letter regarding Kerry recount strategy - you should read

http://www.moderateindependent.com/v2i21election.htm

INSIDE THE ELECTION FRAUD BATTLE

Think Kerry Is Not Involved In This Fight? Think Again. Also:
Fallujah = Operation Distract From Fixed Election.

by Betsy R. Vasquez

NOVEMBER 10, 2004 - When Senator John Kerry (D-MA) talked about how
his policy would be different in Iraq, he kept saying, in effect, 'It's the how, stupid.' He said repeatedly he would fight a "smarter" war.

Flash forward to today. Following the election, there was a problem
apparent. The exit polling didn't match the ballot count, and many
reasons for that began to become apparent.

John Kerry was faced with three options. One, fight on publicly rather than conceding and put the nation into a media frenzied limbo. Two, concede and go on with his life, turning his back on his promise to his supporters to ensure that "every vote will be counted."

Most people are assuming that John Kerry opted for the second of these
while John Edwards, his runningmate, opted for the first, and since
Kerry was the big dog, he won out. But people who think this are
thinking in Bush terms, all or nothing, either you are for the war or
against it, that either Senator Kerry was for recounting the votes or
he was against it.

The reality is, John Kerry has chosen a third, much smarter course -
just as he said he would all along.

John Kerry realized that to launch a public campaign calling the vote
into question would be disastrous. In fact, he likely realized he
would we walking right into a Bush-set booby trap.

In particular, during our election coverage we talked about the pending battle of Fallujah, about the timing of it being an election ploy, about how it was following in the constant Bush pattern of creating a media event to sway the election, as he did last time by making the run up to the Iraq invasion come to a head exactly on election week.

Well, the battle in Fallujah began hitting the media hard in the week
before the election, right on cue. Of course it was billed as the
solution, the battle that - if you just keep Bush in office - will wipe out those insurgents and solve the problems over there. This was yet another obvious use of our nation's troops by President Bush as if they were campaign volunteers rather than non-partisan volunteers to defend our nation.

But Fallujah, it turns out, seems to be even more than that. Fallujah, in effect, was the get away car for an election heist.

Following the fiasco in Florida in 2000, Gore was able to battle on for 30 days to try and get a fair accounting. All the while, the Bush camp claimed he should just stop and give up because his delaying of what they were saying was the inevitable end was threatening the nation's security and stability. They said the stock market was suffering, the nation was unstable, and so Gore should just give up and accept the result as is.

This time, John Kerry had made clear he was prepared to fight 100 times as hard and long as Gore did if necessary. In fact, he had solicited fund just for that eventuality so he could battle all over the nation if necessary to ensure that every vote was properly counted.

Enter Fallujah. As we know - and saw on election night, as Bush's
people began calling Networks and demanding they call Ohio for their
camp - the Bush team's strategy was to try and force all questions to
be closed ASAP. Last time, they weren't prepared for that part. This
time, they were.

Picture if John Kerry had chosen to call the election into question.
Immediately, the Bush camp would talk about how 50,000 of our troops
are just about to launch the biggest military operation since the invasion of Baghdad. And, just a couple of days after the election, it was launched.

You can imagine the arguments from the Bushies: "How could Senator
Kerry undermine our security while our troops are in the midst of
battle." Fallujah was to be the pressure point that would, if not stop Kerry from uncovering all the dirt and getting a fair election count, would at least tarnish his name with much of the nation and, as
importantly, create something for the right-wing dominated media to
hammer away at him on, making it seem as if he is only caring about
himself and not the nation.

It was quite a well-crafted plan. Completely amoral, but smart.

Unfortunately for them, John Kerry was smarter.

As Keith Olbermann of MSNBC, who has been about the only mainstream
journalist to actually follow up on the many serious problems with
regard to the integrity of the election, has pointed out, a concession
speech, in effect, means nothing. It is not legally binding.

So, if you were thinking like a Bush goon, you would expect that either Kerry would stand up to the mischief that went on, not conceding in the meantime, and so your booby trap would work perfectly, or that he would just give up and let it go, as wimpy Democrats are prone to do.

