{"article":{"id":4583,"heading":"COUP WATCH: 13 MYTHS ABOUT THE RESULTS OF THE 2000 ELECTION","author":"Rich Cowan","created":"2000-11-14 16:31:14","modified":"2013-11-10 23:36:43","last_modified":"Mon, 11 Nov 2013 06:36:43","article":"<p>13 MYTHS ABOUT THE RESULTS OF THE 2000 ELECTION\r\n      \r\n\r\n\r\n<b>\r\nCOUP WATCH:  13 MYTHS ABOUT THE RESULTS OF THE 2000 ELECTION<br><\/b><\/p><p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<b>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; By Rich Cowan<\/b><\/p><p>\r\n\r\n13 MYTHS ABOUT THE RESULTS OF THE 2000 ELECTION\r\n\r\nIn the next week, millions of dollars will be spent in a public\r\nrelations war in an attempt to determine the next president of the\r\nUnited States.  Will the outcome of the election be determined by\r\nratings in the polls?  Will the present standoff be resolved by\r\nescalation and threats?  Or will the intention of the voters on\r\nelection day, and the responsibility of the states to count their\r\nballots, actually be taken into account?<\/p><p>\r\n\r\nOur involvement in the next few weeks is essential to assert\r\ndemocratic control over the election process.  The price of liberty\r\nis eternal vigilance.  This flyer is a collaboration of over a dozen\r\npeople who have been researching and documenting the truth.  It\r\nprovides a point by point analysis of some key myths.  Please\r\nread, copy, and forward to friends, relatives and colleagues!<\/p><p>\r\n\r\n1) Myth: Al Gore has a responsibility to concede the election.<\/p><ul>\r\n\r\n    Fact:  A 330 vote margin out of 6 million votes cast in Florida is\r\n    incredibly close!  It is roughly equivalent to a 1-vote margin in\r\n    a city with 40,000 people and 18,000 voters.<br><br>\r\n\r\n    It is extremely rare for an election this close NOT to be\r\n    contested for several weeks until a manual recount can take place,\r\n    with observers from both sides taking part and inspecting ballots.\r\n    This kind of detailed recount has not yet taken place.<br><br>\r\n\r\n    According to the US Constitution and the Laws of Florida, it is\r\n    the responsibility of officials in Florida to certify the election\r\n    results.  November 17 is the deadline for absentee ballots sent\r\n    from overseas to arrive.  Since the election is close enough in\r\n    Florida, Oregon, and New Mexico to be affected by absentee ballots,\r\n    the results in those states cannot be certified before that date.<\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n2) Myth: the number of \"spoiled ballots\" in Palm Beach County was\r\n    typical.   In a press briefing televised live on all networks\r\n    on 11\/9\/00, Karl Rove of the Bush campaign compared the 14,872\r\n    invalidated ballots in the 1996 Presidential race to 19,120\r\n    ballots for President that were spoiled in this election.<ul>\r\n\r\n    Fact: the Bush campaign was comparing apples and oranges.\r\n    There were actually 29,702 invalidated ballots this year in\r\n    Palm Beach County.  This is almost twice the number in 1996.\r\n    \"19,120\" refers to only those 2000 ballots which were thrown\r\n    out for voting for two Presidential candidates.  The remaining\r\n    10,582 ballots had no choice recorded for President<br><br>\r\n\r\n    According to the Palm Beach County elections office\r\n    (www.pbcelections.org), voters this year were not confused at all\r\n    by the rest of the ballot.  For example, less than 1% of U.S.\r\n    Senate votes were invalidated because of multiple punches,\r\n    compared with over 4% in the Presidential contest.<\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n3) Myth: The Palm beach ballot is definitely illegal due to the\r\n    presence of punch holes to the left of some of the candidates.<ul>\r\n\r\n    Fact:  According to the Secretary of State's office, there is a\r\n    loophole in Florida law that may allow ballots used for voting\r\n    machines to deviate from the rules governing paper ballots.  This\r\n    view has been contested by hundreds of Florida voters.  The final\r\n    decision on the legality of the ballot is likely to be made in\r\n    court, as long as this issue could have an effect on the election.