Robert F. Kennedy Jr in Rolling Stone: "Did Bush Steal the 2004 Election?"

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 1:33pm

Article to be posted today.

Subtitled: "How 350,000 Votes Disappeared in Ohio"

In it, he claims that a concerted effort was undertaken by high-level Republican officials to steal the election in Ohio and the presidency in 2004.

Why do we think the high-level officials are?

[justme2]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 1:45pm

I read a similar article by RFK jr in another magazine regarding the same issue. It was either GQ, Details or Vanity Fair and it was within the last 6 months.

It was a fascinating look at what he believed really happened to those votes in Ohio, and I think he mentioned Florida as well. I thought it very well researched and written. He also lamented how Bush has undone all the work Clinton did for environmental protection when president.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 1:49pm

Apparently, if only 6 votes had been registered for Kerry instead of Bush at each precinct in Ohio in 2004, the state--and the presidency--would have gone to Kerry.

Quotes from the article:

Howard Dean: "I'm not confident that the election in Ohio was fairly decided."

U.S. Congressman from Ohio, Rep. Dennis Kucinich: "The secretary of state is supposed to administer elections – not throw them."

Pollster Lou Harris of the Harris Poll -- described in the piece as "the father of modern day political polling" -- says: "Ohio was as dirty an election as America has ever seen."

John Kerry: "Can I draw a conclusion that they played tough games and clearly had intent to reduce the level of our vote? Yes, absolutely. Can I tell you to a certainty that it made the difference in the election? I can't. There's no way for me to do that. If I could have done that, then obviously I would have found some legal recourse."

[justme2]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 1:52pm

I remember RFK stating clearly his dissapointment that Kerry "gave up" the fight for the good of the country.

I checked his site to see if I could find the article. I know it wasn't the Green Issue one of Vanity Fair, but can't seem to find the right article. Lots of good info on the site though.

http://www.robertfkennedyjr.com/index.html

Updated On: 6/1/06 at 01:52 PM

[Unknown User]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 3:20pm

ken blackwell was the katherine harris of ohio...& he's proud of it.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 4:33pm

I will NEVER believe that Bush won either election. And I think this is an extremely important issue. At the very least, we need to believe that our elections are legit.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 5:29pm

The complete article at the link below.
Republicans prevented more than 350,000 voters in Ohio from casting ballots or having their votes counted -- enough to have put John Kerry in the White House. BY ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 5:36pm

His conclusion:

===

The issue of what happened in 2004 is not an academic one. For the second election in a row, the president of the United States was selected not by the uncontested will of the people but under a cloud of dirty tricks. Given the scope of the GOP machinations, we simply cannot be certain that the right man now occupies the Oval Office -- which means, in effect, that we have been deprived of our faith in democracy itself.

American history is littered with vote fraud -- but rather than learning from our shameful past and cleaning up the system, we have allowed the problem to grow even worse. If the last two elections have taught us anything, it is this: The single greatest threat to our democracy is the insecurity of our voting system. If people lose faith that their votes are accurately and faithfully recorded, they will abandon the ballot box. Nothing less is at stake here than the entire idea of a government by the people.

Voting, as Thomas Paine said, 'is the right upon which all other rights depend.' Unless we ensure that right, everything else we hold dear is in jeopardy.

[justme2]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 6:38pm

What I don't understand is how there is so much evidence of wrong doing available to see, yet the issue lies dormant.

Perhaps it's my ignorance of politics, for I really am not politically inclined, but I don't understand that.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 6:43pm

Granted, Bush has been one of the worst Presidents our country has known, but I'm a registered Democrat and active in the party and I can't help but wonder if Kerry would have been any better. I think he was a very weak candidate.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 6:49pm

Kerry wasn't the best candidate but he had so much more integrity than Bush. Kerry wouldn't have been so corrupt. He wouldn't have given the country away to terrorists and oil companies.

Kerry wouldn't havce pandered to the stupid bigots who think banning gay marriage will save heterosexual marriages from divorces.

Kerry would have found Osama bin Ladin.

[justme2]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 6:53pm

I just beleive that Kerry wouldn't have been as war mongering as Bush is, as religion centered as Bush is, and wouldn't have undone all the environmental protection acts as Bush is doing.

Would he have been the country's saving grace? NO.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 6:54pm

Kerry wanted to "consult" France & Germany on the Iraq situation, two countries that were getting kickbacks from Sadam.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 7:00pm

That is such a ridiculous over simplification. But I shouldn't have expected anything else.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 7:01pm

How can anyone say that Bush is "religion centered"? When was the last time he was photographed anywhere near a church? He looked so confused at Pope John Paul II's funeral that one was left to ponder if he's ever been inside a church before.

The man SAYS he's religious. What a man says and what a man DOES are two different things.

[justme2]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 7:03pm

Ok, let me say this then....I don't think Kerry would have made so many decisions for the country based on religious beliefs.

Example: using religion as a bat against Gay rights

[Dollypop]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 7:05pm

Kerry has problems with religion. He's professed to be a Catholic, but the Church doesn't recognize divorce. Still, he was married to another woman before he linked up with Theresa Hines Kerry.

Did his first wife die? How could the marriage have been anulled if there were children?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 7:06pm

The one we should be talking about is Gore.

Would Gore have been a better president than Bush?

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 7:07pm

Exactly. Kerry would never have been in the picture if the 2000 election had been executed honestly.

[justme2]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 7:09pm

I don't know, if every Catholic that has been divorced had to leave the church because of it...there'd be plenty of empty pews.

But I'm sure you are right about Kerry having religious issues. Not many people don't. It's using it as a weapon or excuse that is bothersome to me.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 7:10pm

"Six world powers -- including all five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- Thursday agreed on a plan for resuming negotiations with Iran..."

Looks like Bush consults with other countries, goth.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 7:10pm

If I recall Goth, that quote was with regards to how Kerry would try to get us out of the mess Bush pushed our country and our troops into in Iraq.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 8:35pm

[Dollypop]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 8:37pm

Robert F Kennedy Jr is still one helluva good looking guy. However has anyone heard him talk lately? He's sounding more and more like Katherine Hepburn just before she died.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 8:38pm

That's okay. He writes good.