Worth Mulling Over

I'm not a conspiracy theorist of any type and I'm loath to go there, without the most compelling of reasons. I'm also not the type of person who likes to blame the refs for calls when my teams lose games.

Now, in 2000, there was no need for a conspiracy theory: the theft was right out in the open. Gore was the winner in Florida, particularly when you consider what happened with the butterfly ballot, etc. But that, at least, was clear, and instead was stymied by the Supreme Court in an outrageously partisan fashion.

But Ohio this year is a bit foggier. The numbers are what they are. (Or are they?) When rumblings started on the Internet and in various e-mails about questionable things that went on in Ohio, I read them, but didn't put much weight in them. I knew a lot of people who were on the ground in Ohio on election day, and they seemed to be agreeing that we just got beat, plain and simple.

But more and more just doesn't make sense to me about the results. On the one hand, it seems to be indisputable that there were (intentionally or not) many fewer voting machines in core Democratic areas and cities than in Republican areas. This discrepency caused long lines to vote (up to 8 HOURS!) in some Democratic areas, leading countless Democrats to go home without voting. That, my friends, is pretty sophisticated voter suppression, without having to resort to "challenges" at the polls.

But beyond that, which is no doubt significant, read this letter by the House Judiciary Democrats to Ohio Secretary of State Blackwell, asking 36 critical questions about the integrity of the election in Ohio this year. Even if you are a skeptic concerning such allegations, you should read it, and judge for yourself. Personally, it raises some pretty serious questions that deserve to be answered, whatever the answer may be.

Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that we're going to get those answers. Blackwell has refused to respond, claiming that the GAO and U.S. Department of Justice have sole jurisidiction in such matters. Rep. Conyers has written back, demonstrating why that's just hooey.

The unwillingness (or inability) to respond to these 36 questions may be more telling than any of the evidence that has been uncovered. But, as I said in my prior post, even if they stole it, there's not a damn thing we can do.

- posted by Joshua @ 1:51 PM