We haven't been able to cover it at all until now with so much going on, but the latest ad by VelvetRevolution.us which ran a couple of weeks ago in the Op/Ed section of WaPo hit such a chord we were able to raise the money to run a similar version of the ad in last week's NY Times.

(DISCLOSURE: The BRAD BLOG is a co-founder of VR)

The ad, which focuses on Bush's recent drumbeating and chest thumping for a War on Iran in light of his plummeting poll ratings (haven't we seen this bad movie before?), brought still more interesting reaction in it's second incarnation. More on that in a second.

We're kind of tired, at VR, of being out in front of so many of these issues (Election Reform, Media Reform, Downing Street Memos, getting Out of Iraq, Accountability for Bush/Cheney) before the media and the politicians figure it out. But now it seems that's where we are again. For an example, see Seymour Hersh's New Yorker article just out, which reports the Bush Administration "has increased clandestine activities inside Iran and intensified planning for a possible major air attack."

As if that's not disturbing enough, Hersh's article, as well as another report today from WaPo points out such an air attack is being planned to include the use of tactical nuclear weapons! Hello?!

Rather than waiting until after it's a done deal, as with Iraq, the time to push back is now. Especially since Fox "News", as David Edwards reported this morning, is already back in their reliable embedded position for the Bush Administration and this morning were all too happy to smear Hersch on the air.

Most of the reaction to VR's ads on Iran have been extremely supportive. And then there was this postcard we received late last week...

FRONT:

BACK:

Oh, well. Can't please 'em all. (And we're still trying to figure out that "ADL ISLAMIC" comment which seems a tad oxymoronic to us, but what do we know about Christianity?)

If you'd like to piss off other good "Christians" like our big fan above, please donate generously to VR so we can continuing spreading the love --- and getting the word out to the public about what's really going on here! --- through more such campaigns in the future.

Had a hoot sitting in as Guest Host for my buddy Peter B. Collins last Thursday on KRXA in Monterey (and a few other affiliates). If you didn't catch the show live, please enjoy the archives below as you see fit. Some fun, and occasionally harrowing, interviews here for your listening pleasure...

HOUR 1 [MP3]
BRAD rants on the state of our electoral system meltdown and interviews FAIZ SHAKIR, of the Center for American Progress, on the breaking news that day of Bush revealed as the Leaker-in-Chief.

HOUR 2 [MP3]
A full hour-long interview with the great and high-larious cartoonist/blogger, TOM TOMORROW of This Modern World. On tooning, on blogging, on his new book, Hell in a Handbasket (please buy it!) and on the most obnoxious bumper music I could possibly find --- Also he points us to a 2003 strip he did on the horror that is Diebold Electronic Voting Machines.

HOUR 3 [MP3]
First half-hour, Emery County, Utah's 23-year elected County Clerk, BRUCE FUNK, on being locked out of his office after having the temerity to allow an independent examination of Diebold's touch-screen voting machines in his county. He explains the harrowing details of what was found and what has happened to him since. Don't miss this one, especially if you haven't yet heard his story. You can send a note of support for him right here...

Second half-hour, the legendary ED ASNER --- Lou Grant himself --- on Hollywood and Politics, his encounter with Ronald Reagan and all other manner of stuff. Includes Asner telling Brad to "Shut up!" What more could ya want?! Enjoy!

Tom Tomorrow (real name, Dan Perkins, by the way) of This Modern World was a guest of mine on ThursdayThe Peter B. Collins Show where I was Guest Hosting. (Audio archives posted here.).

After complimenting him on his keen ability to reflect the current zeitgeist well ahead of anyone else, I asked him how he chooses his topic. His answer, paraphrased, whatever he happens to find funny. I asked if he found anything funny about Electronic Voting Machines.

Apparently he did. And, as usual, long before most of us understood the true nature of the threat to democracy posed by these god-awful machines. He pointed me to this Halloween strip originally published on 10/23/03 (notice the name on the computer monitor)...

No wonder he calls himself Tom Tomorrow...

I'm Guest Hosting the Peter B. Collins show today and have booked an amazing line-up of Guests! Please tune in! This will be our Open Thread for during the show, so comment away!

Showtime is 3p-6p PT (6p-9p ET) on KRXA 540am in Monterey, CA and several other affiliates.
Listen online here! Call in toll-free if you like at (888) 579-2540.

Guests to include...

+ This Modern World cartoonist and blogger, TOM TOMORROW!
+ FAIZ SHAKIR from The Center for American Progress' Progress Report
+ Emery County, UT County Clerk/Hero BRUCE FUNK (Diebold's latest scapegoat!)
+ *** PLUS: The legendary ED ASNER! Yup, Lou Grant his own bad self!

