.C. airspace, plunging into
the Capitol Dome. President HRC, her husband, and most Congressional
Democrats, as well as the Democratic leadership, are killed.
Arnold, who has claimed victory all along, is given the Oath of Office by
Chief Justice Scalia. Live coverage on all networks unites the bereaved
nation under a strong leader.
"America will rise from the ashes," declares Arnold. "I will not let these
terrorists, nor their accomplices in political office, ever threaten this
land again."
NBC, CBS and ABC offer President Schwarzenegger live access for any
reason, at any time. They also offer the President full control of their
news departments, in a show of patriotism. "I agree with CBS's decision,"
states Dan Rather from retirement. "President Schwarzenegger is going to
restore America."
The new President hand-picks his New Congress and new "Freedom Of Speech
Laws" are enacted immediately, to protect Good Americans from Bad
Americans. The New Constitution has been already drafted in the event of
just such an emergency as this.
"Everything is under control," the media blares. Events follow quickly,
ala Chile 1973/Argentina 1976. Roundup Lists have been compiled in
advance. Sports stadiums are used for Detainment Centers. The U.S./Canada
border is closed-off by mutual agreement.
There will be no mass graves. Municipal incinerators will be used and
records destroyed. The Holy Republic of the U.S. and its leadership will
have learned carefully its lessons from the past. The inheritors of FDR's
heritage, the Democrats, will have not learned.
Judas Disney
Ernest,
USCountVotes' National Election Data Archive Project could prevent the
wrong candidates from being sworn into office following the November 06
election if we can obtain the necessary funding to build our National
Election Data Archive. It might cost a measely $1 million to develop
initially and $400,000 per year to maintain.
There is real hope.
Please add us to your solutions page and read our brochure.
Kathy Dopp
http://electionarchive.org
Mission: The National Election Data Archive is a
scientific project whose mission is to investigate the accuracy of
elections through the creation and analysis of a database containing
precinct-level vote-type election data for the entire United States. By
making detailed election data publicly available and, when warranted, by
informing election officials and candidates of probable errors in local
vote counts, our goal is to ensure that correctly elected candidates are
sworn into office in future elections.
Please donate to help implement NEDA:
http://electionarchive.org/fairelection/donate.html
USCV brochures are available:
http://uscountvotes.net/docs_pdf/info/US/USCVbrochure.pdf
US Count Votes
P.O. Box 682556
Park City, UT 84068
Ms Dopp: We know of your work, and admire it
greatly. NEDA is listed and linked at our
"Electoral Integrity"
page. Good to hear from you! (EP)
Dear Ernest,
It's a good piece, but I fear wrong. You see the Dems as offering hope but
the Washington Dems are just working for the same gang, the American
Empire. It's Versailles all over again. Kerry wanted MORE troops in Iraq.
Blair is in it as well. They are not gullible or naive, they are the white
collar mafia.
Your best two possibilities are: exposure of the government enabled 9/11
mass murder (probably run by Tenet) or serious exit polls. Your problem is
that not enough grass roots Dems have cut themselves loose from the
Washington dream machine.
Your best strategy is to combine with pro-constitution grass roots
conservatives, and form a Popular Front, on the issue of the US
Constitution and the foreign Empire. Until you see through the Washington
Dems you are unwittingly part of the problem.
My book 911 Revealed is being splashed in the Daily Mail, not The
Guardian.
You are halfway there...
Yours incoherently
Ian Henshall
In response to: GOP is certain to win..
The Democratic Party CAN prevent the votes of their voters being stolen.
The party should notify all states with voting machines without a paper
trail that the state must provide a paper trail OR THE DEMOCRATS WILL NOT
USE THESE MACHINES! WE DO HAVE THE POWER TO REFUSE!
In states that refuse to provide a voting system with paper documentation,
the Democratic Party must convince it's voters to boycott the system. At
all polling locations, the names of the voters who boycott should be
recorded by Democratic Party precinct workers. The news media should be
made aware of this. Imagine the news stories going around the world. It
will give the U.S. a black eye it fully deserves. Given advance notice of
this plan, I don't think Bush, Rove et al will risk the inevitable
political fallout.
Extraordinary problems require extraordinary solutions. If the people in
Ukraine can get fraudulent elections invalidated, so can we in the U.S.A.
We have to stop acting like sheep who stand idly by while our democracy is
being stolen right in front of our eyes.
I have also sent this idea to the DNC.
