ACTION! LETTER OF THE WEEK #4: Kevin Shelley, Diebold & Election Fraud

[Peace Patriot]

This is a draft letter. It is 2 /12 pages long in 10 pt. Times font--too long! But I thought I would post a draft for comments, and to get people started. I believe that what is going on in California is THE fight of fights for Election Reform. THIS IS IT, DUers! As so often, the BushCons are a thousand steps ahead of us. THEY know Congress isn't going to help--they have real Election Reform blockaded there. This is a local, state by state struggle. That's why they got rid of Kevin Shelley. And we had better move fast to educate California legislators--a progressive group, as a whole--who might just listen to us. This letter is aimed at them, and can also be used for media and for other California Democratic politicians and groups.

--------------

Date: ____

Senator (or Assemblyman or woman) ____, via fax to ______ (2 ½ pages)

Dear (California Democrat)

I have been a loyal Democratic Party voter and supporter for 44 years. So is my large family. We are all native born Californians.

I am extremely alarmed at what I see happening in California, with loss of the one of the bulwarks for honest and transparent elections, Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, and I would like to discuss this very serious matter, and also to recommend, 1) strong support for Shelley's work, including decertifying Diebold and providing Californians with a paper ballot option; and 2) resistance to any appointee of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Republican or Democrat, who falls below Shelley's high standard of vigilance regarding the integrity of our election system.

I do not believe the charges against Shelley, and I also believe that he was doing great good for California… These charges were just too conveniently close in time to his action against Diebold, decertifying them for their lies about the security of their voting machines, and his other transparency measures.

Election machinery insecurity and lack of transparency in our election system are the keys to another puzzle: The re-installation of George Bush as President of the U.S. despite unprecedented, low approval ratings by the American people, which have hovered around 50% since the election and dropped below 50% at the Inauguration. Nearly 60% of Americans disapprove of the war on Iraq, and 63% disapprove of torture under any circumstances.

You may have wondered: How could Americans give Bush this astounding "vote of no confidence" in opinion polls, after "re-electing" him by 3.5 million votes?

I believe the answer is that George Bush was not elected on Nov. 2, 2004—an answer that bodes ill for Democrats in California, given recent developments.

The evidence of a wrong outcome in the 2004 presidential election is very strong. I will summarize just two of the recent expert studies from the mountain of evidence available, some of it listed below.

And I believe that we saw happen on November 2—the mysterious re-election of George Bush—and what we have seen happening in some of the other states--the mysterious losses that Democrats are suffering—is about to happen to California, and that these losses are traceable to electronic voting systems in which

• the programming source code that counts all our votes is held as secret, proprietary information by major donors and supporters of the Bush/Cheney regime, including Wally O'Dell (Diebold) and H. Ahmanson (ES&S).

• a third of country now votes with no paper trail whatsoever—let alone a voter verified paper ballot—a circumstance that was deliberately arranged by Tom DeLay's obstruction of transparency measures in HAVA

• the electronic machines are notable for their extreme insecurity, unreliability and hackability.

I urge you to brace yourself for the attempted Texification, Dieboldisation and Bushification of California. It's coming! The attack on Kevin Shelley is just the opening shot. And unless you start paying attention to the overwhelming evidence of 2004 election fraud, you are going to be very shocked when Democrats start mysteriously losing elections here, too.

Please read Dr. Steven Freeman's second report on the 2004 election, which was circulated in draft form on the internet, and is available to legislators upon request at

http://www.appliedresearch.us/sf/epdiscrep.htm

Dr. Steven Freeman provides an astute analysis of the predictable vote for John Kerry, using the base vote going in (who voted in 2000), the big switch from Nader to Kerry in 2004, and new voter registration, which favored Democrats by 57% to 41%. Adding these three groups of voters together, Dr. Freeman finds a discrepancy of over 4 million votes (and possibly as high as 8 million) that Kerry should have gotten and didn't, in the official results.

