Editorial:
Even Now To Be Free
You vote. You listen for indications of how other people around you voted. You can't wait for the polls to close so you can start hearing results. You become more convinced that this is the day for which you've waited so long.
As the night of November 7 comes to fullness, results start to come in. They look good. Not as spectacular as you had hoped, but good.
You stay up. Networks start making projections of winners. It's not what you had thought would happen.
Republicans are winning House races all over the country. Republicans are winning Senate races all over the country. Republicans are winning everywhere they couldn't possibly have won. You go to bed in a state of utter despair.
When you awaken on November 8, almost hoping against hope, you turn on the television to see if it's really like what you remember from the night before.
It is. The Republicans have retained and even expanded their control of the House. They have won Senate seats where they should have lost, and they have taken a couple more they shouldn't have won. Several governorships have gone from Democrats to Republicans.
GOP faces are all over the TV, smirking, waving, smugly preening themselves before the cameras, talking about the "future," "the people's vote of confidence," and all manner of other sound bites that make you just sick to your stomach.
Yes, an election has been stolen. Again.
What, exactly, was it that you thought would happen? That the Republicans would play fair? That the rigged electronic machines, the tainted software, and their corrupted manufacturers from 2000 and 2004 had all simply vanished into thin air?
That the party of a President who had committed all manner of crimes both personally and by proxy through his subordinates would simply let all Hell break loose in a free-for-all hanging that could very well include humiliating disclosures, removals from office, and even prison terms?
That a party corrupted to its core even as it is insanely convinced of the rightness of its vision would merely stand down and let that vision of the Republic get savaged in such a way that it might be generations before people once again would forget how wretched that vision always turns out to be in practice?
Yeah, right.
Hope is for the blind. Trust is for the foolhardy. Optimism is for idiots.
You knew that all along, now didn't you?
So what's a person to do?
Here's the best way to deal with the awful scenario described above.
Give up now. Don't bother to vote; it's obvious that your vote will be wiped out anyway. Don't even bother to watch the election returns coming in; they'll just depress you. Get up the next morning and do something nice for yourself; that's what matters in a world gone mad.
Maybe down the road in a few days when you can better face the debacle that happened on November 7, write an angry letter to the editor. If you have a blog, post some vitriol. Write some angry sentiments in comments at other people's blogs.
Get it out of your system and then move on. It's over for democracy, so just deal with it.
Good choice all the way around.
Now, let me tell you what I'm going to be doing.
I'm going to spend every day between now and November 7 busting my ass to see that every son of a bitch in the Republican Party gets kicked out of office on Election Day. I'm going to stand right in people's faces, and I'm going to be telling them just what I think. I'm going to get on the horn, and I'm going to talk until I can't talk anymore.
I'm going to be calling Secretaries of State in as many states as I can, and I'm going to make myself the biggest pain in the ass their staffs have ever encountered. I'm going to ask who's who at the precinct level; who knows what about how many voting machines are in each and every precinct. I'm going to want to know where the voting locations are or where I can find out.
Then I'm going to call local election officials. I'm going to go to polling places. I'm going to take my cell phone and my camera with me. I'm going to spend as much time as I can making sure that everyone knows that at least one person is watching. Anyone who gets in my way will be made famous on the Internet, and I'll tell that to anyone who acts like I'm some kind of irrelevant intrusion.
I'll pick up the phone, I'll pick up my feet, I'll pick up some extra-strong coffee, and I'll get to work. Anyone who wants to join me can; but don't act like I'm some kind of embarrassment. Get with me or get out of the way. Please.
And on November 7, I'll vote. I'll also drive people to the polling stations. I'll also be keeping an eye on those polling stations to see if any voting machine "repairmen" show up who want to be on no fewer than three large blogs read by people across the planet.
And on the night of November 7, I'll watch the returns like some people watch their dinner cooking in the microwave.
In other words, from now until the end of the night on November 7, 2006, I'll have my hope, and by God! I'll have it in spades because I'll make it with my own two hands.
And on November 8, if the election goes to the Republicans, I shall set aside that hope, and I'll replace it with rage. No, I won't write letters to the editor; no, I won't write about my depression here on this blog; and no, I won't go out and buy myself something nice to numb the pain of having once and for all lost any prayer of a democratic America.
