Remember Fahrenheit 9/11 - We Must Not Allow Them Stand Alone

Over 50 million Americans saw Fahrenheit 9/11.

You were probably one of them.

Do you remember one of the opening scenes that shows the joint meeting of congress held in January 2001 to ratify the electoral college vote? Ten African American members of the U.S. House of Representatives stood to contest the election of 2000. There was evidence of official misconduct in the election and deliberate fraud they said. One indicated that over 16,000 of her constituents in Florida had been disenfranchised.

One-by-one the members of the House stood to contest the election. Each stood alone.

For a federal election to be contested, one member of the House and one member of the Senate must sign a document. Not a single Senator would sign to contest the election. Not a single Senator would stand with the members of the House. Nine months after the election we learned that they were right to contest the election: A full count of undervotes and overvotes in Florida revealed that Al Gore had received more votes in Florida than George W. Bush.

I was shocked when I saw this scene in Fahrenheit 9/11 and deeply ashamed. If we had known, if we had acted, if a Senator had stood to contest that election -- imagine how very, very different our world would be today.

In the election of 2004 there is far, far more evidence of official misconduct and deliberate fraud. Tens of thousands of constituents (most people of color) have again been disenfranchised. We can be nearly certain that members of the House will stand again on January 6, 2005 at the joint meeting of congress held to ratify the electoral college vote.

I will call for my Senator to stand and to contest this election. I will take action to encourage all members of the Senate and House to have the courage to stand and contest this election. Silence from Congress will not protect us.

We must not allow courageous members of the House to stand alone.

The possibility of a Constitutional crisis elicits fear. Is this possibility any more fear-provoking than living in a 'democracy' in which the power-elite continually abuse citizens? I want to know more about what might happen after the election is contested. Is there a possibility of a re-vote nationwide even with the Republican majority in Congress? Could the Supreme Court rule to put Kerry in office if there is glaring evidence of fraud in multiple states?

If our votes do not count - then the Constitution is just an interesting old piece of paper.

We must procede calmly, with resolve, leading with our hearts and minds. We must appeal to that part of every American that values justice, freedom, and democracy. We must act, always, with the good of the people as our goal. We must embody peace and power. Truth is power. We have power. I pray that we will use it.

It is time to stop being hit now. Not over the next couple of years - now. Each time an abuser gets away with the abuse they only grow stronger. Abuses of power in this administration have been many and over time they will increase exponentially. We who spend our time typing messages on internet discussion boards are not the people who have been and will be hurt most. We have a responsibility to act on behalf of those Americans and citizens of the world who cannot.

It may help to remember to keep in mind that it will get ugly - very ugly and that sometimes an abuser can be stopped more easily than a victim suspects they can. We must find the courage to confront them.

........... he really played fast and loose with the facts there.

The simple truth is that Al Gore had specifically asked that no Congressman or Senator do anything, sign anything, that would contest the election.

Michael Moore did a bad thing with that film clip; it was incomplete and misleading, and the Black Caucus was just doing a bit of street theater in the well of the House to make the record and to make a point.

So, there's nothing to get worked about on this count.

However, the Kerry/Edwards lawyers are moving in on the Ohio vote count. That could be very, very interesting.

Stay tuned, friend.

But I still think they should have. Gore was playing 'statesman' and I think he should have gotten down and dirty. He has since that time shown that he can attack, I just wish he had shown us his capabilities back then. The election wasn't 'stolen' from him - it was stolen from US. Just like this one has been stolen from us -- and, again, it isn't we who hang out at internet discussion boards who are going to be hurt most by another 4 years of *.

It seemed to me that the Congressional Black Caucus was doing more than street theater. I would change my mind if someone showed me evidence that no Senator had actually been asked in advance of the session to sign on, but if they did approach Senators and ask then, I think their charges should have been taken much, much more seriously. Gore got the most votes & there was computer hacking involved in the stealing of the 2000 election (see Chapter 13 of Black Box Voting at http://www.blackboxvoting.org).

By the way - OldLeftieLawyer - what happens if a Senator and Congressman contest? Constitutional crisis? What could happen?

I don't know why he did it the way he did it - love and respect for the stability of the Republic over the integrity of the election process? I don't know. I wish, like you, that he'd put up some kind of fight, but he was beaten, and he knew it. Once the Supreme Court grabbed it out of the Florida state courts, Gore was screwed.

So, he just wanted it to be over. Maybe he was already downsliding into a depression. I don't know.

Like the Congressional Record, just about everything that goes on in that well is street theater. That's how it is, how it's always been, so please don't take any of it seriously. It's rhetoric and point-making and - yes - street theater. Nothing of any substance takes place there.

I don't know what would happen if it were contested. It would involve research, and, frankly, since I'm not getting paid my hourly rate, that falls under the category of "work," something I try with all my might to avoid.

But, maybe we'll find out, eh?

Has a Presidential election ever been contested before? What happened?

:shrug:

not an old historian.

But, since you're young and full of energy, I'd urge you to go find out and report back. It'd be interesting if there were some kind of precedent, don't you think?

Sadly it is past my bedtime and I must rise early to write and procter final exams tomorrow. I would complain some more, but - hey - I don't have to take the tests, so I might as well look on the bright side.

:-)

where's the moral fibers of these Senators...I don't care WHO tells me not to contest an election..if it is stolen, I will protest...shame on those democrats

...sold "one man one vote" out in order to preserve future electability. He "went along to get along." He should have forced them to drag the presidency from his hands, kicking and screaming, but he folded weakly, allowing the theft and preserving NO MARKER for history that this was theft.

Never again. Kerry seems to have done the same thing, already making noises about 2008.

No. Just say no. Wellstone it. Stand up, keep fighting.

happen again!!

thank you for this excellent post!


peace!

I think we should organize groups of DUers to visit our Senators' offices.

n/t

but he has been a loud critic of the Bush regime.
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And I think that we should do this en masse during the first week of January. Thousands of us.

I went to two rallies in the past two day. The biggest thing that was accomplished was getting hundreds of signatures on petitions that were hand delivered to Senator Boxer's office today. We need to make our Senators understand that they must represent us.

If you have the ability, get a petition started and go out and get signatures. The pugs did it to get a recall election here in CA, we need to step up and get Senator Boxer to make this stand. The e-mail petitions are great, but I think that stacks of paper with thousands of signatures will have a greater impact.