But John Kerry chose a smarter course. Ask yourself the question, what if John Kerry were to do both, concede publicly but, at the same time, look into every instance of mischief, and see if in fact the election was fair or fixed.

This would be a no lose situation for him. The booby trap set up for
him would become irrelevant, as he would have done the right thing for
the nation, not putting it into turmoil while its troops are in battle.

But at the same time, he is still just as free to look into any voting
irregularities as he would have been had he not conceded. Even better, he could do it without the press going insane and the nation being kept on tension-creating edge. All of the lawyers he could have sent to look into things still could be sent to look into things, and if the election is truly called into question, he could then, with ample justification so as to make it legitimate, come out publicly and retract his concession. It is the prosecutor, also one of Kerry's previous jobs, who knows well enough to thoroughly prepare and investigate his case be leveling charges. You may have a real hunch that someone is responsible for a murder, but until you believe you can win that case in court, you do not make the allegation.

This is called fighting smart. And the Bushies, in the same way they
failed to plan for the subtleties of doing battle in Iraq, haven't even caught on yet that this is what is occurring, that they are, in fact, being outflanked and attacked after being tricked into looking the other way.

And just in case you don't quite believe John Kerry is on the case, and instead think he just turned out to be a wimp who didn't live up to his word, take a look at this letter from his brother, released privately to his supporters:

CAM KERRY'S LETTER

I am grateful to the many people who have contacted me to express
their deep concern about questions of miscounting, fraud, vote suppression, and other problems on election day, especially in Florida and Ohio. Their concern reflects how much people care about the outcome of this election. I want to you to know we are not ignoring it. Election protection lawyers are still on the job in Ohio and Florida and in DC making sure all the votes are counted accurately. I have been conferring with lawyers involved and have made them aware of the information and concerns people have given me. Even if the facts don't provide a basis to change the outcome, the information will inform the continuing effort to protect the integrity of our elections. If you have specific factual information about voting problems that could be helpful to the lawyers doing their job, please send it to (e-mail removed for the story) rather than to me. The election protection effort has been important to me personally, and I am proud of the 17,000 lawyers around the country who helped. It's obvious that we have a way to go still, but their efforts helped make a difference. Their work goes on. Thank you, Cam Kerry

Notice that he chose to have his brother, who is not well-known to the
public, sign the letter. As far as the public is concerned, John
Kerry has conceded at that is that.

But now you know that that is not truly the case.

Make no mistake, he will never publicly call the election into question unless enough fraud turns out to truly challenge the end result. And so, in effect, he is not at this point contesting the election. But in reality, he is like the DA who says, "At this time we are not charging President Bush with anything." Evidence first. It is the best strategy for him personally, the best strategy politically, and the best strategy for the nation.

And now stepping in to help is the man who was supposed to be the
spoiler, Ralph Nader. As the Washington Post reports (see article:
Losing by 335,000 in N.H., Nader Demands a Recount
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38000-2004Nov9.html>)
Nader is using New Hampshire as a staging ground to call the Diebold
machine-recorded electronic votes into question.

Why is he doing it in New Hampshire, which Kerry won? Does this mean
he is going after Kerry?

Not at all. It is tactically brilliant. In New Hampshire, any
candidate can call for a recount as long as he offers to pay for it.
And that cost in this small state is only $2,000 dollars. So Nader is
choosing to challenge the results there, but only to make the case
that, if there turns out to be a problem with the machines there, the votes must be challenged everywhere.

As the WashPost reports, "We have received reports of irregularities in the vote reported on the AccuVote Diebold Machines in comparison to
exit polls and trends in voting in New Hampshire," Nader wrote Secretary of State William M. Gardner. "These irregularities favor President George W. Bush by 5% to 15% over what was expected."

So you see clearly he is charging that the machines skewed in favor of
President Bush. New Hampshire was just the easiest, smartest, and
cheapest place to get a first crack at making the case, and so opening
a Pandora's Box that will spread out across the nation.

