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WilliamPitt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 05:56 PM
Original message
Tell Kerry Not To Give Up On Ohio
Dear Friends,

We have learned that the Kerry/Edwards campaign is preparing to withdraw from the
Ohio recount case, which is pending in federal court. This move comes as Federal
Judge Carr in Toledo prepares to hold a status conference on August 30 on this case,
along with two other pending voting rights cases.

When most others stood aside, PDA stood for voting rights and untainted elections in
Ohio and in the halls of Congress. We stood to make sure that every vote counts. We
have continued to fight together without slowing down.

Yesterday, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. issued a letter to Senators Kerry and
Edwards urging that they not withdraw from this case. Here is a link to the letter:

http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2005/08/congressman-conyers-urges-kerry-and.html

The National Voting Rights Institute and its general counsel John Bonifaz, a PDA
National Advisory Board Member, represent 2004 presidential candidates David Cobb
and Michael Badnarik in their request for a meaningful recount of the 2004 Ohio
presidential vote. During the recount last December, NVRI and its clients documented
extensive irregularities in the way county boards of election conducted the recount.
This included evidence that the Triad corporation had tampered with voting machines
prior to the start of the recount, as well as evidence the county election officials
had directly violated rules and procedures so as to avoid a full hand count of the
ballots.

In late December, Cobb and Badnarik filed amended counterclaims in this case
alleging the recount was not conducted in accordance with basic equal protection and
due process guarantees under the US Constitution. At stake in this case today is
whether the court will grant the plaintiffs declaratory judgment, setting forth the
constitutional standard for how recounts should be conducted in future federal
elections. This is a critical precedent to set for any future presidential or
congressional election.

Please call/write/email Kerry today urging that he not withdraw and that he join
Cobb and Badnarik's amended counterclaims on the way the recount was conducted. To
contact Kerry/Edwards campaign office, go to:

http://www.johnkerry.com/contact/


In light of the upcoming August 30 hearing before Judge Carr, time is of the
essence. If the proper precedent - of creating a constitutional standard as to how
recounts should be conducted in regard to due process guarantees - is set in this
case, it will help assure that future elections can and will be held without taint
or improper interference. Kerry and Edwards must not back away from this
all-important struggle. If they do, they will not only be abandoning all those who
stood for them in the campaign and all those who fought for a fair counting of the
votes, but they will also be abandoning the fight to make sure that elections in
this country do not become the murky purview of corporations whose machines and
managers cannot be trusted. Please contact them today and tell them to keep standing
for the vote.

In peace and solidarity,

Tim Carpenter
http://www.pdamerica.org

P.S. Thank you again for all your work this week with the launch of the People's
Petition for an IRAQ PEACE PROCESS. If you have not signed the petition please go
to:


http://www.pdamerica.org/petition/iraq-withdraw-petition.php#here
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GreenPartyVoter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 05:57 PM
Response to Original message
1. I thought he already gave it up?
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nosmokes Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:17 PM
Response to Reply #1
11. he did give up. the 3rd parties are why it's still alive
and why i'm also a green party member and no longer a democrat. you'll notice it's cobb and badnarik that are mentioned in the article. i have no idea who the candidates are gonna be in '08, but i seriously doubt if a democrat is getting my vote.
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GreenPartyVoter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:59 PM
Response to Reply #11
37. Just as a heads up, our party is unstable at the moment. There
are two factions duking it. 1 wants to fuse into the Dems as a special interest group, 2 wants to maintain its own party status. (I am a member of group 2, but I also favor working with Dems as a coalition. Some Greens are unwilling to work with Dems on anything at all.)
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LittleClarkie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 09:59 PM
Response to Reply #11
49. Oh, okay then. We'll just disregard this message. He can't give up
if he already did.

Thanks for clearing that up.

