The yards are full of political
signs and Halloween decorations. It's almost election day in Franklin County. Columbus Ohio is known for three things 1) that freeway sniper, 2) the on stage murder of Dimebag Daryl, and 3) ground zero in the theft of the presidential election. That's all people from around the world want to talk about on the internet. A potential My Space friend from Brussels or Thailand wants to know if I voted for Bush and why did that nut kill that guy from Pantera. All they have only seen of Columbus was taped off crime scenes and long lines at the poles.
The sad thing is that most people in this town are either shell shock, in denial, or completely oblivious about what happened. This is a hard pill to swallow. The first step is realizing those talking heads of the news didn't do their jobs, or worse. The glowing big screen in the living room can tell you lies. Years later, someone will write a book or create a documentary exposing the truth, but by then it's ancient history. If you ask why Donald Rumsfeld is shaking Saddam Hussien's hand in that picture, someone will no doubt snap, "That's ancient history!"
When you find out Rumsfeld was shaking Saddam's hand a few months after he mass murdered, someone will surely squeal, " You are just a conspiracy theorist!". When you wonder why Reagan's men (who were formerly Nixon's men, and now Bush's men) thought it was a good idea to sell weapons to Iraq & Iran, train Noreaga, and fight with Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan; someone is bound to ask you why you hate America.
Sometimes I think people voted for Bush over Kerry, because Bush had a rounder face. Just today, I was minding my own business and stopped at a light. A pick up truck spotted my "Enough is enough! Vote Democratic" bumper sticker, rolled down the window and yelled " I don't want my taxes to go up!" I was speechless. Rooting for republicans like they were a football team. He choose the delusion that he was a successful country club elitist who needed to distance himself from poor people, blacks, and gays. He could stick a "support the troops" magnet and a "these colors don't run" sticker on his truck and then never worry his little head about those matters. Never mind that he's hopelessly in debt and oblivious to getting outsourced in a matter of months. I've seen the future. You can't afford it.
At least he feels he's on the winning team. My party is pushing for the minimum wage, which is very depressing, indeed. If we win, someone's gonna get $6.50 an hour! He's got Fox News, I've got an AM station that will break in to an interview with Gore Vidal and Noam Chomsky to play a Bowling Green football game. That says it all, doesn't it? To make it worse, many people who's down with the cause hadn't even read the definite article about how the presidential election was taken. For those who have the eyes to see it, here's the Bobby Kennedy article in Rolling Stone.
For those busy citizen's who are on the run, I dare you to download and listen to The 2004 Election Theft Podcast. This is an edited version of from Thom Hartmann's radio show explaining the findings in the Bobby Kennedy Jr. article and is as close as one gets to a convenient article-on-tape. Pop this in your ipod and let it sink in your brain. Pretty soon you'll be bringing up the evidence of hanky panky with your colleagues and co workers. Maybe you'll grow tired of the news on the television focusing on trivial things. Critical thinking is an extreme sport.
Download votetheft2004.mp3 podcast
Ohio is a 
