-Caveat Lector- CHALLENGING THE MYTH THAT BUSH WON: A CHRISTMASSY KIND OF COUP By Carla Binion Here comes junta Claus. There is nothing like a heartwarming bloodless coup d'etat to put that holiday feeling in the air. As we embrace George W., heal all dissent and sweep voting irregularities and racial discrimination under the rug, let's raise a glass of eggnog to Santa Claus. We take our myths seriously here. We are told our leaders know best, that the ruling class who own all the banks and hold all the self-appointed political offices should play a parental role. The Supreme Court has spoken, and the masses of us are to quake and kneel as if we were awed children and Daddy had just bellowed. However, democracy was not on its knees when abolitionists stood against slavery; when civil libertarians fought McCarthyism; when coal miners and steel workers stared down the robber barons' union busters. Why should we kneel to this obvious coup? Joseph Smitherman was first elected mayor of Selma, Alabama, as a segregationist. Over time he grew more moderate and even appointed nonwhite officials. Changes such as that do not just magically "happen." Smitherman changed in response to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, an act that doubled African-American voter participation. Leon Panetta believes in Santa Claus. Yesterday, Panetta, speaking for legions of alleged moderates, told Chris Matthews he believed in the myth that the Supreme Court judges would not be partisan in their decision. Panetta also said Democrats should not be divisive at this time but should rally around Bush, our mythical president-elect. Not only that, he said the whole country should perpetuate the Bush-actually-won myth with one voice and with convincing earnestness. Civil liberties and better government -- including women's rights, voting rights, improved conditions for labor -- were won by challenging the myths that prop up tyrants -- not perpetuating them. I am not talking about armed revolution or ignoring the rule of law. None of those civil liberties were won in that way. They came about because sufficient numbers of people called a myth a myth and took action to move political leaders of conscience to change existing laws. This bloodless coup, where we are likely installing a president who did not actually win the election, should not be cheerfully and mindlessly embraced. The achievements of the civil-rights movement, including The Voting Rights Act of 1965, mean nothing if in this election thousands of African-American votes are tossed out. African-Americans turned out in record numbers to vote in this election. What was the purpose if we allow the myth of the Bush win to stand? What was the purpose of the entire civil-rights struggle to gain voting rights if this myth stands? Powerful leaders will never change and bad laws will never be amended, unless the people challenge them. As Frederick Douglass said, "Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has, and it never will." Al Gore will concede today with appropriate bowing, scraping and puffery. He has no choice but to support the national myths and paternal rulers. If the abolitionists had caved this easily, we would still be contending with the Antebellum South. However, this election has less to do with Bush and Gore than with civil liberties and national conscience. In the aftermath of this all too noticeable Republican coup, people of conscience should: (1) Call the myth a myth. (2) Urge congressional Democrats to investigate allegations of racial discrimination and vote fraud in Florida. (3) Move to use the Freedom of Information Act in order to go ahead and count the ballots after the fact. We should do it now before the ballots are declared a matter of "national security" and sealed. Let the folks who believe in the Bush win, paternal leaders, a non-partisan judiciary and other national myths yammer on about unity and healing. Let the rest of us do the real work to make the myth of democracy a reality. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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