A must-read topical classic

I still remember a book I read back in Western Civilization II many years ago. Our professor achieved his goal of one thing people in America need to understand about World War II. Not that it's wrong to kill people because they're different. Not any military strategy. No, just the simple message that it is up to the the citizens to keep bad guys from taking advantage of democracy.

http://www.amazon.com/Nazi-Seizure-Power/dp/0531056333/sr=1-3/qid=1157001033/ref=sr_1_3/002-7027860-5523245?ie=UTF8&s=books

When I think of histories of the 1920s-1940s in Germany, I think of the History Channel and all those stories about the people at the top of the N*** Party, about military strategy and final solutions. Instead, this book was a close-up look at the people in a small town that was basically duped into voting for the bad guys (or let them run unopposed), how it happened and what happened afterwards. This was based on interviews, newspapers, and civic records of actual everyday citizens--their relationships and personalities. It's written by and for historians (might have been a PhD dissertation) so it's a bit dry and you know it isn't fictionalized.

However, recent events make me feel as though I've stepped into that nightmare of history. The wrong people are playing our democratic elections against us and seizing power. Can we stop them before they go too far? Who could rescue America from its leaders as we rescued Europe? Um, nobody I'd want running the place. So we'd better do it ourselves, unlike the townsfolk of Northeim (and the rest of Germany). Once the N*** Party had set things up, it only took 6 months to eliminate their democracy. How long would it take ours?

I am as certain of this as I am of anything: We are on the road to totalitarianism. This whole War on Terror thing is just a means to terrify Americans into giving up their rights to the ruling party. These voting machines are just a way to produce superficially convincing election wins for the ruling party. I don't know how to say it any more clearly than Paul Lehto did: "So much for checks and balances, welcome to absolute power." Maybe the Republicans won't bother to seize every office; they'll probably pick their battles. But the Bilbray precedent is incredibly dangerous.

http://wedonotconsent.blogspot.com/2006/08/so-much-for-checks-and-balances.html

We must stop them as soon as possible. Already 92% of Americans believe in honest, transparent, and verifiable elections, which assumes they believe elections choose officeholders. We need to make sure everyone knows what is happening and why we need to stop it. (Unfortunately, I don't have the wisdom to know how we can stop it. Hmmm, I wonder why the U.S. military is busy in Iraq right now?)

A view on patriotism

OK, this is one of those quiz thingies so popular on LiveJournal, but I liked the author's reasoning behind what makes a true patriot.

Patriotic You scored 78% US Philosophy, 57% American Pride, 86% Involvement, and 100% Citizen Status!

