My Letter to Al Franken: How about the TRUTH re 2004?

Al,

I just heard you say on your show that you don't believe the 2004 election was stolen, not even in Ohio. You said you based that opinion on information from other liberals and your staff, I believe. Al, have you not read Congressman John Conyers’ report on the 2004 Ohio election? or the recent GAO report on electronic voting machines? or books by authors such as Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman, Andrew Gumbel, and Mark Crispin Miller that document the numerous problems? or analysis studies done by prominent researchers like Steven Freeman, Ph.D.? or US Count Votes' report and analysis done by 13 prominent experts? or read Brad Friedman's interview of software programmer Clint Curtis? or the MOUNTAIN of other valid evidence showing implausible and improbable problems with the reported 2004 election results? Are you not familiar with the Dominionists/Christian Reconstructionists (i.e., the Christian Taliban), including their plan to turn our country into a theocracy, multi-millionaire member Howard Ahmanson’s connection to the electronic election system companies and their monopoly in that industry, and their stated goal of taking control of our government by 2004?

On one of your shows in Oct. 2004, Sen. Tom Harkin stated that the Bush administration was so desperate to hold on to power that he didn’t know what they could be capable of. The Bush Crime Family lied to the American public so they could invade another country for political, personal, and/or business reasons, is attacking our cherished civil liberties and every aspect of our society, and would do Anything to hold on to power, and yet you think they couldn’t be capable of stealing an election to pursue their perverted goals???! People like to mock this possibility and refer to it as being a “conspiracy theory”. In fact, as the mountain of valid evidence and FACTS show, THERE’S NO THEORY ABOUT IT. It was a conspiracy and it did happen! And what, people think conspiracies don’t happen? On the contrary, history is rife with them.

You emphasize to right-wingers that they need to open their eyes and see the truth. Your latest book is also entitled “The Truth.” Perhaps you should take your own advice on this issue and open your eyes to the fact that our elections no longer belong to The People, that our democracy is currently an illusion and we need MAJOR election reform to restore our democracy.

This can be a very difficult and frightening acknowledgement for many people, including liberals, but it is the truth. Just look at the FACTS, the REAL facts. Until people realize and acknowledge this truth, the Dominionists and neo-cons will continue to laugh their way to Washington, D.C. and control all branches of government, and the Democrats (or any political party other than the Republicans) will become totally irrelevant. Being in denial and promoting the Big Lie on your radio show only deeply hurts this country and our future. Please, Al, study up on the FACTS.

For additional information, the Oregon Voter Rights Coalition has valuable information on the 2004 election on their website (www.OregonVRC.org), including a transcript of an interview of Clint Curtis by Brad Friedman and downloadable materials such as a brochure and a timeline of events on election night. Brad Friedman also has excellent election-related information on his blog site, www.bradblog.com, as do many other election reform websites. In addition, I put together a short compilation of the valid research studies and evidence (as of last winter) showing serious problems with the 2004 election and the impossibility of the results as reported. If you’re interested, I’d be happy to mail a copy of it to you.

Sincerely,

Beth E. Peterson
Member, Oregon Voter Rights Coalition