Another Election Stolen?

As a Southern Californian and an avid fan of PAC 10 football it is not often that I cheer for Wisconsin regardless of the fact that I have a tremendous respect for that state, its schools, and its football teams. Over the last year, however, I have been cheering mightily for the good people of Wisconsin. When the voters foolishly threw their temper tantrum in 2010 one of the results was the election in Wisconsin of a radical right wing governor and radical right wing legislators. Those right wing Republicans wasted no time in attacking labor unions, education and other things that are so important to the middle class while following the Republican agenda of enriching the rich. The good people of Wisconsin fought back. They held massive demonstrations and filed recall petitions against six entrenched Republican state senators. The results of the recall elections are now in. The Democrats won two of the six recall elections. They fell one election victory short of the total they needed to take over the state senate. The fight continues, and getting rid of the two right wing Republicans was still quite an accomplishment given the millions of dollars the right wing threw into those elections. What makes that accomplishment even more remarkable is that the election of one of those Republicans, Ms. Darling, is tainted.

Once more the results from Waukeshal were delayed and the Republican miraculously received the number of votes needed to win once those votes were counted. During the Supreme Court elections over fourteen thousand votes appeared two days after the election to give a supporter of Governor Walker the victory. The incompetence of the election clerk, Kathy Nicholaus, was noted at that time. The question then as now is whether it is a matter of incompetence or something far worse. There is nothing new about stealing elections. Bush quite obviously stole a presidential election in Florida. Furthermore the legislation passed in Wisconsin to severely restrict voter registration makes it clear that right wing Republicans will do anything to win elections and push their destructive agenda. While I cannot say that anyone tampered with the election results in Wisconsin, I can and do say that someone needs to investigate the possibility that there was tampering.

To the people of Wisconsin I say bless you. There is no doubt in my mind that you will continue to fight the good fight. You are an inspiration and an example we should all follow. The middle class needs to take this country back and return it to its place of being the land of opportunity.