So Many Election Fraud Trails Lead to WH. Election Reform & Related News Tuesday, 4/24/07

[Melissa G]

So Many Election Fraud trails lead to the White House!

Rove being investigated by office of Special Council see post 1 for details.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x739846


Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Tuesday, 4/24/07


All members welcome and encouraged to participate.



Please post Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News on this thread.

If you can:
1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web.


2. Post stories using the new Spring 2006 Edition of "Election Fraud and Reform News Directory" listed here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x407240

3. Re-post stories and announcements you find on DU, providing a link to the original thread with thanks to the Original Poster, too.


4. Start a discussion thread by re-posting a story you see on this thread.




Please "Recommend" for the Greatest Page (it's the link just below).

[Melissa G]

ROVE TO BE INVESTIGATED BY Office Of Special Counsel For Attorney Firings & More (LAT)

Thanks to kpete for the post and the DU discussion here...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x739846

Original message
ROVE TO BE INVESTIGATED BY Office Of Special Counsel For Attorney Firings & More (LAT)
Edited on Tue Apr-24-07 07:12 AM by kpete
Low-key office launches high-profile inquiry
The Office of Special Counsel will investigate U.S. attorney firings and other political activities led by Karl Rove.
By Tom Hamburger, Times Staff Writer
April 24, 2007


WASHINGTON — Most of the time, an obscure federal investigative unit known as the Office of Special Counsel confines itself to monitoring the activities of relatively low-level government employees, stepping in with reprimands and other routine administrative actions for such offenses as discriminating against military personnel or engaging in prohibited political activities.

But the Office of Special Counsel is preparing to jump into one of the most sensitive and potentially explosive issues in Washington, launching a broad investigation into key elements of the White House political operations that for more than six years have been headed by chief strategist Karl Rove.

The new investigation, which will examine the firing of at least one U.S. attorney, missing White House e-mails, and White House efforts to keep presidential appointees attuned to Republican political priorities, could create a substantial new problem for the Bush White House.

First, the inquiry comes from inside the administration, not from Democrats in Congress. Second, unlike the splintered inquiries being pressed on Capitol Hill, it is expected to be a unified investigation covering many facets of the political operation in which Rove played a leading part.

more at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-probe24apr24,0,3535547.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[Melissa G]

21. BEWARE of head of Office of Special Council, SCOTT J. BLOCH! He's in charge of investigating KKKROVE

Thanks to in_cog_ni_to for the post and the DU discussion here...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x742879
Original message
BEWARE of head of Office of Special Council, SCOTT J. BLOCH! He's in charge of investigating KKKROVE
??? Talk about the Fox guarding the Hen House! I truly hope Leahy isn't looking for a "Fair and Balanced" report....there's no way in hell this man is going to do a proper investigation! He's a BUSH APPOINTEE...fercryingoutloud! And an asshole to boot!


Federal agency cuts gay data from site
Christopher Curtis, Gay.com / PlanetOut.com Network
Tuesday, February 24, 2004 / 02:53 PM


Federal workers wanting to complain about discrimination on the job because of their sexual orientation won't be able to get the information they need from the agency charged with protecting government whistleblowers.

Scott J. Bloch, the Republican appointed head of the Office of Special Council (OSC), removed references regarding sexual orientation discrimination from the complaint form and educational pamphlet on the agency's Web site.

Bloch told the Washington Post Friday that he is not sure if federal workers are protected from discrimination claims based on their sexuality. Pulling such references "is no way a statement that this office is retreating from any employee rights, or enforcement of employee rights," Bloch told the paper, adding a review was necessary.

Congressional representatives and senators criticized Bloch, saying he had gone back on his word and overreached his authority.<snip>

hhttp://www.planetout.com/news/article.html?date=2004/02/24/4

more at
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x742879

[Melissa G]

1. duplicate deleted

...

[Melissa G]

2. election servers 20072004 vote count manipulated on GOP servers & Netcraft shows RNC running Ohio

Thanks to althecat for the post and the DU discussion here...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x471361

Original message
election servers 20072004 vote count manipulated on GOP servers & Netcraft shows RNC running Ohio
Someone just emailed me this....

