Together, we moved three mountains

Election 2004
Together, we moved three mountains
by Bob Fitrakis, Steve Rosenfeld and Harvey Wasserman
January 8, 2005
Together, grassroots/Internet activists have just moved three major American mountains.
On January 6, we forced an angry Republican-dominated Congress into an unprecedented confrontation with the Truth about Ohio's stolen election, about dubious vote counts nationwide, and ultimately about an electoral process worthy of zero public trust.
America's progressive grassroots further showed it could prompt the "democratic wing" of the Democratic Party to finally stand up for its constituents' right to vote, even in the face of the usual withering slander from Karl Rove's dirty tricksters.
And those of us who work the Internet showed we could spark a mass movement by exposing a national travesty despite relentless abuse from the mainstream media, which did absolutely nothing to uncover the systematic corruption of our electoral process.
In truth, the mountains shook even before the election.
Many of us Ohioans could see what was about to happen here long before November 2. With blatant manipulation, discrimination and intimidation being flaunted by the supremely arrogant Republican Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, the clear message from the Bush-Cheney campaign he chaired was that John Kerry would never carry Ohio, no matter how many votes he got. When commondreams.org and other fellow web sites circulated freepress.org's "12 ways Bush is now stealing the Ohio vote" on October 27, the warning went worldwide.
So when Jim Crow showed up in Ohio, we digitized his picture.
In sworn testimony at public hearings convened with no help, cooperation or participation from the Kerry Campaign or the Democratic Party, scores of Ohioans told their infuriating stories. With relentless investigation, cooperation and participation from private citizens from all over the state, a gruesome portrait of GOP racism, fraud and contempt burned across the worldwide web....