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What In The World Is Wrong With
The United States of America?
A Nation Once Considered A Model of Democracy And Beacon For
Freedom...
NewsFocus, By Tim Watts 031009
An Essay To Stimulate Discussion On What Ails A Once Great Nation
During the 2008 election, one mantra seemed to be prevalent across all major
campaigns, Americans wanted "change." Whether Democrat, Independent,
or even Republican, it seems that most had finally had enough. With the
lowest ratings ever for a sitting U.S. president, the American people were
united together on one thing, they all wanted
change.
Ironically enough, America has already
had eight years of change, but much to the chagrin of the populace, it has
been for the worse.
For the first time in decades the United
States held a sizable surplus in the late '90s, however, we have since
fallen to an all-time deficit low of $10-trillion dollars, and still
growing. As we spend over $10-billion per day on an illegal oil war in
Iraq, while pouring a trillion dollars into the Wall Street bail-out and
U.S. banking financial meltdown, the situation is horrifically and rapidly
growing far worse.
Our Constitutional freedoms and liberty
have been savagely brutalized with an outrageous assault from the Patriot
Act. Our right to self governance has been seriously compromised with the
Help America Vote Act and its highly vulnerable electronic voting machines,
already proven by many computer experts to be easily hacked or secretly
programmed to steal our votes.
Equally as alarming, for the first time
in our history, we have now reserved the right to attack a foreign country,
without provocation, through preemptive first strikes, now known as the
Bush Doctrine. In conjunction, we no longer recognize Habeas Corpus and
we scoff at the Geneva Convention. The country that has long claimed to be
the protector of human rights is now arguably the most deplorable offender.
These are but just a few examples of what
America has never stood for, but yet this is where we sadly find ourselves
after the Bush administration. One can only hope that Obama's change
includes undoing the questionable actions of former President George W. Bush
and Vice President Dick Cheney.
The Media Has Let Our Democracy Down
One of the keys to taking back our country is to start
with taking back our media. It is unfortunately in a very sad and
perverse state at this moment.
The last fifteen years have seen a total takeover of our
formerly hallowed and esteemed media. Many industry insiders recognize all
too well what Reagan deregulation did to damage this long-standing protector
and watchdog of our democracy. It took just eight years to whittle down the
major media corporations from 50 to just six. That is not good.
Without a watchful media, we have no
mechanism for accountability regarding the crap-shoot of politicians that we
blindly vote for and send to "crooked-town" in the hopes of representing us
on the Hill. The term crap-shoot is used for a reason, as it is
obvious that many people now form the basis of their vote from atrociously
skewed, spin-oriented half-truths that they get from distorted political ads
on television, or they foolishly accept the political rhetoric thrown at
them from the talking head TV pundits and numerous propaganda spewing talk
radio hosts. Worse yet, some people actually vote on mere appearance
itself, possibly the most dangerous idea of all.
A great portion of the media no longer
delivers hard news, but rather, politically slanted, biased opinion
instead. There is no other way to parse that. Those that don't realize this
are most certainly vulnerable and are highly susceptible to the media
manipulation and propaganda environment in which we find ourselves today.
We have sadly gone from over 100 large
broadcast corporations to just over 50 in the early 90s. That number has
alarmingly shrank to a mere six large corporations that now control every
single bit of information that we perceive as news in this country. We
are the most overly entertained society in the world for a reason. It's the
old adage about watching that left hand, but missing the right hand that is
going to knock you to the floor.
Make no mistake about it, we are being
lied to in a grand way in this country. As unbelievable as it may sound,
some of these pundits are so fixated on political talking points that they
seemingly appear to be in on the deception, (money brings out the worst
immoral character for some) but a great many are simply doing as they are
told and directed to from the top of the media ladder.
Many refuse to entertain that the media
could possibly ever be controlled, but what they don't realize is that there
is a hierarchy of authority to follow and specific political
viewpoints that are administered from the top down. Just as in the military,
there is a chain of command and there are always obedient non-questioning
soldiers at the bottom to follow marching orders with an obtuse trust and
culpable naiveté.
Unless you start questioning the
so-called news that we are being spoon-fed in this country, you will always
think that life is running along as it should. Most in this country are
duped because of this. The common notion is, "It must be true because I
saw it on the TV." It is hard to find a statement that exhibits as much
dangerous ignorance as this one.
