If a hack in Ohio failed, thank DU. (x-post)

[bleever]

Eight years ago, right around this time, a bunch of people starting discussing their suspicions about the 2004 election's many suspicious anomalies. Here, on DU. You couldn't do it at Kos; you'd get banned as a "fraudster".

DU's Election Results and Discussion Forum (as it was then called) became a place where a lot (and I mean a LOT) of work happened around this issue. It was a very dark time, and many of us believed we had witnessed a crime of incredible proportions. It was the theft of the United States of America, and in time it would lead to one of the most disastrous wars in our country's history, to the subversion of our Constitution in the form of warrantless wiretapping, torture, and more, including (via a blind eye to financial mis- and mal-feasance) the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Consequences so bad, it's difficult to even take it all in.

This year, it looked like things were being set up to happen the same way. Vote suppression. Unverifiable electronic voting. GOP control of elections in key states, especially Ohio and Florida.

But it didn't happen.

Mark Crispin Miller wrote this the day after the election:

It’s time to put an end to such complacent jeering; because people need to know—and want to know—what’s happened here, and what they can do about it. That growing public interest is the reason why our work has finally broken through, with Brad, Victoria, Bob, Gerry and Harvey Wasserman, Jonathan Simon, Sally Castleman, Richard Charnin, Michael Collins, Greg Palast, Bev Harris, John Ennis, Sheila Parks, Paul Lehto, Marta Steele and so many others (and please do forgive me if I didn’t name you here—I’m really tired!) finally seeing, if not their names in lights, their vital findings resonating through the public sphere.

Of the above names, at least four were DUers, regular and heavy contributors to the ERD forum. I am proud to call some of them friends.

Yes, DU. Democratic Underground, playing a vital role in the national conversation about election integrity.


I believe.

[silvershadow]

1. We must not let our success (and luck) this time allow complacency on the issues. Rather,

we need to continue to push for reforms. Voters should not be disenfranchised. Voters should not wait in long lines. If there are long lines then there are not enough polling locations and machines. Political operatives should not be allowed to make changes of any kind to voting rules, regulations, and laws. There need to be some standards. There need to be some reforms. The work continues.

[randome]

14. We did not luck out. We won an election.

[silvershadow]

15. Indeed, we did. We were lucky the Rove and Co. didn't move forward with their plan to steal. nt

[bleever]

2. Remember this image from the days just after the 2004 election?

It was the first graphic I remember seeing about the "red shift". It was followed in the weeks and months to follow by countless hours of research and argument.

[Whisp]

3. if I recall, that was the year the great punditry claimed that exit polls were no longer relevant

for some foggy reason I can't recall now - exactly why they thought so.

but yeh, it was a loud echo all over the media that for the first time (I believe) exit polling was wrong and the machine tallies were correct.

lousy lying fuckers.

[bleever]

4. Yes indeed.

Exit polling was historically so accurate American vote observers have used it to verify elections in other countries, and network news here in the U.S. used it to call election night results.

Suddenly, pollsters Edison/Mitofsky declared that their results were not to be taken all that seriously. "Sure, we're scientific pollsters, but we didn't claim to be accurate or anything!"

It was another of those Twilight Zone moments that happened back then.

[malaise]

9. I never forgot that

It defied all logic and I knew the fix was in.

[silvershadow]

16. Yes, polls irrelevant. In fact, they were pushing the "abandon polling" meme just the other day.

I'm sure they would like to abandon polling. It's easier to steal an election when there is no expectation of the result.

[SaveAmerica]

7. I do believe I'm on the road to being healed

I have a much healthier reaction to see this again than I have done in the past. It has done a world of good to watch as election day unfolded and seeing Rove's tricks die.

Happy Day for the USA!!

[bleever]

8. Such a long time in coming.

I hate to bring this up, but people who voted for the first time this election were about 10 years old when all that happened!

[bleever]

5. For old times' sake, the Bush family on election night, when they were strangley trotted out

with instructions to smile before the miraculous switches in vote totals:



Earlier in the day, the had been informed that he was going to lose. Then Rove said he got angry and got on the phone because he "knew" it wasn't supposed to go that way.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

27. Ive been trying to find the clip of George and Jeb

From that night and can't. It was something like George saying what's up with Florida and job saying let me go find out...always thought that was when the fix went in.

[bleever]

30. Yes, I remember that too. Jeb said he was sorry for letting George down,

and said he'd go make some phone calls to get the vote out on the west coast.

