| October 24, 2008 at 21:52:26 Headlined on 10/24/08: by Rady Ananda  |    |
October 24, 2008 Press Release
A current list of this letter's signers can be found (as of 10/23 @ Noon PT) at www.usacoup.scoop.co.nz/unprovable. If you would like to add your name, please use the form on that page or submit your name and affiliation via e-mail to: unprovable@scoop.co.nz.
We Do Not Consent - Open Letter To The Media
SEND THIS LETTER AS AN EMAIL TO YOUR MEDIA
(Note: you will need to provide an email address)
A Public Media Campaign Launched By Dave Berman Of We Do Not Consent
Dear Media Colleagues:
You are receiving this message because you are known to American progressives as a truth-teller. In this presidential campaign, despite the typical horse-race coverage, we also see the overall corporate media narrative influenced by daily debunking efforts from candidates' rapid response teams, the blogosphere, and the reality-based coverage and reporting that you provide. We need to take this to the next level. There are three very simple basic facts about the way US federal elections are conducted now, and we think they lead to an inescapable conclusion that must be addressed. See if you agree:
1. We have secret corporate vote counting computers counting more than 95% of the votes cast in the United States;
2. The absence of paper ballots, and in some cases state's law, prevents meaningful re-counts throughout much of the country;
3. These electronic voting machines frequently produce results impossible in a legitimate election, such as John Kerry's negative 25 million votes in Youngstown, OH (Nov. 2004), or Palm Beach County's 12,000 votes in excess of the number of voters (Aug. 2008).
To us, this suggests the conclusion that federal election results are unprovable, even though the media reports them as fact.
Can you draw any other conclusion?
It will surprise no one this November when the outcome is a spoiled mess, riddled with controversy. In fact, we can already say the results–-based on the conditions-–are guaranteed to be inconclusive, unknowable and unprovable.
We must challenge our industry to refuse to report as fact what cannot be proven and has not been independently verified, particularly when the only source of the information is the government itself.
The reality is that the media should be the greatest advocates of hand counting paper ballots because this method of counting allows media greatest access to observing and documenting the process, affording the reported results the greatest credibility.
Transparent coverage of a transparent counting process would create a basis for confidence in the reported results where none currently exists.
As we all know, there is a vibrant community of engaged citizens across the US who collectively self-identify as the "election integrity community." They are asking us truth-tellers to challenge our industry, essentially reframing the debate.
Many of them have appeared on our shows and in our columns over the past few years, and they are eager to be sources for us now. But they are also counting on us to take this message forward and we don't see how we can be truth-tellers without doing that.
Please join us in this concerted effort to use truth-telling yet again to change the corporate media narrative of this presidential campaign.
Respectfully yours,
Dave Berman, http://WeDoNotConsent.blogspot.com; Voter Confidence Committee of Humboldt, CA
Mark Crispin Miller, Author, www.markcrispinmiller.blogspot.com
Alastair Thompson, Co-Editor/General Manager, www.Scoop.co.nz
Michael Collins, "The Money Party," http://usacoup.scoop.co.nz/?tag=michael-collins; http://electionfraudnews.com/MichaelCollins.htm
Ernest Partridge, Co-Editor, The Crisis Papers www.crisispapers.org
Bernard Weiner, Co-Editor, The Crisis Papers www.crisispapers.org
Rob Kall, Executive Editor & Publisher www.OpEdNews.com
Joan Brunwasser, Election Integrity Editor www.OpEdNews.com
Rady Ananda, Senior Editor www.OpEdNews.com; Executive Director Re-media Election Transparency Coalition, www.re-mediaetc.org
Jan Baumgartner, Managing Editor, www.OpEdNews.com
Cheryl Biren-Wright, Managing Editor, www.OpEdNews.com
Amanda Lang, OEN Managing Editor, www.opednews.com
Linda Milazzo, Senior Editor www.OpEdNews.com; HuffingtonPost blogger
Tom Courbat, Founder, SAVE R VOTE, www.savervote.com
Dan Ashby, Co-Founder and Director, www.ElectionDefenseAlliance.org
Lynn Landes, freelance journalist, www.thelandesreport.com
David Swanson, Co-Founder, www.AfterDowningStreet.org
Andi Novick, Legal Counsel, Re-media Election Transparency Coalition, www.re-mediaetc.org
Joanne Lukacher, Communications Director, Re-Media Election Transparency Coalition, www.re-mediaetc.org
Valerie Lane, Chair, SAVElections Monterey County, California
Peter B. Collins, syndicated talk show host, www.peterbcollins.com
David L. Griscom, Ph.D., impactglassman.blogspot.com; Co-Founder, AUDITAZ, auditaz.blogspot.com; Member Coordinating Committee, Election Defense Alliance, www.electiondefensealliance.org/
(Note: you will need to look up an email address)
A current list of this letter's signers can be found here. If you would like to add your name, please use the form on that page or submit your name and affiliation via e-mail to: unprovable@scoop.co.nz
Take action -- click here to contact your local newspaper or congress people:
Write Progressive Media: Don't report election results as fact without independent verification.
Click here to see the most recent messages sent to congressional reps and local newspapers
In 2004, Rady Ananda joined the growing community of citizen journalists. Focused mainly on elections, her blogs also address religious, gender, sexual and racial equality, as well as environmental issues; and are sprinkled with book and film reviews on various topics. She spent most of her working life as a legal investigator for private lawyers, and five years as an editor. She currently serves as a senior editor at OpEdNews. All material offered here is the property of Rady Ananda, copyright 2006, 2007, 2008. Permission is granted to repost, with proper attribution including the original link. In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. Tell the truth anyway. Sign this petition: http://www.electiondefensealliance.org/ny_levers_petition
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