--- In [email protected], "authfriend" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <no_reply@> 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).
"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." I got the Democrat robo calls against Santorum and Sherwood at least 20 times each on each of 2 phone lines. You got a report now. JohnY 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/
