I just read an article stating that two brothers will hold the power of the vote count for the entire nation. We are trusting their honesty integrity and the security of the software to elect the officials that make the laws that we are required to live by.

With this being a Presidential election year, it is coming to the public’s attention more and more that this is not a situation that is tolerable. So what is the “public” doing to bring it back under the control of the people, to guarantee that our votes won’t be hacked?

The Florida fiasco in which we heard about “dimpled chads” has nothing on what can be done in this situation. Those of you have had your computer get a virus and wipe out the entire memory, or hijack your browser & take you directly to the girlie sights every time you go on line should have a real appreciation for the vulnerability of computers.

A few groups are sending out E-mail petitions or letter writing requests, but by far and large, the public is allowing itself to be lulled into the same false sense of security and apathy that permeated Germany before the Nazi take over.

Many have the attitude “I’m only one person. There’s nothing I can do.” I say yes there is! A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Changing the system to reflect the wishes of the people begins with one person.

When I am criticized for writing a “political” column in a spiritual magazine, my reply is “Everything is spiritual. There is nothing else”. True spirituality begins with taking personal responsibility for every aspect of our lives. Those who make the laws we live by must be chosen with great care and we must make sure that the system by which they are chosen is a valid and honest representation of what we truly want.

Leaders that can be bought by the big corporations; big pharma, big agra, big medica and all the others would think nothing of buying the machines at some point in the process. Even if states or counties hire their own technicians to re-program Diebold or ES&S software (or software from other companies), experts say that permanently installed software, called firmware, still resides inside both electronic scanners and touchscreen machines and is capable of manipulating votes.

In a paper trail I trust - computers can be manipulated.

Sherry Henderson, Editor