This is a reply to a friend who sent me an article by Greg Palast on Florida's ongoing voting issues.
You can read Greg's story here: http://www.gregpalast.com/index.cfm

Sorry I sent that one back to you, I saw the story in

'Bushwatch' (something that you should really

subscribe to if you haven't already) and missed

reading it.  I should have come back to read that

article, very important indeed.  I don't know if

you've read Greg Palast's stuff, but he's very, very

good at what he does, in other words being a

dependable, muckraking journalist. 

  I don't mean to sound pessimistic, but there really

is no point in anyone believing there is any hope for

change in this country, democrat or repugnican.  When

you think of both parties, a more accurate description

would be 'ultra-conservative' and 'conservative'.

Third partys?  Not in this lifetime.  As Doctor Smith

would say in 'Lost in Space' "Doomed, we're all

Doomed."

 Oh, and if you vote by absentee ballot, you will

notice the requirement to state party affiliation so

they can more quickly screen who they do and do not

want to accept votes from.  Welcome to an Orwellian

Amerika.  Also, these absentee ballots are counted by

a 'central tabulator' with all the faults that occur

in the touch-screen machines that are so

controversial.  In other words, the central tabulator

is 'fixable' with back-door access to manipulate votes

and no means of detecting whether that vote is fixed

or not.

 As for me, you can see my sentiments with the

attached poster.  I may go out and start posting it on

lampposts for all the good it will do in this MTV

generation u.s.  

 Have you been watching the New York protests?

Ineffectual comes to mind.  I've been keeping track on

the NY Indymedia website as well.  Those who are out

there protesting are just shouting inside an empty

room.  Nobody's home.  They don't seem to realize the

era of marching sock puppets around died with the

sixties and when people see that now they may as well

be watching a civil war re-enactment. 

 My feeling is they would be much more effective in a

'guerilla warfare' environment where they put on

business suits, got haircuts, and started their own

lobbying organizations.  It wouldn't hurt if they

started reading republican literature on how to be

effective in local and national governemnt.  I don't

like the republicans at all, but they have certainly

put a lot of thought into how to take over a country.

The CIA and Special Forces weren't afraid to read Che

Guevara's 'Guerilla Warfare', and ultimatly that's how

they got him.  Perhaps it's time the left did the same

when it comes to reaching out to the public and

pulling them in where it counts.