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On January 6, we forced an angry Republican-dominated Congress into an unprecedented confrontation with the Truth about Ohio's stolen election, about dubious vote counts nationwide, and ultimately about an electoral process worthy of zero public trust.
America's progressive grassroots further showed it could prompt the "democratic wing" of the Democratic Party to finally stand up for its constituents' right to vote, even in the face of the usual withering slander from Karl Rove's dirty tricksters.
And those of us who work the Internet showed we could spark a mass movement by exposing a national travesty despite relentless abuse from the mainstream media, which did absolutely nothing to uncover the systematic corruption of our electoral process.
In truth, the mountains shook even before the election.
On Thursday, Jan. 6, the day the Congress took up the certification of GWBush's election, and Barbara Boxer displayed singular courage by objecting to the certification, Gayle Dunkelberger, Barbara Ehrentreu and I joined several hundred other demonstrators in Washington to be a force for objection and specifically to carry the White Plains FBI protest to FBI headquarters in Washington.
We arrived at FBI headquarters at the appointed time, 9 a.m., and were almost immediately joined by a woman from Pittsburgh who had learned about the rally on the internet. She helped us hold a 16' banner that read: "FBI: Investigate the Election". After about 15 minutes we were joined by about eight people from North Carolina and then two women from Brooklyn.
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“We have spent our lives fighting for things we believe in – always fighting to make our nation better,” Boxer told the joint session. “We have fought for social justice. We have fought for economic justice. We have fought for environmental justice. We have fought for criminal justice. Now we must add a new fight – the fight for electoral justice.”
By invoking a law used twice since 1877, Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones, D-OH, and Sen. Boxer, stopped Congress’ ratification of the 2004 Electoral College vote by challenging the Ohio results. That forced Vice President Dick Cheney, the presiding officer, to order each chamber to debate the merits of the Ohio vote for two hours. A week earlier, Cheney refused to accept a notice of deposition in a lawsuit challenging the results of 2004 Ohio presidential vote.
When Larry King interviewed George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton the other night, CNN presented ample split-screen evidence that the Lord transcends political parties and backgrounds. The former presidents -- blue-blooded Yankee and hardscrabble Arkansan -- spoke eloquently about faith. By now, perhaps no subject has achieved more agreement in the USA’s news media. Faith in God is a televised no-brainer.
“My faith is never shaken by a personal tragedy,” said ex-President Bush, “or even a tragedy of this enormity.” Clinton said: “It reminds us that we’re not in control, that our faith is constantly tested by circumstances, but it should be deepened when we see the courageous response people are having, and the determination to endure.” Both men praised the incumbent in the White House, presumptively a God-loving guy.
C-SPAN broadcast of hearings available online: http://www.c-span.org.
For information about the merits of the contest, please see the Election 2004 Department, and particularly:
The "Crime of November 2": The human side of how Bush stole Ohio, and why Congress must investigate rather than ratify the Electoral College (Part Two of Two)
Seven key reasons why the vote must be challenged at the electoral college
Ten preliminary reasons why the Bush vote does not compute, and why Congress must investigate rather than certify the Electoral College (Part One of Two)
Today, you are being asked to certify the reported votes of the Electoral College even though the status of the Ohio electors is still the subject of the meritorious election contest. You are being asked to do so on the basis of one or more of the following three fallacies:
1) The faith-based neocon fallacy that vote counts do not have to be independently verified.
This new "con" holds that facts may be overcome by assertions of faith by those in power. Thus, the Bush campaign co-chair for Ohio and Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell need not count 106,000 as yet uncounted Ohio ballots, because he has faith they would not make a difference in the reported 119,000 vote difference even thought these uncounted votes all are in areas of Ohio that demonstrated strong support for John Kerry, and because, as Secretary of State he has the power not to count them.
A corollary of this fallacy is that Ken Blackwell need not answer questions under oath. The answers to such questions might upset peoples' faith in the new "con."
That’s the only conclusion that can be drawn as we watch the confirmation process in the United States Senate for Alberto Gonzales, President Bush’s nominee for Attorney General. Whenever the best candidate you can find for a law enforcement position has had to promise not to willfully and egregiously break the law and ignore worldwide standards for human rights, maybe the job should simply be left empty for a while.
Gonzales, as you know, was picked by Bush to head up the Justice Department’s Attorney General Office following news that the current officeholder, John Ashcroft, was stepping down. Throughout his four years on the job, Ashcroft himself managed to set new standards in ignoring human rights, detaining suspects indefinitely, and otherwise flouting the law, particularly when it came to Muslim immigrants and suspected terrorists in the wake of Sept. 11.
Also, download Appendix A - Video the Vote A Film by Linda Byrket, Text of Fundraising Letter from Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, and Eyewitness Accounts of Ohio Voter Disenfranchisement (from The Free Press testimony).
It rises from a catalog of abuses that poisoned the November 2 presidential balloting in Ohio. Taken together, these attacks on the democratic process shifted Ohio's vote from John Kerry to George W. Bush, giving him the presidency.
Other states, most notably New Mexico and Florida, suffered similar problems, casting a dark shadow of doubt over the alleged 3.5 million-vote nationwide edge claimed by Bush.
By virtue of an 1887 law passed in response to the contested election of 1876, Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones (D-OH) and others will challenge the seating of Ohio's electors. If joined by a single Senator, Congress for the first time will debate the outcome of a presidential election as determined by the Electoral College.