If you don’t already know it by now, I’ll say it again. I am unabashedly, unashamedly and proudly patriotic. Not a day goes by that I don’t wake up and thank God I’m an American. Ever since I was a child, I have always been grateful for the good fortune of having been born in what I consider the Greatest Country on Earth. I am not kidding. To me, the three most important things in life, and what I am willing to fight for, are God, Family and Country. Everything else is a bonus round.
I also, and perhaps naively, believe that people who are lucky enough to immigrate to this country should do so with the express intent of becoming Citizens of America. There should be no greater calling than to pledge one’s allegiance to the Flag of a nation that represents, and guarantees, liberty and justice for all. I may be a sarcastic and cynical old broad, but when it comes to my love for my country I’m as corny as Kansas in August. As soon as my children were old enough to walk, I took them with me to vote. I wanted them to learn the importance of democracy and that we should never take our freedom for granted.
One of, if not THE most important privilege of being a United States Citizen is the ability to cast a vote. My vote is one of my most prized possessions. Every time I enter the ballot box to cast my vote, whether it’s to elect the President of the United States or to decide on a municipal Charter Amendment, I honestly feel that I am an important part of the bigger picture. I think about the soldier who gave his life for my liberty. I think about the future of our Republic and the legacy our children will inherit. What we as an electorate choose today will become written in the history books of tomorrow. If the thought of that doesn’t give you pause, I don’t know what will.
When I cast my vote, I also think about the historic election that took place in Iraq back in 2005, where the people voted to establish a permanent democracy. I’ll never forget the pride of accomplishment on the faces of the Iraqi people as they joyfully displayed their purple ink stained fingers as a symbol of that democracy. Millions of people braved a war to leave the relative safety of their homes and vote. The Iraqi people instinctively knew that freedom and ability to cast a vote was precious beyond words.
As Americans, we all should be indignant and angry over voter fraud. Even one fraudulent vote cast in any election defiles the entire outcome. Massive voter fraud, as I suspect is rampant here in our city as well as the entire county, will cast a pall of doubt on the legitimacy of those elected to office. It is nearly impossible to restore trust in a system when that system has devolved into an abject failure.
It’s heinous enough when natural born Citizens dishonor themselves and our Flag by participating in voter fraud. But its even more abominable when immigrants who become naturalized U.S. Citizens desecrate their earned privilege to elect those who will represent all of us.
By accepting the responsibilities of Citizenship, you are taking an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America, to swear allegiance to her Flag, and to renounce allegiance to all others. With that responsibility comes the privilege of voting. When you throw your vote away by selling it to the highest bidder, you are spitting in the face of every single American – past and present – who afforded you the opportunity to become an integral part of our citizenry. You are also committing a crime. I can think of no greater insult to those of us who take the responsibility of preserving our freedoms seriously.
When voter fraud is committed in my home town, I take it personally. Very personally!
For that reason, I have made it my personal mission to rout out voter fraud as much as humanly possible here in North Miami Beach.
For starters.
With the help of concerned Citizen volunteers in North Miami, I will be helping clean up that city, too.
I will also be enlisting the aid of every government agency I can rouse to do their part to exterminate this problem in both the county and the state.
I will be unwavering in my resolve and relentless in my investigation. No worm will go undug.
If you are committing or have committed voter fraud, be afraid. Be very afraid.
Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”
Stephanie!
That is the most beautiful essay I have ever read! EVER! With your permission I am going to forward it to my entire email group. And print it out for my students to read. Bravo!
I love doing research. Please, contact me if you would like some help.
Suzanne
Thank you, Suzanne! I really appreciate it. Please feel free to send any of my blogs to anyone you like.
As soon as I get the updated voter registration rolls, I intend to ask for volunteers to help me inspect them thoroughly so we can flag any questionable registrations and file complaints with the Elections Commission. I’ll call them Purge Parties 😀 ! Thanks for the offer, and I will definitely be taking you up on it!
Great job Steph. What will be interesting is if, after your research, we find out that voter fraud was committed in the past elections, what will the Elections Dept. do to the offenders.
Keep on digging…..
Bob White
👿 Are you a Republican trying to restrict the voting rights of Blacks and Democrats?