This test measured you according to four criteria: Philosophy, Pride, Involvement and Citizen Status. Philosophy reflects whether you agree with the philosophical foundations of the United States, such as: liberty, equality, democracy (though limited, not absolute), capitalism, checks and balances, constitutionalism, etc. Pride reflects your assessment of the factual reality and history of the United States as a nation. It is your opinion as to whether the United States has been a "good" country and whether it has acted rightly or not. Involvement reflects your level of political activism--whether you act to stay informed of what is going on in the world, and what you do on the basis of that information. Citizen Status simply reflects whether you claimed to be a citizen of the U.S. when asked by this test. It is the opinion of this test that, of these four factors, the only one that matters when it comes to being considered a Patriotic American is one's score in the first category--Philosophy. Therefore, if you scored between 0-33% in that category, you have been rated 'Unpatriotic'; 34-66%, 'Somewhat Patriotic'; 67-100% 'Patriotic'. Certainly, the other categories provide interesting information for your (and others') consideration. However, they are not crucial for Patriotism, and they do not necessarily reflect a love, or its lack, for one's country. Regarding American Pride, some people will be surprised that it does not affect the outcome of the test; some people will be upset by this. However, if a person supports every military action the United States has ever engaged in, but does not really support his neighbors' right to live their lives in the ways that they see fit, then they do not truly love the United States. Further, and despite much of the rhetoric some political pundits engage in, a truly Patriotic American can be highly critical of many of the actions undertaken by the U.S. throughout history. Certainly, much of what the United States has done has been done poorly or for the wrong reasons. And while the author of this test believes that the United States has been mainly a force for good in the world (and the most-free, best nation ever to exist), he respects the opinions of those who would disagree with him and fully supports their right to dissent. For that is what America is all about. Regarding Involvement, it has been said that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. This is true, however it is also true that liberty means that people can be as involved, or not involved, as they want. Choosing not to vote, while perhaps unwise, is as much an exercise of political liberty as anything else. Certainly, however, a low score in involvement might mean that a person could stand to try to be more aware of current events, or more actively involved in shaping them, because sometimes they matter. Regarding Citizen Status, I am certain that many people will believe that to truly be a Patriotic American, one must be a citizen of the United States. However, that is not so. One of the traits that sets the U.S. apart from many other nations in history, is that it is a country not organized specifically around a particular ethnicity, language, religion, culture or common historical origin, but a shared political ideology. The United States is organized around a common love of liberty, individual rights and free expression. This, in part, accounts for the unending stream of immigration starting from the very conception of the nation and continuing on to the present day. In today's United States, there are many thousands who are not citizens, and yet who live in the United States and share its dreams (and many of them will be citizens when they are able). The author would even argue that there are many Patriotic Americans who have never yet even set foot on U.S. soil. There are no requirements of language, skin color, religion, sexual orientation or particular condition of any other personal detail to be a "true American." Just a love of liberty. I hope that the test was either entertaining, educational or some combination of the two. I appreciate your taking it. If you have any serious question/comment, the author is always glad to discuss this subject or any other (though please keep in mind my initial warnings--you knew what this test was about when you decided to take it). Also, you might want to check out some of my other tests if you're interested in the following: Nerds, Geeks & Dorks Professional Wrestling Love & Sexuality Buffy the Vampire Slayer Thanks Again! -- THE ARE YOU A PATRIOTIC AMERICAN? TEST

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 99% on US Philosophy You scored higher than 99% on American Pride You scored higher than 99% on Involvement You scored higher than 99% on Citizen Status

Link: The Are You a Patriotic American? Test written by donathos on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

We don't need no stinking ballots

From http://wedonotconsent.blogspot.com/2006/08/san-diego-election-challenge-goes-to.html :

"The motions to dismiss are based on the argument of Rep. Bilbray and Registrar Haas that the Court has no jurisdiction on account of Art. I, sec. 5 of the United States constitution, which provides that the House and Senate are to judge the qualifications of their members, and further arguing that the House's authority to do so is exclusive, thus depriving the California courts of any jurisdiction."

So they're saying that the House and Senate don't need election results to decide who's a member? This has got to be the most blatant demonstration yet that we are not living in a democracy any more.

Lawsuits my shiny metal @$$, this is time to march in the streets and demand our country back.

People are smarter than you think

http://wedonotconsent.blogspot.com/2006/08/92-of-americans-favor-publics-right-to.html

Dave Berman reports that a new Zogby poll found that an average of 92% of all Americans agree that citizens have the right to view and obtain information about how election officials count votes. And that's not an average of 100% of liberals on the coasts balanced by a lot of conservatives in the middle--that percentage is quite consistent between all demographic groups and geographic areas. Overall, 6% disagreed and 2% were unsure.

So take that, all you election officials and mainstream media purveyors who insinuate that anyone who doesn't think voters should have faith without proof in election results is a tinfoil-hatted conspiracy theorist. The country believes almost unanimously in transparent and verifiable elections. I don't know if I've ever seen this kind of nearly-unanimous agreement on an issue.

In the words of election reform attorney Paul Lehto, "When it comes to anti-secret vote counting and pro-transparency, activists should be walking around like they are invincible and can't lose. Because they can't.... !!! The only way we can lose is by letting the subject change away from the transparency and anti-secret vote counting frames."

Read Dave's blog for the whole scoop. He has some good links in there for background, too. He also discusses whether limited auditing can catch vote manipulation.

Not the way I planned it

I think I'm going to be better known for political protesting than for my scientific work. Already I've been spotted in news coverage of the Peace March this year, plus I had the "Best Election Protest Sign Ever" at WeDoNotConsent and BradBlog. I was kind of hoping I'd get my 15 minutes of fame for some shiny discovery, but standing up for my beliefs is nothing to sneeze at.