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			COUNTING ON DEMOCRACY

Tell us what you think about COUNTING ON DEMOCRACY.

Selected submissions will be posted here, so check back regularly and join the discussion.

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11/01/2004
Gary

wash, dc

I was one of the Republicans at the "Brooks Brothers riot" in Miami Dade on November 19, 2000 and remain very proud of what we did. Having been in the room when the "recounts" were going on, it was clear these election boards were not counting votes, they were searching for Gore votes.

10/24/2004
Bob Taicher
info@rushtowar.com

Hi - I saw your website on Bushnetwork.com and thought you would be interested in a documentary film that has just been released entitled "Rush To War." The movie is a thorough examination of the issues leading up the current war in Iraq and a look at current American domestic and foreign policy including the Patriot Act and many other important election topics. We plan on giving away 40,000 copies of the DVD in several of the swing states including Florida and Ohio next weekend in advance of the election. Any help you can offer via your website to get the word out about the film would be greatly appreciated. You can find more information about the film, watch the trailer and download an MP3 called "George Bush Blues" at the website. Thanks in advance for your help. Best, Bob Taicher www.rushtowar.com P.S. If you would like a copy of the film please send me your mailing address no later than Tuesday so I can get it out before the election.

10/12/2004
Bisi
Brooklyn, NY

This excellent film is a must see for every American. Based on the mismangement of the people's votes, perhaps former President Carter should have gotten involved as he has in so many elections in developing countries, which by the way couldn't hold a candle to what went on here in the US. Thanks so much for this interesting and informative documentary how else will we know what went on. History has a way of rewriting itself to please the future. This film will keep that from happening at least for the 2000 election, unless of course the 2004 is a repeat performance.

01/27/2004
Theresa Greene

Maybe this comment page is being attacked like the recount, by people who's main objective is to discount the recount.

11/13/2003
cheyenne
seattle

I loved this film. Evidently, from the comment made below that non-Republicans didn't learn anything from the 2000 election since Republicans swept the 2002 elections, certain individuals didn't get the gist of the problem--namely, our votes aren't being counted correctly!

09/02/2003
mark

Reading, PA

I could only read through one page of comments before it all got very boring. I felt that the documentary did an excellent job at spotlighting THE REAL ISSUE, which is voters' rights being drowned out by an unreliable process and the circus that sprung up around the 2000 election. Partisan politics and bias are peripheral to the issue, so much hot air and white noise. 'Counting on Democracy', whatever its political bent may be, highlighted a severe lack of interest in an electoral process that respects, rather than panders to, the voting public, and America's unfortunate preference to spectacle over substance. Thanks, Mr. Schechter, for shedding some light.

Fredda Weinberg
fredda@gregpalast.com
Delray Beach, FL

I saw this last night, along with about 100 hundred others - black and white, activists and people who just wanted a better understanding of what happened. I was left in tears by the narrative, when Ruby Dee calmly spoke over the images of the inaugural demonstrations. So much has happened; I was living in NYC on September 11th, but all this tragedy was forshadowed on that day: legitimacy matters.

robert jones
robertjones2001@hotmail.com
austin, texas

I read about "Counting on Democracy" by Faye Anderson in the Palm Beach Post. We are very interested in seeing this documentary here in Austin, Texas. Please let me know any information that you may have about the scheduling of this important program on my local PBS station. In the alternative, is it possible to schedule a showing of it here in Austin in a live venue other than on PBS television? Regards, Robert Jones

Bill Bradberry
ghana1@bellsouth.net
West Palm Beach, Fl

As an Editor of the Palm Beach Gazette, I had the opportunity to interview Ms. Anderson after I watched the documentary on July 14, 2002 at a showing in Riviera Beach, a predominantly African American city in Palm Beach County. Her extraordinary film brought it all back. Many of us had been so diverted by the horror of September 11, 2001, that we had lost perspective of the enormity of November 7, 2000 "When", as a prominently displayed ACLU handout in the high school auditorium pronounced, "...Black people counted less than white people". Asked why she did the film, Anderson said, "I wanted to document the continuum, to demonstrate that we are still engaged in the same struggle that our fore-fathers fought for, the right to vote, the right to matter". This is a film that should be seen by every one in the world who holds sacred the power and the meaning of democracy.

Todd

Denver

Was this documentary meant to be objective or purely favor the Democratic side? Obviously it wasn't objective. If you intended this then shame on you. Accurate documentaries gather all information on both sides and simply present it with a non-biased approach. I would say 5% favored Republicans with only two representatives. One of which was made out to be evil. The Democratic side was full of testamonies from all different types and all comments were respected or made to look like victims. A few questions. 1. Was your disenfranchised voter not given her opportunity to vote or did she make a bad decision in not showing up early enough to vote in time? 2. Did not the Democrats make the voting laws and design the ballots in the counties in question? 3. Why would a Democratic polling place disenfranchise a Democratic voter? 4. How could 95% of the Black vote in Florida vote for Al Gore? Looks like a little disenfranching is going on there. 5. Why didn't you mention the Haitian village that was threatened if they didn't show up to vote for Al Gore? 6. If every single election law was broken in order to count all the votes that favored Al Gore and he won, would you be happy? Sounds like it to me.

Evelyn
Arcata, Ca

It is disheartening to see the lengths people will go to win. This last election proves that the "win at any cost" state of mind prevails over justice and the will of the people. Is there anybody left in politics who possess true honor and integrity? Certainly not our current commander and thief. If the Bush administration truly won the election, then why did they try so hard to fight the recount process?

Beky
San Francisco, CA

No, I don't think every single documentary has to be "balanced" 50/50 to be considered legitimate, because that is false manufacturing of the outcome of an investigation, as much as it is to manufacture a one-sided story. A forced 50/50 balance does not reflect the reality of life (in which Republican officials refuse to be interviewed, for example). PBS is supposed to serve the public, and provide a "balance" in TV programming. Their job is to balance the public interest up against the weight of all commercial media which serves the interests of the wealthy and powerful. It seems like it would take some provocative journalism and occassional "left-leaning" to accomplish that task. PBS should not reject programming just because it does not "fairly" represent the views and interests of the "winners". PBS is supposed to be THE forum in which the disenfranchised can participate in public debate. Thank you ITVS.

Sean Conroy
sconroy@mix.wvu.edu
Morgantown, WV

Fair and "balanced" are not synonyms for "blind." Here we have the bitter fruit of shock news groupspeak: right-leaning coverage of a news story, in the interest of righting (perceived) leftist tilt, is not the obligation of a responsible journalist. "Counting On Democracy" is an expose, not a game of Jenga: it chronicles a dark moment in our country's election process, offers proper historical perspective, and serves as a clarion call to all who thought that election fraud had gone the way of Jim Crow. In a sense, it might be taken as a public service announcement.

Oblomete L. Thomas
obybixby@msn.com
Naperville, IL

I have been reading (in detail) about the film, and I for one, would love to be able to view it. I checked your present schedule to see if it is going to be broadcast "anywhere" in Illinois, and no, it is not. Therefore, I am going to call the PBS station in Chicago and ask them, "Why NOT?" As far as I'm concerned, this is a film, that will the upcoming 11/5 elections, everyone, from every state, should be 'allowed' to see.

Kurt Peters
petersk@bigfoot.com

The biggest question I have about this supposedly unbiased expose was, "Why didn't they show the actual results of the recounts when the media did it after the election?"

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