The Battle of Ohio : A Personal Editorial

A bit of editorializing from myself: The 2004 election is NOT over. But time is short, and I am concerned about our focus and energies being dispersed in too many directions, and not being concentrated on the daunting yet historic task which confronts us : preventing a would-be dictator from illegally stealing (a) the presidency, and (b) our democracy, while our press kept its silence, keeping most of our countrymen ignorant of what has transpired. Hence, the following:



THE BATTLE OF OHIO



Make no mistake about it. The eyes of the World are upon Ohio. The People of Ohio were systematically and flagrantly disenfranchised. The Presidency of the United States, and the leadership of the 'free' world, hangs in the balance. Ohio is the single swing state in which (a) there are major litigations pending which, in a fair minded Court, will result in a reversal of the election results, (b) there is a mandatory recount pending which under the law must go forward and which is likely to result in the correction of thousands of "errors" systematically committed in Bush's favor, and (c) the number of electors is sufficient to give John Kerry a majority in the Electoral College.



Thousands of volunteers are needed in Ohio to assist the Green Party and the Libertarian Party with implementing the impending Recount, and tens of thousands of demonstrators are needed to assist the people of Ohio in calling the attention of the national media to the outrage that was committed against the courageous people of Ohio.



Therefore I urge everyone to stay focussed on righting the wrong that was committed in Ohio, and on making our stand there.



Generalized activities geared to long range election reform, or 'anti-inaugurals', are not going to do it, because if Bush is restored to the White House, making his kind of judicial appointments, and with right wing majorities in Congress, and no freedom to vote -- the thought of election reform will go absolutely nowhere; genuine national elections will have perished from the very nation that introduced them to the modern world.



The 2004 election is NOT over; let's go to the inaugural ball, not the anti-inaugural protests.



Although my calendar and blog do mention events going on in other states, I urge everyone who is not in Ohio to make it his or her first priority to come to Ohio to participate in the protests and/or in the Recount.



If you participate in events which are taking place in other states, I strongly urge you to focus the attention of the event towards the very provable Ohio election crimes, as the protestors in Rochester, N.Y., did today.



If we are going to prevail in this struggle against forces who would steal a second presidential election and convert our democracy into a dictatorship, we must focus our energies and attention, and not permit ourselves to be divided and scattered, and working at cross purposes, as the right wing would like us to be.



So keep your eye on the prize, which is nothing less than regaining our Freedom. And the road to Freedom runs right through the State of Ohio.



So if on any given day you find yourself unable to be in Ohio, but able to participate in one of the other activities, by all means do so, but try to call attention to what is going on in Ohio.



And if you wish to contribute financially, I would sugest that you concentrate on the organizations that are doing important work on the ground in Ohio to make sure that every vote gets counted, such as C.A.S.E., the National Voting Rights Institute, and the Green Party Recount.



Sincerely yours,



Ray Beckerman