So enjoy the non-Moderate Independent media's coverage of Fallujah and
ignoring of the recount. But rest assured that people are on the case, and that Kerry is taking the fight to them - in such a smart matter they don't even know what's hitting them. And remember, Watergate didn't break the week after the election. No one knew anything was even fishy, but in the end, the devil go his due.

And on another note, the non-M/I media should be given some credit. As one Washington Post reporter told me, you can bet they are looking into all of this. And, as you see with the above Washington Post story, when they get something concrete they are going to print.

But it is the new media - the blogs - that are powering this one as
much as the mainstream media.

So rest assured, and feel free to help out in anyway you can. We are
the eyes, ears, and analysts of our nation. Support Olbermann at MSNBC <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6210240/>, and rest assured, Kerry is on the case.

And lest you not realize what exactly is going on, this today from
Olbermann: "With news this morning that the computerized balloting in
North Carolina is so thoroughly messed up that all state-wide voting
may be thrown out and a second election day scheduled, the story
continues."

And, even better, this from a first-hand witness' e-mail being
circulated among Kerry supporters:

Subject: Basic report from Columbus

I worked for 3 days, including Election Day, on the statewide voter
protection hotline run by the Ohio Democratic Party in Columbus,
Ohio. I am writing this because the media is inexplicably
whitewashing what happened in Ohio, and Kerry's concession was
likewise inexplicable.

Hundreds of thousands of people were disenfranchised in Ohio. People
waited on line for as long as 10 hours. It appears to have only
happened in Democratic-leaning precincts, principally (a) precincts
where many African Americans lived, and (b) precincts near colleges.

I spoke to a young man who got on line at 11:30 am and voted at 7
pm. When he left at 7 pm, the line was about 150 voters longer than
when he'd arrived, which meant those people were going to wait even
longer. In fact they waited for as much as 10 hours, and their
voting was concluded at about 3 am. The reason this occurred was
that they had 1 voting station per 1000 voters, while the adjacent
precinct had 1 voting station per 184. Both precincts were within
the same county, and managed by the same county board of elections.
The difference between them is that the privileged polling place was
in a rural, solidly republican, area, while the one with long lines
was in the college town of Gambier, OH. Lines of 4 and 5 hours were
the order of the day in many African- American neighborhoods.

Touch screen voting machines in Youngstown OH were
registering "George W. Bush" when people pressed "John F. Kerry" ALL
DAY LONG. This was reported immediately after the polls opened, and
reported over and over again throughout the day, and yet the bogus
machines were inexplicably kept in use THROUGHOUT THE DAY.

Countless other frauds occurred, such as postcards advising people
of incorrect polling places, registered Democrats not receiving
absentee ballots, duly registered young voters being forced to file
provisional ballots even though their names and signatures appeared
in the voting rolls, longtime active voting registered voters being
told they weren't registered, bad faith challenges by
Republican "challengers" in Democratic precincts, and on and on and
on.

I was very proud of the way so many Ohioans fought so valiantly for
their right to vote, and would not be turned away. Many, however,
could not spend the entire day and were afraid of losing their jobs,
due to the severe economic depression hitting Ohio.

I do not understand why Kerry conceded and did not fight to ensure
that all Ohioans would have a chance to vote, and for their vote to
be counted.

You never know, do you? --RV

Thanks for posting it.

No shit. Even NPR should change it's name to National Fallujah Radio...

keep this kicked

According to some of you, Kerry is sitting somewhere and waiting-for freaking what?
Now, neither Nader nor Green Party have money for recounts. They are asking for donations. Nader apparently wants 35,000 $ for recounts. Green party apparently wants to collect 110,000 $ for recounts. If they don't collect the money, I don't think those recounts will happen.
And Kerry is sitting somewhere and waiting?
Give me a freaking break!
Kerry had collected money for recounts before the election and he is nowhere to be found.
Who are you people kidding?

The money has to be laundered in Pakistan first - then let the recounts begin!!

