Replies: 32 Comments

Comment #1: Rusty said on 10/15/06 @ 2:06am ET...

Every progressive in this corporate wasteland of lies once known as America has been fighting a long, hard battle. Many of us have been making it through each day on willpower alone, supplemented by steady infusions of coffee to stave off exhaustion.

Even as we've given everything we have to win this battle, some of us have also had deal with personal tragedies, unemployment, financial crises, family conflicts, workplace turmoil, children in harm's way overseas, and serious health problems.

But every one of us is still fighting. We're fighting for the sake of those who are no longer with us today, for loved ones and for people we've never known who have died in Iraq, and in New Orleans, and in nameless places where poverty and disease and despair have taken them from this world because their own government didn't give a damn about them.

We're fighting to sanctify those we have lost, to defend those in danger today, and to prevent even greater horrors. This is not a political battle, it is much more than that, for it may well be the final confrontation between truth and deceit. If we lose, the truth loses, and it may never be heard again, for Bush will get his war with Iran and voices of dissent will be systematically silenced as that war escalates into regional and then global war.

Through long, dark years of escalating madness, a few hundred thousand progressive activists, led by a handful of elected leaders and journalists, have stood alone against the combined might and overwhelming power of the corporate, media, and government establishments.

For years, they have abused us, mocked us, demonized us, and slandered us. But they have been unable to silence us, and now our message is ringing out across this country, and is echoing in the hearts of tens of millions of Americans. Redemption is within our reach, but it has been within our reach before, only to be lost.

Many years ago, in a time of hope mixed with foreboding of dark times ahead, a young idealist wrote a song that has even more relevance today than it did on the eve of the Vietnam War:

How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many years can a mountain exist
Before it is washed to the sea?
Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head,
And pretend that he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

The answer is no longer blowin’ in the wind, never to be found. It has been in America’s soul all along. The answer we’ve been seeking is the simple acknowledgement that we must face the truth, speak the truth, and honor the truth by acting upon it.

We’ve paid a heavy price for ignoring this fundamental moral obligation. We’ve walked down too many long, hard roads only to find a dead end because the blind have been leading the blind. Too many people have cried. Too many people have died. Too many people have turned their heads and pretended they just couldn’t see.

Progressives have found the answer, and between now and November 7, we must proclaim the truth, reclaim this wayward nation from Bush and his Republicans, set a new course for America and the world, and establish a government of the truth, by the truth, and for the truth.

That is the journey we must take if there is to be any hope of saving this troubled world from the consequences of the endless, pervasive lies of our leaders.

Comment #2: koryannder said on 10/15/06 @ 4:57am ET...

Dylan was popular not because he had a voice, but because he had a message. Let us give proper heed to it.

Meanwhile, to continue "Necessary moves . . . "

7. Restore our manufacturing capacity. Allowing firms to “Offshore” their manufacture of essential or useful commodities must cease. We have impoverished our citizenry – this is a poor way to create a taxpaying base! One by one, inform firms which have moved their operations offshore, that they have a given (but short) time to decide whether or not they are American firms! Install tariffs such that the offshore manufacturers must meet American standards. Let these firms know that if they come back, they will be treated like other American firms, but if not, they will be hit with protective tariffs to the extent that if they sell here they will be paying more taxes than they would if they brought the jobs back. These people are actually traitors, and should be given NO leniency! Yes, this means abrogating NAFTA and CAFTA - and high time, too! So-called “Free Trade” is too expensive! Our experiment with it has proven to be disastrous, and must be terminated. “Globalization” is a snare and a delusion, and is in the process of bankrupting the World. It must be totally rethought, and the WTO revamped in order to restore national sovereignties. “Fair Trade” is a good place to start.