The name Don McTigue must have been a figment of my imagination.
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MelissaB Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:05 PM
Response to Original message
2. Kicking and nominating.
I hope people take action as well as bitch an moan about Kerry.
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Gabi Hayes Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:06 PM
Response to Original message
3. jesus....what reasons are there to support this party?
anybody who pays ANY attention to this KNOWS that it was stolen.

are they THAT cowed that they're totally afraid to stand up for.....the truth?

at the vigil last night, there were many many people who are STILL pissed at Gore for not fighting harder in 2000, and most of them are semi-conscious of what happened in Ohio this time.

I told at least 10 people to get the latest Harper's and read the MCM article, if they want to get a decent background on what happened this time. they were all very interested

Achordate Party, try to stand up, for ONCE!
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wli Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 07:22 PM
Response to Reply #3
41. probably scared of getting Wellstoned and/or anthraxed n/t
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MH1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-19-05 07:04 AM
Response to Reply #3
61. You ignore that this post is about a RUMOR. n/t
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stlsaxman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:09 PM
Response to Original message
4. I wrote them, imploring them not to give up...
I only pray someone is reading these letters.
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Pithy Cherub Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:13 PM
Response to Original message
5. The fact that Kerry/Edwards has to be asked to fight for votes
to be counted is WAY past pathetic.

The Honorable John Conyers, Jr., has my deepest and profound respect for doing this in a classy way.
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MH1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:18 PM
Response to Reply #5
14. Where's the evidence?
This post looks like hearsay to me. Do you have a link to anything more substantial?
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mod mom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:21 PM
Response to Reply #14
16. If John Conyers says it , you can take it to the bank! nt
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MH1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:34 PM
Response to Reply #16
24. Is he saying it? I couldn't find it on his own site.
I couldn't find any reference to this letter at www.johnconyers.com.

If it's not on his own blog... :shrug:

Or is it there and I missed it?

If it's not there, then it's only the person who posted it on "fairnessbybeckerman" that is saying it, as far as I know.

And anyway, What part of "possibility, however remote" means Conyers' is saying that Kerry is pulling out???

From the alleged letter:

"It is for these reasons that I am deeply concerned to learn of the possibility, however remote, that you may be considering withdrawing from the 2004 election recount case in Ohio."

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Pithy Cherub Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:33 PM
Response to Reply #14
22. Do you not know who John Conyers is...sheesh!
:eyes:
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MH1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:37 PM
Response to Reply #22
26. Of course I do...SHEESH.. READ MY OTHER POSTS!!!!!!!
I know where his site is and so far no one has shown me where on HIS site this alleged letter is.

AND ANY FUCKING WAY:

The letter says:
"It is for these reasons that I am deeply concerned to learn of the possibility, however remote, that you may be considering withdrawing from the 2004 election recount case in Ohio."

What part of "possibility, however remote" means Conyers' is saying that Kerry is pulling out???

I ask for facts, and I get an insult???? Great democratic attitude.
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Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:42 PM
Response to Reply #26
29. Deleted message
Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.
 
MH1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:47 PM
Response to Reply #29
32. Grow UP? You guys are attacking someone
(Kerry) without even having one single FACT?

And I ask for a link, and you tell me to grow up?
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MelissaB Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 07:42 PM
Response to Reply #26
42. He blogged about it yesterday and I posted it in todays "daily thread."
...snip

Third, today I wrote to the Kerry-Edwards campaign, urging them not to drop out of the Ohio recount case. The case is at a crucial juncture, and while we know the case will not alter the outcome of the election, their involvement is needed to allow us to establish important legal principles and precedents that will help insure that every vote is counted in future elections. The Ohio Election Fraud Blog has the letter.
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MH1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-19-05 06:48 AM
Response to Reply #42
59. Link?
Just looked on Conyers blog and didn't see it posted for yesterday. What is "today's daily thread"?

For the record, I have no problem with Conyers' writing the letter, because he makes it clear he is referring to a rumor. And if K/E04 is planning to drop out of some court case - of which we have no proof or explanation whatsoever - I have no problem whatever with people contacting the principals and professing their concerns.

