The Therese Defarge school of Social evo

History for those engaged in creating it. Comprehensive activism and applied memetics.

Election 2006
       Well it's been a while sine I've posted anything. I lot of my energy has been going toward efforts that would not benefit from on line presentation. While I might at some point catch up on these areas I think for now i'll just charge in with a non-sequaltor. I've been leafleting the polls for a CAGE meeting questioning the degree to which elections are stolen within the US. The idea behind the meeting is that accepting the reality of how easily electronic machines allow ellection results to be tampered with is a major paradigm shift for the US public conception of the legitamacy of the State. Even for those of us who are radicals and have not for years seen the act of coting as being particularly viable, thier has been an understanding that thier is a base line accountability at the polls, that beyond a certain point of contempt an incumbent  will face a backlash that might end his political career. With even a marginal ability to tamper with results, say a computer that changes in 20 votes, the power of petitioning ones government through phone calls and letters becomes somewhat muted. The impact of 12 people standing with signs on the sidewalk becomes much more trivial and the entire  package of a good and involved citizen becomes just window dressing to an illegitimate process of an entrenched and unjust state. Most modern americans come with a tremendous amount of denial baggage in light of a beleaf that thier system is the most just democratic system in the world. Taking a hard look at the evidence is something many people might need to do together in order to support themselves into accepting the terms of reality associated with stolen elections.
           The poll I am working is one I've leafletted a number of times. I have campiagned for green candidates, called for resignations and impeachments. I've come to know an african-american who has worked the poll for the democrats since the civil rights era. I've since visited his home and become something of a friend. His story is one of those many grass roots organizers whose fame has been modest but whose effect has been dear. During the civil rights era he register voters in poor black urban areas where many were afraid to go. In many areas of town it is still a tradition for african-americans to be registered to vote for the first time by him. Many people old and young, are use to seeing him at the polls ready to explaine the ballot and the issues on it on election day. Today the republican party has decided to give out sample ballots on the same paper stock and the same color as the democratic sample ballot. It seemed a pretty open attempt to by the republicans to fool some voters. My friend was pretty forth right, when he saw someone unknowingly get a republican sample ballot to speak out from accross the parking lot that they had the wrong ballot, and walk up quickly to explaine what he meant.
         I can imagine the rationalizing done by some people taking on this tactic. One that says that if someone doesn't understand the issues and is just voting the way someone else tells them maybe thier vote is open game to such a deception. With my objections to the DLC I have often come to a frustrating point in dealing with people who without discrimination support the democratic party without criticism. The reality is that as a formula to vote, voting one party over another is not without merit, and taking the advice of people you've come to trust is something that is older than history.  How strong and how corrupt is the rational that OK dismissing another persons vote. In Ohio the mail in ballots for likely the first time in history required extra postage, thier was some attempt to let these votes go uncounted. The question is one of inclusion rather than exclusion. Most people are not aware that in many states X-felons have the right to vote- but fear tactics have been employed to intimidate X-felons and even non-felons who where being unjustly accused of being felons in order to prevent them from voting. Thier is a problem within a democracy when a political affiliation invest itself in disenfranchising others. Right now the indications seem that we might be having our 6th year of stolen elections, we need to start looking at what this means to our society.

posted by: EzizabethParentiSoba at 19:16 | link | comments |

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