You cannot undermine a true democracy
unless you fool its people. You cannot fool the people unless you steal
their news source and their media. Regretfully, that is exactly what has
happened to us in this country. For those not intuitive enough to recognize
this dark reality, they are sadly a large part of this perilous divide that
now exists in our country.
Two-Party Monopoly Not What Founders
Envisioned
The fact that we are now primarily a
two-party system has been the most dangerous component in leading us to this
division. Why we don't have more viable media supported political parties in
this country is a sad statement on our alleged democracy. You are told that
you are liberal or a conservative if you share a particular viewpoint or
vote a certain way. That is a long-standing ruse which does not apply to a
great many in this country. If people would only take the time to
consciously and carefully examine their own personal beliefs, they might
surprisingly find that they indeed share many beliefs from both sides
of this intentional political trap.
The powers that be have purposefully
captured the athletic mind-set that is so often embraced in this
country,
your team vs. their team. On election day, you now wake up to the
ingrained concept that your team either won the Super Bowl or they lost,
thus perpetuating the divide of resentment that exists in this country. The
fact that some would not vote for a person of color, or gender, or a
third party candidate is a sad indictment on not only our country, but also
our very bigoted populace.
Few have the gumption to step outside of
the political party lines that they have carefully been boxed into. If you
filter everything you know through your party affiliation, that is a very
dangerous spot to move to, because you now close yourself off to unbiased
reason and will more than likely form a very myopic opinion as a result.
Manipulating "We The People"
Nothing drives people more than fear.
It is well known by those in power and has been used against us in the last
eight years of an arguably criminal Bush administration. I'm sorry if that
statement offends many. It too can be divisive, unless of course you are
willing to separate yourself from this political web that tangles us all.
You need to think rationally on your own, free from the rhetoric that is
indoctrinated into all of us through our political system and from an overly
complicit manipulative media.
People literally have no idea what a
powerful tool focus group research and marketing can be. Based on the work
of Edward Bernays (with contributions from Ivy Lee) the field of public
relations and marketing was born. Bernays was the nephew of noted
psychiatrist Sigmund Freud. He exploited his uncle's work for his own
profit, bringing the power of perception into the same arena as
reality. Corporate broadcasting does not make a move without research and
focus groups, the purpose of which is to identify people's perceptions and
what they truly do know, so as to side with or influence those beliefs.
In marketing, there is one rule that is
adhered to, "Perception is reality," because it deals with people's
beliefs, their own personal reality, whether well informed or not.
Marketing researchers are able to examine
myriad demographics and further explore subsets of each through the use of
psychographics. It is very easy to determine a person's, or group's,
personal tipping points on any given issue. Horribly enough, this
tool has long since moved to the political arena. People such as Karl Rove,
often referred to as the brilliant bastard, have become very adept at
mastering these principles. Frank Luntz is another widely employed political
researcher who is often used by numerous politicians and corporations to
find these hot buttons that exist within the population.
The power of this extremely insightful
tool can now be used to exploit and shape people's beliefs through a corrupt
version of polling, known as "push polling," so named because it
forces people to think they are being given information that is true, when
in reality it very well may not be. For example, "If you were to learn
that candidate X secretly murdered a person in the '70s, but was not
convicted, would that make you more likely or less likely to vote for him?"
Now, that statement, more often than not,
is untrue, however, many of those being polled will accept that hypothetical
allegation as a perceived fact, thus forming a new perception of
reality, all triggered by the disingenuous pollster. They are in essence
"pushed" to this new perception, hence the name, "push polling."
The human population can be moved in
many ways that they are cognitively unaware of. A common research
example goes like this. Introduce the word "moon" and "ocean" to an
attentive focus group. Later, you ask that same group of people to name a
leading laundry detergent. For many the subconscious trigger is made and
they will more often than not say "Tide," all because their
subconscious realizes the connection between the moon, the oceans and the
tides. The subject has no idea why they have arrived at their conclusion
because they are not aware of the pre-programmed markers that exist within
their own mindset. It is in this way that terms such as "terrorism' and
"evil-doers" are skillfully used against us, subliminally forcing us to
react in ways that we unknowingly have been conditioned to behave in.
