Posted on 11/01/2004 9:59:30 PM PST by GeronL
Unfortunately, it appears that when Elizabeth Edwards speaks some people actually listen. This sad fact might be innocuous enough if the aspiring Second Lady were trading parenting or dieting tips. But instead semi-reformed former Deaniacs and Kucinich Kids seem to have latched onto Edwards' recent promise to a worried supporter that post-election riots will not wrack the nation -- so long as the Kerry-Edwards ticket walks away with it.
The suggestion, of course, is that there indeed will be riots if John F. Kerry's boyhood dreams of ascending to his rightful position as ruler of the universe are squashed by the result of today's voting. It is just such a scenario for which a group called No Stolen Elections is currently preparing. The newly-minted organization has already gotten more than 17,000 of the young and restless to sign the following pledge:
I remember the stolen presidential election of 2000 and I am willing to take action in 2004 if the election is stolen again. I support efforts to protect the right to vote leading up to and on Election Day, November 2nd. If that right is systematically violated, I pledge to join nationwide protests starting on November 3rd, either in my community, in the states where the fraud occurred or in Washington DC.
Among the better known John Hancocks adorning this pledge are those of Jesse Jackson, Michael Moore, Gloria Steinem, Howard Zinn, AFL-CIO Organizing Director Stewart Acuff, NAACP chairman Julian Bond, Daniel Ellsberg, Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb, and Barbara Ehrenreich, fresh from a stint as a New York Times substitute columnist. Oh, and clearly we wouldn't want to forget Adrienne Maree Brown, the dignified leader of the League of Pissed Off Voters.
So what exactly are these folks planning to make sure that "an unelected President does not enter the White House, like last time"? Well, the group has first of all established a "Fair Elections Advisory Council" of "international elections experts" to make a call on Election Day as to whether the vote was "stolen" again or not. If it has been -- and, let's face it, what are the chances any "international elections experts" are going to certify a Bush victory as just? -- No Stolen Elections will call its "Urgent Response Network" into action, "to converge in the states where the most serious fraud occurred, as well as in Washington DC." And the group is promising to make Florida circa 2000 look like a picnic.
"One thing that was missing from our side, but not from the conservative side, in 2000 was street heat," Steve Cobble writes on the group's website. "The GOP had their bourgeois riots, and their crowds were consistently bigger and more vocal, which helped frame in the media's mind the sense that their side had been wronged because Bush had won but Gore would not give up…We encourage people to work for regime change at home all day on November 2nd, election day, and then prepare to return to the streets on November 3rd (and perhaps beyond), at predetermined, symbolic, convenient locally-chosen sites."
All right, let's say what needs to be said: How bad can today's America really be if lazy lefty agitators can "work for regime change at home"? That's a pretty sweet gig compared to the depravities visited upon real activists with actual spines in countries such as Cuba -- a country, it is worth noting, the American hard-left continues to romanticize. Beyond that bit of absurdity, however, note that if Kerry wins the group has no interest in "counting every vote." Instead they suggest gathering instead to "celebrate Bush's involuntary retirement while also setting out a strong statement on the war in Iraq." Clearly, it is not the number of votes that concerns No Stolen Election, but the outcome. Are they interested in voter fraud if it results in a Kerry victory? Nope. These defenders of democracy will be too busy partying in the streets to riot over that.
In fact, No Stolen Elections' biggest fear seems to be that the saner elements in the Democratic Party will accept defeat. Cobble criticizes Gore for holding back activists in 2000, noting, "This was a mistake, and we don't believe the African American community or the unions will be willing to follow the campaign's lead again." Instead, Cobble said the activists will be in charge of these recounts.
"We must prod the Democratic Party to stand up this time, not just watch events occur in silence, as was largely the case in 2000," he writes. "We must encourage the few remaining respected blue-ribbon truth-tellers in our society to stand up and be counted -- people like Walter Cronkite, Jimmy Carter, Oprah Winfrey."
Oh, great. The inmates really are running the Democratic asylum this year, and they want to crown Jimmy Carter and Oprah Winfrey emperor and empress of U.S. elections. If we allow them to run the country, it won't be good for anyone. Before it's over George W. Bush could be in Siberian exile, while the much-despised Ralph Nader is forced to drive laps in a Ford Pinto while jeering activists hurl obscenities and tomatoes at him.
Brace yourself America. The aftermath of this election could be much worse than a floor covered in formerly hanging chads.
Don't they realize they could fall down and break a hip?
Pledge of Action to Stop A Stolen Election
"I remember the stolen presidential election of 2000 and I am willing to take action in 2004 if the election is stolen again. I support efforts to protect the right to vote leading up to and on Election Day, November 2nd. If that right is systematically violated, I pledge to join nationwide protests starting on November 3rd, either in my community, in the states where the fraud occurred, or in Washington DC."
