Just Politics

[arizona1]

Stop being condescending on the subject of whether or not I, or anyone else, should have financially supported the recount effort launched by Jill Stein.

I am not desperate.

I am not being taken advantage of.

I am not being scammed.

I am an intelligent person who has a great deal of concern — long-held, and largely outside of anything having to do with Trump — about voting system integrity. My concerns, documented on this site in a variety of comments going back to when I joined in 2004 — are valid.

I am not an idiot grasping at straws.

I am not magically going to become a Green Party member voting for Green Party candidates as a result of my donation to the recount effort. Does the Green Party now have my information as a result of my donation? Yes. Have I already requested and been removed from its mailing list? Yes. I am not an idiot.

I have spent a lot of time compiling and analyzing vote information specific to Pennsylvania. I have tried to assemble the facts. I have reached the end of my ability to move the analysis from correlation to cause — only a recount, followed by an electronic voting machine audit — is going to settle the matter for me.

I know how to read, and I know how to reason. Russia hacked the DNC’s emails. Period. Russia spearheaded efforts to disseminate fake news to affect the outcome of the election. Period. It is strongly suspected that Russia spearheaded the hacking of John Podesta’s emails. It is strongly suspected that Russia provided hacked information to Wikileaks. Why, then, would a reasonable person with a normal amount of non-conspiracy-theory driven skepticism, believe that — after all of this effort throughout the election — Russia would stop at 12:01am on Election Day, November 8th 2016?

So stop lecturing me about how I’ve been duped, how I am a tool. When I initially made my donation on Thanksgiving to the Stein recount effort, I kept the amount nominal with respect to my ability to donate. I wanted to ensure she and the Green Party followed through on their commitment — and so far, they have done that. Yes, I’m annoyed that the Wisconsin Green Party chair says that any additional (presumably) Wisconsin funds will go to candidate recruitment and not election integrity reform issues, but, being a thinking person and knowing that only the initiation of a recount will start any meaningful examination, and that’s a hit I’m willing to take. My “desperation” is not “duping” me.

I know that there is a difference between a recount and a forensic-style electronic audit. In my reasoned view, the first is potentially a step to the second. Without the first — and the results of the first indicating a need for further examination — the second never happens.

No one is asking you to go and donate. I’ll be making another to ensure Michigan gets included in the effort — that’s my informed, intelligent, non-desperate choice. But for Christ’s sake — stop lecturing me.

Saturday, Nov 26, 2016 · 10:16:08 AM USMST · RenaRF
Well. In an update to another rec-listed diary, it appears that the Clinton campaign is joining the recount effort.

Saturday, Nov 26, 2016 · 2:04:13 PM USMST ·
And, right on cue, Trump responds.

The President-elect blasted the Green Party's effort as a "scam" and accused the party's nominee, Jill Stein, of trying to reel in donations that she won't actually spend on a recount.

Given the history of abject projection, one has to wonder.

Saturday, Nov 26, 2016 · 4:24:19 PM USMST · RenaRF
Interesting. The Wisconsin .gov site has made the entire Stein filing available in PDF form on the internet. You can find it here. http://elections.wi.gov/sites/default/files/news/wisconsin_recount_petition_of_jill_stein_00268242_12391.pdf Pay special attention to the affidavit from Dr. Alex Halderman which starts on page 5. I’ve seen even proponents of the recount effort acknowledge that no one credible has come out and said it would change the outcome. My quick scan of the affidavit doesn’t yield a claim that it will change the outcome — but the fact that Halderman is visibly supporting the reasons to recount is eye-popping.
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/11/26/1604280/-Stop-Being-So-Condescending