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Latest Featured Reports | Friday, March 29, 2024
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It's Up to You, New York: 'BradCast' 3/21/24
Trump staring down barrel of both civil and criminal accountability in NY; Also: Biden forgives another $6B in student loans; U.S. seeks 'sustained ceasefire' in Gaza; Scientists baffled by spike in record global heat...
'Green News Report' 3/21/24
  w/ Brad & Desi
Biden EPA issues biggest climate regulation in U.S. history; Rio hits 144°F heat index!; Exxon CEO blames YOU for climate change; PLUS: U.N. issues climate change 'red alert'!...
Previous GNRs: 3/19/24 - 3/14/24 - Archives...
'It All Comes Down to Brett and Amy': 'BradCast' 3/20/24
Guest: Slate's Mark Joseph Stern on another stunning week of federal judiciary debacles; Also: Primary results from AZ, FL, IL, KS, OH, CA; Biden EPA's 'biggest climate move yet'...
American 'Bloodbath':
'BradCast' 3/19/24
Trump is promising political violence whether he wins or loses; Also: Navarro goes to prison; Scofflaw MI MAGA attorney arrested; SCOTUS allows TX to override federal law, Constitution; Biden's SOTU success...
'Green News Report' 3/19/24
  w/ Brad & Desi
EPA finally bans all uses of asbestos; Biden unveils billions for rebuilding communities broken by highway construction; Extreme heat in Africa; PLUS: MA coastal town follies...
Previous GNRs: 3/14/24 - 3/12/24 - Archives...
Corporations 'Taking a Bazooka' to NLRB, Hoping to Declare it 'Unconstitutional': 'BradCast' 3/18/24
Guest: Labor journo Steven Greenhouse; Also: Putin's 'election'; Trump can't find $450M...
Sunday 'Wouldn't Wanna Be Ya' Toons
FEATURING: Moses Mike...Trump II Terror...TikTok Truth...and more in our latest collection of the week's most secular toons!...
Schumer Steps Up; Trump Associates Paid Biden 'Bribe' Liar $600k: 'BradCast' 3/14/24
Also: TikTok foolishness; NY hush-money trial delay?; Navarro must go to jail; Trump owes $400k for failed 'Steele Dossier' suit in UK...
'Green News Report' 3/14/24
FL bans heat protections for workers; Methane leaks continue; GOP Project 2025 would ban Paris Agreement; PLUS: CA snowpack is back, but too late for salmon...
After Accountability for Fraud, What's Next for the Corrupt NRA and Gun Safety Reforms?: 'BradCast' 3/13/24
Guest: Brady Center's Kelly Sampson; Also: Biden, Trump clinch; GA judge nixes 6 counts...
How to Media Better and Other Smart Ideas:
'BradCast' 3/12/24
Press quietly resets weeks of misreporting on Biden; Suggestions for NYT; Stephanopoulos v. Mace; Also: Buck quits; RNC 'bloodbath'; WI's MAGA Speaker Recall...
'Green News Report' 3/12/24
Biden touts climate jobs boom at SOTU; Feb. obliterated global temp and ocean heat records; PLUS: Great Barrier Reef hit with yet another 'mass bleaching event'...
BARCODED BALLOTS AND BALLOT MARKING DEVICES
BMDs pose a new threat to democracy in all 50 states...
VIDEO: 'Rise of the Tea Bags'
Brad interviews American patriots...
'Democracy's Gold Standard'
Hand-marked, hand-counted ballots...
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GOP Voter Registration Fraud Scandal 2012...
VA GOP VOTER REG FRAUDSTER OFF HOOK
Felony charges dropped against VA Republican caught trashing voter registrations before last year's election. Did GOP AG, Prosecutor conflicts of interest play role?...

Criminal GOP Voter Registration Fraud Probe Expanding in VA
State investigators widening criminal probe of man arrested destroying registration forms, said now looking at violations of law by Nathan Sproul's RNC-hired firm...

DOJ PROBE SOUGHT AFTER VA ARREST
Arrest of RNC/Sproul man caught destroying registration forms brings official calls for wider criminal probe from compromised VA AG Cuccinelli and U.S. AG Holder...

Arrest in VA: GOP Voter Reg Scandal Widens
'RNC official' charged on 13 counts, for allegely trashing voter registration forms in a dumpster, worked for Romney consultant, 'fired' GOP operative Nathan Sproul...