However I have still not seen anything that convinces me that Conyers even wrote that letter - or that he meant it to be public if he did write it. And I have a big problem with people starting rumor threads for the purpose of inciting a bashfest. I don't know if that was done on purpose here, but it seems to have that effect - and given the subject it was highly predictable. So, the poster has a responsibility to back up their claims. I don't feel that this post is sufficiently backed up with facts, and I am upset that someone I had considered a journalist, would post it like this.
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MH1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:39 PM
Response to Reply #22
28. Nope no response yet.
I thought maybe it was so obvious on CONYERS' OWN SITE that surely in the time it took me to post my previous reply to you, someone would have posted the link. But no not yet.

I'll check back later.
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kerrygoddess Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-19-05 12:12 AM
Response to Reply #28
54. Nothing from Kerry/Edwards.
This is a perpetuated rumor.
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Mass Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:47 PM
Response to Reply #22
31. Actually, Conyers does not say so
He says there are rumors.
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leftchick Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:34 PM
Response to Reply #5
23. I agree
those two are so 2008 right now. :eyes:

And John Conyers is an American hero!
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JanMichael Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:13 PM
Response to Original message
6. Oh relax Will, they have a triple top secret plan.
Edited on Thu Aug-18-05 06:14 PM by JanMichael
Didn't you get the memo????

EDIT: STOP KERRY BASHING YOU PINKO COMMIE FRUITCAKE!!!!!
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stillcool Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:14 PM
Response to Original message
7. done and thank you for the link...
Dear Senator Kerry, I am emailing you tonite to ask you to please not withdraw from the pending lawsuit in Ohio. I am sure that you are well aware of the plethora of circumstantial evidence amassed regarding the last presidential election. If there is to be any hope regarding future elections these illegalities in Ohio need to be aired in a court of law. Please give your support to the future of our democracy.
Thank You
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spuddonna Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:14 PM
Response to Original message
8. Thanks...
Dropped a letter to Kerry...

I told him he should get his butt to TX too... :)
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mod mom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:15 PM
Response to Original message
9. Ray Beckerman is a true patriot! Do you believe they are even considering
this? done.
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stepnw1f Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:16 PM
Response to Original message
10. I Just Told Him.... (nt)
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MH1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:17 PM
Response to Original message
12. "We have learned" - From WHO?
Can anyone point me to any actual evidence that they are thinking of dropping out? (And DU threads don't count. Not dailykos, either).

Note Conyers wording:

"It is for these reasons that I am deeply concerned to learn of the possibility, however remote, that you may be considering withdrawing from the 2004 election recount case in Ohio."

Sounds like Conyers doesn't actually have evidence either. Not that I fault him for his letter - it's great, in case there is anything to the rumor. But can anyone here show it to be other than rumor?
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Prisoner_Number_Six Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:17 PM
Response to Original message
13. I don't trust Kerry to follow through on ANYTHING
His track record of fading in the stretch seems to be getting longer.

I.E. Did he ever get around to reading the Downing Street Minutes into the Congressional Record as he had said he was going to do? Oh, yeah, I remember-- he suddenly left Washington that day...
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TayTay Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 08:46 PM
Response to Reply #13
47. When did he say he was going to do that?
He did circulate the letter to get an investigation started in the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, but not enough of the Dem members of that committee signed it. (And now, via RawStory we learn that Chairman Pat Roberts was in on 'fixing the intel.') Kerry did talk about DSM on the floor of the Senate in June of this year. To date, no other Senator has tried to get it looked at.
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MH1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-19-05 07:03 AM
Response to Reply #13
60. He didn't say that at all. You need to revisit the facts on that issue.
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AuntPatsy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:19 PM
Response to Original message
15. We shouldn't have to tell him, sad that we do.
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runningwithscissors Donating Member (11 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:22 PM
Response to Original message
17. WHY
are Kerry/Edwards "preparing to withdraw"????

