The Electoral Vortex

Denver voter told she can't vote because she entered line at 7:01 p.m.



The Democrats “swept” the mid-term elections yesterday and for many there’s celebration. Many will say this result is proof of an electoral system working in this nation. That remains to be seen. We have to assess who the Democrats were that won their elections yesterday.

We also have to look at the overt attempts to steal the election by some in the same places as they were stolen in the last few elections.

There were reports of computer problems and long lines in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. This is the same county where obvious vote fraud took place in 2004.

In Virginia there were reports of Democratic voters receiving calls directing them to the wrong address to cast their votes. There were also reports of calls to Democratic voters making threats of arrest if they attempted to vote. The calls stated there was information the voters were registered in other states and any attempt to vote in Virginia would result in a felony arrest.

In Colorado a “terrorist” squirrel was blamed for one loss of power. In many other places computer malfunctions and poor training of election officials caused long lines and long waits. At one voting center a friend of my wife reported an election judge telling the mostly black group of voters “you people should have already voted” when there were complaints about the wait.

The friend confronted the judge with his racist remarks and informed him it was Election Day, so no one was late except the election officials who couldn’t get it together.

Living in heavily Democratic populated Denver I had to wonder if any votes were being lost in any of these “outages”.

At 10 pm there were still lines at some Denver polling stations. Voters in line at 7 pm were the only ones allowed to vote that late. This morning we still don’t know the Denver count due to computer problems.


Yesterday after getting power back to the internet I came upon an article written November 6, 06 by Greg Palast about how yesterday’s elections could be stolen.

There will be those who will now swear democracy works as evidenced by the Democratic Party’s resounding “victory”.

Ah, now here’s the news flash for all who think the Democratic Party is the savior of the nation….new laws excluding voters without ID’s will account for 1.9 million votes being lost. Palast refers to these laws as the Jose Crow laws.


Next Palast says Republicans will have lists of voters predominately Democratic, black and liberal who will be challenged by poll watchers stationed in key precincts. Another million votes will be lost to this tactic.


Then there will be the votes lost to “spoilage”, again with the predominate demographics being the same. This will happen by voting machines failure to start up, to respond to touch and the intermittent crashes. Another million votes are projected lost to this not to count the long lines causing an unknown number of voters to give up in disgust with the whole system.


Another million will be lost to provisional ballots discarded and absentee ballots rejected. After it’s all over there will be approximately 4.5 million votes tossed and lost that would have gone against the Republicans, Palast says.

In order for Democrats to win they would have to overcome being 4.5 million votes behind before the first vote was cast.


And where were the Democrats? They were telling all the liberals and progressives to work against the voting machines themselves and failed to set up a network to oversee the challenges, the rejections and the discarding of votes.


The Democrats in Congress failed to mention the Jose Crow laws with any vigorous voice because like cowards they try to keep away from anything that would indicate support for the Hispanic movement or immigrant rights.

In many cases this election was won by the narrowest of margins by Democrats like James Webb in Virginia. Webb’s credentials include being Secretary of Navy under President Ronald Reagan.

Here in Colorado, former DA Bill Ritter was elected governor. Ritter took such liberal stances as opposing abortion except in very special cases. Ritter supports the death penalty. During his time in office as DA he never once prosecuted a Denver policeman for brutality.

Denver’s record of police shootings and beatings exceed places like New York City and Los Angeles.

Colorado continues to have two of the top ten worst congress people in Tom Tancredo and Marilyn Musgrave. The ratings in Rolling Stone magazine included members of Congress known to be least effective and most corrupt.

Across the nation the Democrats winning races to displace the outgoing Republican were not our father’s Democrat. Progressive and liberal ideals and beliefs were not what these Democrats ran on or stand for. Most are conservatives using the Democratic Party for their platform.

Democrats would like us to believe they are the party of the people. They want us to think they’ll stand up for peace and justice, economic equality and civil rights.

The truth is the money contributed to the Democratic Party in this election exceeded the amounts to the Republican Party. There are more millionaires and billionaires claiming to be Democrats than there are Republicans.

The demographics of the power structure in the Democratic Party make it doubtful the status quo in Washington will change on the watch of the new “congress”.

If we look at the leaders of this party we can find Zionists like Hillary Clinton who have no intention of ever challenging the genocidal policies of the Israeli government.

We must keep in mind these are the Democrats who have supported the war in Iraq with votes of continued funding that now exceeds 500 billion dollars. These are politicians who have failed the world for lack of courage.


Once again the time, the talent and the treasure of the progressives and liberals has gone to what Stan Goff calls the “vortex of electoralism” while social justice issues have rotted on the vine.


Once again trust in the corrupted and deceitful has duped the movement. Visits to congressional offices to get patronizing words and phony promises have taken up ungodly hours and accomplished little or nothing except lead folks to believe they were doing something worthwhile.


Politicians dupe the electorate to believe there’s representative government if “we the people” only exercise the “right” to vote. As my wife likes to say, “I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck”. We can exercise all we want but if we’re to change this country it will take a revolution.


Yes, I said revolution. Interestingly enough, a synonym of that word is insurgency. And good liberals and progressives will cringe and groan to even consider such an action. Most are convinced revolution means violence. Most still think we can be “nice” and regain our stolen nation.


Revolution doesn’t have to be violent but it must be action driven beyond anything the peace and justice movements of this nation have demonstrated. Going out to rallies, making speeches and marching in streets isn’t hacking it.


A disruption of business as usual is a form of revolution. With the Christmas season approaching, a rejection of the consumerism so blatantly called for by advertisers of big business would certainly disrupt business as usual. It also might leave time for families to spend quality time together.


Making the bastards of failed democracy pay in economic terms is necessary to effect revolution. Refusing to participate in the illegality of war and violence is necessary. Uniting with communities of color and marginalization will be necessary. Refusing to put time and money into the mainstream political parties is necessary.


The creative minds of the movement, now so embedded with the Democratic Party and the UFPJ front for the Democrats, are going to have to try something different and radical in taking back their nation.


When it becomes clear this nation is divided between the haves and the have-nots with the have-nots growing in number every minute, perhaps the need for action will become just as clear.


When the quickly vanishing white middle class awakens to the fact they are considered the have-nots maybe the love affair with the fake political system will end. Maybe then they’ll understand what Malcolm and others meant when they spoke of “any means necessary” to be free.

The new Congress will not restore the lost wages and lost jobs. They will not restore the lost pension funds. They will not force corporate America to provide living wages and health benefits for all.


Revolution is necessary but the will and the courage of Americans is questionable. It remains much easier to delude ourselves we won the election. We think we’ve taken back this stolen democracy. A year from now we’ll know it remains a hijacked government.

There will be a revolution whether white liberal and progressive Americans want it or not. Oppression and tyranny can only be tolerated so long before rebellion and revolution occurs. The question is where the peace and justice movements will be when it happens.

Will they still believe there’s a democracy and stand behind the police lines with the politicians or will they join the faces of color and poverty standing up for the basic freedoms the Constitution promises?


Do they truly believe all men (and women) are created equal with inalienable rights for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Do they believe all people have freedom of speech and assembly?


One thing is clear at this juncture of American history. The electoral vortex won’t make it happen.


REFERENCE LINKS:
Greg Palast - http://www.gregpalast.com/how-they-stole-the-mid-term-election

Stan Goff - http://www.bradblog.com/?p=1881


William T. Leichner
Denver, CO
VVAW member