Divided We Fall
Our forced two-party system has us right
where the powers that be want us. The rich and corporate elite have a solid
understanding of how to manipulate the masses through very powerful tools
such as this, keeping us all in a divided state, where we are much easier to
conquer when we're not aligned together in unison. The old saying,
"United we stand, yet divided we fall" has greater wisdom than most in
this country currently allow for.
In politics, they very much want us in
that divide, because we are easier to control. That is why we are
purposefully held in this two-party system, rather than embracing more than
two political parties, thus keeping us from weighing all reasonable and
responsible concepts for a better way of governance.
A true student of sociology will tell you
that there is no evil in socialism, communism or capitalism. There is
only inherent evil in the people that are allowed to rule over those
respective systems.
Do not be fooled by the political dogma
that we have all been indoctrinated with while growing up with state
sponsored public education. There can exist bad socialism and bad communism,
but nothing could be of greater danger than unchecked capitalism, for
it is truly greed based with adverse effects for its lower and middle
class, while having little regard for environmental standards, or the
concerns of the many.
A Responsible Society
A true civilization takes care of all
of its people. It does not denigrate the lower class, nor suppress the
rights of the common man. A true civilization and society works
together in a mutual way, achieving social progress that is for the
benefit of all.
With that said, please consider a few
radical precepts for an improved society, one which very well might better
represent, "we the people." (All of us, rich and poor.)
If you are capable of approaching this with an open mind, you may very well
find that if we were to follow these simple concepts, we might no longer
have the social disparity that is prevalent in this country today.
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TOP 10 REFORMS NEEDED FOR AMERICA
1) Election reform. We need
free and open elections with ballots that cannot be manipulated beyond the
voters intent. This means we need to undo the heinous HAVA legislation (Help
America Vote Act) and take our election process out of the hands of the
easily hackable electronic voting machines. Without the power to vote freely
and unhindered, we have effectively lost the ability to participate in the
democratic process and to shape our government for ourselves.
2) Tax reform. We need tax
reform for all. It is not right for the poor and middle class to
support an upper class that has clearly made its money off the backs of
these two classes of our society. Conversely, it is not right for those that
have earned a good living to have to pay more for the same rights and
benefits that we all expect from this country. In short, there has to be a
better way of taxation. That is indeed one of the many concepts that our
forefathers left England and the monarchy for in the first place. Sadly, in
over 300 years of history, we have not yet perfected the model that our
forefathers so long desired. If we indeed had this, people would quit voting
with their pocketbooks and would vote instead with their true moral
conscience, rather than their own personal greed. This would eliminate the
many bad politicians who are voted into office with no regard for character,
but merely a position skewed towards the voter's wallets. This would be an
important reform on its own.
One idea for tax reform floated by many,
including former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura, is called a national tax.
The gist of this reform goes like this: Citizen A makes $30-thousand,
citizen B makes $1-million and citizen C makes $300-billion. Under a
national tax, who pays the most tax out of those three people? The one
that spends the most. That may sound like an ass-backwards way of
taxation at first, but once you understand the principle you will get the
basic beauty behind the idea. The person that spends the most gets taxed the
most. It is an intriguing concept with merit that needs to be explored
further. Another more simple approach might simply be using a percentage tax
with no loopholes for the wealthy to escape. If you make a lot, then
you pay a lot. If you make a little, then you pay accordingly. First and
foremost, tax breaks for the wealthy must go.
First off, if you understand the Federal
Reserve System you already know that our money is worthless paper. There is
no gold or silver backing. It is a good faith currency that is called "legal
tender." With this premise in mind, your only actual wealth comes from what
you buy with that money. Now, with that said, if all three citizens,
A, B and C spend only $500 of their income, then they all pay the same tax.
It does no good for the much wealthier citizen B or C to sit on all that
money, it is worthless to them, until they spend it. You can have all the
money in the world, but you have no real wealth until you spend it or do
something with it.
If we were to go to a national tax based
solely on what we spend, that would be an excellent tax reform for America.
3) Regulate capitalism.
This will most likely raise an eyebrow or two, but it is this writer's
opinion that there need to be limits on our unchecked capitalism.