8. Single payer Health Care must be enacted, and the criminal profit removed from prescription drugs. The FDA must be revamped. No person with any financial connection to a drug company may work for the FDA, and no drug company may supply any funding to the agency. Preventive medicine must be emphasized, and dietary supplements used for general strengthening of the immune system encouraged. The FDA is limited to studies on prescription drugs, and may NOT interfere in any way with foodstuffs, which really belong to the Department of Agriculture. Vitamins, minerals, nutriceuticals, etc. will be removed from any oversight by FDA, whose title will be changed to “Federal Drug Administration,” the financial holdings of its personnel examined, any connection with pharmaceutical drug establishments being grounds for immediate transfer, its staff reduced to be commensurate with its reduced mission, and staff consisting of organic chemists, biologists, physiologists and biochemists recruited to deal with the new mission. A general policy of “Caveat Emptor” will be applied to supplements. Since the most expensive supplements are orders of magnitude cheaper than prescription drugs, the canard that “All supplements do is produce expensive urine” need not even be considered. Let Health Freedom have a chance. Actual Minimum Daily Requirements will be determined and payment for those quantities authorized. For amounts above double those requirements, the person will have to fund them himself . However, the requirements must be REAL, NOT the pitifully bowdlerized amounts of the current RDA’s or Codex nonsense.

9. The Hill-Burton Act must be reenacted and the destruction of America’s ability to care for the unwell halted. At the same time, Hospitals as a source of wealth must be reexamined and put on a regulated footing as other public utilities are. Certain practices must be examined and halted. A single example will suffice. At present, the fear of AIDS is so great that it is routine for ALL instruments used in surgical procedures to be discarded, replaced, and paid for by the patient or his insurance company (at something like ten times their acquisition cost!) The time-honored practice of sterilization by autoclave has been abandoned, and all instruments used are new. While this practice is profitable for everyone in the procurement chain, it is wasteful in the extreme. Immersion for several hours in a powerful oxidizing medium such as Permanganate solution, 30 per cent Hydrogen peroxide, or 10 per cent Hypochlorite solution, followed by high-pressure autoclaving will remove all bacterial and viral contamination. Similarly, linens which are now destroyed after single use can be laundered using proteolytic enzymes, double detergent with bleach, autoclaved and dried under ultraviolet light to remove contamination. There is utterly no excuse for the rampant waste characteristic of America’s remaining hospitals.

more later - - -

Comment #3: wallen said on 10/15/06 @ 6:53am ET...

So, what is it they know... could it be the e-voting that will bring them victory? Osama?

White House Upbeat About GOP Prospects
Self-Assurance of Bush, Rove and Others Is Not Shared by Many in the Party

By Michael Abramowitz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 15, 2006; A04

Amid widespread panic in the Republican establishment about the coming midterm elections, there are two people whose confidence about GOP prospects strikes even their closest allies as almost inexplicably upbeat: President Bush and his top political adviser, Karl Rove.

Some Republicans on Capitol Hill are bracing for losses of 25 House seats or more. But party operatives say Rove is predicting that, at worst, Republicans will lose only 8 to 10 seats -- shy of the 15-seat threshold that would cede control to Democrats for the first time since the 1994 elections and probably hobble the balance of Bush's second term.
click here

Comment #4: koryannder said on 10/15/06 @ 7:52am ET...

There is either a hellacious "October Surprise" in the works - possibly a "False flag" operation off Iran - that is counted on to stampede Americans to the polls to vote in droves for the perps,

or -

and this is what worries me - they are SO SURE that their damn' crooked voting machines have enough control to sweep the election! After all, Georgia, Texas, Florida, and Ohio are firmly in the grip of Diebold, ES&S and Sequoia, and many other states as well. In spite of the excellent work done by Bev Harris and others at Black Box Voting, in the last analysis, the damn' crooks STILL have control of the machines, and when there is no trail, you have to accept the "Official" count, no matter what. I do not believe that there is machinery in place in the States to rerun disputed elections, but there should be. If exit polling differs from "Official" results, tipping elections, automatic reruns should be the order of the day - but they ARE expensive - - - I personally recommend early voting in states where that is allowed, and absentee voting everywhere else, if you feel that a recount may be needed. The paper there is undeniable, although even there it can be savaged.

"Who casts the votes decides nothing. Who counts the votes decides eveerything."
- - - Josef Stalin

Comment #5: wallen said on 10/15/06 @ 7:57am ET...

