Not defending the ballot

Do the neo-cons need Karl Rove when they can count on the Democrats?

Once again, voters will approach a presidential election asking themselves — why vote for Democrats who won’t challenge the most catastrophic GOP outrages?

That question must now be asked again about the illegal destruction of 1.5 million ballots from Ohio’s stolen 2004 election. The mass shredding includes a wide range of official documents critical to conducting a valid recount in the state that gave Bush/Rove a second term in the White House.

Breaking a total mainstream media blackout, the Cincinnati Enquirer finally printed a front-page story on the felonious disposal of these federally protected records by 56 of Ohio’s 88 counties.

The records were shielded until September 2, 2006 by federal mandate and, since then, by a federal court order obtained through a class action lawsuit. The counties were also required to inform the Ohio Historical Society before any such records were destroyed.

The counties have responded to critics with an absurd array of “dog ate my homework” excuses reminiscent of Rove’s laptop during his lighter moments. Some of the ballots were ruined by a coffee pot, says one county. Flooding hit others, they say. In one county, recyclers were to blame. In another, counterfeit ballots have been discovered.

In short, the excuses for destroying Ohio’s election records are every bit as credible as Rove saying he’s resigning to “spend more time with my family.”

But far from reacting with outrage, the Democrats have merely shrugged, much as they’ve done with the continuation of the Iraq War and the shredding of the Constitution.

Ohio’s Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has told the media she sees “no evidence” this mass deep-sixing of official records was done “purposefully” by nearly two-thirds of the state’s counties.