What Did Roberts Do in Florida?
News Dissector Blog - September 29, 2005
[...] Specifically, what role did [Judge John] Roberts play in the Bush campaign in 2000 in Florida, where 175,000 votes went uncounted? Was he part of the obstruction of the recount that was carried out by a small brigade of militant GOP protesters who had been organized by the just-indicted House GOP minority leader Tom DeLay? DeLay was known for "bare knuckles" politics that often "skirted the ethical edge," according to the Associated Press.
We know that Roberts, who has been pictured as a moderate-tempered and restrained jurist, was in Florida in 2000 as part of the GOP hit squad that planned to get President Bush elected at all costs.
That decisive protest run by intensely partisan GOP staffers and Congressional aides was ordered by hard right-wing Republican Congressman John Sweeney to "shut it down," according to the Miami Herald's reporter. There were reports that UN Ambassador John Bolton was in that mob.
Was Roberts there too? If he was, if he was part of that action faction/affinity group, then his image as a man of detached and scholarly calm needs a second look. If he wasn't, what exactly did he do in a campaign characterized by disenfranchisement and dirty tricks?
Read More >>
30 September 2005
29 September 2005
GOP caught push polling in Vermont 2006 Senate race
David Sirota - 9.29.05
According to this letter published in Vermont's Rutland Herald, the national Republican Party has already started the shady and ethically-questionable practice of push polling in the 2006 U.S. Senate race.
Specifically, Vermonter Tony Gordon reports receiving a call from a out-of-state call center in Nebraska. The caller asked "While it is fine to have a gadfly like [Senate candidate] Bernie Sanders in the House, since Vermont is such a small state, we must have real leadership in the Senate. Do you agree or disagree?" Clearly, as Gordon notes, the question was deliberately phrased to guarantee a desired result and spread misleading information about Congressman Sanders - not to guage actual public opinion.
Webster's Dictionary defines a "push poll" as "an opinion poll done with loaded questions or offering negative information to sway the opinions of those polled." By that definition, what was described in the Rutland Herald, can safely be called a push poll - a practice widely considered to be among the most unethical in politics.
Incidentally, for those who think that Sanders is merely a gadfly and not a "real" leader, see this Rolling Stone article on his ability to pass legislation through the GOP-controlled House, or this previous post detailing his record.
UPDATE: According to Vermont political reporter Peter Freyne, this kind of shady polling has been going on for some time.
Read More >>
David Sirota - 9.29.05
According to this letter published in Vermont's Rutland Herald, the national Republican Party has already started the shady and ethically-questionable practice of push polling in the 2006 U.S. Senate race.
Specifically, Vermonter Tony Gordon reports receiving a call from a out-of-state call center in Nebraska. The caller asked "While it is fine to have a gadfly like [Senate candidate] Bernie Sanders in the House, since Vermont is such a small state, we must have real leadership in the Senate. Do you agree or disagree?" Clearly, as Gordon notes, the question was deliberately phrased to guarantee a desired result and spread misleading information about Congressman Sanders - not to guage actual public opinion.
Webster's Dictionary defines a "push poll" as "an opinion poll done with loaded questions or offering negative information to sway the opinions of those polled." By that definition, what was described in the Rutland Herald, can safely be called a push poll - a practice widely considered to be among the most unethical in politics.
Incidentally, for those who think that Sanders is merely a gadfly and not a "real" leader, see this Rolling Stone article on his ability to pass legislation through the GOP-controlled House, or this previous post detailing his record.
UPDATE: According to Vermont political reporter Peter Freyne, this kind of shady polling has been going on for some time.
Read More >>
19 September 2005
Panel: E-voting needs paper trail
9/19/05
Among the commission's recommendations:
Congress should pass a law requiring voter-verifiable paper audit trails on all electronic voting machines.
States should require voters to present photo IDs and offer free photo IDs to those who don't have drivers' licenses.
All "legitimate domestic and international election observers" should be granted unrestricted access to the election process, within the rules of the election.
News organizations should voluntarily refrain from projecting any presidential election results in any state until all polls have closed in all states but Alaska and Hawaii.
States should establish uniform procedures for the counting of provisional ballots, which voters can use when there are questions about their registration.
Read More >>
9/19/05
Among the commission's recommendations:
Read More >>
FEC Sues Pro-Republican Political Group
Sharon Theimer, AP - Sep 19, 2005
WASHINGTON - Federal election officials on Monday sued a political group to try to force it to comply with campaign finance limits, the first lawsuit of its kind to arise from controversial big-money fundraising during the 2004 elections.
The Federal Election Commission filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Washington against the Club for Growth. The pro-Republican group spent at least $21 million in the 2003-04 election cycle.
The FEC contends the Club spent enough in federal races to require it to file with the commission as a political committee and abide by contribution and spending limits. It wants the court to fine the group and to order it to comply with campaign finance rules.
Read More >>
Sharon Theimer, AP - Sep 19, 2005
WASHINGTON - Federal election officials on Monday sued a political group to try to force it to comply with campaign finance limits, the first lawsuit of its kind to arise from controversial big-money fundraising during the 2004 elections.