Kinda fascinating.


I spotted a couple of unpublished articles on slashdot:

2004 vote count manipulated on GOP servers
http://slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=143315


"The Free Press published an interesting article stating that not only did the Republicans alter the actual Ohio vote count during the 2004 presidential election, they also controlled how the tallies of those manipulated votes were disseminated over the web, affecting media and public perception of the returns as they occurred. FTA: 'There is more than ample documentation to show that on Election Night 2004, Ohio's "official" Secretary of State website — which gave the world the presidential election results — was redirected from an Ohio government server to a group of servers that contain scores of Republican web sites, including the secret White House e-mail accounts that have emerged in the scandal surrounding Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's firing of eight federal prosecutors.'"

http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2007/2553

more here...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x471361

[Melissa G]

3. The GOP's cyber election hit squad

From Free press article...

The GOP's cyber election hit squad
by Steven Rosenfeld and Bob Fitrakis
April 22, 2007

Did the most powerful Republicans in America have the computer capacity, software skills and electronic infrastructure in place on Election Night 2004 to tamper with the Ohio results to ensure George W. Bush's re-election?

The answer appears to be yes. There is more than ample documentation to show that on Election Night 2004, Ohio's "official" Secretary of State website – which gave the world the presidential election results – was redirected from an Ohio government server to a group of servers that contain scores of Republican web sites, including the secret White House e-mail accounts that have emerged in the scandal surrounding Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’s firing of eight federal prosecutors.

Recent revelations have documented that the Republican National Committee (RNC) ran a secret White House e-mail system for Karl Rove and dozens of White House staffers. This high-tech system used to count and report the 2004 presidential vote– from server-hosting contracts, to software-writing services, to remote-access capability, to the actual server usage logs themselves – must be added to the growing congressional investigations.

Numerous tech-savvy bloggers, starting with the online investigative consortium epluribusmedia.org and their November 2006 article cross-posted by contributor luaptifer to Dailykos, and Joseph Cannon's blog at Cannonfire.blogspot.com, outed the RNC tech network. That web-hosting firm is SMARTech Corp. of Chattanooga, TN, operating out of the basement in the old Pioneer Bank building. The firm hosts scores of Republican websites, including georgewbush.com, gop.com and rnc.org.

http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2007/2553

[Melissa G]

4. summary of 2004 and 2006 election irregularities reported to EIRS system, etc.

Excellent post by philb here at DU...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x471329

Original message
summary of 2004 and 2006 election irregularities reported to EIRS system, etc.
www.flcv.com/elec0604.html summary of 2004 and 2006 election irregularities reported to EIRS system, etc.

2006 Election Fraud, Touch Screen Switching, Irregularities, Voter Suppression, and Illegal Dirty Tricks

Widespread touch screen switching and “glitches”
www.flcv.com/eirstss6.html

Widespread polling place irregularities, long lines, manipulation
www.flcv.com/eirsppp6.html

Widespread systematic illegal dirty tricks
www.flcv.com/eirsdt6.html


2004 Election Fraud, Touch Screen Switching, Irregularities, Voter Suppression, Illegal Dirty Tricks, Stolen Election
snip

Much more good stuff here...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x471329

[Melissa G]

5. Michael Collins: Did Bush Commit Election Fraud?

Michael Collins: Did Bush Commit Election Fraud?
Monday, 23 April 2007, 11:15 am
Opinion: Michael Collins

Did Bush Commit Election Fraud?

Gonzales Story - Smoking Gun #1

By Michael Collins
“Scoop” Independent News
Washington, DC
Part 1 of a 2 part series
There is sufficient evidence in the public domain to strongly suspect that Bush committed election fraud in the handling of the U.S. Attorney firings.

Before examining the evidence, it’s important to know the difference between the contrived construct of voter fraud and election fraud, a very real phenomenon.