What the f*&#@...?

Dispute heads to Blackwell
Secretary of state's office to vote on challenge to Strickland's residency
By Lisa A. Abraham
Beacon Journal staff writer

It's up to Republican Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell to decide whether a challenge to the voter registration of his Democratic opponent for Ohio governor will move forward.

The challenge, filed last week at the Columbiana County Board of Elections, contends that Congressman Ted Strickland should not be allowed to vote from his Lisbon address because he really lives in Columbus.

Strickland and his wife own a condominium in Columbus and rent a home in Lisbon, which is in Strickland's congressional district. It's too late for Strickland to change his voter registration.

Strickland has voted for the past three years from his Lisbon address, but he files his federal income taxes from his Columbus address and declared that it was his permanent address on papers he filed to receive a property tax reduction in Franklin County.

At a meeting of the Columbiana County elections board on Thursday, Democratic member Dennis Johnson moved to dismiss the challenge. The four-member board voted along party lines, creating a tie: Democrats voting in favor of dismissal, and Republicans against it, according to John Payne, deputy director.

Republican member Al Fricano, meanwhile, moved to postpone action on the challenge. That motion also resulted in a tie vote, this time with Republicans voting yes and Democrats no.

Both votes will be sent to Blackwell's office to break the ties.
click here

Comment #6: Truth_in_action said on 10/15/06 @ 8:04am ET...

#3, Wallen, it will be a criminal act pulled if that happens. People will have to take to the streets to protest which is their right under law (can anyone find that law - does it still exist?).

It could not be more important at this time that people look over every aspect of the Blackboxvoting.org's Citizens Tool Kit at www.blackoxvoting.org/toolkit.pdf and see what you can do on that list before and during the election.

Also, please sign up for the National Hand Count Registry that they have online as well at www.bbvforums.org/cgi-bin/forums/board-profile.cgi?action=register.

Send your friends and family the information about both. It is urgent that you do so, as well as make them aware of the stakes at large in this most urgent election. #1 Rusty and #2 Koryannder have it dead on. If we don't do it this time... well, losing is just not an option, folks.

Comment #7: Nolip said on 10/15/06 @ 8:46am ET...

Come November 8th, there will be two choices 1)letting the world know how delusional BushCo really is or 2)how cunning they still are as they steal the elections again...


White House upbeat about GOP prospects
Self-assurance of Rove, Bush and others is not shared by many in party

Comment #8: unspun said on 10/15/06 @ 9:18am ET...

Re: Iraq - two interesting reports about our "progress" there: John Murtha writes in the WaPo about the ever-escalating costs of the war:
Dept of Name Calling - Confessions of a Defeatocrat

Iraq's descent into anarchy, part II: Tom Brokow summarizes impact of Brit Commander's "UK Troops Need to Pull out of Iraq" statement: The Fabric of Law in Iraq is Unraveling (BTW, this would make a great Dem campaign ad.)

Oh and, here's how we reward our allies for backing us up (even though misguidedly):
US Hangs UK out to dry in Afghanistan - Refuses to Supply Desperately Needed Helicopters

Re #1 - Great comment Rusty.

Re #6: TIA – (Glad to See you back!) The Blackbox voting toolkit is a Great Resource that anyone can use to do their part to help safeguard the integrity of the November elections. Thanks for the reminders & I hope everyone pitches in to help save our democracy.

Go Tigers!!

Comment #9: unspun said on 10/15/06 @ 10:08am ET...

Congressman Conyers:

Is this Legal?: The Center for Public Integrity CPI – Swift Boat Silent Partners lists donors to the “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth”:

Donor #31: The “US AIR FORCE” giving $17,150, and Donor #37: the “U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION” donating $10,400.

(Via a kos diary: Swift Boat Vets for Republicans? )

I don’t have the means to investigate: A. The accuracy of that donor list, to determine if in fact, the US Air Force and US Dept. of Transportation actually did make those donations and if so, were federal tax dollars used for that donation? B. Whether such a donation would be legal or not. I just thought I’d call it to your attention to see if you feel this bears further investigation.

