July 12, 2004
The "Cancelling The Election" Meme
filed under: Stuff to worry aboutThis is going to be a fine line to walk.
For those of you who don't spend an unhealthy chunk of your time trawling in the upper depths of online punditry, this may be news to you: people are VERY hot and bothered about the idea that the Administration will attempt to cancel or postpone the election, either due to security concerns or a terrorist attack.
One edge of this has cracked the mainstream media this weekend, in an article in Newsweek which has been run with most everywhere.
Here are the relevant facts: There's a new commission within the government called the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. The USEAC is headed by a man named DeForest B. Soaries, Jr.
Mr. Soaries wrote a letter to Tom Ridge at Homeland Security, pointing out that after 9/11 New York City suspended primaries that were scheduled that day and that the federal government had no system in place whereby a decision like that could be made at the federal level. Ridge asked the Justice Department to review Soaries' letter.
Further, Soaries wants congress to create emergency legislation giving the USEAC the power to cancel, suspend or postpone the election on a nationwide basis in the event of an emergency.
Keep reading to see where else this issue goes...
Now, the LEFT of the Left is convinced that the Administration intends and has always intended to cancel the election, declare martial law, suspend the Constitution, and remain in power even if it means STAGING a terrorist attack to do it.
Daily Kos is an incredibly valuable online community, where you can garner a mountain of information, hear action plans for how to get and stay involved, and participate in a lively discussion about EVERYTHING.
It's also a hotbed of way-Leftism -- I consider myself "Leftish" (naturally gut-level Lefty but not outrageously doctrinal about it) but next to some of these folks I'm Jesse Helms.
This article at Daily Kos end with a poll, where fully 43% of the respondents - 665 people - said they believed the Administration would either fake or SEND BLACK OPS TO COMMIT a terrorist attack so as to suspend the elections.
You know how sometimes you're at a ballgame, and someone wearing the same cap as you is being such an incredibly loud, drunken asshole that even though he's on your side you're embarassed to be in the stadium with him?
Yeah. So let me get this disavowal out of the way, explicity: I believe that these people are CRAZY AS CAT SHIT.
I think this line of thought is "our" equivalent of those who think 9/11 was committed by Israeli intelligence, or that Clinton was a member of a secret cabal dedicated to turning US sovereignty over to the UN.
Since much of the discussion I had seen had centered around such bunkum as the above, I was paying little attention to this whole meme, ignoring the little voice in my head that was saying "think of how many things you would have dismissed as crazy before..."
One thing that is not debatable: the Administration is using an atmosphere of fear to enhance their chances in November. That's what Tom Ridge's dog and pony show the other day about Al Qaeda planning to disrupt the election was all about. No new data, no specific threat, no raised alert level - just "be scared! Oh, and by the way, Osama wants Kerry to win!"
Another thing that nagged at me: I don't like the name of the "Election Assistance Commission." It sounds too much like the Orwellian doublespeak this Admin goes in for. Plus I'm not a huge fan of how the Bush folks "assist" elections - see Harris, Katherine.
I'm also not a huge fan of said commission being, as is pointed out on this excellent post over at Eschaton, headed up by a Bush crony who just ran an unsuccessful run for congress within the GOP system.
Even so, I couldn't get on board with the far Left's Chicken Littling. I'm in full agreement with this analysis by Kevin Drum.
Then I read this post over at Daily Kos. Seriously, give it a read. It's chilling.
It's chilling specifically because, just as I feel in my gut that this Admin would NOT send Delta Force commandos to blow up a mall in the midwest, I feel in my gut that THIS kind of dirty tricks filth is EXACTLY the kind of thing they WOULD do, and according to this post (and comments after it) already have been doing at a local level.
I'm not saying this would or will happen. I'm not suggesting that you should believe this would or will happen. I am saying read the article take it with a grain or a bushel of salt according to your tendencies, and give it a thought. And if you decide you're concerned, help spread that concern.
And keep an eye on the news.
It can do nothing but good for the country if we're all watching the election very, very closely this time around.
Posted by rjt at July 12, 2004 02:32 PM