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Thursday, November 4, 2004 |
Don't you find it strange that the exit polls showed an advantage for Kerry and Bush won?
Don't you find it strange that the huge turnout favoured Kerry and Bush won?
Don't you find it strange that a Diebold executive claimed to be committed to helping Ohio deliver a victory for Bush?
Don't you find it strange that Florida with a history of cheating voted for Bush?
Greg Palast: "Most voters in Ohio thought they were voting for Kerry. CNN's exit poll showed Kerry beating Bush among Ohio women by 53 percent to 47 percent. Kerry also defeated Bush among Ohio's male voters 51 percent to 49 percent. Unless a third gender voted in Ohio, Kerry took the state.
So what's going on here? Answer: the exit polls are accurate. Pollsters ask, 'Who did you vote for?' Unfortunately, they don't ask the crucial, question, 'Was your vote counted?' The voters don't know.
Here's why. Although the exit polls show that most voters in Ohio punched cards for Kerry-Edwards, thousands of these votes were simply not recorded. This was predictable and it was predicted.
And here's the key: Florida is terribly typical. The majority of ballots thrown out (there will be nearly 2 million tossed out from Tuesday's election) will have been cast by African American and other minority citizens.
So here we go again. Or, here we don't go again. Because unlike last time, Democrats aren't even asking Ohio to count these cards with the not-quite-punched holes (called 'undervotes' in the voting biz). Nor are they demanding we look at the 'overvotes' where voter intent may be discerned.
Ohio is one of the last states in America to still use the vote-spoiling punch-card machines. And the Secretary of State of Ohio, J. Kenneth Blackwell, wrote before the election, 'the possibility of a close election with punch cards as the state's primary voting device invites a Florida-like calamity'.
But this week, Blackwell, a rabidly partisan Republican, has warmed up to the result of sticking with machines that have a habit of eating Democratic votes. When asked if he feared being this year's Katherine Harris, Blackwell noted that Ms. Fix-it's efforts landed her a seat in Congress.
There were also the 'challenges'. That's a polite word for the Republican Party of Ohio's use of an old Ku Klux Klan technique: the attempt to block thousands of voters of color at the polls.
In the end, the challenges were not overwhelming, but they were there. Many apparently resulted in voters getting these funky 'provisional' ballots - a kind of voting placebo - which may or may not be counted. Blackwell estimates there were 175,000; Democrats say 250,000. Pick your number. But as challenges were aimed at minorities, no one doubts these are, again, overwhelmingly Democratic. Count them up, add in the spoiled punch cards (easy to tally with the human eye in a recount), and the totals begin to match the exit polls; and, golly, you've got yourself a new president. Remember, Bush won by 136,483 votes in Ohio.
Now, on to New Mexico, where a Kerry plurality - if all votes are counted - is more obvious still. Before the election, in TomPaine.com, I wrote, 'John Kerry is down by several thousand votes in New Mexico, though not one ballot has yet been counted'.
How did that happen? It's the spoilage, stupid; and the provisional ballots.
CNN said George Bush took New Mexico by 11,620 votes. Again, the network total added up to that miraculous, and non-existent, '100 percent' of ballots cast.
So we can call Ohio and New Mexico for John Kerry - if we count all the votes.
But that won't happen. Despite the Democratic Party's pledge, the leadership this time gave in to racial disenfranchisement once again. Why? No doubt, the Democrats know darn well that counting all the spoiled and provisional ballots will require the cooperation of Ohio's Secretary of State, Blackwell. He will ultimately decide which spoiled and provisional ballots get tallied. Blackwell, hankering to step into Kate Harris' political pumps, is unlikely to permit anything close to a full count. Also, Democratic leadership knows darn well the media would punish the party for demanding a full count."
It simply does not add up.
NZHerald: "Ohio (president): Senator John Kerry conceded Ohio after President George W. Bush built a lead of more than 130,000 votes. About 150,000 provisional ballots remain to be examined.
New Mexico (president): Bush held a slim lead with thousands of absentee votes still to be counted. The state's governor and secretary of state are both Democrats.
Iowa (president): Bush held a slim lead with several thousand absentee and provisional votes still to be counted.
