Why is this not happening here? WHY?

[liberal N proud]

Ukraine Gripped by Poll Turmoil
Exit polls earlier suggested that Mr Yushchenko had been on course for victory with a lead of at least six percentage points.



Tens of thousands of Ukrainians have thronged major cities, protesting at an election result they consider flawed.

Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko told supporters to stage a civil disobedience campaign

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4031981.stm

[chicagojoe]

1. Too busy dreaming about that McMansion and that Hummer.

[shesemsmom]

3. We are just

toooo FREAKIN" civilized
:mad:

[kerry-is-my-prez]

5. We send out soldiers to do OUR dirty work.Otherwise, we're too chicken.

n/t

[shesemsmom]

8. Now would you want shrub unleashing

our military on us......now that would be something he'd really get off on. He's just looking for a chance

[Doohickie]

12. Not too civilized

Too content. We are hypothetically enraged, but I, for one, am not going to risk getting thrown in jail to protest the election. I am not that desperate.

At least, not yet.

[NCvoter]

2. exit polls are correct

except here in the land of polling.

[quiet.american]

4. There we go

Note this sentence in the article:

Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko told supporters to stage a civil disobedience campaign

Whereas, Kerry, in his concession speech, called for us to unite with Bush, or some such. He certainly wasn't calling for a civil disobedience campaign, and neither have any of the Democratic leadership.

Their message has been discouragingly consistent -- Bush won, we need to improve our party, we have no idea how to do that.

Personally, I think this sends a very confusing message to "us," for lack of a better term. So, let's say we take to the streets and force a recount, a recount that none of the Democratic leadership seem to want, and we cause the election results to be overturned, an overturning that Kerry doesn't seem to want, and we put Kerry in the White House, something he doesn't seem to want -- would he even accept it?

What I'm getting at is, Kerry's concession speech was very successful in taking the wind out of our sails, because it sent a message that he was done with the whole thing. Period. So, instead of immediately taking to the streets in support of him and Edwards, through the shock of it all, we're spending time trying to figure what to do now, and the motivation to take to the streets in support of Kerry simply isn't there, from what I can see.

[NCvoter]

6. yes, kerry is to blame

unless there is some grand unknown plan, which i highly doubt, the kerry concession was the end. period. thanks john.

[politicasista]

7. I still wish he didn't concede..........

all the votes haven't been counted. Sorry campaign staff.

[gandalf]

9. "Bush would never fake an election"

"I refuse to believe it."

Besides, it is a conspiracy theory. And serious media outlets only publish official conspiracy theories, but then they call them "the truth".

[liberal N proud]

10. I hope you are being sarcastic!

But if not, what does it take to convice the people that it was stolen?
There are wide spread reports of problems all across the US and still the media sits with it's hands up their butts.

[gandalf]

18. It was inspired by Fahrenheit...

I believe in Fahrenheit a woman says "I refuse to believe that Bush deliberately lied to us concerning the WMDs".

I can only think, woman, how dumb are you? Why do people believe Fox News? Why do they believe the WH? I don't get it.

[liberal N proud]

20. But it is a real phenomenon

my wife is guilty to some point of that thinking.
When I told her about Florida, her reply was, they could do that, they would never get away with it.
She still doesn't by the whole fraud thing, thinks that it is overblown. I keep showing her facts and she is in total denial yet.
And she is a good Democrat.

[tngledwebb]

11. Explained elsewhere on these threads, but short version follows:

Yushchenko is US/BushCo/CIA pick. The 'evidence' of fraud was trumped up to favor him, tho' there is some evidence of fraud on both sides, as is the norm in many parts of the world. US/CIA funded media outlets quickly spread the story and the losing half of the electorate took to the streets. Capiche?

But there are other ways it may have happened...

[vanboggie]

13. Suggestion

I think everyone here should write a letter to the editor of local/regional papers and ask just that question. Why in the Ukraine and not here? Why are officials blocking recounts and access to records? We could plant the seed in a lot of minds that way.

[CAcyclist]

14. I'm not sure what to believe about Ukraine

Just the fact that the west all seems to be lining up behind the challenger makes me suspicious. There's something not right here - I fully believe the voting was not legitimate but I'm not so sure about the honesty of either party or the protests for that matter.One article I read said that the protests seemed to have been preplanned, which by itself doesn't mean they are not true expressions of peoples' feelings, but these people are used to having the state dictate to them about everything their whole lives the way the communists did. Why would they have such huge protests when we don't? Could it be because they are more easily led?

And I speak as one who actually did try to organize a protest for this election. I organized a protest and I stood out on the street corner for 2 hours with my sign. One person joined me, a lot of people honked support. It wasn't a big statement, but it was something. I didn't sit around waiting for everyone else to organize something first.