Many will say this is heresy, without ever giving it a second thought, yet
the concept is sound and easily understandable if you just open your mind to
the notion and try to see the overwhelming benefit to a society. Those of us
old enough to know realize much of this without having to really think. Why
is a candy bar a dollar now rather than the nickel that it used to be? You
know the answer already and your brain is subconsciously explaining that to
you, yet few follow the reason and logic through to the natural conclusion.
While supply and demand are often the
noted keys for moving our economy, greed has become an integral
component in driving the price of goods ever higher under capitalism. The
value of the U.S. dollar is also a very large component in this
markup. Everything in a mutual economy is tied together. When the prices
rise, other goods do as well, in an effort to maintain a balance of
affordability, but that model seldom ever resorts back to the lower price
again and we eventually end up where we are now. The farmer pays more for
grain and feed and the food supply rises in price. If the transportation to
move that food to market also rises due to high gas prices, then the price
of food goes up as well, etc, etc. This is indeed a very simple analogy, but
one that is hopefully easy to understand for all. The aspect of blatant
greed is undeniably the worst component to this horribly flawed concept of
our economic system that we call capitalism.
When you can buy something for a penny
and sell it for 400 times it's cash value, that is indeed a problem and a
hallmark of unchecked capitalism. We are taught to eagerly embrace
this concept in capitalism, yet we very well might possibly reconsider as we
look back in hindsight and wrestle with the escalating price of retail goods
over the years. Unchecked capitalism is not good for a moral society that
cares for its own. Regulations on capitalism would indeed have a beneficial
effect for all, making goods affordable without forcing an abhorrent
increase of price, in an effort to keep up with rising costs. Setting
standards for pricing, perhaps a percentage cap on product mark-up, very
well may be an idea worth exploring.
4) Corporate regulation. We
need limits on corporate influence over the state. Most do not know that our
forefathers forbid corporations from existing beyond 40 years, as they
realized the danger of them becoming wealthier and more powerful than the
state or government under which they operate and prosper. We have turned
away from that concept, instead embracing the corporation as necessary for
life itself, while ignorantly allowing it the rights of an actual person. No
longer are those behind the corporations financially liable for their own
personal losses as a result of irresponsible business endeavors. That is the
sole idea of a corporation and this concept sorely needs to be revised. More
than that, the political stranglehold that these institutions have on our
government is indeed one of the worst things to ever happen to our political
system. Our forefathers recognized this danger long ago, thus imposing a
limitation on the life of a corporation.
An 11th Constitutional Amendment was
originally proposed by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison that would forbid
corporate monopolies in this country. The main idea was to make it illegal
for corporations to take over or start up other corporations. These
institutions were essentially banned from giving money to politicians, or
casting their influence on our election process in any way whatsoever. They
were also restricted to one single business purpose. The lifetime of a
corporation was limited to roughly the same time frame of a productive
person, which was approximately 20 to 40 years at the time. Corporations
were originally mandated
"to serve the public good." That is quite a twist from today's
omnipotent corporate entity.
One last note on the subject...in this
time of economic crisis it is beyond unreasonable for corporations such as
Exxon to post a 58% rise in profits, with over $15-billion dollars in profit
from just one three month quarter. (Those profits by the way, beat
their old record which was set in the three months prior.) We were told
there is an oil crisis, but when Americans see that oil companies are indeed
rolling in this much profit, it is quite clear that their overhead and
expenses are not as bleak as they claim. Considering that we are being held
over a barrel on gas prices, (pun intended) one could understandably surmise
that we are being blatantly robbed. The U.S. attorney general should step in
and arrest these oil executives on extortion and racketeering charges.
A persuasive argument could be made for
our government to take over this critical infrastructure industry,
nationalizing it for the peoples' good, lowering the price, stimulating the
economy, while applying any left over profits to our ever increasing debt.
When Americans are going broke pouring
their living wage into their gas tank, with no valid justification, then the
greedy oil executives should be held criminally responsible.
Another nefarious example of corporate
greed would be the Wall Street companies and banking institutions who have
accepted over a trillion dollars in bail-out money, only to sit on that
money as 1) a cushion to fall back on, 2) pay out shareholder dividends, or
3) use that capital in the hopes of growing larger by taking over smaller
banks and financial institutions with our taxpayer money. They too should
also be placed behind bars.