OMIGOD! How did you guess? Yes, I’m an Evil Republican because I want to restrict the voting rights of blacks and Democrats FROM VOTING TWICE! Or FROM VOTING FROM THE GRAVE! How did you ever guess my evil plot?
Guess what? You’re an idiot. Get a working brain cell, and then come back to debate when you’re armed with something other than stupidity.
I would rather see 6 dead people or double voting people then have ONE person not be allowed to vote. As it happens tens of thousands people are being denied there legal right to vote. And forces are at work to greatly increase these numbers.
From the New York Times
Editorial
The Myth of Voter Fraud
Published: October 9, 2011
[Gadfly’s note: You can read the entire EDITORIAL (i.e., editor’s OPINION, not fact) here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/10/opinion/the-myth-of-voter-fraud.html%5D]
TYPICAL OF A REPUGLICAN… If you do not have facts or the ability to debate, you attack or insult your opponent. I asked you a reasonable question. I did not attack you or insult you.
Good luck with your Crusade.
I’m not sure what kind of voting issues you have in the area where you live, because you are certainly not from North Miami Beach or South Florida, but there is massive voter fraud down here. I don’t know who you are, or why you are trying to turn this into a partisan issue, but I am only interested in seeking the facts and the truth. My regular readers know that I am a Republican but that, unlike you, I never attack Democrats or engage in name calling or insults. “REPUGLICAN?” Really? Are you going to tell me that’s not an attempt to insult me? Really?
If you want to engage in honest and intelligent discussion, without partisan bickering, you are welcome to post your comments here. If you want to make up stuff like “tens of thousands people are being denied there (sic) legal right to vote,” without actual proof other than an extremely partisan, agenda filled New York Times EDITORIAL, please take your discussion to partisan websites where you can find plenty of like minded people.
In case you aren’t aware, it’s illegal for dead people to vote or for anyone to vote twice. Maybe that’s the way they do it where you’re from, but that still doesn’t make it legal.
OK, I live in unincorporated Miami-Dade County between the cities of North Miami and North Miami Beach. Since I do not live in either of these cities, I do not follow their local politics. I do see much capital improvements in both of these cities, especially North Miami, streets, sidewalks and the amazing educational complex on 135 Street.
You did call me stupid and an idiot, so I lost my cool. I do apologize for the repug comment.
I did realize that the article I posted was an editorial, so here is a news article with facts: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/28/us/restrictions-on-voter-registration-in-florida-have-groups-opting-out.html. It is also from the New York Times and was posted on March 27. The Times restricts viewing to only 7 days to non subscribers, so look soon.
I am aware that double voting and/or dead people voting is illegal, and I Just read your post “One Person, One Vote” and see that you offer some documentation of your claims. I will check it out in the next few days.
Voting is our most important duty and most precious privilege, but I truly believe that restricting voting is much more serious than fraudulent voting. So what about also blogging about having our state legislators removing these barriers.
Despite the utter and blatant corruption going on in the City of North Miami, I do see there is a lot of improvement going on there. I will attribute much of that to previous administrations who had foresight and did some incredible urban planning. In NMB, capital improvements are a joke, but we have had a long line of malaise and corruption in our government that goes back several decades. We now FINALLY have a majority of a council who are not career politicians and are honest in their dealings. Our local government is the most open and transparent that it has EVER been, but it will take years to overcome the problems caused by previous administrations and make any progress. I hope I have the patience to stick it out because if I could afford to move right now I’d be out of here!
I called you stupid and an idiot because, like you, I lost my cool when you wrote, “:evil: Are you a Republican trying to restrict the voting rights of Blacks and Democrats?” You immediately put me on the defensive, as if being a Republican is akin to having leprosy. The folks in NMB, and especially my regular readers, know that (a) I do my best to leave partisan politics out of local issues, (b) I am fiscally conservative and probably more socially liberal than many of my Democrat friends, and (c) I am fully aware that corruption comes in every Party. I will just as easily chastise a Republican for behaving badly as I will a Democrat. I am all about common sense and doing the right thing. If someone attacks me because I’m a Republican, I get my back up and attack back. I will not be judged by a label. If people disagree with me, that’s fine as long as they are able to intelligently debate the issues with me. But, telling me I want to keep people from voting because I’m a Republican is just plain ridiculous. I want no such thing! If you want to know more about my particular political beliefs, you can read my column here: https://www.votersopinion.com/?p=453.
