The Quiet Coup D'état

by Mary Shepard, WAMM

Who won the election in November 2000? Amy Goodman put that question to four or five members of the newspaper consortium that set out to give us a definitive answer after a year of study. In every case, the answer was prefaced with a paragraph loaded with obfuscations.

To begin with, the consortium did not account for the many legal voters who were turned away at the polls or disqualified with false accusations that they were felons. Also, much was made of the count as it stood when the counting stopped -- so much, in fact, that many people assumed this proved Bush was elected. If the recount had been confined only to the contested ballots and the ballots within the limited, contested jurisdiction that remained when the counting was stopped, Bush probably would have won.

If you listened (or read in the newspaper) beyond the misleading headlines and beyond those obfuscating paragraphs, it became pretty clear that Gore was the winner, both of the electoral college vote and the popular vote.

One interesting explanation offered about how Gore was persuaded to concede without a more significant fight was that his party and election committee did not think it worth the effort. In fact, of course, the whole election process had been bought by the same interests, and it made little difference to the behind-the-scenes corporate lobbyists which man won. Their interests would be in friendly hands either way.

To be sure, some voters would be disappointed that abortion rights and gay rights might suffer. African Americans and Hispanic Americans would feel left out of the process again. (In predominantly African American precincts of Florida, 136 of every 1000 votes went uncounted according to the Washington Post, November 19, 2001.) But these issues are of little interest to the corporate world. They aren't money issues.

We have allowed successive administrations to chip away at our constitutional rights over so many years this final denouement should come as no surprise. The sale of our system has been happening right under our noses with little protest. First, the Congress became "the best one money could buy." With the legislative body under control, the appointees to the Federal courts, particularly the Supreme Court, could also be selected for their willingness to make friendly decisions.

The buying of the administrative branch was more difficult to hide but that started with the buying of political parties and the election system. When the voters discovered the nomination system was fixed and they would never have a nominee of their choice, they simply stopped voting at all. The media, owned as it is by the same interests who have bought our election process, never noted that we had become a democracy in name only.

Fast forward and we now have an administration that feels free to violate our civil rights, make war without our permission, and create military tribunals that can hardly be distinguished from the tribunals in such countries as Peru. Noncitizens legally in this country can be detained indefinitely without being shown the evidence against them or being allowed to consult with their lawyers. In an Orwellian twist, "innocent until proven guilty" has been changed to "guilty until proven innocent." Torture, assassinations, and executions in secret are all being contemplated. Meanwhile, even citizens' phones can be tapped without court orders.

Even our history is being erased as "President" Bush decrees that tapes of the Reagan administration will not be available to the public. Voters will never learn the details behind the arming and funding of the Taliban by Bush's father, nor how it was that Saddam Hussein was given his position of power when the senior Bush was vice president under Reagan.

You may ask, "How dare they?" The answer: They are estimating that the public will not show outrage even as the constitution is violated. So far, they seem to be correct. There has been no outrage expressed by any branch of what we had thought was a failproof system of checks and balances. A few whimpers appeared in the editorials of the mainstream press.

When people say, "We will defeat them in the next election," they had better think again. Will anything be different? With both parties bought, will we have any nominees to vote for? Others have faith the courts will protect our rights. But did the Supreme Court protect our right to have our votes counted?

These habits of thinking are hard to shake. The legislative branch has given many rights away through passage of the resolution granting Bush war-making powers, as well as the infamous "PATRIOT Act." Other abrogations of our rights are by presidential fiat.

We must come to terms with the knowledge that our democracy and our media have been turned over to people with their own agenda, and we will have a hard time getting them back.

WAMM Action!

Pacifica action group forming now!

Anti-war activism depends on steady and reliable streams of alternative news. One of these streams used to be Pacifica Radio, a network that has experienced something of a corporate takeover in recent years. A new Pacifica board of directors is being formed. The membership will be determined, in part, by the boards of the five Pacifica network stations in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Houston. Concerned activists are working hard to raise money and awareness in these communities so that Pacifica can be saved for community-not corporate-interests.

Are you interested in working to save Pacifica Radio? Do you know someone who lives in one of these areas who could help? Are you interested in gathering to strategize about ways that concerned people in the Twin Cities can help save Pacifica from corporate greed? Call today-time is of the essence! FFI: Bara Berg, 651-291-1492 or Mary Shepard, 651-454-3918.

Free Pacifica!
1-800-825-0055
www.radio4all.org/freepacifica
www.savepacifica.org