5) Political reform. This
is without a doubt tantamount to the success of our failing republic and the
democracy for which it stands. Our forefathers said that "taxation
without representation is tyranny," yet that is exactly where we are
today, as the common man no longer has the ear of his elected
representatives, losing out instead to the high paid lobbyists and political
action committees that fight for the corporations, the ultra rich and
special interest groups. Of particular note are those who leave politics to
go to work for these lobbying groups, using their invaluable political
expertise, influence and Capitol Hill connections for the benefit of but a
few, rather than "we the people." This needs to be made illegal in
this dying democracy. It is an unfair marriage of corruption and influence
that undeniably does not benefit the many, but rather instead only those who
are already
well to do.
6) Media reform. The Reagan
deregulation of our media was the death knell for our highly revered
republic. Our watchdog of democracy has, as a result, been taken from us.
The license to broadcast used to always be held in the "public interest."
Sadly, that is no longer the case. It is now in the "corporate interest,"
with an undeniable financial bottom line which governs its direction and
purpose. Before deregulation, a broadcast licensee was made to hold their
license in the first term for a minimum of five years and then for every
renewal afterwards, a duration of three years, whether the license holder
was making a profit or losing their shirt entirely. It was for the
"public good."
What we have now is what I like to refer
to as "Century-21 broadcasting," for you can now buy a media outlet
and immediately turn around the next minute and hang a for sale sign
on that license, with the sole interest of profit, with no longer any
regard for the public good. That is what has allowed our broadcast media to
now be boiled down to a mere six corporations. FOX news owner Rupert Murdoch
of News Corp has said that in the very near future, we will be down to just
three media owners and he is adamant that he will be one of them.
That is a scary thought for many, considering the fact that Murdoch claims
he can print or broadcast whatever he likes, whether it is the truth or
not. There was a day when a foreign national was not allowed to
buy into our media, due to the inherent danger of our way of government
being influenced by contrarian concepts to the ideals that our forefathers
fought so hard for and left to us as caretakers of. We have failed miserably
in that regard as it is now legal for foreigners to buy into our media, as
the Australian Murdoch has, thus circumventing and usurping our republic and
its democracy.
7) Education reform. We
need a separation of school and state. A great many who have children that
are in school, or have gone through today's educational system, are appalled
by the poor standards set by our government. The "no child left behind"
program is arguably fraught with problems which ironically are contrary to
the bills very name. Many teachers will testify to this in droves.
Children do not learn at the same rate. They do not all have the same
inherent understanding or cognitive learning curve. To mandate principles to
all that can apply to only a few is not the best idea for our educational
system. More importantly, it is not the best approach for our children.
Furthermore, the suppression of educational standards is an absolute crime
against humanity which should not be allowed at all. The most common offense
is in the teaching of our history, in which very much is left out, thus
giving future generations a poor framing of how and why we arrived at the
point we are at today. As the old saying goes, "the victor always writes
the history." This revision of our history books clearly needs to
change.
8) Healthcare reform. We
desperately need non-profit healthcare for all. Many cannot grasp this
altruistic and benevolent concept as they forget the long ago day of such a
noble idea. Hospitals were allowed to cover their costs, but were not
originally in the business of making a profit. The HMO was born under the
Nixon administration under the lobbying efforts of Henry Kaiser (Kaiser-Permante).
If you listen to the Nixon tapes you can find a conversation between Nixon
and Kaiser describing this awful plan for healthcare. In the call, just as
chilling as the Watergate tapes, Mr. Kaiser can be heard detailing such a
system that would garner great wealth to its owners and shareholders through
denied services and coverage. Nixon loved the idea and soon the HMO was
born. In capitalism you make money on the services and goods delivered,
however the healthcare and insurance industry are two of the few that make
their profit from the denial and limitation of services.
Bill HR 676, co-written by Dennis Kucinich and John Conyers, would bring
Americans the health care reform that we so desperately need in this
country.
9) Right to property. Many
do not understand this concept. All Americans should have this right,
without the fear of losing it, however, there is one aspect that is most
unfair. Many do not know firsthand that those with large amounts of
property are discriminated against because they have generous land
holdings. This law is good for one thing only, limiting the amount of land
that can be owned by the common man. Under our current system, no one truly
owns land. They merely lease or rent it from their local government
in exchange for an unfair property tax. If you do not pay the exorbitant
tax, you lose your land. This is clear discrimination towards the middle and
lower class. The tax is unfair to those who produce nothing of capital value
from their land and have it merely as a means of homestead to live upon and
hopefully pass on to their children.
