For starters, Repubs own all of the touch-screen voting machines. They have already been used in several states--Georgia and Nebraska come immediately to mind. See article on Chuck Hagel's startling, land-slide victories (he worked for, and owns stock in voting machine corp) at
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0131-01.htmWe know that BushRoveCo never leave anything to chance -- they've even figured out how to get those millions of military votes it will take to keep their frightful junta in power. According to a July 17 article from ThePeoplesVoice.com, check's in the mail. See (
http://liberty.hypermart.net/editorials/2003/Offshore_Company_Captures_Online_Military_Vote.htm).
writer Lynn Landes notes that the "Department of Defense has awarded the contract for a new online voting system for the military to an offshore company."
That company is Accenture, but you might recognize it as the former Arthur Andersen Consulting of Enron fame -- a corporation still obviously up to its old hi-jinks as it admitted recently that it "might have violated" the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by bribing foreign government officials, which is strictly (sic) prohibited.
Ralph Nader's Citizen Works has also raised the alarm to little or no media or public interest, warning that Accenture, home-based in Bermuda, is the leading offshore beneficiary of government contracts that privitize government services. According to the release, Accenture recently bought off its strategic partner, Election.com, which is composed of mostly Saudi and other foreign investors.
TheDailyEnron.com also attempted in vain to get our interest last year in an article which warned, "Accenture is lobbying furiously on Capitol Hill to defeat a measure that would deny federal contracts to US companies that move offshore to escape US taxes."
TheDailyEnron article went on to say, "Accenture also holds nearly $1 billion in government contracts in the US. The company earned nearly $700 million last year working for Uncle Sam and - ironically - is currently under contract with the Internal Revenue Service itself to redesign its online and Internet operations."
How could this be happening, right under our noses? How could discredited ol' Arthur Andersen get a job that gobbles up billions of government contract money as well as being the fox put in charge of guarding the government voting hen house?
The answer is a no-brainer which -- come to think of it -- ought to be easy for the majority of Americans. Can you spell "Dick Cheney?" Good. Stick with me here -- just one more dot to connect. Now spell "Halliburton."
Isn't it strange that few of us seem to care that, before the 2000 presidential coup de'etat, Cheney and his Halliburton had no qualms about skirting the law to do business with brutal regimes, including that of Saddam Hussein --
especially that of Saddam Hussein? It's strange that few of us know, or care, that David Lesar, who succeeded Cheney at Halliburton, was a former Arthur Andersen official. Strange that Halliburton is still paying Cheney an exhorbitant annual salary...
Landes tells us that, "In an October 2001 press release, Halliburton and Accenture announced a major expansion of their longstanding relationship with the signing of an alliance between Accenture and Landmark Graphics Corporation, a wholly owned business unit of Halliburton."
So, it looks like Arthur Anderson, a discredited U.S. corporation now based in Burmuda whose 75,000 employees are mostly non-U.S. citizens, will be in charge of our military's 2004 presidential votes -- while Halliburton puts some really, really neat graphics on the computerized machines for the voting pleasure of an estimated 6-million military and civilian voters.
Will company insiders rig this no-paper-trail online voting system? Will it be vulnerable to attack by outsiders? What do you think? Do any of us even think at all anymore? No, really, think about it, please...
It's time we woke up. It's time we accepted the fact that the shoddy mainstream U.S. corporate media will not touch this voting scandal, at least not before the next presidential "selection." So, it's up to us. Forget the dots. It's time to connect the "dot.coms. If we don't, we'll soon be forced to spell, "Oh, crap--we're screwed again..."
Because now we know how this administration thinks it can afford to turn its back on this nation's vital strength -- its active-duty and retired military personnel and their families. It's not that their votes don't count. It's that -- thanks to Arthur Andersen and Halliburton -- their votes are already counted.