The Federal Election Commission filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Washington against the Club for Growth. The pro-Republican group spent at least $21 million in the 2003-04 election cycle.
The FEC contends the Club spent enough in federal races to require it to file with the commission as a political committee and abide by contribution and spending limits. It wants the court to fine the group and to order it to comply with campaign finance rules.
Read More >>
Panel Suggests Ways to Improve Elections
Will Lester, AP - Sep 19, 2005
WASHINGTON - A private commission trying to restore public confidence in national elections recommended on Monday requiring a free photo ID for voters, drawing opposition from Democrats and some voting rights activists.
Critics suggested that having to acquire the ID cards in order to vote could be an obstacle for minorities, the poor and older Americans and might intimidate some people.
"We believe such a requirement would constitute nothing less than a 21st century poll tax," said a letter from Reps. John Conyers, D-Mich., and John Lewis, D-Ga. Poll taxes were once used in some states to prevent black citizens from voting.
Former President Carter, a co-chair of the commission, said he was hesitant about the free photo ID proposal at first, but laws passed in some states like Georgia convinced him that a national approach was a better idea. Republican lawmakers in Georgia pushed through legislation that requires a new voter identification card that costs $20 for five years.
Read More >>
Will Lester, AP - Sep 19, 2005
WASHINGTON - A private commission trying to restore public confidence in national elections recommended on Monday requiring a free photo ID for voters, drawing opposition from Democrats and some voting rights activists.
Critics suggested that having to acquire the ID cards in order to vote could be an obstacle for minorities, the poor and older Americans and might intimidate some people.
"We believe such a requirement would constitute nothing less than a 21st century poll tax," said a letter from Reps. John Conyers, D-Mich., and John Lewis, D-Ga. Poll taxes were once used in some states to prevent black citizens from voting.
Former President Carter, a co-chair of the commission, said he was hesitant about the free photo ID proposal at first, but laws passed in some states like Georgia convinced him that a national approach was a better idea. Republican lawmakers in Georgia pushed through legislation that requires a new voter identification card that costs $20 for five years.
Read More >>
18 September 2005
A Diebold Insider Speaks Out
Brad Friedman - 09.18.2005
You were warned about Osama bin Laden prior to 9/11. And you didn't listen. You were warned about the levees in New Orleans prior to Katrina. And you didn't listen.
You are now being warned about what both the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security has already warned you about and what someone who knows has called "one of the greatest threats our democracy has ever known."
Will you listen this time before it's too late? Please?
Here's the warning the Dept. of Homeland Security gave you in August of 2004. Before the election. Read it.
Here's the warning that "someone who knows" gave you last Thursday. Read it.
When I say "you", you may be surprised to learn that I'm referring to you Democrats and I'm referring to you folks in the Mainstream Media. Yes, you. You who all had largely the same warnings that George W. Bush had about the threat that was Al-Qaeda and the quagmire of lies that was Iraq and the disaster-in-waiting that was New Orleans. You who hold George W. Bush responsible now for not having paid attention then.
But -- as you know -- you didn't pay much attention then either. You didn't yell and scream and take to the streets and do what needed to be done to save the lives of thousands of Americans. You didn't insist that what had to be done was to be done before it was too late to avoid those national tragedies.
You failed to follow Wendell Phillips' warning about your freedoms and your democracy: That "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." You didn't give a damn back then. Not until after it was too late.
Well here's the good news: You've got another chance. A chance to pay attention. This time before it's too late. That is, if it isn't already.
Elections in 2006 and 2008 are just around the corner and you Democrats are making big plans. Good for you. You probably think you're in a terrific place to regain your majority in Congress and perhaps even re-take the White House. You probably are. Or at least you might have been...
Because here's the bad news: Unless you follow Phillips' advice and pay attention now to what has happened to your Electoral System in America -- to what is happening even as you read this every single day in every single Board of Elections in every single county in every single state in America -- you will be in for an even bigger surprise in '06 and '08 than you found yourselves waking up to on the morning of November 3rd, 2004.
Because here's the deal: Your Electoral System in America -- theoretically the world's greatest democracy -- has been sold to the Corporate Interests of the very good friends of the Neo-Republican Party in America. It's gone. It's been sold. Your Republican and Democratic elected leaders watched it happen. Gave their approval. And you let them do it. And now...your democracy is no longer in your hands. That is, unless you do something now about it.
Read More >>
Brad Friedman - 09.18.2005
You were warned about Osama bin Laden prior to 9/11. And you didn't listen. You were warned about the levees in New Orleans prior to Katrina. And you didn't listen.
You are now being warned about what both the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security has already warned you about and what someone who knows has called "one of the greatest threats our democracy has ever known."
Will you listen this time before it's too late? Please?
Here's the warning the Dept. of Homeland Security gave you in August of 2004. Before the election. Read it.
Here's the warning that "someone who knows" gave you last Thursday. Read it.
