In case you haven't been watching, Fox News has been relentlessly hammering on what they call "Voter Fraud." However, it is Fox News who is committing the fraud, and it is a cynical and dangerous tactic that they are pursuing with the most deceitful and destructive of intentions. Fox News, and their Republican allies, want to do to confidence in elections what they have done to confidence in government. Through their patented execution of deliberate incompetence, they want to prove that neither institution is trustworthy or reliable. And therefore, they can be be abandoned.
We have to fight back NOW! If we wait, there will be hell to pay after Barack Obama's victory on November fourth.
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It has been noted by many (including me) that the story that Fox is trying to sell to viewers is not about voter fraud at all. It is about registration fraud. The victim is not fair elections. It is the community organizations, like ACORN, who are working to increase voter participation. Not a single vote has been cast by anyone reported to have been involved in this matter, nor is one likely to be.
The false names and duplicate forms submitted cannot have an effect on actual voting. Certainly nobody will show up at the polls identifying themselves as Mickey Mouse and asking for a ballot. Likewise, anyone for whom multiple registrations were submitted will still only be able to vote once because after the first time, their name is checked off by precinct workers and would not be permitted to cast another vote.
But anchors at Fox News never disclose the facts enumerated above. To the contrary, they repeatedly imply that the purpose of the misbehavior is to boost Obama’s vote tally, although they never explain how that could occur - because it can't.
In the past couple of weeks it has been impossible to tune in to Fox News without hearing another of these deceitful reports every quarter hour or more. Everyone at Fox - Brit Hume, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Steve Doocy, Megan Kelly, etc. - is participating in the charade. It is despicable that this pseudo-news organization can so deliberately misinform their viewers, though that may be what Fox News has always done best. This time they are doing it in a 24/7 barrage of bullshit that cannot be tolerated. What’s truly repulsive is that their covert agenda is to lay the groundwork for a disintegration of confidence in the election process.
There is actually good reason to be suspicious of election systems in this country. But not for the reasons for which Fox is obsessed. Electronic voting machines with no paper trail should cause citizens some discomfort. And voter suppression efforts by way of purging eligible voters from voting rolls, or challenging them at the polls is being uncovered everyday. But none of these threats to fair elections are covered by Fox News.
If Fox is successful, when Obama prevails on November fourth, they might well have set in motion a frightening scenario wherein Americans taken in by Fox’s lies are convinced that the election was fixed and invalid. The degree to which they may protest that fallacy could conceivably escalate to violence. We have already seen the seeds of hostility sprouting at Republican rallies for McCain and Palin, with supporters expressing their disapproval with Obama by shouting "terrorist" and "kill him" and other epithets and threats.
The lies perpetrated by Fox News are permeating the rest of the mediasphere. It is vitally important that those of us who are not fooled by their fiction take the press to task when, through laziness or stupidity, or intent, they misinform the American public. Wherever you see this occurring, take a moment to let the reporter and the organization know that what they are doing is dishonest and, potentially, harmful to life and property.
Most importantly, we need to flood Fox's Voter Fraud email box with notices that we are on to them. That we know what they are up to. That we know the truth and will inform others. That they will be held accountable for any violent, post-election unrest. That they will not be permitted to deceive the people without consequences.
To those who think it is pointless to write such letters, be advised that Fox News has previously had to modify their reporting on this issue as a result of blowback. A young man told Fox's Eric Shawn that he registered 73 times. In fact their were only 18 registrations found in his name, and Shawn had to append that to his report (but Fox kept running the interview anyway). This is an example of Fox trying to exaggerate the issue and foment distrust in the system. But is also an example of Fox getting caught and having to correct their reporting.
With enough participation, Fox will not be able ignore the truth. If we simultaneously advise other news organizations of the difference between voter fraud and registration fraud, and the lengths to which Fox News is going to blur that line, Fox will be in the position of having to either reform their behavior or be singled out as the lone purveyor of false and dangerous propaganda (something they have some familiarity with).
Here is the email for voterfraud@foxnews.com. When you write, specify that registration fraud is not the same as voter fraud, and will not result in unlawful votes being cast. And tell them that, if they want to report on matters that will affect the voting rights of Americans, they should look into voter caging, purged voting rolls, voter challenges, voting machine irregularities, and poll and ballot access.