I, like so many of you, have been gravely concerned by the tactics used by the GOP against African Americans in the past elections. I just happened to be reading this BBC report on GOP memos directing folks to employ the dirtiest tricks imaginable on our fellow americans, including our servicemen and women. When will the DNC do more than studies on this issue that deprives thousands of americans of their right to vote. It is time for much to be done-I feel like a broken record on this. For example-How can the democratic party expect the loyalty of black voters if their vote cannot be guaranteed or even fought for by the party that has benefited so much from the hard electoral work of black americans. Maybe we need a third party focused on the right to vote since so little seems to be done about it?
*********************************************************************************************************************
UPDATE-Idiot me-this item below is ABOUT a summer 2004 story, however,was published June 16 2006 on Palast's site. The dirty tricks the story discusses is all too relevant today, we are months away from crucial midterms. and the same shenanigans will be payed again. and who will speak out? no wonder so many of my dem friends are leary of the voting process. eevry election the gop finds a way to cage away votes. and every time we sit here wondering about when will there be a party led stand for those robbed of their votes. kinda sick?
*********************************************************************************************************************
June 16, 2006
African-American Voters Scrubbed by Secret GOP Hit List
by Greg Palast
As reported for Democracy Now!
------------------------------------------------------
Palast, who first reported this story for BBC Television Newsnight (UK) and Democracy Now! (USA), is author of the New York Times bestseller, Armed Madhouse.
------------------------------------------------------
The Republican National Committee has a special offer for African-American soldiers: Go to Baghdad, lose your vote.
A confidential campaign directed by GOP party chiefs in October 2004 sought to challenge the ballots of tens of thousands of voters in the last presidential election, virtually all of them cast by residents of Black-majority precincts.
Files from the secret vote-blocking campaign were obtained by BBC Television Newsnight, London. They were attached to emails accidentally sent by Republican operatives to a non-party website.
One group of voters wrongly identified by the Republicans as registering to vote from false addresses: servicemen and women sent overseas.
******************
For Greg Palast's discussion with broadcaster Amy Goodman on the Black soldier purge of 2004, go to
* http://gregpalast.com/...
******************
Here's how the scheme worked: The RNC mailed these voters letters in envelopes marked, `Do not forward', to be returned to the sender. These letters were mailed to servicemen and women, some stationed overseas, to their US home addresses. The letters then returned to the Bush-Cheney campaign as "undeliverable."
The lists of soldiers of "undeliverable" letters were transmitted from state headquarters, in this case Florida, to the RNC in Washington. The party could then challenge the voters' registration and thereby prevent their absentee ballot being counted. ............................
CONTINUED HERE AT LINK
http://www.gregpalast.com/massacre-of-the-buffalo-soldiers