I will take to the streets, and I will do so with the certain knowledge that I have nothing whatsoever to lose because I will have already lost that which is so compellingly important to me: my citizenship in a free and democratic country. Anyone who wants to join me on that terrible day is welcome, but I won't be particularly sympathetic when the bitching starts about how rough it gets. I won't be in the mood to hear people who are still surprised that those who run this country are vicious.
Hope against all hope from now through November 7; then bitter anger fleeing to the refuge of even greater rage should November 8 dawn in the blackness of continued, unfettered, unendable Republican rule.
To live without hope and then die without cause is never to have been free. Once upon a time, I lived as a free person in a free country.
But you'll have to choose your own way.
And then, of course, you'll get to live and die as that choice has dictated.
It's your call.
The Dark Wraith has spoken.
Published 11/03/2006 12:05:00 AM
<< 30 Comments Total
Well said, and good luck.
I'm a Brit, so I can't vote.
But this is so important. Not just for the US.
Contributor
new slogan:
"Got Ammo?"
Good Morning Dark Wraith,
Well spoken oh noble one. We must hold fast to hope, and work to see that hope become reality. And even if by some quirk of fate this election isn't stolen outright but a slim majority is gained by the Democratic party we must steel ourselves to continue the struggle to regain all that has been stolen from us. The corporate powers that are behind our government would find it extremely amusing to present the American people with new names and faces that wear the Democratic label but continue with the same agenda as the Republicans.
I will join you in the streets. I haven't kept my mouth shut since before the 2000 election. I have alienated people who thought I was crazy and now cannot face me since it worked out exactly as I predicted. This does not make me happy.
I have written on this subject several times, I don't believe that Nov 8 is going to be all that we want. They can't let go, they won't give up power. The real question is, how far will they go to stay in power?
Methinks I wish I had exercised my right to bear arms.
right on in spades!!!!!!! one of my early blog posts was a bit about the historical tension between rulers and ruled. i allowed as how the situation was nearly dire, but not quite ready for us peasants to storm the castle with pitchforks and torches. if november 7 unfolds as you predict it may, and i agree that it may, it is indeed time to take it to the streets.
Good morning, Dark Wraith.
Like Roger, I agree with you that the time has almost come when taking to the streets will be our only option. Clauswitz said that "War is the continuation of politics by other means." This government will rob us of our democracy at their peril, because by doing so they will leave us with no choice but to explore "other means."
They know this. Hence the suspension of habeus corpus and the passage of martial law legislation. They're girding for a fight, because they know what's coming.
The kicker is that even if the Dems win they aren't really going to do anything to fix the fundamental problems that have made the last six years possible. It's just a matter of time, really.
Good Morning My Friends:
I just found out that my little country place is not found on Mapquest or even google earth. I'm liking that right about now. Of course, you'll all need to learn how to ride and handle flintlocks.
I'm just sayin is all.
The Dark Wraith has spoken.
And well at that, again. Wish a few of the sheep would follow, 'cause at least then there's a chance of turning the herd. Certainly no stampede is in the works, but a slow walk to the other side of the fence would be heart warming.
Hope is for the blind. Trust is for the foolhardy. Optimism is for idiots.
And action is for those who care.
Well said, and good luck with the struggle.
Remember that most of us North of you are cheering for you.
And if the democratic Party wins, get on the horn and demand a return to paper ballots.
A little friday humor: Votagra
Wish a few of the sheep would follow...
Today, they follow liars, thieves, and murderers. When the wind changes--if it does--they will follow those with more of the "common good" on their minds and in their hearts.
Sheep always follow; that is why they are called "sheep."
Good evening, Dark Wraith.
Wow! Just wow! What a great article. I'm with Debra - in her sentiment, Methinks I wish I had exercised my right to bear arms.
Well, Wraith, if the Republicans maintain their majorities, it sure kinda shoots my theory in the ass that they've been doing everything they can to throw the election--with the compliance and complicity of the main stream media. Why else all these highlighted stories about Republican-related dumshittery?:
Foleygate, Haggardgate, the Cheney/waterboarding comment, the resignation of Ney, the high G.I. death toll in October, the collapsing housing market, and so on. Why haven't these stories been buried, which the MSM has been so at in the past?
