When I was a kid in school, I took the Pledge of Allegiance every day. When I joined the Army, I pledged to protect America with my life. When I got married, I pledged to love, honor, and obey Mrs. Paratrooper until the day I die. I think pledges are important. You take a pledge when you really mean to say something. So, when I was reading Michael Moore’s website the other day and saw that he was asking his loyal supporters to take a pledge, you can imagine my interest as I clicked on the link.
And the pledge reads.........
Quote:
MIKE’S PLEDGE
Take the pledge to do the following four things:
1. I Will Register 10 People to Vote This Summer.
2. I Will Spend One Weekend In October In a Swing State.
3. I Will Adopt 5 Nonvoters I Know and Take Them to the Polls.
4. I Will Take-Off Work or School on Election Day and Volunteer to Get Out the Vote.
I left out the specific instructions for each “thing” in Mike’s Pledge™ because most of is innocuous and goofy, almost “Howard Dean-esque”. However, one instruction in the “I Will Adopt 5 Nonvoters I Know and Take Them to the Polls.” section caught my interest.
More specifically:
Quote:
Pick five of the people you know who probably aren’t going to vote. Acknowledge their despair and cynicism. Don’t try to talk them out of it. But gently give them pieces of information over the next few months. And then make a plan for Election Day. Take them out to vote and out to lunch (you pick up the tab!). Or have a party that night for those who voted that day. Or get more creative. Offer a six-pack to anyone in the office who votes (make sure you’re not working in cubicles full of Republicans!). Promise to have sex with a nonvoter - whatever it takes!
Did you see it?
Conspiracy to commit voter fraud! More specifically, conspiracy to buy votes. You see, my friends, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 ( and more specifically the 1973 amendment, 42 U.S.C 1973i(c)) says that:
“Whoever knowingly or willfully gives false information as to his name, address or period of residence in the voting district for the purpose of establishing his eligibility to register or vote, or conspires with another individual for the purpose of encouraging his false registration to vote or illegal voting, or pays or offers to pay or accepts payment either for registration to vote or for voting shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.”
This statute prohibits “vote buying” in the broadest terms possible by forbidding any “payment” or “offer of payment” that is made to a would-be voter “for voting” or to induce unregistered individuals to get onto the electoral roles. A “payment” encompasses anything of material value including lottery chances.
Why then, would Moore dedicate 10 minutes of valuable screen time, dedicated to trying to prove that the Republicans committed voter fraud in the 2000 Presidential elections if he was so comfortable with the idea of conspiring to commit voter fraud himself? I suppose the final line “whatever it takes” says it all.
Michael Moore is actively conspiring with his fans to commit voter fraud because winning this “battle” is more important to him than anything. He’ll do what ever it takes, lying in his books to sway voters, distorting the facts in his movie to sway voters, and even risking 5 years in a Federal penitentiary to sway voters, just to see George Bush defeated. Who knows? Maybe the next Michael Moore Blockbuster Documentary will be shot from the inside of a prison cell. I guess it’s a question of whether or not he really wants to do “whatever it takes”.
Moore, however isn’t the only entity with strong feelings when it comes to voter fraud. I guess you could say the Federal Election Committee will do whatever it takes to prosecute people who even attempt to buy votes.
For example:
Donnie Newsome, a Kentucky Politician who won the 1998 Democratic primary and the election that fall, was found guilty in October of two counts of buying votes and one count of conspiracy to buy votes. He received 2 years in prison.
link
5 People in Statesville, N.C. are on trial as of March 1st, 2004 for attempting to buy votes for as little as $10. ( about the price of a dinner or a six pack) They face up to 25 years each for simply asking to buy votes.
link
Jackson Jones, sheriff of Dodge County, Georgia, was convicted of buying votes in 1999. He had “haulers” pay the voters as they drove them home from the polls.( sound familiar???) He also lost his appeal in the 11th circuit court. His co-defendant, Don McCranie was also convicted of conspiracy to buy votes.
link
New York philanthropist and major Democratic donor Connie Millstein agreed to pay a $5,000 forfeiture and not contest a civil complaint filed Thursday by prosecutors probing allegations that she gave packages of cigarettes to homeless men in Milwaukee while drumming for votes in the fall presidential election.
link
It is a crime to even offer someone a stick of gum or a piece of candy to vote. You may think it’s dumb, but it’s the law and Moore is hell bent on convincing as many people as possible to break it, and as the author of the pledge, he has “pledged” to commit voter fraud himself. He’s even given specific instructions on how to commit voter fraud for his dumbest fans. I’m guessing the FEC will find this interesting, and with this coming election gearing up to be the most watched election of all time, they’ll certainly not let this type of activity go unchecked.
For any of you who would like to inquire about this for yourselves, the nice lady over at the Federal Election Committee told me today that inquiries or complaints about election fraud could be submitted by any citizen, in writing to:
Director,
Election Crimes Branch Department of Justice
10th and Constitution Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20530
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