I guess I just don't see this administration supporting anything unless there's something in it for them. Doesn't Russia have a lot of oil? Does that include the Ukraine? With a democratic government that is more sympathetic to the west and not under Russian dictates, maybe it'll be easier for corporations to convince the state to privatize and let foreign nationals buy those state assets - utilities, power plants and oil. This is all mere conjecture on my part.

[gorbal]

15. If all the people asking "Why"

If all the people asking "Why" had a protest, it would be pretty large.

Me, I can't drive, so if anyone can give me a ride:)

[info being]

16. Because nobody has put together a strong enough case

Do you believe, with 99% certainty, that the vote was rigged? I just don't know.

[magellan]

17. It's simple

We won't see a national protest like we're seeing in the Ukraine because:

1) Thanks to MSM jacka$$es, relatively few Americans are even AWARE there's a problem;

2) The "moral" people who voted for Bush don't care about fraud, voting problems or anything else for that matter, as long as they win;

and

3) Kerry shafted us. He collected our money with the promise he'd protect our votes. He should have spearheaded the investigation and brought it to national attention immediately following the election.

Now it's too late. No matter what evidence BBV and other groups uncover of machine trouble and election fraud, we're stuck with the chimp for another four years. Even more discouraging, with Republican-weighted legislative and judicial systems, nothing meaningful will be done to correct the situation for future elections.

There's absolutely no excuse for this. Mainstream media and the "Democratic" (HA!) Party are complicit in letting Republicans flip the bird at democracy. The whole lot of them are filthy traitors to this country.

Until we fix this -- and the responsibility now rests with us -- I'm never voting again. WTF is the use. I'd rather be SURE my vote wasn't counted than never know HOW it was counted.

[unpossibles]

22. well if you're not going to vote

you are not stopping anyone either.

As I often tell people who express disgust at our system, at least vote third party if you are going to not vote. Send a message, a big fat middle finger to the man in the form of one more wated vote. Who knows? The non-voters essentially matched each side of the voters in terms of sheer numbers.

On the other hand, don't give up yet. There is a fat lady singing in the last act I think (hope).

[magellan]

23. Explain to me the logic

of voting 3rd party when even THOSE votes show signs of having been 'flipped' in certain places. And that's only where investigations have happened.

No, sorry. I'll fight like hell to change things, but they won't have my vote to screw with.

[keepthemhonest]

19. I think americans are not doing this in the Us because

we would rather be in our comfy(spelling?)living rooms and than be bothered going to the streets, besides most americans that think fraud took place don't think anything will be done about it.O that some one else will do the work for them.

I do want to take to the streets like that, but I work days so when would I I guess on saturday and sunday. last I knew, They had done 3 long days in the very cold weather. I am very impressed with them.

What makes me mad is that our media is covering their fraudulent election but not our. did their march make the difference.

[KatieB]

21. I think Americans are not doing this because of television

Fits "cushy lifestyle" theory above. Michael Powell (Colin's son) is staying as Chair of the FCC and remember - he tried to hand off 90% of each local community's media outlets to a single corporation just 1.5 years ago. The broadcasters are waiting for their payback (again).

[bufftiger]

24. Why aren't people in DC in front of the White House?

Why not some signs asking "Ukraine? What about Ohio?
There are active protests as we speak in front of the Ukrainian embassy, but very little (other than hi-profile press conferences) otherwise here in DC...
This type of street protest rarely occurs here unless it's pre-planned, highly organized (or dis-!), and designed to get media coverage...just to get a message out? fuggedaboutit.

[Oak2004]

25. Lack of preparedness

What do you think would have happened -- what still would happen -- if Kerry asked his supporters to go to the streets? We'd fill them in a matter of minutes.

We were not prepared to make the immediate shift to the streets. We were expecting a Kerry victory, and were looking to him for leadership (something he has not provided). We don't have a national network outside of the Democratic Party with the means to organize resistance in a moment's notice on a large scale. No national leader has stepped forward into the vacuum to lead, and there hasn't been enough time for the people who have stepped forward into the leadership void to percolate upward into national visibility.

So ours must, of necessity, be a slow motion resistance. But don't give up on your fellow citizens. Most aren't cut out to lead (leadership is a skill not everyone has), but once they're given a direction, and something to do, they will act.

[tandem5]

26. Whatever the case may be...

Whether it’s real fraud or an attempt by our government to influence the Ukrainian election - the bottom line is they (shrub and company) can't have it both ways. They can't claim exit polls and voting irregularities as the sole reasons to dispute that election while our election, with exactly the same problems, is declared decisive.

The fact that Powell has made this very claim means the White House people are thumbing their noses at us. This contradiction is a huge PR weapon for us to advance the case for our own flawed election yet they know without media support it won't go anywhere.

So to conclude and be completely contrary to my original statements… they can have it both ways.