Why would they do such a thing?
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Bluebear Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:22 PM
Response to Original message
18. Why on earth should we have to tell him not to give up?
Just sayin'.
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BillZBubb Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:23 PM
Response to Original message
19. Kerry's advisers know more than we do,
Edited on Thu Aug-18-05 06:24 PM by amBushed
we need to trust them. They are the experts, we are mere amateurs. They are just using political judo. He'll really come back strong near the end. Stop your complaining.
:sarcasm:
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Gabi Hayes Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:51 PM
Response to Reply #19
35. you bad person! you had me until..."we are mere amateurs"
Good One!

go, Achordate Party!
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MH1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:25 PM
Response to Original message
20. Why isn't Conyers' letter on Conyers' OWN blog?
Edited on Thu Aug-18-05 06:32 PM by MH1
I just looked all over www.johnconyers.com and couldn't find it.

Can someone help? Or did Conyers think a) it wasn't important enough to post; b) since he is basing it on rumor, it just isn't good to post something that feeds the anti-Kerry crowd? In which case, if he didn't think he should put it on his OWN blog, why is someone else posting it on theirs?

I'm starving for facts here folks. Rumors just don't fill the belly very well, let alone the brain. (But they sure can stoke emotions, can't they?)
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Goldeneye Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 07:12 PM
Response to Reply #20
40. Don't know.
I didn't see it either. I did write to Kerry just in case though. I asked him about rumors on the internets and said if they were true I hoped he'd reconsider.
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mzmolly Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 08:42 PM
Response to Reply #20
45. I agree, I'd like more clarification.
I assumed it was on his blog???
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Nothing Without Hope Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:28 PM
Response to Original message
21. If Kerry withdraws, it would be the SECOND too-quick concession.
If it is based on the outrageous DNC "report" on the Ohio Election, so much the worse. That travesty is whitewash from start to finish. It concludes on the basis of highly questionable analyses of data provided by Blackwell (they thank Blackwell for saving them so much effort in getting the data) that there is no evidence of widespread fraud. Horrible - and after considering its shoddy organization and unfounded, sweeping conclusions of no fraud, I have come to believe that the GOAL of that "report" was exactly that: to give an excuse to withdraw and avoid urgent work on election reform by claiming no widespread fraud. It is an OUTRAGE. You have to ask: whose side are these DNC people on? Certainly not the side of free and fair elections.

If Kerry withdraws from this effort, it's one more clear signal that he is not truly concerned with free, fair elections. Yes, that sounds harsh, but thinking through everything that has happened, including the outrageous whitewash of the DNC Ohio election "report" (which is contradicted by masses of evidence), it's the conclusion I'm forced to.

I'd like to see this urging of Kerry not to quit the process be a DU activist task.
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sunnystarr Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:36 PM
Response to Original message
25. Done and thanks for the heads up. (nt)
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Nothing Without Hope Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:38 PM
Response to Original message
27. I've proposed it as a DU Activist task. Please add your comment if you
agree that this is a good idea:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=106x21645
Thread title: Proposed activist task: Tell Kerry/Edwards NOT to withdraw from the {Ohio recount process. I would also like to see letters to the media on this critical issue. }
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mzmolly Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:46 PM
Response to Original message
30. .
Edited on Thu Aug-18-05 06:47 PM by mzmolly
Nevamind. Just saw that the good John Conyers is leading the way.

:hi:
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Mass Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:49 PM
Response to Reply #30
33. But is Conyers really saying that?
(three conditionnals in a sentence, he does not seem too sure, and contrarely to others, Conyers is an honest man and when he does not know, he says so).

It is for these reasons that I am deeply concerned to learn of the possibility, however remote, that you may be considering withdrawing from the 2004 election recount case in Ohio
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MH1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:52 PM
Response to Reply #33
36. "Contrarily to others"
You got that fucking right.