Case in point, those with land can pay
tens of thousands per year in taxes, with no city services made available
to them whatsoever, other than schools, which they may or may not take
part in. Those living in small town neighborhoods pay only a fraction of the
amount of rural landholders, hundreds as opposed to tens of thousands per
year, while reaping municipal benefits that rural landholders have no access
to, such as sewer and water utilities, not to mention police and fire
department protection. The only proper means of taxing homestead landowners
should be upon the capital gains achieved through the sale of such homestead
land. The current property tax system is clearly discriminatory and grossly
unjust in its design.
10) Federalize the Federal Reserve.
To this point, many respond with, "say what?" Few actually understand
that the Federal Reserve System was one of the worst things to happen to our
republic and its democracy. Established in 1914, the Federal Reserve is not
owned by our government, nor "we the people." It is a private corporation
with private owners that earn obscene amounts of profit at the expense of
our government and its people. The Federal Reserve basically prints paper
money with no inherent value whatsoever, aside from the manufactured value
that we apply to it. There is no gold or silver backing. It is a Federal
Reserve
Note, a promissory note merely called "legal tender." It is
essentially, worthless paper. Woodrow Wilson was hoodwinked into this
crooked system and deeply regretted it for the rest of his life. By allowing
a private company to print our country's currency, we effectively lost our
ability to be a true sovereign nation. The Federal Reserve System is very
much behind the failure of our banks and the current financial crisis, yet
few understand this undeniable fact of life in the U.S.
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Marketing Political Ideology
The suggestions above are but only ten
points for now, but there are others that can be added to this list in the
hopes for a more fair and equitable society for all. If some truly don't
understand the concepts outlined above, or wish to label this ideology as
some form of socialism (another marketed term) then perhaps they have
forgotten the true root meaning of that term, "social," or better
yet, "society." That is what a true benevolent civilization is all
about, taking care of its people, taking responsibility for your society.
Government regulation is another "marketed
evil," yet it is obviously a very necessary overseer due to the
system of unchecked capitalism in which we live. Until greed is removed from
the equation, our long dreamt about "government of the people, by
the people and for the people" has no chance for success. Do not forget
that "we the people" created this government for our own mutual benefit, to
guard us all from the tyranny of oppression that our forefathers fought so
hard to escape from.
The allegation of a "tax and spend"
liberal is a clear ruse that few fail to reason through. The concept of
"tax and spend" is the root of capitalism, whether some like it or not. It's
the exact same precept of "work to earn a living and then spend your
income," rather than the concept of spend first and then work to pay off
your already purchased credit card debt. We have simply been marketed to
in a grand effort to place a subliminal trigger in our heads to believe that
"tax and spend" is wrong, but if you truly follow the reasoning through, you
will not find the logic in the argument. We earn first and then
we spend.
Another example of twisted and marketed
dogma is the "death tax." There is no death tax. That is
nothing more than a calculated marketing of the "estate tax," which only
the wealthiest
worry about. That law was placed for good reason and intent. It was a way of
keeping the wealthy from becoming ultra-wealthy and thus gaining more power
and influence than our own government. Like it or not, it has valid
reasoning behind it, but we are being duped into thinking that we will all
be taxed upon our death. Nothing could be farther from the truth or more
patently absurd.
Forefathers Rolling In Their Graves
Our forefathers were indeed very bright
persons with a grand idea for a better way of life, for all of us. They were
not so prescient of the future to come as they were acutely aware of
the
history of the past. Our constitution is a highly revered document
for the people and not "just a goddamn piece of paper" as
attributed to George W. Bush.
That any American president could make
such a mindless remark regarding our US Constitution is reprehensible and
irresponsible, but sadly Bush was not the first. Other presidents have been
known to make such bold remarks in times of duress, Teddy Roosevelt being
one that immediately comes to mind. It is not the purpose of our elected
representatives to tell us that our Constitution and our Bill
of Rights is an invalid "piece of paper." Much blood was spilled by a
great many for our precious rights, so to cavalierly discount this country's
founding blueprint for democracy is very much akin to treason.
