Monday, December 06, 2004
enough already
Alright guys, you could've just told me that I haven't posted in a while. Instead you run out consecutive posts on the O.C. - what a cruel, not-so-subtle way to highlight the fact that reasoned discourse has been lacking around these parts. Luckily, I am abandoning my studies for a night, and the Seahawks MNF game is losing out to a fire downtown. Damn the local news. Anywho, a few notes to my readers that miss me so.
Why did stu remove the elelctoral-vote counter from the top of the site, you ask? Because he didn't know I was about to write this: "why is the electoral-vote counter still up on the top of the blog, you ask?" Well, first of all, the vote isn't certified yet. This happens on December 13th, but meanwhile they're still going to recount the votes in Ohio. Those lovely Greens Cobb and LaMarche have raised enough money to pay for a statewide recount. They submit they're request tomorrow, since the Secretary of State did not certify the original tally until today, and Ohio law requires the recount request to be filed after certification. 5 days should be plenty to get this done.
Now, I know I sound like a loony lefty hoping to overthrow the administration by any means, and, well, you're wrong. I'm a reasoned lefty, who is not a big fan of the Green party, who thinks all votes should be properly counted. Too many people complained of not being offered provisional ballots, not being on the voter rolls despite voting in the same place for decades, and the computer screen saying they voted for Bush when the in fact voted for Kerry, to not have a recount. Add to that the letter from Walden O'Dell, CEO of Diebolt Inc. (which provided most of the electronic voting machines for Ohio), saying he was committed to delivering Ohio to Bush. I don't expect the overall results to change anything, but why would anyone not want the votes properly counted? Also, roll the movie forward a bit and think about what the President would do if a recount showed a Kerry win, or if there was some fraud discovered regarding the machines. Would he go quietly into the night? Would he say that the stability of a nation in war overrides the vote, or the fraud (to which, no doubt, no one in his administration will have a connection), and he must stay in office, and thankyouverymuchjohnkerryforyourconcessionlastmonth? Maybe he is more noble than I think, but I would expect him to make a huge stink about it.
So, the recount will happen, Bush will still win, and we'll have four more years of soaring deficits and dead kids - or, adults and cripples, as they now seem to be calling up people who can't run or carry more than 30 pounds and women who served in Vietnam. (see 60 minutes from last night). The bigger problem is that we can't get any sort of responsible voting system, because whoever is the winner doesn't want to acknowledge there is a problem. No matter what side your on, why not have the same number of machines per person in cities as in suburbs? Why can't we have electronic voting machines that give you a receipt, like atm's, so you know you hit the right button, and so there can be a paper recount if the machines give an odd tally (say, varying up to 4-8 points from the exit polls). The campaigns raise (read: waste) so much money - why not have a law that says 10% of everything they raise has to go towards a fund to help purchase quallity voting machines for every county? What is wrong with being outraged at the problems reported across the nation. When someone says it is wrong for the leader of the democratic world to have shortages of machines in heavily minority precincts, why is that considered whining?
Alrighty, that's enough for now. At least its not O.C. garbage. That's right, garbage. (and they're still showing the fire instead of the seahawks)
Why did stu remove the elelctoral-vote counter from the top of the site, you ask? Because he didn't know I was about to write this: "why is the electoral-vote counter still up on the top of the blog, you ask?" Well, first of all, the vote isn't certified yet. This happens on December 13th, but meanwhile they're still going to recount the votes in Ohio. Those lovely Greens Cobb and LaMarche have raised enough money to pay for a statewide recount. They submit they're request tomorrow, since the Secretary of State did not certify the original tally until today, and Ohio law requires the recount request to be filed after certification. 5 days should be plenty to get this done.
Now, I know I sound like a loony lefty hoping to overthrow the administration by any means, and, well, you're wrong. I'm a reasoned lefty, who is not a big fan of the Green party, who thinks all votes should be properly counted. Too many people complained of not being offered provisional ballots, not being on the voter rolls despite voting in the same place for decades, and the computer screen saying they voted for Bush when the in fact voted for Kerry, to not have a recount. Add to that the letter from Walden O'Dell, CEO of Diebolt Inc. (which provided most of the electronic voting machines for Ohio), saying he was committed to delivering Ohio to Bush. I don't expect the overall results to change anything, but why would anyone not want the votes properly counted? Also, roll the movie forward a bit and think about what the President would do if a recount showed a Kerry win, or if there was some fraud discovered regarding the machines. Would he go quietly into the night? Would he say that the stability of a nation in war overrides the vote, or the fraud (to which, no doubt, no one in his administration will have a connection), and he must stay in office, and thankyouverymuchjohnkerryforyourconcessionlastmonth? Maybe he is more noble than I think, but I would expect him to make a huge stink about it.
So, the recount will happen, Bush will still win, and we'll have four more years of soaring deficits and dead kids - or, adults and cripples, as they now seem to be calling up people who can't run or carry more than 30 pounds and women who served in Vietnam. (see 60 minutes from last night). The bigger problem is that we can't get any sort of responsible voting system, because whoever is the winner doesn't want to acknowledge there is a problem. No matter what side your on, why not have the same number of machines per person in cities as in suburbs? Why can't we have electronic voting machines that give you a receipt, like atm's, so you know you hit the right button, and so there can be a paper recount if the machines give an odd tally (say, varying up to 4-8 points from the exit polls). The campaigns raise (read: waste) so much money - why not have a law that says 10% of everything they raise has to go towards a fund to help purchase quallity voting machines for every county? What is wrong with being outraged at the problems reported across the nation. When someone says it is wrong for the leader of the democratic world to have shortages of machines in heavily minority precincts, why is that considered whining?
Alrighty, that's enough for now. At least its not O.C. garbage. That's right, garbage. (and they're still showing the fire instead of the seahawks)
# posted by Anonymous @ 8:25 PM 