ALL TOGETHER: ROVE, SPROUL, KOCHS, RNC
His Super-PAC, his voter registration (fraud) firm & their 'Americans for Prosperity' are all based out of same top RNC legal office in Virginia...

LATimes: RNC's 'Fired' Sproul Working for Repubs in 'as Many as 30 States'
So much for the RNC's 'zero tolerance' policy, as discredited Republican registration fraud operative still hiring for dozens of GOP 'Get Out The Vote' campaigns...

'Fired' Sproul Group 'Cloned', Still Working for Republicans in At Least 10 States
The other companies of Romney's GOP operative Nathan Sproul, at center of Voter Registration Fraud Scandal, still at it; Congressional Dems seek answers...

FINALLY: FOX ON GOP REG FRAUD SCANDAL
The belated and begrudging coverage by Fox' Eric Shawn includes two different video reports featuring an interview with The BRAD BLOG's Brad Friedman...

COLORADO FOLLOWS FLORIDA WITH GOP CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION
Repub Sec. of State Gessler ignores expanding GOP Voter Registration Fraud Scandal, rants about evidence-free 'Dem Voter Fraud' at Tea Party event...

CRIMINAL PROBE LAUNCHED INTO GOP VOTER REGISTRATION FRAUD SCANDAL IN FL
FL Dept. of Law Enforcement confirms 'enough evidence to warrant full-blown investigation'; Election officials told fraudulent forms 'may become evidence in court'...

Brad Breaks PA Photo ID & GOP Registration Fraud Scandal News on Hartmann TV
Another visit on Thom Hartmann's Big Picture with new news on several developing Election Integrity stories...

CAUGHT ON TAPE: COORDINATED NATIONWIDE GOP VOTER REG SCAM
The GOP Voter Registration Fraud Scandal reveals insidious nationwide registration scheme to keep Obama supporters from even registering to vote...

CRIMINAL ELECTION FRAUD COMPLAINT FILED AGAINST GOP 'FRAUD' FIRM
Scandal spreads to 11 FL counties, other states; RNC, Romney try to contain damage, split from GOP operative...

RICK SCOTT GETS ROLLED IN GOP REGISTRATION FRAUD SCANDAL
Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) sends blistering letter to Gov. Rick Scott (R) demanding bi-partisan reg fraud probe in FL; Slams 'shocking and hypocritical' silence, lack of action...

VIDEO: Brad Breaks GOP Reg Fraud Scandal on Hartmann TV
Breaking coverage as the RNC fires their Romney-tied voter registration firm, Strategic Allied Consulting...

RNC FIRES NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION FIRM FOR FRAUD
After FL & NC GOP fire Romney-tied group, RNC does same; Dead people found reg'd as new voters; RNC paid firm over $3m over 2 months in 5 battleground states...

EXCLUSIVE: Intvw w/ FL Official Who First Discovered GOP Reg Fraud
After fraudulent registration forms from Romney-tied GOP firm found in Palm Beach, Election Supe says state's 'fraud'-obsessed top election official failed to return call...

GOP REGISTRATION FRAUD FOUND IN FL
State GOP fires Romney-tied registration firm after fraudulent forms found in Palm Beach; Firm hired 'at request of RNC' in FL, NC, VA, NV & CO...
The Secret Koch Brothers Tapes...

By Brad Friedman on 10/31/2005 5:41pm PT  

Our man in the White House, Eric Brewer (the only real blogger inside the press room) of BTC News stood tough in today's gaggle in the wake of Scottie's dodges and alongside the bulk of his paid brethren who largely took the Alito nomination bait so cleverly fed to them by the crooks who'd rather do anything than explain why they seem to have lied this country into an endless and pointless war.

Brewer's question:

On October 7, 2003, the President said about the CIA leak investigation, "I want to know the truth. That's why I've instructed the staff of mine to cooperate fully with the investigators." Last Friday the special prosecutor said that he has been unable to find out the truth because of Lewis Libby's obstruction of the investigation. Does the President wish that Mr. Libby tell the truth?

See Eric's coverage to find out what --- and if --- Scottie answered...




The Incredible Story of Irvington, NY's Mayoral Election Theft
By Brad Friedman on 10/31/2005 2:36pm PT  

A great story by Bob Geiger today on how Republicans will use any means necessary to see to it that votes are not counted as long as it means an electoral "victory" for them.

