Is Jeb laying groundwork for steal II?

[Toro]

Read this article and comment.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/16/op...d%2fColumnists

[vulturesrow]

Typical NYT drivel. We have no reason to suspect that this not a legitimate investigation of voter fraud other than someone thinks it might not be.

[playerfl]

I voted in florida during that election. The whole "steal" thing is just bullsh*t. Get over it.

[MaxPower]

[ QUOTE ]
I voted in florida during that election. The whole "steal" thing is just bullsh*t. Get over it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't believe that Bush stole the Florida election, but how is that fact that you voted in Florida relevant to that claim?

I voted in New York. That does not make me an authority on how the election was carried out through the entire state.

[Zeno]

What's this piss-ant Loony liberal thing with having to register to view the holy and sacrosanct NYT. Do liberals also perform a ritual with the sacred scriptures (NYT) by placing it on the mantle; lighting candles all around, and then praying to it!

[ QUOTE ]
Is Jeb laying groundwork for steal II?

[/ QUOTE ]

I certainly hope so. Two fast-break slam-dunks in a row are what I am rooting for.

Four more years – guaranteed! As will soon be reported by the most Fair and Balanced News Outlet in the Nation – FOX NEWS.

O’Reilly Rules. Limbaugh is Lucid. Coulter is Cool. The Republicans are marching on to victory! Get use to it. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]


Le Misanthrope

[riverflush]

oh boy, here we go

I feel that this thread has disenfranchised me.

[MMMMMM]

Well, I would read it if registration not required, or if you had copied it here.

[Toro]

Sorry about that. The registration thing pissed me off too and didn't realize you would all have to do it too if I gave the link. So here it is:

OP-ED COLUMNIST
Suppress the Vote?
By BOB HERBERT

Published: August 16, 2004






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Columnist Page: Bob Herbert
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he big story out of Florida over the weekend was the tragic devastation caused by Hurricane Charley. But there's another story from Florida that deserves our attention.

State police officers have gone into the homes of elderly black voters in Orlando and interrogated them as part of an odd "investigation" that has frightened many voters, intimidated elderly volunteers and thrown a chill over efforts to get out the black vote in November.

The officers, from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which reports to Gov. Jeb Bush, say they are investigating allegations of voter fraud that came up during the Orlando mayoral election in March.

Officials refused to discuss details of the investigation, other than to say that absentee ballots are involved. They said they had no idea when the investigation might end, and acknowledged that it may continue right through the presidential election.

"We did a preliminary inquiry into those allegations and then we concluded that there was enough evidence to follow through with a full criminal investigation," said Geo Morales, a spokesman for the Department of Law Enforcement.

The state police officers, armed and in plain clothes, have questioned dozens of voters in their homes. Some of those questioned have been volunteers in get-out-the-vote campaigns.

I asked Mr. Morales in a telephone conversation to tell me what criminal activity had taken place.

"I can't talk about that," he said.

I asked if all the people interrogated were black.

"Well, mainly it was a black neighborhood we were looking at - yes,'' he said.

He also said, "Most of them were elderly."

When I asked why, he said, "That's just the people we selected out of a random sample to interview."

Back in the bad old days, some decades ago, when Southern whites used every imaginable form of chicanery to prevent blacks from voting, blacks often fought back by creating voters leagues, which were organizations that helped to register, educate and encourage black voters. It became a tradition that continues in many places, including Florida, today.

Not surprisingly, many of the elderly black voters who found themselves face to face with state police officers in Orlando are members of the Orlando League of Voters, which has been very successful in mobilizing the city's black vote.

The president of the Orlando League of Voters is Ezzie Thomas, who is 73 years old. With his demonstrated ability to deliver the black vote in Orlando, Mr. Thomas is a tempting target for supporters of George W. Bush in a state in which the black vote may well spell the difference between victory and defeat.

The vile smell of voter suppression is all over this so-called investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Joseph Egan, an Orlando lawyer who represents Mr. Thomas, said: "The Voters League has workers who go into the community to do voter registration, drive people to the polls and help with absentee ballots. They are elderly women mostly. They get paid like $100 for four or five months' work, just to offset things like the cost of their gas. They see this political activity as an important contribution to their community. Some of the people in the community had never cast a ballot until the league came to their door and encouraged them to vote."

Now, said Mr. Egan, the fear generated by state police officers going into people's homes as part of an ongoing criminal investigation related to voting is threatening to undo much of the good work of the league. He said, "One woman asked me, 'Am I going to go to jail now because I voted by absentee ballot?' "

According to Mr. Egan, "People who have voted by absentee ballot for years are refusing to allow campaign workers to come to their homes. And volunteers who have participated for years in assisting people, particularly the elderly or handicapped, are scared and don't want to risk a criminal investigation."

Florida is a state that's very much in play in the presidential election, with some polls showing John Kerry in the lead. A heavy-handed state police investigation that throws a blanket of fear over thousands of black voters can only help President Bush.

The long and ugly tradition of suppressing the black vote is alive and thriving in the Sunshine State.

[MMMMMM]

Thank you, el Toro;-)

I think the Op-Ed author raises some important questions, but he also seems to be jumping to conclusions too readily. Foir instance, there very well may be a legitimate investigation into something like whether fraudulent absentee ballots wrre filled out and submitted.

I think it is important that this issue be raised and looked at more closely. I don't agree with the author's assessment that it necessarily is an attempt to suppress the black vote, although it could be.

[Cyrus]

Perhaps Brother Jeb is facing an insurmountable obstacle.



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