Let Us Recount Together

I heard the wonderful Joy Reid say yesterday, with passion, that people who are donating toward recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania should instead send their money to Democrat Foster Campbell, towards a yet undecided senate race in Louisiana.  It is a long shot indeed, but boy wouldn't it be nice to have another Democratic senator.

Well, the recount is certainly a long shot, but wouldn't it be great to have T. Rump's "presidency" overturned before the cast of The Deplorables takes over and all we can do is damage control.

So why not donate to both?

I am surprised, as always, by my fellow Democrats' willingness to fight over just about anything.  I even heard some trash talk about Jill Stein, Green Party presidential candidate who has spearheaded the move to recount, and her possible involvement with Russia, based on television interviews on Russian TV network, RT.  Come on folks, can we not throw out the baby with the dirty bath water here?  Faux president T. Rump has more than enough ties to Russia to keep us paranoid.

I don't know why Stein is on Russian TV.  Maybe she believes we can all be friends, maybe she secretly owns a hotel there.  But let us stop being yanked around by those who have been silent about the T. Rump Russia connection and are now trumpeting the news that Stein has ties to Russia.

I for one, am glad that Stein has taken up this cause.  There were so very many raised eyebrows over how Hillary could lose those three states, that had been in her column for months, and lose by so very little.  Whether it is fraud or the kind of callousness that happens when those in charge are being pressured to come up with definitive results, that small margin in those three states certainly makes a recount reasonable.

I'm wondering why we should go quietly.  Just look at the hissy-fit the madman has been having over Twitter since the recount actually became a thing.  Shouldn't we be tired of being beaten about with lies, threats and braggadocio by this small-minded bully?  We still, for awhile, live in the strongest democracy in the world; now would be the time to push our rights to the limit.

Don't forget, it was T. Rump who on election day, attempted through a lawsuit to force Nevada to omit certain votes obtained during early voting in high Latino areas.  He falsely claimed voters were let into polling places after hours; in fact, it was voters who were already in line when the polls closed that were allowed to vote.    Even if it didn't work, it may have kept a few people from exercising their rights, so, to T. Rump, it was a win-win.

And how about North Carolina soon-to-be-unemployed governor Pat McCrory and his expensive and time-consuming tantrum over his losing tally?   Democrat Roy Cooper is ahead by nearly 8,000 votes, but McCrory just can't believe that this is happening.  And for good reason.  He and his minions in the state legislature have worked hard to rig the election to prevent Democrats from voting.  He is like the Grinch when he hears the Whos in Whoville singing even after he has stolen their Christmas.  How can this be???

If you are still wondering why we should be backing this recount effort, convinced that it will not change results, you may be right about the latter.  But there are so many reasons we should be behind this.  The one that smacks me in the head every time is all the various dirty tricks that have been played during this election season, from lies to the actual republican woman who was caught trying to vote twice for the Rump.  There were the repeated calls during rallies for supporters to "watch" suspect polling places -- "because of you know what I'm talking about."  Then there is the Crosscheck software program, ever popular when you want to purge the voter rolls.  And don't forget the Russians: spies, hackers and fake news.

Here is the greatest reason of all.  We now more than ever need to ask the questions.  We need to insist on facts, not tweets and tantrums.  We need to insist that we see what is going on in our government.  There is nothing wrong with demanding an audit of our voting process, especially now.  Especially when there has been so much proof that the other side will stoop to whatever it takes to win.  If we believe that our democracy is important, and I'm hearing from a lot of us that they -- we -- are fearing its loss, we need to stand up for transparency.  Our voting process has been under attack for far too long, while we have had too few defenders.

Maybe Pat McCrory will win back the governorship, fair and square.  I hope not, but it could happen.  He is not going to leave any stone unturned in his quest for victory.  And we should not leave any stone unturned either.  Because our quest is not just for victory; it is to stand up for our democracy, and for our right for our votes to be counted.

So, Jill, I'm all in.  And thanks for stepping up.