'"THAT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE, CAN IT MISS WHITNEY?" by Steve Savage "King of the Beasts"

"The people who cast the votes don’t decide an election, the people who count the votes do." - Joseph Stalin, Communist dictator


September 1949. I was 12 years old and a Seventh Grader in morning class at Long Branch Junior High School, back when we were the United States of America.

After Morning Prayers and the Pledge of Allegiance with our right hands extended in respectful reverence toward our Flag, Marion DeLuca, the "prettiest girl in the class," was chosen by our teacher, Miss Whitney ("Ms" wasn't invented yet), to read her "favorite Psalm - "Psalm 23." I loved that Psalm. It was mostly everyone else's favorite, as well, followed closely by Psalm 100 and Psalm 101.

Next, we all stood to sing the "Star-Spangled Banner," then "God Bless America," with such an outpouring of love for, and pride in, what we knew, for certain, was the greatest country in the history of Mankind.

Once this regular morning routine was completed, we discussed "Current Events." It was mostly always about the evils of Communism.

Miss Whitney began the discussion by comparing the virtues of United Nations Diplomat, Dr. Ralph Bunche, Harvard Professor, acclaimed Academic, Scholar, and Athlete, nominated as the first person of color to receive the Nobel Peace Prize (which he did receive in 1950), to another man of color, Paul Robeson.

Although Robeson's credentials were as equally, if not more, impressive than Bunche's, e.g., All-American Football, Actor/Singer ("Old Man River"), and Phi Beta Kappa Scholar, he was labeled a (forgive the profanity) "Communist."

This instruction was directed mainly for the benefit of Laura Wilson, Willy Williams, Bobby Robinson, and Shirley Baker, the "Negroes" of the class. This was before their appellation evolved through the years from "Coloreds," "People of Color," "Blacks," and the currently acceptable designation of "African-Americans."

Jimmy Duncan, mercifully interrupted Miss Whitney's "Compare and Contrast" lesson by announcing that his mother worked at Fort Monmouth and that he overheard her talking about the elections in Russia where Josef Stalin got 100% of the vote.

Miss Whitney promptly pointed out that the people in Russia were fooled into believing that they were actually voting. They were going to the Polls, casting Ballots that just as well might have been written on toilet paper and flushed down the toilet.

How righteous and proud she was in her exclamation, "Thank God (you could say "God" in those days) that could never happen here."

Fast Forward to January 2008. Because of questionable results in our Primary and National Elections, the integrity of our election process is being seriously questioned from every corner.

Historically, Exit Polls are never wrong, yet they predicted that Gore would win Florida in 2000, that Kerry would win Ohio in 2004, and that Obama would win New Hampshire last week. So How did Hillary win? What's the variable that ties all of these anomalies together?

DIEBOLD!

One candidate has gone so far as to demand a recount and commented that "Ever since the 2000 election - and even before - the American people have been losing faith in the belief that their votes were actually counted. This recount isn't about who won 39% or 36% or even 1%. It's about establishing whether 100% of the voters had 100% of their votes counted exactly the way they cast them."

The candidate further stated, "Without an official recount, the voters of New Hampshire and the rest of the nation will never know whether there are flaws in our electoral system that need to be identified and addressed at this relatively early point in the Presidential nominating process."

"Can we please have a show of hands here?"