When Your Vote Doesn't Count, Neither Do You

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Sun, 18 Dec 2005 01:10:32 -0500 (EST)

When Your Vote Doesn't Count, Neither Do You

S

 

 

 

OpEdNews.com

 

Original Article at

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_missy_co_051217_when_your_vote_doesn.htm

 

December 17, 2005

 

When Your Vote Doesn't Count, Neither Do You

 

By Missy Comley Beattie

 

I was called to action, intrigued by an e-mail I received about a

meeting sponsored by truemajority.org and New Yorkers for Verified

Voting. I had registered online but regretted signing up when it was

time to go. It was bitterly cold. I'd have preferred sitting in the

comfort of my apartment and sipping a glass of red wine.

 

But, then, I thought of my nephew, serving in the sweltering heat of

Iraq before he was killed by a massive explosion.

 

I dressed in layers, topping them with a heavy coat, cap, scarf, and

put on gloves. My clothing probably provided more protection than the

equipment my nephew was issued. I walked the 15 blocks to the meeting

and spent two hours hearing about something critical to both our

future and our freedom.

 

Sure, I thought John Kerry actually won in 2004, that the presidency

was stolen from him. If so many voters in Ohio, a pivotal state, were

disenfranchised, there had to be other areas where voters' legal

rights were compromised.

 

Truly, I believe that the base of the Republican Party is ruthless and

would stop at nothing to install their " chosen. "

 

One of the featured speakers at the event was Mark Crispin Miller, a

professor of media studies at New York University. He's authored

several books and his latest, Fooled Again: How the Right Stole the

2004 Election & Why They'll Steal the Next One, was available for

purchase at the meeting.

 

Miller is a captivating speaker. He's powerful, provocative, and

immediately engages his audience--the kind of professor you'd want to

mentor your college-enrolled child. Most of all, he's passionate and

on a mission to teach us that we cannot allow anyone to endanger not

just our right to vote but the accurate counting of that vote. After

all, our ancestors died for this privilege.

 

But, apparently, that entitlement is in jeopardy. Because corporations

producing touch-screen, electronic voting machines are plugged into

the Republican Party and the current providing the power is the

lifeblood of the Extreme Right. These machines guarantee the

continuation of the policies of this group.

 

When you hear the word " corporation " what party emerges in your

consciousness? Republican, of course.

 

This hijacking of our right to pull that lever and select the

candidate of our choice is a tactic forcing us into a zone of

voiceless uselessness. We will have no opportunity to protect the

liberties we value--those that serve the common good.

 

These are not idle words. This is not Bush, saying " be afraid, be

afraid, but go out and shop " or " they're jealous of our freedoms. "

 

This is the frightening truth. Indeed, it is so horrifying, this

domestic terrorism, that some of us might opt for the luxury of denial.

 

In fact, this defense mechanism seems to be the continent where

Democrats are residing despite all the evidence that voter fraud is

alive, quite healthy and has the potential to be as much of a pandemic

as avian influenza.

 

Going through the motions of voting will be just that--going through

the motions--if the voting machines lack integrity and take on a

demonic human quality that interprets our votes as their operators see

fit and not as we intend. These machines have the power to exploit all

that we cherish and the potential to destroy our liberties.

 

They are computers, but they're programmed, hacked into, and

controlled by men and women who have a plan for the world that most of

us do not share. Our founding fathers could not have foreseen the

breaching of our freedoms' levees.

 

The Bush World Order is unacceptable and must be extinguished. But it

isn't just this administration. Others are ready to take the baton

which will meld Church and State. This can be stopped only when there

is recognition that the problem exists. Acknowledgment is the first

step. Organization and action are next.

 

Run to the bookstore and purchase Mark Crispin Miller's book. Give it

to every person on your gift list. Arming ourselves with Miller's

insights may be our salvation.

 

 

 

Authors Bio: Missy Beattie lives in New York City. She's written for

National Public Radio and Nashville Life Magazine. An outspoken critic

of the Bush Administration and the war in Iraq, she has participated

in many peace marches, including the Cindy Sheehan rally in DC. She

completed a novel last year, but since the death of her nephew, Marine

Lance Cpl. Chase J. Comley, in Iraq on August 6,'05, she has been

writing political articles.