Voter Registrations Possibly Trashed
Well, well, well. The Rethuglicans are at it again. While their Xtian adherents rant about the sacred life of embryos, the Republican National Committee is disenfranchising their rivals through the most crude manner possible - destroying Democratic voter registrations
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Is this at all making the newspapers out on the West Coast? I hadn't heard anything about it out here. Not that I'm watching the news all that closely, but I would expect this to be front page-worthy.
2000 was the first election I could vote in; I had just turned eighteen three months before and was excited to finally be able to participate. I assumed that Floridagate was just a fluke - after all, no one's perfect, and in a country this size mistakes are bound to be made. I made all kinds of excuses for why I should support Bush for president. I had voted for him (see above about Republican family members, and I was straight out of high school - I certainly wouldn't vote for him now) but that wasn't the point. The infallible system had chosen him, therefore he deserved my respect. Or so I thought.
But I'm open-minded, and I've been known to change my mind. THe more I think about it, the more I see serious flaws in the American system. Right now I just don't have the time or energy to get involved in anything political, but you can bet that when I'm in a better condition to do that, I will. Thanks for alerting me to this - it's very disturbing.
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The nerve center of the reporting is Daily Kos:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/10/13/15534/960
You are not the only one who thought it was a fluke. Most people beleived the fix was on in Florida, but didn't think it went further than that and aslo presumed that Chimpy would be a disengaged president. The stability and prosperity Clinton won for the country was taken for granted. "How much damage can he do?" was the refrain, even from Democrats. Well, now we know.
I myself am registered as a Democrat so I can vote in Democratic primaries, but consider myself a progressive/independent with a strong libertarian streak.
Election reform is vital in the country. The power the parties have over the election process (and, yes, I most *emphatically include the Democrats on this) is obscene. Voter registration must be taken out of their hands. It must be made easier to do, and be difficult to avoid. Elections need to be on weekends or else have it be on a holiday. I myself think there can be no greater tribute to our fighting men and women than to move Veterans Day to November 2, and making it a day of voting and other patriotic celebrations. Voting *should* be done electronically, but using a program that belongs to the federal government and is licensed to system maufacturers. And, yes, all susch systems must provide paper trails.
And that's just some easy changes.
Get your education, establish your career, and then get ready for some serious political activism. Work on your bullshit meter. Don't believe any party is inherently good; a party exists for power and we have to bash them into order to make sure they use it properly. Most of all, as IF Stone warned all good reporters, trust documents, not "sources".
Ang
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