Terrorists Can't Halt Vote, Experts Say

[alarcojon]

Even if terrorists were to attack on election day, it is highly unlikely that voting could or would be halted across the nation, lawmakers and scholars said Monday.

Congress could postpone a federal election — but only by passing a law to do so — while the Bush administration has no legal authority to act on its own.

...snip...

The United States has held elections in the throes of civil and world wars, and several senior lawmakers forcefully rejected the suggestion that this fall's election could be postponed.

"Were we to postpone the elections, it would represent a victory for the terrorists," said Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. "The election is going to go forward."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-election13jul13,1,6716051.story

[ex_jew]

1. I'm truly amazed that anyone still believes Bush is bound by the law !

They rattle off chapter and verse as if it made any difference to God's anointed one. What about the Geneva Convention ? What about habeus corpus ? Did he care one little bit ? Law means nothing to this man and his followers. If he thinks people will sit still for his manipulations, then he'll go right ahead. Maybe Scalia will grant an injunction against counting the votes. Who knows ? He's done it before.

[alarcojon]

2. Yeah, I know

what's especially pathetic is that Congress would be more than happy to roll over for Bush if the time came.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

3. Yep, and apparently the inverse is true as well.... Votes can't stop

Terrorists either.

[dusty64]

4. They simply plan to stop

voting possibly in New York and California and other Dem strongholds, it will go on in rethug areas.

5. kick

:)

6. I think it's very odd

that there was thread after thread after thread after thread in the past few days of all this doom and gloom regarding elections & then when it appears that these people floating this balloon in the administration are having to back down, the comments are very slim on any of these new threads.

What gives?

[Myrina]

7. I think most of us are trying

... to figure out what angle the BFEE is going to take with this.

1. Try to stop or postpone the elections due to 'terra'; or

2. Have a massive terra attack but still have the elections, claiming 'terra-ists want to topple democracy' and hoping for a massive pro-Bush-in-times-of-crisis vote; or

3. Elections after a terra attack with Diebold factored in to guarantee a Bush win, thinking that the horrified sheeple won't question the results.

They're up to something, and it's my guess that most DU'ers are trying to get a handle on what.


:shrug:

8. makes sense -- I'm trying to be optimistic

& hoping that the beginnings of the outrage at this idea are already beginning to make them back down.

[alarcojon]

11. It IS odd

I seem to be more optimistic than most when I see stories like these. More importantly, more willing to do what is needed to try to make Bushco follow the law for once.

I think it is human nature (or at least DU nature :D) to make a big deal when the trial ballon is up and just to shrug indifferently when it is being shot down. And I hope these latest developments are in fact going to shoot it down. Not that I'll be letting my guard down....

[primavera]

9. Why not?

The terrorists on SCOTUS managed to stop the vote once already. Jeb and Kathy Harris stopped god only knows how many tens of thousands of democratic voters from voting. Our beloved Fuehrer tells us that terorists are those who "hate freedom." It sounds like we've got plenty of such people in this country who hate freedom, will do anything to stop voters voices from being heard, and do so on a daily basis.

10. one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter

it's all in how you define the terms.
That's why I like to say if the elections are cancelled, the terrorists have won.
I think you'd agree with me about which terrorists I'm thinking of.

[anarchy1999]

12. Experts, Schmerts, my a##. Just check out FEMA and Executive Orders.

Also google Ret. General Franks, he as much as said same last year in a Cigar Mag/Rag interview. All it will take is the declaration of a "national emergency", and we will have a military coup. Who knows what direction it may take?

Check out truthout.org and Will Pitt, he wrote his draft and posted it here yesterday. They (the powers that be) can do this, they've been working on all the pegs since Nixon.

Wishing us all well in the coming months. How do you all like the roller coaster so far? Personally, we're sick of it and we want off..

[They_LIHOP]

13. one possible purpose of all this talk...

is to do nothing more than to parade out 'pundit' after 'pundit' to talk about Madrid and what happened there (not the truth, mind you, just their spin) in order to associate in the peoples mind's the idea that UBL 'wants' John Kerry and 'the left' to win. So, obviously, you wouldn't want to vote for UBL, would you now?

might be nothing more than that.

otoh, if an attack IS planned and does happen, this talk now acts as a 'hedge' when they DO cancel the election. By instilling the above idea in people's minds now, it becomes 'the prevailing wisdom', and it automatically emasculates Kerry when he complains about a postponement. the 'Thugs will all be going "oh, Kerry just wants it to be held now cause he thinks he'll WIN, ala Spain..."

These assholes in charge are both smart and ruthless. And totally without care for America or Americans.