GOP Election Derailment
It looks like the GOP is going to throw an all-out nationwide election-sized monkey-wrench election derailment in the form of voter “challenges” based on their bogus lists. After stating that they would challenge as many as 35,000 Democratic voters in Ohio, and thousands more in Florida in addition to using copies of the scandalous felon list, they are now going to challenge 37,000 Democratic voters in Wisconsin. I would likely count on the thugs showing up in Pennsylvania, Colorado, and several other battleground states as well. The GOP is basing these lists on mailings sent to Democrats that were returned as “undeliverable” in the mail–assuming that a returned letter means a fraudulent registration, a baseless assumption. We don’t even know if the GOP lists are anywhere near legitimate, just their say-so. But they will be using these lists in force at the polls on Tuesday.
What would this mean? Imagine thousands of Republican “observers” in each of those states, thick in Democratic strongholds, strangling the election process (which will already be jammed up by record turnout) by challenging a sizable percent of the people who walk through the door, demanding voters present identification and them forcing them to fill out a two-page legal form under the threat of prison for perjury, before they can cast a ballot. Can you imagine the chaos that will create?
The key question here is not “will they try it”–that much is established–but rather, “will they be able to get away with it“? What happens when the Republicans get out of line, and force hundreds, perhaps thousands of key heavily-Democratic polling places to become hopelessly jammed? Republican pundits will laugh and sneer, alleging that it proves Democratic election fraud, and see how those pathetic Democrats can’t even vote, while things are going smoothly in Republican districts. Likely these challenges will lead to violence in many places, and this will further be used by conservatives to claim that Democrats are disrupting the process.
But most importantly, Republican officials will stand on the “legality” of the observers and their “right” to challenge anyone they like. If GOP “observer” operatives start abusing their position and jamming Democratic polling places, what will anyone do? Throw them out? That will lead to nationwide howls of protest by the GOP, wild claims of election fraud. What if the GOP operatives create such a mess that lines of Democrats wanting to vote will still be waiting when the scheduled closing time arrives? If any attempt is made to extend the hours for voting, Republicans will again start shouting hysterically about fraud, injustice, illegal tampering, and God knows what else.
In short, just like the fraud pulled off in Florida four years ago, the GOP knows that so long as it can disrupt the Democratic vote on election day, nothing else matters. If by the close of polls Tuesday evening they can succeed in preventing enough Democrats from voting, then there is no returning to it–no do-over, no changing what happened. This is a crime which can and has been committed by the GOP without any fear of punishment after the fact. That is what they are depending on.
Think about it. Let’s say what I outlined happened. Maybe even just 3 or 4% of Democrats are kept from voting because Republican “observers” jam up the polling places, either shutting Democratic voters out or discouraging them from even trying. Then what? What is the recourse? As far as I can see, there is none. Who would be arrested? Very likely no one–on the face of things, GOP “observers” would be “within the law,” however blatantly they abuse it. In short, the damage would be done. The Democrats would be disenfranchised–again–and no legal action could reverse any of that.
This is my greatest fear for the election–more than even a terrorist attack on the same day.
If there is blatent evidence of illegitimate Republican electioneering, and Bush wins as a result, I would suggest that soon after that the civil disobedience/non-violence movement begins. As Gandhi said, you can’t govern people without their cooperation.
This might happen any way, without questionable tactics from Republicans, and Bush still winning. A narrow majority is not a mandate for extremist policies.
I would look for civil disobediance movement coming from Deans old on-line organization, I think its called Democracy Coming Together or something like that. It is still active.
I am not sure what would cause it to manifest itself. Perhaps Bush’s second inaugeration or perhaps something he did or enacted say… privatizing Social Security, the Draft.
Also Bush’s policies have created 1920s style wealth distribution patterns, and Bush will pursue policies that only exacerbate the problem. With all the debt out there public and personal and the concentration of wealth which stifles demand, its one big bump away from something really bad happening to the economy.
The results would be civil disobedience, non-cooperation, general strikes, perhaps tax payer’s revolt, the next stage is demonstrations and then riots, etc.
The fact is Bush, or any President can not lead beyond their moral authority to do so. The scary part about this is that Bush has never seemed shy about doing so. He has created the national divide by not limiting his actions to his mandate. Had he simply followed common sense and pursued mildly conservative policies, he could have been a great president and won in a land slide. Instead he has created a crisis where one need not exist.
Howard Dean forsee’s the possibility of a civil war. I foresee the posibility of fascist state. America becomes a pariah amongst the nations of the world, something like South Africa in the 80s and early 90s. Countries begin informal boycotts, trade languishes, its just an ugly scenario.
Nothing Bush has done suggest that he should be re-hired, yet millions of Americans are willing to overlook his obvious and glaring faults and vote for him. Leonard Pitts, of the Miami Herald suggest this reason: The more a person paid for a painting the less they are willing to admit its a fraud, and there is no shortage of evidence that suggest that Bush is a fraud, so if you see him as being exceptable, its not because of the evidence, its simply because you want to.
I would add to that that every time a person sees bad news and developes questions about Bush in his mind, he turns on Rush Limbaugh the next day and learns that everything is alright and to ignore the negative thoughts of Bush. The worse Bush gets, the more dependent on Rush and his kind Conservative American’s become. He helps them ignore the bad evedence and let go of their bad feelings about Bush. To do this Conservatives have to ignore the fact that Rush is a Pill popper and O’Reilly is sex harrasser -ie. these guys have evidence of questionable character in and of themselves.
If Kerry gets in, I hope the first thing he does, is change the format for use of public broadcasting – they should go back to the equal time doctrine. This is late in coming – Rush will follow Howard Stern to Satelite broadcast where he does not have to abide by federal rules. So I am not sure how effective this would be. But fringe voices should be stationed out on the fringe, not front and center.
I am hopeful of a Kerry land slide – I think that the vote is not being predicted properly, and a bonefide Kerry landslide and obvious evidence of illegal or immoral acts on the Republicans would be very satisfying. The neoncons need to be called on for what they are…America’s manifestation of Fascism.