Initial signatories:
Stewart Acuff - Organizing Director, AFL-CIO
Fred Azcarate - Jobs with Justice
Patrick Barrett - RadFest: Midwest Social Forum
Brian Benford - Madison Common Council
Medea Benjamin - CodePink
Adrienne Maree Brown - League of Pissed Off Voters
Mike Brune - Rainforest Action Network
Dennis Brutus - poet
Andrea Buffa - Global Exchange
Linda Burnham - Women of Color Resource Center
Julian Bond - NAACP
Leslie Cagan - United for Peace and Justice
Tim Carpenter - Progressive Democrats of America
John Cavanagh - Institute for Policy Studies
Steve B. Cobble - political strategist
David Cobb - Green Presidential Nominee
Rev. James Demus - NAACP, Chicago
Charlie Derber - Boston College
Karen Dolan - Policy Studies & Cities for Peace
Theresa El-Amin - Southern Anti-Racism Network
Daniel Ellsberg - author
Barbara Ehrenreich - author
Larry Fahn - Sierra Club
Kathay Feng - Asian Pacific American Legal Center
Lisa Fithian - Root Activist Network of Trainers
Arun Gandhi - M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence
Ed Garvey - Fighting Bob Fest
Greg Gerritt - Friends of the Moshassuck
Ted Glick - National Coordinator, IPPN
Jim Goodman - Family Farm Defenders
Rev. Graylan Hagler - Ministers for Justice
Jody Grage Haug - Green Peace Action (GPAX)
Andy Heidt - Madison Common Council
Dolores Huerta - United Farm Workers
Rev. Jesse Jackson - Rainbow/PUSH
Reverend James Lawson - civil rights leader
Natalie Johnson Lee - Minneapolis City Council
Van Jones - Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
Rabbi Michael Lerner - Tikkun
Pete Karas - Racine Common Council
Brenda Konkel - President, Madison Common Council
Doug La Follette - Wisconsin Secretary of State
Barbara Lubin - Middle East Children's Alliance
Ben Manski - Liberty Tree
Jessica Marshall - National Youth and Student Peace Coalition
Elizabeth Martinez - Institute for Multiracial Justice
Mike McCabe - Wisconsin Democracy Campaign
Robert McChesney - Free Press
Michael Moore - Author
Holly Near - singer-songwriter
John Nichols - writer
Maya O'Connor - Labor Greens Network
Jamala Rogers - Organization for Black Struggle, St. Louis
Rebecca Rotzler - Alder, New Paltz
Marc Sanson - Co-Chair, Green Party of the US
Renee Saucedo - La Raza Centro Legal
John Sellers - Ruckus Society
Charles Shaw - Newtopia Magazine
Jane Slaughter - Labor Notes
Eleanor Smeal - Feminist Majority
Damu Smith - founder, Black Voices for Peace
Starhawk - activist and writer
Gloria Steinem - author and feminist activist
Ajita Talwalker - United States Students Association
Chuck Turner - Boston City Council
Chris Vaeth - This Time We're Watching
Rabbi Arthur Waskow - The Shalom Center
Jason West - Mayor, New Paltz NY
Bob Wing - War Times
Dean Zimmermann - Minneapolis City Council
Howard Zinn - historian
I wish no lasting harm to any of them. Me, I'd be happy to watch a few of 'em get a few doses of medium-velocity concentrated skunk musk. Woo doggies, that stuff stinks. It's like someone burning a pencil eraser and holding it under your nose.
Stonedog: Lock and load!
HarryCaul: In the words of their candidate..."bring it on".
Cogadh na Sith: S'right... We've got the guns.
excalibur21: They should be afraid.
rem22-250: Bring Em on!.....I'm kind of getting excited now!...:)
Stopislamnow: Bring it you godless leftist commies
DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet: Bring it, you leftist punks.
There are certain parallels.
Dennis is quite right in that.
We can possibly look into a 3-4 hour window of opportunity. Will that be enough time?
Hey, you know who signed that statement on Nov3.us?
Doug La Follette - Wisconsin Secretary of State
Is that legal?
oh...I am soooo afraid....
not!
So long as Bush wins, the Democrats can burn down all of Detroit and L.A. and I'll sleep soundly!!!!!
Exactly. Just the words "Kerry administration" together make me ill.
Stop this, America! Re-elect Bush today!
Excuse me, I am freaking sick of this LIE from the PIT that W did not WIN the election. He darn well did, and even GORE himself knows it. What LIARS!
Pretty bold for a party that has not yet done away with 2nd Ammendment yet.
It is an extremely valid comparison, especially considering today's Leftists' thug tactics and threats of mob violence.
God help this nation if they prevail. Then we will need to hide our guns until their fascist regime can be overthrown.
"It is time for these useless idiots to grow up and accept responsibility. Hell some of them are in their sixties for Godsake..."
(Nodding head in agreement) you just have to visit the DU board and see the mindset of some of these people. (Now a head shake in amazement at their way of thinking)
LOL...or would that be "A few greased hippies"?
No sure ... but I'm guessing it could cause him problems should the riot the streets
I'd be more concerned of vandalism brought upon people's homes who have Bush Cheney signs in the yard. And of course this will mean an excellent chance that someone will get shot which of course will spiral downward into the whole "violent war-mongers who shoot 'peaceful' demonstrators" bit. Wow, double quote in that one. And I'm sure in that case the people shot would be considered victims and the person defending their property will face criminal charges. After all, these people win a big sports event and they riot and destroy their own cities without consequences from the law. They have learned well.
We need look no further than the two dimwits who assaulted Ann Coulter with a pie and now refer to themselves as Al Pieda. I forgot how to go retrieve their miserable pictures and post them, but who could forget their pathetic mug shots? These two represent who is gearing up to riot in the streets.
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