A Critical Distinction: Voter versus Election Fraud

Lorraine C. Minnite, PhD of Barnard College, Columbia University makes the distinction in the introduction to her comprehensive study:


Voter fraud is the “intentional corruption of the electoral process by the voter.” …willingly giving false information to establish voter eligibility, and knowingly and willingly voting illegally or participating in a conspiracy to encourage illegal voting by others. All other forms of corruption of the electoral process … (by) elected or election officials, candidates, party organizations, advocacy groups or campaign workers (is)… election fraud.
Minnite points out there were only 24 convictions or guilty pleas (page 9) for voter fraud at the federal level between 2002 and 2005. That’s of real interest since the White House has an orchestrated campaign to promote the notion that this is a national epidemic.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0704/S00350.htm
DU discussion here...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x471334

[Melissa G]

6. What Gonzales Really Told Us

William Pitt: What Gonzales Really Told Us
Wednesday, 25 April 2007, 1:10 am
Opinion: William Rivers Pitt

What Gonzales Really Told Us

By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t | Columnist
From: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/042007A.shtml
Friday 20 April 2007
The testimony given Thursday by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales before the Senate Judiciary Committee during a hearing to investigate the firing of eight United States attorneys deserves a place of high honor in the Gibberish Hall of Fame. It was astonishing in its vapidity, almost to a point beyond description. The emptiness of Gonzales's answers, after several hours, became the political version of a Zen koan. They simply stopped my mind.


It was, in the main, an unspeakably gruesome performance. The aspect most commentators immediately seized on was the amazing number of questions Mr. Gonzales answered with either "I don't recall," or some permutation thereof. Estimates put the final count somewhere between 74 and 100 "dunno" replies, an amount truly Reaganesqe in stature.

There was no bristling give-and-take during this hearing, no fiery debate, no "Have you no sense of decency" moment when the rogue official is brought snarling to bay. Indeed, the only time tempers flared was when exasperated senators became fed up with Gonzales's inability to answer virtually any of the questions put to him. The annoyed senators, Republican and Democratic alike, at several points rained condescendingly rhetorical questions upon him in extremis, expecting no answers because they knew none were ever going to come.

Judiciary Committee member Tom Coburn, a conservative Republican senator from Oklahoma, dropped one of the more devastating bricks of the day after slogging through Gonzales's feeble display. "It was handled incompetently," said Coburn of the firings that inspired this hearing, if not of the testimony he'd just endured. "The communication was atrocious, it was inconsistent. It's generous to say that there were misstatements; that's a generous statement. And I believe you ought to suffer the consequences that these others have suffered. And I believe the best way to put this behind us is your resignation."

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0704/S00389.htm

[Melissa G]

7. Gonzales' performance below his own standard

Editorials

Gonzales' performance below his own standard



Tuesday, April 24, 2007 10:47 AM EDT

Monday, April 23, 2007



Seventy-one.

That's how many times Attorney General Alberto Gonzales invoked his faulty memory before a Senate panel Thursday to say he could not recall conversations or remember events surrounding the firings of former Cass County prosecutor Margaret Chiara and seven other U.S. attorneys.

Even his own party is not buying his flimsy explanations.

"The best way to put this behind us is your resignation," Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla, informed Gonzales bluntly during a grueling five-hour Judiciary Committee hearing.

Lawmakers confronted the attorney general with sworn testimony and documents showing he was more involved in the dismissals than he claimed.

His fumbling appearance did nothing to reassure anyone that the firings were not politically motivated and he doesn't seem to have a shred of credibility left to continue except for the White House's usual unwavering support for one of its own.


http://www.nilesstar.com/articles/2007/04/24/editorials/ndeditorial02.txt

[Melissa G]

8. Parry: Gonzales & the "Mayberry Machiavellis"

Parry: Gonzales & the "Mayberry Machiavellis"
Wednesday, 25 April 2007, 1:15 am
Opinion: Robert Parry

Gonzales & the "Mayberry Machiavellis"

By Robert Parry
Consortium News & Truthout
Friday 20 April 2007
Watching the painfully inept testimony of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales brought to mind the memorable comment in 2002 by ex-White House insider John DiIulio, who described how politics dominated everything in George W. Bush's government.

