There has been a steady outpouring of comments from our readers on "Election Disaster 2000" and Bush's continued assault on the environment and on global peace. We are thrilled to report that that Democrats.com now has a growing and outspoken audience abroad. We received some great notes from our European readers during Shrub's stumble through their continent. For example, an alert French reader pointed out to us that when Bush made his first gaffe abroad, pronouncing the Spanish leader's last name as Anzar instead of Aznar, he ALSO got the man's title wrong -repeatedly calling Prime Minister Aznar "President Aznar" and "Mr. President." (We had only reported the mispronunciation as an error).

We welcome any letters from our international readers and, if necessary, can translate from French, German, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese (that's our limitation for now, but would welcome volunteer translators for other languages).

We also invite letters from non-Democrat "constructive critics" in the hope that a meaningful dialogue can be initiated and effective alliances forged. Our first such letter, from an angry Green, is included in this issue.

To all our readers: Thanks for Caring!

We Cannot Afford to Wait It Out For Four More Years

We should not wait it out for four more years until Election 2004. We simply cannot afford to! The earth as our life-support and spirit-support system cannot afford to. Human rights here in America as well as around the world cannot afford to. It could well be too late. We must get the Bush Administration out of office NOW!

We, along with those in the rest of the world who are angry with this stolen presidency must make a strong statement -- we must demand an off-year re-vote in Florida as well as in the other states where there is evidence that the election was stolen. We must insist before the new Democratic Senate and a world tribunal that the 2000 presidential election be held over again in Florida, and that all those whose votes were thrown away or were not allowed (in one way or another) are counted. We must nullify the election as it was accepted in November and December 2000 in Florida and other states, even Bush's home state of Texas. We must reinstate Al Gore as our duly elected president, and even though Joe Leiberman would make a great Vice President, we must encourage him to stay in the Senate to hold the Democratic majority and suggest a good Vice Presidential candidate that Al Gore would choose after his reinstatement.

Then, after reinstatement, we must hold impeachment proceedings against the five Supreme Court Justices who wrongfully appointed George W. Bush to the presidency.

I was just at a meeting in West Yellowstone, Montana, with the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. Ted Turner was our keynote speaker. Among the things he told us that night on June 9, were that the election was stolen and also he said that if we don't preserve and protect our environment, then "we won't be here"! It is just as simple as that, if Bush stays in office, he may well destroy the natural world, the environment, the planet, and human rights for us all! We will not be here and the human race may well die out on an unlivable planet.

Bush and the media are already re-electing Bush for 2004. If anything is left at all to make life worth living for any of us in four years (three and a half soon), we will never get rid of the Bush dictatorship if he gets in again! He will dig his heels in even deeper and be even harder to remove. We should not wait even six more months let alone four more years! Let's have a re-vote, remove the entire Bush administration, install Al Gore who really won the election, and impeach the Infamous Five by November and no later!

Bill Clinton was a REAL president and so would Al Gore be. The Bu$h Crackpot is not.

Marilyn Dinger
Kaysville, UT

As Rhett Said to Scarlet, Frankly, My Dear I Don't Give a Damn!
(Reader's own heading)

Speaking as a former Democrat, I care little what the spineless whims of the national party do. I find them at least as contemptable as the Republicans and in some ways much more low-minded.

The Democratic party has become partners with the Republicans in screwing the nation's citizens and the sickening election 2000 was the last straw for this camel. I was a life long Democrat who put his money where his mouth was and did volunteer work for the party here in St. Louis-----without one "thanks" to date.

I am now a Green Party member primarily due to my discovery of the partnership between the Democrats and Republicans involving Presidential debates. I had no idea that they had joined into a legal partnership arrangement to control debates. Since my change of heart I've discovered many others aspects of Democrat turncoat activities.

The Democrats can take a long hike off a short pier!

As to the Republicans, damn few should not be in prison for treason!

Kenneth Lane

Reply

Dear Mr. Lane,

What I pick up from you is extreme and probably very unconstructive anger. One of your biggest beefs was not receiving adequate "thanks" for something that should have been done first and foremost for the principle, not the praise. It is precisely this sort of ego-driven anger that, in the form of Ralph Nader, landed America and, by default, the entire world, into one of the worst crises in history - one from which Earth may never recover. I will never forget Nader's arrogant claim that there is no difference between Bush and Gore. This sort of pissy "payback" - one that throws all of Earth's babies out with the bathwater - seems proof to me that, politically (though not ideal-wise) the Greens are not only no better than the Democrats on a bad day, but possibly worse.

Yes, there is PLENTY wrong with the Democratic party (you got a day or two?). But we are dealing with REALITY here and the reality is, it is the only opposition party with any shot at stopping Bush. It is also a party of flexible and creative people who are, unlike the GOP, open to real change and, unlike the Greens, open to input from other factions (such as the Greens, for ex.). I for one (an environmental activist most of my adult life) believe that the important thing is to effect change, not make a point. Points are forgotten in a very short time, but change - a nuclear war averted, for example - can be forever. It's sort of like the difference between doing behavioral therapy, where you work with what you have and take action in your life, and Freudian analysis, where you spend years ranting about your rotten childhood whilst doing nothing truly constructive to change the present.

