We need a new name for this debacle - let's do the framing ourselves

[Cronus Protagonist]

Votergate's not good because the voters are the good guys.

How about...

SELECTION2004

TraitorGate

ElectionGate


...more?

[Helga Scow Stern]

1. Fraudgate? n/t

[ginnyinWI]

2. it should name Ohio--

Ohiogate

Fraud Ohio

OhioFraudgate

Ohio Fraud 04

Stolen Ohio

[Cronus Protagonist]

5. Good point

How about

The Buckeye Bungle

CardinalCrime

Operation Swallowtail

[Cronus Protagonist]

14. Election Theft Ohio?

That's really what it is, a stolen election..

[AntiFascist]

20. I don't know...

if electronic voting systems were hacked there's no reason they couldn't have also been hacked in Florida and elsewhere. There's also statistical indication that vote padding may have occured in bigger states. Ohio is under the microscope because the election hinges on this one state and the votes are so close.

[me b zola]

33. yeppers

That is one of the reasons that I like votergate...it speaks to the nation-wide theft of OUR democracy. Also because the repub goons attached 'gate' to every move that Pres Clinton made. Also because it speaks not only to the theft of votes, but also voter suppression and intimidation...something that we THOUGHT that we had overcame in the 1960's.

[AntiFascist]

38. ok, but you also might be promoting a movie about Bev Harris....

just thought I'd mention.

[bobweaver]

3. Diebold with a Vengeance

[Liberty Belle]

4. VoteRig, BigRig, VoteTheft.

Remind the media:

A bipartisan Congress was ready to impeach Nixon. The public was outraged to learn that Nixon concealed evidence of a break-in at Democratic headquarters. Watergate was a clumsy attempt at election chicanery, but it pales compared to the highly organized and professional perpetration of electronic vote-tampering and fraud by the GOP in the 2004 election.

Congress and the media owe the public a full and complete investigation. A special prosecutor should be appointed to look into what Bush and Cheney knew or covered up. If they knew, they should be impeached and convicted for their crimes--and the election results should be declared invalid by Congress.

[ginnyinWI]

6. I like VoteTheft, but would make it "VoteTheft '04" n/t

[Cronus Protagonist]

7. "Vote Theft Ohio"

That seems to get it all together

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

8. TRIADGATE! This incident with TRIAD is what might start real

Investigations. Just like the break-in at Watergate.

[Cronus Protagonist]

9. True, but it goes deeper than one company

Although I do think your suggestion might be the media's choice since it doesn't add any implications up the chain.. hmm..

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[bobweaver]

15. The Smoking Touch-Screen

[Griffy]

17. Smoke screen voting... Voterfraud '04 .. the sequel! nt

[Old Mouse]

16. Actually...

it would be better not to name it at all.

The habit of naming a scandal 'gate' has had the effect of making it seem like an isolated incident, easy to handle, more of an embarrassment than an impeachable or prosecutable offense. There has only been one 'gate' to ever permanently damage anyones' career.

For maximum impact on the public it should be simply "FRAUD!" Something monumental that says the normal order has been disturbed...

[garybeck]

18. ELECTION FRAUD

Fraud is a legal term and should be used often.

[Old Mouse]

45. FRAUD

FRAUD
ELECTION FRAUD
A great word. A noun, a verb, an accusation, an exclamation
all in one. Easy to remember, sticks like glue. J'accuse!

[Ellipsis]

19. The day the earth stood still!

[ewulf]

21. How about we let this Gate thing die?

It's really gotten boring and it sort of trivializes these scandals by givi ng them ridiculous names. I'd like to go back to the days when we had "affairs" and "scandals" and the like.

How about: The Blackwell Affair.

Or The Great Election Fraud Scandal of 2004.

although I guess those sound more like tittles for suspense novels.

How about something short like RepubliFraud or maybe the Election Theft of 04....

The Cleveland Scandal, Holy Toledo, Bush Lost!

Hopefully, it will lead into:

The democratic Revolution? (small d)

[AntiFascist]

22. Really, it's so much bigger than Watergate anyway....

"Elections should count the True Majority"
"We will never Move On until democracy is safe!"

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

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[Brundle_Fly]

24. hmm

Fachism Incorporated.
Vote or Diebold.
Opps they did it again.
Operation Democracy.
Get it Right.
E-Fraud.
Fra-W-duh

[Peace Patriot]

25. '04 Voter Fraud - the sequel (ha, ha, ha!)...

...really made me laugh! But somebody on this board keeps ragging us that "voter" fraud is inaccurate and sounds like the VOTERS frauded, and we should say "Election" Fraud.

The Day the Earth Stood Still - is also great, in its way. Thanks! (We could do a whole riff on s-f movies: Invasion of the Vote Snatchers; Cat Women of Bush Inc.; Voterella; I, Diebold; Tron in Ohio; When Votes Collide; War of the Secret Source Codes; Matrix Election Revisited; Phantom of the Triad; The Fifth Elephant; Fahrenheit 11/2...)

I still like my bumper sticker (proposed elsewhere):

Bush (W) Hacked America!

But we're not talking about bumper stickers. (It's getting late in the Golden State.)

I'm finding that "2004 Election Fraud" is kind of sticking. I keep using it. So do others. I'd like to see the word "scandal" added. I agree that "fraud" is both accurate and resonant. But "2004 Election Scandal" also has a ring to it.

The evidence is that it is much broader than Ohio--and involves at least a dozen states if not most of the country. If we use "Ohio" we will definitely make the focus and the public perception of it too narrow. Because, you know what?--no matter the outcome in Ohio, Kerry still won. Really, the evidence is overwhelming. And we don't want people to think "it's over" if the OH count doesn't change the outcome. Too much has gone on to suppress the vote and very likely to destroy information. There really can't be a valid recount in OH at this point. A re-vote is required. (And, truly, a revote should be done at the least EVERYWHERE in the country where there was no paper trail).

