I'm a Conspiracy Theorist
Many of the big newpapers in the country have called the effort to delve into the vote counting from the recent election as an Internet conspiracy theory or rumors from the blogosphere. The fact that there were certainly mistakes made due to the use of electronic voting doesn't seem to make a difference to the mainstream press. The fact that voting patterns in Florida in particular were against the grain enough to raise eyebrows, is reason for those who raised their eyebrows to be insinuated as crazy by the old school print media.
So since I'm one of those who distrust our voting system (now and prior to the election as well) and want an investigation to verify whether the votes were counted properly apparently makes me a conspiracy theorist. I guess the fact that for many years I worked as a quality inspector in manufactoring and learned first hand how machines both mechanical and computer based make many mistakes doesn't qualify me to question the reliabilty of voting equipment. The fact that any Microsoft programming is constantly under attack from hackers creating viruses leading me not to trust that Windows don't break is reason to think of me and others as the lunatic fringe.
The knowledge of the lies of politicians (from both political parties) that is part and parcel of modern day politics that gives me enough pause to wonder if cheating of the voting process is a possibility must make me an untrusting simpleton. The accumulated evidence of many examples throughout our country's election history of actual, factual, genuine, verifiable, authentic FRAUD apparently should not influence my feelings toward whether THIS election had fraudulent actions as well, at least according to the "experts" within our newspaper media with their falling subscriptions.
Has it come to this, that all ideas and thoughts that don't agree with the mainstream media is waved away as conspiracy theory? Do the power printers like the Washington Post and Chicago Tribune think they are so high and mighty that once they deem a story to be over (this past election) and they have moved on to the next stories that no one is suppose to question whether the story really is over? Are they getting a little bothered that the rumors of the blogosphere have been rechecking their work and finding that their work has come up lacking at times? And finally, why should we have as much trust for anything the mainstream media tells us when they were so poor in investigating the claims of the Bush Administration during the run-up to the Iraq War? I might have plenty of feelings that that was a conspiracy and not just a theory, a conspiracy of stupidity.
Just in case the newspapers that think I'm a conspiracy theorist are reading this blog, let me make some things clear. I'm a skeptic, I don't trust everything flashed before my eyes on TV news in the precious few minutes not devoted to commercials or the lines of words squeezed between the pages of advertising. I'm a realist, I fully understand that past actions tend to be copied, such as voter fraud. I'm a student of human nature, people seeking to hold power will do some awful things in the quest to hold that power. And finally I'm not one of the few who fit into the elite category, I have full rights to not trust those in power in this country as they don't reveal much about their motivations and insider wheelings and dealings.
I will continue to call for an investigation into the election and whether there was fraud or irregularities. I want it full known if voter disenfranchisement occurred. As a former quality control worker, I know that auditing almost always finds mistakes. I know that mistakes were made just by some of the reports that the media did report, and I'm betting that many more happened as well. This is our election process, it should be law that every election is audited. Election is the start of democracy, if there are problems at the beginning of the democracy process then as democracy continues down its production line those problems become bigger mistakes (like allowing cheaters to win elections and to then cheat and lie while they hold office). If I can't trust elections, can I trust democracy?
I ask a few final questions. Why should the media be afraid to investigate our election process? Why would the media call those of us who want an audit of the election, conspiracy theorists? Do they just not want to cover an investigation, is it laziness?
The Consortium News rebuts the Washington Post for the sloppy story they did that also called anyone who questions the election process of 2004 conspiracy theorists. Link
So since I'm one of those who distrust our voting system (now and prior to the election as well) and want an investigation to verify whether the votes were counted properly apparently makes me a conspiracy theorist. I guess the fact that for many years I worked as a quality inspector in manufactoring and learned first hand how machines both mechanical and computer based make many mistakes doesn't qualify me to question the reliabilty of voting equipment. The fact that any Microsoft programming is constantly under attack from hackers creating viruses leading me not to trust that Windows don't break is reason to think of me and others as the lunatic fringe.
The knowledge of the lies of politicians (from both political parties) that is part and parcel of modern day politics that gives me enough pause to wonder if cheating of the voting process is a possibility must make me an untrusting simpleton. The accumulated evidence of many examples throughout our country's election history of actual, factual, genuine, verifiable, authentic FRAUD apparently should not influence my feelings toward whether THIS election had fraudulent actions as well, at least according to the "experts" within our newspaper media with their falling subscriptions.
Has it come to this, that all ideas and thoughts that don't agree with the mainstream media is waved away as conspiracy theory? Do the power printers like the Washington Post and Chicago Tribune think they are so high and mighty that once they deem a story to be over (this past election) and they have moved on to the next stories that no one is suppose to question whether the story really is over? Are they getting a little bothered that the rumors of the blogosphere have been rechecking their work and finding that their work has come up lacking at times? And finally, why should we have as much trust for anything the mainstream media tells us when they were so poor in investigating the claims of the Bush Administration during the run-up to the Iraq War? I might have plenty of feelings that that was a conspiracy and not just a theory, a conspiracy of stupidity.
Just in case the newspapers that think I'm a conspiracy theorist are reading this blog, let me make some things clear. I'm a skeptic, I don't trust everything flashed before my eyes on TV news in the precious few minutes not devoted to commercials or the lines of words squeezed between the pages of advertising. I'm a realist, I fully understand that past actions tend to be copied, such as voter fraud. I'm a student of human nature, people seeking to hold power will do some awful things in the quest to hold that power. And finally I'm not one of the few who fit into the elite category, I have full rights to not trust those in power in this country as they don't reveal much about their motivations and insider wheelings and dealings.
I will continue to call for an investigation into the election and whether there was fraud or irregularities. I want it full known if voter disenfranchisement occurred. As a former quality control worker, I know that auditing almost always finds mistakes. I know that mistakes were made just by some of the reports that the media did report, and I'm betting that many more happened as well. This is our election process, it should be law that every election is audited. Election is the start of democracy, if there are problems at the beginning of the democracy process then as democracy continues down its production line those problems become bigger mistakes (like allowing cheaters to win elections and to then cheat and lie while they hold office). If I can't trust elections, can I trust democracy?
I ask a few final questions. Why should the media be afraid to investigate our election process? Why would the media call those of us who want an audit of the election, conspiracy theorists? Do they just not want to cover an investigation, is it laziness?
The Consortium News rebuts the Washington Post for the sloppy story they did that also called anyone who questions the election process of 2004 conspiracy theorists. Link
posted by jon at 9:03 AM
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