Change Comes About When Social Inequalities Are
Recognized
We the people have the chance to change
the course of this misdirection in our country. While the Help America Vote
Act (HAVA) was the single biggest blow to our democracy, (with the Patriot
Act a close second) we still have a chance to succeed, but only by
overwhelming the machines. When that is done, no matter how many rigged
machines there are, there is always a disparity in the exit polling to point
out any signs of wrongdoing.
By overwhelming the machines and voting
en masse, we create too great of an exit poll discrepancy for actual
election fraud to go unnoticed. Historically, election polling is normally
within a 1% margin, yet the last election was 3% or greater. In states with
electronic voting, the exit polling was off considerably, but in
states with paper ballots, the exit polling was right on the money,
as it has always been prior to HAVA.
We have had two presidential elections
now (2000 and 2004) where the people's vote was without a doubt not
counted. Both elections were very close, with mere hundreds of ballots
tipping the scale, yet both elections undeniably did not count many
of the votes, which could very well have had a direct effect on the eventual
outcome.
In both of those elections, the
key battleground states had a Secretary of State who coincidentally just
happened to be that states official campaign co-chair for the winner of each
election, George W. Bush.
In 2000 the U.S. Supreme Court illegally
stepped in and stopped the recount in Florida. Hanging chads or not, the
intent of the voter is the letter of the law and that was clearly
ascertainable in Florida by counting the votes. The Supreme Court undeniably
stopped that count. George W. Bush's own campaign co-chair in the state,
Katherine Harris, was the overseer of the election process. A clear
conflict of interest. She employed a company known as Choicepoint
Database Technologies to disenfranchise 57-thousand voters. It was Harris
who then eventually declared Bush the winner after the Supreme Court's
ruling.
In 2004, John Kerry acquiesced early to a
very narrow Bush win, with thousands of votes still uncounted. The election
overseer for Ohio, Secretary of State,
Ken
Blackwell, was also coincidentally the state's campaign co-chair for
Bush's re-election. He was also a shareholder in Diebold Electronics (178
shares), the company that made the electronic voting machines in question
during that election. Again, this is all clearly a huge conflict of
interest. How can we expect an investigation of a company where the CEO,
Wally O' Dell, said he would deliver an election win for Bush, when the
overseer of the election process himself has a biased financial interest as
a shareholder in that company?
For those that may disagree, they more
than likely have not researched those elections on their own, or they have
been spoon-fed from our corporate media. Both elections also had tens of
thousands of disenfranchised voters, skewing the final results, in essence
giving us a two-term president never once truly elected by the people.
Being Great Once Again
In closing, while I have always supported
standing up for the common man, I have always voted for "the best person"
for the job. There are good people on both sides of this divided political
spectrum, however, there are also sadly too many with blatant avarice
that benefits but only a few, with little regard for the many.
This piece is not to condemn our country,
nor any particular political party, but rather stands in support of a once
great democracy that many would like to see restored to its glory, as well
as improved upon. If history has shown us anything, both major political
parties have been infiltrated with people of shallow character. We need to
do a better job of selecting those we place in office for our
representation.
A good patriot does not blindly accept
egregious behavior from its government, rather, they stand in defense of our
country, to help correct its shortcomings and to keep our elected
representatives in line.
When asked about our country's
Constitution and what form of government we were to have, Benjamin Franklin
declared, "A republic, if you can keep it."
While we are certainly being challenged
in that regard, it is time for the people to stand up for their rights and
challenge our government back.
To quote one other great American,
"dissent is the greatest form of patriotism" - Thomas Jefferson.
To bring about change will require
accountability, as well as responsibility from our elected representatives,
but actual true change will only come to America when the people finally
wake up and start asking questions and demanding answers.
Getting rid of the Bush-Cheney regime was
a good start for 78% of America. Now, if the other 22% would start thinking
beyond their political party, we might have a shot at turning this country
around and making it great again in the eyes of not just Americans, but the
entire world community.
Other Timely Op/Eds from NewsFocus:
America Stolen: The Take Over of
Our Media
American Capitalism: Economic
Dysfunction
Socialism Is Not A Dirty
Word
What Most Don’t Know About Our System of Currency
Conspiracy Happens
A 21st Century Flat Earth
The Great Divide
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