Reply #133: Nederland [View All]

[Imajika]

Good, fair post.

"However, I think this will be much more than a nuisance story to Diebold."

We will see. You could be right. But couldn't it be that Diebold just says, "Hey, that isn't even the code we were actually using in the real voting machines." I mean, it just seems to me that we are actually far, far away from having a significant provable story.

"Its clear that Diebold made no attempt to follow even the most fundamental rule of security systems"

But are we really sure about that yet?

"I believe that demonstrating the fundamental flaws of the Diebold system will spur important changes in the law regarding testing and mandating paper audit trails."

I agree with this.

"Furthermore, I am a bit more convinced of the importance of this story than you are."

Maybe. I think this is an important issue. Here are just two of my problems. One - the near consensus on this forum that the voting machines are already corrupted and widespread cheating has already been occuring. There is just not any real proof of this and it sounds silly to the average American hearing those of us on the left running around making these claims. Two - my suspicion that those who believe that the voting machines are rigged will say and release anything now to try to further that notion without any real supporting evidence. This has the effect of making those who may be involved with the issue in the future look like conspiracy theorists and may well leave average Americans with the impression that only "nuts" complain about the voting machines.

"Sure, Bev and other are overhyping this, but I believe that is merely the natural result of working so hard and so long on something. People need to feel that they are making a difference and making an important contribution. Indeed, if we see the changes that I hope to see, they are."

Good point. Were I involved with something that I spent so much time on and was extremely important to me perhaps I might even act in a similar way. I think I would have avoided discussions of being "dissappeared", but your analysis is a good one.

Lastly, I know Bev and her team have worked hard. I have a tendency to be much harder on my side. I guess I expect more. I suspect in this case I have been overly critical. But hey, isn't a little dissent a good thing?

Imajika