When I say "you", you may be surprised to learn that I'm referring to you Democrats and I'm referring to you folks in the Mainstream Media. Yes, you. You who all had largely the same warnings that George W. Bush had about the threat that was Al-Qaeda and the quagmire of lies that was Iraq and the disaster-in-waiting that was New Orleans. You who hold George W. Bush responsible now for not having paid attention then.
But -- as you know -- you didn't pay much attention then either. You didn't yell and scream and take to the streets and do what needed to be done to save the lives of thousands of Americans. You didn't insist that what had to be done was to be done before it was too late to avoid those national tragedies.
You failed to follow Wendell Phillips' warning about your freedoms and your democracy: That "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." You didn't give a damn back then. Not until after it was too late.
Well here's the good news: You've got another chance. A chance to pay attention. This time before it's too late. That is, if it isn't already.
Elections in 2006 and 2008 are just around the corner and you Democrats are making big plans. Good for you. You probably think you're in a terrific place to regain your majority in Congress and perhaps even re-take the White House. You probably are. Or at least you might have been...
Because here's the bad news: Unless you follow Phillips' advice and pay attention now to what has happened to your Electoral System in America -- to what is happening even as you read this every single day in every single Board of Elections in every single county in every single state in America -- you will be in for an even bigger surprise in '06 and '08 than you found yourselves waking up to on the morning of November 3rd, 2004.
Because here's the deal: Your Electoral System in America -- theoretically the world's greatest democracy -- has been sold to the Corporate Interests of the very good friends of the Neo-Republican Party in America. It's gone. It's been sold. Your Republican and Democratic elected leaders watched it happen. Gave their approval. And you let them do it. And now...your democracy is no longer in your hands. That is, unless you do something now about it.
Read More >>
16 September 2005
Should Election Software Be Open Source?
9/16/05
I ask this because I really don't know who has been getting elected in my home state of Georgia these last three years. There is no paper audit trail. The software is all closed-source. They tell me who has won each time, and they publish numbers in the newspaper, but the point is there is no way to check.
I'm talking here about the software that runs the voting machines, the software that delivers the numbers to the election office, and the software that totals it all up. Open or closed?
Read More >>
9/16/05
I ask this because I really don't know who has been getting elected in my home state of Georgia these last three years. There is no paper audit trail. The software is all closed-source. They tell me who has won each time, and they publish numbers in the newspaper, but the point is there is no way to check.
I'm talking here about the software that runs the voting machines, the software that delivers the numbers to the election office, and the software that totals it all up. Open or closed?
Read More >>
15 September 2005
Agency says lever voting machines
don't meet federal requirements
Hartford-WTNH, Sept. 15, 2005
Connecticut's 3,300 voting booths are in for a quick and drastic change. The state is being told to get rid of all lever voting machines by 2006.
Pulling that familiar lever could become a thing of the past. Connecticut must change to comply with the Help America Vote Act, which was created in the wake of the 2000 Bush/Gore presidential election. That means spending millions of dollars for new machines, but that's easier said than done.
[...] The state is in the process of buying 769 voting machines to comply with federal law. The problem is that still isn't enough machines to deal with the number of Connecticut voters.
Read More >>
don't meet federal requirements
Hartford-WTNH, Sept. 15, 2005
Connecticut's 3,300 voting booths are in for a quick and drastic change. The state is being told to get rid of all lever voting machines by 2006.
Pulling that familiar lever could become a thing of the past. Connecticut must change to comply with the Help America Vote Act, which was created in the wake of the 2000 Bush/Gore presidential election. That means spending millions of dollars for new machines, but that's easier said than done.
[...] The state is in the process of buying 769 voting machines to comply with federal law. The problem is that still isn't enough machines to deal with the number of Connecticut voters.
Read More >>
09 September 2005
DeLay's state PAC indicted
Grand jury says the use of corporate money violated Texas election laws
09 Sep 2005
A Travis County grand jury indicted a business organization and a political committee founded by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on Thursday on felony charges of violating election laws by using corporate money to influence state elections. The indictments accuse the DeLay-founded Texans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee of two counts of illegally soliciting corporate money for political campaigns.
Read More >>
Grand jury says the use of corporate money violated Texas election laws
09 Sep 2005
A Travis County grand jury indicted a business organization and a political committee founded by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on Thursday on felony charges of violating election laws by using corporate money to influence state elections. The indictments accuse the DeLay-founded Texans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee of two counts of illegally soliciting corporate money for political campaigns.
Read More >>
07 September 2005
Two Bush 2000 Florida recount aides
were rewarded with top FEMA posts
9/7/05
Reversing an eight-year crusade to rid the now-embattled Federal Emegency Management Agency of political patronage, a newly elected George W. Bush in 2001 named two key players in his Florida recount fight to important FEMA posts.
Read More >>
were rewarded with top FEMA posts
9/7/05
Reversing an eight-year crusade to rid the now-embattled Federal Emegency Management Agency of political patronage, a newly elected George W. Bush in 2001 named two key players in his Florida recount fight to important FEMA posts.
Read More >>
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