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"We have it in our power to begin the world over again." - Thomas Paine

"You are not required to complete the task, yet you are not free to withdraw from it." - Rabbi Tarfon

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By now, we're all familiar with the memoir by former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, which apparently roundly condemns White House war policies and actions.

If you haven't yet read about it, here is one article you can explore on NPR.

How many people have been killed, maimed, or damaged since the un-elected, Supreme Court-installed Bush Administration invaded the sovereign nation of Iraq?

Hundreds of thousands of destroyed lives later, Scott McClellan now confesses that he was the willing instrument of propaganda used by the occupiers of the White House to "sell" the war to Congress. Congress, who not only lapped it up with unquestioning stupidity and provided continuous unmitigated war funding, but to this day obstinately refuses to hold itself or the administration accountable for this treasonous crime.

How did we get here? What role did each one of us play in this tragedy?

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Stalin, father of fascism, is known to have said "it's not who votes that counts, it's who counts the votes". Stalin and other undemocratic geniuses figured out that - with faux elections - they can use voting as the opiate of the masses.

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Stalinesque faux elections assure complacency of the citizenry, who cast their votes believing they are electing representative leadership.

Those controlling the vote count then secretly count those votes out of public view, producing startling election results that are in fact in complete opposition to the public will. Voters, drugged on the opiate of belief in their vote, slink away, scratching their heads perhaps, but complacent and acquiescent nonetheless.

And the wrong people take power. People who do not represent the will of the voters, but who represent instead the will of those who secretly counted the votes in order to install those wrong people to positions of power.

And those wrong people in power do things like launch pre-emptive wars, or implement policies that favor moneyed interests over environmental and national security, and more.

It is said that we get the government we deserve. What about when we didn't really elect that government?

As long as we allow our democratic elections to be corrupted this way, we still get the government we deserve. And as long as we allow Stalinist-style faux elections to continue, we all have the collective stain on our hands.

In NH today 85% of our votes are counted secretly by a private corporation with a history of partisan interests. Vote tabulating computers programmed by Diebold Election Systems are installed in the majority of NH cities and towns, counting 85% of NH votes in secret. Voters complete their ballots, then insert them into Diebold machines, and only the Diebold programmers know how those votes are counted.

Nationwide, anywhere from 80-100% of American votes are counted secretly by private interests.

NH - and the nation's - voters, drugged by their belief and faith in the election, blindly accept this system.

And why not? NH's trusted and beloved Secretary of State has approved this system of corporate-controlled secret vote counting. The NH legislature has approved this system of corporate-controlled secret vote counting. And NH citizens all trust these officials and representatives, right?

Is our democracy worth so little that we actually think it is enough to "trust" our officials and leave it at that?

In California last Spring the Secretary of State decertified the exact Diebold machines used in New Hampshire. NH's Secretary of State has seen the same studies and reports that led the California Secretary of State to decertify this equipment as insecure and unsafe for use in elections.

In California today, these machines may be used only with a series of procedural checks and balances to mitigate the risk of rigging, hacking, and failure.

NH's Secretary of State and legislature have rebuffed every suggestion to do the same. In NH, Diebold has an unchecked free hand to run our elections just as they see fit.

As a result, NH voters are denied their Constitutional right to have their vote publicly counted in open meeting, which is the only way a true democratic election can work. When votes are counted in secret there is no way to ensure that the vote count is honest. When these votes are counted in secret by a private corporation driven by the profit motive, the chance that the count is honest is pretty darn slim.

And this is exactly how we are collectively allowing New Hampshire to run its elections. We are collectively allowing the NH legislature and the Secretary of State to illegally perpetuate a system of secret vote counting controlled by a private profit-driven and largely partisan corporation.

American citizens across the nation stand idly by opening the doors for our country to be subverted to the goals of war profiteers and enemies of democracy.

With secret vote counting controlled by private corporations nobody but those controlling the vote count really knows who the electorate is trying to elect.

Just like Scott McClellan, as long as we allow this to continue, the blood is on our hands. We don't have to sit still for this. There is much we can do to reclaim our democratic elections, hold the NH Secretary of State and Legislature accountable, and demand the eradication of Stalinist faux elections from NH soil.

The Hands-on Elections Handbook has some ideas. So does BlackBoxVoting

It's time to get busy.

Mr. McClellan and all others who either participate or stand silent in the face of evil have turned away from our spiritual mission on earth, which is to protect the stranger among us, to follow the rule of law, and work towards restoration of peace and harmony on and with the Earth and all of Creation.

As told to us by the great Prophet Isaiah:

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ISAIAH 59

1 Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save,
nor his ear too dull to hear.

2 But your iniquities have separated
you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
so that he will not hear.

3 For your hands are stained with blood,
your fingers with guilt.
Your lips have spoken lies,
and your tongue mutters wicked things...

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We are all responsible for each other. We each have the power to begin the world over again. Today. Right now.