Florida (Senate): Democrat Betty Castor conceded to Republican Mel Martinez, who held a 1-point lead with as many as 200,000 absentee and provisional ballots still to be counted.
Alaska (Senate): Republican incumbent Lisa Murkowski beat Democrat Tony Knowles, with thousands of mail-in absentee ballots still to be counted.
Washington (governor): Democratic Attorney-General Christine Gregoire and Republican state Senator Dino Rossi were just about tied with tens of thousands of mail-in absentee ballots still to be counted."
10:16:26 PM 
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BBC: "Hungary will withdraw all of its 300 troops stationed in Iraq by the end of March 2005, the country's prime minister has said."
Bulgaria will further reduce its troops.
Global Security: "Countries which had troops in or supported operations in Iraq at one point but have pulled out since: Nicaragua (Feb. 2004); Spain (late-Apr. 2004); Dominican Republic (early-May 2004); Honduras (late-May 2004); Philippines (Jul. 19, 2004); Thailand (late-Aug. 2004); Singapore (Sep.04); and New Zealand (late Sep. 04).
Countries planning to withdraw from Iraq: Poland (starting Jan.04 and completed by end.05?); reportedly the Netherlands (Mar. 05?); Hungary (end Mar. 05).
Countries which have reduced or are planning to reduce their troop commitment: Ukraine (-200); Moldova (reduced contingent to 12); Norway (reduced from 150 to 10 late-Jun.04, early Jul.04); Bulgaria (-50, Dec.04)."
Oil jumps more than $1. (Canadian dollar surges more than 1 cent. Prepare for US dollar meltdown.)
Bus bomb kills 9 in Baghdad.
Car bomb kills 6, wounds 20.
Oil ministry official killed, further kidnappings.
One US soldier killed, one injured.
Etc... etc...
11:47:47 AM
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The Nation: "Bush lied his way into office and lied his way through his presidency. His reelection campaign was based on derision and disingenuousness; he mischaracterized Kerry and his positions and touted successes that did not exist. And now, it seems, he got away with it. He was not punished for leading the country into a war that was not necessary. He was not booted for having overstated the WMD threat from Iraq. He paid no price for failing to plan adequately for the post-invasion period. Iraq remains his mess. And the United States and the world remains at the mercy of a gang that, no doubt, will feel even more emboldened to pursue their misguided policies."
CommonDreams: "Voters across the United States reported problems with electronic touch-screen systems on Tuesday in what critics said could be a sign that the machines used by one-third of the population were prone to error.
Voters calling in to an election-day hotline reported more than 1,100 problems with the ATM-like machines, from improperly tallied choices to frozen screens that left their votes in limbo.
Voters in Maryland said congressional candidates were left off ballots, while some in Florida told hotline volunteers that their ballots had already been filled out when they stepped up to vote, watchdogs said.
Volunteer John Kramer processes complaints to the voter hotline, 1-866-MYVOTE1, which is based at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, November 2, 2004. The hotline, which recorded calls and logged voters complaints, processed more than 50,000 calls from voters."
IOL: "Some observers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), a Europe-wide security and rights forum, were barred from entering some polling stations in the United States on Tuesday, one of them said.
'We were not allowed to enter polling stations,' said Soeren Soendergaard, a Danish parliamentary deputy. 'Although we were officially invited to follow the (US presidential) election, the message was not passed on to the polling stations,' he told the Danish news agency Ritzau."
Them: "Four more years of American soldiers being used as cannon fodder.
Four more years of scientific decisions being made by people who believe in a ghost in the clouds.
Four more years of debt that our children and grandchildren will have to pay off.
Four more years of racists and lunatics for judicial appointments
Four more years of looting the treasury and squandering it on corporate cronies.
Four more years of making enemies faster than we can kill them.
Four more years of fear and darkness and racism and hatred and stupidity and guns and bad country music."
However, do not forget that this election was again won by fraud and lies. It was not fair; it if had been, Kerry would have won. Which means that more than half the American population voted for a better alternative. Now go kick some ass.
Impeach Bush. Now more than ever!
11:13:03 AM
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BBC: "Iranian Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi is suing the US government for blocking publication of her memoirs."
10:38:36 AM
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© Copyright 2008.
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