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Dry Rot, Fraud and Elections

Posted by Paul Brennan in Main

November 6, 2006 10:11 AM

Permalink | Comments (6)

In today's New York Times, Bob Herbert surveys the state of democracy and the quality of elections in the US, and concludes,

These are not scenes from a flourishing democracy. If you're looking to put a positive spin on the current state of politics and government in the U.S., you've got your work cut out for you.

True, but a story in Sunday's New York Times Magazine can help. It's a long feature story on Ahmad Chalabi, the man the Bush administration once promoted as the George Washington of a new, democratic and pro-Western Iraq, despite the fact that Chalabi had been convicted of theft and embezzlement in Jordan and may well have been (and may still be) an agent of Iran's intelligence service. Leaving aside for moment the wisdom of relying on Chalabi's well demonstrated dishonesty and the question of whether the United States was manipulated into doing the bidding of the Iranians, and has spent thousands of lives and billions of dollars to rid the Islamic Republic of its greatest enemy (the freshly convicted S. Hussein, whose actual guilty verdict won't be announced until Thursday, despite that suspiciously timed verdict announcement yesterday), let's see what the Times story tells us about elections.
When the election came, Chalabi was wiped out. His Iraqi National Congress received slightly more than 30,000 votes, only one-quarter of 1 percent of the 12 million votes cast — not enough to put even one of them, not even Chalabi, in the new Iraqi Parliament. There was grumbling in the Chalabi camp. One of his associates said of the Shiite alliance: "We know they cheated. You know how we know? Because in one area we had 5,000 forged ballots, and when they were counted, we didn't even get that many." He shrugged.

Dishonest election officials cheating hardworking ballot forgers out the election they rightfully stole-- now that's a truly impressively corrupt election. So, while it's true that, as Herbert writes, "The aging system of American-style democracy is beset in too many places by dry rot, cynicism, chicanery and fraud", the domestic supply of American democracy certainly looks good when you compare it to the democracy we've exported. (See, there's always a positive spin to be found if you're willing to set the bar low enough.)

 

Comments (6)

  1. Marky says:
    November 6, 2006 13:11

    If the bar is THAT low, and our system is SO full of fraud, etc., then naturally you will stay home, wring your hands and not bother to vote, right?

    Why would a smug elitist like yourself want to particpate in such a horrible process, when it doesn't matter anyway?

    Get a grip

  2. Paul Brennan says:
    November 6, 2006 15:11

    Now, now... it's obvious you're a bit unhinged and/or not very bright, Marky, but you should still take the time to get your nonsense right: smug people don't wring their hands. You can't be smug and handwringingly worried at the same time. Smugness requires confidence. Stop mixing your baseless stereotypes. (Also, you should take the time to read Herbert's column.)

  3. Marky says:
    November 6, 2006 16:11

    Thank you for the response.

    I'm plenty bright, although somewhat unhinged on occasion.

    I think the Left in general vacillates between handwringing and smugness. Weird, I know. It's a unique affliction. But you're right—NOT at the same time, by the same folks. Thank you for pointing that out in a confidently smug manner.

    But seriously…my real point:
    The Dems want it both ways. They whip up their base with charges of vote corruption, fraud, disenfranchisement, hacked electronic voting machines and then turn around and urge people to vote, because "every vote counts." Then they wonder about low turnouts.

    My question for you:

    If the Dems win big, is everything still corrupt, fixed, rife with fraud, or is that only when Republicans win?

  4. StopBushNovember 7th says:
    November 6, 2006 18:11

    The Democrats have more than 7,000 lawyers fanning out all across the United States - that's more than the number of lawyers at the two largest law firms in the country. Most of the lawyers are volunteers.

    This past weekend, hundreds of those 7,000 lawyers boarded planes for Arizona, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Ohio and 13 other states. Democratic allies will have thousands more lawyers at the polls. The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the NAACP and the People for the American Way Foundation will collectively add another 2,000 lawyers to monitor the vote.

    The New York-based Democratic Lawyers Council is deploying 400 to 500 attorneys statewide to monitor the polls for problems. These lawyers are looking specifically for evidence of voter intimidation.

    The Justice Department will send 800 lawyers to more than 65 cities and counties in approximately 20 states to monitor the elections, they also have set up a Web site and toll-free phone number for citizens to file complaints in English AND SPANISH.

    -English-
    http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/election2006contact.html
    - Spanish-
    http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/election2006contact_spanish.html

    * Civil Rights Division personnel will be available at a specially staffed toll free number, 1-800-253-3931, to receive complaints, and on a dedicated TTY line, 1-888-305-3228.

    * The Public Integrity Section of the Justice Department's Criminal Division will have federal prosecutors readily available to receive complaints and take any appropriate action.


    * The Criminal Division's Public Integrity Section has assigned attorneys to assist with potential election crimes. Lawyers with the section will be on duty from the time the polls open on the east coast until the time they close on the west coast to provide consultation and coordination with the DEOs.

    * The Justice Department enforces laws that prohibit voter intimidation, voting by ineligible individuals, bribery, destruction of valid ballots or registrations, counting more votes than there are registered voters, altering vote tallies, voting in multiple counties, abuse of absentee ballots, malfeasance by election officials, the disappearance of ballot boxes, furnishing fraudulent voter registration forms to election registrars, and forging the names of voters on absentee ballot materials.

    * Since the Attorney General's Ballot Access and Voting Integrity Initiative was launched in 2002, more than 120 individuals have been charged with election fraud offenses. Eighty-six people have been convicted of voter fraud in that time frame.


    Now you have no excuse, get out there and vote people!

  5. Paul Brennan says:
    November 7, 2006 07:11

    Marky--

    I'll repeat myself: read Bob Herbert's column. Normally, it's hidden behind the pay-to-read wall, but this week NY Times Select is free. The problems Herbert touches on-- and if he had more space, he could have easily lengthened the list-- are very real and longstanding ones. No matter what happens today, these problems will not magically disappear Wednesday morning. Even if the result of today's vote should produce impetus for real change, there are so many variables involved and such inertia built into the system, that any real improvements will not come quickly, and will only come at all if there is sustained pressure from citizens on politicians at the federal, state and local levels.

    As for your boast about being "plenty bright", while I'm sure believing that is a comfort to you, nothing you've written suggests it's true. Quite the opposite, in fact. Your first comment was a poorly thought out ad hominem attack. The only thing of substance in your second comment is a question that reveals either you're too lazy to click on the link and read Bob Herbert's column, or clicked but couldn't comprehend what you read. The rest of the comment is larded with generalizations so sweeping and cartoonish as to not merit serious reply. But you go ahead and keep telling yourself you're "plenty bright", if it makes you happy.

  6. Marky says:
    November 7, 2006 08:11

    Just trying to have a little fun with it, while keeping it brief.

    Kudos on "sweeping and cartoonish"...That's good.

    I'll go away now.

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