America's Dirty Little Secret

We like to think of ourselves as one of the most prominant democrasies on earth. Our President has made it his personal mission to spread our style of democracy around the world, beginning with Iraq. And yet, a bad taste remains in our mouth following the 2000 and 2004 elections. Not only conspiracy theorists, but many normal average Americans, have the vague notion that these elections for President were somehow "stolen."

Those on the winning side, unable to "walk a mile in the other man's shoes and trying to understand why we feel this way, tell us "Bush won. Get over it." They of course ignore that they wouldn't have gotten over it if the results had been exactly opposite.

But we now have proof that none of us elected the President. He was elected by a category of voter called "uncounted." In a report by the U.S. Census Bureau issued seven months after the 2004 election, a footnote, buried in the report, notes that more than three million votes were not counted in the election. They were reported as spoiled.... over voting, under voting, illegible... shades of Florida in 2000.

The "spoiled" ballots in Ohio, Iowa, New Mexico and Arizona alone would have given Kerry the victory.

Now, please understand, I don't think there is a nickel's worth of difference between the two parties. I doubt there would be that much difference in the way things are going, given the Republican stranglehold on the Congress. Its just the principle of the thing, damn it.

We preach democrasy to the world as if it were a religion. We started a war in Iraq, theoretically, to spread it. (That's certainly the only excuse left to the President... all his other reasons have been proven false.) And, yet, we can't keep it straight in our own country.

Our policy makers don't seem to understand that our system of government works only so long as the people believe in it. Take away their faith in the way it works and you've got the makings of a revolution. There are already rumors of plots afoot to steal the 2008 election. Should it be another close election with disputed results, I fear for my country.

Meanwhile, the American people go forward, as always, blissfully ignorant of the facts that their birthright is being denied them. And that is America's Dirty Little Secret.