IRAN'S 2009 ELECTION RESULTS SUGGEST MASSIVE FRAUD JUST LIKE OHIO'S IN 2004.
"Without citizen oversight and transparency, 'faith-based' elections threaten democracy no matter where they are held"
It sounds a lot like Ohio 2004. A less than popular old-line incumbent facing massive public demonstrations against him and in favor of his main progressive challenger promising reform; polls that suggest a swell of support for the challenger; unprecedented turnout on Election Day; long lines at polling places; paper ballot shortages and names missing from voter rolls; widespread rumors, concerns and evidence of voter intimidation and vote-rigging, all accompanied nonetheless by a general feeling among the populace that the incumbent has been turned out, only to learn from officials, late on Election Night, after secret vote counting, that the incumbent has been declared the winner of a second term.
The most substantive difference from Ohio 2004, however: the declared winner President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is said to have defeated his main opponent Mir Hossein Mousavi by a 63% to 34% "landslide", instead of the razor-thin margin seen in Ohio (and across the popular vote in the rest of the nation). In Iran, a result of anything less than 50% + 1 for the leading candidate would have triggered a national runoff election.
The other main differences between Iran '09 and Ohio '04: New York Times is already asking "Landslide or Fraud?" this morning; in Iran, supporters of the challenger are taking to the streets; and the challenger himself has already called the election results a "fraud."
Read the whole article, well worth the reading.
Link:
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7224(Of course the NYT wouldn't have dared raise a whimper about OH in 04. How could there be fraud in our country, the bulwark of democracy, especially considering the "Christian" and highly ethical Bush administration, which would have had to have had a hand in some shenanigans of some kind? So we know that couldn't have happened. Any doubts must just be the result of a bunch of "tin foil hats.")