The depths to which they will sink, no matter how big or small the race, never fails to amaze. From the 2000 Presidential race in Florida to the race for Mayor of Irvington, NY decided just last week after a protracted 7-month legal battle.

Geiger reports the remarkable story of how members of the Republican National Lawyers Association (RNLA) rode in to help disqualify an absentee ballot from a woman named Susan Brenner-Morton --- because she apparently had signed it "Susan B. Morton" --- in order to gain a tie in a one-vote margin race which then led to a random lottery to determine the "winner". Guess who didn't "win".

It's an incredible story revealing how far the anti-democratic forces of the Republican party will go, the way in which they happily abuse the courts and the legal system, and how winning a race at all costs justifies even the harassment of a single American citizen/voter.

And on the topic of the RNLA, we'll remind you of one of their star legal-eagle disenfranchisers, National General Counsel to Bush/Cheney '04 Inc., Mark F. "Thor" Hearne who was the keynote speaker at the Florida RNLA Chapter's "2005 Kickoff Reception" on April 15th of this year. That, several months after he founded the "non-partisan" American Center for Voting Rights scam organization.

Anyway, be sure to read Geiger's full amazing story on the latest "Republican Victory".

(Hat tip to BRAD BLOG not-so-secret-weapon, David Edwards for the link!)

For more information on the "non-partisan" tax-exempt ACVR scam and the snakeoil salesmen who invented it, Bush/Cheney '04 National General Counsel Mark F. "Thor" Hearne and RNC Communications Director Jim Dyke, please see BRAD BLOG's full Special Coverage of the "American Center for Voting Rights" at https://BradBlog.com/ACVR.



Wilson to BRAD BLOG: 'No Decision on Civil Suit...Yet'
By Brad Friedman on 10/31/2005 12:31pm PT  

We've always been bothered by Dick Cheney's September 14, 2003 statement on Meet the Press when he claimed he didn't even know who Joe Wilson was. To wit:

VICE PRES. CHENEY: No. I don't know Joe Wilson. I've never met Joe Wilson. ... like I say, I don't know Mr. Wilson. I probably shouldn't judge him. I have no idea who hired him

RAW STORY seems to have been curious about the same thing, as they reported today that, according to Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's 22-page indictment last week of Scooter Libby, Cheney was clearly lying when he made the above statement. The indictment shows that, in fact, Cheney had already attended meetings --- prior to his Meet the Press appearance --- where the question of what to do about Wilson's statements had already been discussed.

On the more direct point of whether Cheney actually knew who Joe Wilson was (whether or not he'd been discussed in recent White House meetings) The BRAD BLOG received a quick email response on Friday evening from Wilson in reply to our question on the matter. Wilson pointed out how Cheney's statement could only be perceived as true if one were to apply the strictest Clintonian-like interpretation of the English language to Cheney's statement.

Wilson explained that what Cheney said was "technically true," in that "we have
never met or laid eyes on each other."

However, the presumption that Cheney didn't know Joe Wilson would strains all credulity and common sense. As Wilson pointed out in his email, Cheney was Secretary of Defense during the first Gulf War when Wilson was Acting U.S. Ambassador in charge of the Embassy in Iraq where he sheltered 800 Americans who were held captive as "guests" of Saddam Hussein and not allowed to leave the country just prior to the war.

Wilson, indeed, was the last American to meet with Hussein before the war began. His courageous service for America in standing up to the tyrant (he actually wore a noose around his neck for one of the meetings with Saddam!) could hardly have gone unnoticed by Defense Secretary Cheney. Wilson's courageous service at that point in American history has been all but ignored, conveniently, by the wingnut apologists on the right who have taken the current White House's lead in hoping to destroy the distinguished reputation and career of Wilson along with his wife's in order to shore up their own trumped up case for war.

That fact alone demonstrates the lengths to which this White House and Cheney himself have gone --- and continue to go --- in order to obfuscate the truth to try and protect themselves. As RAW STORY's article points, "Wilson was the only line of communication between Washington and Saddam Hussein. The White House held daily briefings with Wilson, and Cheney sat in on a majority of those briefings."

And yet, Cheney was able to go on air and "mislead" with a straight face both Tim Russert and the American people by uttering the phrase, "I don't know Joe Wilson."