Comment #10: Nolip said on 10/15/06 @ 6:02pm ET...

Even the family doesn't agree with BushCos policies...


"The elder Bush voices public support for his son, but many of the former president's closest aides beg to differ."

One proud Poppy ... but

Comment #11: Jay Lechnyr said on 10/15/06 @ 9:17pm ET...

I'm going to date myself here but,

Go Get 'Em Tigers!!!

Yes, it's been a very difficult two years trying to keep a cogent discussion with bushies. If you could read the conversations, you would think I'm speaking with multiple people the way they shift the subject around to avoid being pinned. From non existent al quaida links to non existent terrorist threats to the U.S. to eliminating a dictator, to non existent weapons of mass destruction, to.... they just cant stay on a single subject for more than a single sentence.

Five years ago, we could not have those discussions because any dissention was considered equivalent to treason. Today, we cant have a discussion because conservatives cant talk about it. All they can say is "we gotta stay there and finish the job".

As if keeping our troops in the middle of a civil war is going to stabilize anything. It did not work in Vietnam, so why do so many think it will work in Iraq?

We all need to remind the folks of Ohio of the money that this war has taken from their economy.

Taxpayers in Ohio will pay $13.3 billion for the cost of war in Iraq. For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided:


4,444,110 People with Health Care or
225,290 Elementary School Teachers or
2,047,188 Head Start Places for Children or
7,540,014 Children with Health Care or
123,652 Affordable Housing Units or
1,194 New Elementary Schools or
1,640,474 Scholarships for University Students or
202,959 Music and Arts Teachers or
318,040 Public Safety Officers or
14,848,539 Homes with Renewable Electricity or
273,508 Port Container Inspectors
Source :National Priorities.org

I wonder how many jobs 13 billion dollars would have created in Ohio? Let's see here
Average wage in Ohio $37,596 according to the US Dept. of Labor
Corporate payroll taxes on that would be about $12,000.
so 13 billion divided by 50,000 is about 260,000 / 5 years = 52,000 jobs lost in ohio because of the Iraq war. That's roughly the entire population of Elyria Ohio put out of work because of our occupation of Iraq.

Hmm... I suppose we can say that the republicans not only stole millions in Ohio pensions but also outsourced 52 thousand jobs to Iraq.

That republicans are entirely responsible for all of Ohio's economic woes becomes quite obvious if given even a little thought.

We should plaster it all over ohio.

Comment #12: Happy said on 10/15/06 @ 9:57pm ET...

No debate would occur about whether to apprehend, arrest and confine in jail - the suspects of a bank robbery.

Tell me why the relevant authorities do not apprehend, arrest and confine until trial (i.e. hold without access to bail) those suspected of perpetrating an illegal war of aggression in Iraq (which was based on fraudulent premises, by the way).

Comment #13: Jay Lechnyr said on 10/15/06 @ 10:49pm ET...

In other news that is much more dear to my heart. 8 Pakistanis were released from incarceration in Guantanamo Bay. All eight talk of torture and degradation while incarcerated. After 5 years of incarceration they are finally being released and the U.S. claims they were innocent after all.

Five years of their lives taken away and they are simply released just like it was an hour of their time on some lazy afternoon. We dump them without compensation, no apologies, nothing.

What kind of monsters are we that our nation could treat people like that and then simply dump them without any remorse? In trying to describe people who could do this.... For once words escape me. That is the most despicable, scurvious, loathesome act of depravity I can possibly imagine doing to an innocent man.

I am so truely ashamed of my country for this. What possible excuse could there be for incarcerating innocent men without trial, without representation, without charges, completely disenfranchised, subject them to the tortures and degradations that we all know has happened there, and then just dump them in Pakistan like yesterdays garbage without compensation, apologies, or even a single sign of remorse?

America already has a bad reputation for doing this. Whenever we find an innocent man imprisoned, we release him but we do even less for him after his release than we do for the criminals. There are support services available to those who leave prison - but the newly released innocent generally does not qualify for them. American society does a double injustice to the innocent man wrongly convicted. We need to change that.

