DEMOCRACY:
Government & Politics | November 23 &
25, 2004
NOW
GEORGE
DUBYA
"DOES
THE
MATH"
&
ALLEGES
VOTE
FRAUD!
An
E-Mail to Democratic Activists &
A
Posting in "Comments
From Left Field",
Prompted
by My Statistical Analysis & That
of a University Professor
IF
EXIT POLLING IS SO UNRELIABLE, THEN WHY DID THE BUSH
ADMINISTRATION USE IT IN 2003 TO JUSTIFY THE OUSTER OF EDUARD
SHEVARDNADZE AS PRESIDENT OF GEORGIA, AND WHY -- AT THIS VERY
MOMENT -- IS THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION USING EXIT POLLING TO CHARGE
ELECTION FRAUD IN THE UKRAINE?!
From the lead story on the front page of the Nov
23 Los Angeles Times...
...I take these excerpts...
UKRAINE ELECTION CRISIS ERUPTS
Thousands protest amid allegations of fraud as official count
shows pro-Russian premier edging reformist rival in presidential
race.
By David Holley
Times Staff Writer
KIEV, Ukraine -- A political crisis erupted here Monday as
official results showed Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich winning a
bitterly contested presidential election, while opposition leader
Viktor Yushchenko brought supporters into the streets to press his
own claim of victory.
Ukrainian security forces threatened a crackdown as tens of
thousands of protestors massed in central Kiev chanting the name
of the pro-Western opposition leader. Foreign observers --
including President Bush's personal envoy, Sen. Richard G. Lugar
(R-Ind) -- condemned alleged election fraud, throwing their weight
behind Yushchenko and his charge that the official count was
wrong.
The Central Election Commission announced that with 99.14% of
voting districts counted, the prime minister led in the runoff
with 49.4% to Yushchenko's 46.7%. [A 3% MARGIN OF
"MANDATE" SOUNDS SORTA FAMILIAR]
However, an exit poll financed in part by the U.S. Embassy and
other Western diplomatic missions showed the opposition leader
winning 54% to 43%. [MAN, WHAT MUST THE ODDS BE OF THE EXIT
POLLS BEING THAT FAR OFF?! IT WAS ONLY A 250-MILLION-TO-ONE
LONGSHOT OF THE EXIT POLLS FOR KERRY IN FL, PA, AND OH BEING SO
FAR OFF, ACCORDING TO THAT UNIV OF PENN PROF.]
...
Yanukovich...has the backing of outgoing President Leonid D.
Kuchma, whose own reelection in 1999 drew criticism from Western
observers... [AND HERE I WAS SORTA LOOKING FORWARDS TO 2008]
The opposition leaders vowed to challenge the election through
parliament and the courts, and called for a protest outside
parliament today...
Ukraine's prosecutor general, Interior Ministry and security
services issued a joint statement warning that
"lawlessness" would not be tolerated...
Yanukovich...claimed majority support of the voters and warned
against "a small group of radicals who seek to divide Ukraine
by resorting to pressure and unlawful actions."
...
Speaking at a U.S. Embassy news conference, Lugar...asserted that
the results were rigged...
"It is now apparent that a concerted and forceful program of
election-day fraud and abuse was enacted with either the
leadership or cooperation of governmental authorities," Lugar
said...
Lugar also quoted a letter from Bush that he had delivered to
Kuchma: "You play a central role in ensuring that Ukraine's
election is democratic and free of fraud and manipulation. A
tarnished election, however, will lead us to review our relations
with Ukraine."
[BUT GEORGE, MAYBE THE YANUKOVICH SUPPORTERS ALL ACROSS THE
COUNTRY WERE JUST A LOT LESS WILLING TO SPEAK WITH THE EXIT
POLLSTERS, OR SOMETHING. IS GEORGE DUBYA GETTING DUPED INTO
"CONSPIRACY THEORIES"?!]
...Bruce George, a leader of a delegation from the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe...[said,] "The abuse
of state resources in favor of the prime minister continued as
well as an overwhelming media bias in his favor." [FOXSKY
NEWS?]
Lucio Malan, head of a delegation from the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization's Parliamentary Assembly, said at the same news
conference that an "unjustified increase in the use of
absentee voter certificates" had "cast a shadow over the
genuineness of the results."
He said that turnout in some districts in Donetsk, a Yanukovich
stronghold, had jumped by 21 percentage points from the first
round to more than 98% on Sunday, which he called
"unrealistic and highly suspicious." [SOUNDS VAGUELY
FAMILIAR]
...
Viktoria Ruban, 37, a marketing executive who joined the protests
Monday, said she came [to the tent city of protestors in the city
center of Kiev] because "we should teach the state they don't
have any right to impose something on people."
"I can tell you for sure that Yanuovich and his team won't
give up that easily," she said. But neither will the
opposition, she added.
IT'S GOOD TO KNOW THAT THE SPIRIT OF DEMOCRACY IS STILL ALIVE AND
WELL...IN THE UKRAINE.
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