Never Give Up, Never Surrender

[filkertom]

Something is wrong.

As "stunster" put it on a comment board at Atrios:

Chimpy is going to try to declare victory even without Ohio. Why, because he needs to be seen as having 'won' this vote before the fraudulent nature of it can be pinned down and proven. But it's already rather obvious.

Colossal, unprecedented lines at the polling stations, all around the country. Yet turnout is barely at the 2000 level?

Exit polls perform almost perfectly everywhere. Except in the only states that have electronic voting machines with no paper trail?
Which just happen to be Ohio and Florida?

It's a fraud. An increasingly provable fraud.

Exit polls make Kerry president. CNN, Zogby, MSNBC.

The two states with no paper trail electronic voting have Bush doing
5% better compared to the exits polls, but everywhere else the exit
polls are correct. Diebold. It's a fraud.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/11/3/41255/9616
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/11/3/3646/14136
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/11/3/04741/7055

This isn't bitterness at a hard-fought loss. This is FUCKING RIGHTEOUS ANGER AT OBVIOUS THEFT.

Something is wrong.

Update: Kerry has apparently conceded. Already.

Now I'm bitter.

Comments

[zachkessin.livejournal.com]

Scarry, very scarry, I really have never liked hi tech voting, its way to easy to muck with. Paper ballots are good, and easy to track. I keep thinking that e-voting is a solution looking for a problem.

I'm not ready to claim that this election might be stolen, but it may be posible to convince me.

[eibii.livejournal.com]

What can we do? Other than spread this ASAP...

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

First thing is, Don't Give Up.

We make sure that the media remembers that, currently, the score is 254-252. That can change, and in a number of ways.

We push the media to report the possibilities of voter fraud. Don't think there was any? Check this out (https://voteprotect.org/index.php?display=EIRMapNation).

We do not despair. We're not fighting for power. We're trying to save the country and the world, even for the Repubs. We are the Good Guys.

Be strong. Stay cool. Don't give up.

Here Are Some Starting Points

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

From Bob Harris (http://www.bobharris.com/):

FAIR's Media Contact List (http://www.fair.org/media-contact-list.html).

NewsLink's complete media list (http://newslink.org/).

Ohio TV stations (http://newslink.org/ohtele.html), radio stations (http://newslink.org/ohradi.html), and newspapers (http://newslink.org/ohnews.html).

[mrfnord.livejournal.com]

Or in the words of John Edwards:

"Every vote is counted, and we fight for every vote."

[metalfatigue]

Ha. Liar.

[poltr1]

Ohio's using electronic voting machines? News to me. In both my county (Montgomery) and the county I worked in as an Election Protection volunteer (Hamilton), both used the punch-card system.

I too have been following the electronic voting machine story. And as an IT worker, I know far too well about the pitfalls that can happen. Especially when the CEO of Diebold says that he would "...personally deliver the election to George W. Bush".

Let me dig up some websites on publicizing this effort and get them out to you.

And yeah, it wouldn't surprise me that Shrub would never concede this election. When I went to bed at 12:30, thy were running neck-and-neck (207-206). And I haven't checked the news since I got up a few minutes ago.

[poltr1]

OK. Here they are.

Earlier this year, I was active in truemajority.org's "The Computer Ate My Vote" campaign. We were able to successfully sway many states -- including Ohio -- from deploying electronic voting instruments that do not have auditable paper-trail features.


truemajority.org's "The Computer Ate My Vote" campaign -- now concluded

Verified Voting

Verified Voting -- State of Ohio


Ohio: CASE (Citizens’ Alliance for Secure Elections)

And the piece de resistance....
The Black Box Voting site (and affiliated with Bev Harris, author of the book with the same name)

Warning: The site (.COM) is a deceptively designed site that is NOT affiliated with Bev Harris or Black Box Voting Inc. The .ORG site is the Real Deal.

Election day really IS Day of the Dead

[gypsy1969.livejournal.com]

What disturbs me is the popular vote. I am wondering what I can do to safeguard my family. If all the dire predictions of the democratic side come true, I want to move NOW! I see some benefit of the never say die scenerio, but after a while it just looks and feels stupid.