"There is no precedent in any modern White House for what is going on in this one: a complete lack of a policy apparatus," said DiIulio, who had run Bush's office of faith-based initiatives. "What you've got is everything - and I mean everything - being run by the political arm. It's the reign of the Mayberry Machiavellis."

The American people are finally waking up to the consequences of what DiIulio observed during his one-year stint on the inside. Everything is about the building and maintenance of power, not via sound policies but through political tactics - ranging from the conduct of the Iraq War to the handling of federal prosecutors.

It would be unthinkable in a traditional administration for a White House political adviser, like Karl Rove, to have a direct role in such diverse topics as blowing the cover of a covert CIA officer and the firing of U.S. Attorneys. Those were two areas that traditionally were walled off from crass partisanship.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0704/S00393.htm

[Melissa G]

9. French politicians vote non to voting machines

French politicians vote non to voting machines
Not popular
By Lucy Sherriff → More by this authorPublished Tuesday 24th April 2007 09:23 GMTReceive the days biggest stories by email Voting machines are not going down well with the political classes in France. The machines were involved in widespread problems on Sunday's ballot and, according to reports, several of the country's political parties have demanded that the technology be withdrawn.

This election was the first Presidential race in which voting machines have been used. Around 1.5 million of the 44.5 million registered voters had to vote on the machines, but according to Agence France-Presse problems with the technology meant people had to queue for up to two hours to cast their electronic ballots.

Many voters simply gave up in the face of such a long wait. Others said they did not trust the machines to protect the anonymity of their vote.

Following the difficulties, the Greens, Communists, and Socialists issued a joint statement describing the machines as "a catastrophe" and calling for them to be scrapped.

DU discussion here...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x471384
more at
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/24/voting_france/

[Melissa G]

10. Case stirs debate on Fla. voting machines

Case stirs debate on Fla. voting machines
AP By Richard Wolf, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Christine Jennings' 369-vote loss in Florida's 13th Congressional District last year is fueling efforts to replace electronic voting machines or retrofit them to produce paper records. Jennings' challenge to the election of Republican Rep. Vern Buchanan is tied up in Florida courts, and a task force of the House Administration Committee is considering a review. She is seeking a new election, contending that electronic machines in Sarasota did not record thousands of votes in the Democratic stronghold.
Her battle is uphill: More than 600 House elections have been contested since the first Congress in 1789. Of the 103 contested elections since 1933, only three have been reversed, the most recent in 1985. That year, a House controlled by Democrats awarded an Indiana seat to Democratic Rep. Frank McCloskey, who won by four votes.

Five months after last year's election, the Democrats created a task force, which held its first meeting last week on the Florida race. No decision has been made on whether to conduct a full probe.

snip

Jennings' lawyer Sam Hirsch cites "tons of anecdotal" evidence that the machines didn't record thousands of votes. Democrats want the machines turned over to independent experts for review.


http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2007-04-23-fla-voting-side_N.htm

[Melissa G]

11. Electronic voting dilemma

Electronic voting dilemma
Nicole C. Brambila
The Desert Sun
April 24, 2007

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After spending about $19 million to twice buy electronic voting machines, Riverside County taxpayers might have to do it again.
In 2000, before Florida's hanging chads spurred election reform everywhere, the county was among the nation's first to convert to an e-voting system that officials hailed for its cost- and time-efficiencies. That move cost $14 million.

Then in 2006, county supervisors bought new $12.9 million voting machines to meet state requirements of paper voting receipts. The federal government provided $7.5 million to offset some of that cost.