<br><br>\r\n\r\n    It is possible that the ballot could be ruled illegal on other\r\n    grounds, such as the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and\r\n    Handicapped Act or the Americans With Disabilities Act.<\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n4) Myth: \"The more often ballots are recounted, especially by hand,\r\n    the more likely it is that human errors, like lost ballots and\r\n    other risks, will be introduced. This frustrates the very reason\r\n    why we have moved from hand counting to machine counting.\" --\r\n    Former Sec. of State James Baker, speaking on behalf of the Bush\r\n    campaign at a press briefing televised by all networks on 11\/10\/00.<ul>\r\n\r\n    Fact: In 1997, George W. Bush signed into law a bill stating that\r\n    hand recounts were the preferred method in a close election in\r\n    Texas.  The bill, \"HB 330\", mandated that representatives of all\r\n    parties be present to prevent fraud.<br><br>\r\n\r\n    Laws establishing rights and procedures for hand recounts also\r\n    exist in Florida (see Title IX, Chapter 102).  In fact, the Orlando\r\n    Sentinel, (orlandosentinel.com) reported that a partial hand count\r\n    of Presidential ballots this year was ordered by Republicans in\r\n    Seminole County, where Bush led Gore.  This count took place\r\n    on 11\/9 and 11\/10, widening Bush's lead by 98 votes.  The Bush\r\n    campaign did not complain about this hand count; nor did it complain\r\n    about the hand count on 11\/11\/00 which put Bush slightly ahead of\r\n    Gore in New Mexico.<br><br>\r\n\r\n    There do exist machine voting systems which are fairly accurate,\r\n    but antiquated punch card systems are notoriously inaccurate.  They\r\n    were outlawed in Massachusetts in 1997 by Secretary of State William\r\n    Galvin after a Congressional primary that was also \"too close to\r\n    call.\"  The problem is that if the punched-out pieces of cardboard\r\n    are not completely removed from the punch card, they can obstruct\r\n    the card reader and the votes will not be counted.  A manual\r\n    recount of such cards can clearly reveal the voter's intentions.<\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n5) Myth: The process is unfair because hand recounts were held only\r\n    in liberal areas of Florida, where Gore stands to pick up the\r\n    most votes.<ul>\r\n\r\n    Fact:  It is true that a statewide recount would be more fair, and\r\n    the Bush campaign has every right to request one.   According\r\n    to Florida law, hand recount requests must come from the campaigns,\r\n    not from the state.  To fail to request what is commonly referred\r\n    to as a \"defensive recount\" in conservative areas of Florida, they\r\n    may be making a tactical blunder that will cost them the election.<br><br>\r\n\r\n    It is also true that there were voting irregularities in the\r\n    counties where the Gore campaign requested recounts. <\/ul> \r\n\r\n\r\n6) Myth: \"Palm Beach County is a Pat Buchanan stronghold and that's why\r\n    Pat Buchanan received 3407 votes there.  According to the Florida\r\n    Department of State, 16,695 voters in Palm Beach County are registered\r\n    to the Independent Party, the Reform Party, or the American Reform \r\n Party,\r\n    an increase of 110% since the 1996 presidential election\" -- Ari\r\n    Fleischer of the Bush Campaign, 11\/9\/00.  The 2,000 votes received\r\n    by the Reform party candidate for Congress indicate that party's\r\n    strength in Palm Beach County (James Baker on Meet the Press, 11\/12\/00). <ul> \r\n\r\n    Fact:  Of those 16,695 voters, only 337 (2 percent) are in the\r\n    Reform Party according to Florida state records.  The Reform\r\n    party candidate for Congress, John McGuire, is connected to a\r\n    more centrist wing of the Reform Party, predating Buchanan's\r\n    involvement.  An analysis of his support indicates that it came\r\n    largely from reform-minded Ralph Nader voters.