In yet another study, on January 29, 2005, nine Ph.D.'s and other experts from leading universities issued a report that calls the 2004 election result into serious question. They find that Kerry won the exit polls (by a 3% margin). They find the odds against exit poll error--and thus, the odds against the Bush win --to be 1 in 10 million. They find a large, unexplained skew toward Bush at the precinct level in electronic voting vs. paper ballot (a skew that has been confirmed by other reports--see the U.C. Berkeley/Florida, and democraticunderground.com/North Carolina reports, below).

This report also finds the explanation by Edison/Mitofsky (the exit pollsters) for why Kerry won the exit polls--that Republicans were shy of the pollsters--to be without foundation. In fact, the data points to the opposite conclusion--that the exit polls actually favored Bush--which makes the unexplained discrepancy between the exit polls and the official results even larger. The report calls for a full investigation of the 2004 election--the latest in a growing list of expert reports that do so. See:

http://uscountvotes.org/ucvAnalysis/US/USCountVotes_Re_Mitofsky-Edison.pdf

These reports come after many other investigations (see below), all of which point to the same thing: Stolen Election II. The "means, motive and opportunity" were there—as described above—within the electronic machinery. Would these same people who stole the 2000 election, and probably stole some of the 2002 by-elections as well, resist such a temptation? Did they not deliberately set up the conditions for fraud?

I want to point out something that most people don't know—which I learned from these reports: The Exit Poll data showing a Kerry win on everybody's TV screens on election night was changed, as the night went on—it was "adjusted" to fit the "official results" that were coming in from central electronic vote tabulators. Americans were denied the information that Kerry won the Exit Polls—unlike in the Ukraine, where voters could see the conflicting numbers—the Exit Polls vs. the "official results"—and knew something was wrong. This Exit Poll "adjustment" in our election contributed to the illusion of a Bush win, and prevented an outcry by voters.

But that majority—which voted for Kerry, and voted with particular intent to oust the Bush regime—still exists, and still believes in our progressive country and its founding principles—the rule of laws not men, consent of the governed, a balance of power, and equality and justice.

Thousands of activists around the country are fighting to restore our right to vote—and to restore majority rule in this country. We hope you will join us in this greatest of democracy movements. We stand ready to assist any politician who courageously pursues progressive policies, and who is willing to investigate the 2004 election and support election reform. We urge you to study these reports on the 2004 election:

Exit poll analysis - astronomical odds against Bush win:
Dr. Steven Freeman: http://www.appliedresearch.us/sf/epdiscrep.htm
Dr. Ron Baiman: http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2004/997
Dr. Webb Mealy: http://www.selftest.net/redshift.htm
Jonathan Simon: http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0411/S00142.htm
(9 Ph.D's from leading universities call for investigation:)
http://uscountvotes.org/ucvAnalysis/US/USCountVotes_Re_Mitofsky-Edison.pdf

(Florida: 130,000 to 230,000 phantom votes for Bush--paper vs. electronic voting:)
Dr. Michael Haut & UC Berkeley stats team: http://ucdata.berkeley.edu

Johns Hopkins report on insecurity of electronic voting (general): http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0307/S00196.htm#5
Easy demo of the how insecure voting machines are:
http://www.chuckherrin.com/hackthevote.htm

Ohio vote suppression: http://www.bpac.info
Widespread machine fraud and dirty tricks in over 20 states: http://www.flcv.com/ussumall.html

Democratic Underground (ignatzmouse):
(North Carolina: absentee ballot vs. electronic, inexplicable 6% edge to Bush in electronic:)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x45003

Democratic Underground (TruthIsAll): "To believe Bush won, you have to believe…"
(Parts 1, 2 and 3:) http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=1316010
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=1358806
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x197878

In progress compilations of various articles and materials on 2004 Election Fraud:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x311105
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=203&topic_id=304579


Sincerely,

XXXX XXXXXX


----------------------

CONTACTING CALIFORNIA STATE SENATORS AND ASSEMBLYFOLK:

CA ASSEMBLY & SENATE CONTACT: FAX

http://www.cawa.org/legcont.htm





--------------------------

CA ASSEMBLY CONTACT: EMAIL

http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/acsframeset7text.htm

listed by name, party, distr, bio & direct EMAIL LINK TO THEIR WEB SITE


I will post more detailed contact information later (including local offices—generally listed on their web page.