Or is it some kind of reverse-reverse psychology? Is the MSM trying to send a message to the Democratic voters: "It looks so good for the Democrats, we don't even need to vote"?
Why would Republicans (at least the head bozos) be trying to throw the election? So they can then blame the hideous decayed rotten shitmess that will ensue for the next two years on the Democrats, and thus ensure the election of a Republican to the White House in '08.
Wraith - first I need to say that - that little voice in my head which is rarely wrong is convinced that you wouldn't have (you couldn't have) done what I previously thought you did. I just don't think it is in your character. I'm not insane though, lol, and right now I need to focus on this election - afterwards, I will send you the information that I have. Please accept my apologies if I offended you.
That being said...Wraith, I am with you all the way. I will do everything I can to get out the vote, to pester our leaders (letting them know that they better play fair) and to document election wrongdoing.
Although that little voice in my head says they are positively going to be rigging machines and shredding and blocking votes in many states, I still have HOPE that we can make a difference in enough states to prevail.
But this is the last time I rely on HOPE; if they steal this election, I vow for my children's future and for my country that I will join you in the streets. And I don't care how rough it gets, I will not back down.
By the way, while Bush is an obvious moron, many of his string-pullers are not, and they know full well what is going to happen if half of America believes this next election is stolen - which is why they passed some of the tyrannical laws they recently passed and also why they have built concentration camps all over the county. You just don't build concentration camps on a whim. They are expecting something big and very bad to happen and they know why too.
That's all I am going to say.
Wraith - I just submitted your article to shoutwire.com. A few days ago I submitted an article of mine and I got over 5,000 shoutwire visitors. And your article is way better than I have ever done. I only hope I wrote a good enough teaser. Go to the following URL if you want to see and shout for your article. One thing, sometimes they remove an article so if it's not there, you know what happened.
http://tinyurl.com/yhduc7
I am going to email you the shout javascript code if you want to post a shout button.
Everybody, go to that shoutwire link, shout this great summing up and plan of Wraiths and comment too.
Bye, I'm off to try submitting to FARK. Wish me luck.
Good evening, rcg.
Yes, do send me that e-mail so I can take appropriate action. I shall do the usual tracebacks and other work, and then send the results on to the attorney who is working with me on squeezing some ad spammers and their Web hosts.
Anyway, to more relevant matters, I am hopeful that a legion of Democratic and other liberal activists will be at the polls on November 7. As much as anything else, the very presence of active witnesses will have its own deterrent effect on some types of vote-suppression activities.
Of no small importance in this regard is the plan by Republicans in some districts to have those sleezy voter qualification "challengers" slithering around at the polling sites trying to intimidate people. My own method in this regard is to simply walk up to them with my camera and take their pictures. I'll make sure a policeman is nearby when I do it. Any trouble they make will result in immediate, on-the-spot charges being filed against them. I am most definitely not in the mood to mess around.
They've had their fun being the school-yard bullies for six years; now it's their turn to get the swirlies. If my life experience is any indication of what's going to happen, school-yard bullies are great on offense but have a really hard time with defense: they tend to stick to offensive tactics even when they need to go to defensive mode (with which they are entirely unfamiliar), and that's where they'll get their come-uppance. My bet is that they'll get physical even in the presence of law enforcement officers, which will ensure their removal.
So, yes, I expect trouble; and, yes, I'm so looking forward to it.
And as far as getting myself a bloody nose or two, which is a real possibility when thugs run amok are in the mix, if I remember my old days properly, a bloody nose is pretty fun if I get to have some bloody knuckles with it.
Now, mind you, do I think it's going to be that bad? As a matter of fact, I didn't think anything like that could happen in good ol' America back in 1980, the first time I saw it with my own eyes.
That time, it happened right in front of police officers, who let it happen.
But that was in Columbus, Ohio, which has always been a place where political thugs get a lot of support from the uniformed variety. (The time the Columbus cops towed away hundreds of cars of attendees at a Leftist poet's poetry reading was a bit over the top, though, if you ask me.)
I'm hoping for fun. With my luck, though, I'll probably get nothing more exciting than having to figure out how to stuff five full-sized adults into my truck to get them to the polling station.
The Dark Wraith should probably do something between now and Tuesday about the boxes of books and other stuff in the back seat.
Good evening, Peter.