And so we are now dumping these men in Pakistan the same way. What will this say to the world about America? That we're unjust, arrogant, and remorseless, I would imagine. All that rhetoric about justice, equality, and all that we say about American values is nothing more than cynical propaganda. Only fools would believe Americans when we say we stand for truth or justice.

Incarcerating an innocent man, even by mistake, is wrong regardless of nationality. We have a long standing policy of not caring enough about the damage we do to the wrongly convicted. This needs to change for the sake of our civilization.

I know this is just one of so many injustices in America today. Our nation's mindset has seriously backslid into becoming so much like the terrorists we claim to so much abhor. It's hard to advocate a more progressive justice when so much else has regressed toward barbarity. So please forgive my impertinence this once in advocating more progressive treatment of those we wrongfully convict and incarcerate. Not just those released from Gitmo, but the innocent released from prison everywhere deserves more than just to be dumped onto the street like they're not worth any more attention than garbage.

They and their family should all be compensated fairly for lost wages and time. They should have full access to all the services we provide released convicts and their innocence should be published in the local papers regardless of where they decide to reside. All complimnets of the government (state or federal) that wronged them. I'm not advocating any kind of punitive damages for honest mistakes. I'm not talking about multi million dollar lawsuits. I'm talking about justice, morality, ethics, and moving our civilization a little more towards civility.

Comment #14: Jay Lechnyr said on 10/16/06 @ 10:01am ET...

I think the administration has oversold the case that Iraq could become a jihadist state," said Benjamin, now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "If the U.S. were to leave Iraq tomorrow, the result would be a bloodbath in which Sunnis and Shiites fight it out. But the jihadists would not be able to seek power.

Comment #15: unspun said on 10/16/06 @ 12:30pm ET...

Congressman Conyers: Democratic Underground has the following post:
Our Constitutional Crisis & the Importance of This in November's Elections .

TimeforChange's Post: ... "The central issue in this November’s elections is the abject failure of our Republican Congress to deal with a Constitutional crisis which could result in the destruction of our nation as we know it. John Conyers’ great report, “The Constitution in Crisis – The Downing Street Minutes and Deception, Manipulation, Torture, Retribution, Cover-ups in the Iraq War, and Illegal Domestic Surveillance”, says it all. The Constitutional crisis that we now find ourselves in is fundamentally different – and worse – than anything our country has faced since the Civil War..."

Comment #16: MAX 1 said on 10/16/06 @ 12:34pm ET...

Something strange with the timing of Saddam's trial/verdict announcement day; Nov. 5, 2006.

Or do you believe in coincidences???

Comment #17: Truth_in_action said on 10/16/06 @ 1:10pm ET...

#12, Happy, it's the absolute unadulterated truth.

That's my whole point about this country acting like the children of co-dependent parents. We cannot afford to take this abuse any longer. Why isn't anything being done to stop those who are creating and responsible for the overt criminal acts this Admimistration is purpetrating repeatedly and in full view of those that should be taking action to stop them?

This is not a rhetorical question.

Comment #18: Truth_in_action said on 10/16/06 @ 2:05pm ET...

With polls this negative, I hope everyone with a brain will vote for Democrats in this next election.

Scientific Poll: 84% Reject Official 9/11 Story
Only 16% now believe official fable according to New York Times/CBS News poll

Efforts should be made to find the person that Lauro Chavez remembers as saying they received stand-down orders on 9/11. Lauro Chavez Clarifies Points For His Critics.

Comment #19: Alma said on 10/16/06 @ 2:29pm ET...

Hurray! Got JCs book in the mail today.

Now we can spread the word better.

Comment #20: Genghis Khan said on 10/16/06 @ 6:38pm ET...

A 1000-line PERL script caught a registered sex offender prowling MySpace.

Now if we could turn that code loose on certain Senators...

Comment #21: Genghis Khan said on 10/16/06 @ 8:12pm ET...

Good news for Ohio...

Comment #22: Frosted Flake said on 10/16/06 @ 8:56pm ET...

