Thirty-three Members of the US House of Representatives, and one all-important Senator -- one more than four years ago -- voted not to accept Ohio's 20 electoral votes for George Bush. The votes were 33 to 260 and 1 to 72. The protesters lost. What does it mean?

First, it's worth noting that more than one Senator took action. Barbara Boxer announced her intention to challenge the election on Thursday morning. By midday Senators Chris Dodd, Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid, and Barak Obama had let it be known that they would support Boxer. During the discussion in the Senate, Richard Durbin, Debbie Stabenow, Edward Kennedy, Ron Wyden, Frank Lautenberg, and Tom Harkin joined the others in speaking in support of Boxer's challenge. And in the House, numerous members spoke, one after another, until the time was up, and the number voting for the challenge jumped to 33 from the 8 that had been known early in the day.

This is a report for all those people who over the month of December went, at one time or another, to nine rallies/vigils held at the White Plains FBI office to urge the agency to investigate vote rigging in Ohio, Florida and other states and for those who have been following the struggle to get vote justice in these states.

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.

A handful of progressive Democrats in the House and a lone Senator, Barbara Boxer of California, forced the Republican-dominated Congress to hear two hours of protest Thursday about how the 2004 presidential vote was replete with efforts to disenfranchise Democratic voters and suppress turnout in a torrent of tactics reminiscent of the Jim Crow era.

“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.

Resulting Democrats' speeches stressed voters rights, equality, reform. Republicans' speeches attempted obfuscation, avoided consideration of serious electoral reform.

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)

It’s too bad the position of the Attorney General of the United States is so vital to the legal, moral and psychological health of the country. After all, if it wasn’t so important, maybe we could just do without one for the next four years.

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.