There is an obvious logic to the Republicans wanting to throw this election, and even a few of the more intellectual among them (god, but 'Republican' and 'intellectual' in the same sentence is creepy) have said as much.
The kicker, though, is how much the Republicans—especially those in the White House—have to lose if the Democrats take over the House of Representatives. In the short run, the Senate is not nearly as important, even though it is arguably more so in the long run: the House has historically always been the more raucous, unbridled chamber, and it is there that the brutal hearings would be held that could lead to the embarrassing disclosures, which could lead to some really bad political damage as well as to a whole lot of indictments.
Even though at the top of the food chain, the Department of Justice is highly politicized in this Administration, not too far down, the federal law enforcement apparatus is still quite objective (with a hint of bias, I should note, toward going after people that progressives are quite happy to see nailed to the wall).
In my judgment, 2008 might very well be an election the Republicans would prefer not to sweep; but at this point, the damage to the Republicans from the Democrats taking over could ensure a really rough couple of years ahead.
That is, of course, if the Democrats have a spine they were just keeping in a safety deposit box these past six years, which I somewhat suspect is the case.
We'll just have to see.
The Dark Wraith will bring popcorn to the coming two-year must-see-TV event.
Good evening, Old White Lady.
Concerning the bearing of arms, I might want to offer a bit of caution, there.
If Minstrel Boy and I do get together, it might be best to stay in another county for a few weeks.
Two old men with lots of whiskey and large-calibre black powder rifles is a prescription for something to get hurt real bad.
The Dark Wraith should probably stock up on Kevlar and medical gauze before heading out to Arizona.
Good evening, Minstrel Boy.
All I ask for is indoor plumbing. Having spent the latter part of my youth living where an outhouse was the toilet and buckets dipped into the cistern were the shower, I've been working pretty hard my whole life not to end up spending my last years on this good Earth back quite that far into the rustic lifestyle. Even in the Army, I can't recall a latrine ever smelling as bad as an old outhouse on a 100-degree day.
You wanna talk about opening a creaky door and getting bitch-slapped. That was where I learned how to say, "Gawddamn!" and mean it.
The Dark Wraith reminisces fondly.
The Dark Wraith just realized it's getting awfully late, so it's time for a bit of a nap.
To use a phrase from our youth, right on! We all must, as you say, DW, do what we can. I will be sitting at a precinct in the Richmond, VA area to ensure that people are not turned away from the polls.
See you in the streets.
Good morning Dark Wraith,
I am on pins and needles. I am worried about what will take place in just a few days time. But I know I am not alone.
I have been in the streets. to protest, I have been in the streets to stand up for what is right. I am not afraid to protect those I love. I know how to load and fire my weapon if needed. I will fight them with my last breath and take a few of them with me if it comes down to it. I might be a treehugger but I am not a pacifist in this war against humanity. I wasn't during the Vietnam war and although I am older, I am fucking far wiser than I was back then. Let the muthafuckas bring it on..I am ready this time.
May Peace be with us soon, because if not..its gonna get real ugly real fast.
Good morning, Dark Wraith.
What an interesting Quoth the Dark Wraith.
Where's the channel changer? This whole pre-Election week has a corny script.
Of course, I happen to have the answer. For a different reason, I previously posted a photo of a channel changer. How nice you gave me the opportunity to link to it.
Sorry... I really could not resist.
In one of your comments, you mentioned having to use an outhouse back when. That brings back memories, too. In the boonies, the moonless nights were inky black. A flashlight had to be used to follow the path. Those night visits to the outhouse were the scariest. It's a wonder we never had to have the rabies shots.
Good Morning Dark Wraith:
The water system out here is something that I'm extremely proud of. I too feel that since I spent so much of my youth without plumbing, and so much of my young adult years crawling flithy around various jungles there are certain compromises that I just will not make any longer. We have our own well out here, the windmill that pumps the water to the cistern also generates electricity (which is used to then zap any bugs or other non-drinkable thingies in said water) and sends it through a reverse-osmosis unit before it hits the pipes. The septic system is set up so that the leeching mostly happens far away from the house and other inhabitabed places. The water is heated mainly by the sun (sunlight being something that is never in short supply in arizona). Between the wind and the sun there is more power generated than would normally be used. Over at Shake's I mentioned in a comment that I was very tempted to pull on my buckskins and carry my flintlock to the polling place (I already voted by mail so this was pure fantasy) and when the workers at the poll began to ask for the various and sundry ID's that the new "Return of Jim Crow" laws here in AZ require I would just glare at them. I ran that scenario by a friend of mine back in California who is a video producer and he has set his minions to work on a script about a frontiersman who tries to exercise rights he thought to be inalienable. It might become a decent short film.
