I wonder how MLK, an advocate of nonviolence, would feel about being used as a political weapon every year:
In his first high-profile address since conceding the presidential election, Senator John F. Kerry used Boston’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. memorial breakfast yesterday to decry what he called the suppression of thousands of would-be voters last November.
“Thousands of people were suppressed in their efforts to vote. Voting machines were distributed in uneven ways,” the former Democratic nominee told an enthusiastic audience of 1,200 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center in South Boston.
“In Democratic districts, it took people four, five, 11 hours to vote, while Republicans [went] through in 10 minutes. Same voting machines, same process, our America,” Kerry said.
In an e-mail message he sent to his supporters on the day before Congress certified the election results earlier this month, Kerry cited “widespread reports of irregularities, questionable practices by some election officials, and instances of lawful voters being denied the right to vote” in the battleground state of Ohio.
But he also said his legal team had found no evidence that would alter the outcome. President Bush defeated Kerry in Ohio by 119,000 votes.
No mention of who ran the elections in the Republican and Democratic districts. No mention of the massive increase in voting and registration (up 25% in some key counties in Ohio). Demagoguery doesn’t need facts- it just needs a subvservient press and a willing audience.
Sandi
“decry what he called the suppression of thousands of would-be voters last November.”
CODE for: An inelgible or illegal alien voter. (sometimes one who voted elsewhere)
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“Voting machines were distributed in uneven ways”
CODE for: Some Republican precincts used more fraud proof voting machines.
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And why is Kerry’s outrage missing in Wisconsin where just over the last few days voter fraud is breaking in the news that makes even the Washington state fiasco look more honest than a church bake sale. My link is A Red Sheep In Blue Wolfs Clothing?, and another Wis blogger has 13 posts here and the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel story here.
dick
What I find fascinating is that all the precincts where the problems occurred were in Democratic districts under the control of Democratic election officials and in cities with Democratic leaders. For this the Republicans are supposed to be responsible? Philadelphia, Dade County, Palm Beach County, King County, Cuyahoga County, Summit County, Lucas County, St Louis. The list goes on and is very consistent.
JakeV
Your suggestion that there is a conflict between King’s belief in nonviolence and his use as a “political weapon” does not make sense. King was against physical violence, not metaphorical violence.
Kimmitt
dclick — it depends on how the county election boards are funded and staffed, doesn’t it?