"make VNS solely responsible for making all state and national Election-Night calls. These calls would then be reported by the networks and subsequently by other media. The new rule (actually, the pre-1994 rule): Nobody makes early calls, or their access to VNS data, including the feeds of the actual vote counts, is severed instantly and for the duration of Election Night."



Hmmm... Sounds like VNS through it's mouthpiece of the Washington Post, is threatening exclusion of its information to ABC or any other news agency that dares to act indepedently of it's monopoly on the voting process.



"Finally, take VNS mostly off the hook for Tuesday's debacle and put the networks squarely on it. In particular, here's what ABC must do, and quickly: Get Peter Jennings to beggar himself on the nightly news. Make him admit on behalf of ABC that the network was wrong six years ago to start this rush to judgment that culminated with Wednesday's humiliating Bush call. Order him to apologize effusively for any damage done to the political process. Finally, allow him to announce that ABC's decision desk has been placed in permanent storage. And make every other anchor do much the same thing."

So if anyone dares to act independently of the VNS, as George Bush's cousin did, what's the result? In this case, the result was a call by the GOP Mafia of the state of Flordia for Bush, and therefore the nation to Bush. Clearly not a good scenario for the nation.

Jeb Bush then calls George and says, "We've taken care of it."

Gore calls Bush to retract his concession, and George whines, "But my brother says I have Florida!" (True!)

George, to Jeb, to Bush Cousin at Fox News. Bush Cousin at Fox News calls the election, goes back to Jeb, and Jeb calls George.

What shocks me is that more people aren't outraged by this.

I think the VNS needs an overhaul, but there has to be some media standard for this. Better to not have the media call any of it, that there be a media blackout until all the votes are counted, than that right-wing Fox News calls the election for Bush.

I did see your point, and it is extremely valid! But I wanted to also point the middle finger back at VNS. Their solution to the problem, as spoken through their Washington Post mouthpiece, is more corporate control, back to the pre 1994 situation before ABC left the good ol boy monopoly to go out on its own to make election calls. But why does the article point it's wrath at ABC when Fox was the one who made the early call. The article stated that VNS spoke an oblique mea culpa about the early call and then retracted it. Why? Was there shenanigans, some insider trading going on between Florida, VNS and Fox? The article says VNS isn't talking. That a gag order has been imposed by the VNS members. A gag order at this level of importance to our democracy? We don't need just an overhaul of VNS, we the people need to take our vote counting back into the safety of the public domain. VNS is also the organization actually counting our votes, correct? Shouldn't this be done by a non-profit citizens organization or something that is directly responsible to the people? This is appearing to me just too blatantly corrupt concerning the only democracy given us in our representational government... our power of vote.

I agree with you. Why aren't more people outraged by this? Why aren't we organizing mass demonstrations on the street in front of VNS to demand a return of our votes out of the hands of corporate control? We can protest till we're blue in the gills in front of WTO meetings, but if we can never get the peoples choice for president elected because of a corrupt vote counting system, nothing will ever change. I wonder how closely the race has been intentionally manipulated so as to insure Ralph Nader as the spoiler? The corporate news certainly picked up on that angle and Ralph has been attacked unmercifully by Democracts, beside losing the 5% the Green Party needed, only because of so close a race. Has this uncanny closeness been intentionally created by those other than the voting people of the United States?

Thanks for your thoughtful response. I like your idea of putting the responsibility for the "call" into a nonprofit group. This seems like a sensible solution. The impulse to be the first to call the national election is simply too strong for most media outlets to exercise restraint and responsibility on election night.

A lot of angry Republicans are convinced that Florida went to Bush because Bush's cousin, John Ellis, called it at Fox News. (JEB, the name of George's brother, is an acronym for "John Ellis Bush." True!)

Today I noted that more people were picking this up in the media. Salon wrote a analysis of Ellis's history of writing extreme right-wing propaganda and his penchant for making (failed) political predictions.

As for why they blamed ABC, I haven't a clue. I do know that the NY Times buried this in the middle of their paper, and that the Washington Post really hasn't treated it much beyond the simple reporting of it. The major newspapers are too afraid of appearing "biased" to dig deeper into a national scandal.

But the Democrats are hip to it, and they will pursue this. I just think the whole nation has to know that that call for Bush was made by Bush's cousin, and it was a wrong call, totally inaccurate. Because of George and John Ellis and Jeb sharing phone conversations, and because of Ellis's privileged position at Fox News, Gore almost got on that stage in Tennesee and made a concession speech.

So much dirt is coming out now on the Bush camp, so much dirt is happening right now as I write (Harris just said she would categorically reject any county plea for a recount -- an outrageous power grab, and Bush was just on TV explaining why he was right and noble to steal the national vote).

This should be shouted from the rooftops -- Bush's FIRST cousin, John Ellis, called the election for his cousin George, and was on the telephone with George, Jeb, Aunt Barbara and Uncle George ALL NIGHT, exchanging supposedly "confidential" numbers with them!

Hello?? Anyone out there in America? This is frightening!!

We can't change history, but what can we do to shut down Fox News?

And why doesn't the Independent Media take over a a station on A.M. in the later hours? The A.M. night stations are filled with vicious and insulting sexist and violent inflammatory right-wing "commentators" -- they have taken over the airwaves! Where's our voice to counterattack the Republican/Christian bias in the A.M. media?