As to whether or not the Wilsons will file some kind of Civil Suit against the players in the White House responsible for completely destroying Valerie's distinguished 20-year career in the Agency as an expert on Weapons of Mass Destruction, Wilson told The BRAD BLOG there have been "no decisions...yet" in that regard.

Finally, if you missed 60 Minutes' report last night examining the damage done by the unprecedented White House outing of a covert CIA asset, Crooks & Liars has the full video. We recommend it.

UPDATE: Jeralyn Merrit from Talk Left emails with a pointer to a report she filed in July on this with a lot of additional detail. In her report, she also reminds us of Cheney's claim, during the Vice-Presidential Debate, that he never met John Edwards --- along with a link to the photo that shows he lied about that as well. We suppose "restoring honor and integrity to the White House" must be a full time job for these folks.

{Thanks to BRAD BLOG contributor "Kira" for research on this story.}




By Brad Friedman on 10/31/2005 10:40am PT  

Thanks to all those of you who answered last week's plea for support of The BRAD BLOG!

For those who have requested a "Monthly Subscription" option be made available, I have finally been able to set something up to make that possible! Please see the new blue form on the right side of every BRAD BLOG page for easy "One Time Donation" or "Recurring Monthly Donation". You get to set any amount you choose for either option. And thanks again for the tremendous support!




Republican U.S. Congressman, Bush Crony, Attempts to Restore 'Voter Confidence' by Disenfranchising Voters, Offering Misleading Information and Calling for Unconstitutional Measures at Poll
Published Same Day as U.S. Appellate Court Upholds Decision that Georgia's Photo ID Law is Unconstitutional 'Poll Tax'
By Brad Friedman on 10/29/2005 2:33pm PT  

Congressman Tom Feeney (R-FL) wrote an Op/Ed this week in the Orlando Sentinel in hopes of fooling the American public into supporting his atrocious new "Election Reform" bill in the U.S. House. His Op/Ed which supports his bill's call for National Photo ID requirement at the polls, was published the same day that the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a previous decision by a Federal Court that Georgia's recent bill requiring Photo ID amounted to a new "poll tax" and was therefore unconstitutional.

Here's the Counter-Op/Ed I just sent to the Sentinel in reply to Feeney's. I've added links here to the items I mention in the letter and for easy access to just some of the criminal conspiracy allegations made against Feeney as reported since last December by The BRAD BLOG. Contact info for the Sentinel, if you should wish to conatct them or write a letter as well, is at the bottom of this item...

--- Click here for REST OF STORY!... ---




'Restoring Honor and Integrity to the Oval Office'
CONYERS ANNOUNCES INVESTIGATION: 'What did Bush and Cheney Know and When Did They Know It?'
By Brad Friedman on 10/28/2005 11:44am PT  

5 counts (2 Perjury, 2 False Statements, 1 Obstruction of Justice) against I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. He resigns.

Here's the indictment. Here's Fitzgerald's website.

First time in 130 years that a White House official has been indicted says Crooks & Liars.

We recommend FireDogLake for coverage and analysis throughout the day.

What else ya got? Be the media. Discuss...

Full official statement from John Conyers calling for an investigation and the thoughts of many bloggers and others on the indictment --- and where it may lead --- are below...

--- Click here for REST OF STORY!... ---




All Part of the Same Shameful American Saga...
By Brad Friedman on 10/27/2005 8:00pm PT  

As the New York Times is now reporting in tomorrow's edition that Libby will be indicted, the investigation of Rove will continue under an extended grand jury term, but that "people involved in the case did not rule out the disclosure of previously unknown aspects of the case"... A picture of an apparently obsessed Dick Cheney, aided by his chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby seems to be emerging more and more clearly as investigations by both Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and the Senate Intelligence Committee move forward.

As well, evidence continues to come to light which further connects the once-disparate dots in the Adminstration's by-any-means-necessary march to war, their "fixing" of "facts and intelligence around the policy" of selling the war through "a conjunction of WMD and Terrorism" (as described in the Downing Street Documents), and the eventual desperate outing of covert CIA operative, Valerie Plame/Wilson in order to hold off the collapse of the trumped-up house of cards on which the entire boondoggled case for war was built.

Murray Waas has an excellent report in The National Journal today describing the pieces as they come together and the picture begins to get clearer and clearer.