I'd like to know about this exit poll thing. If true that beats all of the conspiracy theories I've ever heard.

[smallship1.livejournal.com]

I'm not surprised. Enraged, but not surprised. I knew once he'd done it once he'd try it again, and I was fairly sure he'd succeed. He's got too many friends with too much money.

Welcome to the exciting world of unconstitutional monarchy.

[smallship1.livejournal.com]

Just realised...from King George to King George.

[james-rayner.livejournal.com]

I can confirm, Ohio uses Punch-cards.

But florida should be -seriously- investigated, I think. Majorly.

As for here..well, there's a lot of work to still be done. And we have not yet begun to fight.

[jkb.livejournal.com]

Ohio's mixed, I thought -- punch cards and paperless.

yes, how funny that . . .

[ladyteal.livejournal.com]

Florida being the state that had to be RECOUNTED last year, can NOT be recounted this year.

Time for a revolution?

[arensb.livejournal.com]

The two states with no paper trail electronic voting

Here in Maryland, most of us voted on a Diebold machine with no paper trail (one county voted on a non-Diebold machine with no paper trail). Of course, if the Maryland results had been anything other than Kerry+incumbents, it would've looked mighty suspicious.

[zachkessin.livejournal.com]

Well if you are going to stuff the ballot box in a very close race you don't do it everywhere, you do it in the one or two places where you may be able to get away with it and that you need to win.

I don't know if there is fraud here, but i'm a bit twitchy

[ororo.livejournal.com]

I'm twitchy too. With all the accusations of false registratons, intimidations and disenfranchisement, I would have liked to see the election delayed until that mess was taken care of.

[arensb.livejournal.com]

Right. I was just responding to the "only two states" part. Maybe that should've just said "the only two states where the race was close" or something.

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

Gee. Wouldn't have anything with a certain promise by a certain CEO to "deliver the state for Bush," would these results?

Yes, I'd be challenging the machines themselves in Ohio, as well as pushing to get the provisional ballots counted.

Unfortunately, Bush has 254 without New Mexico and Iowa and Wisconsin. The reason this is a shame is that the ballot prop in Colorado, to split their EVs proportionally, won. And of those 9 EVs, if the prop were upheld for this year, it would still only deliver 4 to Kerry -- bringing the number down to 250. I had hoped it would be 252, which would permit conceding Ohio to add to 248. Too bad.

Still, this time, every vote will be counted.

[infinitemorning.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I'm very suspicious that the exit polls were so wrong. Granted, I know a lot of assholes, but I can't imagine that many people would refuse to respond or outright lie to pollsters. And given all the fraud and the...questionable behavior of certain officials in Ohio (wasn't Blackwell the one rejecting voter registrations 'cause they weren't printed on thick enough paper?) and Florida (something like ONE polling place for Broward County, right?) - honestly, I'm inclined to think they should throw those two out and have another, special election in two weeks. But I guess I'll have to settle for an investigation into Diebold and (I really, really hope) a bunch of provisional and absentee ballots in Ohio that are very different from what the pundits are expecting.

Well, whatever needs doing, I'm gonna be ready. I'll march to Washington in the driving snow if I have to. This is what fucking democracy looks like.

[jkb.livejournal.com]

I agree. And Kerry should NOT concede, and the Kerry-Edwards legal people should be all over this.

[jedilora.livejournal.com]

I just don't understand why Kerry would concede. The votes aren't counted yet! Heck, I KNOW my vote isn't counted yet. I voted hand-delivered absentee.

[unclelumpy.livejournal.com]

Because apparently, he got one of his Purple Hearts for losing his balls.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

None of that, please. I'm not happy, either. But this is the hand we're dealt. What we have to do is change the game.

[unclelumpy.livejournal.com]

You think just because he's not on their side means he's above reproach?

Screw that!

Millions and millions of us put our trust in him, and he went and wimped out on us at the last minute. As far as I'm concerned, our loss is just as much his fault as it is the Bush supporters. We could have gone with a strong, charismatic leader with a definate vision, like Kucinich, Dean, or even Clark, but no, we decided to give Mr. "I'm a War Hero" a chance.

And THIS is how does he repays us?

From now on, it's nothing but Huntz for me!