<br><br>\r\n\r\n    Regarding Buchanan's vote total, the Washington Post reported that\r\n    his vote percentage in Palm Beach county was four times as high at\r\n    the polls as in absentee voting.  Even Buchanan himself admitted on\r\n    11\/8\/00 on the Today Show that many of his votes actually \"belonged\r\n    to Al Gore.\"  So did his campaign manager, Bay Buchanan. <\/ul> \r\n\r\n\r\n7) Myth: If Gore (or Bush) ends up winning the popular vote, he really\r\n    should win the election even if he loses Florida and other states. <ul> \r\n\r\n    Fact: This is not the way the U.S. Constitution is written.  The\r\n    Electoral College decision, imperfect as it may be, is the only one\r\n    that matters.  It may be possible to reform or eliminate the electoral\r\n    college in the future, so that small states would no longer receive\r\n    extra electoral votes out of proportion to their population. But\r\n    until this change is made by Constitutional amendment, the Electoral\r\n    College is still the law of the land. <\/ul> \r\n\r\n\r\n8) Myth:  The Cook County, Illinois ballot from the home district\r\n    of Gore campaign chair Bill Daley is similar to the \"butterfly\"\r\n    ballot used in Palm Beach County (reported by Don Evans, 11\/8\/00) <ul> \r\n\r\n    Fact: According to the Chicago Daily Herald on 11\/10\/00, the\r\n    ballots in Chicago which had \"facing pages\" were judicial retention \r\n    questions which only had two punch holes, Yes and No. <\/ul> \r\n\r\n\r\n9) Myth: The election process in Florida outside of Palm Beach County\r\n    was fair. <ul> \r\n\r\n    Fact:  Actually, thousands of irregularities in over a half-dozen\r\n    categories have already been reported:<br><ul>\r\n\r\n     <li>Ballots ran out in certain precincts according to the LA Times\r\n      on 11\/10\/00.<br><br>\r\n\r\n     <\/li><li>Carpools of African-American voters were stopped by police,\r\n      according to the Los Angeles Times (11\/10\/00).  In some cases,\r\n      officers demanded to see a \"taxi license\".<br><br>\r\n\r\n     <\/li><li>Polls closed with people still in line in Tampa, according to the\r\n      Associated Press.<br><br>\r\n\r\n     <\/li><li>In Osceola County, ballots did not line up properly, possibly\r\n      causing Gore voters to have their ballots cast for Harry Browne.\r\n      Also, Hispanic voters were required to produce two forms of ID when\r\n      only one is required.  (source: Associated Press)<br><br>\r\n\r\n     <\/li><li>Dozens, and possibly hundreds, of voters in Broward County were\r\n      unable to vote because the Supervisor of Elections did not have enough\r\n      staff to verify changes of address.<br><br>\r\n\r\n     <\/li><li>Voters were mistakenly removed from voter rolls because their names\r\n      were similar to those of ex-cons, according to Mother Jones magazine.<br><br>\r\n\r\n     <\/li><li>According to Reuters news service (11\/8\/00), many voters received\r\n      pencils rather than pens when they voted, in violation of state law.<br><br>\r\n\r\n     <\/li><li>According to the Miami Herald, many Haitian-American voters were\r\n      turned away from precincts where they were voting for the first\r\n      time (11\/10\/00)<br><br>\r\n\r\n     <\/li><li>According to Feed Magazine (www.feedmag.com), the mayoral candidate\r\n      whose election in Miami was overturned due to voter fraud, Xavier\r\n      Suarez, said he was involved in preparing absentee ballots for\r\n      George W. Bush. (11\/9\/00)<br><br>\r\n\r\n     <\/li><li>According to tompaine.com, CBS's Dan Rather reported a\r\n      possible computer error in Volusia County, Florida, where James\r\n      Harris, a Socialist Workers Party candidate, won 9,888 votes.\r\n      He won 583 in the rest of the state.  [11\/9\/00]  County-level\r\n      results for Florida are available at cnn.com.<br><br>\r\n\r\n     <\/li><li>Many African-American first-time voters who registered at motor\r\n      vehicles offices or in campus voter registration drives did not\r\n      appear on the voting rolls, according to a hearing conducted by\r\n      the NAACP and televised on C-SPAN on 11\/12\/00. <\/li><\/ul> <\/ul> \r\n\r\n\r\n10) Myth: \"No evidence of vote fraud, either in the original\r\n     vote or in the recount, has been presented.