Monday, December 05, 2005
The real story the press ignored in 2000
In November 2000 British listeners to BBC and readers of the Observer knew the reasons for Al Gore losing Florida. They learned that thousands of black voters were disenfranchised in Florida because of false charges of having criminal records. This was a story the U.S. press ignored while it covered the recounts and looked for hanging chads. Salon.com seemed to be the only American media outlet interested in the story.
Greg Palast, an American who often works in London, broke the story in the Observer. Even prior to the election, he had written: "Florida Governor Jeb Bush and his Secretary of State Katherine Harris ordered local elections supervisors to purge 57,700 voters from registries on grounds they were felons not entitled to vote in Florida. As it turns out, these voters weren't felons, at most a handful. However the voters on this 'scrub list' were notably African-American (about 54 percent) and most of the others wrongly barred from voting were white and Hispanic Democrats" (Pilger, John. 2005. Tell me no lies. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, pp. 465-481).
In February 2001 the Nation published the story. The Washington Post took seven months and the New York Times finally reported it on February 16, 2004. Why was the press silent about this important story? Palast in his book, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy (2003), claims it was a fear of breaking from the 'pack.'
If this kind of voting fraud occurred in any other country, there would be riots in the streets. In America, voters and the press stoodby passively and watched the election be stolen from Al Gore. Why don't Americans care? Because of our apathy, we get the press and the government we deserve.
You can watch some of Palast's reports on BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/newsnight/1174115.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/3956129.stm
Greg Palast, an American who often works in London, broke the story in the Observer. Even prior to the election, he had written: "Florida Governor Jeb Bush and his Secretary of State Katherine Harris ordered local elections supervisors to purge 57,700 voters from registries on grounds they were felons not entitled to vote in Florida. As it turns out, these voters weren't felons, at most a handful. However the voters on this 'scrub list' were notably African-American (about 54 percent) and most of the others wrongly barred from voting were white and Hispanic Democrats" (Pilger, John. 2005. Tell me no lies. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, pp. 465-481).
In February 2001 the Nation published the story. The Washington Post took seven months and the New York Times finally reported it on February 16, 2004. Why was the press silent about this important story? Palast in his book, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy (2003), claims it was a fear of breaking from the 'pack.'
If this kind of voting fraud occurred in any other country, there would be riots in the streets. In America, voters and the press stoodby passively and watched the election be stolen from Al Gore. Why don't Americans care? Because of our apathy, we get the press and the government we deserve.
You can watch some of Palast's reports on BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/newsnight/1174115.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/3956129.stm
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