A Simple Request...

An Open Letter

Mr. Kofi Annan, Secretary General
H.E. Mr. Julian Robert Hunte, President of the General Assembly
United Nations Headquarters
First Avenue at 46th Street
New York, NY 10017

Dear Secretary Annan and President Hunte:

I am a citizen of the United States of America and I grieve for democracy in my country. Since the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the appointment of George W. Bush to the Chief Executive's Office in January, 2001 I have considered requesting United Nations supervision of elections in my country until such time as democracy may be restored. The time has come for me to put thoughts into action and write to you for your guidance and support in helping the people of the United States to extricate themselves from a complex situation involving compromised leadership.

The people of the United States of America are wracked with fear, concern, and a mounting burden of guilt that we carry for our leaders' ignoble choices. Following the terrible events of September, 2001 the executive branch of our government lied to the people regarding the nature of the threat to our security in order to create a climate of popular support and to rationalize our "pre-emptive" war in Iraq. Our loss as a nation at that time catalyzed a climate of fear and a desire for security that permitted passage of the so-called "Patriot Act" as well as a tolerance for our subsequent ill treatment of prisoners in breach of international law.

Now we face a challenge to the foundation of our democracy. The very people who passed the repressive laws and manipulated public opinion to create a climate of support for their war of aggression, the people who have abrogated treaties and scoff at international law, the people who withdrew our country's support from the World Court in 2002 even though we had as a nation committed by treaty to support that body -- these people now suggest that our quadrennial elections may be delayed, rescheduled, and perhaps be optional in the face of a terrorist threat.

The United Nations has a long and successful record in the area of election supervision in similarly stressful circumstances. Nicaragua, Cambodia, Angola, Mozambique, Haiti, Bosnia and Herzgovina, and East Timor are among the UN's recent successes in electoral supervision and monitoring. There are millions of Americans who would welcome UN support of our electoral process as we move through this dangerous passage of failed leadership.

Our difficulties are compounded this year by the administration's support of the use of electronic voting machines manufactured and tested by their supporters that leave no effective audit trail as a record to validate outcomes. United Nations supervision will not be easy to negotiate with the government in power, but as you helped South Africa through their difficult time in the early 1990's, I hope you can help us now.

Frank Paynter

Comments

[Dave (C&E) Rogers]

Beautifully said, Frank. Thanks.

[Elaine of Kalilily]

Frank, I would be honored to add my name to what I'm sure will be a growing list of co-signers. I also will link to you and email the link to my non-blogger friends who share your position on this. Thank you.

[Elayne Riggs]

Very nice open letter, Frank.

[fp]

Thanks Elaine. Co-signers welcome! Thanks to you too Elayne and Dave.

[Annie]

Absolutely, we need someone to look out for our best interests at the poles. Count me in.

[Stu Savory]

Nice one, Frank.

I wrote to Annan last week offering to become a volunteer US-election observer, since I am a foreigner.

Stu

[Yule Heibel]

Excellent letter, Frank. I'll sign -- I'm signing right now.

[Doug Alder]

Well said Frank and I think those of outside of the US should create our own letter of a similar nature. The outcome of a US presidential election affects the entire world far more than the rise to power of a leader in any other country. The entire world should request Kofi Annan supply observers for this election. Let us get this message on to as many blogs and other websites around the world.

[memer]

Absolutely fantastic idea, Frank, and perfectly put. Anonymous signings probably only count for half, but I'll scrawl my "X" here anyway and shout about it from the rafters.

Now if we can just get the Canadian government to run off a gazillion copies and letterbomb Washington with this...

[Melissa]

kudos for this! And I would also like to offer my name as a co-signer for this letter!

[Fran Ross]

Frank,
Where do I sign? (Or maybe this should be a how - I'm not a blogger.)

[fp]

I'm collecting names of co-signers and I will include all such in an email later this month to the UN. The UN PREFERS email to hard copy because of security concerns. If you would like to sign with me on this, send me an email with your name and address for identification purposes and I will include it in my transmission.

[Bruce]

count me in, Frank. Thanks.

[Joyce Wycoff]

Frank ... what a powerful letter ... and what a shame that it has to be written! Thanks! joyce

[Chris Lehmann]

Consider me a co-signer. Thanks.

[Norm Jenson]

Of course I'm in. Thanks for doing the necessary work.

