“The Confederacy has finally won,” declared Dr. Michael Dawson, Harvard Professor of Government and African American Studies. “Forget about Red vs. Blue. The states that voted for  President Bush were the territories and states which allowed slavery (with one or two small exceptions at the border – Iowa and Maryland).” Indiana and Ohio are also “free state” anomalies that don’t match the pre-Civil War map – but the Green and Libertarian parties are set for a recount that just might turn Ohio from Red to Blue, no thanks whatsoever to the Democratic standard-dropper, John Kerry.

The Greens, who don’t stand to win anything except the respect and admiration of all decent people, raised nearly $150,000 in only four days to challenge George Bush’s unofficial 136,000 vote margin in each of Ohio’s poll precincts. Kerry had the same option and plenty of cash on hand ($15 million in unspent campaign funds), but took the Skull and Bones path, fearing a contested outcome might damage the legitimacy of a system that he values just as dearly as his erstwhile opponent, George Bush – Black voters be damned. There is no law against making a concession speech and getting a recount, but oligarchs like Kerry treasure stability above all else – it keeps them on top.

Dr. Dawson’s Confederate analogy is also applicable to the Kerry campaign and the Democratic National Committee, captives of the Dixie-born and bred Democratic Leadership Council (DLC). Founded in the mid-Eighties for the sole purpose of retaining white southern voters by weakening the influence of African Americans and labor, the DLC has failed miserably in its home region while tightening its death grip on the national party. Loathing constituencies – especially the Black base – the DLC cares not a whit for the morale of the African American citizens who bore the brunt of Republicans’ Election Day abuse, or for the tens of thousands of volunteers who worked so hard to overload Bush’s theft machinery with votes. Untold thousands had their rights amputated on November 2, yet Kerry doesn’t even care to locate the missing limbs.

God Save The Greens! 

"I don't expect to win Ohio," said Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb, stating the obvious. "But the Green Party has been standing up for democracy and the right for all voters to cast their votes." In addition to the $113,600 filing fee, the Greens and Libertarians must quickly train and field a small army to unravel what happened in Ohio's 11,306 precincts. They will confront the infinitely devious Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, who should by now rival Clarence Thomas as the Black man most hated by African Americans. Blackwell is employing every trick in the book – and off the books – to shrink the 150,000-plus pool of provisional ballots that he never intended to count, judging by his dismissive comments on election night. The Greens and Libertarians have demanded that Blackwell “recuse himself from the recount process."

Less than 10 percent of Ohio’s provisional ballots were thrown out in 2000. However, according to the Associated Press, Blackwell’s minions are rejecting 19 percent this time around, and about a third of the provisional ballots cast in Cuyahoga County, where heavily Black Cleveland is located.  A majority of all provisional ballots, “came from the 15 counties Kerry won,” the Free Press reported.

Over 90,000 ballots were thrown out on November 2 for “over-vote” or “under-vote” problems. "This suggests another hanging chad problem," said Cobb, the Green. "To simply discard 92,000 votes when only 136,000 votes separate the winner from the loser is problematic at best."

At the Daily Kos, one of the best nitty-gritty politics sites on the web, a visiting trial lawyer on Sunday calculated the odds that Kerry could overcome Bush:

His figures do not include absentee and military ballots.

The “game” is more than just about winning; it is about resistance to state criminality and racial oppression. Journalist Greg Palast warns that Secretary of State Blackwell “will ultimately decide which spoiled and provisional ballots get tallied.” But at least there will be a wrestling match – a spectacle that is owed to the Democratic voters of Ohio and the nation. It is an awesome indictment of Kerry and the DNC that two minor parties are doing the Democrat’s – and democracy’s – work. As is Ralph Nader, whose recount in New Hampshire may lead him to do the same in Florida.

The criminals’ footprints

John Kerry narrowly won New Hampshire, matching or bettering Al Gore’s 2000 performance in 229 out of 300 voting wards. However, a Michigan software programmer named Ida Briggs noticed that, in 71 wards, George Bush “did better in 2004 than he did in 2000.” Wired News reports:

“Thank God New Hampshire has a paper trail so we can just sit down and count the paper ballots," said Briggs. Ralph Nader only had to plunk down a $2,000 deposit to initiate a recount in 11 selected wards to determine if there is a problem with the machines. Much of Florida uses Diebold Election Systems and Election Systems & Software equipment, but Nader will have to sue that state to get a recount. He’s waiting on the results from New Hampshire to decide if there is “a compelling reason” to put Florida’s machines to the test.

BlackBoxVoting activist Bev Harris and a team of researchers and video camerapersons are already in Florida, bagging evidence of fraud in Volusia County, where Harris documented electronic irregularities in 2000. Despite hostility and some stonewalling from the rednecks-in-charge, Harris salvaged what may be proof of federal crimes, cavalierly committed.

Investigations like Harris’s, combined with statistical analyses and various legal actions, may not in the end send the Bush II administration to the shredder – but they are critical to undermining the regime’s legitimacy and to serve those who have been disenfranchised by the Bush men. Moreover, as with the Watergate investigation of 1972-1974 (see November 11, 2004 “Rule by Theft: Reconstructing the Crime”), political crimes should be treated as criminal conspiracies, not mere “power games.” If a tenth of the fraud that is suspected turns out to be true, hundreds of Republican operatives (and voting machine company executives and employees) should be headed toward prison by the end of Bush II, ratting each other out all the way.  There is immense value in putting the “fear of God” (and prison) into Republican and corporate ranks.

Statistical investigation is key: Just as street gang territories are marked by graffiti, patterns of vote tampering can be discerned by statistical analysis. As we wrote last week: “There may soon be compelling circumstantial evidence of how the crimes were committed and, by deduction, the identity of the conspirators.”

International assistance