How did the Secret Service find out?

Aside from the issue of the behaviors :
a/ Misrepresentations to both parent and school.
b/ Addressing the child without the parent.
c/ Doing so at school, effectively in front of her peers, for, persumably, the effect.
d/ Yelling.

And aside from the issue of the first amendment.

How did the Secret Service find out.

That is not a question, but an accusation.
Frosted Flake

Comment #23: koryannder said on 10/17/06 @ 2:58am ET...

It seems obvious. There is very good filter software out there that the "No Such Agency" (NSA) uses to spy on absolutely everyone in the Country who has a website or a Blog. All that has to happen to alert them is to put the right (wrong) words together, and bingo! the trap springs and you get a visit from the FBI. Prople who can be intimidated by such visits might mend their ways, but overall, I believe the tactic to be nonproductive. At least, if Americans are still Americans, the basic injustice of it will cost more votes to the party of intimidation than it will gain. I will guarantee, for example, that this girl's parents will never again vote for ANY member of the oppressive party, and neither will most of their friends. I would guesstimate that this episode cost Arnie more than a thousand votes, unless he is smart enough to repudiate such tactics in a hurry!

Comment #24: Rusty said on 10/17/06 @ 3:10am ET...

Colleen Rowley Deserves Our Help

Colleen is an American hero. If the political hacks running the FBI had listened to her warnings about Zacarias Moussaoui, 9/11 might have been prevented. In 2002 she spoke out against the powerful leadership of the FBI for their shameful dereliction of their responsibilities, earning praise from fellow FBI agents like Phil Orestky: "She demonstrated extraordinary moral courage, because it was done at great risk to her career. That's something you see very rarely in government."

Colleen was trailing Republican John Kline 55-35 but the latest poll brings well-deserved news, for she has surged into striking distance of Bush's rubber stamp in MN-02, 48-40.

LET'S HELP HER WIN THIS RACE, AMERICANS HAVE NEVER NEEDED CONSCIENTIOUS PUBLIC SERVANTS IN CONGRESS MORE THAN THEY DO RIGHT NOW.

Colleen Rowley for Congress

According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Rowley has been criticized by some Democrats in the MN DFL for her hesitancy to raise big money, but that's exactly the kind of integrity our representatives in Congress should all embrace. "Asking people for high amounts? My stomach just turns when I hear these things," Rowley said. "I feel really terrible taking money from people."

If that isn't the most refreshing and heartwarming thing a candidate for Congress has said since 1787, I'd like to know what is.

Colleen has been campaigning her heart out because she wants to go to Congress to help us take back our government from Jack Abramoff's 300 corrupt Republican co-conspirators on Capitol Hill and their lying Shakedown-Artist-in Chief at the other end of Let's Rob America Blind Avenue.

Please, please, please send Colleen a contribution if you can. She can win this race, and of all the great Democratic candidates we have running this year, none of them deserve to go to Congress more than Colleen.

Colleen Rowley for Congress

Thank you.

Comment #25: Rusty said on 10/17/06 @ 3:15am ET...

Alma #19,

Obviously, JC holds one of us in much higher esteem than he does some of the rest of us. Or he started signing our books alphabetically by blogger name, in which case I'll be waiting for my book a little while longer yet.

Comment #26: wallen said on 10/17/06 @ 6:51am ET...

more on this...

And the Winner Is ... Me

Voters in Ohio can be forgiven if they feel they have been beamed out of the Midwest and dropped into a third-world autocracy. The latest news from the state’s governor’s race is that the Republican nominee, Kenneth Blackwell, who is also the Ohio secretary of state, could rule that his opponent is ineligible to run because of a technicality. We’d like to think that his office would not ultimately do that, or that if it did, such a ruling would not be allowed to stand. But the mere fact that an elected official and political candidate has the authority to toss his opponent out of a race is further evidence of a serious flaw in our democracy.

