The
JOSEF Stalin
vote fraud Page
"Those who cast the votes decide
nothing.
Those who count the votes decide everything."
—Communist
Tyrant and mass murderer Josef Stalin
(attributed)
THE STALIN QUOTE:
AUTHENTICITY AND USAGE IN THE NEWS
As the below selection of links clearly shows, the Stalin vote quote is one that is quickly gaining in popularity with news media--both "mainstream" and independent. And yet it is a quote that's source and authenticity are often disputed. While a primary source showing its origin has not yet appeared, in modern times it first appeared--as far as we know--in 1996 on Network USA.org, a website of the Citizens for a Fair Vote Count that was a forerunner of Votefraud.org. The following Network America e-wire, which is from 2000 and begins with mention of Rush Limbaugh's use of the quote, has a exchange between CFVC's Jim Condit Jr. and Bruce Levy of the Wall Street Journal that goes into how we came across the quote. Rush Limbaugh quotes Stalin!
Despite the lack of certainty concerning it, there are still reasons to believe it could be a real remark from the dictator, reasons that are explored in the first two links below. (If anyone can provide more information about this quote, we would greatly appreciate it.) But no matter where the quote originated, it still speaks an important truth--a truth that it is all the more crucial people understand today, when e-voting threatens to remove forever the possibility of a transparent, verifiable vote count.
Film of Stalin voting shown on AMC
Jim Condit Jr.
defends the possible legitimacy of the quote.
Is the Stalin quote an 'urban legend'?
A balanced examination of the relative strengths and weaknesses of the
attribution.
Voting results' accuracy questioned; democracy demands
that we do so
A independent news source suspects that election fraud occurred and cites
a variation of the Stalin quote to bolster its argument.
Restoring trust in the vote
From Guerilla
News Network, columnist Thom Hartmann raises questions about election
irregularities and mentions Russ Limbaugh's use of the quote after the
2000 election.
Theft or stupidity
Yet another post-election vote fraud editorial from Portland State
Vanguard student paper recalls the dictator's dictum.
'Uncivil war' against U.S. democracy
A citing from
Japan, with a relevant punch line at the end.
You can count on this: Dispute over vote tally
Just days
before the election, the International Herald Tribune carried this
article by Roger Cohen that opens with the quote.
Vote
fraud lives
Stalin makes an appearance in a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review editorial.
Computerized voting is just a gateway to fraud
In this op-ed
piece from the Michigan Technical University's site, a paraphrase is used
to point up the dangers of e-voting.
Quotes from Illuminists
Here Stalin's pronouncement shows up among the likes of statements
by Lenin, Trotsky, George Bush, Albert Pike, David Rockefeller and other
conspiratorial sorts--and another provocative one on voting by Stalin
himself.
Who counts the votes?
The Hartford
Advocate's Alan Bisbort uses a variation of the Stalin quote to open
and close this column from April about Diebold, the Help America Vote Act
and the 2004 election.
New voting machines: Will your vote be
counted?
One of many
relevant vote fraud quotes from Intervention Magazine.
Election 2000: The court rulings
Attorney Alan Dershowitz dusts off Uncle Joe's quip in this Court TV
interview.
Living in a parallel universe
While many of the sources using the Stalin quote level it at Republicans,
here the tables are turned in this World Net Daily column from after the
2000 election.
Rush Limbaugh quotes Stalin
Another
pro-Bush spin from 2000.
Albert Gore's campaign manager
An illustrated
swipe at Al Gore and the Democrats.
Does your vote really count?
Lengthy
article from the New American that also includes Boss Tweed's similar, but
far blunter, quote: "As long as I count the votes, what are you going to
do about it?"
THE STALIN VOTE:
A SOVIET-ERA PICTURE GALLERY
Far Left:
Parody of Diebold voting machine company, using
original Soviet poster art of Stalin
voting. To see enlargement and other pictures in this series, see
The Diebold Variations.
(c)2004 Rand Careaga/salamander.eps
Left: Soviet poster, 1947, "I vote for candidates of the communist and non-Party bloc!" (Companion poster, below right.)
Right: Soviet poster, 1947, "I will vote for candidates of the communist and non-Party bloc!" (Companion poster, above left.)
Far Right:
Estonian Communist election
poster urging people to vote for the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin in the
election of 1951.