Blackwell Continues To Spit At Democracy, Treats Congress With Insolence
By Anthony Wade OpEdNews
December 14, 2004
J. Kenneth Blackwell just cannot help himself from appearing so disingenuous that whatever official credibility he had left has now evaporated. This ongoing election fraud saga has been playing out now for a month with each day bringing a new depth that Mr. Blackwell is willing to stoop to. With each day, Blackwell continues to spit at our democracy and the American people.
Since our mainstream media has been all but non-existent in covering the potential theft of our presidential elections, allow me to provide some back. Kenneth Blackwell is the Secretary of State for Ohio . In that capacity he presides over elections in the state. The fact that he is a devout republican would give anyone pause, but the reality is that he also was the State Chairperson for the Reelection Campaign of George W. Bush. So, this one man is both responsible for doing everything in his power to reelect Bush, and oversees the fair election process in the state of Ohio . If this ridiculous conflict of interest sounds eerily familiar, it should. In 2000, Katherine Harris was both the Secretary of State of Florida and that State?s Chair for the Campaign of then candidate Bush. Katherine Harris is obviously Ken Blackwell?s role model.
The fact that the system sets up such an opportunity for appearances of impropriety, points to serious flaws in the system. That not withstanding, what Blackwell has done since Election Day, points to his apparent involvement in widespread election fraud and disenfranchisement of the very people he is supposed to represent. After Election Day the groundswell from real Americans who were disenfranchised or defrauded in their attempts to cast their vote began almost immediately. While other states have their own problems, including serious statistical improbabilities in Florida , Ohio became a central point for progressives and real Americans who just wanted to ensure that the votes were counted. If Ohio could be proven to actually have gone for Kerry, Bush would lose the election, it?s just that simple. Blackwell however, has made things extraordinarily difficult.
While John Kerry stayed above the political fray, second tier candidates made their intentions known that a recount was going to be needed. Blackwell insisted that he would not interfere with any recounts but wanted to first certify the state results. He then waited until the last day possible to certify those results. Last week the recounts that had started were then stopped by Blackwell?s order, stating that Ohio voting records were NOT public record. This was cleverly done late Friday afternoon to avoid any mention of the proceedings in whatever press has had the decency to cover this travesty of American justice.
Meanwhile, Congressional democrats have responded to the repeated and serious accusations of fraud and held Congressional hearings to detail just such. No Republican Party members bothered to attend, showing America that they do not care about the accurate counting of votes, regardless of political affiliation. These hearings were called for and chaired by Congressman John Conyers, who posed a list of 36 questions he wanted Blackwell to answer, to clarify the serious allegations that were being made. For two weeks, Blackwell gave Congress, and thus the American people the back of his hand. Today, after the second Congressional hearing, he finally responded. This weaselesque, insulting letter can be seen here:
http://www.buzzflash.com/alerts/04/12/images/ohblackwellresp121404.pdf
So, now we have Blackwell basically saying that he will dictate to Congress how and when oversight of any recount will go forth. He further is essentially saying that he and his republican operatives will oversee the recount, lending no transparency or credibility to such efforts. What would our government say if the Ukraine decided they would recount this way? Would we recognize the results? Of course not. Lastly, Blackwell ignored the 36 questions asked of him, again thumbing his nose at Congress and the American people.
Thankfully, Conyers, a true patriot, is having none of this. His response can be found here:
http://www.buzzflash.com/alerts/04/12/images/ohblackwellrespfollowup121404.pdf
The highlights of the Conyers letter are:
?Frankly, I find your response disappointing and unacceptable and I am dismayed that it took nearly two weeks for you to proffer a letter that does not respond to a single one of our 36 questions.?
?Your refusal to answer the 36 questions we posed to you is unfortunate and part of a pattern of decisions that have worked to obstruct and stonewall a search for the truth about voting irregularities.?
?If these allegations are as obviously baseless as you have claimed, it would seem that you could perform a public service by dispelling them. The voters deserve no less.?
Bravo Congressman Conyers. Of course with each passing day it is becoming obvious that J. Kenneth Blackwell does not want to try and dispel the allegations. One must conclude that he does not, because he cannot. His plan has been to stall and delay, certify the election and get to a point that there is nothing that can be done. His hope is that we would all just go away. He was mistaken.
These allegations are real. People waited in poor democratic counties for up to ten hours with grossly understaffed precincts with not enough voting machines, while suburban GOP precincts had more machines, for comparable population demographics. People were threatened to not vote. A sworn affidavit now attests that a GOP Congressman recruited help to create a vote-stealing computer program. Another witness at these hearings has now said they will produce an eye-witness that will corroborate that the recount itself has been tampered with. These are not trivial matters. This is not the work of tinfoil-hatters and wild-eyed conspiracy theorists. There have been multiple PhD academics that have done studies which prove the results could not have statistically been reached. Blackwell?s hope was that anyone questioning the election would be considered nuts. He was mistaken.
One month ago Votergate 2004 began. People from all across this country came forward to tell a harrowing tale of Election Day thuggery and outright fraud. Thankfully, Congress agreed to do their duty and represent the people. I would suggest that we all email John Conyers to thank him for being a voice for the people, in a media locked-down silence. His email is John.Conyers@mail.house.gov. To address the continuing deafening silence by our media, I suggest we all contact Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting at fair@fair.org. They are a watchdog group that needs to get on this case of why the collective media has shut out the American people from the Votergate 2004 story.
J. Kenneth Blackwell is scared now and the only reason must be that we are close. Probably closer than he had ever thought the American people would get. The arrogance the man has though outweighs his fear. Faced with gross voting irregularities and allegations of fraud he refuses to see the obvious conflict of interest in his position. Instead, he thinks he can dictate to Congress, have more republican cronies oversee the election they stole, and continue to spit in the face of democracy and Americans all across this great country.
He is once again, mistaken.
Anthony Wade is co-administrator of www.ibtp.org, a website devoted to educating the populace to the ongoing lies of President George W. Bush and seeking his removal from office. He is a 37-year-old independent writer from New York with political commentary articles seen on multiple websites. A Christian progressive and professional Rehabilitation Counselor working with the poor and disabled, Mr. Wade believes that you can have faith and hold elected officials accountable for lies and excess.