\" -- James Baker,\r\n     representing the Bush campaign on 11\/10\/00, in a Florida briefing. <ul> \r\n\r\n     Fact: The election was held just last week, so of course many\r\n     instances of fraud have not yet been substantiated.  Even so,\r\n     authorities have already uncovered clear evidence of voter fraud\r\n     involving absentee ballots.<p>\r\n\r\n     In Pensacola, Florida, Bush supporter Todd Vinson never received the\r\n     absentee ballot he requested.  According to the Associated Press on\r\n     11\/9\/00, it was determined after an investigation that this ballot\r\n     was received by a third party, filled out with a forged signature,\r\n     and then sent in.  Assistant State Attorney Russell Edgar, when asked\r\n     if other absentee ballots might had been intercepted, said, \"I agree\r\n     there may well be many more than just this one.\" <\/p><p>\r\n\r\n     Much media attention on the issue of voter fraud has been focused\r\n     on a story in Wisconsin where cigarettes were offered to homeless\r\n     people in exchange by Gore supporters. <\/p><\/ul> \r\n\r\n\r\n11) Myth: It is highly unusual for judges to intervene after an election.\r\n     Since the designer of a disputed ballot in Florida is a member of\r\n     the party contesting the election, a legal challenge is impossible. <ul> \r\n\r\n     Fact: The most fundamental right of a democratic society is the\r\n     the right to vote, and to have one's vote correctly counted.  The\r\n     legal system exists to ensure that people's rights are not violated.\r\n     Whether the person committing a violation is a Democrat or a\r\n     Republican does not affect how that violation should be treated.<br><br>\r\n\r\n     Elections are ultimately struggles for political power so it should\r\n     not be surprising that disputes are often resolved in court.  Of\r\n     course judges can be biased.  That is why they must explain their\r\n     decisions and why bad arguments can be overturned on appeal.<br><br>\r\n\r\n     The Florida Supreme Court ruled in 1998, in connection with\r\n     a disputed Volusia County election, that if there is \"substantial\r\n     noncompliance\" with election laws and a \"reasonable doubt\" about\r\n     whether election results \"expressed the will of the voters\" then a\r\n     judge must \"void the contested election, even in the absence of fraud\r\n     or intentional wrongdoing.\" (source:  Wall St. Journal, 10\/10\/00).\r\n     The Journal indicated that there was little legal precedent for\r\n     a revote in just one area where an election occurred.  It would\r\n     be more likely for a court to order a new election or to overturn\r\n     the result.<br><br>\r\n\r\n     These issues have arisen in other states as well.  In a Massachusetts\r\n     Democratic primary in 1996 for the US House, the election was so close\r\n     after recounts that a judge had to make the final decision after\r\n     examining some of the ballots that were incompletely punched, to\r\n     determine the intention of the voter.  The law clearly dictated that\r\n     it was the will of the voter that mattered, and the candidate who was\r\n     behind, William Delahunt, went on to win the final election.  Call the\r\n     Capitol Switchboard if you have any doubts at 202-225-3121. <\/ul> \r\n\r\n\r\n12) Myth: Richard Nixon's party in 1960 did the honorable thing in not\r\n     contesting the results of the election. <ul> \r\n\r\n     Fact: According to a column in the Los Angeles Times, 11\/10\/00, \"on\r\n     Nov. 11, three days after the election, Thurston B. Morton, a Kentucky\r\n     senator and the Republican Party's national chairman, launched bids\r\n     for recounts or investigations in not just Illinois and Texas but also\r\n     Delaware, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico,\r\n     Nevada, Pennsylvania and South Carolina.  A few days later, Robert\r\n     H. Finch and Leonard W. Hall, two Nixon intimates, sent agents to\r\n     conduct what they called \"field checks\" in eight of those 11\r\n     battlegrounds.  