:grr:
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mzmolly Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 08:40 PM
Response to Reply #33
44. Agreed.
Edited on Thu Aug-18-05 08:44 PM by mzmolly
:shrug:
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fedupinBushcountry Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 06:50 PM
Response to Original message
34. Just want to get something straight
Edited on Thu Aug-18-05 06:51 PM by fedupinBushcountry
There is no Kerry/Edwards campaign. It has been done with since November. I would suggest you either call or e-mail Senator Kerry. The websites he has now are not ran by him. Also John Edwards has a website,not sure who runs it.

If this is true, I think we do need to let them know how we feel. But saying there is a K/E campaign and going to those websites, I don't think will help the cause.
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MelissaB Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 07:02 PM
Response to Reply #34
38. Here is the One America website:
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MH1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-19-05 07:07 AM
Response to Reply #38
62. Nothing there either.
What am I missing? Did you post this just so people would know how to contact Edwards too?

I don't see anything there that substantiates the rumor, on the front page (where you linked) or any of several other pages I clicked.
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kerrygoddess Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-19-05 12:20 AM
Response to Reply #34
55. Further clarification...
I contacted Kerry's Senate office today. I was told that any inquiries would go through the Kerry PAC (Friends of John Kerry, Inc or Keeping America's Promise).

I have sent all info I have on this to contacts there. There has been no confirmation that this is true. Conyers said as much in his letter that this was rumor. PDA has jumped the gun with their attack!

There is no Kerry/Edwards campaign, that is correct. Whatever investigation they may be still doing behind the scenes or involvement with fraud caeses would be handled by lawyers on retainer from the Kerry/Edwards GELAC Funds.

JohnKerry.com is run by John Kerry's "Friends of John Kerry, Inc. PAC".

KeepingAmericasPromise.com is run by John Kerry's "Keeping Americas Promise PAC."
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Fly by night Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 07:04 PM
Response to Original message
39. I'm glad a second wave of letters will go to Kerry. Two recent threads ...
Edited on Thu Aug-18-05 07:06 PM by Fly by night
... on the 2004 ERD last week helped stimulate an initial flood of letters to Kerry's office. (I know, 'cause we here in the Orange State sent him dozens ourselves). Thanks DemoDonkey for the "heads up" last week (you can still find her threads there on page 2 or 3) and to PDA, John Conyers, MelissaB and WP for the reminder today.

And here's the letter I sent Kerry myself: (Forgive the histrionics -- we sons of Faulkner and Welty can't help ourselves):
-----------
Dear Senator Kerry,

During the 2004 campaign, I worked hard to get you elected and -- in so doing -- to help America awaken from the fascist nightmare that has captured our country and our psyche for the past six years. I believe that, for the second time in as many Presidential elections, the American people selected an intelligent, sensitive and seasoned Democrat to lead us and to represent our values to the rest of the world. And for the second time, the will of the American people was simply ignored.

In your case, I do not believe that it was even close. Once the American people saw what an empty and ignorant sock-puppet George W. Bush really was, they voted to oust him in no uncertain terms from the highest office in our land. But today, there you sit quietly in your Senatorial office as Bush takes another paid holiday and arrogantly refuses to speak with Cindy Sheehan, the mother of one more American youngster who did not have to die for oil, much less for his country, in the chaos that we helped create in Iraq. Why? Because the foundation of our American governmental system -- the legitimacy that is passed to our national and local leaders in the voting booth through the majority consent of the governed -- has been taken hostage in Ohio, where Lady Liberty lays still, locked in chains and stained with the disrespect and disdain heaped on her by the lawless elements of the Republican Party.

Ohio certainly isn't the only place where our government institutions are held hostage today by people who have no concept of (or respect for) our democratic foundations, the bedrock that first made this country unique and then helped us ascend to a leadership model for all peoples of the world as the bastion of personal freedom and popular control of government. Similar treasonous plots were implemented in too many other 2004 battleground states and they are still moving forward, recklessly and relentlessly, in all states (including Tennessee) today. Through the illegal manipulation of our election process, we have fallen under the control of immoral and unpatriotic traitors to the American ideal. We must not -- you must not -- allow this to stand.

