"Shallow
Throat" On Nov. Vote:
It's Now Or Never
By Bernard Weiner
09 August, 2006
Crisis
Papers
I
needed to talk to "Shallow Throat," to get some perspective
on the upcoming mid-term election, now 90 days away.
The GOP mole, a high-ranking
official in the Bush Administration, was on vacation, but I knew the
private cell-phone number, and we arranged to meet at an out-of-the-way
cove along the Connecticut shore. It was very hot, even at the beach.
Per usual, Shallow Throat
wasn't happy: "I can't believe your Democrat friends. They've got
issues staring them in the face with which they can beat the GOP candidates
over the head, and yet, by and large, they still appear disorganized,
timid, afraid to deal forthrightly with what's on most voters' minds:
the Iraq catastrophe, Bush's renewed attack on Social Security, the
huge trillion-dollar deficits that are stagnating the economy and hurting
the middle class, the lack of real homeland security, the demonstrated
incompetency of this Administration, and on and on.
"It boggles my mind.
With less than three months to go before midterm Voting Day, there still
is no massive national campaign to make this election a referendum on
the Bush Administration! Polls keep demonstrating that the American
people are way ahead of the politicians: They see Bush as a failure
as president and are ready to change the makeup of the House and maybe
even the Senate; in short, they see this election as a chance to express
their no-confidence vote in the corrupt, greedy, power-hungry Republicans.
"But the Democrats,
dazed and confused, refuse to unite and mount a vibrant national campaign
with which to connect, and shape, that public discontent. The Dems seem
incapable of going for the jugular. Instead, they're running individual
races in individual districts, mostly on local issues.
"Do you Democrats still
have your death wish? Can't you see that this may be your last chance
to take the country away from the extremists that have hijacked my party
and to start moving America back to the rational center?"
"SIX FOR '06"
IS MISSING IN ACTION
I countered: "But the
Democrats have started to move in that direction with their 'Six for
'06" campaign, the six major issues as their doable platform to
run on. They--"
Shallow Throat interrupted:
"Do you know any of your friends or neighbors that are even aware
of this feeble exercise? Where's the money behind this campaign? Where's
the publicity, the daily pounding of those talking points into the public
arena? Where are the high-level leaders and speakers touring the country?
Where are the network and cable ads? To me, it looks like your Dem friends
are counting on popular revulsion against Bush to do the work for them,
so they won't have to actually say something that could backfire on
them later. They think the polls showing a potential Dem sweep will
do the job for them, that they can sit back on their butts and watch
the Republicans implode."
"Well," I said,
"what would you have those national TV ads focus on, for example?"
"Let's just take the
most obvious one," said ST, dabbing on a bit more sunscreen. "The
American people as a whole, and most importantly the generals and colonels
inside the Pentagon, have made their judgment about the Iraq War: It
was a bad mistake, built on false information and outright lies; it's
unwinnable; it's time to develop a plan for getting us out of there.
Why can't your liberal friends devise a united position built around
what the American people already have decided? Are the Dems lazy? Afraid
of being accused of being 'unpatriotic' and 'not supporting the troops'?
Wanting to see if Murtha survives his Swift-Boat sliming before they
organize themselves? Waiting to see how badly Lieberman gets his ass
kicked before they move? Waiting for MoveOn to make exiting from Iraq
a major issue?"
THEFT AT THE POLLS
"Then there's the other
issue that the Democrats are avoiding as if it's toxic: electoral integrity.
Rove for the past three elections -- in 2000, 2002, and 2004 -- has
orchestrated dirty, corrupt campaigns, and has stolen elections in the
process, and yet the Democratic Party has said nary a word in official
objection. As usual, because they know the American people support their
issues more than they do the Republican issues, they think that automatically
transfers to the ballots as counted.
"But electoral-integrity
experts have demonstrated overwhelmingly that those elections were fiddled
with and manipulated to guarantee Republican victories in the various
states. Hundreds of thousands of likely Democratic voters in many states,
mostly in minority districts, were kicked off the precinct rolls in
advance; even if some of them ever got to vote, they were often given
provisional ballots, which tended not to get counted.
"Computer voting machines,
either by malfunction or deliberate manipulation, often kicked Democrat
votes over to the Republican candidates. Republican districts had many
working voting machines; Democrat districts had few machines available,
and many of those weren't working. In 2004 Ohio, for example, this meant
that working people had to stand in lines for up to 10 hours to vote;
many gave up and went back to their jobs. Black voters in urban areas
were warned that if they had any unpaid parking tickets, they'd be arrested
when they showed up at the polling stations, etc. etc.