In August, if Secretary of State Debra Bowen's review of California's voting machines decertifies Riverside's for security reasons that could include hacking, the county could be forced to buy another multi-million-dollar system.

http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070424/NEWS0301/704240312

[Melissa G]

12. Paper-trail voting gets organized opposition

Paper-trail voting gets organized opposition




A touch-screen voting machine is tested in Annapolis, Md., during September's primary. Maryland's Legislature is considering major changes after problems occurred in the election.
By Matt Houston, AP



By Richard Wolf, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — State and local officials have begun a coordinated campaign to stop Congress from requiring a paper record of ballots cast on electronic voting machines, arguing it could cause more problems in next year's presidential election than it would solve.
Groups representing secretaries of state, state legislators and county leaders are working together to block legislation headed for a House committee vote and Senate hearings soon. Their letters, phone calls and meetings with lawmakers in recent weeks are likely to prompt changes, supporters and opponents say.


FUROR IN FLORIDA: Case stirs debate on voting machines

At issue is whether all machines used in 2008 should have a paper record that would give voters proof of their vote and could be used as the official ballot in a recount. The measure is the top priority of election reform advocates, who cite problems at the polls ever since the 2000 presidential election required a 36-day recount in Florida.

Until recently, the legislation was expected to sail through the Democratic-controlled House. But committee action has been delayed, and state and county election officials are warning that the bill's requirements can't be met in time for presidential primaries in February.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2007-04-23-paper-trail-voting_N.htm

[Melissa G]

13. Supervisors Vote To Return To Old Voting System

Supervisors Vote To Return To Old Voting System

April 24, 2007 08:51 AM CDT

There's more debate about voting machines in Harrison County. Supervisors voted Monday to seek Justice Department approval of the board's earlier decision to do away with the touch screen voting machines and go back to the old optical scan voting method.

Circuit Clerk Gayle Parker favors a return to the former system, following widespread problems with the new touch screen technology. But some officials are saying, "not so fast."

The chairman of the Democratic Executive Committee urges a "careful debate" of what he calls a "serious matter." Harry Ferguson suggested ways to work out the kinks with the new touch screen machines and address any voting problems.

The circuit clerk and Republican Chairman are not convinced.
The Circuit Clerk told supervisors the Justice Department would likely approve a return to the old system within 60 days. The chairman of the Democratic Executive Committee urged the board to reconsider.
http://www.wlox.com/Global/story.asp?S=6414473&nav=6DJI

[Melissa G]

14. Voter activist struggles against the machines

Voter activist struggles against the machines


By: CHRIS BAGLEY - Staff Writer

Tom Courbat believes that electoral democracy is at risk in Riverside County, and he is going to great lengths to convince others.

Courbat leads a group of several dozen Southwest County activists who have crisscrossed the county in the last year, monitoring polls and criticizing the county's touch-screen voting machines as being open to manipulation by rogue computer experts.

In numerous e-mails, impromptu visits and a cable-television appearance, he has dogged county officials with complaints of skirted election laws, lax security and fiscal irresponsibility.


It has become virtually a full-time occupation for Courbat, who is 60 and retired. After two years of Army service, and a career in government finance, he didn't expect to spend 30- and 40-hour weeks as a voting activist. But the alternative, as he sees it, is very risky -- both for himself and for millions of other voters.
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/04/22/news/californian/8_11_144_21_07.txt

[Melissa G]

15. Editorial: DOJ strategy: Limit voting in swing states

http://www.sacbee.com/

Editorial: DOJ strategy: Limit voting in swing states
Political appointees allegedly skewed rulings to influence outcome of elections
Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, April 22, 2007
Story appeared in FORUM section, Page E6

After the debacle of the 2000 presidential election, Congress and the Bush administration made a fine show of wanting to restore integrity to a ballot process that was widely seen as a tragic mess.

Then-Attorney General John Ashcroft created a "Ballot Access and Voter Integrity Initiative" that sounded as if it might put teeth into laws to protect rights of minority voters. Congress established the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, a bipartisan agency told to review voting "fraud" and "intimidation."

Now there is evidence that both efforts provided cover for an agenda of disenfranchising voters.

As Greg Gordon of the McClatchy Washington Bureau has reported, Bush appointees in the Justice Department have pursued sweeping legal efforts to restrict voter turnout in battleground states since 2001. His findings should alarm all who care about the right to vote.