Nine months ago, two small but brave and fundamentally American political parties -- the Greens and the Libertarians -- undertook their own mission in Ohio to rescue Lady Liberty. They did so because they understood what had happened in Ohio and they also understood that to sit silent in the face of the kidnapping of our votes was to be complicit in the crime. To your credit (and with the prayerful thanks of millions of your supporters), you and John Edwards joined in that rescue attempt by entering as partners in the Cobb v. Blackwell lawsuit to demand -- once and for all -- that the votes in Ohio be counted as they were cast.

Now nine months later, I awoke this morning to read that you are considering withdrawing from this lawsuit and abandoning the Greens and Libertarians up river, low on ammunition and within sight of the prison camp where Lady Liberty remains, almost breathless yet still clinging to the hope that help must be on the way. Senator Kerry, say that it isn't so. Remind us all that your wounds in Vietnam came while facing the enemy, not while running from them. Refresh our memories of a warrior who would not leave any soldier behind, for any reason. Do not withdraw from the Ohio battlefield at this critical hour when the battle -- when the future of our country -- still remains in the balance.

Today, Iraq is not our Vietnam -- Ohio is. As a country, we have more to lose if you abandon our fight for free, fair and verifiable elections in the Buckeye State than we could ever lose in the sands of the Middle East. Because if you abandon the Greens and the Libertarians on the battlefields of Ohio, if you leave Lady Liberty there to die -- alone and abandoned -- in chains in Kenneth Blackwell's basement, then you will demonstrate for all time that in America, every vote is no longer sacred and American democracy in the 21st century really is a sham.

I don't believe that. You don't believe that. The majority of Americans who supported you and John Edwards (and Al Gore before you) also don't believe that. Don't abandon the Ohio battlefield at this eleventh hour. More Americans now believe that the 2004 election was stolen (40%, in recent surveys) than believed that in late November, 2004 (about 19% back then). We are on the verge of lancing the festering wound that is the Republi-Nazi wing of the opposition party, and freeing our country from their influence and control. Now, more than ever, the Greens and Libertarians need your continuing support in Ohio. And so does Lady Liberty.

I am proud to have registered 909 Tennesseans to vote for you as our rightful President. Prove to all of us that you remain the best choice we ever made. Stay the course, keep fighting beside the Greens and Libertarians, free Lady Liberty from her Ohio chains. The future of our country depends on it. Thank you. (Fly by night)
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meganmonkey Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 08:35 PM
Response to Original message
43. I'm glad PDA is on this
I wrote him a few days ago.

I really hope he listens to us.
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SnoopDog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 08:43 PM
Response to Original message
46. I would think a real Patriot and Democrat would never give up...period...
Why is it that we have to always tell many (not all) our Dems what to do, and of course, they don't do what is right anyway...

Personally, if they wear the Democratic Party emblem, therefore have our core beliefs, and must vote and act accordinly...

Just my naive opinion...
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ooglymoogly Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 08:53 PM
Response to Original message
48. gave up without a whimper....sold us down the river and he lost my support
Edited on Thu Aug-18-05 08:55 PM by ooglymoogly
pulled the rug out from under us who were supporting him...dean and clark are the men. thousands of lawyers we paid for...what a joke.
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LittleClarkie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 10:02 PM
Response to Reply #48
50. What makes you think you didn't pay for thousands of lawyers
According to opensecrets.org, he doesn't have any more money than Gore did at the end of his campaign, including GELAC. So there were lawyers. And they observed.

That isn't what was needed apparently. Without a paper trail we're fucked. No amount of lawyers observing will change that.

