LUMPENPROLETARIAT—Three cheers for those, who are out there working for true democracy and election integrity.  Evidently, just going to our jobs every day and taking care of our families is not enough to effect true, participatory, democracy.  We do not have a democratic society.  It is obvious that there are many things wrong with our American election process, some of them are deliberate acts of voter suppression.  Voter ID laws, for example, have disproportionately hurt non-white voters’ ability to participate, or perhaps we should say voters with non-European, waspy names.  Ask Greg Palast and others.  Election crimes abound.

Although the antidemocratic Democratic Party has the most resources and infrastructure to execute a comprehensive recount, the people-powered Green Party has raised some six million dollars to fund a recount vote because the establishment doesn’t care enough about democracy to ensure election integrity.  Dr. Jill Stein is spearheading the push for a recount, which stands to affect the presidential outcome and inevitably sheds light on the problems with our hodgepodge voting systems.  Let’s consider some of the more coherent analyses of this historic 2016 Presidential Election recount.  May more of us care about democracy as much as those who are pushing for a recount. [1]

Messina

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[Working draft transcript of actual radio broadcast by Messina for Lumpenproletariat and UpFront.]

UPFRONT—[28 NOV 2016]  Recounting the Presidential Vote. And Fidel Castro: Voice of the Third World.

(synopsis)  “with journalist Steven Rosenfeld, he covers national political issues for AlterNet, including America’s democracy and voting rights, campaigns and elections, and many social justice issues.  He is the author of “Count My Vote: A Citizen’s Guide to Voting.”

And Vijay Prashad talks to Cat Brooks about Fidel Castro’s legacy. Vijay is professor of international studies at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.  He is the author of many books, including Arab Spring, Libyan Winter, The Poorer Nations: A Possible History of the Global South, and The Death of a Nation and the Future of the Arab Revolution.  He is also a columnist at AlterNet.”

[transcript/notes pending]

Learn more at UPFRONT. [2]

[This transcript will be expanded as time constraints, and/or demand or resources, allow.]

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[Working draft transcript of actual radio broadcast by Messina for Lumpenproletariat and Letters and Politics.]

LETTERS AND POLITICS—[28 NOV 2016]  Jill Stein Heads Up a Push for Presidential Recount

(synopsis)  “Mitch speaks with Steven Rosenfeld about the latest on recounting votes in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Steven Rosenfeld covers national political issues for AlterNet, including America’s democracy and voting rights, campaigns and elections, and many social justice issues. He is the author of Count My Vote: A Citizen’s Guide to Voting.”

[transcript/notes pending]

Learn more at LETTERS AND POLITICS. [3]

[This transcript will be expanded as time constraints, and/or demand or resources, allow.]

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[Working draft transcript of actual radio broadcast by Messina for Lumpenproletariat and Ralph Nader Radio Hour.]

RALPH NADER RADIO HOUR—[28 NOV 2016]  Inside the Mind of a Trump Voter

ARLIE RUSSEL HOCHSCHILD:  “They feel that he [Trump] is offering them a form of almost secular rapture, a rise up out of their dilemma […]  But, if you talk to them about their grievances and other possible answers, they’re open.  They have an open ear.  It’s not that they love him.  It’s that nobody else came by.”

(synopsis) “We talk to social psychologist, Arlie Russell Hochschild [author of Strangers In Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right], who helps us get inside the head and, more importantly, the heart of the typical Trump voter.  Also, Bill Curry gives us his take on the way forward for the Democratic Party. And, Ralph responds to your questions about last week’s show on the Electoral College.”

[transcript/notes pending]

Learn more at RALPH NADER RADIO HOUR. [4]

[This transcript will be expanded as time constraints, and/or demand or resources, allow.]

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FLASHPOINTS—[28 NOV 2016]  Gloria La Riva on Fidel from Havana.  Election Crimes Bulletin.

(synopsis)  “Today on Flashpoints: Fidel is gone but his revolutionary legacy will live on. We’ll have a live report from Havana. And we’ll speak to a Cuba expert about Fidel’s legacy and how his policies changed the world we live in. Also, Jill Stein raises 6 million for a recall vote in three states and calls our resident vote sleuth, Greg Palast to tell him why.”

[transcript/notes pending]

Learn more at FLASHPOINTS. [5]

[This transcript will be expanded as time constraints, and/or demand or resources, allow.]

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KPFA NEWS—[28 NOV 2016] (synopsis) “The Wisconsin Election Commission sets in motion the procedures for a recount of the presidential vote.  Green Party candidate Jill Stein must pay the cost by tomorrow — a recount will start on Thursday. Thousands of Cuban mourners pay their respects to former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who has died at the age of 90. Wells Fargo Bank on the hot seat at a Sacramento hearing on its fraudulent practices. Former KPFA broadcaster and sovietologist Bill Mandel dies at the age of 99.”

[notes pending]

Learn more at KPFA NEWS.

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[1]  Many liberals and progressives, or radicals, often say: Well, electoral politics is all corrupt.  We should just focus on our street activism and ‘push’ the Democratic Party toward a progressive or radical agenda.  But we often forget that electoral politics are always important because they represent the competing collective wills of the people: ‘conservative’, ‘liberal’, ‘progressive’, ‘socialist’, ‘communist’, ‘libertarian’, ‘anarchist’, etc.  Even the Cuban Revolution benefited from electoral politics, student movements, and popular opposition to the status quo.

But, if we only allow for two political parties, we have no political competition.  We have a political cartel, which effectively manages public dissent and discontent with the status quo.

[2]  Terrestrial radio transmission, 94.1 FM (KPFA, Berkeley, CA) with online simulcast and digital archiving:  UpFront, this one-hour broadcast hosted by Mitch Jeserich, Wednesday, 28 NOV 2016, 07:00 PST.

[3]  Terrestrial radio transmission, 94.1 FM (KPFA, Berkeley, CA) with online simulcast and digital archiving:  Letters and Politics, this one-hour broadcast hosted by Mitch Jeserich, Wednesday, 28 NOV 2016, 10:00 PST.

[4]  Terrestrial radio transmission, 94.1 FM (KPFA, Berkeley, CA) with online simulcast and digital archiving:  Ralph Nader Radio Hour,  this one-hour broadcast co-hosted by Ralph Nader and company, Wednesday, 28 NOV 2016, 11:00 PST.

[5]  Terrestrial radio transmission, 94.1 FM (KPFA, Berkeley, CA) with online simulcast and digital archiving:  Flashpoints, this one-hour broadcast hosted by Dennis Bernstein, Wednesday, 28 NOV 2016, 17:00 PST.

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[‘Ranked choice ballot’ image by source, used via fair use.]

[Image of Model 100 optical ballot scanner machine by Messina]

[Jill Stein with Viggo Mortensen image sent to Messina via a Jill Stein 2016 presidential campaign email list.]

[Ralph Nader Radio Hour image by source, used via fair use.]

[Fidel Castro with Gloria La Riva image by source, used via fair use.]

[3 DEC 2016]

[Last modified at 13:14 PST on 3 DEC 2016]