Hans Grellmann
Palos Verdes Estates, CA
Mr. Partridge:
I was extremely pleased with your subject article, and unfortunately,
absolutely agree that you have hit the proverbial "nail on the head". But
also, unfortunately, I must slightly disagree that we can reverse the
GOP's stranglehold on this country.
I exulted when you referred to the current administration as a "crime
syndicate", but it is just that fact that leads me to be a pessimist in
this matter. Just like the traditional crime syndicates of the past, this
administration can make people disappear almost instantanteously. They can
also discredit anyone who attempts to challenge their fascistic powers.
I really would love to change this country before it is devoured by the
real "evil-doers" who inhabit this (and future GOP) administrations, but
how?? With full control of the executive and judicial branches of our
government, we just may be in for a long, difficult time. A religious
Armageddon may be a welcome thing after 6 or more years of this criminal
regime.
Again, thanks for the article and I definitely plan to visit your website
regularly.
Don Bishop
Dear Ernest,
I just got a copy of your paper “The GOP is Certain to win….etc.”
First, that’s very good work and I thank you.
Next, a coupla comments, if I may:
1. Anyone who thinks a paper “copy” of the vote in a DRE machine reflects
the internal computation of the vote just cast has no idea of how those
machines or any computer for that matter, works. A program (that can be
automatically deleted upon closure of the poll) can do a real-time
“adjustment” of the vote just cast and repeat it for every other vote
cast, i.e., the voter votes for candidate A but the program changes that
to a vote for candidate B. The paper copy, if there is one, will reflect
the actual vote so that the voter thinks he can prove how he voted. He is
duped in thinking that. A second way to manage the vote results is to
accurately tabulate the votes as they are cast and then recalculate the
totals at the end of the day to provide the desired result by a percentage
point or two. This program, too, is easily deleted when the clock on
polling runs out. Therefore, using a DRE machine is an open invitation to
fraud and all such machines should be converted to smashed-up junk.
Failure to do that is simply the equivalent of going through the motions,
conceding defeat to the party that controls the voting process.
2. The difference in today’s republican party and the democratic party is
insignificant for both of them feed at the corporate trough. In just the
past few days 15 democrats in the House voted in favor of CAFTA while
something like 26 republicans voted against it. And now the leader of the
democrat party is arguing the NRA’s side regarding gun control. Both
parties are firmly in the grasp of the business community and that puts
them at odds with 95% of the American public but the American public has
been hoodwinked and doesn’t know it! Tax reform laws that favor the
wealthy hurts 95% of us so why are democrats cursing republicans or vice
versa instead of working together against the corporate-owned White House
and Congress? In the ongoing occupation of Iraq, both democrat and
republican soldiers are being targeted by the poorly armed Iraqi’s who are
trying to drive out the foreign invaders. Those Iraqi’s don’t give a damn
if they are putting the sights on a republican or a democrat. Congress and
the White House has recently screwed 95% of the public regarding health
care (preventing the Government from negotiating with pharmaceutical
companies for lower prices). Constantly reducing the funding for the
Veterans Administration is a betrayal of promises to those sent into
combat – regardless whether an individual vet needing medical attention is
a republican or a democrat.
You see where this goes. The business community has gained control and
will kill it’s own to keep it. While the republican party has always been
the party of the business community, the democrats are lined up at the
teats and taking every drop they can get.
We’ve got to pick the few incumbents who have defied corporate funding
(investing, really) and reject every single incumbent and candidate who is
funded by….local developers, business leaders, major corporations, etc.
But how to do that given that corporate holdings include the media? The
Internet is our only hope but they may shut that down too as evidence
piles up that Comcast and AOL have interfered with the transmission of
certain communications over the internet. The technology is there.
I have very little hope that my fellow American will turn off the fucking
TV and start to pay attention to the world around him. But maybe I’m
wrong. I sure hope so.
Regards
Jim Steeves
Albuquerque
Subject : stopping the GOP
1. Infiltrate the GOP right now start at the university level get some
people whose backgrounds are spotless and get them into the GOP machinery
the higher up the better just 1 person in the right position would blow
this whole thing - but it is a risky business and there must be
protections what about the CIA - 2, infiltrate existing voting machine
corporations - get super geeks to work for and expose them . 3 Buy a
voting machine company and make it honest and competitive and start
selling open transparent voting machines. millions will donate to cover
costs. 4 Buy media and make IT honest - millions will donate The
repubicans have bought the voting machine companies and the media - they
were smart they took years to get us over a barrel. The last election
showed that millions of Americans will donate a lot for better government
and better elections. The Democrats threw it away. Somebody needs to put
the money where it will pay off in national media and in voting machines.
