--- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Here's wishing the U.S. well on election day. I have > no idea how this one is going to turn out, but hope > for the best, as I'm sure many here do. > > But just in case things don't turn out the way we > hope, I think it's about time to remember a wise > quote by Joseph Stalin, "Those who cast the votes > decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide > everything," and throw those Diebold machines back > into the swamp they emerged from.
Actually, it's likely to be more "Those who decide who votes and who doesn't decide everything." Voter suppression of various kinds has been going on all across the U.S. One of the more egregious examples is the Republicans' massive "robocall" effort, in which voters are robodialed and hear a recorded message. The messages begin, in a very upbeat tone of voice, "I'm calling with information about [name of Democratic candidate]." Then there's a little pause, after which the message proceeds to say very negative, and frequently dishonest, things about the candidate. Many voters hang up after the first sentence. If they do, the robodialer immediately dials their number *again* with the same message, over and over, up to a dozen times in some cases, or until the voter listens through the message to the end (at which point it says it was paid for by the Republican National Congressional Committee). In some cases these calls come in in the middle of the night or the wee hours of the morning. But voters who hang up after the first sentence are very likely to think the message comes from the Democratic candidate; and when they're called over and over, one call right after the other, they'll assume the candidate is harassing them. If they don't hang up, of course, they hear the negative message about the candidate. So the robocallers win either way. Democratic candidates' campaign offices have been virtually swamped with complaints, with voters saying they aren't going to vote for the candidate because they've been so infuriated by the repeated calling. Some will vote for the Republican out of spite, others won't vote at all. This is going on all over the country in an obviously coordinated manner. Democratic candidates have been using robocalling as well, but they've been playing by the rules, calling voters only once with a given message, and announcing at the beginning who is responsible for it. There have been no reports that I've seen of Democrats doing it the way the Republicans are. Some of the newspapers have had articles on this, including the NYTimes and the Washington Post, but none of the network news broadcasts have covered it (cable channels CNN and MSNBC have, the latter at some length last night on Keith Olbermann's Countdown). There is no question that this is a massive vote- suppression tactic by the Republicans. But there are hundreds of others going on as well. And God only knows what's going on with the voting machines. But the voter suppression by itself is enough to swing the tight elections (of which there are many). To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
