Diebold Election Systems manufactures electronic voting machines and has already sold about 33,000 of these machines to several states. CEO Walder W. Dell is a staunch Republican and has stated that he is
"committed to helping Ohio deliver its votes to the president next year."
Suspicious college students obtained copies of internal Diebold email memos that show that there are security flaws in the voting systems. So the students placed these messages on their websites to show visitors that Diebold electronic voting machines are insecure and votes can be tampered with.
What was Diebold's response? It used copyright law as a basis for sending cease-and-desist orders to these students. It used a law which has been enacted to protect creativity in order to drown out free speech. It claimed that the memos are proprietary and should not be used by anyone unauthorized to do so.
Several software experts have since found security flaws in Diebold software. The company says it is fixing them. But how come it has sold voting machines which can be tampered with?
The company answers as a bully. It attacks students and liberals.
The Reagan brouhaha also demonstrates the bullying tactics of Republicans. CBS was set to air "The Reagans," a docudrama mini-series about our former president and his wife, Nancy. I don't know what is in the show. But Republicans have been screaming that Hollywood liberals are not painting a true and fair picture. CBS has canceled the show. It will be made available on pay-per-view cable.
These are only 2 instances of Republican bullying. There are many more. President Bush sets the pace by bullying other countries, Republican members of Congress bully Democratic members, and Republican talk show hosts bully the "liberal media" and everyone else.
To stop Republican bullying, vote Democratic in the next election and get your friends to do the same. Then maybe we, as a people, can start discussing how to improve our country - and the world - together.