As for the voter rolls, I just received the most recent database from the State of Florida for the City of NMB. Some of the names with two registration numbers have been purged and hopefully this problem will be corrected. Since I first published that blog, I received a few phone calls from people who advised me that when they requested a change in their voter registration due to a change in name, address or party affiliation, the Miami-Dade County Department of Elections sent them new cards with new registration numbers. This would explain why one person on the roll would be listed with two numbers. But it doesn’t explain why the old number wasn’t purged from the rolls, and I have no assurances yet that the people with two numbers didn’t see it as an opportunity to vote twice. I would fault the County for not maintaining an updated and correct registration list. In one instance, a person was assigned two numbers using a first and middle name for one, and the names reversed for the other registration number. I find that suspicious. Just because I want to ensure an honest and fair election, especially here in North Miami Beach, does not mean I want to restrict people from voting if they are citizens and are properly registered. This has nothing to do with political party, but everything to do with common sense and the law!
Lastly, it makes no sense to me that having to show a photo ID is even remotely discriminatory. There is no reason a person should not have an identification with their picture on it. Local police departments offer photo IDs for people who don’t have drivers licenses and who need one to get a job. A person has to show a photo ID to buy cigarettes or beer, cash a check, get on an airplane, apply for a Passport, and any number of things I can’t even think of right now. How is it unreasonable to expect someone to show their identification to cast a vote? I do not feel that it is unreasonable, and in fact, it will ensure that someone is who they say they are and that they are legally entitled to vote. I’m sorry, but I will never agree that doing so is a barrier to voting.
I will check out that article in the NY Times, but I will tell you that I’m very wary of all media these days and prefer to do my own research. I have found way too much partisanship in all forms of media today and they do not always report the truth, nor do they always report “facts” that aren’t skewed for their own agenda. My motto of late seems to be Skepticism R Us. I’m just saying.
As for the thumbs up/thumbs down thing, I know it’s a bunch of dumbass teenagers who troll this website and think they’re being clever by giving everything I say a thumbs down. That has to do with my dissing their school and the idiot principal who runs it. I don’t think the adults are in on it, and I pay it no mind.
Replying to your April 2 post…
I read your 453 column. I would say we are social equals, but I am quite “left” of you on the non social issues. I am for regulations to keep a level playing field for the economy, health care, the environment and natural resources, as well as R & D.
So we will agree to disagree.
I would just hope that you would take up some of your other causes, like keeping Republican out of our bedroom.
What are your thought on immigration?
By keeping Republicans out of our bedrooms, I will assume you mean the ultra right wing “Bible thumpers,” so yes, I agree. I’ll go one better. How about we keep the government out of our bedrooms? I happen to be a staunch supporter of gay and women’s rights. I will tell you that for every Republican who would like to control a woman’s body or the state of matrimony, there are at least two (probably more) Republicans who believe the government has no business dictating our personal lives. A true conservative, and most Libertarians, want a limited government that will adhere strictly to the Constitution and its Amendments.
I usually do not write blogs about national politics, even though my webmaster has urged me to do so, unless something strongly moves me to say something. Even then, I am very careful not to venture too far into partisan politics so as not to offend the majority of my readers, which happen to be Democrats. I save my Evil Republican Rants for Facebook, where I have a much more sympathetic audience. If you wish to discuss partisan politics with me, let me know and I will email you. I just won’t do it here on this blog, which is reserved for mostly local issues.
One more thing: The disappearing and reappearing posts are explainable in that: (1) When you brought up your previous question and said I was rude to you, I didn’t even remember who you were or what you said. (2) I wanted to be able to respond, but was unable to at the moment. (3) Once I did, I restored the thread. As for the NY Times editorial, you must have posted that when I was asleep because your ensuing post referred to it before I even had a chance to see the first one.
