Rev. Jesse Jackson on the Ohio Recount: It's Not Too Much to Ask  
OpEdNews.com

"We cannot be the home of the thief and the land of the slave."

by Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman

COLUMBUS--Preaching to a packed, wildly cheering central Ohio citizen congregation, Rev. Jesse Jackson blasted the presidential election back into the national headlines Sunday. Jackson said new findings cast serious doubt on the idea that George W. Bush beat John Kerry in Ohio November 2. A GOP "pattern of intentionality" was behind a suspect outcome, he said. At stake is "the integrity of the vote" for which "too many have died." "We can live with losing an election," he said. "We cannot live with fraud and stealing."

Jackson demanded the removal of Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell from supervising the recount, which Jackson termed a case of "the fox guarding the chicken house." Blackwell co-chaired the Bush-Cheney campaign in Ohio.

Jackson said "the owner of the team can't also be the referee." A broad-based legal team--now including Jackson's PUSH/Rainbow Coalition as Plaintiff--is preparing to file an election challenge asking the election results be overturned.

Jackson said the situation "does not pass the smell test."

Before some 500 supporters, Jackson preached a litany of doubt surrounding the Ohio outcome.  "You can't have public elections on privately-owned machines, especially where one of the owners has vowed to deliver the state for George Bush," Jackson added.

"We as Americans should not be begging a Secretary of State for a fair vote count. We cannot be the home of the thief and the land of the slave."

"This is not about John Kerry versus George Bush," said Jackson. "This is about Medgar Evers and Fannie Lou Hamer and Viola Liuzzo. About Goodman, Cheney and Schwerner, and twenty-seven years in prison for Nelson Mandela," he said, referring to heroes of the movements for equal rights. "It's about a will to dignity. It's not too much to ask for our vote to count."

 *   *   *

Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman are co-authors of the upcoming ANOTHER STOLEN ELECTION: VOICES OF THE DISENFRANCHISED, 2004 (freepress.org). Fitrakis is publisher and Wasserman is senior editor of freepress.org. Fitrakis is co-counsel for the Alliance For Democracy which has announced that it will file a lawsuit to ensure a fair recount of the votes in Ohio.

(click here to read the entire story)