🚀 go-pugleaf

ELECTION REFORM

There are some good e-mail addresses attached in case you'd like to
inform the politiboro of your views regarding this Election?

Subject: Battle Plans

The following is being circulated by a number of people who are
concerned  that the established constitutional  process in place to
determine our next  President is in danger of being disrupted.  The
originator of the message  that came to me appeared to be the head of a
large conservative organization  in Illinois.  I plan to implement their
suggestions, depending on the course  of events after 5 pm Eastern tomorrow,
with an emphasis on  contact with political leaders and policy makers.

"Herewith is some practical advice on action that every citizen
can take in   the event that the Florida recount confirms the election of
George Bush,   but Al Gore fails to concede.

We all know what is going on in Florida, and that the election
hinges on   the outcome. I am writing you today to prepare us all for what
we will have  to  do if  what I think is going to happen actually does.

The recount, which will be finished by 5 p.m. Thursday, will
likely show   Bush to be the winner once again, with only a few thousand
overseas ballots  to  be counted. Those ballots will be overwhelmingly for
Bush, a minimum of 60%  and probably closer to 75%. If the count goes our
way tomorrow, we have won  this election.

This is when something critical happens. Either Gore  bows out
gracefully  or he doesn't, and I can almost guarantee he won't. These are
people wedded  to power who will only go down kicking and screaming. They
will  use every  legal maneuver in the book to steal the election. (In 1960,
when Richard  Nixon had every right and reason to challenge the election
results he didn't for  the  sake of the country. Expect no such noble
behavior this time.

 What will they try? One bet is to find a friendly judge to throw out
the   Florida results on a flimsy premise. They are already floating
this as a  trial balloon in the form of the allegedly "confusing" ballots
in Palm Beach County. I have seen the ballots  -  they are not
confusing in the  least.  Indeed, they are identical in form to the
punch-card ballotsused in  Chicago and Cook County, Illinois, in this very
election.
What is more, it  is  just as likely that Palm Beach County voters who
wanted to vote for Bush  inadvertently voted for Nader.  All parties
approved the form of ballot  before the election.  The form-of-ballot issue
is a mere
pretext for an  effort a judicial invalidation of the Florida election.

 While I hope this scenario doesn't come to pass, I fear that
it will, and  it will only have disastrous results for the country. The
election fight  could drag on for months and actually be decided by a court!
If this comes  to  pass the vision of our Founders and the blood of patriots
will have been  betrayed.

Personally, I am not going to stand for this, and I hope you won't
either.  The good news is that we are not without voice.

 HERE IS WHAT MUST BE DONE: if the vote count affirms Bush's
election, we  allow a short grace period to see the reaction of the Gore
camp. If they  have not  graciously conceded after a few hours, we must
bombard the news  media  and our public officials AT EVERY LEVEL with phone
calls of outrage that demand Gore's concession. I mean  literally millions
of phone calls.  We  must jam their phone banks with calls.There are
millions of us so it  shouldn't  be too difficult. (While you're at it, send
e-mails to your local  newspapers as well.

 If it becomes widely reported - and it will - that  there is a groundswell
demanding that Gore back down and not embarrass the country, it will
be  very difficult for Gore to withstand the pressure. He will have to
relent.

 Here are some places to start:

 The White House:
 telephone (202) 456-4114
 FAX:(202)456-2461
 e-mail  president@whitehouse.gov <mailto:president@whitehouse.gov>

The Vice President's Office:
 telephone:(202) 274-5000
 FAX:(202) 456-2883
 e-mail
vice.president@whitehouse.gov<mailto:vice.president@whitehouse.gov>

 Vice President's Senate Office:
 telephone:  (202) 224-2424

Senator Tom Daschle (Senate Democratic Leader):
(202) 224-2321 Also:  (202) 224-5556

Representative Dick Gephardt (House Democratic Leader):
(202) 225-2671  Also: (202) 225--0100

Also, be sure to call your congressmen and both your senators.
All  these  numbers are easily located on  voter.com.   You can also
contact them  through the U.S. Capitol Switchboard:

 U.S. Capitol Switchboard (all Senators and Representatives):
 (202) 224-3121

Another office to call is that of Chicago's Mayor Richard M.
Daley (the  brother of Gore's campaign manager, Bill Daley):
Telephone:  (312) 744-3300
 FAX:  (312) 744-2324

 If you've never made a call like this,  there's no reason to
be shy. They  get opinion calls all the time and are set up to take them. In
fact they  like  calls. It helps them tell which way the wind is  blowing.

 Some media contacts:

 Boston Globe
 (617) 929-2000
 Matthew V. Storin, Editor   (617) 929-3049
e-mail:  storin@globe.com <mailto:storin@globe.com>

 Boston Herald
Andrew Costello, Editor
(617) 619-6400
e-mail:  acostello@bostonherald.com<mailto:acostello@bostonherald.com>

 Chicago Sun-Times:
(312) 321-3000
Michael Cooke, Editor in Chief
e-mail:   mcooke@suntimes.com <mailto:mcooke@suntimes.com>

Chicago Tribune
(800) 874-2863
Howard A. Tyner, Editor
e-mail:  ChiEd@aol.com <mailto:ChiEd@aol.com>
Bruce Dold, Editorial Page Editor
e-mail:  bdold@tribune.com <mailto:bdold@tribune.com>

 Los Angeles Times
 (213) 237-7935 (opinion department)
 (213) 237-4511 and Fax: (213) 237-7679 (letters to the editor)
(202) 293-4650 (Washington bureau)
e-mail:  www.latimes.com <http://www.latimes.com>  (follow
prompts to e-mail windows)

 New York Post
(212) 930-8000
John Mancini, News
e-mail:  jmancini@nypost.com <mailto:jmancini@nypost.com>

 New York Times
 (212) 556-1234
Joseph Lelyveld, Executive Editor
 Letters to the Editor
fax: (212) 556-3622
e-mail:  letters@nytimes.com <mailto:letters@nytimes.com> .

 Philadelphia Inquirer
(215) 854-4500
 Letters to the editor:
 Inquirer.Letters@phillynews.com<mailto:Inquirer.Letters@phillynews.com>

USA Today
(703) 276-3400
Karen Jurgenson, Editor
e-mail:  www.usatoday.com <http://www.usatoday.com>  and
follow feedback prompts

Washington Post
(202) 334-6000
Fred Hiatt, Editorial Page Editor
e-mail: hiattf@washpost.com <mailto:hiattf@washpost.com>

Time
e-mail:  letters@time.com <mailto:letters@time.com>

ABC
e-mail:
http://abc.go.com/abc/help/contact.html<http://abc.go.com/abc/help/contact.h
tml>

CNN
(404) 827-1500

 CBS
(212) 975-4321

MSNBC
e-mail:  World@MSNBC.com <mailto:World@MSNBC.com>

NBC
NBC-Nightly News:  e-mail:  Nightly@NBC.com<mailto:Nightly@NBC.com>
 NBC Today Show:  e-mail:  Today@NBC.com <mailto:Today@NBC.com>


 I'm hoping none of this will be necessary, but I  fear otherwise.

As  Edmund Burke said, the price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

This e-mail is just to prepare you for the battle in which we must likely
engage.

 PLEASE FORWARD THIS E-MAIL  MESSAGE TO EVERYONE  YOU CAN THINK OF. IF  WE
HARNESS THE POWER OF THE INTERNET, BY TOMORROW MILLIONS OF US WILL BE
READY!