Gordon documents how since 2001 political appointees, in nearly every case, came down on the side of Republican Party interests. In Georgia, they reviewed and cleared a state law that tightened voter ID requirements. A court later ruled the law unconstitutional for infringing on the rights of low-income voters.

http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/158681.html

[Melissa G]

16. Election Assistance Commission Under Fire

Election Assistance Commission Under Fire
By Eliza Newlin Carney, NationalJournal.com
© National Journal Group Inc.
Monday, April 23, 2007

Under pressure from Capitol Hill, the Election Assistance Commission has asked its inspector general to review the EAC's controversial way of doing business.

Caught up in a larger controversy over the Bush administration's overaggressive pursuit of supposed voter fraud, the EAC has emerged as an agency with serious problems.


It's an important first step toward repairing the embattled agency's damaged reputation, but it probably won't be enough. Caught up in a larger controversy over the Bush administration's overaggressive pursuit of supposed voter fraud, the EAC has emerged as an agency with serious problems.

In the wake of reports that the agency scuttled and even distorted two major research studies, several members of both the House and Senate have called the agency on the carpet. Senate Rules and Administration chairman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has scheduled an oversight hearing on the EAC for June 13.

This month, Feinstein and Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., wrote the EAC to demand answers to a detailed list of questions involving two separate commission studies, one on voter fraud and one on voter identification requirements. They cited "troubling news reports" that in both cases, the EAC may have altered or delayed important research findings for political purposes.

http://nationaljournal.com/carney.htm

[Melissa G]

17. "I choose not to vote" may become ballot option in Florida

"I choose not to vote" may become ballot option in Florida

By STEPHEN MAJORS
Associated Press Writer

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.
Maybe a congressional race was so nasty that a large number of voters simply didn't want to check the box next to either candidate.

That's what state Sen. Mike Bennett believes happened in the now-infamous District 13 congressional race. Hoping to prevent a repeat, he persuaded the Senate Ethics and Elections committee to approve a bill (SB 494) Monday that would require ballots to have the additional option of "I choose not to vote."

That option could not win a race, and the actual candidate with the highest number of votes would win the election.

The no-choice option would enable uninformed or disgusted voters to opt out in a way that clearly displays their intention to abstain for elections officials, said Bennett, R-Bradenton.

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070423/APN/704231937

[Melissa G]

18. George McGovern: " I Expect To See CHENEY & BUSH FORCED TO RESIGN BEFORE 2008 IS OVER"

From McGovern's mouth to G~d's ears...
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-mcgovern24apr24,0,4084076.story


Thanks to kpete for the post and the DU discussion here...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x741153
Original message
George McGovern: " I Expect To See CHENEY & BUSH FORCED TO RESIGN BEFORE 2008 IS OVER"
Edited on Tue Apr-24-07 10:21 AM by kpete
George McGovern: Cheney is wrong about me, wrong about war
The 1972 presidential nominee strikes back at the vice president for comparing today's Democrats to the McGovern platform.
By George S. McGovern, GEORGE S. MCGOVERN, a former U.S. senator from South Dakota, was the Democratic nominee for president in 1972.
April 24, 2007

It is my firm belief that the Cheney-Bush team has committed offenses that are worse than those that drove Nixon, Vice President Spiro Agnew and Atty. Gen. John Mitchell from office after 1972. Indeed, as their repeated violations of the Constitution and federal statutes, as well as their repudiation of international law, come under increased consideration, I expect to see Cheney and Bush forced to resign their offices before 2008 is over.

Aside from a growing list of impeachable offenses, the vice president has demonstrated his ignorance of foreign policy by attacking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for visiting Syria. Apparently he thinks it is wrong to visit important Middle East states that sometimes disagree with us. Isn't it generally agreed that Nixon's greatest achievement was talking to the Chinese Communist leaders, which opened the door to that nation? And wasn't President Reagan's greatest achievement talking with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev until the two men worked out an end to the Cold War? Does Cheney believe that it's better to go to war rather than talk with countries with which we have differences?