--------------------------

Media Blaster:

http://www.independentmediasource.com/voteintegrity2_12.htm

[troubleinwinter]

1. Would you post it here, too?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=318241&mesg_id=318241

[Liberty Belle]

2. I would oppose any Republican, no matter what they say.

We cannot trust any of them on such an important matter. Californians voted for a Democratic Secretary of State, and we must insist on a Democrat--specifically, a Democrat who will uphold a strong stance against any electronic voting machines that don't have verifiable paper trails. Better yet, let's go back to paper ballots--no machines, just plain paper ballots. No one ever questioned the integrity of CA elections before the machines came along, after all.

[senseandsensibility]

3. Thanks

and kick!

[NationalEnquirer]

4. I am out of the loop a few days, and shit hits the fan? Shelley?

Can someone point me to a link or briefly explain what happened?

[Peace Patriot]

5. Kevin Shelley was Secretary of State of CA until yesterday. Last...

...summer, he was hit by a media blast of charges re HAVA funds and sexual harassment, mostly pushed by the SF Chrnonicle (horrible paper), just after he provided Califiornians with a paper ballot option for the 2004 election, and soon after he decertified Diebold and sued them for lying about the security of their machines. The charges are very thin--some guy from a group he gave HAVA funds to went to a Dem fundraiser (that kind of charge), and "sexual harassment"--apparently he yelled at his staff and used bad words. That's about it.

The charges died down during the election, and I thought they were going to go away. But now the BushCons (via Schwarz) are making their move on California--going after our state pensions, and mounting an initiative to redistrict the state (a la Tom DeLay in TX), and so they have to get rid of Shelley. Shelley means they can't just tweak the source code and have all the votes they need for whatever crime they're committing. And that's what they did. Combining with a couple of very questionable looking Democrats (Art Torres, for instance), and the SF Chronicle, they blasted headlines all over the place--same charges--and put such pressure on him, he resigned yesterday. And now SCHWARZ gets to APPOINT our Sec of State (w Legisl approval).

I smelled a smear when these charges first appeared. In fact, I didn't believe a word of it. I still feel the same--there was little or nothing in it. This is a takedown of a very HONEST politician who was trying to protect the integrity of California's voting process.

Here are some urls for the current discussion:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x302899

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x319175

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x308248

[NationalEnquirer]

11. Thanks for the info and the links! n/t

[Peace Patriot]

6. EDIT the letter--depending...

I meant to put some flexibility in the letter, depending on what you believe about the charges against Shelley. Personally, I don't believe the charges AT ALL. So I wrote it this way...

"I do not believe the charges against Shelley, and I also believe that he was doing great good for California… These charges were just too conveniently close in time to his action against Diebold, decertifying them for their lies about the security of their voting machines, and his other transparency measures."

BUT...another way to put it is this:

"I believe that the charges against Shelley, if true, are minor offenses compared to the good that he was doing."


(The DU program left this out, because I put it in parenthesis--forgetting that the DU program omits words in parenthesis.)

(Note: Coming back to this letter this morning, I see that it's not a great letter. It contains the three points we want to make--they destroyed Shelley because of his opposition to Diebold; California is in grave danger of Bushification; and they had better get informed on election fraud before it's too late. But the letter is just not as pithy at it could be. I'll work on it today and post a re-write. SUGGESTIONS?)

[Peace Patriot]

7. Here are all the urls for current discussion of Kevin Shelley situation...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x317590

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x302899

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x308248

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=203&topic_id=302899#303054

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x319175

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x318498

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=318241&mesg_id=318241

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x319393

[Peace Patriot]

8. Kick until we get a revised letter.

Meanwhile, people can use what parts of this letter are useful, and the links to CA legislators' contact info.

I will do some research on Dem legislative leaders, committee heads, etc., and on CA media--to determine where best to put pressure.

We really, really, really need to get the above 2004 Election Fraud education package (the summaries of Freeman and the UScountvotes.org group reports, and the other urls) to CA Democrats.

[darkworkz]

9. Big KICK!!

[torque]

10. kicking

[Peace Patriot]

12. SHELLEY NOT LEAVING UNTIL MARCH 1...

I picked up this info from the other threads:

Kevin Shelley announced that he is resigning AS OF MARCH 1. This means it might be possible to keep him in office. I would think that a groundswell of support would help.

OjaiPerson is reluctant to recommend that we pressure Shelley to remain, just out of personal regard for him, I think. (Apparently his mother is in intensive care, so he's being hit with multiple crises in his life.)

But support certainly can't hurt, and maybe temper the "DON'T RESIGN" message (i.e., I urge you to rescind your resignation, we the voters want you there, but I understand if you can't go on under this incredibly unfair personal assault).

CONTACT KEVIN SHELLEY:

Email: [e-mail] or [e-mail]

CALL: [phone], or [phone]

If you call, you will have to follow the extension menu to other (6) and then the option for the executive office. Lend him your support regardless of whether you are in or out of California.

CONTRIBUTE TO KEVIN SHELLEY'S LEGAL DEFENSE FUND: Very important!

Donate to Kevin Shelley's legal defense fund by sending donations to his accountants at:

Olson, Hagel & Fishburn
555 Capitol Mall, Suite 1425
Sacramento, CA 95814
[phone]

Make checks out to Legal Defense Fund.

[Peace Patriot]

13. NOTE on CA Auto Club CA Legislators List:

http://www.cawa.org/legcont.htm

In looking up Nicole M. Parra in the CA Auto Club list, I noticed they have the wrong name (Dean Florez) for the 30th Assembly District (now Parra). But if you click on "District 30" (at the head of that listing line) you DO go to Nicole Parra's web site. However, the email link gives you a Florez email.

So, do not rely on this list re: getting a correct full list of NAMES and EMAIL LINKS--although they seem to be updating the WEB SITE links, and the FAX NOS. AND PHONE NOS. ARE CORRECT.

Name: may not be correct (old Assembly list?)
District # link to web site: CORRECT
Email link: may not be correct
Tel & Fax nos.: CORRECT

This list is useful because it includes ALL FAX NUMBERS in Sacramento for BOTH Senate and Assembly. I have not seen such a list anywhere else.

But I will look for the official list of current members, so we can check against it.

[Peace Patriot]

14. CA Democrats on the WRONG SIDE in the destruction of Shelley!

Here is some other info. I've picked up from the other threads. Several CA Democrats are the wrong side of this important controversy, have publicly dissed Shelly, and may have dirty connections to Diebold--or are just stupidly, ignorantly supporting BushCon election theft. NOTE: I was wrong about Art Tores in a previous post somewhere in these threads. He has supported Shelley. Mea culpa, Art!

Here are some of the Democratic miscreants:

NICOLE M. PARRA-Assembly (D-30)
(represents Fresno, Kern, Kings, Tulare)

EMAIL: [e-mail]

Capitol Office:
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0030
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Bakersfield Office:
601 24th Street, Suite A
Bakersfield, CA 93301
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Hanford Office:
321 N. Douty Street, Suite B
Hanford, CA 93230
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Capitol Office:
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0030
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]


WILMA CHAN-Assembly (D-16)
(represents Oakland, Alameda, Piedmont)

EMAIL: http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a16/contact.htm

State Capitol-Room 4098
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-319-2016 phone
916-319-2116 fax

1515 Clay St. #2204
Oakland, CA 946132
510-286-1670 phone
510-286-1888 fax

Rachel Richman, Chief of Staff
Chief of Staff
[phone]
[e-mail]


CONNY B. MCCORMACK (Democrat)

EMAIL: http://regrec.co.la.ca.us/main.htm

Los Angeles County
Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk
P.O. Box 1024
Norwalk, CA 90651-1024
[phone]

Department Headquarters
12400 Imperial Highway
Norwalk, California 90650
[phone]

For Voter or Election information EMAIL:
[e-mail]

Voting Systems Information: http://regrec.co.la.ca.us/voter/votersystems.htm

To work as a poll worker: [phone]

---------

And here are some additional Democratic miscreants. See rumpel's post for details:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x302899

Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sun Valley)
http://democrats.sen.ca.gov/senator/alarcon /

Sen. Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles)
http://democrats.sen.ca.gov/senator/romero /

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles
[e-mail]

Also, Personnel Board Executive Director Floyd Shimomura

--------

Shelley received a vote of confidence from California Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres. (NOTE: I got this wrong. Art is ok on this--Peace Patriot!)

