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Mr. Manjoo,
You apparently selected your sources well, and examined the Ohio '04 election very objectively. Good job! For awhile there I thought it was strange that the exit polls didn't match the results, but as you point out, there are exceptions all the time. Maybe not as many exceptions as occurred simultaneously throughout the United States in '04, but hey, one or two exceptions are enough for those of us who dread the effort it would take to counter Republican vote fraud.
Being from Chicago originally, I can relate to your learned helplessness. Vote fraud was a way of life there, on the Democratic side, for decades. Things worked - we got our snow shoveled, and garbage picked up. You'd have to be nuts to raise a stink against a powerful machine that regularly trashed the integrity of the vote. Now we have a similar dynamic functioning on the federal level. Well, not completely, services are being cut and things aren't working. But still, you have to admire the slick Republican-run electoral process. You are so right, Mr. Manjoo, why must we dig into this tiresome issue once again? You know as well as I that to do so will only infuriate those currently in power.
Forget Ohio Secretary of State Blackwell's many assaults of the rights of Ohio voters, forget the secrecy behind the electronic voting systems and their "proprietary software" that only the vendors themselves are permitted to administrate, forget the discrepancies of the "down ticket" results. What is important is that we respect the mainstream media's self-imposed gag order on the '04 election fraud and move on with our lives.
I envision a great career in journalism for you Mr. Manjoo. The American media will swing its doors wide for a "journalist" who knows how to play by the rules. Congratulations!
