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before it started. February 2003. Before all of Colin Powell's lies were exposed. Before no WMDs were discovered. Before the invasion.
56%!
That would be a landslide in a presidential election.
In all polls, across the board. A good majority of the American people OPPOSED THE WAR FROM THE BEGINNING!
Another compelling stat from that period: 63% of the American people oppose torture "under any circumstances." (May '04)
So the question is not, how did they hoodwink the American people? The question is, how did they disenfranchise the majority and steal the 2004 election?
And you don't have to look hard for the answer to that. At the same time that the Anthrax Congress was passing the Iraq War Resolution, they were passing the "Help America Vote for Bush Act" of 2002 (aka, the "Help America Vote Act"--HAVA), a $3.9 billion electronic voting boondoggle, by which to fast-track crapass, insecure, extremely insider hackable voting machines all over the country--voting machines run on 'TRADE SECRET," PROPRIETARY programming code, owned and controlled by rightwing Bushite corporations. And they are:
DIEBOLD: Until recently, headed by Wally O'Dell, a Bush-Cheney campaign chair and major fundraiser (a Bush "Pioneer," right up there with Ken Lay), who promised in writing to "deliver Ohio's electoral votes to Bush-Cheney in 2004"; and
ES&S: A spinoff of Diebold (similar computer architecture), initially funded by rightwing billionaire Howard Ahmanson, who also gave one million dollars to the extremist 'christian' Chalcedon Foundation (which touts the death penalty for homosexuals, among other things). Diebold and ES&S have an incestuous relationship; until recently, they were run by two brothers, Bob and Tod Urosevich. (One of them got outa Dodge last year--can't recall which one.)
These are the people who "counted" 80% of the nation's votes in 2004, under a veil of corporate secrecy.
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If you're going to conduct an unjust, heinous war, in a democracy where the people remember Vietnam, you have to fix the elections. That's what they did.
This fascist coup occurred on October 29, 2002--passage of HAVA. Mark it on your calendar as the anniversary of the end of American democracy.
Non-transparent elections are not elections. They are tyranny.
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And here's an even most interesting fact about the American people. At the same time that 56% opposed the war on Iraq, about 50% believed that Saddam had WMDs and/or had something to do with 9/11. But this 50% stat does not mean that half of Americans are stupid sheeple, as it is often interpreted. Combined with the 56% opposition to the war, it means that a significant portion of the American people were struggling to THINK FOR THEMSELVES under a relentless, 24/7 barrage of fascist warmongering propaganda and outright lies. They may have believed that Saddam had WMDs, but they didn't think it was a big threat, and certainly not worth a war. They may have believed that Saddam had something to do with 9/11, but it was minor. In short, they didn't trust Bush. They were trying to evaluate the situation for themselves, and determine what THEY thought was a reasonable policy, despite 100% disinformation from the war profiteering corporate news monopolies. Obviously, some portion of that 50% with these bits of disinformation rattling around in their heads, made up some portion of the 56% who opposed the war.
Of the 56% who opposed the war, about half opposed it outright, and the other half would only agree if it was a UN peacekeeping mission, i.e., based on world consensus that something had to be done. No such consensus occurred. Major allies balked. The UN refused to participate. The UN weapons inspectors were proving Colin Powell wrong, even as Bush invaded and kicked them out. So we had more than 25% of the country that were onto Bush from the beginning, and another 25%-plus who wanted UN corroboration that there was a problem serious enough to warrant invasion.
This stat--56% opposed to the war (--and it's about 75% today!)--presents a very different strategic question to progressive activists than is generally evident, here at DU or anywhere else. Our strategy should be based on re-empowering and, most critical of all, RE-ENFRANCHISING the majority of the Americans, not on arguing with the rightwing nutballs. The rightwing is being given a BIG TRUMPET--way out of proportion to their numbers--by the war profiteering corporate news monopolies. Our most important task is NOT convincing the majority of people in an argument with rightwing extremists. Our most important task is convincing the majority that they are the majority!
THIS has been the corporate news monopolies' ONLY propaganda victory--making the members of the progressive MAJORITY feel isolated and alone, and thinking that the rest of America has gone nuts. They could NOT convince the majority of Americans that the Iraq War was necessary. They could only convince them that their opposition to the war was a minority viewpoint--and thus demoralize and disempower us.
So, forget arguing with your rightwing Bushite uncle, and start talking to the quiet people in your family, neighborhood, workplace and school, and encourage THEM to talk, to speak up, to get active, to take power. Well, don't stop arguing with him. The quiet ones may be enjoying your argument. But just remember that your rightwing Bushite uncle does not, and never did, represent the majority view. The rightwing has gained power by stealth and by deception, by stolen elections, and by the fascist war/corporate media promoting their views to the exclusion of all others including those of the majority.
And start asking your Congress critter and local/state election officials and legislators how the hell rightwing Bushite electronic voting corporations are running our elections with SECRET programming code!
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