In New Jersey, local Republicans obtained court orders\r\n     for recounts; Texans brought suit in federal court.  Illinois\r\n     witnessed the most vigorous crusade. Nixon aide Peter Flanigan\r\n     encouraged the creation of a Chicago-area Nixon Recount Committee. As\r\n     late as Nov. 23, Republican National Committee general counsel\r\n     H. Meade Alcorn Jr. was still predicting Nixon would take Illinois.\"\r\n     Recounts continued into December, but did not succeed in overturning\r\n     the result of the election. <\/ul> \r\n\r\n\r\n13) Myth: \"Governor Bush is still the winner, subject only to counting\r\n     the overseas ballots, which traditionally have favored the Republican\r\n     candidates\" -- James Baker, Press Briefing, 11\/10\/00<ul>\r\n\r\n     Fact: The number of yet-to-be-counted overseas military ballots is\r\n     likely to be in the range of 500 to 2000, based on the 1996 election\r\n     in which there were 2,300 oversees absentee ballots overall, with\r\n     roughly 60% of them coming from people enlisted in the military.\r\n     According to CNN [11\/10\/00], the military overseas ballots that\r\n     arrived before the election were already counted.<br><br>\r\n\r\n     The biggest difference from 1996 is that Clinton -- who avoided the\r\n     draft -- was running against Dole, a decorated military veteran.<br><br>\r\n\r\n     In 2000 George W. Bush -- who avoided service in Vietnam and actually\r\n     lost flying privileges in the Texas Air National Guard -- is running\r\n     against Al Gore, a veteran who served in Vietnam.<br><br>\r\n\r\n     It is just as possible that Gore will gain a few hundred votes from\r\n     veterans as the other way around.  It is also possible that the Gore\r\n     ticket will pick up votes from Democratic diplomatic appointees, or\r\n     temporary residents and dual citizens of Israel. <\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\nPLEASE HELP DISTRIBUTE THIS FLYER!  We plan to make it easy for\r\nyou to obtain a paper copy for distribution at your workplace, church\r\nor campus.  If you post this on the web, please let us know!  HTML\r\nand printable (Word, PDF) versions will be available at: <br>\r\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;    http:\/\/dlis.gseis.ucla.edu\/people\/pagre\/13-myths.html<br><br>\r\n\r\nInternet references sometimes change, so they will be updated at: <br>\r\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; http:\/\/dlis.gseis.ucla.edu\/people\/pagre\/myth-references.html<br><br>\r\n\r\nTo participate in a student discussion, please send a blank email to: <br>\r\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; rwwatch-subscribe@topica.com<br><br>\r\n\r\nTips on E-Organizing:<br>\r\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; www.organizenow.net<br><br>\r\n<br>\r\n\r\n\r\n<hr> \r\nAdditional Footnotes, References<br>\r\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; the web links may change; please report errors) <br><br>\r\n\r\n\r\n<u>Myth 1: Time to Concede the Election<\/u><p>\r\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 330 votes out of 6 million is 0.00550% of the vote.<br>\r\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1 vote out of 18 thousand is  0.00555% of the vote.<br>\r\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; A margin of 0.500000% of the vote is the Florida recount threshold.<\/p><p>\r\n\r\n<br>\r\n<u>Myth 2: Number of Spoiled Ballots. <\/u><\/p><p>\r\nArticle giving counts for invalidated ballots in 2000:<br>\r\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; http:\/\/dailynews.yahoo.com\/h\/ap\/20001110\/el\/eln_florida_recount_63.html<\/p><p>\r\n\r\nOdd ballot prompts allegations of widespread mistaken voting<br>\r\nby MITCH LIPKA, Orlando Sun-Sentinel, 11\/9\/00.