Election Erections

A Prayer for America

Speech -- Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich

"...Let us pray that our nation will remember that the unfolding of the promise of democracy in our nation paralleled the striving for civil rights. That is why we must challenge the rationale of the Patriot Act. We must ask why should America put aside guarantees of constitutional justice?

"How can we justify in effect canceling the First Amendment and the right of free speech, the right to peaceably assemble?

"How can we justify in effect canceling the Fourth Amendment, probable cause, the prohibitions against unreasonable search and seizure?

"How can we justify in effect canceling the Fifth Amendment, nullifying due process, and allowing for indefinite incarceration without a trial?

"How can we justify in effect canceling the Sixth Amendment, the right to prompt and public trial?

"How can we justify in effect canceling the Eighth Amendment which protects against cruel and unusual punishment?

"We cannot justify widespread wiretaps and internet surveillance without judicial supervision, let alone with it.

"We cannot justify secret searches without a warrant.

"We cannot justify giving the Attorney General the ability to designate domestic terror groups.

"We cannot justify giving the FBI total access to any type of data which may exist in any system anywhere such as medical records and financial records.

"We cannot justify giving the CIA the ability to target people in this country for intelligence surveillance.

"We cannot justify a government which takes from the people our right to privacy and then assumes for its own operations a right to total secrecy. ..." -- Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich, Feb. 17 2002; read more on cite

The Misunderestimated Man

-- "How Bush chose stupidity" By Jacob Weisberg

"The question I am most frequently asked about Bushisms is, "Do you really think the president of the United States is dumb?" The short answer is yes. The long answer is yes and no.

"Quotations collected over the years in Slate may leave the impression that George W. Bush is a dimwit. Let's face it: A man who cannot talk about education without making a humiliating grammatical mistake ("The illiteracy level of our children are appalling"); who cannot keep straight the three branches of government ("It's the executive branch's job to interpret law"); who coins ridiculous words ("Hispanos," "arbolist," "subliminable," "resignate," "transformationed"); who habitually says the opposite of what he intends ("the death tax is good for people from all walks of life!") sounds like a grade-A imbecile.

"And if you don't care to pursue the matter any further, that view will suffice. George W. Bush has governed, for the most part, the way any airhead might, undermining the fiscal condition of the nation, squandering the goodwill of the world after Sept. 11, and allowing huge problems (global warming, entitlement spending, AIDS) to metastasize toward catastrophe through a combination of ideology, incomprehension, and indifference. If Bush isn't exactly the moron he sounds, his synaptic misfirings offer a plausible proxy for the idiocy of his presidency. ..." ---- By Jacob Weisberg, Slate; read more on cite

Dialogue and Deliberation

"Exploring the Mission and Role of Dialogue and Deliberation" with Tom Atlee and the NCDD

A Credo For Collective Intelligence And Wisdom

We believe, and we have seen this to be true,

that if diverse people are helped to show up and be fully heard,
they can generate greater intelligence and wisdom together
than they can individually.

We also know

that there are many ways people can be helped
to access and reflect on the information they need
to further enhance their collective intelligence and wisdom.

And we believe and we have seen

that those who understand and use the principles above
almost always find greater
meaning, aliveness and adventure in doing so.

We believe these principles

can, do and should bring intelligence and wisdom to

addressing conflict,
solving problems,
making decisions,
building community,
practicing democracy,
managing businesses and organizations,
and simply living life.

Finally, we believe that

how we use these principles

through the practice of dialogue and deliberation

in our lives together at all levels
will have a profound influence
not only on the quality of our lives
but ultimately on the survival
of civilization, humanity and life on earth.

We call on all leaders and professionals

to apply their skills to this vital mission.

We call on all people everywhere

- and that means all of us, in all our diversity -

to demand the application of dialogue and deliberation
in all aspects of our lives together

- in great institutions of politics, governance, commerce and law,
no less than in our own lives and communities.

We call on ourselves and everyone else

to practice dialogue and deliberation fully
to create a world that works for all
that it may flourish for a long, long time.

NCDDwiki; read this on cite

The National Ballot Integrity Project

2004 Ballot Integrity Outreach

"The integrity of our electoral process is under attack. Unreliable and insecure electronic voting and vote counting systems threaten the democratic process. It's nothing less than a full frontal assault on democracy -- happening right under our noses-- and we, the American people, will not take it lying down. It's time for a return to transparency - time to shine a bright light into the black boxes of America's electronic voting systems, and time to reclaim our democracy.
Uniting and Amplifying the Voting Integrity Movement

"The National Ballot Integrity Project Task Force was founded to unite and enhance the effectiveness of the already energized and motivated organizations, grassroots activists, concerned citizens and legislators who comprise the election integrity movement across the nation. ..." --The National Ballot Integrity Project; read more on cite