In the report, Waas also breaks the news that Cheney and Libby overruled "advice from some White House political staffers and lawyers" in deciding to withhold crucial documents requested by the Senate Intelligence Committee for their 2004 investigation into pre-war intelligence.

The new information that Cheney and Libby blocked information to the Senate Intelligence Committee further underscores the central role played by the vice president's office in trying to blunt criticism that the Bush administration exaggerated intelligence data to make the case to go to war.

You'll recall the report released by the Senate Intelligence Committee chaired by Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) prior to the '04 Election which focused on the CIA's failure to get the intelligence on Iraq's WMD right. Roberts, at the time, had promised the second part of the report --- focusing on the Administration's misuse of intelligence in making their case for war --- would come only, and conveniently, after the Presidential Election.

That promised report is, so far, nowhere to be found. Though Waas reports the Committee is still at work on it. In light, however, of the information that Cheney and Libby withheld docs from the Committee, Waas reports:

Had the withheld information been turned over, according to administration and congressional sources, it likely would have shifted a portion of the blame away from the intelligence agencies to the Bush administration as to who was responsible for the erroneous information being presented to the American public, Congress, and the international community.

Though that wouldn't do, of course. Not in an Election Year, as Waas continues:

A former senior administration official familiar with the discussions on whether to turn over the materials said there was a "political element" in the matter. This official said the White House did not want to turn over records during an election year that could used by critics to argue that the administration used incomplete or faulty intelligence to go to war with Iraq. "Nobody wants something like this dissected or coming out in an election year," the former official said.

Of course not. Then the American People might have had to make an informed judgement on whether George W. Bush should continue in his previously-unelected position as President of the United States.

Waas's full article is a must read, if only to begin to understand the depths to which Cheney and his office went to keep their genie in the bottle while their case for war was beginning to unravel and as the criminal investigations now begin to work their way into the heart of both Cheney and Bush's offices.

Meanwhile, a former covert CIA operative and one-time classmate of Valerie Plame's at The Agency speaks very slowly to Wolf Blitzer in order to help him finally understand what's at stake in the matter of the unprecedent White House outing of Plame. Johnson has been valiantly attempting to fend off the tsunami of wingnut lies being floated in the media concerning the Plame case for some time. Today he got the chance to try and school Blitzer just a bit.

Crooks and Liars has the video, and maybe --- just maybe --- the facts in the case will begin to sink into Wolf's brain as the spin and smears from the GOP liars and apologists hopefully soon become the dog that just won't hunt anymore. Or am I still far too optimistic about these things? We shall see.




Votes Mysteriously Appear, Investigations Attempted to be Quashed and Inmates – Yes, Inmates --- Admit to Handling, Tampering With Ballots!
By Brad Friedman on 10/27/2005 6:41pm PT  

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

Election Fraud in Florida? Ohio? Chicago? Not this time…How about Maricopa County, Arizona, the fourth most populous county in the United States. Yes, sunny, laid back Arizona seems to be a hotbed of electoral intrigue, dispute and possible malfeasance.

It seems that the results of the September 7, 2004 Republican Primary now has Republicans turning on and challenging fellow Republicans in both the state legislature and in the media. Also emerging are stunning reports that county jail inmates --- some of whom have admitted to ballot tampering! --- were being used to handle ballots in the county in exchange for early release!

In an article in the Phoenix New Times out today --- headlined "Pandora's Box - Is Arizona's Speaker of the House afraid of what might happen if the truth is learned about a local election?" --- reporter John Dougherty tells a tale of apparent election fraud, a quid pro quo offer, new votes that appear like magic, failure by an assistant county attorney to serve a subpoena, political pressure, and one hell of a mess.

The story covers the strange tale of Maricopa County District 20 Republican Primary state Representative candidate, John McComish who went from four votes behind rival Anton Orlich, after the primary votes were counted, to 13 votes ahead after a recount held on September 21, 2004. In between those two counts 489 new votes mysteriously appeared in the totals.

