At least three more US Marines died in Iraq over the weekend. For what? The neo-con wet dream of a Three Stooges Reich, yes, but anything else? Did they die for the America that this story points to? Was this kind of voter intimidation what they sacrificed their lives to protect? Here is an ugly glimpse into the greatest threat to your way of life, a greater threat than Al Qaeda, a greater threat job loss or the Federal deficit or even the Mega-Mogadishu in Iraq...Here is a painful, vivid example of why so many of us REFUSED to "get over it" in the wake of Fraudida 2000 debacle...Either commit
your lives, your fortunes and your sacred honors to an
Electoral Uprising in November 2004 or lose this
Republic, because just as surely as the sun rose this
morning, it is being cooked slowly like a frog in a
pot on a slow slimmer...so that the victim ("We, the
People...") will not know until it is too late...
Bob Herbert, New York Times: State police officers
have gone into the homes of elderly black voters in
Orlando and interrogated them as part of an odd
"investigation" that has frightened many voters,
intimidated elderly volunteers and thrown a chill over
efforts to get out the black vote in November.
The officers, from the Florida Department of Law
Enforcement, which reports to Gov. Jeb Bush, say they
are investigating allegations of voter fraud that came
up during the Orlando mayoral election in March.
Officials refused to discuss details of the
investigation, other than to say that absentee ballots
are involved. They said they had no idea when the
investigation might end, and acknowledged that it may
continue right through the presidential election...
The state police officers, armed and in plain clothes,
have questioned dozens of voters in their homes. Some
of those questioned have been volunteers in
get-out-the-vote campaigns.
Thwart the Theft of a Second Presidential Election,
Show Up for Democracy in 2004: Defeat Bush (again!)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/16/opinion/16herbert.html?hp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 16, 2004
OP-ED COLUMNIST
Suppress the Vote?
By BOB HERBERT
he big story out of Florida over the weekend was the
tragic devastation caused by Hurricane Charley. But
there's another story from Florida that deserves our
attention.
State police officers have gone into the homes of
elderly black voters in Orlando and interrogated them
as part of an odd "investigation" that has frightened
many voters, intimidated elderly volunteers and thrown
a chill over efforts to get out the black vote in
November.
The officers, from the Florida Department of Law
Enforcement, which reports to Gov. Jeb Bush, say they
are investigating allegations of voter fraud that came
up during the Orlando mayoral election in March.
Officials refused to discuss details of the
investigation, other than to say that absentee ballots
are involved. They said they had no idea when the
investigation might end, and acknowledged that it may
continue right through the presidential election.
"We did a preliminary inquiry into those allegations
and then we concluded that there was enough evidence
to follow through with a full criminal investigation,"
said Geo Morales, a spokesman for the Department of
Law Enforcement.
The state police officers, armed and in plain clothes,
have questioned dozens of voters in their homes. Some
of those questioned have been volunteers in
get-out-the-vote campaigns.
I asked Mr. Morales in a telephone conversation to
tell me what criminal activity had taken place.
"I can't talk about that," he said.
I asked if all the people interrogated were black.
"Well, mainly it was a black neighborhood we were
looking at - yes,'' he said.
He also said, "Most of them were elderly."
When I asked why, he said, "That's just the people we
selected out of a random sample to interview."
Back in the bad old days, some decades ago, when
Southern whites used every imaginable form of
chicanery to prevent blacks from voting, blacks often
fought back by creating voters leagues, which were
organizations that helped to register, educate and
encourage black voters. It became a tradition that
continues in many places, including Florida, today.
Not surprisingly, many of the elderly black voters who
found themselves face to face with state police
officers in Orlando are members of the Orlando League
of Voters, which has been very successful in
mobilizing the city's black vote.
The president of the Orlando League of Voters is Ezzie
Thomas, who is 73 years old. With his demonstrated
ability to deliver the black vote in Orlando, Mr.
Thomas is a tempting target for supporters of George
W. Bush in a state in which the black vote may well
spell the difference between victory and defeat.
The vile smell of voter suppression is all over this
so-called investigation by the Florida Department of
Law Enforcement.
Joseph Egan, an Orlando lawyer who represents Mr.
Thomas, said: "The Voters League has workers who go
into the community to do voter registration, drive
people to the polls and help with absentee ballots.
They are elderly women mostly. They get paid like $100
for four or five months' work, just to offset things
like the cost of their gas. They see this political
activity as an important contribution to their
community. Some of the people in the community had
never cast a ballot until the league came to their
door and encouraged them to vote."
Now, said Mr. Egan, the fear generated by state police
officers going into people's homes as part of an
ongoing criminal investigation related to voting is
threatening to undo much of the good work of the
league. He said, "One woman asked me, 'Am I going to
go to jail now because I voted by absentee ballot?' "
According to Mr. Egan, "People who have voted by
absentee ballot for years are refusing to allow
campaign workers to come to their homes. And
volunteers who have participated for years in
assisting people, particularly the elderly or
handicapped, are scared and don't want to risk a
criminal investigation."
Florida is a state that's very much in play in the
presidential election, with some polls showing John
Kerry in the lead. A heavy-handed state police
investigation that throws a blanket of fear over
thousands of black voters can only help President
Bush.
The long and ugly tradition of suppressing the black
vote is alive and thriving in the Sunshine State.
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