That’s what RFK Jr. said recently about elections in America. He said,
This is the most important issue in American Democracy and the press isn’t covering it. So the politicians who want to fix the elections, and who want these fraudulent machines, can get away with it, don’t take a position because it gets no traction in the press.
The MSM isn’t covering it. Nor the would-be MSM. But we must keep talking about this. RFK Jr. shows how, as the inspector in V for Vendetta came to realize, everything is connected:
this was just another corporate boondoggle that gave the most venal mendacious corporations charge of our most sacred public trust, which is the right to vote. These corporations were making hundreds of millions of dollars. The machines, as it turns out, were manufactured by wireless companies and were just a cheap piece of junk that cost less than $100 to manufacture, and they were selling them for $2400 apiece. And they were using Jack Abramoff and other corrupt lobbyists to persuade federal officials to pass the federal act to appropriate the money and then to persuade state and local officials to purchase the defective machines…
Jack Abramoff, and Bob Ney [10](R-Oh), the principle figure in the Abramoff scandal and he’s the author of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). And Diebold contributed millions of dollars to these guys, including hundreds of thousands of dollars to Abramoff to lobby on behalf of HAVA, and to lobby states like New York and the other states, to adopt the Diebold machines…
HAVA was written specifically to require the states to buy Diebold machines. I mean one company basically had control of the whole legislative process. That’s why HAVA has a provision in it that discourages vote verification by paper ballots. Both Republicans and Democrats tried to reform the HAVA, saying of course we should have paper verification of the vote. Paper verification would allow you to go in, make your vote on the electronic machine, and you get a receipt that is a copy of who you voted for and you are allowed to examine that receipt. You deposit it in a locked box in the voting area. That way, if there’s ever any question, if you need to count, you can count the papers, and see if it compares to what the machine says.
But Bob Ney fought tooth and nail against that provision because Diebold made a machine that does not provide a paper ballot. And he went so far, because Diebold contributed a million dollars to an organization that purportedly protects the rights of blind people. And in exchange for that, that organization got one of its officers to testify on Capitol Hill at the HAVA hearings, that blind people in America did not want paper ballots – voter verified ballots – because it would deprive someone of the right to vote secretly. Now the other organizations that support handicapped rights and rights of the blind, do not take that position. This was a position that that organization adopted after accepting a million dollars from Diebold. The whole operation was corrupt and now Bob Ney is going to jail for it.
Earlier in the interview, RFK Jr. said people should read Greg Palast’s book Armed Madhouse:
He does for the national elections what I did for the Ohio election, which is to synthesize the information that’s out there into a readable document, in which he shows exactly how this election was stolen-not just in Ohio but in many other states as well.
RFK Jr. notes how the Republicans have for years used voter suppression and other tactics to discourage the Democratic vote. But he also reserves a great share of the blame for the media, which, by not properly educating people on the issues, is part of the problem.
Please read the whole thing. Robert Kennedy Jr. has proved himself over and over as a deep thinker who sees the bigger picture, makes the appropriate connections, takes action, and then seeks to educate others.
Talk about a role model!
Btw – note that I linked Armed Madhouse to Booman’s link, meaning he’ll get credit if anyone buys the book through that link. Have at it. (And maybe we can all try to help in little ways when we post. Little bits eventually add up.)
I can’t resist a couple more quotes from RFK:
And I’ve often argued that capitalism and democracy are contradictory. He said it better:
And this – this brought tears to my eyes. He’s so right:
You might also want to check out this interview on Catherine Crier’s show w/ Brad and RFK Jr.
Thanks. He’s very good on TV. Except that poor voice of his – it pains me every time – it sounds like just speaking is painful. I know he has a medical condition that affects his voice.
HI,
Imagine my surprise when I saw my interview HERE. 🙂 I interviewed Bobby for Bradblog a couple of weeks ago and it had to get all the way to New Zealand to get to Booman. Weird.
Well that’s the first in a series. I will have one with Mike Papantonio next and then one with John Dean and it will all be about “Democracy in Crisis”. I thought I would just let you know. Keep checking in with Bradblog though and give him credit. I don’t know who I will get next, I’m working on some great folks though.
Joy Williams (check the original, it’s my name)
Fantastic, Joy! I didn’t know you were a member of the Frog Pond! I’m hoping to read your next interview this weekend..!