<\/p><p>\r\n\r\nSee Also:<br>\r\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; http:\/\/www.herald.com\/thispage.htm?content\/archive\/news\/yahoo\/digdocs\/058333<\/p><p>\r\n\r\n<br>\r\n<u>Myth 3: Ballot Definitely Illegal<\/u><\/p><p>\r\nThose Florida Ballots Were Clearly Illegal<br>\r\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/news\/comment\/20001110\/t000107677.html<\/p><p>\r\n\r\nSome Florida Ballots Illegal, Dems Say<br>\r\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; http:\/\/www.salon.com\/politics\/feature\/2000\/11\/07\/results\/<\/p><p>\r\n\r\nPalm Beach Ballot Illegal, Demo Lawyers Say<br>\r\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; http:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/content\/archive\/news\/elect2000\/digdocs\/095052.htm<\/p><p>\r\n\r\nUnited Press International Story:  Eye doctors say Palm Beach ballot<br>\r\nconfused voters, 11\/9\/00, filed from Ft. Lauderdale at 4:11:44 PM EDT.<\/p><p>\r\n\r\nAccess to Voting for Disabled and Elderly Citizens<br>\r\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; http:\/\/www.bazelon.org\/expandvote.html#ADA<\/p><p>\r\n\r\n<br>\r\n<u>Myth 4: Hand Recounts Introduce Errors<\/u><\/p><p>\r\nSeminole County delivers edge to Bush in recount<br>\r\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; http:\/\/orlandosentinel.com\/elections\/1110sem.htm<\/p><p>\r\n\r\nElection Workers' Nightmare<br>\r\n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/print\/asection\/20001110\/t000107857.html<\/p><p>\r\n\r\nWilliam Galvin, interviewed on CNN, 11\/8\/00.<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br><u><\/u><\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br><u><\/u><\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><\/p><p><br><u><\/u><\/p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br><u><\/u><\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br><\/p><p><br><u><\/u><\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br><\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br><u><\/u><\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><\/p><p><u><\/u><\/p><p><br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br><u><\/u><\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><\/p><p><\/p><p><br><u><\/u><\/p><p><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><p><br><br><\/p>\n","contact":"rich@organizenow.net","link":"http:\/\/dlis.gseis.ucla.edu\/people\/pagre\/13-myths.html","address":"Organizers' Collaborative, PO Box 400897, Cambridge MA  02140","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/html","summary":"Nixon\u2019s party accepted the 1960 elections, judicail intervention is highly unusually and uncalled for, no evidence of fraud has beeen presented, the Florida election outside of Palm Beach County was fair-- these are but a few of the 13 Myths refuted in this compact, heavily documented factsheet.","numcomment":5,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/2000\/11\/13myths.htm","filesize":"32.5 kibibytes","article_url":"\/news\/2000\/11\/4583.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":4599,"heading":"Thanks, Rich","article":"This is good.  I'm spreading it far and wide.  The airwaves have not been ruled out.\r\n\r\n-- .- .-. -.-. --- -. ..\r\n","author":"Guglielmo Marconi","parent_id":4583,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2000-11-15 16:08:30","modified":"2000-11-15 16:39:58","fileurl":""},{"id":4650,"heading":"13 Myths =","article":"1 article (13 Myths) = 1 big lie.  \r\nGet a clue then get a life, insect.","author":"William Casey","parent_id":4583,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2000-11-21 00:28:21","modified":"2000-11-21 01:00:01","fileurl":""},{"id":4720,"heading":"13 is a cliche, but unfortunately true...","article":"Wannabe willaim casey, get a clue!  Even the so called\r\nNPR silences the documented true that the above sources\r\nreveal.  Stop gorging yourself on the BS fed by the corporate\r\nmedia that supports the coup in the first place.","author":"LittleBrownOneYQue","parent_id":4583,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2000-11-29 16:41:36","modified":"2000-11-29 17:00:00","fileurl":""},{"id":4771,"heading":"RE: 13 is a cliche, but unfortunately true...","article":"Hey tahnks for the compliment... I think.  It so happens my *REAL NAME* is William Casey.  What is your *REAL NAME* LittleBrownOneYQue?  