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America's last chance

by Helen & Harry Highwater, Unknown News Oct. 30, 2006

This election is, I think,
America's last chance.

The recent record shows that Republicans have no interest in how Americans vote, but an intense interest in determining which Americans can vote and which Americans can't. They'll be working hard again in this election to ensure that minorities, poor folks, college students, and any other demographic groups unlikely to lean Republican are also unlikely to have their votes counted.

Every seat in Congress is available, but of course, many Congressional districts have
been wildly gerrymandered

specifically to ensure that challengers literally can not unseat the incumbent. Republicans, of course, will use fear and bigotry wherever their experts think it'll gain them more support than it costs -- fear and bigotry are the only issues Republicans can run on.

And of course, despite dozens and dozens of stories proving over and over again that electronic voting machines are unreliable and amazingly easy to hack, a huge and growing portion of the vote will be counted on these simply rigged machines. The only people who can poo-poo the idea of rigged elections are people who've never looked into the facts of the matter. Nobody who's even half-informed about the recurring problems with voting machines has any confidence that the candidates who won in 2000, 2002, and 2004 were the candidates with the most votes.

Still, even with all these handicaps, many more incumbents are considered vulnerable now than even a few weeks ago. Between Mark Foley's sexual appetite, Jack Abramoff's ownership of numerous Republicans, an endless parade of other Republican scandals, and a growingly unpopular occupation of Iraq, more and more Americans are just plain sick of the right-wing's lies and corruption.

All the polls show a growing general distaste for the Republicans' party of corruption, and an increasing willingness to give the Democrats more seats in Congress. If we live in a democracy, the vote will go along those lines.

My fingers are crossed, in hopes that if the pre-election polls have Democrats up by a large margin, and the exit polls have Democrats up by a large margin, Republicans will fear being found out... so they'll flip a switch and let the votes be counted accurately, instead of risking having their schemes exposed. It would be a bit incriminating if all the polls in numerous different elections show Democrats ahead by wide margins, but all those margins in all those elections evaporate on election day.

If Democrats take the House, I'll be relieved, and there will suddenly, finally be some semblance of checks and balances. Which is not to suggest that Democrats have integrity, except when compared to Republicans. From Democrats I expect the ordinary corruption America always had before Bush-Cheney -- a nice, cozy, traditional level of kickbacks, corruption, and bribes. And compared to Bush-Cheney, that would be as refreshing as ice cream on a summer day.

But if Republicans steal this election, even that could be a good thing -- if Democrats and/or the media finally make some noise about it. If patriots stand up and say, no, these election results defy credulity. If someone with access to the media can say "What's that stink?" and raise a ruckus, the electoral fraud we all know has been happening could be exposed.

On the other hand, if Republicans steal the election again, and Democrats are silent again, and the media again won't report it ...
     ... If fraud is all over the blogs but the reports never crack the mainstream media,
     ... If there's no outcry, no furious protests that threaten to shut down this criminal government ...
     ... Then it will finally, inarguable be clear that both parties, and the media, are in on the fix. It will finally be obvious, even to stubborn hold-outs like me, that democracy is over in America.

Some of our friends think the time has already come, that the elections are a charade. Some think Republicans won't allow Democrats to take any shred of power, no matter what the vote, or that Democrats are in on the fix and have been all along. Me, I'm stubborn -- I need to see it one more time before I'll believe it.

^{* * *} It's been more than a month since I've written a column here on our own website, because I'm running out of energy to continue fighting. It's exhausting to speak common sense in a country where common sense is almost a foreign language. It's infuriating to talk about liberty and justice for all in a nation that tortures and imprisons people without trial, without evidence, without hope. It's agonizing to say America, say it as if it means something, in a nation where it means less each day, where only a handful of people seem to give a damn.

I'm heartbroken at what a few vile men, in cahoots with America's sound asleep media, have done to my nation. Is there a principle that makes America America that Bush and Cheney haven't trashed? Is there any way anyone brighter than a broomstick could believe the terrorists didn't win?

It's not too late to save America. With a Democratic victory and a few Democratic-led investigations, a few horrendous laws repealed, a few indictments and just a few questions asked, we can slow the Bush-Cheney express to fascism ... if this election is allowed to be an election.

But if this election is stolen, it will be time for all new tactics to take our nation back.

© by the author.

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I can't afford therapy, but boy do I need it. So as an affordable alternative, I pound my anger into a weekly column here.

Fair warning: My parents were repressed -- using any bad words would get my mouth washed out with soap, literally. I still remember the sickly flavor of Dove^TM. So as an adult, vulgarity helps with the healing. If naughty language offends you, beat the rush and get offended now.

This page is for my own good, not yours, so you may not like it, but I don't care.

About the authors

Helen and Harry Highwater have published Unknown News since 1997. We're a married couple sharing a byline à la Lennon and McCartney, and "I" can be either of us, or both of us. If you're consumed by curiosity, it's safe to assume the more boisterous and aggressive bits come from Helen, and anything ladylike or demure is probably Harry's work.

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If Republicans steal the election again, and Democrats are silent again, and the media again won't report it ...

     ... If fraud is all over the blogs but the reports never crack the mainstream media,

     ... If there's no outcry, no furious protests that threaten to shut down this criminal government ...

     ... Then it will finally, inarguable be clear that both parties, and the media, are in on the fix. It will finally be obvious, even to stubborn hold-outs like me, that democracy is over in America.

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