take nothing for granted

I don't mean to sound alarmist, but there is a lot going on in the U.S. right now that is being woefully under reported. And a lot of it could impact the upcoming election. As Republicans turn on each other in the final days and Democrats start calling the race over, the rest of us need to think about what it all really comes down to: voting. Here are a few things that may prevent us from doing just that.

1) For the first time since 1807, the President has put boots on the ground inside the United States. This after deploying Blackwater troops to the streets of New Orleans to fight crime in the aftermath of Katrina and expanding his power to commandeer National Guard Troops in 2007. Clearly Mr. Bush is seeking to establish and deploy his own private army within our borders.

Naomi Wolf writes at huffington.com:

The Bush administration has unilaterally decided to defy federal laws that have kept the military off our streets since 1807, almost since the birth of this nation: The John Warner Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 expanded the president's authority to deploy troops within the United States. The people raised a hue and cry -- and this power was then substantially limited by a new provision in the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act. But Bush signaled, with a signing statement, that he would not recognize these new limitations.

And so it came to pass...

On October 1, 2008, President Bush deployed a brigade -- which means three to four thousand warriors -- somewhere in America. We do not know where they are deployed though citizens have informally reported to me having seen military vehicles and troops in Georgia and Alabama. We do know that their official mandate according to the first report is 'crowd control' as well as action in the event of a mass civilian catastrophe. Initial reports described their technology 'module package' as involving Tasers and rubber bullets.

According to Amnesty International, more than 300 people in the United States have died since 2001 as the result of being Tasered by law enforcement authorities. According to the first reports, the mission includes subduing 'unruly individuals.' After an outcry, more recent statements from military spokesmen have backed off from identifying those tasks as being the ones the troops will be charged with. Why worry about the deployment of troops in our nation?

First, the founding generation set a bright line to keep military from policing our streets in 1807 because they knew from their own experience how easily military forces -- King George's -- could subdue civilian society. The First Brigade is Bush's force: they are not answerable to Congress or to the Governors of states: they are answerable to the Commander in Chief... troops (who) must obey the president, even if he asks them to arrest Congress or fire on civilians or attack media outlets. If they do not obey orders, he notes, they face five years in prison.

More information on this development has come out since this first report. The brigade is based in Georgia and is now saying they will not be used in cases of civil unrest, however, ultimately this is the call of the Commander in Chief. Democracy Now! did a well-balanced report on this (here), albeit not reassuring.

Questions remain. Why are these troops on the ground in the US? Don't we already have a National Guard for domestic disasters? A National Guard that is under the command of 50 individual Governors, not one increasingly powerful President? Why is this happening now, as a contentious election approaches? Can we expect to see them at the polls in swing states on Election Day? I don't mean to suggest that blood will be shed, but surely there exists the potential to scale up the kind of voter intimidation we saw in Florida in 2000 where, among other things, police checkpoints were set up on the roads to polling places in districts with high minority populations under the pretense of looking for citizens with outstanding parking violations.

2) Journalists and protesters are being intimidated at levels not seen since the 1960s. For instance, did you know that eight young Americans have been charged as 'terrorists' under the Minnesota Patriot act after being arrested at the Republican National Convention in St. Louis? They are now known as the RNC 8. Did you also know about the mass arrests and police brutality of 200 peaceful protesters and 40 journalists, including two ABC producers, at the RNC where where the RNC 8 were arrested? Arrested by police officers trained and armed with federal dollars for this occasion and with federal dollars to cover any lawsuits that may arise from their conduct? No? Maybe because the police confiscated all the video, except this, which was buried in the ground to prevent confiscation:



3) Elected officials are also being intimidated. Rep. Brad Sherman stated on the floor of the House that if the banker bailout bill was not passed martial law would be declared in America.



4) The candidate aligned with the party of the president is making extreme accusations that community organization group Acorn, which has mishandled some of its voter registration forms, is "now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy," a call that distracts citizens from the real story - systematic and systemic suppression of Democratic votes since 2000. Read here for more.

Why should we care about any of this, you might reasonably ask, since George W. Bush will step down as President in a mere 3 months? Because there is still an election and a peaceful transfer of power to be had.

The only way to ensure none of this highly concerning activity results in a disruption of our electoral process is for Senator Obama to win by overwhelming and indisputable margins. This means getting everyone you know out to the polls to support Obama and making sure every vote counts. Don't listen to the pundits who say this race is over. After Florida 2000, Ohio 2004 and in light of the above events, we can't take anything for granted!

Here's what you can do:

1) Before you vote, download and read the comic book at www.stealbackyourvote.org which includes 7 steps to make sure your vote is counted; preview the movie while you're there.

2) VOTE (early if you can)

3) Volunteer to monitor polls in Democratic districts, especially those in minority neighborhoods.


ORGANIZE. VOTE. WIN.


More from Naomi Wolf:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/naomi-wolf/ten-steps-to-close-down-a_b_46695.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/naomi-wolf/the-battle-plan-iii-deplo_b_133662.html