I am going to be making little journeys to every county commission in the state that has purchased equipment by Diebold, Premier or Dominion Voting systems. There are 32 counties that rely on these systems. I've been to Hillsborough and Brevard. The latter being my home county. Only 30 counties remain. Obviously I am going to need some help from y'all lazy asses out there. (I mean that in a loving way, seriously... and I mean that.)
Why do this? Because we need to get Dominion out of Florida. It's our responsibility as citizens here. Dominion voting, a company based in Toronto, with American HQ in Denver purchased all the bad assets and software from Diebold's voting systems division, named Premier, in 2010.
Yes, the gear is still shit; still hackable, slill glitchy, still crap, garbage, vulnerable and so on. And, that's not your fault nor is it mine that this company Dominion decided to gain dominion over 50 percent of the voting machine market in the US by purchasing this feces from Diebold. That's their tough feces. Not yours.
A state of no-confidence exists here. Surely if there were an elected official performing as badly as this company, if he or she were screwing up as many elections, you'd get to say something about it as a citizen. You'd be able to impeach them and so on. Give them the hook.
Well, you can't. Public officials blithely ram their soft fingertips into their empty ears, shake their faces back and forth, stick their tongues out and go "blablaballalla" and "I can't HEAR YOU. I can't HEAR YOU," when you tell them that what they ought to do is rip this shit out by the roots and get rid of it, because it keeps screwing up our democracy.
What's the point if the machines don't work? Is it to participate in democracyLITE, to be "engaged" in a process that is a ministerial nod to the past?
"Ahh remember real voting, Agnes, my love?"
"Indeed I do Georgie. Those were the days, I tell you, when you actually thought you might make a difference with your vote."
"Shall our murder-suicide be by shotgun, Agnes, my love; now that they've decided to tear our wee house down to put up a strip mall, suffering not a word of dissent from the likes of thee and me?"
"I should rather like some cyanide in a spot of tea, Georgie."
"Earl Grey, my love?
"Be a dear, won't you?"
Go to stop this eventuality like Scrooge racing to save Tiny Tim; rush down to the county commission chambers ready to participate in local democracy, and, and....."Nyyayyayyya I can't HEAR YOU, Mr. Kearns. Nnnnnnnnyyyyyya nnnyyyyya nnnnyyyya nanee nannneee boo boo, I am sorry your time is up!"
In my book Rick Scott: Enemy of the State, I discuss the "corporate blood trail" and the revolving "orgy" that has been the existence of these voting machines. Those which began hacking our elections in 2000 under the name GES. As we have established here in previous posts, the software remains the same as does the very equipment in runs on, with a nod to the present in the form of a new logo: "Dominion".
In previous posts I told you about my visit to Hillsborough and my chat with the elections supervisor and his staff, and this was also spelled out in the book.
People aren't listening so we have to turn up the volume.
In Hillsborough for instance, when I appeared before the commission, I echoed the words of Commissioner Mark Sharpe who voiced disgust with the machine company in the quote "heads should roll over this." He said that in the Tampa Tribune on Nov. 3, 2010.You would think with a comment like that in the newspaper "heads should roll" that gosh-golly if Mr. Sharpe was mad in 2010, by January 2012 he'd be ready to explode, right?
Nnnnnat rrrrrrreally. No, Mr. Sharpe said, very calmly, that we should all be "concerned" (there's that word again, nonjudgmental as a day at Montessori School) about counting every blessed vote. Then he told me there would be a written reply from the Hills' elections supervisor on the matter. Then he said Hills' Supervisor Leonard told him there was a hiccup in an optical scan machine, a glitch....or something.
Yes, they were getting right on it. This explanation, which has never come in writing to anyone, remains the same. The word "glitch" apparently is made of fairy dust. Because after an official says this word, we all go to sleep.
Brevard? Not much better. The commissioners were arguing so hard yesterday, and sniping about one thing or another. And then - in a crueler version of hell - they were arguing about how much sniping was going on. So they clean forgot to call us up to the podium! To his credit, Chairman Chuck Nelson, did remember after being reminded.
I gave much the same presentation I offered in Hillsborough. For a moment the entire commission, known statewide now for its contentious bickering, was unified.... in utter, silent disinterest.
Here's someone telling you: "listen, the voting systems are completely corrupted. Yes, yes. I know how I must seem to you; having written a book called Rick Scott Enemy of the State I am hardly an impartial witness. But look here, at all these news articles I am holding! This really happened. This machine, over in Hillsborough erased 38,000 votes! Pretend you don't believe me. Pretend that our elections aren't being rigged. Fine. That doesn't change the fact that these machines suck out loud, does it? Hello?"
Snore. I get nothing here at this point. Thank you, be on your way.
My local infotainment vehicle this morning, Florida Today was too deep in slumber to even cover the sniping bit at the Brevard County Commission meeting; which, back in my day as a news reporter, would have been red, red meat, brother. I mean that was some kick-ass sniping going on. We would have been all over it!
What's happening with news? If I have asked it once I've said it a million times: what gives? It's like trying to wake the dead! This morning we got a nice story about a woman pleased as all get out, that her gigantic pet snake came back to her house, unharmed. Well, thank God for that.
County Commissions out there?
Expect me. I hope ( this is a hint and the audience participation segment of the evening) to be joined by others one day, who will do two things. And these are easy. They don't cost a thing.
1. Contact your office of county supervisor of elections and ask them if the county voting machines are made by Dominion, Diebold or Premier.
2. If the answer is yes, go down to your next county commissioners meeting sign up to speak, and tell them to get rid of that damned junk because of what happened in Hillsborough County: 38,000 erased votes that we STILL! STILL! don't have an answer on.
I am providing links here of my two presentations to give you an idea what you may want to say.
Hillsborough County Meeting Jan. 5. We come in at 1:12:20
Brevard County Meeting Jan. 10 we come in at 50:50.
Yes, the old Diebold voting machines are still around. Dominion voting systems own a minority of them. Have you checked where the Diebold machines are being used? Did conservatives or leftists "keep" them for the elections? Which group wants to create a dictatorship of the proletariat where they no longer have democracy?
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