"Did the Democrats,
as a party, register any official objections? Nope. It was left to mavericks
like Rep. John Conyers to convene unofficial hearings and issue an unofficial
final report on the electoral crimes carried out. The one person who
could have made this a major issue, the Dems' 2004 Presidential candidate,
simply conceded early and disappeared from the scene of the crime. Unconscionable!
And Kerry now wants to run again, as if his activist base will ever
forgive him for his cowardice on this issue."
"But," I responded,
"various states have begun examining the voting procedures and
forcing reforms."
ELECTORAL SYSTEM
IS F.U.B.A.R.
"God, no wonder you
liberals keep getting rolled! You're in dreamland. Wake up and smell
the knives, my friend," said Shallow Throat, opening a Dos Equis
from a cooler. "First of all, most states will conduct their elections
in November in pretty much the same way as they have for the past three.
Second, in terms of voting processes, it's true that there are a few
states where citizen action and lawsuits have forced the authorities
to examine the built-in flaws and dangers of computer voting, but most
officials are operating out of ignorance and tend to accept what the
computer-machine companies tell them.
"Third, it's been demonstrated
time and time again that those machines are simple to enter and re-program,
without leaving any trace, but only a few states have mandated more
random testing and demanded verified voting receipts for possible recounts.
And speaking of counting, the votes are tabulated, usually away from
public view, on computers manufactured by the same Republican corporations
that make the voting machines.
"In short, the voting
system is genuinely FUBAR, just the way Rove wants it. And, even if
there were major campaigns in the states to fix the system -- and by
and large there are only a few serious ones -- the reforms won't be
in place by November. Which suggests that the Republicans in 2006 could
fiddle with results in just enough House or Senate races to keep the
Democrats in their current minority cages."
"You seem so pessimistic,"
I countered, "when all the polls and surveys indicate a probable
sweep of Democrats back into power in the House, and a shot at taking
the Senate as well. Doesn't that count for anything?"
GET READY FOR ROVE'S
SURPRISES
"Look," said ST,
adjusting the umbrella for more shade, "the will of the American
people has been violated regularly for six years. What makes you think
Rove and his minions won't do everything once again to stay in power
-- and, by extension, out of the federal slammer? They effectively control
the three branches of government, the mainstream media, and the election
system. They're firing up the fear machine as we speak, to make sure
their fundamentalist-Christian base shows up at on Election Day in huge
numbers, along with others lured to vote Republican on hyped-up 'social
conservative' issues like abortion, gay marriage, stem cell research,
terrorism, and so on, as well as admonitions to 'stay the course' in
Iraq and to support virtually everything that Israel does in the region.
"If Democrats think
the election is a lock," said ST, "not only are they gravely
mistaken, they are downright stupid as well. With Rove in charge, the
possibility of the fix being in can't be ignored. The Democrats will
have to win so overwhelmingly in key races that the Republicans won't
even dare try fiddling with the results. Plus, the Dems are going to
have to make sure exit-polling takes place everywhere, as another brake
on Republican shenanigans. And they should have attorneys in every state
and major contested districts prepared to go into court for judicial
oversight of corrupt voting and vote-counting practices."
"Anything else in your
glass-half-empty view?" I asked.
"Yes," said ST.
"Your Democrat colleagues have got to be prepared to deal with
the inevitable pre-election surprises -- say, war with Iran and/or Syria,
all that rally-'round-the-president-during-wartime spin, or an announcement
of a promised large 'withdrawal of American troops' from Iraq, or even
a major 'terrorist attack' inside the United States. I'm not saying
these things definitely will occur, but given the past history of Rove
and friends, they are not outside the realm of possibility. These guys
are desperate and will do anything to stay in power. Be prepared. And
get your liberal friends to get the stick out from -- just tell them
to get moving ASAP."
And with that, Shallow Throat
threw down the towel, and raced into the water. I stood there, sweat
dripping down my sides; I wasn't sure if it was from the temperature
or from fear.
Bernard Weiner, a poet and playwright, has had numerous
conversations with the Shallow
Throat character over the past few years. A Ph.D. in government
& international relations, Weiner has taught at universities in
Washington and California, worked as a writer-editor with the San Francisco
Chronicle, and currently co-edits The Crisis Papers (www.crisispapers.org).
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