It is an Obligation! Rebuild/Maintain faith in American democracy by closely examining 2004 Presidential election!

I've previously posted on the work of Robert Kennedy, Jr. in Rolling Stone and then updated with criticisms raised by Fardah Manjoo of Salon. There has been a good deal of traffic around the blogosphere over the issues raised by these two men and I've been tempted to link to a few of what I took as the more relevant questions and comments. But today's Salon (again perhaps a mere ad to access under a "day pass" I think) gives us Steven F. Freeman, co-author of "Was the 2004 Presidential Election Stolen? Exit Polls, Election Fraud, and the Official Count" space for "Illegitimate election : key source for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. responds to criticism of his analysis of the 2004 election" thay is certainly worth examining. While my eyes were glazing over I'm sure with some of the math and stats, I especially liked how the article closed:

I appreciate the efforts of Rolling Stone and Salon to bring this issue to public attention. Given the many transgressions and statistical improbabilities in the 2004 presidential election, we have an obligation to question it. And those responsible have an obligation to investigate.

Absence of scrutiny does not make a democracy function; democratic processes do. In the case of the 2004 presidential election, the absence of reporting on the election controversy has left the public highly suspicious. A Zogby Interactive online poll one month after the election revealed that 28.5 percent of respondents thought that questions about the accuracy of the official count in the election were "very valid," and another 14 percent thought that concerns were "somewhat valid." In other words, 42 percent of all Americans had immediate concerns about what had happened on Nov. 2, 2004. So long as the suspicions are left to fester, the role of elections to confer legitimacy on elected officials has already been lost.

I know 2000 ought to have gone to Al Gore, and wouldn't we be better off had it, yet 2004 seems even more questionable after looking at all of this material. I, like many on the left, don't claim to know for certain what may have happened, if anything. However, enough questions are out there that we need to examine the election process and lingering questions. While I agree with some lefty types that if we could win "big enough" it might not matter. Yet and still, the Right is solid enough on process and tactics to where I'm not confident that the Left can count on this coming to pass. Either way it goes, investigating the 2004 questions that remain ought to be done. The idea that the Exit Poll data is not being released is especially odd it seems.

If the Democrats can take even one Chamber this fall, investigations, on this and plenty more, ought to move forward. If not, minority members ought to hold hearing on their own and invite the majority to participate if they wish to add anything. While it is likely that the right's message machine will spin and grin the risk is worth it. If the American public has been punked then of course that will be a positive in pushing back where the right has taken us. You'd have thought after Nixon we have had enough? If explanations are there then we can maybe use to push for reforms to prevent or at least limit questions after many elections. And most of all it is of course an "obligation" that comes with the job. So get to work Congress. Peace ... or War!