The State of Our Vote

dr. elsewhere here

A few more random thoughts on this election mess, now that I've read Kennedy's piece.

First, after seeing Joe's analysis that "maybe it could have been a bit better," I considered why it might not meet our standards. By that I mean the standards of those of us who have been living and breathing every last detail of this scandal since before 11/04. Reading the article, I can easily see why it might not. A, not enough room; Fitrakis' book was packed, and it still could not cover every single detail. And B, there's some serious allegation in there, mainly at Blackwell, and it will be very interesting to see if he threatens or brings lawsuit. No doubt Rolling Stone had their lawyers go over this with baby fine tooth combs, but I also suspect they made a conscious decision to stand up to that possibility. For that, they should be applauded, as well as Kennedy. Of course, it will be just as interesting if Blackwell does not file suit. That would be quite telling.

Second, Keith Olbermann - who was valiant in his coverage of these issues right after the schmelection and is duly noted and quoted by Kennedy - did not mention the article on his show tonight, so why should we be surprised that there was no other MSM coverage? However, the actual article does not hit the stands until tomorrow, so we should wait and see, and then also see what happens in the promotion of all this (again, do buy the magazine to give those folks a a salute!).

Nevertheless, third, I'm pretty shocked at the lack of attention this article is getting on some prominent blogs. Firedoglake gives it a nice spread, and of course buzzflash gives it top billing, but I did a quick pass through just a half dozen or so, and there is no mention at all on dailykos, atrios, americablog, talkleft, or crooksandliars. I remember being totally furious with Markos after that election, as he just waxed wicked cynical and told us all to get over it, in so many words, blaming Kerry and the idiotic American public in the process. I think it will be interesting to hear stories about the infamous Yearly Kos next week (or so?) where this topic is bound to dominate discussion. I'll be most curious to hear how Markos fields those debates.

Fourth, a comment on firedoglake caught my eye with a link to an interview with a Florida State University political science professor on the 2000 election fiasco. This is worth a visit, as he - Lance deHaven-Smith - has a book out as of last fall entitled The Battle for Florida that he describes as pretty brutal and embarrassing for Bush because he knows both the law and Florida politics, and he says Bush lost Florida in 2000.

This got me to thinking that we ought not mention Kennedy's piece without reference to 2000 as well, via deHaven-Smith or any other such. The fact is, Bush did not win either election. His presidency is fully and thoroughly illegitimate. And as far as I'm concerned, so is every single act he has committed, every bill he has signed, and every single nomination, including Roberts and Alito.

Which, fifth, makes one wonder: Just how could we act legally to reverse all this? Seriously, what legal action might we take as citizens to protest what has happened in Florida and Ohio - and all those other states we know about - to seek remedy? Sue the states? Their secretaries of state? Or the Republican Party? Any lawyers out there?

Sixth, of course, there is the traditional, patient method of voting. Check it out: not only is there a predictive analysis of voting trends that suggests Gore would win an election in a landslide, there is already a Gore in 08 site up, and it's already been crashed by crooksandliars visitors.

The bumper stickers should all say: RE-ELECT GORE IN O8

And for both 06 and 08, I just want to take this moment to push my all-purpose slogan again:
BETTER DEAD THAN RED

Wouldn't a Gore/Kerry ticket be the ultimate 'in your face'?

Finally, I was struck by Kerry's quotes in Kennedy's piece. Though he was more reserved and cautious, he had to be. As the victim, he is in no position to bellyache; the man has been swiftboated, after all. But more than that, he gave us insight into why the dems have done nothing about this, and it makes sense. He points out that the democrats in Congress understand fully that, were they to open the voting can o' worms, the repugs would promptly undo the dems' intentions and make it even harder for citizens to vote and for the country to have fair elections. By law.

Those guys are on the front line, and though we all grouse about how spineless they are, I've never been sure just what they could do without getting, well, the swiftboat treatment. Perhaps walking softly and carrying a big stick is the best strategy here.

Bottom line, the noise has to come from us. So make it happen. We can only keep our Republic - and our right to vote - if we are diligent.