Letters to the Editor
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What the hell???
In attempting to *prove* that the 2004 election was not stolen, Manjoo relies on statistics from the 2000 election, saying that there was no abnormal pattern because some of the stats matched the 2000 election. What the hell is this as proof???? The 2000 election was the 2000 Selection! Really strange patterns showed up in that election and they were recognized as really strange and unusual patterns. So now, Manjoo says the patterns in the 2004 election matched the ones in 2000, so therefore it was not unusual. This guy needs a brain adjustment.
Another problem I had with the article was his bashing of the claim that many Democratic precincts had to wait in longer lines, causing some people to have to leave without voting. Well, goodness, if they have 5,000 voters listed in one district (Democratic leaning) and they are given 2 machines, and they have 3,000 voters listed in another district (Republican leaning) and they are given 4 machines, then it stands to reason that the second district of precinct will be able to move voters through the lines faster. My own little precinct of 2,000 voters had 3 voting machines in this past Primary. Of course, primary elections are noted for being poorly attended, so no one had to wait a minute. But, I see it here too--in the suburbs where I live, we are given 3-4 voting machines. This area is also 2:1 Republican:Democratic.
While driving folks to the polls during the 2004 election, I would see 2 machines provided for the city precincts too, where their precincts were more populous than those in the suburbs. Their number of machines--2. Their leanings--Democratic.
Happens all over the place.
To lose in an honest election is one thing. To lose in 2 questionable elections is angering!! Why can't we have paper ballots again? Now we have touch screen machines, where there is no proof that my vote counted as I wanted it to count. We receive receipts at ATM machines if we wish. When we go to the Dollar Store, we are given a receipt. No receipts for voting machines for the possibility of recounts is a crime.
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Manjoo is saving me money
Manjoo's article is the kind of execrable hit piece I would expect from a right wing shill. In the second paragraph he writes:
"Many [experts] have concluded that the election there strains conventional notions of what a democracy ought to look like; very little about that race was fair, clean or competent."
He then proceeds to dismiss the consequences of that out of hand. WTF? His rebuttal to arguments that point to great probabilities of fraud is that it's possible that there are other explanations, even if they are less likely. This is like a defense lawyer claiming that although there is massive evidence against my client, it's POSSIBLE, if the moon and stars align just so, that he's innocent. He then titles the piece "Was the 2004 election stolen? No." The honest title might have said "Not Proven" or "Not Proven to my Satisfaction."
Other letter writers above have given ample reasons to debunk Manjoo, so I won't repeat them, but I, as well, wonder what Salon is doing publishing this as their sole response to Kennedy's piece in Rolling Stone.
Coincidentally, my subscription to Salon expired yesteday. I've been a member four years. I would like to thank Manjoo for saving me the cost of renewal.
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Is Manjoo a Fool? Yes!
In any other speculative piece such as Manjoo's, the title would have been "Was the election stolen?" One would have to read the article, which would examine both sides and come to a conclusion. The arbitrary, pre-decided title gives Manjoo's piece away for what it is.
As said before, Manjoo is either a Republican flak or an idiot.
Wake up and smell the coffee, Salon: Democracy in America is in the coffin. The further down the road to fascism that America goes, the more draconian the steps to restore it will have to be. Will foreign armies have to invade and dominate our country, as happened to Nazi Germany?
(By the way, I am not an advocate of violent revolution or coup, just a dispassionate observer.)
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Was the 2004 election stolen? No
So YOU say.
Will I be renewing my subscription? No
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Robert F. Kennedy jr study
I've been coming to Salon for years and never have I been more disappointed. To claim Kennedy had distorted facts, and than fail to acknowledege the obvious distortions of this article is appalling. I'm sorry to see it here of all places.
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Flood of letters
I will not add my words, but point just suggest scanning down for the letter by Johan Muller, for the best reply. It, amazingly enough, has a star and everything.
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The real problem is...
not that Bush & company stole Ohio (or FL in '00). The real problem (as pointed out by my 18 year old son) is that Gore & Kerry both ran such inept campaigns that Bush was able to get close enough to steal both elections by supressing a few thousand votes each time.
Instead of blaming Jeb, Blackwell, Diebold or Nader, we should look at our candidates and ask why they weren't able to administer a well-deserved electoral ass-kicking to an blatantly unqualified and inept candidate/president.
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Facts don't matter much these days
It would be really nice if they did but they don't.
America's living in Dreamtime.
Politics is all we have left.
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What was Salon Thinking?
Because of this one article I will not be renewing my subscription to Salon. I did not subscribe to a progressive news service to be offended by a hack like Farhad Manjoo and his right wing opinions. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has done the research and confirmed what many of us knew to be true. Why would you print this crap? Let Farhad peddle his lies and distortions elsewhere - like Fox News. I'm sure they would love him there.
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way too funny
Because of this one article I will not be renewing my subscription to Salon. I did not subscribe to a progressive news service to be offended by a hack like Farhad Manjoo and his right wing opinions. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has done the research and confirmed what many of us knew to be true. Why would you print this crap? Let Farhad peddle his lies and distortions elsewhere - like Fox News. I'm sure they would love him there.
This all too typical response is way too funny. No attempt to address the facts stated in Manjoo's article. Just declare him wrong and throw a hissy fit--a response one finds throughout the political Left on so many topics. Facts don't matter; emotion does.
It's for this reason the Dems lost in '00, '04, and will ultimately lose in '06 and '08. The party is populated by a bunch of emotional crybabies who are not fit to govern.