Freep reponse to BBV Issue: Muddying the Waters

[linazelle]

As usual, we present facts, they attempt to confuse. I posted Bev Harris' summary of the BBV issue on several sites. Most Freepers avoided the posts like the plague but this one from an anonymous source is an indication of the spin that's likely to come when the issue finally becomes mainstream (in, say ten years from now...).


"Somebody tell me why you don't care about all the deads and illegals voting for democrats?

GET THIS! State and federal officials are investigating suspected voter fraud in 25 South Dakota counties. One Democratic operative is linked to 1,750 applications for absentee ballots. Christine Iverson, spokeswoman for Republican Rep. John Thune who challenged Democrat Senator Tim Johnson quipped, "A dead woman signed up twice to vote in two different counties - very active this woman!"

Attorney General Ashcroft announced Monday that he was sending "324 federal observers and 108 Justice Department personnel to 26 counties in 14 states" to monitor the general election.

So the next battle ground will be the right's seeming agreement that elections are corrupt. Just as they also jumped on the media bias bandwagon to muddy things up, they're gearing up to do the same here.

I hope we can proactively find a way to communicate the BBV issue to keep them from hijacking it. The summary was a great start...

[uptohere]

1. has anyone ever believed that elections were not corrupt ?

Its a joke in (at least) Chicago, 'vote early and vote often'. And its not really a joke.

[MrJones]

2. Here's the answer.

Agree with them. Say, "Great! Let's fix that, too. But right now we have a chance to stop something else before it goes wrong, so let's do that then try to fix the other things that have already gone wrong."

[Old and In the Way]

3. Tell them Ted Turner is getting in the Voting Macine business

and will be paying every county to use his equipment.....oh, and no documented paper trail, either.

Let's see how quick they change their tune about the integrity of voting machines.

The "example" he brings up is laughable. Yes, it possible for either party to have incidences of corruptness at the local level. Hopefully, it balances out. But we are talking about a systematic, nationwide effort by companies with ties to the Republican Party who want to implement their technology with no independent verification or proof of actual vote.

That is criminal and un-American.

[reprobate]

4. Write letters to your local paper. Again and again.

Most people are not aware of BBV. Let them know by writing letters to the editors of your local paper. Awareness by the masses will do much to stop this.

And when you write, link Diebold's tampering with TREASON! Attempting to subvert elections has to fall into that category.

[papau]

5. The Freep post is a proven lie that the ABCNote apologized for

Turns out 2 vote registration cards signed incorrectly - no dead folks vote - and the acrual fraud was the GOP faking fraud - but the GOP AG in SD refused to chase that - meanwhile a google of the topic gives you 14 pages GOP lies and the Josh Marshall Talking Points web pages a few times - not that the GOP out lie us Dems - or that the media loves to give those anti-Dem lies airtime - and says little except a print retraction in the Wash Post when it is pointed out that they are lies.

All lies planted by GOP - and exposed by a SD writer Josh Marshall of Talking Points - who was then implied to be a liar in the ABC News ABCNOTE - and where the Note then said sorry - but too late!

I was in the middle of this one - I "forced" (by annoying) the note folks to read the truth - and was pissed as hell when the snide Note col came out the next day saying that the SD writer was a liar per some GOP scum - want to be Senator. The DA in SD was asked to call the Note and did - and held a news confernce - but by then it was like two days before the 2002 election - and the GOP media had been screaming this shit for a couple of weeks - so Johnson almost lost - and the ABC Note said "sorry"

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/oct0203.html
TPM Review
(October 21st, 2002 -- 12:33 PM EDT // link)
The folks at ABC's always-admirable The Note say the "the ball is in court" on the South Dakota voter fraud story, after this detailed article in Sunday's Argus Leader. But perhaps they should look a bit closer at the article itself. The article contains the following quote from Republican Attorney General Mark Barnett, who was himself one of the original hard-chargers on the alleged vote fraud story...

"I'm still only aware of two cases where criminal law may have been violated, and you've heard about those," said Barnett. "I just don't want the suggestion out there that there is widespread fraud when we don't have any evidence of that."
Look at the (original) article and you'll also notice virtually all the quotes are from the Republican state Attorney General Mark Barnett who called a press conference to discuss the matter, was apparently the source of the original "massive" voter fraud claim, and apparently can't stop talking to every reporter in the state about it. Though the investigation only involves this one woman, Barnett is quick to tell virtually everyone that "that could change at any time."

http://www.dlncoalition.org/news/2002dec14a.htm

http://www.rapidcityjournal.com
Dec. 14, 2002

By Kevin Woster and Denise Ross
Journal Staff Writers

At least two key affidavits compiled by Republicans charging American Indian voter fraud in the Nov. 5 election are fraudulent themselves, South Dakota Attorney General Mark Barnett said Friday.

Speaking to reporters during a telephone conference call, Barnett said that of the 50 sworn affidavits collected on South Dakota Indian reservations after the election, only three really indicated the possibility of serious legal violation.

They allegedly were signed by tribal members who said they were offered $10 to vote by a van driver representing Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson. Barnett said two of those claims already have been proved false, and the investigation into the third is continuing.

"Of those three affidavits, the first two we've been able to get to, those affidavits are either perjury or forgery," Barnett said. "Call them what you want; they are just flat false."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/politics/elections/2002/sodakota/
New Indian Voters Turned Race in S.D.
South Dakota officials said Thursday there is no sign of wrongdoing involving the voting in heavily Indian counties, despite the noisy allegations of "fraud" and "vote-stealing" on the reservations that made a media splash a month ago.


And folks wonder why I hate the "we are not controlled by the right wing GOP - we just act that way" US media.

:-(

:toast:

[linazelle]

6. Thanx for the info on this issue

Now I can put the liar who posted that tripe to shame.

[ibegurpard]

7. Who cares whether it's Democrats or Republicans?

The potential for voting fraud should scare people from either end of the political spectrum.

[PATRICK]

8. 2002 smokescreen

No, it appears that without orders or memos they have no idea how to respond to the issue. Fear too. This response was the standard GOP premption offensive of 2002 to keep the Dems from complaining about likely massive machine fraud in Texas, Minnesota and Georgia. They could have saved themselves the trouble.

[Sophree]

9. 2000 Election/FL

I got that response when I told someone about the 97,000 erroneously purged voters in FL. Flippantly: "Well, the Democrats cheat at elections, too. They all do it."

My jaw dropped, "But this was state sanctioned vote fraud, by the Governor who just happened to be the candidates brother and the Secretary of State who just happened to be running the campaign for the RNC." Nothing. This guy also has a sticker that says "Piss on France" on his car, so I probably shouldn't waste my breath.

[Eloriel]

10. I hope you won't take this the wrong way

and I'm not sure what kind of other sites you were posting that to, so Imay be wrong, but your time and energy might be better spent elsewhere than "freeper-oriented" sites.

Think: Letters to the editor; your election officials; reporters; Congress; State Legislators; organizations like LWV, Common Cause, PFAW, etc.

Eloriel