Special BRAD BLOG / Velvet Revolution coverage
of the Sep 24-26 Rally in D.C.
Guest blogged by Katrina Wilcox

Well ... we are back home - working on the last few articles about our trip to DC. While I try to make coherent sense out of the notes I took, here's the last interview. Stan Goff's essay The Butterfly Effect --- Katrina and Occupation helped me to see that we are all living under occupation.

1. What caused you to become an activist and when was this?

U.S. House ethics rules require Delay to step down as Majority Leader...

MSNBC has details...

AP reports Hastert as pointing to Rep. David Drier (R-CA), reportedly gay congressman, to take his place. CNN is now reporting that Roy Blunt will be the temporary majority leader. David Dreier and Eric Cantor will also assist in DeLay's responsibilities.

AP has more...

DeLay Statement: "I will step aside."

The sliming/swiftboating of Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle has already begun...

Media Matters cuts the slime off at the pass:

McClellan: Bush considers Tom Delay "a good ally".

Pelosi: "Republicans plagues by culture of corruption at the expense of people of the USA."

Smoking Gun has the full indictment...

Videos in Windows Media format
White House defends DeLay...
DeLay denies charges, attacks District Attorney...
DA Ronnie Earle answers questions...
Behind the DeLay indictment...

...DEVELOPING...

Guest blogged by David Edwards

The Washington Post is reporting that a no-bid contract awarded to Carnival Cruise lines is the first FEMA contract to garner wide scrutiny. The contract was negotiated to provide housing for displaced Katrina victims. Understandably, many hurricane victims are hesitant to accept housing on the water. It's unclear how exactly how many displaced hurricane victims have accepted housing on the Carnival ships. Assuming that ships have 100% occupancy, FEMA would be paying more than twice the price of individually booked cruises. To critics, the price is exorbitant. If the ships were at capacity, with 7,116 evacuees, for six months, the price per evacuee would total $1,275 a week, according to calculations by aides to Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.). A seven-day western Caribbean cruise out of Galveston can be had for $599 a person --- and that would include entertainment and the cost of actually making the ship move. "When the federal government would actually save millions of dollars by forgoing the status quo and actually sending evacuees on a luxurious six-month cruise it is time to rethink how we are conducting oversight. A short-term temporary solution has turned into a long-term, grossly overpriced sweetheart deal for a cruise line," said Coburn and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) in a joint statement yesterday calling for a chief financial officer to oversee Katrina spending. CNN reported on the Carnival Cruise contract this morning. View the report in Streaming Real Media or Windows Media. If you missed Michael Brown's "testimony of shame" yesterday, Crooks and Liars has a clip. Think Progress has determined that Brown lied under oath while smearing Governor Blanco.

The FEMA/Brownie scandals seem to be business-as-usual for the beleaguered president and Republican leadership. John Conyers wonders if the Wheels are Falling Off the GOP. Reports that DeLay may be indicted soon (AP, Americablog, Austin paper) along with recent revelations that Jack Abramoff may be involved in a gangland style murder must be troubling for the White House.

In addition, Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation is winding down and Administration insiders claim that the White House is sweating. Dan Froomkin of the Washington Post reports:

As I'm currently on The Road to Portland (with Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and the lovely Dorothy Lamour!) to speak at the "National Summit to Save Our Elections" my ability to post regularly here at BRAD BLOG will again be somewhat curtailed for the next couple of weeks.

However, there is more to come from excellent Guest Bloggers Katrina and Dan Wilcox from their experience over the weekend at the huge rallies in DC, along with the return of other fave Guest Bloggers including David Edwards, Winter Patriot and various other Special Guest Bloggers who may drop in from time to time in the upcoming weeks with some interesting reports!

Further good news is that we are hoping to broadcast a LIVE BRAD SHOW this weekend, on location from Portland during our usual Saturday Night 7p-11p ET timeslot. See http://www.BradShow.com for more and join us here at BRAD BLOG during the show for a Live Open Thread (presuming we are able to pull it all off...which is looking positive as of this morning!)

I had hoped to lay low concerning the weekend show for a bit, in preparation for a "step up" for The BRAD SHOW which, to nobody's surprise, is taking a bit longer to get nailed down than we'd like. So hopefully a fix this weekend will do everyone (both you and me!) a bit of good as we move forward! Feel free to help us out with a bit of gas and/or cell phone money (don't ask about my cell phone bill after Crawford!) to help defray all of the above, as we will likely be unable to get ads sold for this weekend's show as we move Northward!

And thanks, as always, for all of your various and generous support!

With Diebold, Inc.'s financial and ethical and political chickens perhaps finally coming home to roost, Andrew Gumbel, author of Steal This Vote: Dirty Elections and the Rotten History of Democracy in America comes out with some more troubling information on the voting machines sold by America's largest Voting Machine Company.