Instead, he called John Ennis over at Fox, and who knows who else. My money says there is ZERO evidence he made calls to the west coast to improve turnout.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

31. Really? "West Coast" ? never knew that. I could have sworn it was "make a call to

the I-4" Hmmmm. I brink this up periodically, and it's almost like someone here has an alert and roundly tells me I am crazy...but there was someone here, Tinfoil_Beret, master number cruncher, who was very close to finding a "factor" that each precinct was "adjusted by", like Gore + a factor. They abruptly stopped posted after tell us all this. This person that strangely appears to post tells me that it's all BS and that many brilliant people have crunched the Florida numbers to death. Is that true, to your knowledge? I actually quit the assignment I was on at the time to write a book about all this, and sadly gave up on it. My idea was to call it Wrigged. (the W being in the same font as his campaign stuff) and to include a cd loaded with all the stats from Florida. And, the book would be somewhat of a contest, like a percentage of the proceeds for anyone who could crack the code/pattern. I also wanted to send a copy to every statistics department at every university. I totally regret not following through with this.

Thanks Bleever for bringing back the idea that there are some things that are very important in life !

[bleever]

32. I expect he told more than one story,

but my memory of the one I heard (that smelled immediately fishy) was that he would help up the turnout out west where the votes were still being cast. In this conversation it was taken for granted that FL was lost, and he had to make it up some other way.

Here's one great article about FL 2000:

http://archive.truthout.org/article/election-fraud-and-tyranny-part-1

That Jeb story and the family photo referenced earlier were part of the kabuki theater of putting up a good front while the numbers were (w)rigged.

[SaveAmerica]

6. I'm still a bleever and I never gave up! NGU!!

I still have a box full of the print outs I did from every attempt they made to steal that election (which started before with the re-arrangement of voting machines to the Committee that had to meet down in the basement to discuss 2004's election and Ohio's part in it.


Very happy to see Karl Rove exposed for all to see this time around.

[wakemewhenitsover]

10. I remember that absurd dismissive attitude at Kos about the Ohio election fraud.

On the bright side, it's what sent me to DU. I have not looked back.

[bleever]

11. Their line was, "we have to fix what's wrong with our party after this drubbing",

and that talking about election fraud was just denying the reality of what weaklings we were.

Talk about the Stockholm Syndrome!

I too came to DU and have not looked back.

[wakemewhenitsover]

12. Exactly. And I remember opinions being expressed there like...

...we'll impugn our credibility if we continue to question the Ohio results. OUR credibility?! Still makes my blood boil.

OK, I'll calm down now.

[Z_I_Peevey]

13. K&R

[hootinholler]

17. Fuck Bev Harris

Not in a sexual way either. Her antics have done so much to hurt the movement (not to mention how she fucked over Andy) that I personally believe (admittedly without hard evidence) that she is a republican plant.

That forum (which was a main forum back in the day) is how I found DU and it kept me at DU. I owe so much of my political awareness to this.

[BeHereNow]

19. +1000. Andy.....

How I miss him; especially our late night phone time.

And I agree, I was always suspicious of Bev Harris and her
affiliations and motivations.

She completely screwed Andy and her cultish followers
shut down the paypal donations to help him by their
massive campaign to discredit him.

May she wake every morning and realize fully that she
helped hasten his demise and feel burning shame until the day she dies.

BHN

[Rex]

21. People like Bev Harris don't have the shame gene.

She shares something in common with Karl Rove.

[hootinholler]

25. I found DU through Andy

He told me about DU after I wrote him on BBV asking WTF was wrong with she who will not be named.

One of my fondest memories is a middle of the night tour of Baltimore and Annapolis I gave him when he was in town for the initial consults.

[BeHereNow]

28. I never got to meet him in person, but I loved his soul over the phone.

He got me through some REALLY bad times in the middle of the night.
When he started telling me the details about what Bev and her cult
were doing to him after his diagnosis I was horrified.

He never told anyone publicly what they did; not the sordid details,
but many of us knew from talking with him.

Good riddance to Bev.

BHN

[PowerToThePeople]

18. Paper trail for EVERY vote!!! n/t

[BeHereNow]

20. Thank YOU Bleever for this thread. n/t

BHN

[calimary]

26. Seconded!

THANK YOU, Bleever!!!!

(Where's that smilie when you need one?)

[Tippy]

22. Thank you....It is good to see some are may get the thanks for all they did

I began working on Voter Fraud, back in 2000...Even tried to get in touch with the Gore campaign to pass them some information....Took forever for someone to take me seriously, when they finally did it was really to late...I was mad as hell for so long maybe now since it really looks like those up the ladder are taking this whole mess seriously...I don't have any idea how many times I called those in charge...over and over again...I was calling AG Holder daily this last month...I have been so frustrated for so long I am amazed I don't have ulcers....I am no spring chicken and I often wondered if I would live long enough to see this terrible wrong righted...When it all began I was a regular on Table Talk, would come to DU to read but did not join for a long time...

[RomneyLies]

23. And so a new conspiracy saves the day from the old conspiracy!

[bleever]

24. Analysis!

Thank you!

[BeHereNow]

29. And from such a PROLIFIC new member!

Wow! It took me two years to rack up that many posts!

BHN