But that doesn't mean I doubt that money went out to those lawyers.
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ooglymoogly Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-19-05 08:14 AM
Response to Reply #50
64. thats right and there hasn't been a peep that i have heard
from kerry about this. the joke was the thousands of lawyers...we might as well have sent thousands of chickens. nobody but conyers and a few other congress and senate critters are speaking out about this.
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Fly by night Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 10:30 PM
Response to Original message
51. A letter from a Wisconsin friend and "Nash-ional" conference speaker
Dear Senator Kerry,

Week in and week out, I receive pleas from you and other Democrats asking me to write letters, sign petitions and contribute money to various efforts backed by Democrats. But other than John Conyers and a few others, there has been a ringing silence from Democrats on the only issue that really counts: voting reform. I worked hard in your campaign last year, and I followed that up as a volunteer in the Ohio recount on behalf of the Green Party. I saw first hand how the voting tabulators were manipulated. In fact, I had the opportunity to meet the Triad technician who tampered with the equipment less than an hour before the Mercer County recount commenced.

I am writing to ask you to maintain or increase your support of the lawsuit filed by the Greens and Libertarians. I am also writing to share a vow with you. If you walk away from this, if you go back on your promise to make sure that every vote is counted, I will not support any further efforts on your part. I hope you know that for every Democrat like me who writes you, there are hundreds more who are utterly disgusted with the failure of the leadership of the Democratic Party on this issue. Republicans chortle with glee, not realizing that they have also been disenfranchised by this fraudulent activity in Ohio, Florida, and numerous other states.

Please, Senator Kerry. You know better than anyone other than Al Gore that the counting of the votes in this country is lacking in any semblance of integrity, and the problem is getting worse with each election cycle. Please don't walk away from this fight. We're counting on you. Nothing else we do as patriots will matter if we cannot have free and fair elections in this country once again.

Sincerely,

(One bad-ass patriotic red-head from Menasha)
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Yellow Horse Donating Member (462 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-18-05 10:33 PM
Response to Original message
52. David Cobb is a real Patriot...
He was the one who originally called for the Recount and has stuck it out for honest elections ever since.
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kerrygoddess Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-19-05 12:09 AM
Response to Original message
53. There is no verification of this from Kerry/Edwards!
Do you have verification from Kerry/Edwards, Mr Pitt?
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eridani Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-19-05 02:11 AM
Response to Reply #53
57. Not taking any chances, myself
I'm writing to encourage spine stiffening. If if turns out not to have been necessary, then they still know that plenty of people care about the issue.
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kerrygoddess Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-19-05 10:08 AM
Response to Reply #57
65. Absolutely write letters...
The more the merrier, never hurts to remind people we are out here and we are concerned.

But please, the snark regarding Kerry and "spine stiffening" is uncalled for. That man has more spine then anyone in the Senate or House. The Kerry doesn't have a spine was a rightwing talking point that was perpetuated during the primaries by other Dem candidates. It's time to let it go.
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Yellow Horse Donating Member (462 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-20-05 12:41 AM
Response to Reply #53
66. I don't need verification from Kerry, COBB and CONYERS are fine by me!
They are REAL patriots who put there money where their mouth is and stand up when it is called for. THEY are the ones trying to save our Election System and our Democracy.

Kerry looks to me like he is trying to save his chances to run again in 2008.

Sorry, but I will NEVER vote for John Kerry again for ANYTHING if he chickens out and pulls his support from the Ohio Recount case.
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Carolab Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-19-05 12:25 AM
Response to Original message
56. I wrote him. Rumor or not, better safe than sorry. n/t
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texpatriot2004 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-19-05 02:38 AM
Response to Original message
58. I wrote him/them with my request and put my two cents in. n/t
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Fly by night Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-19-05 08:09 AM
Response to Original message
63. Another letter sent to Kerry from the Orange State
Dear Honorable Senator Kerry,

It has come to my attention that you are considering withdrawing from
the Ohio recount case. This, with all due respect, is extremely
disheartening and disturbing news, if it is true. Like so many of your
other supporters, I have worked my disabled body and mind to the bone,
just trying to help unite the people who are aware of the countless
cases of fraud surrounding the '04 election... and, pardon me for saying
so, but you owe it to me, in particular... and the American People, in
general, to make good on your promises to see that "every vote is
counted" (and they haven't been) and give us assurance that "help is on
the way", which doesn't seem to be, now that you are reportedly turning
your back on the only people left who are working so hard to trumpet
those very reasons for which, sadly, you are not our President today!