I hope it doesn't begin with the letter A and end with the letter E and has five letters in between.  \r\n\r\n","author":"Willam Casey","parent_id":4583,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2000-12-04 16:11:47","modified":"2000-12-04 17:00:00","fileurl":""},{"id":4939,"heading":"King George","article":"As a child of the '60's I watched nightly both the protests of the peacelovers and the body count rise. Both of these numbers seemed to swell both independantly of each other yet parallel.. They were analogous each other in another key correlation- the  people watching this madness unfold on national television every night became anesthetized to both the numbers of dead (unless of course it was Your son, grandson, etc) and to the sight of another screaming horde of the young enveloped in clouds of teargas supplied oh-so-generously by the stormtroopers. \r\nIn a visual medium such as television, one green body bag looks the same as every other- as does each throng of a thousand marching hippies with signs. It began to seem as if the stations were simply replaying the news from the night before, the only changing aspect being in location.\r\nThe extraordinary became mundane - until Kent State.\r\nAs I watched the film clips of the Seattle protests I felt transported back in time. Many survivors of the '60's felt the same. There were two noted differences though between then and now. Then there was a common focus- a laser beam of energy, action and thought directed at a discernable end point. The other difference is that somehow the stormtroopers are much more frightening in deportment, arms, and strength. It is as if they have been trained for this for years and years in expectation of an eventual rebellion by people who are waking up to the truths of the world. Perhaps they have been. \r\nUnfortunately for the peacelovers, we have not. What we can do at this point is look to the mistakes made- and learn from them. Another mass of screaming protesters will not make a statement on the national conscious. It simply gives the fascists more ammunition to use against us- as they have so many times... and gives the infiltrators an opening, as happened at the RNC. \r\nMany who are holding center stage currently are the ones who years ago began the process leading up to this point in history. Understand that they have decades of experience in handling us. They look at us as children tossing tantrums in the corner. And when we have seemingly disparate issues-we are in several corners, divided; all too predictable in our actions.We  need to close these gaps- womens rights, the environment, economic imbalance, sweat shops, race etc. etc. and realize that all of these issues add up to One issue. That issue is the same as the one fought for in the 1960's -\r\nLife vs. Death. \r\nThe ones who have orchestrated this coup are Pro-Death.. Let this be our focus:\r\n The Death of democracy, the Death of Freedom. The same bell is being tolled for us all. \r\nThat being so- then I propose a March of Mourning- a Funeral dirge. \r\nThe protestors in Washington and elsewhere should - EN-MASS - dress in black from head to toe, paint thier faces white in unity, and walk in TOTAL silence -carrying no banners, no posters.. Instead, carry coffins: coffins draped in black cloth bearing one word -DEMOCRACY- in letters as scarlet as the blood of those who have died in defending it. \r\nAt the moment of the Coronation of King George the thousands of protestors  should - as ONE body- silently turn thier backs on the scene of the crime. \r\nI can think of no stronger visual or visceral impact than this. A silent, unified condemnation that would be utterly horrifying to the Pro-Death people. \r\nThis way there can be no infiltration of ranks - there can be no censure by those who would want to call us 'rioters' and 'anarchists'- and no arrests or beatings that 'they' seem to delight in. \r\nAnd for those watching, an indelible image to contemplate.\r\n","author":"Elysian","parent_id":4583,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2000-12-22 13:29:17","modified":"2000-12-22 13:45:34","fileurl":""}]}