California Democratic Party

http://www.cadem.org/site/apps/fc/form.asp?c=fvLRK7O3E&b=34877

Sacramento Office
1401 21st Street, Suite 100
Sacramento, California 95814
[phone] phone
[phone] fax

Los Angeles Office
888 S. Figueroa Street, 4th Floor
Los Angeles, California 90017
[phone] phone
[phone] fax

All:
http://www.senate.ca.gov/~newsen/senators/senators.htp

[Helga Scow Stern]

15. Way to go, Peace Patriot!

I will write soon. I am still gathering "evidence". I have already written to Harry Reid about it, saying we are proud of him for getting criticized by Republicans, but don't let what's happening to Shelley happen to him. Then I explain a little about Diebold, etc.

More to come.

[Peace Patriot]

16. Kick! See

"Californians, GET MAD! REVOLT! THROW THE BUSHCONS OUT!" at
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x322117

[nicknameless]

17. Call Kevin Shelley

I feel like I’m running around with my hair on fire.

I’ve called members of the Assembly and State Senate. The response has been lukewarm, probably because they haven’t heard from that many constituents. Not enough Californians seem to be aware of what’s going on and what’s at stake. I emailed MoveOn.org…no response. I called Mother Jones, hoping that they could produce a “Mother Jones minute” about it for Air America Radio.

Why don’t the Democratic State Senators and Members of the Assembly understand that it’s Kevin Shelley the bushcons are going after today, but they themselves could be next?

Please visit www.banthemachine.com
Please call Kevin Shelley and beg him to rescind his resignation
(916 / 653 - 7244)

[Peace Patriot]

18. Welcome to DU, nicknameless! I'm sorry I wasn't here when you first...

...posted. And what a great issue for your first (or is it second?) post! "Hair on fire" could be a description of the raging patriots at this blog who are trying to awaken other citizens to the peril we are all in from the BushCons and their diabolical voting machines.

Californians are not upset and are not jambing their representatives' phone & fax lines and email boxes for the same reason that Americans are not jambing their Senators' and Congress folks' lines demanding that Bush be impeached. THEY HAVE BEEN MASSIVELY DISINFORMED and literally BRAINWASHED, by a news media that they think makes them part of a national community, and are living that DELUSION.

Some of the CA Democratic leaders are corrupt. I suspect this of Don Perata, Gloria Romero, of the CA Senate, Connie McCormack, L.A. elections head, and the others listed above. There is no other way to explain what they did to Shelley. Either they are in league with Schwarzenegger and the Bush Cartel, or maybe they have money ties to Deibold et al.

As with some national Dem leaders, who just let it slide by that Wally O'Dell and H F Ahmanson would be counting all our votes in secret--and as with the 6 Dem US Senators who killed a filibuster on Alberto Gonzales by voting for him (thus denying the majority of the Dem Senators sufficient numbers to keep the floor in the Senate)--we just have to face that some our Party have gone to the Dark Side. And some others are ignorant and malfeasant.

To appearances, the Dems who let this election system get set up seem SUICIDAL and INSANE. But I think it's more likely just plain old corruption--living in a bubble of money and privilege for too long so that they have ceased caring that the majority of voters cannot get their will enforced; AND many in fact support war in the Middle East and the war economy, and it supports them. And there is also a fear factor. Blackmail. Anthrax. You name it. The BushCons have created a Byzantium of backstabbings and poisonings, and probably outright assassination (Paul Wellstone, for instance--and likely, David Kelley in England) that few can withstand. Fear is the BushCons' element, it is their coin.

So you see some Democrats trying to protect their little fiefdoms; others seem inexplicably cowardly; others are just bought and paid for.

That's what we have to work with. And probably the most we can get--if we mobilize people and put the pressure on--is an auditable election system. (Open source code; voter verified paper ballot that takes precedence over electronic tallies in any recount; and stringent certification of electronic machines.)

