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04:05 PM — Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones of Ohio and Sen. Barbara Boxer of California join the list of great heroes of American democracy for their courageous decision to stand up for the disenfranchised voters in Ohio. By objecting to the Ohio Electoral College votes, they, Rep. Conyers, the Congressional Black Caucus, and many others started a debate that highlighted the glaring problems facing voters in Ohio and elsewhere. While Republican legislators said that the debates were frivolous and unnecessary, the fact remains that widespread problems cited in 2000 were not fixed in time for the 2004 election. More work remains, and these hearings have set the stage for the next phase of our work.

Thanks to David Cobb and the Green Party, who were proud and privileged to stand up for the voters of Ohio along with the Libertarian Party, the National Voting Rights Institute, and many others, electoral reform is now front and center on the national stage. All of you who volunteered to observe the 88 Ohio county recounts, raised money to pay the recount expenses, and wrote, called, marched, and raised your voices can pat yourselves on the back for a job well done. Take a moment to savor your victory, and then let's get on to the important work of making sure that each person can vote, and each person's vote counts.

20 Amazing Facts about Voting in the USA

20 Amazing Facts About
Voting in the USA

by Angry Girl

Nightweed.com


Did you know....
1. 80% of all votes in America are counted by only two companies: Diebold and ES&S.

http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting/042804Landes/042804landes.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diebold


2. There is no federal agency with regulatory authority or oversight of the U.S. voting machine industry.

http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0916-04.htm

http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting/042804Landes/042804landes.html

20 Amazing Facts about Voting in the USA

Daily Kos :: The GOP Bloodbath: Even the army is debating the war.

Too little, too late....

The war in Iraq is so bad that even the Army is allowing debate on whether the war was justified or not. Franklin Eric Wester, an Army colonel and chaplin, has written an article for the Army War College's journal examining the war from the basis of the Christian Just War Theory and concluding that it doesn't meet the test.

The St. Louis Post Dispatch quotes Wester as saying that his fellow officers have not changed the way they've treated him since the article was published. This is anecdotal, but this suggests that Wester's article may reflect a lot of people's private doubts about the justification of the war.

While I cannot agree with everything in the article, I feel it is significant that even the Army brass is starting to question the war's justification. The Army is all about moving in lockstep with the President and the Armed Forces are normally among Bush's biggest supporters.


Diaries :: Eternal Hope's diary ::

Here is how Wester evaluates the war in the light of the Just War Theory:

Legitimate Authority: Wester says this criteria is not justified because the US barely had an ad hoc "coalition of the willing." He writes that Bush's use of the phrase is vague. The fact is, every country except for Britian contributed only a tolken force. And even Britian has withdrawn most of their troops from Iraq.

Public Declaration: Wester says this criteria was met by the President's ultimatum right before the war started. However, I disagree with this. The Constitution only gives Congress the right to declare war against another country. The Iraq War Resolution did not a declaration of war; it only authorized the President to use force as a last resort. Bush broke that part of the deal and therefore, he has become widely mistrusted both here and around the world.

Just Intent: Wester makes one of his best points when he quotes a Catholic theologian. He writes:

To Paul J. Griffiths, Professor of Catholic Studies at the University of Illinois, the definition of imminent has not changed: "It means the gun is at your head." And in the case of Iraq, "We just don't have that." He states that redefining imminent offers "well-intentioned support for US foreign policy, but it's not defensible in terms of traditional Just War theory."


Daily Kos :: The GOP Bloodbath: Even the army is debating the war.