As we write this morning, Diebold's trouble stock prices, which fell nearly 20% over two days last week alone, continue to tumble. DBD share prices are down 2.33% so far in early trading today closed down another 3.3% today!

The trouble reported by Gumbel today, comes out of Georgia, vis a vis the Democratic Secretary of State down there and what appears to be some less-than-above-board contractual shenanigans with Diebold and their hardware and software. The report also suggest that votes may have disappeared entirely from Diebold voting machines.

Gumbel reports, in a Huffington Post blog item today based on several original documents and contracts obtained via public records requests made by CountTheVote.org's Roxanne Jekot, that recent "elections were run on software that was not only untested but also uncertified, that key components broke down during live elections, that county officials were left clueless on how to operate the new machines because of a breakdown in the training schedule, and that the cost of installing the electronic touch-screen system jumped dramatically beyond the advertised $54 million, without proper legislative oversight or approval."

While Gumbel's concerns seem to be used to question Sec. of State Cathy Cox's fitness for office as she makes a 2006 gubernatorial bid, it's Diebold's complicity in keeping security issues with their machines quiet that caught our eye. Amongst the items reported by Gumbel based on records reviewed (more links available in his original article):

NOTE: The 2002 election questioned above, was when Senator, War Hero and 3-time amputee Max Cleland (D-GA) lost his seat in a surpise victory by Republican, Saxby Chambliss who had run advertisements questioning the patriotism of Cleland, and comparing the Vietnam War hero and 3-time amputee to Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.

Gumbel continues...

Special BRAD BLOG / Velvet Revolution coverage
of the Sep 24-26 Rally in D.C.
Guest blogged by Katrina Wilcox

Yes ... dear BRAD BLOG readers, I have not failed you. I have subjected our fearless leader to my interview questions as well. Bless his heart, he answered them.

1. What caused you to become an activist and when was this?

Special BRAD BLOG / Velvet Revolution coverage
of the Sep 24-26 Rally in D.C.
Guest blogged by Winter Patriot

Cindy Sheehan and more than three hundred others were arrested this afternoon near the White House. From the look of this photo (courtesy of MSNBC) it seems she did not resist.

The mainstream media have not been quite as silent about Cindy Sheehan today as they were on Saturday; for instance, the Washington Post has an article and MSNBC has another.

Sadly, I don't have any inside sources or further details on this one. But I'm certain we'll all be watching very closely.

UPDATE FROM BRAD 9/27/05: Blogger, patriot (and occassional BRAD BLOG commenter) "Greyhair" has some great coverage and photos of the arrests! Thank you!

Also, RAW has the story of Conyers' inquiry into the troubling reports of hundreds arrested without charges, held handcuffed on buses for up to 10 hours! Have I mentioned "God Bless John Conyers" lately?

Special BRAD BLOG / Velvet Revolution coverage
of the Sep 24-26 Rally in D.C.
Guest blogged by Katrina Wilcox

I love the way Larisa always says what needs to be said. Her column You Are an American really lays out in very clear concise terms who the real Americans are and what their duty is to our Constitution.

1. What caused you to become an activist and when was this?

In a story about Diebold, Inc. continuing trouble the Cleveland Plain Dealer's business section reports that the Ohio-based company "lost almost a fifth of its share value last week." (Trading of DBD continues flat again today with shares off some .50% on the day.)

As well as comparing the company's restructuring to the failed strategies at Enron, reporter Alison Grant picked up on BRAD BLOG's Exclusive story of the Insider we refer to as DIEB-THROAT:

Apparently, Diebold has no response to all sorts of "nonsense." Like a branch of the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security sending out a Cyber Alert Bulletin prior to last year's November Election warning that Diebold's central vote tabulator was open to any malicious user who might wish to change the results of an election. Diebold failed, apparently, to offer a security upgrade even after that Alert was issued, and to this day acknowledges it as no more than an "unproven allegation."

Failure to respond to such "nonsense" seems to be costing the company dearly. And more trouble, our so-far very reliable inside sources tell The BRAD BLOG, is soon on its way...

Special BRAD BLOG / Velvet Revolution coverage
of the Sep 24-26 Rally in D.C.
Guest blogged by Katrina Wilcox

We're off to see our Representative today. While we're away - here's another interview for you. When I was desperately searching for something that would hold this administration accountable, I came across The March of the Madder'n Hells by Mark Drolette.