We should be chucking these machines into Boston Harbor!

-----

I think it's pretty clear that Shelley is being blackmailed. They will destroy him if he remains. Unless the man has nerves of steel, and is willing to lose everything--and has some amunition to fight back with--I don't think we can expect him to stay in office. The charges against him seem trivial, but who knows what they're holding over him? We just don't know.

I've never seen anything so ugly in my life.

No reason NOT to send him encouraging messages--and thanks for his leadership on the integrity of our election process. And send money to his Defense Fund! (See Post #12 above.) But just don't expect him to stay. I don't think he will.

[nicknameless]

19. Thanks for the Welcome, Peace Patriot!

I’ve also posted on Randi Rhodes’ message board. Not much response there, but I didn’t realize that I should also be appealing to non-Californians to contact Shelley’s office.

I’ve been reluctant to email Randi because she’s recovering from surgery. Guess I will anyway … and hope she’s in a forgiving mood. She’s very good at getting the word out. There’s so much at stake here, it’s truly frightening.

[newyawker99]

20. Hi nicknameless!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[nicknameless]

21. Thanks, newyawker99

Love the laughing smilies!:)

[Wow]

22. Initiative Process Also

Is it time to consider writing and pushing an initiative also that would insure that the voting reforms that are needed are instituted in California? I really think that individual voters, no matter what their persuasion, want to feel their vote is counted. The legislators have too many hands to shake, and too many re-election accounts to fill with $$ to make the kinds of tough reforms that really are needed. Who can write one? I know I am willing to stand at my neighborhood grocery store, etc to get them signed. I really think that that kind of grass roots is really our best of the needed reform.

[Peace Patriot]

24. The Initiative process in California, which was a great populist..

...measure when it was first enacted (one of the most progressive ideas of the California populist movement) has become so hedged round with extremely costly rules that it is, effectively, no longer available to ordinary people. I've done a grass roots initiative, and I can tell you that it has been made virtually impossible. It is only available to the rich. Here is the main reason why: They do not allow you to hold the signatures you've gathered over to the next cycle deadline. What this means is that if you don't have a lot of money for publicity, to get your initiative known, and to pay signature gatherers, you lose all the work you have done--all the signatures you've gathered--in your initial efforts. In other words, for the poor to be able to do it, we need TIME--say, 2 or 3 years to gather signatures--to make up for the fact that we don't have MONEY.

We need an initiative to fix the initiative process!

It is clearly a violation of the spirit of the Initiative process that only the rich and the governor and big interest groups can afford to mount an initiative.

So, the only way to do it is to get a rich sponsor--or several of them. That might be possible. George Soros could come forward tomorrow--then it would happen. Or if it becomes a consensus idea among all California progressives, then we might get Hollywood on board. It also might be possible to do it with a consortium of many big progressive groups, combined with grass roots groups and rich sponsors.

The grass roots would have to do a very concentrated effort to make that happen.

ALSO, you need lawyers--good lawyers--to write it. AND you need a top notch PR firm--skilled in the kinds of propaganda techniques that we probably wouldn't like to hear about--to deal with the corporate/military-industrial/Bush Cartel/Schwarzenegger/corrupt Democrats/Diebold/ES&S/ lapdog news monopoly media attacks that would occur.

AND you would have to have some grass roots devotees would be willing to give their life blood to it for, say, two years, probably with no pay--just to put it into the hands of the rich sponsors and the well paid lawyers and the boffo PR firm and the big progressive groups, with the risk that you'll lose control of it and that it might become something you end up being unable to endorse.

So, those are the difficulties--and this is why there are so few good initiatives on the ballot, items to help the poor, empower the majority, protect the environment, etc.

It's not impossible--just very, very difficult.

The initiative process was originally designed for JUST THIS SITUATION--where the politicians have done something really bad, really anti-democratic (like electronic voting)--and the people need to UNDO it, to correct a wrong done by the powerful interests in the state.

And, of course, the powerful interests in the state have done everything they can to see that we cannot correct their wrongs.

[Al-CIAda]

23. kick