[Stan Finley]

Thanks for this Frank. I hope it can make some difference. What's happening to our beloved country?

[Jon Husband]

Concise and clear. Thanks. I'm signing.

Even though I live in Canada, I'll use my dual citizenship (U.S. also) to get behind this.

[James R Longwill]

Yes.. this request is long overdue. I submit my signature. Thank you.

[B]

Nice and admirable, but not practicable. I worked with the UN peacekeepers some of them were not to reliable. All they wanted to know was where the brothel is and where is the US military AAFES or PX. With the oil for palaces scandal brewing with the UN stonewalling, I am a bit skeptical.

[Daniel J. Bertrand]

It seems to me that most of you people are blind. Can you not see that there is a grab for power in this country? There is an internal grab by the two reigning parties. There is an external grab by the United Nations. The truth is, that the power being usurped is MY power and YOUR power. Mine, Yours, Your Neighbor's power--THE PEOPLE'S POWER!!! I know you may find this hard to believe, but the UN is in direct opposition to "personal" freedoms. Read between the lines, pray for wisdom to discern the truth. Preserve your rights by exercising them. Salt is a preservative; if that which is able to rot isn't preserved, guess what? IT WILL ROT, or be taken by someone else for power. The comments made on this site to have the UN monitor elections, is one step closer the THE NEW WORLD ORDER. The United Nations is striving for THE NEW WORLD ORDER with grave intensity. Also, President George H.W. Bush spoke of A NEW WORLD ORDER in a speech in 1992, entitled, "A Thousand Points of Light." H.W. welcomed it and pushed for policies that headed towards it, and now his son is in office. And now your folks are asking for it unwittingly. All you need to do is stop beating up the guy in office and open your eyes. Open your eyes by reading the Constitution and then start reading the law, upon law, upon law, that is passed every day. Shut off the popular news stations, because they will not report the TRUTH. They engage in truth suppression. Don't believe me, check out Ted Turner. He owns a ton of media souces. He also donated ONE BILLION to the United Nations. Search it out; connect the dots. Learn of the Programme for World Disarmament, then read the simple Second Amendment. Then study what the Founding Fathers had to say in their OWN words. It's a simple document to understand. It is for the comman man to enjoy, and it is the common man's duty to enforce it by simple means. Why is the Second Amendment the Second Right, and not the 14th, for example? If your voice won't work and you've exhausted all means of expression, with dipolomacy (amendment 1), move to the next step (amendment 2). You get the picture. You have to do your homework and stop asking others to do it for you. You have to rise up and take the power back. Freedom requires eternal vigilence. PAIN STAKING EFFORT. Are you up to the challenge? Be a truth seeker and do you own personal search for the truth, unashamed. Recently my eyes were opened to our current president. I liked and trusted him, then loved him, and now I want him out of office because I am not convinced he is who he says he is. For me, this is hard to take, but when I look at the situation, I have to say George W. Bush may, might, must be in the same mindset as his father. I see father and son striving for the same things. The War on Terror is the same as the War on Drugs; just a prolonged fear mongering tool, imposed on the public, to implement laws to reach the goal of total disarmament by turning every one into a criminal of some sort, and then the total abrogation of our Constitution (which is happening at break neck speed already). The Patriot Act decimated the Constitution. The United Nations just loves this; it pushes them toward their ultimate goal--A NEW WORLD GOVERNMENT. Sure, they don't have to be involved right now, our own representatives and folks like you are setting the stage for them. Kings and pawns is their world. A man with the God given right to pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is mine, millions more, and I hope, your world. To ask an outside group of nations to interfere with our elections is strictly prohibited by the Constitution. Do you know the document or are you on the "Please help me, I have MY RIGHTS!" band wagon? Let the robust contest of freedom continue, by taking back what is yours. Read the document to find out what that is. The power was given to you by those before you, and it takes eternal vigilence to keep it. That's the price of liberty. Those who would give up the rights of liberty for a little security deserve neither liberty nor security. Concerning the other Presidential runner; I will not support him either. I never have, and I never will. They are open about what their agenda is, somewhat, which is in opposition to what I desire. Their way translates into NEW WORLD ORDER as well; it's just dressed differently. Thankfully, there are more choices than one or two or even three. I recommend you start thinking outside the box they created to put you in.

Sincerely, for my fellow countrymen,

Daniel J. Bertrand