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Apr 21st, 2005 - 21:10:55
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Letters to the Editor
Why I Support the Conyers Hearings and Desperately Seeking Senators
It's my gift to myself for the holy days, not to despair, not to give up hope. We can make a difference and demand an full Congressional Hearing.
By Joan McIntyre and Tim Carpenter
Posted on Dec 21, 2004 |
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Dear Friends,
We are at a crossroad in American democracy. Too many voting irregularities add up to a picture of our democracy distorted. Now every e-mail and letter may make a difference. I am forwarding material from the People's Email Network or PEN. They make it easy to send a letter of support to Congressman Conyers and his hearings. I bet we can get a few million letters sent if we just spread the word.
Here's what the PEN info says: The People's Email Network sent 12,000 submissions to the Kerry campaign, the DNC, and the GAO on the question of election fraud and whether he should join the recount effort. Now Kerry is starting to take the initiative. Did our 12,000 voices speaking together have an impact? The fact is that he is acting.
So, now we are asking if Congress should contest the Ohio electors. Rep. John Conyers, who is leading the Congressional investigations in Ohio, needs your help now. He is asking for one million emails from the American public demanding that the House Judiciary Committee hold full hearings on the 2004 Election. Full hearings are essential, because that will give the Committee subpoena powers — until now, Blackwell and others have been able to simply ignore Rep. Conyers' demands for information — because the GOP Committee Chairman has refused to convene a full hearing. YOU can change that. Send your message now! Tell a friend to write an email, too.
This is a very easy page to use. It has a new one click page that looks up your senators and house representative and sends your personal message to them as well as the the minority House Judiciary Committee, all at the same time.
Click to http://www.thepen.us/contest.html.
Please post this link everywhere you can.
Thanks,
Joan
Greetings!
We all remember that early scene from Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 911", where one African American after another stands up in the well of the House to challenge the Florida vote from 2000, only to be ruled out of order due to the lack of a single signature from a single Senator. Not this time. On January 6, 2005, the House and Senate will once again meet to consider the electoral vote count. And once again, that vote count is likely to be challenged by a group of progressive House members, who will make the case that the misallocation of voting machines (especially in Ohio), the abuse of provisional balloting in numerous states, and the refusal and/or inability to conduct the recount in an open and auditable manner in Ohio, in Florida, and in so many other key states, mean that the certified electors should not be seated.
This time, we want several U.S. Senators to join with them, to make a serious voting rights challenge that the entire world will hear. This time, we want so much polite-but-firm grassroots contact from progressive voters beforehand that a whole group of Senators will choose to stand up and fight for the voting rights of African-Americans, Latinos, and youth voters that the Republican Party targeted for disruption and disenfranchisement in the 2004 election.
This time, we want several U.S. Senators to join with them, to make a serious voting rights challenge that the entire world will hear. This time, we want so much polite-but-firm grassroots contact from progressive voters beforehand that a whole group of Senators will choose to stand up and fight for the voting rights of African-Americans, Latinos, and youth voters that the Republican Party targeted for disruption and disenfranchisement in the 2004 election.
Some who need to hear from us are new, such as Barak Obama of Illinois and Ken Salazar of Colorado. These new Senators could use cover from the new leadership of the Senate, especially Dick Durbin, who also hails from Obama's home state.
Some Senators depend on African American and Latino votes to be elected, and thus could be expected to stand up tall when voting rights issues are on the line, including Joe Biden of Delaware, Carl Levin of Michigan, Bill Nelson of Florida, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, Barbara Mikulski and Paul Sarbanes of Maryland, Jon Corzine and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey.
Senator Byrd of West Virginia was once a Klansman; but his eloquent leadership against the Iraq War has inspired us all, and he has the courage and fortitude to cap his career with an outspoken battle on behalf of abused African American voters. Senator Lieberman of Connecticut rightfully brags about his youthful efforts to register voters in the Old South in the 1960s; on 1/6/05, he will have the chance to demonstrate that his youthful idealism still survives.
There are Senators who are safe, and could do the right thing--like Chris Dodd of Connecticut, Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, Charles Schumer of New York, Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, and Herb Kohl of Wisconsin.
There is Jim Jeffords of Vermont, an Independent who was brave enough to stand up to the Bush White House once before. There is Senator Lincoln Chafee, a Republican in a solid Democratic state, the namesake of Lincoln, a moderate caught in a far right party.
And, of course, there is John Kerry.
Remind them why they're in Washington. Ask them to stand for every American's right to vote (and have it counted.) Please click http://www.pdamerica.orgto take action.
Thank you for forwarding this action alert to your networks.
Standing tall in solidarity,
Tim Carpenter
Progressive Democrats of America
email: info@pdamerica.org
phone: (877) 368-9221
web: http://www.pdamerica.org
© Copyright 2000-2004 by West By Northwest.org
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