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The Show Me! Spirit; Taking Back the Vote« Thread Started on

Daily newsbrief journal for March 2007, also see http://www.usdemocrats.com/brief for a global 100-page perpetual brief and follow twitter @usdemocrats


The Show Me! Spirit; Taking Back the Vote« Thread Started on

Postby admin » Sat Jan 28, 2012 11:24 am

The Show Me! Spirit; Taking Back the Vote« Thread Started on Mar 9, 2007, 3:21am » --------------------------------------------------------------------------------March 7, 2007 at 08:35:12The Show Me! Spirit; Taking Back the Voteby Phil Lindsey read at source> http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne ... rit.htmThe Show Me SpiritI wish all of you, so deeply involved in Electoral Reform, could have hitched a ride in my frontal lobes this past week. For years I've traded comments and assessments with my peers in the ER movement about the "relative state of mind" of the average American voter, regarding "election fraud" and "voting reform".This past week I had the opportunity to stand directly in front of those "average American voters", some 200 plus of them over three nights. And they told me me, via questions and answers, precisely what their "relative state of mind" was.What an astonishing experience! And all it took was the opportunity, a willingness to listen, and the answers I wondered about for years unfolded before my very eyes.Since our Election Reform community began to form (some two, four, six, or eight years ago, depending on one's own estimate), we who intuitively knew that electoral skullduggery was, indeed, a fact, have wondered what was necessary to convince our fellow Americans that we were correct.We’ve all have gathered information; crunched numbers; tracked legislation, lobbyists and money; formulated hypotheses; and debated endlessly among ourselves how to grow our numbers to a majority. How to find that Holy Grail of wisdom to allow us to succinctly tell our fellow citizens what we discovered, way back when, and have them believe us.We did that all in order to have them, when sufficiently educated, to join us in a huge upheaval to restore Election Integrity, thus preserving our democracy. To that end, we have worked diligently to bring them all to an understanding of what we had discovered, way back when.How clever of us!Working years, so that we might someday say to them, "Aha! You see? The election of 2000 was burgled! Will you join us now, and demand reform, to restore our democracy? Now that you know what really happened?"And how arrogant!We became fixed upon the “fixing” of past elections, knowing ourselves that it had happened, yet being unable to totally convince our fellow citizens. So we prepared, and gathered information, gathered information and prepared, all in the hope that one day we could say ,"Aha. Here is the ironclad proof that 2004 was indeed stolen (choose any particular race or races)! Will you join us now in the effort at reform, now that you know?"And we always thought convincing was our entire goal, so that we could get Election Reform.Yes, Election Reform..., however it was achieved. Yet, because we saw the thefts when others could not, we’ve believed "we must prove this in order to convince the others that change is needed!" And we never, ever rethought what was needed to bring about Election Reform. How bloody narrowminded of us! We dwelt on the past, on our own transformative experiences, fixed on our failure to persuade others of fraud in 2000; 2002; 2004. Meanwhile the world moved on.Those not convinced of fraud when we were, moved on and evolved in their thinking. We ER experts kept thinking of them as "the people who cannot see". We persisted in proving to them the truths that are all now in the past... with the mistaken perception that only convincing them would change the present and future. We never bothered asking ourselves "What do these "non-seers" think today?"My friends, times have changed since the first thefts and the first ER movements. Our fellow citizens have moved on, while we pine for Election Reform, thinking the only route is to teach them an old and dated lesson.In the meantime, our fellow citizens have been thinking, observing, and sometimes changing their minds. Sometimes developing new opinions, which we don’t understand because we’re fixed on the past, that moment of our own enlightment. And so concentrated are we on the past ourselves, and our sometimes outdated goals, we have failed to pay attention to the temperment and mindset of our fellow citizens. Which brings me to this past week. Our Missouri organization, Show Me The Vote!, chose to screen Dorothy Fadiman's film Stealing America:Vote by Vote, for three days this past week at UMKC.During the screenings, we seated somewhere over two hundred people, with the hope that some would become "enlightened" about thefts in 2004, and before. And, becoming "enlightened", they would wish to become involved in Election Reform; specifically to support a Constitutional Initiative requiring Missouri to use Hand Counted Paper Ballots. That is when I noticed something odd. It seemed that, though the audience was fascinated by this excellent film, they were not being won over to the “theft” idea even with the heavy weight of evidence in the film.It seemed that, based upon the questions and answers, they had either, 1) determined for themselves that theft had occurred, and they devoured the specifics