There is evidence both of Bush votes being manufactured (out of thin air) and being stolen from Kerry. So "vote stealing" or "election theft" don't quite do it--as to accuracy. But then, "Watergate" was never very accurate either--and "theft" is a word everyone can understand.

I remember this kind of discussion re: Valerie Plame. We have to consider what the MSM will use--because if they don't use ours, they'll make up their own and it will be as tame as possible.

There is also the vote suppression angle--especially against blacks--a very racist element involved. Changing their precincts, telling them the wrong precinct, shorting their precincts on voting machines, etc. etc. Really foul stuff--much like the "poll tax" and other crimes of the white south.

Jim Crow vote rigging.
Racial vote rigging scandal.
Racist Election Fraud 2004.

Some old-fasioned ones: Vote Rigging, Stuffing the Ballot Box, Vote Stealing, Dead Men Voting.

2004 Election Fraud. 2004 Election Scandal.

MSM would probably choose "scandal" of the two. Right now they're calling it "Election irregularities in Ohio." Much too tame, and narrow.

Ah, me. Time to go sleepy-bye.

[Name removed]

44. Deleted message

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[Sideways]

26. Play On CSN Song About Nixon's Debacle In Ohio

Vote Dead In Ohio.

Tin soldiers and Bushie coming
We're finally on our own
This election I hear the drumming
Vote Dead In Ohio.

[insane_cratic_gal]

27. The Grinch Who Stole

The election

[Im with Rosey]

32. I LOVE THIS!!!!

I suggest this becomes a poster!

[Joe Chi Minh]

28. TFDC

Triad for disorganised crime. They give the triads a bad name.

[marions ghost]

29. I like 'Votergate' because...

1. Parallel to Watergate cannot be missed (older people have not forgotten and younger have heard about it)
2. Suggests momentous watershed event or threshold
3. Evolved naturally::::_______"gate" has entered our natl lexicon = Bad deeds, Bad coverup --yeah, it's shopworn, but just got revived as recently as 'rathergate'
4. Doesnt suggest voters did anything bad -- good to have emphasis on the voters --implies "voters got screwed," seems to me
5. Suggests voters at the gates--the invisible barriers to true participation in democracy
6. Catchy and simple and yet is an expansive term
7. Expansive term--big enough to cover all grievances from vote suppression to incompetence/negligence, not only fraud
8. Statement of strength which immediately says = not open to negotiation, not something to debate, enough evidence already, guilty, criminal offenses
9. Obviously not something you would say if you were concerned about being diplomatic, not for the faint of heart
10. Regardless of what you call this, it is important not to let others frame the debate. All agreed on that I'm sure.

[Stephanie]

30. The Honest Elections Campaign

Who can argue with that? All we want to do is count the votes, and be able to verify that our votes were counted.

[mopinko]

31. coup II

[Name removed]

41. Deleted message

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[Cronus Protagonist]

51. Ya know, I really like COUP II

Because it adds scope all the way back to when the first coup happened and brings it forward at the same time by implying there might be a third and fourth.... Good one :)

[bobweaver]

34. "One Nation Under Fraud"

[Peace Patriot]

35. Thinkun about Watergate...

What did the orginal Watergate scandal change?

Corporate media gave up investigative reporting, and became even worse lapdogs.

The Vietnam War went on and on and on...

And election fraud has only become far more sophisticated and ignored.

Worst of all, after the fascist cabal got rid of Carter, we've had an almost relentless assault on the poor and the middle class, and on the Constitution, and a slow re-buildup to militarism, ever since (--the only exception being Clinton, who was not good on job outsourcing and who was hamstrung on anything else by the rightwing Star Chamber).

The politicians of that era, both Dem and Repub, and the corporate media, seemed gleeful to undo Nixon, and jumped on it with both feet.

I'm wondering if there was some ulterior motive among the "powers that be": Was it the Paris Peace talks (supposed effort to end the VN war)? His initiatives to China and the Sov. Union? The EPA (he signed into law)? Some connection of the W burglars to the Kennedy assassination that was being covered up, in some way (maybe the W burglary was a setup?)?

I don't know. When you look at what's happened since, you really have to wonder--in retrospect--what it was all really about.

I think the -gate ending may trivialize this current Election Fraud scandal--especially after the rightwing's use of it for Clinton's minor sins.

[iconoclastNYC]

36. Votergate '04

WE need to point out the '04, because there was voter gate '02, and '00. This is NOT the first time the election has been screwed with.

[libertypirate]

37. The original sin of democracy...

is to deny, or attempt to inhibit counting the votes.

Republicans are sinners!

In terms they can understand.

[Diane R]

39. BushGate

Because by time it is all over, all of their dirty dealings will be exposed.

[Name removed]

40. Deleted message

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[madison2000]

42. Electoral Dysfunction

:evilgrin: :evilgrin: :evilgrin:

[glitch]

43. fraWd

FRAWD another DUers inspiration. Sick of the gates anyway, they're so 20th century.
Must adjust to the shortened attention span and limited imagination of today's populace.

[understandinglife]

46. "Bush's (Failed) Coup"

[Sideways]

47. Vote Dead In Ohio

:kick:

[hippiegranny]

48. Election Ukraine: American Style

or how about

Republicans-cheat-again-gate?

[madison2000]

49. kick!

:kick: :kick: :kick:

[Fly by night]

50. Election Theft 2004

Vote Free or Diebold