They used the capitalist system to buy control we have to make it work for
us.
David Stevens
Both parties have sold us down the river. Both Clinton and the Bushs are
criminals.
I believe both parties are running this country into the ground.
I think we must have a third party candidate to get our country out of the
sewer. Yes the electronic voting boxes will fraudulently ignore the truth.
And yes our government is run by elites, not tied to political offices
(the bankers), but we gotta try.
Please consider; There are many qualified candidates in the Constitution,
Green, the Libertarian, the Veterans Parties, and others who believe in
defending our God given (natural), unalienable, Constitutionally protected
and guaranteed rights. However, until all these third parties unite into
one NEW SUPER THIRD PARTY, their running for office is absolutely a moot
point and doomed for failure. The Revolutionary Coalition is about
facilitating this merger of third parties who can agree to defend the
Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Join and unite with us at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheRevolutionaryCoalition/
Cliff Hughes
Glenwood Springs, CO.
Dear Dr. Partridge,
Thank you for this article bringing out the urgency of
grassroots action in the coming Congressional elections, '06. Your express
my anxieties exactly. I am confounded to find that even the most avid
voters who are most fearful of this Bush administration are complacent
about the chances that the Republicans will be defeated in the elections.
They think that the people would simply rise up in great numbers against
Bush for all the atrocious crimes he and his gang have committed in the
past 5 years.
In '04, the Democratic leaders and the Kerry Campaign
seemed not to have anticipated the fraud from the Diebold voting machines.
There were no monitoring of the machines in Ohio by the Democrats, even
after the debacle of the stolen Florida elections, '00. Compounding this
unbelievable negligence, John Kerry folded early in the morning after the
first numbers were reported giving the election to Bush, in spite of
reported polling irregularities around the state of Ohio and all the
numbers were not yet completed. That is astounding to me.
I have since heard that Kerry was given $55 million to
hire lawyers to investigate any irregularities in case of a close
election. He announced that 135,000 votes difference was too much to
overcome and he refused to listen to the clamor by John Conyers, the Green
Party and others to put his weight behind their efforts to keep the
results of the election open until December. Nobody is talking about what
happened to the $55 million. Presumably Kerry is holding on to it for his
campaign in '08. Maybe he felt that any further investigations would be
futile, so he wanted to keep the money to get a head start on the next
presidential campaign when the odds would be better and he wouldn't have
to run against the Bush gang. If the Republicans win both houses of
Congress in '06, I agree with you, the chances for a Democratic win in '08
will be very dim, given the Republicans greatly more unified and given
more control, by then, over the machines and election process.
What is urgently needed is a well organized grassroots
monitoring of the polling places, particularly where the Diebold machines
(about 1500 so far) are used. There should be volunteers to do manual
polling outside of each of these places, maybe by giving out receipts or
tallying Democratic voters to give rough estimates, in case of machine
tampering. This would help to discourage the Republicans tampering as well
as giving immediate alarm of trouble, if the tallies and results differ
beyond a projected statistical tolerance. The Republicans cannot say
election projections are unreliable. Whatever, the strategy adopted,
grassroots organization to monitor E-voting machines closely is the only
foolproof answer.
Sincerely yours,
Celia Wu
New York, NY
Hi Ernest,
I thoroughly enjoy your essay and I have to say, that I am
in complete agreement with what you're saying!
I have to admit that I had never really thought about your
thesis; and the Republican's absolute need to win again in 2006 or 2008.
All I'm seeing now is how much, the "Jerry Ford", 2005 double is slowly
tearing apart our nation, socio-economically; rendering us all down to
'mindless, compliant worker-bees'.
Your mention of the polls, showing how much Bush has
fallen out of favor with the American people, as well as their support for
his 'war in Iraq'. I hear that from various media sources; however, I fail
to 'see' it in the people I see 'on the streets', etc. here. As a matter
of fact, I'm not seeing 'anything' out in the real world, that includes
even support of Bush and his war! I don't know why! I keep thinking 'are
people blind? Can't they see the long-term affects of what this
egomaniacal monster is doing to America and Americans, as he waltz through
his final days in the White House. Not only his 'war', where he's
systematically killing off thousands of our military people, for nothing,
except to further 'line the pocketbooks' of his friends and colleagues;
'fattening their bankrolls' with our tax dollars, or rather I should say
the tax dollars of our children and their children, the ones who are
really going to have to cover the huge loan deficit.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the national deficit that
Bush is creating is the highest one in the history of our nation, isn't
it? Allowing for the inflation factors over time, I mean. I can't ever
remember a deficit as large, even during Vietnam. I'm a post WWII and
Korean War baby, so I can't go back any farther than that in my memory;
but I'd like to know if I'm right in my speculation, or not.