I believe that if the Greens are honestly more interested in working for change than they are in making a point, they should use the present opportunity to forge a working liasion with the progressive Democrats and thereby mobilize a far more powerful opposition force. An increasing number of Dems are leaning in the Green direction, philosophically. To rant and rave at us is hardly constructive - this is a time for uniting, not fragmenting the very forces that could unhorse Bush and renovate the system.

Unfortunately, thanks to Nader, we are now being forced to devote huge amounts of time and energy just concentrating on damage control from this evil administration. There is far too little time and energy left over for making progressive changes. I work hours every day for nothing at this effort - as do many others, trying to hold back the tide. Besides writing angry letters to organizations which are working to undo the damage, what are YOU doing to change the situation?

Sincerely,
Cheryl Seal

The Present Crisis May be More Destructive than Kennedy's Death

Dear Sirs,

I think the election battle last fall will go down in history as more important than the Kennedy assasination or Watergate. It is said by some that when Kennedy died America lost it's innocence.

I feel this is bigger.

That involved the actions of one man. The battle of 2000 involved the the power structure of the virtually the entire nation. And when push came to shove raw power was what mattered not justice. I feel this sets a terrible precident and we will pay a huge price in the long run. Things may look fine now but the next time there is a serious crisis in this country how will people react? They will look back on 2000, remember that the powerful in America will do anything to win and will show no restraint and will not tend to wait long before becomming violent or otherwise extreme. In 2000 those who tried to use the courts to find justice were denied and those who indicated they would do anything to win (threatening a rival set of presidential electors for instance) won.

The lesson here is do anything to win and don't wait around for "justice". George W. Bush IS president and how he got there will indeed matter the next time there is a crisis or power struggle in America.

Another thing that troubles me is the mocking sarcism of those on the right (and many in the press) regarding what was a very serious situation.

If we cannot take what happened last fall seriously then what can we take seriously? If justice does not matter in a presidential election then were does it matter? The cry of "just get over it" is basically mocking the notion that justice should matter in this case. It's reducing it to a childs board game. If a child cries over losing an board game you indeed tell the child to get over it. Board games are for fun, entertainment and learning, so to get overly upset over losing "unfairly" is missing the point. But a presidential election!? People died to give us the chance at a fair and just nation. Saying "just get over it" in this situation totally mocks that.

I'm not optimistic about the future.

Nelson Hermance
Evanston IL

It's Not Over Yet!

As parents, not to even mention as citizens, we have a moral obligation to continue to stay alert and do everything necessary to emphasize the illegal nature of the results of the 2000 election. Those results aren't simply the agonizing foolishness of this half-educated, failed princeling installed as the leader. They are also all the repercussions from the policies chosen by the true leadership of this governmental organization -- from the rapid erosion of our civil rights to catastrophic environmental decisions to the cynical preparation for low and high-tech war. We must stay active, communicate these wonderful websites (democrats.com and buzzflash.com and affiliates) to everyone we come in contact with, and be attentive to the legal actions as they come along (the Berg-Palast lawsuit, etc.). At some point we'll have a chance to act -- we just have to keep our ears to the ground.

It really isn't over yet. Looks like ALL of Europe will throw us a party if we get rid of these guys! Keep on keeping on!

Kate Carroll

Why Aren't the Democrats Taking ACTION?

Greetings from Texas,

Why have the Democrats failed to launch investigations with regards to the staggering list of possible crimes in the Florida 2000 election process? I won't list them again here.Admittedly, some of these are minor, or improbable, but there are so many of them. We are told we're "sore losers, crybabies, and to get over it." Am I the only one in America who remembers Rush Limbaugh on TV three times a day with "America Held Hostage" day 31 screaming about things like the president's haircut and claiming the election was stolen because of legal, properly counted votes for an independent candidate, well, they sure liked the independent vote when it served their agenda. Now they have 24 hour a day GOP TV with Fox news. Where is the Democratic voice in today's media?

Am I the only one in America to notice the bottom of the outdated Florida voting machines brought out of "mothballs" for this election were wide open underneath so you could easily reach up with a pair of needle nose pliars and pinch the Gore holes so as to disenfranchise the African American voters who are "notorious Democrats" in advance? Conspictuous by their absence were "dimpled chads" for bush. The African Americans in these counties were an easy target for Bush's brother's henchmen to intimidate and eliminate. They dared say on TV it was because the African American voters were "too stupid" to follow through with their punch stylus on Fox tv news. This is an outrage! Why are our Party leaders silent about this shocking all out and co-ordinated attack on American Democracy? Why has the African American community let this go? I ask you... What's going on here? HDJ