My webmaster and I usually do not censure comments, unless they are particularly vile or obscene. You would not believe some of the nasty comments some teenagers and others tried to post and thought they could get away with it! One in particular was rife with racist and bigoted remarks against Jews, Hispanics and Blacks! It was also borderline threatening, so I turned it over to the NMB Police Department for their review. But, for the most part, I publish all comments, even ones critical of my opinion, because when I’m wrong or if I change my opinion, I’m the first to admit it. I’m never to proud to say I screwed up. I’m only human. With a touch of gadfly.
@ SAGANIST, you’d rather see six dead people vote than one person not be allowed to vote? REALLY??? So it’s OK with you if elections are stolen and the will of the people suppressed? It’s OK with you if positions in public office are usurped by criminals??? Steph isn’t being partisan, she’s exposing fraud, period. Your comment about her being Republican and out to restrict voting rights for blacks and democrats is RACIST, partisan and rude. You completely and utterly deserved the response you received! But hell, you can throw your stupidity at me all you want, I stand for truth and justice and there’s nothing you can say or do that can change that. Voter fraud is much more wide spread then the people are being led to believe by uber liberal politicians and mainstream media. People all over the country like Steph are proving that rampant voter fraud exists, and 90% of the fraud being committed is by liberal democrats, that’s a fact, so I find it very convenient and VERY disturbing when someone of your political affiliation attempts to defend why voter ID laws are unconstitutional, even though the Supreme Court upheld arguments that requiring ID to vote “IS” constitutional. I’m not against Democrats in general, there are some that I admire greatly (although I’m sure you’d try to find some way to distort that truth into a lie to suit any argument you have) I’m against dishonesty and corruption from BOTH sides if the isle and from the public in general!
I can’t believe someone would try to make this a partisan issue. The problem with our non-partisan local election is that one candidate won a 2009 contested election by FIFTEEN VOTES! Imagine if we had been able to purge the voter lists back then and had only legitimate voters cast a ballot. Perhaps his opponent would have won that election. It’s time to purge the voter rolls now before the next election, in order to ensure a fair and legitimate campaign.
Oh, and for the record (not that you’re interested in facts), the three people who make up my research team are registered DEMOCRATS. They are just as furious over voter fraud as I am. Are you going to insult them, too?
So you also delete replies.
Really? Guess again.
Of course I can not prove it but I do believe you deleted them and then decided to repost them.
I have posted on many blogs, bulletin boards, news and editorial posts. On all of the boards that restrict posting, the post is not put up immediately, then removed for review by the administrator and then posted again or not. I have never seen a board where the post shows and then is remove for review and then reposted or not. Also my very first post was never removed. The first post that was removed, was off for 24 hours when I made a few more posts that were also remove. They were all restored together about 12 hours later.
That is my guess.
Also I did not post the thumbs down on your above comment. I know you can check that as administrator
Count me in. I have at my disposal the entire voter registration rolls for Miami-Dade county. It is in Microsoft Access format which is a database engine/system I am very familiar with. I have split NMB off into a seperate database that I have been using as a test bed. I will eventually upload the entire county into it after I have checked out several SQL queries I have been developing.
Your expose` of several people with the same name with seperate voter registrations has triggered me. I have to develop an automated query to trap such instances; I will be working on that this weekend.
Awesome Michael, that’s exactly what’s needed in this country, Someone with common sense (and a sense of outrage) that can create software to weed out this apparently rampant fraud. Just makes me question why there isn’t software in place that flags suspicious voting behavior in the first place…
Now that is one hell of a good question. Why the hell doesn’t our illustrious Elections Department have such software running 24/7???? It is almost a trivial exercise to implement.
I think it just might be a good idea to put some pressure on those county idiots over thwer in Doral to star applying some filters on just what registarions they accept.
James O’Keefe would be proud of you. Have you thought of joining his efforts of citizen journalism by exposing fraud and corruption? Visit http://www.theprojectveritas.org/
He has recently released some excellent YouTube videos about Voter Fraud, exposing how easy it is to vote (no ID needed) or to register to vote (it’s the honor system when filling out the form to be truthful). Keep diggin for worms, they love to hide.
Thank you for the tip. I will definitely check it out and get in touch with him. AWESOME!