Anyone Knows An Ant... Can't... Move A Rubber Tree Plant

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Y'know, I don't really disagree with you. I'm just not up to eating our own right this second.

I preferred Kucinich and Clark myself, back in the day, and (knowing that he had no real chance) even Al Sharpton was making sense -- certainly more in any given speech than Alan Keyes made in his entire misbegotten life.

Frankly, I wish Clinton/Gore were still in office. I wish anybody, even a Repub, who actually gave a shit about this country was in office.

We don't have that.

Therefore, it's up to us, We The People (a phrase I've been saying a lot like a mantra lately), to fix this. I don't know how yet. But we will. We must. Because our governmental officials (I will not presume to say "elected officials" or "leaders") will not.

Yeah, Kerry folded way too early. Y'know what that makes him? Yet another politician we can't necessarily trust.

Collect the fuckin' set.

And pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and start all over again.

[legoman10.livejournal.com]

Why is the election already conceded ???? I don't understand !!
Absentee Ballots
Voter Fraud
Paper Trails

Shouldn't everything be counted, checked, and checked again before we deliver a verdict. I guess the notion of checking the facts before making decisive action was lost on the country over the past four years.

I'm moving to Mars ! Who's with me ?

[catlin.livejournal.com]

mememe! But it is worth note that every media in the country last night was pushing him to accept the results. Why does the candidate have to give a concession speach on election night anyway? When we as a people know that the election isn't over til the last ballet is filed, unless your state is so far to one side that the absentee ballots don't matter?

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

BECAUSE THE MEDIA ARE IN ON IT. Sorry, but, where have you been the past few years? The Story is more important than The Vote. The profits are more important than the people. That's the way these fucks think. Truth? Objectivity? Old news, literally.

[james-rayner.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm off to Canada. Maybe when we hit another Depression people'll figure out what a moron this asshat is.

I'll send you folks some pot to get over the bitterness.

[eleccham.livejournal.com]

Y'know, I was talking to my wife cerval this morning... time to get the pen and paper out and start on a filk of CSNY's "Ohio", wot? So far my brain's spinlocking, though... For whatever reason I'm hard-pressed to string words together at all today.

hmmm

[madmanotl.livejournal.com]

If Kerry carries Iowa and New Mexico (which are still undecided at this time), the DNP will carry every state in did 2000 along with New Hampshire. However northern industrial DNP states IL, WI, NY, PA, and WI lost 7 total members in the House of Representatives along with 7 electoral votes mostly to Bush supported states due to the 2000 cencus.
When there is voting and the stakes are high, there will be fraud from both sides. It looks like the GOP stacked the deck in their favor with the voting system and it worked.

[skipjim.livejournal.com]

I think we need to start a website.

www.we-are-sorry.org or www.we-tried.org

I don't know about the rest of you but I feel the urge to apologize to the rest of the world for what my countrymen have done this week.

In what I thought was a fitting tribute to our President I switched my background image both here and at work to a picture of an atomic (I was going to say nukular) bomb test....seemed appropriate somehow.

I think it was the single issue voters who did us in....I can't count how many times I heard "if Kerry gets elected gays are going to be able to get married" in the last few months.

*sigh*

Just 4 more years.

I have to go cry now.....

Bush stole the elction

[celticferret.livejournal.com]

As far as I'm concerned Bush stole the election and Kenenth J Blackwell, the Secretary of the State of Ohio helped him. Ohio is riddled with voting scandals. Republicans who registered voters shredded all the Democratic registratns. This is a fact from on of Dan's black coworkers, that White men tried to put flyers on all the homes telling people their polling place had been changed. She chased them out of her neighborhood, but how knows where else they went. . There were prerecorded calls going out urging people to get out and vote on Wes, Nov 3.

I would rather have seen Kerry fight even if it meant the same scandal that rocked Florida.

Ohio has a Republican Secretary of State determining what was legal and what wasn't. For the first time ever, none of the employees in the election section worked the polls. It was totally management employees loyal or dependent for their jobs on Blackwell.

Yes, Mr Blackwell is African American and fundamentalist Christian.

KG

[skipjim.livejournal.com]

At least we still have The West Wing......