the flipside of diebold at swarthmore
timothy burke of swarthmore’s history department has a thoughtful comment on the diebold events unfolding at the college.
this is an important read. it may change some of your opinions of the situation. i still think swarthmore should be spinning this differently, even if they feel compelled to comply with dmca provisions. these are bigger issues. copyright should never be used as a shield to obscure the truth.
one point that is clear from this message is that the effort to drag diebold into the light needs to be more focused and precise. and i agree completely. random hosts and random comments from random people will keep the memos “exposed” (and no matter how many letters diebold’s lawyers send, they won’t go away), but chasing documents around the web with lawyers is a waste of good intentions.
this needs a call to get organized. don’t just host these memos. write letters to the people who sign contracts with diebold. and your elected officials. demand accountability and transparency for every company involved in the voting process. nothing less is acceptable.
and if that doesn’t work, tell your local election officials (election day is coming up, they’d love to hear from you so you can complicate their lives in the next couple weeks) that you won’t vote using diebold machines and demand an alternative.