Spread the word! Tune in!

UPDATE 4/8/06: Audio archives from the show now here...

Racing to prepare for Guest Hosting the Peter B. Collins Show later today, so can't give more context for now (more on this during the show today, no doubt), but this out this morning from the Cleveland Plain-Dealer.

Regular BRAD BLOG readers will be familiar with the stories of the three Cuyahoga County, OH Elections Workers who have been indicted on felony charges for gaming the 2004 recount, but this report provides many more details and corroboration from the Prosecutors. It also reminds us, that though the Elections Workers have been indicted on felony charges, they continue to work at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections! Only in Ohio! (well, okay, maybe Florida, too...)

This is incredibly mind-blowing...Even to us...

UPDATE 1/24/2007: Two of the indicted election officials found guilty of gaming the recount, charged with maximum penalty. Details...

Originally Allegheney County, PA had hoped to use Diebold's electronic voting machines --- until they found out that Diebold machines were hackable.

Then they decided instead to go with Sequoia Voting Systems instead --- until they found out that their machines are hackable too.

Yesterday, with just six weeks left before their primary election, and against the wishes of Allegheny County's Chief Executive who felt it was safer to stay with their old lever systems, Allegheny decided instead to go with new ES&S touch-screen voting machines.

ES&S, of course, is the company whose machines failed all over Texas during the March 7th primary in Texas, leading to state-wide election contest by a Republican former Supreme Court Justice. ES&S saw more than 30% of their memory cards fail in recent pre-election tests in Summit County, OH, more than 1000 cards fail in NC, and their machines failed to work completely this week as early voting began in Indiana.

Good luck with the new ES&S voting machines Allegheny County, PA!

(As posted DU, by "elehhhhna." Hat tip Pokey A.)

Posting this in full here because Roll Call is subscription only, and I had trouble reading the text due to a funky background at Sunlight Foundation where Paul Blumenthal ran this piece today.

In case you don't finish reading the whole thing, a plug is included right here for Clint Curtis who is running against Tom Feeney (R-FL) for his seat 24th District seat in the U.S. Congress. When you read the story, you'll see why it's important to help Clint Curtis raise money for his run! His website is www.ClintCurtis.com and donations can be made right here.

Feeney learned his lessons well from his #1 supporter (and vice versa) in the U.S. House, the disgraced and indicted Tom Delay.

Curtis is the software programmer who has alleged that Feeney asked him to create electronic vote-rigging software back in 2000. His extraordinary story, including details of the polygraph test that Curtis passed, and video-tape of his sworn testimony before members of Congress is summarized here.

And now, back to Feeney and the big bucks...

(Thanks to emailer Sharon A. for the heads up!)

I'll be sitting in as Guest Host for the good Peter B. on KRXA 540am up in Monterey, CA (and syndicated on several other affiliates) this Thursday from 3p-6p PT (6p-9p ET).

If you're not nearby, you can listen in online right here. Let's see if we can overload their servers --- And give us a shout to say hey at 888-KRXA-540. Let's see if we can break their phone lines.

====

Kick-ass guests now lined up for Thursday's show!...

+ This Modern World cartoonist and blogger, TOM TOMORROW!
+ Emery County, UT County Clerk/Hero BRUCE FUNK (Diebold's latest scapegoat!)
+ PLUS: The legendary ED ASNER! Yup, Lou Grant his own bad self!

And Much Much More! Spread the word! Tune in!

UPDATE 4/8/06: Audio archives from the show now here...

Video in Streaming Flash format...

"She punched a cop! She punched...a cop!" said Sean Hannity on last night's Hannity & Colmes without any actual evidence for the charge and before any trial --- something he accuses many others of doing. But only when the alleged perp is a Republican, of course.

That was just after he accused "people who weren't even there" of turning this into a racial incident.

The guest, a former LAPD Detective who refused to play along with Hannity, pointed out that she's a 6 term Congresswoman and acknowledged that it's the Capitol Hill Police's job to recognize her. To which Hannity lied, "Yeah, but she was gone for like 5 years in there."

Needless to say, Hannity, as always, was wrong. Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) was swiftboated and defeated by a Republican effort during her 2002 Democratic primary after she dared to ask out loud: "What did this Administration know and when did it know it?" concerning the events of 9/11. (A clip which Hannity played again during the segment last night for no apparent reason other than to keep the swiftboating alive --- he followed the clip by saying, without a hint of irony, "It seems that there's a proclivity here to jump to false conclusions, amongst Cynthia McKinney in particular.")

Anyway, McKinney was not in Congress from 2002 through 2004 when she was re-elected. Hardly the "5 years," as quoted by Hannity to try and back up the Capitol Hill Police (who recently admitted they "screwed up" while dealing with another such "security incident" involving a well known person who shouldn't have been hassled in the first place.) McKinney has been back in Congress now for a full year and half since being re-elected.

