Been There, Doing That
Michael Harrington has left a new comment on the post "49th Ward Failure to Communicate" in which Michael addresses a commenter who goes by the pseudonym of "been there"...
Hello "been there." Fraud? Please, spare us the self-serving PR-spin. We see only honest and transparent efforts to investigate and challenge this year's 49th Ward election. It is an unprecedented and difficult effort. I commend those who launched it and the many volunteers working on it.
In contrast, the real "fraud" is revealed in certain comments on our community's blogs which consist of habitual fact twisting and poisonous barbs - from anonymous people - targeting those of us who "question authority." We insist on something better than what we have so far. The rose-colored chat we get from you unknown folks attempts to tell us that "crime is down" and progress is happening on all fronts. Do you think if you repeat all that enough we'll believe it?
Well, everything ain't peachy here in Rogers Park, not by a long shot.
Don Gordon and the voters who joined him to establish the V.O.T.E.R. organization state plainly on their website - www.voter49.org - and in all their communications that they are raising funds to pay lawyers, pursue a legal challenge, and work for accountability here. They are doing just that.
The work, the investigation, and thus THE COST will continue right up to the 30-day deadline they have to respond to the judge's ruling in favor of the defendant's motion to dismiss their case. It could go beyond that. However, you can't decide what happens. You can't tell us what is and is not important. Apparently, all you can do is deride our efforts behind a veil of secrecy.
Why don't you just come out and say what you really mean. I invite you to say it plainly and boldly: you don't want the aldermanic election investigated, by the court or anyone else. Then tell us why you don't want us to know what really happened behind the scenes of our election. And, please, be so kind as to use your real name when you do it.
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funny no one seems to mind internet anonymity as long as those posters are agreeing with the blog owner. disagree? suddenly it is some kind of crime. get over it. i have no desire to find craig, or any other nut out there poking their cameras in my windows, or god knows what else. people have perfectly valid reasons to remain anonymous. it is a long held convention that arose for good reasons.
ReplyDeletefwiw, i am just a political junkie, a long time rp-er, and think don gordon is just a resurrection of ronald reagun. i have no more connection to jomo than i do to any of the other candidates for office large and small that i have volunteered for. he doesn't call me and tell me to post, or anything else. he doesn't call me, period.
how do i feel about the election challenge?
while don gordon points to the misdeeds of the current national administration, and attempts to link the incumbent in the 49th ward with the election fraud that has placed george bush in the white house, he shows that he does not really know anything about election fraud. or voter fraud. or what the difference is between the two. as those of us who have been watching the issue since florida 2000 know, the difference is this- voter fraud, where an individual violates election law by voting more than once, or registers at an address where they do not live, is an almost nonexistent crime. election fraud, where insiders sway elections through fraud, intimidation and deceit, sadly, is far more common. while gordon points the finger at moore, perhaps it is the gordon campaign that deserves the scrutiny.
the race here, and the subsequent challenge, fit neatly into the pattern that was testified to by the fired u.s. attorneys who recently testified in congress. orders were sent, presumably from the white house, to local u.s. attorneys, instructing them to find and prosecute allegations of voter fraud perpetrated by democrats. the attorneys were also pressured to ignore the many election irregularities that were perpetrated by republicans. those that refused, were either pressured to quit, or outright fired. the allegations against the moore campaign would fit neatly into this pattern. where better to troll for democratic vote fraud than a chicago city council race? and who in the chicago city council should be the target of this frame? why, one of the most liberal, decent alderman there today. and an outspoken critic of the bush administration, of course.
the gordon election day plan was also right out of the rnc playbook- challenge, challenge, challenge, and when you lose, challenge again. lists of voters to be challenged were provided by the freeman institute, a maryland organization that specializes in race relations, and bible thumping. strangely, the lists were longest in the precincts that moore won in the primary, and where gordon volunteers were most scarce. so where did they come from? and who is the freeman institute? why were they running the gordon campaign? i look forward to seeing the full disclosure statements that are due out july 20th, and finally seeing who was pulling the don gordon’s strings.
unfortunately for gordon, no one from the board of elections or the cook county states attorney reported any credible complaints on election day. in the precinct where i was a judge, i worked with a gordon supporter. at the end of the day we shook hands, and thanked each other for a tough but fair election. we were both satisfied that we had done everything humanly possible to run a clean precinct. and yet this precinct is on the list of those contested. many voters were challenged, but were proven eligible and allowed to vote. don gordon had his bite at the apple. poll watchers were everywhere, and many voters were challenged. but an officer of the court, me, and other judges like me, heard their challenge and decided. now he wants another bite.
and i am left with this question- if joe moore is such a powerful election manipulator, how did he end up in this runoff, anyway?
you're gonna call me out, then not publish my reply? jesus.
ReplyDeleteCalled you out? I didn't know that I was Michael Harrington.
ReplyDeleteElection judge "been there" has now accused the Bush administration of "target[ing] to frame" the alderman and has also accused a campaign consultant, simply because they choose not to maintain a public website, of being a "a maryland organization that specializes in race relations, and bible thumping".
ReplyDelete(Has Catwoman returned to besmirch the name of our fair metropolis? Who knew that was staring us right in our masks!)
S/he has made such a compelling argument that voter fraud and election fraud have nothing to do with each other that invitations to speak at university law schools must surely be pouring in from around the globe. In fact, election law scholar "been there" states that voter fraud is an almost "non-existent crime"!
(Holy semantics, Batman. You never cease to amaze me!)
(It's obvious Robin. Only a criminal would disguise himself as a licensed, bonded guard yet callously park in front of a fire hydrant!)
We know you can't spell R-E-A-G-A-N. Can you spell H-U-B-R-I-S?