We, of course, already know that when Cheney endorses a war, he exempts himself from participation. On second thought, maybe it's wise to keep Cheney off the battlefield — he might end up shooting his comrades rather than the enemy.

On a more serious note, instead of listening to the foolishness of the neoconservative ideologues, the Cheney-Bush team might better heed the words of a real conservative, Edmund Burke: "A conscientious man would be cautious how he dealt in blood."

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-mcgovern24apr24,0,4084076.story

[Melissa G]

19. Simple explanation of new "smoking gun" on RNC election fraud in Ohio

One more excellent post by philly_bob!
DU discussion here...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x471399

Tue Apr-24-07 12:39 PM
Original message
Simple explanation of new "smoking gun" on RNC election fraud in Ohio
Here’s my layman’s account of some significant news about the 2004 Ohio election. It involves the Website Hosting History of <http://election.sos.state.oh.us >. It may be proof that national -- not state -- Republican figures were able to change the election counts.

This data was produced using a NetCraft “toolbar” feature which, given a website’s URL, returns a history of changes in the website hosting service provider. The <http://election.sos.state.oh.us > webpage handled the election results in the 2004 Presidential election.

The data shows ten changes in the Hosting History of the Ohio Secretary of State’s webpage between 2004 and 2007. Eight of the changes are routine changes in the hosting service arrangement with OARnet in Columbus Ohio.

But one of the changes is a Smoking Gun for vote-counting fraud: On November 3, 2004 -- the day before election day -- the Hosting History reports a switch from OARnet to Smartech Corporation of Chattanooga, Tennessee. The hosting switches back to OARnet on November 5, 2004 -- the day after the election.

Why is this significant?

Because Smartech Corporation has strong ties to the Republican National Committee. For instance, it handled video at the 2004 Republican convention (http://www.smartechcorp.net/index.php?page=news&sub=sto... ) and it was in the news recently for hosting the “gwb43.com” RNC emails that the Judiciary Committee subpoena’d but have been mysteriously “lost” (http://www.robtex.com/dns/gwb43.com.html ).

more good stuff here...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x471399

[Melissa G]

20. Karl Rove's Jim Crow Voter Suppression Machine is Humming Along Just Fine, All Ready for 2008

Karl Rove's Jim Crow Voter Suppression Machine is Humming Along Just Fine, All Ready for 2008
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Tue, 04/24/2007 - 6:57am. Editorials
A BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL

It was an April 21st article that could easily escape your notice: "Ruling lets Arizona require proof of citizenship from voters." The first paragraph of the Associated Press story reads, "A federal appeals court on Friday rejected an attempt to halt enforcement of Arizona's first-in-the-nation requirement that all residents prove they are U.S. citizens when they first register to vote."

Not that the one article in itself should set off alarm bells. But when you put together evidence from the Bush Administration in regards to voter suppression tactics, the partisan U.S. prosecutors, and other indicators, it becomes clear -- as Greg Palast has been warning us – that the Bush Republican Party plans to hold onto the White House for the GOP in 2008 through whatever means possible.

The key electoral strategy, beginning with the infamous "felon purge" in Florida in 2000, has been minority voter suppression. And when they can’t suppress enough votes, they just steal the election, as Scalia and the Supreme Court felonious five did to put Bush in office. (Remember that Gore beat Bush in the popular count by more than half a million votes.)

snip
It goes something like this. First, use every means possible to suppress minority and other Democractic votes. This includes passing "Jim Crow" style voting laws in the states. Secondly, employ tactics like the Florida felon purge to deny voting rights to Democrats. Thirdly, use U.S. prosecutors to magnify minor voting irregularities in Democratic areas and make it appear as if the Dems are engaging in widespread voter fraud. Fourthly, use the legal action brought by partisan GOP U.S. Attorneys to have loyalist Republicans cite them as further justification for "Jim Crow" laws at the state level.
more at...
http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/editorials/134

[livvy]

22. Get back up there! Lots of good stuff here! n/t

[freedomfries]

23. K&R

:hi:

[rumpel]

24. Wow

:applause: