Michael Collins: Election Fraud and Tyranny - Part 2
From image: "I can't believe you morons actually buy this sh..." They don't. They're just following the script. That's why Miller calls them "the servile press." Banksy
How did we reach our current state of decline in just eight excruciating years? Aren't we working hard enough? Was there some millennial shift in consciousness and morality? How could we elect leaders like Bush and Cheney and their minions on Capitol Hill?
Mark Crispin Miller's latest book, "Loser Take All," provides an explanation that precedes any other: election fraud. In his collection of essays, Miller shows that the losers took everything in both the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. That made all the difference.
NOTE: For an explanation of what Blogrolling for Change is and how to get involved, click here.
When I was a senior in high school, The Nation had a contest where they asked high school and college students across the country what the most important issue facing young people was. In writing my response I deliberately chose to misread the question - rather than telling The Nation what I thought young people cared about the most, I decided to tell them what I thought the most important issue was, period. The answer? Undue corporate power and influence, particularly when it comes to the American political process.
Today is probably one of the best days ever. No, it is not my birthday. I still have 26 more days until that great day. Today is SUPER TUESDAY, or as I call it “Nerve-wracking Tuesday.” Although I love today, it is arguably one of the most stressful days. And not just for the candidates. The news is filled with whom to vote for, exit polling data, number of delegates to win the nomination, and of course, the ever-so-popular super delegates.
Sometimes I wonder why we even have national primaries, or a day that is geared toward finding out the Democratic or Republican nominee, when we may not know until one month later who will be representing “us.” Four years ago, Senator John Kerry clinched the Democratic nomination on March 2nd – the earliest day in modern times – with a succession of Super Tuesday primary victories. In 2000, George W. Bush and Al Gore clinched their party’s nomination in March 14th. What I am saying is, there will probably not be a clear front-runner. Of course, I have been wrong in the past, but the results are still exciting to watch for the day. The Republicans will probably have more of an idea of a nominee because some of their states have an “all or nothing,” delegate process. The Democrats, on the other hand, typically split up their delegates, making it harder to be determined.
I bet McCain is extremely excited right now. It will probably take a miracle for Huckabee, Paul, or even Romney, to pull the rabbit out of the hat. It may take Obama or Clinton a while to reach a majority (50% + 1) of the delegates. If this is the case, I anticipate the great state of Ohio cannot wait to cast their vote on March 4th. As we can all see, anything is possible with the election. I just hope it doesn’t drag all the way into conventions. No matter what happens, just make sure to GET OUT AND VOTE!!!
Media, election, and judicial reform advocate Mark Adams, JD, MBA of Tampa, Florida discovered something very important in the South Carolina Constitution. It provides for secret voting but bans secret vote counting.
All elections by the people shall be by secret ballot, but the ballots shall not be counted in secret. The right of suffrage, as regulated in this Constitution, shall be protected by laws regulating elections and prohibiting, under adequate penalties, all undue influence from power, bribery, tumult, or improper conduct. South Carolina Constitution, Article II, Section 1
Exciting news for a variety of historically marginalized groups: Denise Simmons, the country's first black, lesbian mayor, was elected this week to serve Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Simmons, a member of the council since 2001, is the second consecutive mayor who is black and openly gay. She is the first woman to serve as the city’s mayor since Sheila Russell held the office from 1996-1997.
...
“It feels really great,” Simmons said. “When I first came to the School Committee, one of the things I always said was that I wanted to be mayor.”
“Today is a day to celebrate another broken glass ceiling,” said Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the Victory Fund, a national organization that supports openly GLBT candidates seeking national and local office. The Victory Fund’s blog, incidentally, has one of the best URLs I’ve come across recently: www.gaypolitics.com.
David Roberts from Grist notes that the environment is missing on this list. It seems that these issues line up pretty well with the issues that young people (18-30) care about. A Rock the Vote poll found that young people's top issues are: "the war in Iraq (28%), health care (22%), the economy (14%), and education (13%)."
Just finished Paul Wellstone's memoir The Conscience of a Liberal. It reads like a campaign book, which is what it is. Too much of it is taken up with descriptions of how much he respects colleagues who disagree with him, and how impressed they are with his courage. And Wellstone raises and then retires too quickly some questions that could have been the core of a better book - how effectively can electoral politics complement local issues-based organizing; did he vote for DOMA for the sake of re-election; how could Bill Clinton have pushed through more progressive policy. That said, Wellstone offers some telling reminders of the difference between merely opposing a bill and moving heaven and earth to stop it, and between paying lip service to a different kind of campaign and actually running one. And it needn't cost you your job or your usefulness at it.
Andrew Sullivan approvingly cites a reader's nasty argument against Hillary Clinton:
If everyone is admitting that a Hillary Clinton's potential nomination to the Democrat Presidential ticket is only fuel for the religious right, then what do you think Senator Clinton's view is on that? Why is it that this either doesn't concern her, or she thinks she can overcome it? If I were in the same position, I would realize that winning the nomination, only to further create a dichotomy between the American politic, would be disastrous for the country.
Now it's one thing to say that Hillary Clinton shouldn't run because she's too unpopular to win the general election (though the polls won't be much help to you there). It's another thing to say that running for president even though a lot of people hate you shows "fathomless narcissism" (Sullivan's phrase). In other words, if you love America, and there are a bunch of people in America who hate you, you shouldn't run for election in America because it will divide America and that's too great a price to pay.
There are good reasons not to like Hillary Clinton. Those are not the ones that make her unpopular with the religious right. Hillary Clinton, for all her caution with the personal and the political, is a lightning rod for anti-feminist forces in American politics who don't believe women should exercise power traditionally reserved for men. Andrew Sullivan knows that.
It's silly, though all too common, to suggest that the main problem facing this country is a lack of consensus about where it should go or what kind of person should lead it. And it's outrageous, though by no means unusual, to argue that the enlightened response to the troubling views of a certain number of Americans is to accommodate them rather than to engage and challenge them.
Some people in this country think Hillary Clinton is a bitch because she wields power and wants more of it. It's a shame to see pundits who should know better suggesting she's a bitch for not acceding to those people's wish that she would disappear.
Please remember that Campus Progress' terms of use do not allow promoting or endorsing any particular political party or candidate for office. Posts or comments that do this will be deleted.
Posts
!