I assure you that all amenities are not only available out here they work very well. After five or so years spent crawling about the boonies my idea of roughing it is now sheets with a thread count below 300.
Hi, Dark Wraith,
I think that for the GOP to actually gain seats would be too obvious for even these dimwits to attempt. If they do control the election machinery to that extent, I would expect both houses of Congress to show Democratic gains, but short of a majority in both houses. I (and no doubt others) would still conclude that the election was a fraud, but that result might be plausible enough to keep any street demonstrations down to what they would consider a manageable level.
Good evening, nightshift66.
That's an interesting scenario, one I had thought about in terms of the allocation of "wins" by Republicans. If they were to pull it off that way, the vote riggers would have to decide in what races they would sacrifice Republican candidates to the will of the voters, and in what other races they would deliberately alter the outcomes to ensure that the majority control of both houses of Congress stayed squarely in the hands of the GOP.
The only thing I should note is that I don't think the vote rigging architecture is sophisticated enough to allocate wins and losses like that. From what I've studied about the manipulations and how final tallies came out in 2004, for the most part the fraud is actually not all that fancy in terms of how the votes are flipped. It looks to me like a straight-forward, random re-assignment of a certain percentage of the votes for Democrats to the other side. It's probabilistic on a small scale, but even over a few thousand votes, outcomes would be certain provided there wasn't a landslide against the Republican.
That's what I'm relying on as far as that word "hope" goes. Changing one of every three Democratic votes to Republican would ensure a Republican victory only within certain limits, but would fail to provide such assurance were the Democratic vote to overwhelm the re-assignment parameter.
You are correct that modest gains by Democrats would very likely cool a lot of would-be protesters' desire to take to the streets, and that worries me greatly. Fraud is fraud, and the goal is to kick the Republicans out of the majority in at least the House of Representatives (but more desirably, to kick them out of majority control of both the House and the Senate). Nothing is gained if the Republicans still hold majority control. Nothing.
We'll just have to keep our eyes on the election, hope for the best, and prepare for the worst.
The Dark Wraith hasn't been this excited since he accidentally reversed the cables when he was jump-starting his truck last week.
Good (Sunday) morning, Dark Wraith.
First (and having to do with absolutely nothing else in the current post), THANK YOU for maintaining civility in "the tubes". It's quite refreshing to be able to read post after post without obscenity or scatological references to those frickin -- err, excuse me, I meant "those deluded" republicans.
Second, I took the liberty of posting several excerpts from your post and comments at my place (with attribution, of course). Given how quickly you responded last time I asked, I hope you don't mind.
Third, academia's gain is the nation's loss. We could do MUCH worse than to have a politician as erudite as you are. Are you sure you won't consider changing careers?
Good morning, Andrew.
Thank you for the link and quotes from the article and comments here.
I have some interesting information that started coming to me last night. I need to get some documentation, but it looks like Tuesday's going to be fun in a couple of states, including Ohio. As I said, though, I'm waiting for some back-up documentation to get a handle on what sounds right now to me like something interesting the Republicans are pulling. This gambit might have been done before, but it's news to me, at least in this formalized fashion about which I've been informed.
I have no idea whether or not what the Republicans are doing is unlawful, but it sounds a little naughty.
Good Heavens, but I love politics, especially when there's even the slightest chance that the outcome could be good for a decent surge of adrenalin.
The Dark Wraith really needs to figure out how to distill coffee into a paste-on food supplement.
I don't know about a paste-on supplement, but I always thought running an IV tube from my Mr Coffee straight into my arm sounded like a good idea. I can just imagine Johnny and Roy on "Emergency": "Maxwell House, IV push, stat, roger, thank you Rampart".
Speaking of which, my mug seems to be empty.
After the last go-round, where the Ohio Secretary of State promised to deliver Ohio to Bush, nothing would surprise me.
Just found your blog first time--great post--total agreement here!
Buy me something nice, too.