Chris Bagley of the North County Times files a terrific profile today of Riverside County, CA, Election Integrity advocate Tom Courbat. The piece covers the awareness of the issue that Courbat has been able to raise in the county (and, we would add, subsequently in the nation), the procedures that have changed there due to his persistent activism, and the recent Harri Hursti appearance in the wake of Jeff Stone’s “Riverside Hack Challenge,” etc. (FWIW, we are also mentioned in a few grafs, in regard to the Hursti business and a bit more.)
All of the above has been carried out by Courbat — as we say, heroically — even while he continues to battle cancer tied to the use of Agent Orange during his Vietnam-era military service in South Korea.
Tom is one of many such quiet, and usually unrecognized, heroes around the country, to whom our nation owes a debt of gratitude which can never be adequately repaid. We’re proud to recommend Bagley’s article today, and hope it serves as inspiration for many others.
I’m glad to see an American hero like Tom Courbat getting the opportunity to have his voice heard through the mainstream media, again. He is proof that one man can make a difference. Since he began working on this issue, his work has been featured on Lou Dobbs, several Southern California newspapers, and on BradBlog and Black Box Voting several times.
One of the most important things you can do to show your admiration for Tom, if you are reading this, is to follow his inspiring example and take action. He’s one of all of our absolute favorite leaders.
“There are more of us than there are of them.”
Each person who takes personal actions on this issue increases the inevitability that we will prevail.
Congrats, Tom!
Bev and Brad,
Thank you for your very kind comments, and certainly my sincere thanks to Brad for posting this.
What Bev is recommending is what I call “active activism (AA)”. It is taking the next step beyond lurking around the blogs and sending in comments (passive or lurking activism – POLA), all of which is VERY important – especially to get oriented to the issue(s) and to support the already active activists (AAA).
AAA’s goals should be to recruit as many passive or lurking activists (POLAs)as possible and shepard them toward becoming Newly Active Activists (NAAs.).
NAAs become the ongoing lifeblood of an activist movement. Without NAAs, the AAAs will soon tire and wither and slip off to their caves. Maybe POLAs could consider recruiting new potential POLAs to the party, because we can’t just keep preaching to the choir – they always agree and that can be deadly.
The cool thing about our structure is that it has very few layers – it is easy to understand and navigate. There are only three levels:
-POLAs
-NAAs
-AAAs
Every level vital to the the others. None able to exist for long without the others. And a very easy free entry (barrier-free) strategy, allowing literally millions to become a part with the right incentive(s).
Perhaps we now need to figure out what incentives would bring a lot more folks in to help carry the message and the load.
So the moral to the story is just what Bev has been preaching for so long – GET ACTIVE and DO SOMETHING! Don’t wait for a leader to emerge, be the leader. You don’t have to know everything, or for that matter, barely anything if you have the passion to learn and to be an example to others.
And as Brad has told us, “This democracy ain’t gonna save itself!” How much is this democracy worth to you?
Tom Courbat:
That’s a decent assessment of our predicament, but the thing that really hurts us is the money that goes to the corrupt people in this battle. We have to pay to fight and they get payed to fight.
Thanks for being on the right side and making a difference!
Tom,
I pledge to read every line of electronic election machine source code when HR 811 and S 559 are morphed in conference committee, and then sent to the President to become law by his signature.
And I pledge to report any bugs or strangeness, as well as submitting better code to replace the defective code.
Tom,
My hat is off to you!!! We need more people like you across this great country. We have to continue the battle to control our VOTE and not turn it over to Corporations and others who want to control our VOTE.
Thanks again, Good Luck! and hang in there. You are truely an inspiration considering that you do this, while having health problems.