Brief vote notes

Since my mood is sour (personal reasons), I'll be concise today -- which should please my ladyfriend, who says I'm too verbose.

The story of the 2004 vote theft refuses to die. Two new mainstream pieces will bring the facts to new eyes.

The first comes to us by way of Matt Taibbi in the New York Press. Here's a taste:

The evidence for this theft has been there for everyone to see for five years now; few serious thinkers even dispute the matter anymore, just as few Democrats would even bother denying now that John Kennedy stole the 1960 election.

Yet, Bush remains president. And not only has he remained president, he hasn't even had the decency to act embarrassed about it.

Count me among the few Democrats who deny the JFK accusation. Nixon challenged the Hawaii vote, and not the Illinois vote, because Nixon was the one provably up to no good in Illinois.

In Harpers, Mark Crispen Miller writes what may stand as the major critique of the election: "None Dare Call It Stolen!" It's not on the net -- yet -- which makes the latest issue of Harpers worth your six bucks. (Or perhaps, worth reading while resting in one of those overstuffed chairs at Barnes & Noble, a pastime I've been known to favor.) Here's an excerpt, courtesy the good folks at Democratic Underground:

The press has had little to say about most of the strange details of the election -- except, that is, to ridicule all efforts to discuss them. This animus appeared soon after Nov 2, in a spate of caustic articles dismissing any critical discussion of the outcome as crazed speculation: 'Election paranoia surfaces: Conspiracy theorists call results rigged,' chuckled the BALTIMORE SUN on Nov 5. 'Internet Buzz on Vote Fraud is Dismissed,' proclaimed the BOSTON GLOBE on Nov 5. 'Latest Conspiracy Theory -- Kerry Won -- Hits the Ether,' the WASHINGTON POST chortled on Nov 11. The NEW YORK TIMES weighed in with 'Vote fraud Theories, Spread by Blogs, Are Quickly Buried' -- making mock not only of the 'post-election theorizing' but of cyberspace itself, the fins et origo of all such loony tunes, according to the Times.

As with the JFK assassination and Iran-contragate, the mainstream pooh-poohers will end up with pooh-pooh on their faces.

Arrested for observing democracy in action. Jim March, of Black Box Voting, was arrested when he attempted to observe a Diebold vote tabulator at work after the San Diego mayoral election. Whatever your views of BBV (and I remain as confused as ever by Bev Harris), this situation is outrageous.

Documentation. Solarbus will give you a free CD chock-filled with documents and other info proving the case for vote fraud. They'll give it to you gratis, but they'd like you make copies and pass the word along. Pay it forward! But how about distribution via Limewire...Kazaa...BitTorrent...?

A blessing on Arcata, California! They're the first town -- first among many to follow, I hope -- to adopt a "Voter Confidence Resolution"

"The Voter Confidence Resolution is a common sense statement saying privatized election machines and secret vote counting ensure inconclusive outcomes. Under these conditions we will never have unanimous agreement about election results," says Dave Berman, co-founder of the Voter Confidence Committee of Humboldt County, CA. "The Arcata City Council has demonstrated that our local government does hear the voice of the people, even when the federal government has stopped listening."

Whatever they're smoking up there in Humboldt County actually seems to be improving their brain cells.