of the film, seizing on data which fit that determination, or, 2) they were totally unhappy with the present electoral process, and desperately wanted it changed. This insistence on change was not, however, dependent upon evidence of past fraud for validation! What I heard was this.1) That they knew voting was a right, not a privilege, and wanted that right guaranteed. They needed to know that a vote would be counted as they cast it.2) They felt it was obvious, having a guaranteed right to vote, that they should have a guaranteed right to affirm for themselves both that, and how, it was counted. That they were owed proof that the vote was correctly counted, and that proof was the ability to see the vote counted.3) That they believed that the SoS, all Election Directors and all County Clerks were their elected employees. And that they should defer completely to the wishes of their constituents as to the manner in which the votes were cast and counted. Further, that non-compliant EDs shouldn’t be in office, and deserved to be voted out.Moreover, in accordance with these opinions, they were delighted to learn that the Missouri Constitution had an Initiative Clause, allowing them to formulate law, to have it put on a general ballot, and be able to vote it into the Missouri Constitution as an amendment. When offered an opportunity to sign an Initiative Petition, forcing a vote to change the Missouri Constitution to require Hand Counted Paper Ballots, virtually every single person chose to do so.And each of these people, most voicing the opinion during the Q&A, did so because they believed their voting rights had been eroded, that control of their Constitutional rights had been taken from them, and they wanted the control back in their own hands.Seems simple, right? And a piece of good news, too? Truly it is, I think. But the message for us in the ER movement may be this. Not one single time (though that may have been on their minds) did I hear a phrase that meant, in essence, "We need this Initiative Petition to prevent fraud!" What I did hear, repeatedly, is “We need this Petition regain control of our own elections and our Constitutional rights! Asking, pleading, begging and complaining are getting us nowhere."What does this mean for us in the ER movement? I would suggest that it means this.We have been spending entirely too much time and effort chasing the phantom "proof of fraud" which we think we need to get our fellow citizens to back Election Reform. Somehow, someway, we in the ER movement have come to believe that we must prove an ancient fraud before we can bring the public to a critical mass.However this belief came about, and even if it may have once been true, it continues to be postulated, and has now become a great canard. It stalls an Election Reform army at the very gates of what is nothing but a Potemkin Village, built and steadfastly maintained by the “Election Industry”, and their syncophants.I would posit that we are stuck in the past, while the citizenry has moved ahead, finding another perfectly good reason to seize control of their elections, thus bringing the Election Reform we all claim to want. And that they are ready to do it now.I believe that the critical mass is already there. Because of the theft of citizen oversight, transparency, and control, not because of the theft of some old election. All we in the ER community need to do is to listen. Listen to the current message of the citizens and forget that old canard that some want us still to believe. Do that, and we will have Election Reform. Four days with voters of the Show Me State leave me convinced that they will support an Initiative Petition to wrest control of their electoral process from the Powers-that-be. And that is because their Constitutional Franchise has been pillaged, not because of some relatively ancient election that was stolen.Personally, I am willing to spend the better part of the next year attempting to prove that. And I hope that you readers would do two things in return.First, re-examine the reasons you think you must convert the "unenlightened" in order to win their support for Election Reform.Second, support with your hearts, your minds, and (to utmost degree you are able) with your pocket books, this Show Me! Initiative. If the people of Missouri, or your own state, are ready to throw off the shackles of an oppressive Election Directorate because it is, in their opinion, the right thing to do, to retake their own Constitutional rights, then let them do so. And help them do it!Isn't it better to have Election Reform quickly, than to have your previously unconvinced fellow citizens say to you, "OK, you were right. There was a theft in 2004! Now that I’ve said that, can we work on a way to get our franchise back? “For me, the choice is obvious. How about you?And if you are with me on this, support the Show Me! state. They are eager and willing to engage this battle, and enage it now, for themselves, and for the rest of the country. They will lead the charge, they will take the first casualties, and any errors can be lessons for us all. Their sacrifices can serve as a model for the rest of the states. Will you stand by them? www.ShowMeTheVote.orgVoting Rights activist and HCPB advocate in Missouri. Founded ShowMeTheVote.org in 2005. Co-Convenor of Diversity Coalition-KC Chairman, and current President, of The Kansas City Minority Museum.
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