Ted Strickland, the Democratic nominee, is leading Mr. Blackwell by as much as 28 points, according to one recent poll. In their panic, some Blackwell supporters have hit on the idea of trying to prevent the election from occurring. One of them filed a complaint alleging that Mr. Strickland, who is a member of Congress, does not live in the apartment where he is registered to vote. Mr. Strickland owns a condominium in another part of Ohio, and the complaint alleges that he actually lives there. If Mr. Strickland was not a qualified voter, he would be prohibited from running for governor.
click here

Comment #27: wallen said on 10/17/06 @ 6:54am ET...

Blocking The 2006 Vote
Tova Andrea Wang
October 16, 2006

Tova Andrea Wang is Democracy Fellow at The Century Foundation.

While much attention is appropriately being paid to the problems with electronic voting machines, we must also focus on the many other ways voters were disenfranchised in 2004 and could be again in 2006. In the midst of talk about paper trails and frozen computer screens, have we all forgotten the registration problems, the intimidation tactics, the tossed provisional ballots and the unacceptably long lines that led to so many disenfranchised voters in 2004? If so, we had better remember, because recent analysis shows the states have not done enough to make sure such problems don’t rear their ugly heads again during the 2006 and 2008 elections.

click here

Comment #28: Nolip said on 10/17/06 @ 7:12am ET...

Censorship in Orwellian terms...

"ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- A woman who was ticketed for having an obscene anti-Bush bumper sticker filed a lawsuit in federal court Monday against a county in the state of Georgia and its officials."

Nurse sues over ticket for anti-Bush bumper sticker

Comment #29: Nolip said on 10/17/06 @ 7:19am ET...

There's a terrorist in every lunch box...

"SACRAMENTO — Upset by the war in Iraq, Julia Wilson vented her frustrations with President Bush last spring on her Web page on MySpace.com. She posted a picture of the president, scrawled "Kill Bush" across the top and drew a dagger stabbing his outstretched hand. She later replaced her page on the social-networking site after learning in her eighth-grade history class that such threats are a federal offense."

Teen questioned for online Bush threats

Comment #30: koryannder said on 10/17/06 @ 8:46am ET...

See my comment #23 above for how it happened. ANY of us could be targeted if any of our remarks could be construed to be threatening, even if we're only 14. The No Such Agency software does not sort people by age - and I GUARANTEE that NSA has a 24/7 watch on THIS Blog!!!

Comment #31: koryannder said on 10/17/06 @ 8:54am ET...

BTW, Nolip - for quoting the content of Julia's message, it is quite possible that YOU will be visited by the FBI, since the NSA software probably considers only juxtaposition of certain words, rather than whether they are part of a quote - in other words, "Content, rather than context." If you DO get a call from the foolish bureau of incrimination, I hope you will tell us all about it.

Comment #32: wallen said on 10/17/06 @ 9:19am ET...

Reflections on the Eve of
Another Rigged Election


Ernest Partridge, Co-Editor
The Crisis Papers
October 17, 2006

The Bush administration can not allow the Democrats to take control of either house of Congress. And they are in a position to prevent it, regardless of the will of the American voters.

These are the two controlling facts that make all other conditions of the coming election trivial in comparison, or even irrelevant. The failure of the media and even the Democratic Party to acknowledge and deal with these facts in no way diminishes their significance. Quite the contrary.

And why can’t the Busheviks allow the loss of even one house of Congress to the Democrats? Such a loss might, of course, result in the halting and even some reversal of the Bush/GOP agenda. But that is the least of their concerns. Far more important would be the reestablishment of Congressional oversight -- of investigations, with the penalties of perjury and contempt of Congress, into vast array of crimes committed by the Bush administration. Among these crimes are bribery, the disappearance of billions of dollars in Iraq, war crimes, the disregard of acts of Congress, lying to Congress, and fraudulent elections. In a new, Democratic, House of Representatives, the incorruptible Henry Waxman, as the new Chair of the Government Affairs Committee, would doggedly examine and expose the corruption of the Bush Administration, and John Conyers, the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, would, at long last, energetically investigate the issue of stolen elections. Accordingly, Bush and his partners in crime face far more than a curtailment of power; they face possible indictment, prosecution, and prison sentences for their crimes.
click here