And Kerry is sitting somewhere waiting for something?
LOL.
I bet Kerry got plenty of money for recounts, his campaign was asking for the money.
:nuke:

for recounts and where is he??

I believe he is back in senate. He told us to play nice and follow Bush, our glorious leader.
:eyes:

But even if I'm right, Kerry's efforts may never come to light for one of the following reasons:

1. After investigation, they may not be able to come up with enough votes to overturn the election in Ohio.

2. After investigation, they may not be able to provide convincing proof of fraud.

One of those two things has to happen: either convincing proof of fraud, or convincing proof of more votes for Kerry. The first deadline is the Electoral College vote in December; the second is Inauguration Day. I think if Kerry could challenge the vote totals by the EC vote, judicial intervention would not necessarily be required (althogh ** would probably take it to the SCOTUS). But if Kerry can produce a vote count that give him Ohio, then he can stand by the claim from his concession speach that the election should be decided by the voters, NOT THE COURTS. There was a reason he made that statement.

If, on the other hand, they don't find the votes, the only hope becomes a case of criminal election fraud. Overturning an election long after the inauguration due to fraud has precedent I believe (I think a statewide race was overturned recently).

If neither one of these things happens, we won't hear about Kerry's efforts until he writes his memoirs. And if Kerry can't bring it home, it is probably best for the country that there isn't a long, drawn-out fight for the presidency.

I still trust Kerry. I have faith in him. And I think he is a lot smarter than Bush and a lot more cunning than Rove. Whether we ever hear anything about this again, I am convinced it is not over. Yet.

I lived in Boston for most of my 55 years. I watched Kerry in action. His brilliance is not to be under estimated and he doesn't walk away from anything.

:eyes:

The ultimate Flip Flop

gmta?

...I would like to know if the RNC and WH have moved to block any recount in New Hampshire. The proposed recount has been in the news for several days now, and I have not heard of any resistence from NH or from the RNC to a recount.

Resistance could indicate that there is something interesting hidden in the actual ballots that a recount would reveal. Efforts to legally stop the recount would be telling. Is lack of resistance telling as well?

Everytime I think that this fraud business is going nowhere, I read an email such as the above and get back on the bandwagon. Kerry is smart, committed, and we know he believes "these guys are the biggest bunch of crooked liars I've ever seen." And he was clearly, personally smeared in the campaign in a dishonest way...I would think that would motivate him too. It makes perfect sense that he would not give up. Remember when on open microphone he also said, "don't worry we're going to get these guys...."?

However, it seems like everything depends on getting recounts. So I hope he finds a way to get money to the recount efforts. If they fail because of lack of money, then we will have to assume Kerry is NOT still involved.

Without a whistleblower, no money for recounts = no fraud proven = Kerry did give up = 4 more years

(Footnote: little worried about NH...since it's optical scan, and the ballots actually provide a paper trail of the vote, it would be a clumsy mistake for someone to have manipulated the vote there. I thought that vote manipulation in evoting states would be the obvious way to go. I'm worried that if no fraud shows up in an optical scan area, concern over the more likely fraud in evoting areas will be diffused and disregarded.)

folks here would still claim he's doing nothing.

Fat chance! The responsibility for ensuring that our votes are counted lies primarily with US. It's nice to know and feel that Kerry is leading the fight but it will be irrelevant if most of us sit on our hands and wait for him to act. That's not the way the process works. Individual citizens can challenge this in their own state if they feel their vote wasn't counted and I have no reason to believe that all holy hell will get behind them if the have credible, significant fraud or undercounting to present to the principles. And we have, so let's trust our party, huh?

and thanks for the GREAT information and inspiration. We can't STOP, we MUST move FORWARD and let the world know that we aren't sitting on our DUFFS!

I'm a BOOMER and remember how long it took for us to get NIXON! A real old savvy skunk! For many many years, he had corruption swirling around him. Funny thing, in the end it was something so simple that finally GOT HIM!!

Remember karma... what you put out, you get back.

I'm copying this letter and going to circulate it to my other email friends.