I am indeed worried about what our great nation is being
turned into, but even more than that, I'm worried because 'my fellow
citizens' aren't worried and don't appear to 'see' what is happen; or
maybe they all are just suffering with complacent apathy. The people I
come in contact on the streets everyday, seem to be concerned only with
the 'things happening in their immediate lives and families'. They must be
living in a delusion, because they have a nice, (heavily mortgaged) home,
food on their tables, new cars and lots of nice clothes for themselves and
their family, than they're fine; they don't seem to be the least bit
concerned that , sure right now in 2005 you're fine, but 'look down the
road, friends' to the country and world that Bush is creating for your
children.
As we continue to allow him to 'due as he pleases', taking
more and more of our freedoms and civil liberties away from us, under the
guise of 'making us safe', he's become stronger and bolder with each
action and before we know it he and his 'partners in crime' , they are the
ones waiting 'side stage' to 'take over the controls', not only in 2006
and 2008, either. If we as Americans, don't, as the saying goes, 'wake up
and smell the coffee', soon, we're going to see the end of something that
was very, very good one time; the freedom to live our lives as we choose,
and pursue our own happiness.
Before I close, I just want to comment on your third
salient point. You're absolutely right, neither the Democrats, the media
and the law are unwilling to do anything about the Republican crimes; but
you forgot one other member of this entourage, the American citizens! I
actually believe that if we as involved citizens in preserving our country
and ourselves prosperity, we could act and GET THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE
ENTOURAGE TO ACT , TOO!
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts and ideas; and for
letting me 'add my two cents', here.
Pax,
Donna C Lee
San Diego, CA
All negative responses to the essay are included
below (EP):
The following is such a paradigm example of
"psycho-ceramic" (i.e., crackpot) rant that I haven't touched a single
key-stroke of it, in order to preserve its "purity." No reply at the
end -- why bother? The letter is self-refuting. (EP)
So the "Bushistas" stole an election or two , Hmmmmmm.......?
I seem to remember, during the Clinton Regime, about an election in
California-Land.
There seems that there was this congressman named "B-2 Bob". Even after a
completely gerrymandering of his district, he won an election.
The next election, a whole lot of Hispanics voted for the Hispanic female
candidate. This candidate won. The Grand Whore-master himself, Blow Job
Willy, was re-elected again as well. So.................
A cursory examination of the PRINTED results of the registered voters
discovered a number of very interesting events.
Literally thousands of illegal Hispanic aliens had voted for this
demo-crap-tic party candidate.
Hundreds, of convicted felons, who had NOT been restored
their right to vote, [and whom were registered as demo-craps], had voted .
Even with all of the above, the race was STILL close. It was decided by a
few hundred votes at best.
Old "B-1 Bob", didn't contest the election. Something
about the local Board of Elections being 6 Demo-craps and one Republican.
The election was stolen of course; but by the "correct sort" of candidate.
To wit, an atheist liberal collectivist.
Then there was that old drunken Mayor I Boston, during the Kennedy/Nixon
race, who mentioned in a moment of drunken drollness, "WE count the votes
hear in Boston".
Then in Chicago, Mayor Daley the Elder, stated that , 'here in Chicago, WE
count the votes here".
In both incidents, the "Correct sort" of political party people, namely
the Demo-crap-tic Party, gave sly winks to the cameras. The atheist
liberal press loved it.
So.................
So now, fuckers, you can not steal elections anymore. The "Main stream
press" is held in such disregard, that telemarketers are doing "blind
calls" in order to solicit subscribers. The "main stream TV. medium", is
also held in such low regard, that puny cable TV stations, have multi
billion US$ capitalized TV stations screaming bloody murder.
Folks. You have stolen elections for years. And laughed about it.
Now you are unable to steal elections. At least for the last two election
cycles.
Like that commie asshole Bob Dylan whined about in one of his songs, "How
does it feel???????"
"How does it feel?"
You don't have a "home" anymore, guaranteed by a atheist liberal Federal
system, atheist liberal congressional majorities, and most especially
galling to you, a REPUBLICAN President, who actually won two elections
with a Majority each time. Not with a plurality . Moreover, he doesn't get
his dick sucked by a skank whore in the Oval Office even!!!!
God DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You fuckers must being experiencing one real nasty 24/7/52 conniption fit.
Well.
You folks SHOWED us how to steal an election. Just as you showed us how
win elections by the art of ad hominem attacks against opposing
candidates.
I can't stop laughing.
I really can't stop laughing. Talking about "the chickens coming home to
roost"!!
Here is a news flash, folks. Yes Sirs and Mesdames. We stupid white
Republican "persons", Do take forever to learn . But now we have it right.
If I could, I'd vote George W. Bush for a third term I office.
No folks. You are NOT going to win in 2006. Not in 2008 either.
No matter what. Get it? No.......matter.....what.
Z.
Postal script:
I've wanting desperately wanting to lambaste some atheist liberal
collectivists for quite some time now.
I'll bet you that if Dubya, established a hunting on atheist liberal
collectivists, he would be acclaimed as President for another eight years.
By GOD it feels good. A Very nice catharsis. I don't even need anyone "to
feel my pain".
I KNOW that you fuckers will spread this email far and wide, so as to
demonstrate that people , who hate atheist liberal collectivists, are full
of hatred and rage; out of their minds even. So be it. As long as the
Republican Party increases their majority in both houses of Congress; we
get two major league conservative Supreme Court Justices, [who can
"legislate fro the bench", as Earl Warren taught us how to do ], "things"
will change in America. What you fuckers call Nazism, and Fascism, we call
conservatism as opposed to atheist liberal collectivism.
I guess it just boils down to , who is IN; and who is OUT.
Joseph Zack
Dear Sir,
Interesting read! There is one point I would like to make. The endurance
of the USSR was not seen as inevitable by Reagan and many others on the
right. Unforeseen circumstances didn't bring them down. They fell just as
predicted -- with a lot of hard work and without help from the left.
Brad Anderson
Ernest Partridge replies:
Take another look at the pronouncements of Henry
Kissinger and Jeanne Kirkpatrick (to name just a couple): "No
piece of land occupied by the Communists has ever been relinquished."
"No help from the left?" The Marshall Plan, NATO, Voice of America
-- all initiated by Democratic administrations.
Worst of all, the Right typically gives little if any
credit to the true heroes in the fall of Communism: Walensa, Havel,
Gorbachev, Sakharov, and the countless ordinary citizens in the streets
of Warsaw, Prague, St. Petersburg and Moscow, who put their bodies in
front of the Soviet tanks.
Dr. Partridge---
Concerning your article on the Democratic Underground:
Funny, I don't see any reference to election fraud perpetrated by
Democratic administrations.... although I seem to remember Cook County
during Kennedy/Nixon.
Your assertion that the Republicans "stole" the elections of 2000 and 2004
is intellectual trash, --- and you know it ------- had the Supreme Court
voted instead for the lightweight Gore, you would have no doubt been
bragging over "how well the system works". Your problem---as it is with
most leftist Democrats these days is simply this: an election is not fair
unless your side wins.
You need to stop whining and grow up!
Rudy Ellis
Ernest Partridge replies:
Here we encountered one of the favorite fallacies of
The Right: "Two Wrongs" a.k.a. "you're another!" Suppose
(implausibly) that the Democrats were guilty of all the fraud that
progressives charge the Republicans. Does that legitimize election
fraud?
It is quite possible that Richard Daley (pére)
engineered fraud in Chicago in 1960, and even swung Illinois for
Kennedy. If so, it was a crime and someone should have been
convicted and served time for it. However, as many Republicans
tend to forget, had Illinois gone for Nixon, Kennedy would still have won the
election.
Finally, I don't "know" that my assertion that the
2004 election was stolen is "intellectual trash." There is
evidence -- abundant and compelling evidence -- that the election was
stolen. See for yourself in The Crisis Papers. Insults do not abolish evidence.
And speaking of insults (EP):
Dear Dr. Partridge:
Pure projection.
Nothing but a litany of what the nihilists/narcissists of Soros-land would
do if THEY gained power.
Regards,
Thomas G. Holford
Dear moonbat, Please move to Canada. Don't forget your
tinfoil hat.
Thomas Soule
Dr. Partridge, having just read this article in The
Democratic Underground I feel compelled to sue you for the loss of brain
cells. You are one sick, delusional individual. Seek professional help
before it’s too late.
Keith Sparks
Beaverton, OR
just a bunch of liberal drivel.
Ambrtrees