1. What caused you to become an activist and when was this?

Special BRAD BLOG / Velvet Revolution coverage
of the Sep 24-26 Rally in D.C.
Blogged by Katrina Wilcox and Dan Wilcox

Video Journalist Dan Wilcox has provided BRAD BLOG with an exclusive video of the anti-war protests in DC on Saturday, September 24 at the White House. Gives a great sense of the crowd and its size...which none of the cable channels --- including C-SPAN! --- felt was newsworthy enough to broadcast! Includes exclusive footage of Cindy Sheehan and Jesse Jackson in the march.

Streaming Video in Real Media format...
Video in Windows Media format...
Velvet Revolution has the high quality QuickTime...

UPDATE: Ron Scott of Detroit News describes the weekend's pathetic coverage by the Cable News channels in his article today: "500,000 People Vanish in Washington, DC"

BREAKING UPDATE (9/26/05): AP reports Sheehan and about 50 others arrested today in front of White House!

It's one thing to read the words, or hear the words, but to FEEL the words is unbelievable!

On Saturday we FELT the power WE have. When enough of US get together, WE make the rules.

Before the march while walking to the Washington Monument there were so many of US flooding the streets WE didn't have to obey traffic lights. Cars didn't matter. WE literally OWNED the ground WE walked on!

If WE decide to, WE can become a “rainbow river” (© Dan that at any moment can choose to flow into Washington DC and take OUR White House back.

Special BRAD BLOG / Velvet Revolution coverage
of the Sep 24-26 Rally in D.C.
Blogged by Brad

The Anti-U.S. Constitution, Pro-Corruption, Dead-Enders who still support the War in Iraq --despite the fact that it was founded on lies and deceitful misinformation given to the American People and Congress by its supporters in the Bush Administration --- are finding themselves in a quickly shrinking minority in America.

This weekend's Anti-War rally, which turned out at least 100,000 supporters by conservative estimates, and up to 600,000 by other estimates, dwarfed the Pro-War faction left to turn out for an embarrassingly sparsely attended Pro-War rally. The War Lovers sheduled their rally as a counter to counter those who support American Values and American Troops by calling for their proper protection in battle, their appropriately-funded medical care after they return, and for them to be returned home to America and their families as soon as possible.

AP's story on the Pro-Bush/Anti-Sheehan rally this morning revealed that the dwindling pro-war movement in America could barely muster up more than a few hundred folks to turn out in D.C. this weekend.

The story also points out that such folks are squarely in the American minority --- not that you'd know it from the way the Conservative Media, such as CNN, MSNBC and FOX "News" covered the events. "[O]nly 37 percent approved or leaned toward approval of how Bush has handled the situation in Iraq," the story points out. As well, those who "strongly disapprove" of the war, outweigh those who "strongly approve" by a vast 2 to 1 margin.

(None of which kept C-SPAN, of course, from giving the 400 Pro-War demonstrators the same amount of airtime they gave to the 100,000+ Anti-War demonstrators, further validating our oft-repeated journalistic critique that "Balance is Bullshit")

Here's what AP had to say...

Special BRAD BLOG / Velvet Revolution coverage
of the Sep 24-26 Rally in D.C.
Guest blogged by Katrina Wilcox

Only 4 hours of sleep last night, but we're rarin' to go again! So here is another interview until we can get back to fill you in on our day. I was trying to get up the courage to come to DC and Charles Sullivan's article "Nation of Fools" helped push me that last little bit. Maybe it will help inspire you to join US for the next show of strength.

1. What caused you to become an activist and when was this?

Special BRAD BLOG / Velvet Revolution coverage
of the Sep 24-26 Rally in D.C.
Guest blogged by Dan Wilcox

{Katrina Wilcox, of VelvetRevolution.us, and her husband Dan, are in D.C. for this weekend's rallies, and are covering them for us here at BRAD BLOG.}

Katrina asked you if you were tired of writing, calling, and signing. Today, you answered with a resounding “Hell, Yes!”

We got to the Metro to take us into downtown D.C. There were a bunch of people at the ticket dispensers trying to figure out how to get tickets and how the machines worked. It was obvious right off the bat that this was no ordinary tourist trip. Tie-dyed peace symbol shirts, protest signs, people helping each other with a knowing “Oh, you too” smile. We get on the Metro. “Where do we get off?” “Metro Central. Then you can transfer to the Federal Triangle or the Smithsonian or like me, you can walk from there. I like walking, come on with me”. At each stop more shirts, more signs, more smiles. “Is it going to be big?” “Do you think there will be enough of us?”

We pour out onto 13th street. The sidewalk is already crowded with smiling, friendly people headed “that way”. “I see the Washington Monument”. Our destination. A square, a rally. “Montana Women for Justice” or maybe it was “Code Pink” with all the pink balloons. The streets are starting to swarm with US, stopping traffic as the rainbow river bursts across. We're starting to impact Washington and the march hasn't even officially begun!