The incident led to a date in court (that's what Republicans do when they don't like the results of elections…too bad more Democrats don't take the cue) for which the Assistant County Attorney neglected to serve a subpoena on the Election System and Software (ES&S) representative who has an office in the county elections offices. The lack of a witness from the major American Voting Machine company to answer questions about potential machine malfunctions that resulted in the unexplained new votes forced the judge to go ahead and certify results of the election according to the recount. The county Election Director could provide no explanation that made any sense as to where those 489 additional votes came from. Freedom of Information Act requests for records from the County Sheriff --- who was supposed to provide guards for the ballots --- have been ignored…

--- Click here for REST OF STORY!... ---




Dirty, Dirty, Little Ohio Begins to Come Apart at the Seams...
Along with the rest of the disgraced Republican Party...
By Brad Friedman on 10/27/2005 1:10pm PT  

Just in from the Toledo-Blade. One of the top GOP moneymen for Bush/Cheney in Ohio, and for Republicans nationwide, Thomas Noe joins the ignominious ranks in the ever-swelling Republican "Culture of Corruption".

Apparently, Republicans are seemingly unable to "win" elections without cheating... Go figure. [emphasis added]

Noe indicted in Bush money-laundering case

A federal grand jury has indicted Tom Noe, the former Maumee coin dealer suspected of laundering money into President Bush's reelection campaign, Mr. Noe's attorney told The Blade today.

Gregory A. White, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, will hold a news conference in Toledo to announce “a major public corruption indictment.”

The U.S. Attorney's office announced in April that it was investigating Mr. Noe for possible violations of federal campaign finance laws. Sources have told The Blade that authorities believe Mr. Noe gave money to several people who then contributed to the Bush-Cheney campaign.

Keep your eyes on this one, since Noe had connections to all the major Republican players, from the indicted Ohio Governor Taft, to Ohio Secretary of State Blackwell, to Schwarzenegger in California to Bush/Cheney etc. Let's see if they all start singing soon...This is gonna get ugly.

We'd also suggest you keep your eyes on Noe's wife, Bernadette, who --- as BRAD BLOG reported previously --- appears to be tied into this scheme vis a vis her her dual role as chairman of the Lucas County, OH Republican Party and the Lucas County Board of Elections. It appears that Ms. Noe was one of the key players in the Ohio Republican Party's proven gaming and/or theft of the 2004 Presidential Election in the state via her Board of Election's "gross failures" to secure ballots, voting machines and the manipulation of the Green/Liberatarian-requested recount which followed the election.

UPDATE: The Blade updates its own story after the Press Conference...A three-count indictment for Noe...

The three-count indictment says that beginning in October 2003, Mr. Noe contributed to President Bush's election campaign “over and above the limits established by the Federal Election Campaign Act."

“He did so, according to the indictment, in order to fulfill his pledge to raise $50,000 for a Bush-Cheney fund-raiser held in Columbus, Ohio, on Oct. 30, 2003,” Gregory White, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, announced at an afternoon news conference

The two other counts were for conspiracy and filing false statements.
...
The indictment alleges Mr. Noe's actions caused false statements to the Federal Elections Commission and defrauded the United States and that he directed his conduit donors to fill out the false statements.

Mr. Noe faces the maximum penalty of five years in prison on each count. The conspiracy and false statement counts carry a maximum fine of $250,000 and the campaign finance violation carries a mandatory fine of between $136,200 and $454,000.
...
Local law-enforcement sources said investigators are looking at contributions made by people from the Toledo area to the Bush campaign at the fund-raiser, at which the campaign raised $1.4 million.

FURTHER UPDATE: AP picks up the story (headline: "Major Republican Donor Indicted in Ohio"), and adds some background...

Noe is also under investigation over an ill-fated $50 million investment in rare coins he managed for the state workers' compensation fund. Noe has acknowledged that up to $13 million is missing, and Ohio's attorney general has accused him of stealing as much as $6 million.

The coin dealer contributed more than $105,000 to Republicans, including Bush and Gov. Bob Taft, during the last campaign.
...
An investigation into Noe's coin investments led to the governor's conviction in August on charges he failed to report golf outings and other gifts.

FURTHER FURTHER UPDATE: The DNC posts a helpful little rap-sheet on Noe and his dirty dealing with Bush and the RNC. Released along with this statement from Communications Director, Karen Finney:

"Tom Noe is a prime example of the culture of corruption that President Bush and his special interest cronies have fostered in Washington and state capitals across the country. Having apparently mismanaged $13 million from Ohio's state pension fund, Noe funneled at least $50,000 in taxpayer money to President Bush's re-election campaign to buy access to White House strategy sessions."




