Ithaca Journal lets the people speak (including me)

[planetc]

The letter I wrote to my local paper finally appeared tonight. I emailed it to them on 11/25. Text is:

To the editor:

Both John Simon (letters, 11/25/04) and a Town of Candor correspondent assume that the recent election accurately reflected the will of American voters. There is much evidence that the election results may have been fraudulent, in which case, we still don't know who was elected to the presidency on 11/2/04.

Exactly the same kind of evidence of election tampering that America complains of in the Ukraine is present in Florida, in Ohio, and in every state that used electronic voting machines which cannot be audited. The exit polls predicted a decisive win for Mr. Kerry, but were inexplicably inaccurate in many swing states, but in no safe states. The next time you withdraw cash from a Diebold ATM, remember that you can get a printed record of your transaction by pressing a button, but those who cast their votes on Diebold voting machines get nothing but the manufacturer's word that their vote was registered as they intended. Most electronic voting machines used on 11/2 cannot be audited. There are legal challenges to this election in Ohio, Florida, and other places, and a General Accounting Office investigation has been called for. <*>

I feel certain that Mr. Bush's supporters will support efforts to verify the results of the recent election, because if the vote was tampered with, we no longer live in a democracy.

Sincerely,


The thing I find hilarious is that the editor added the following phrase to the end of my second paragraph: "as reported in the Journal, Nov. 27." Obviously, if I emailed my letter on the 25th, I did not write that phrase. They never asked my permission to add the phrase either. I think that's a no-no in newspaper editing.

The Journal also printed in today's edition, 12/8/04, a letter from another local resident making points similar to mine, and the editors (openly) added this note: "The Journal and its Web site theithacajournal.com have carried numerous articles on voting irregularities during the Nov. 2 election. The most recent report appeared in Dec. 3 edition. At this time, no credible analysis suggests that any of the voting irregularities would change the presidential results."

So, two things: First, editors across the country, including at NPR, have been salving their consciences by telling themselves that the irregularities could not change the outcome of the vote. They refuse to believe that an American general election *could* have been stolen. But the waters of a big wave are lapping around their ankles.

Second, the IJ is clearly covering their a...newspaper against the possibility that they got the story wrong. They have seized two opportunities, the editor's note, and the phrase added to my letter, to assure their readers that they have indeed been following the story, and it didn't amount to enough to get excited about. But those two letters appeared tonight, and the IJ has referred its readers to its website for further particulars. It ain't a lot, but it is a lot better that the deafening silence we experienced on 11/25.

[Gloria]

1. Aw, forget the Ithaca Journal!!

Read the Cornell Sun, just for the hell of it....

[planetc]

5. Oh, I like the Sun more than the Journal

The Sun's much livlier, but the Journal is for the "grown ups."

[SmokingJacket]

2. The IJ does hatchet jobs on letters to the editor.

Frickin Gannett rag!!!

Half the town is freaking out about election fraud, but you'd never guess from reading the paper.

[planetc]

6. True, but you wouldn't guess from reading the Times either nt

[SmokingJacket]

7. By the way,

I forgot to congratulate you on a very strong letter.

Cheers!
:toast:

[ClintCooper2003]

3. Excellent letter! Covers pretty much everything, except you forgot...

to mention that the vote-countin' machines are owned by the GOP.

[marions ghost]

4. Congratulations, planetc, on getting this printed!

I do think these letters to the editor are extremely important right now, even in a small town like Ithaca. Anywhere and everywhere.

So let the editors have their little "disclaimers" (which should be below the letter, in a editor's note). No biggie. This is a great way to get some talking points out there in public.

To anyone writing letters. Don't angst about what editors do with it--they will slice and dice but as long as the basic content is still intact...you've made an important contribution. People really like to read those letters...and see their point of view in print.