Ya know, we'll see how it all plays out as things move forward, but it occurs to us that Cynthia McKinney has a security disagreement with a cop who, all agree, didn't get hurt. A warrant is sought for her arrest and Fox "News" (and the rest of the media) can't get enough of it.

George W. Bush, on the other hand, has a security disagreement with an entire sovereign nation and starts a full blown war because of it. More than 2,500 American citizens are now dead, scores of thousands wounded and many more Iraqis than that have been killed because it. Nobody issues a warrant for the arrest of George W. Bush and Fox "News" and rest of the media couldn't give a damn about any of it.

That's what we call Fair and Balanced.

One thing we know --- McKinney's black and a woman and a Democrat and none of those things could possibly have had anything do with any of this.

(Thanks David Edwards for the video.)

IRONY ALERT UPDATE: "DeLay Says He'll File Ethics Complaint Against McKinney"... (Thanks Kat!)

According to a late report from AP tonight, Ohio's Sec. of State (and Co-Chair of the Bush/Cheney '04 Re-Election Committee) J. Kenneth Blackwell, "accidentally invested" in Diebold last year...

The "discovery" (that he owns shares in Diebold, not that Diebold is the only company to meet HAVA standards --- which they don't) occurred during some ethics filings as the Governor's race, in which Blackwell is a candidate, heats up in the Buckeye State...

According to a Rasumussen poll released on Friday, Blackwell currently trails the likely Democratic nominee for Governor, Rep. Ted Strickland by a 10 point margin of 50% to 40%.

Strickland beats Petro as well in a face-to-face match-up by even more: 47% to 34%.

Strickland appears to be widening the gap against both of them. But count no chickens yet. This is, after all, Ohio.

-- TIME Mag covers here...
-- WaPo covers here...
-- MSNBC covers here...
-- CNN covers here...
-- AP covers here...
-- LATE ADDITION: Houston Chronicle offers more details, and DeLay's Political Obit in the early/late web edition (12:44am PT - Hat tip to Pokey A. in Houston)

From TIME...

What TIME didn't mention, but WaPo did...And which would seem to explain a lot more about his sudden exit after his bravado of the last six months since his indictment...

From CNN...

Says MSNBC...

And here come the bloggers. First in, from Josh Marshall who tends to know this stuff cold...

More subpoenas seem to be on the way for voting machine company officials, this time in Illinois where it looks like the city aldermen in Chicago, according to the Sun-Times are none-too-happy to be forced to continue payments to Sequoia Voting Systems who ran such a disastrous primary on new electronic machines across the state just a few weeks ago.

A similar battle has been underway in Texas where officials have been trying to avoid payment to ES&S for the primary disaster down there on March 7th, just two weeks before the Illinois debacle.

In the meantime, the hypocrisy of the Right Wing continues vis a vis Electronic Voting Machines and their newly discovered concerns, as we reported late last week, about a Venezuelan company, possibly tied to Hugo Chavez, controlling the Sequoia company, and thus having an unknown and troubling amount of concern over American elections.

As in the wingnut piece we pointed to last week, Richard Brand in the Miami Herald (via right-leaning RealClearPolitics.com) is horrified that a company tied to Chavez may be having undue influence over American elections.

Not a word in Brand's piece about the influence over American elections by partisan companies, run by partisan executives, such as Diebold, ES&S, Hart InterCivic and others who are given carte blanche to use secret, uninspected software to count almost every citizen's vote in the country by now.

So, again, while we're happy to see concern --- no matter where it comes from --- about the little-noticed watershed change in our electoral system which now allows private companies to control the most sacred element of our democracy, with virtually zero checks, balances or public oversight, it's incredibly hypocritical (even by wingnut standards), to turn a blind eye to the Rightwing influence over all the other companies who have even more control over more of American votes.

We'd hope that the concerns about Chavez would suddenly help these guys realize what the hell has been going on here. We're concerned about any private corporation having such influence over our elections. But, in typical Rightwing blinders-on fashion, it's only votes that are perceived to be questionable because they might have undue influence from the Left that seems to concern these folks.

What a pity. But hardly a surprise.

To underscore that irony/hypocrisy, take a look at this concern of Brand's about a recent Venezualan elections run on machines made by Smartmatic, the company which now owns Sequoia (and be sure you're sitting down when you read it)...

This is freakin' brilliant: "Chevy's 'Make Your Own Tahoe Commercial' idea not exactly going as planned".

Too funny.

(Hat tip to Huff Po...and another BRAD BLOG reader who tried to point me to these earlier, but whose name I've forgotten. With apologies.)