By Brad Friedman on 10/27/2005 12:47pm PT  

Apparently the situation isn't dire enough. At least not enough to merit the coverage deserved by the media in the wake of Wilma's devastation in Florida. Either that, or there's not enough whipping wind and rain to rate full Multi-Colored-Slicker Team Coverage (read: pointlessly stupid photo ops) for the cable "news" nets to cover the story. Or maybe it's just that it's brother Jeb's state, and the Administration doesn't have a governor to conveniently blame for their own failure to do anything right.

Whatever...Our friend Larisa Alexandrovna of RAW STORY is caught in the mess. She lives in South Florida. She filed this report on the situation from a pay phone near her home...

WEST PALM BEACH --- Many residents of Broward County, Florida remain without food, water or medical supplies days after being pummeled by a stronger-than-expected Hurricane Wilma.

RAW STORY's Larisa Alexandrovna, who lives in the county, said the situation is far worse than the mainstream press is reporting. She believes part of this is due to the fact that residents are without phone service and largely unable to reach the outside world.
...
Calling into RAW STORY from a payphone at the West Palm Beach airport, since home and cell phone service have been adversely affected, Larisa explained, “We can't call out. No one's covering this because they think if there were problems people would call, but we can't.”




VR Asks: 'Should George W. Bush Be Impeached?', OpTruth Asks: 'How Many More Will Die?'
PLUS: Robert Koehler Writes About the 'Impeachable Offense'...
By Brad Friedman on 10/26/2005 10:38pm PT  

The print ad that we (VelvetRevolution.us) are running in this week's Washington D.C. City Paper. [Click it to read full ad]...

The video ad that OpTruth.org (an organization of Iraq and Afghanistan War vets) is now running on Fox "News", CNN and elsewhere. Notable if only because I believe this is the first time this non-partisan group of vets has finally called for an Exit Strategy. [Click it to watch full ad]...

Our friend, Robert Koehler of Tribune Media Services latest column, "Impeachable Offense" begins thusly...

In 1970, Gerald Ford defined an impeachable offense in unarguably practical terms, as: "whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history."

Ford's defintion is the only thing saving George Bush's hide right now, as Plamegate hemorrhages and the high-level machinations that drove the country into an unnecessary war publicly unravel. Beyond special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's possible perjury indictments of Scooter Libby and Karl Rove lie 100,000 or so deaths, a ruined country, worldwide enmity and a bill to U.S. taxpayers of $200 billion and counting. Admittedly, this is no semen-stained dress, but it's a colossal screw-up nonetheless.

...and ends thusly...

The abuses of the Bush administration may be the most extreme in U.S. history, but they came wrapped in the cloak of patriotism and fear-based necessity, and most of us, including the media, barely questioned them, or we accepted them with a shrug as the unchallengeable prerogatives of the powerful.

What kind of democracy can such an enervated, powerless people hope to spread to the rest of the world? How did we wind up with a system of government that practices the ideals it trumpets only by mocking them? How do let future leaders know that waging an unnecessary war is an impeachable offense?

Koehler's columns are run on an optional basis by TMS' media clients around the country who chose to do so. The latest column in full, quoted above, should be available at this link within the next 24 hours or so. Few TMS client papers picked up his terrific pieces questioning the validity of Election '04 and calling for an accountable and inclusive Electoral System/Democracy. It'll be interesting to see how many papers pick up the above column...And how many don't...




Vast Majority Are 'Strongly Opposed' to the Presence of 'Coalition' Troops
Secret Poll Reveals What Iraqis Think of Their Ongoing 'Liberation'
By Winter Patriot on 10/25/2005 10:16pm PT  

Guest blogged by Winter Patriot

45% of Iraqis believe that attacks on U.S. and British troops are justified, and 82% are "strongly opposed" to the continued presence of "coalition" troops, according to a "secret poll" conducted in August by an Iraqi university research team. Results of the poll have been leaked to Britain's Sunday Telegraph.

Astute readers may recognize some of these conclusions after seeing articles on the weekend from Reuters or Yahoo. But Saturday's report from Reuters barely scratched the surface, and Yahoo did only a bit better on Sunday.

For the full report, you have to go to the source: Secret MoD poll: Iraqis support attacks on British troops.