I am, by far, not alone in this sentiment and I send you this plea on
behalf of the millions of people who simply have not voiced their dismay
with our broken election system... and, on behalf of more than half of
the voters in this Country who are apparently not aware of the inaction
of our mainstream media, who could have saved us all a lot of grief had
they been doing their 'fair and balanced' jobs. Had all of the votes
been counted in Ohio alone, you would most likely be residing in the
White House today.

As you know, there are still tens of thousands of votes, mostly Kerry
votes (by statistical analysis), that have not been counted... and there
were tens of thousands more Kerry votes that never were cast because of
corrupt electronic voting systems and corrupt people, including
strong-arm intimidating activities at a large number of precincts, not
only in Ohio... but in all probability, every state in the Union.

Please, Senator Kerry, show us the man you were thirty-plus years ago
and stand with us all in saving our Democracy. We shouldn't need the
people of the Ukraine to show us how to do things right in America
again... and you, as a powerful senator and political figure, should be
able to voice what you know about this last election and keep your
promises like the John Kerry we love and respect so much. Thank you for
your prompt attention and your willingness to see this Ohio debacle be
resolved and exposed, once and for all, and for the sake of these United
States of America. Stay with the Ohio case until it is resolved. This
is your constituency, begging for your cooperation. Don't let us down
when we're already on our knees.

Best Regards,

Another member of Gathering To Save Our Democracy
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autorank Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-31-05 11:45 PM
Response to Reply #63
70. Fly by night, thanks for bird dogging this one!!!
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kerrygoddess Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-20-05 02:13 AM
Response to Original message
67. John Conyers on Paul Krugman’s OP/ED
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Time for change Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-20-05 03:55 PM
Response to Original message
68. Here is a letter that I sent him
Dear Senator Kerry,

I know your intentions are good, but I honestly don't understand how you can say that we "must do everything in my power to fight to restore responsible leadership in the House and Senate" and at the same time be considering withdrawing from the Ohio recount lawsuit.

To me and millions of others there is nothing more important in the political world (and what other world is there?) than having fair elections. Since last November I have devoted more time to that than any other issue, and I certainly will not contribute money to a Democratic party that does not take this very seriously. My money and time is much better spent on trying to expose what happened in the 2004 election and prevent anything similar from happening in the future.

A mountain of evidence has been compiled that says that you probably won the 2004 election. What possible reason can you have for withdrawing from this lawsuit? Here is a link to my latest research on this topic, which I just posted today: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2020121

I beg you to reconsider your position on this issue.
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eridani Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-31-05 11:25 PM
Response to Original message
69. It worked! It worked! It worked! It worked! It worked!
Dear PDA Activists,

Last week PDA wrote you about the election recount cases in Ohio. On Monday, federal Judge Carr in Toledo, Ohio held a hearing in the Ohio 2004 recount case. Judge Carr then set an accelerated schedule for 2004 presidential candidates David Cobb and Michael Badnarik and for intervener Kerry/Edwards 2004 to file amended papers by September 15, 2005. Kerry/Edwards 2004 counsel appeared as an intervening party at the hearing. The judge set a trial in this matter for August 2006.

Thank you for making your voices heard. PDA will continue to organize to ensure that recounts matter, and that all votes are properly counted.

Again thank you for all of your help.

In struggle,

Tim Carpenter
Director, Progressive Democrats of America
http://www.pdamerica.org

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Ellipsis Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Sep-01-05 02:55 PM
Response to Original message
71. The writing is still on the wall.
In indelable ink even.
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