Below the Belt: a biweekly column by NOW President Kim Gandy

With Super Tuesday only a few weeks away, it’s hard to have a conversation that doesn’t work its way around to the 2008 elections. The Bush administration, thankfully, is in its final days. Voting registration and involvement among young people is on the rise. And the two most electable candidates for the Democratic nomination are panning out to be a woman and an African American.

With all this excitement, why is it that we seem unable to move beyond the obvious – for those of you who haven’t noticed, Barack Obama is black and Hillary Clinton is female.

As the leader of an organization that champions gender equality, promoting diversity, and ending racism among our top priority issues, in a sense, I am grateful we are finally talking openly about gender and race – topics we generally skirt, so to speak. Something about equality issues makes men and majority populations feel threatened, so what about the rest of the issues at stake?

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CNN is reporting that voting machines malfunctioned in Horry County this morning and that some voters were turned away. Poll workers said the machines have been down since polls opened and that they are not reading activation cards. All of the county’s 100 precincts are reportedly affected.

Read the full story here.

And in The State.

By the Rev. Dr. Bennie Colclough
Co-Chair of the SC Progressive Network

The African-American community should pay close attention to what Sen. Barack Obama has said about equality for gay and lesbian Americans and the correlation of religion-based bigotry and discrimination against African-Americans.

The struggle for justice, equality, and dignity for gay and lesbian Americans continues and Sen. Obama and other leaders have engaged the African-American faith community on this issue.

Are we listening?

As an African-American minister, I many years ago heard the call for change on this issue and it is still my resolve today to be a missionary for justice and equality, to be courageous, true to my faith, and challenge the African-American faith community, to love God with our whole heart and our neighbors as ourselves.

The African-American faith community must defend the human dignity of all people as distinguished leaders in our community are calling us to this task.

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Bursey Continues Fight in Free Speech Appeal
Document Reveals Disturbing Strategy By White House Advance Team

BY DANIEL TERRILL
Free Times

Local political activist and organizer Brett Bursey is persevering in his struggle to win a free speech case that has received national attention.

On Dec. 28, Bursey’s attorneys filed a motion in federal court in Columbia arguing that the U.S. government withheld evidence of White House involvement in suppressing protesters at presidential rallies.

Bursey’s attorneys recently obtained the Presidential Advance Manual, which contains detailed instructions on handling protestors and other disruptions during presidential events.

Bursey, director of the South Carolina Progressive Network, contends that the White House has been using the Secret Service to protect the president politically. “It’s really chilling,” he says. “It’s very bad news for the Bill of Rights, free speech and democracy.”

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Columbia MFSO activist Wade Fulmer forwarded this news about Jim Goodenow’s “Yellow Rose” bus. Jim was on his way to South Carolina.

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Many of you may remember Jim Goodenow and his bus, the Yellow Rose, who was here in Oklahoma last year as part of his one man impeachment tour. In recent months, Jim has been providing transportation to Iraq Veterans Against the War for their various tours and other activities. Last night, Jim escaped a fire of suspicious origins that destroyed the bus. Luckily Jim is all right, this message was passed on by Bill Perry, a vet and anti war activist. I will pass on any further news of this incident.

Jeri

The bus was destroyed by fire around 9:30 pm, Friday night, 1/11/08

This bus, often mired in controversy since the IVAW “Dirty South” tour that left Philly in June, and had Active Duty BBQ’s at Ft Meade, Ft Jackson, Camp Lejeune, Ft Benning, and other Southern Military Posts (including an IVAW benefit by Tom Morello, of Rage Against the Machine, and AudioSlave, in Virginia) as well as backdrop for many a Demonstration, and Ft Drum, NY, organizing parties, has finally died.

Jim Goodnow pulled into a South Jersey Truck Stop, to catch a 3 or 4 hour nap. Jim saw, in retrospect, some suspicious activity outside the bus, and about 20 minutes later, the entire engine compartment, and back of the bus was engulfed in flames.
   
Stay tuned…

Be Well, RAISE HELL !
Bill Perry
Delaware Valley Veterans For America
Disabled American Veteran, VVAW, VFP, VFW, VVA

South Carolina’s system causes particular concern

A group of state-based civic organizations has urged presidential candidates to call for paper ballots in all 2008 primary elections.

In a letter sent to the major Democratic and Republican candidates last week, the groups Georgians for Verified Voting, Iowans for Voting Integrity, the North Carolina Coalition for Verified Voting, and the South Carolina Progressive Network offered evidence of the unreliability of paperless electronic voting systems, and expressed special concern about the paperless machines to be used statewide in South Carolina’s presidential primaries on Jan. 19 and Jan. 26.

“Many of the world’s best computer scientists have concluded that paperless e-voting systems are vulnerable to error and fraud,” said Brett Bursey, director of the South Carolina Progressive Network. Last year, a task force that included Howard Schmidt, former chief security officer of Microsoft, called strongly for voter-verified paper records of each vote cast. 

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