Among the survey's other conclusions:

• less than one per cent of the population believes coalition forces are responsible for any improvement in security;

• 67 per cent of Iraqis feel less secure because of the occupation;

• 43 per cent of Iraqis believe conditions for peace and stability have worsened;

• 72 per cent do not have confidence in the multi-national forces.

But aside from all this "security" nonsense, things are going pretty well, right?

Um ... no!

The opinion poll, carried out in August, also debunks claims by both the US and British governments that the general well-being of the average Iraqi is improving in post-Saddam Iraq.

The findings differ markedly from a survey carried out by the BBC in March 2004 in which the overwhelming consensus among the 2,500 Iraqis questioned was that life was good. More of those questioned supported the war than opposed it.
...
Immediately after the war the coalition embarked on a campaign of reconstruction in which it hoped to improve the electricity supply and the quality of drinking water.

That appears to have failed, with the poll showing that 71 per cent of people rarely get safe clean water, 47 per cent never have enough electricity, 70 per cent say their sewerage system rarely works and 40 per cent of southern Iraqis are unemployed.

Any wingnut will tell you that these very inconvenient facts don't matter much, because they are only temporary, and the situation will surely change because we have brought "democracy" to Iraq, complete with a historic new "constitution".

However ...

--- Click here for REST OF STORY!... ---




By Brad Friedman on 10/25/2005 7:16pm PT  

Blogged an item over at HuffPo over the weekend and they just got to posting it today.

It's called, "Pssst....Mainstream Media...The Government May Collapse at any Moment...Don't Tell Anybody!"

Enjoy!




2K Why?...
By Brad Friedman on 10/25/2005 12:02pm PT  

Click the photo for more info, but as an aside, as we pass this horrible milestone, we were honored recently to witness the work of the brilliant and prolific Freeway Blogger firsthand along the 101 Freeway as we made our way back to Los Angeles from Portland, OR. We caught several of the above signs as well as "The War is a Lie".

Be an American Hero in your home town and join the good FB in his campaign to inform millions of citizens on the highways and byways of America! And have fun doing it!




In Radio Interview, Demonstrates New Sequoia Touch-Screens, Secret Software, Asks Voters to 'Trust Him' on Accuracy and Reliability!
Brad Joins Him and Peter B. Collins for Remarkable Hour on KXRA 540-am...
By Brad Friedman on 10/24/2005 9:22pm PT  

I just finished a radio appearance a couple of hours ago with our friend Peter B. Collins on KXRA 540AM up in Monterey, CA. Peter was joined, in studio, by Tony Anchundo, the Registrar of Voters in Monterey County, CA for a demonstration of a brand-spankin' new Sequoia DRE (touch-screen) voting machine that Achundo was very proud to announce would be in use for the first time in the special State Election coming up out here on November 8th.

Achundo walked Peter through the use of the machine, which prints out a "paper record" (as Achundo referred to it) that voters are to "verify" before leaving the voting booth. That "paper record" is printed on a small thermal-ink roll of paper, akin to what you get with a credit card purchase, and stays behind plexiglass, never to be touched by the voter.

The votes, however, are counted on a "memory cartridge" in the machine, not on the "paper record." This raises the question (which I attempted to ask many times, in many different ways) as to what good that "paper record" actually is in the first place...beyond giving the voter a completely false sense of security and confidence.

I was able to get Anchundo to confirm that the entire technology used to count votes in Monterey County, California will have to be "faith-based". We'll just have to "trust" him, and his 30 years of experience as Registrar, that everything is fine and that votes will be counted accurately.

Peter has asked me to to join him by phone for the hour to help ask questions of Anchundo. I was happy and honored to do so. The results of the hour, I believe, are astounding.

The audio of the full hour is here in MP3 format. I think BRAD BLOG readers will find it as enlightening --- and troubling --- as I did.

[UPDATE] Here is a full transcript of the hour! It should be very useful to have a "paper record" of the conversation for the future. Perhaps for November 9th.

As the front page of Monterey County's website says, "The most serious threat to our democracy is the notion that it has already been achieved. The quality of our leaders and the direction of our Country depends on the participation of our people." I've therefore include Contact info for the Registrar's office at the end of this post, so you folks can participate as you see fit.

Amongst the many highlights (based on my short-term memory) of the hour just spent with Peter trying to get direct answers from Anchundo on a variety of related issues (and you'll likely come across many more yourself)...

--- Click here for REST OF STORY!... ---




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