Follow & Support The BRAD BLOG!

Please help The BRAD BLOG, BradCast and Green News Report remain independent and 100% reader and listener supported in our 20th YEAR!!!
ONE TIME ONLY
any amount you like...
$
MONTHLY SUPPORT
any amount you like...
$
OR VIA SNAIL MAIL
Make check out to...
Brad Friedman/BRAD BLOG
7095 Hollywood Blvd., #594
Los Angeles, CA 90028
Latest Featured Reports | Wednesday, December 6, 2023
Is a Trump Trial Verdict Still Possible Before Election Day 2024?: 'BradCast' 12/6/23
Guest: Former federal prosecutor Randall Eliason; Also: McCarthy quits; U.S. files war crimes charges; Trump's fake 2020 electors settle lawsuit in WI, are indicted in NV...
GOP Impeachment Follies: 'BradCast' 12/5/23
Also: McHenry quits; Tuberville folds; DeSantis Never Back Down staffers back down; GOP officials indicted for 2022 election interference in AZ; GOP official's wife convicted on 52 counts of 2020 election fraud in IA...
'Green News Report' 12/5/23
  w/ Brad & Desi
Big breakthrough at COP28 climate conference in Dubai; Fossil fuel industry works to block phase-out; PLUS: Biden EPA's new rule would force removal of all of U.S. lead water pipes...
Recent GNRs: 11/30/23 - 11/28/23 - Archives...
Last Month's Northampton, PA Touchscreen Voting Debacle a Dire Warning for 2024: 'BradCast' 12/4/23
Guest: Election expert Kevin Skoglund on why systems printed the opposite of voters' votes...
Sunday 'Democracy or Something' Toons
'Something' continues to gain a foothold in PDiddie's latest collection of the week's best political toons...
Biden Gets the Lead Out: 'BradCast' 11/30/23
And other examples of 'exactly what the government should be doing' -- EPA nixing all lead pipes; Int. funding firefighters, resilience; OPEC cuts supply; NY re-gags Trump; Biden's clean energy jobs, manufacturing boom...
'Green News Report' 11/30/23
  w/ Brad & Desi
'Unprecedented' heat in Brazil, South Africa; Commercial jet crosses Atlantic without fossil fuel; PLUS: Biden touts booming clean energy jobs, manufacturing in MAGA Repub's district...
Recent GNRs: 11/28/23 - 11/16/23 - Archives...
GBI Report on Team Trump's Coffee County Voting System Breach Continues Cover-Up: 'BradCast' 11/29/23
Guest: Lawfare's Anna Bower on inexplicable omissions in GA's 400-page criminal probe...
'Democracy on a Knife's Edge':
'BradCast' 11/28/2023
Warning from top conservative federal judge; Far-right victories in Argentina, Holland; Trump threatens use of Insurrection Act; Biden invokes DPA for climate, jobs...
'Green News Report' 11/28/23
UN: World far off track to avoid catastrophe; COP28 gets underway in oil-rich Dubai; PLUS: International Energy Agency warns fossil fuel industry faces a reckoning...
Fed Appeals Court Ruling Guts Last Critical Section of VRA: 'BradCast' 11/27/23
Guest: ACLU's Jonathan Topaz; Also: Israel-Hamas truce extended amid more hostage releases...
Sunday 'Emissions of the Rich and Famous' Toons
Ingenious rich people schemes (what could possibly go wrong?) in PDiddie's latest toons!...
Turkey Day Toons
A special holiday collection from PDiddie! Gobble gobble!...
Pausing Our Thanksgiving Pause for This Special 'Live' (Video!) Presentation...
Brad and Desi on The Nicole Sandler Show. Not suitable for children or adults of any age...
Sunday 'Thankful for Vermin' Toons
Weak strongmen trip their own traps in PDiddie's latest collection of the week's best political toons...
2024 to Kick Off with Long-Awaited, High Stakes Federal Voting System Trial in GA: 'BradCast' 11/16/23
Guest: Marilyn Marks of plaintiff Coalition for Good Governance; Also: More GA court news
'Green News Report' 11/16/23
Nat'l Climate Assessment: All regions of US affected; US, China agreement to displace fossil fuels, tackle climate; PLUS: Biden's new funding for climate resilience...
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...
Brad's Upcoming Appearances
(All times listed as PACIFIC TIME unless noted)
Media Appearance Archives...
'Special Coverage' Archives
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 6/3/2004 10:55pm PT  

June 1, 2004:

Q Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. Chalabi is an Iraqi leader that's fallen out of favor within your administration. I'm wondering if you feel that he provided any false information, or are you particularly --

THE PRESIDENT: Chalabi?

Q Yes, with Chalabi.

THE PRESIDENT: My meetings with him were very brief. I mean, I think I met with him at the State of the Union and just kind of working through the rope line, and he might have come with a group of leaders. But I haven't had any extensive conversations with him.

January 10, 2002:

Q When was the last time you talked to either Mr. Lay or any other Enron official, about the --- about anything? And did discussions involve the financial problems of the company?

THE PRESIDENT: I have never discussed, with Mr. Lay, the financial problems of the company. The last time that I saw Mr. Lay was at my mother's fundraising event to --- for literacy, in Houston. That would have been last spring. I do know that Mr. Lay came to the White House in --- early in my administration, along with, I think 20 other business leaders, to discuss the state of the economy. It was just kind of a general discussion. I have not met with him personally.

Character counts.




Is there nothing these guys will tell the truth about?
By Brad Friedman on 6/3/2004 10:38pm PT  

Is it me, or didn't Bush tell us that the UN, in the person of Lakhdar Brahimi, would be in charge of choosing the new Iraqi Interim Governing council? I'm pretty sure he did.

Over the weekend it seemed, however, that the process got hijacked by the Interim Governing Council who made their President, the new President, their Foreign Minister the new Foreign Minister etc. And then they "dissolved" themselves. Neat trick. What could possibly go wrong?

But --- as ever with these liars (sorry, it's an overused word, blame them, not me, cause they're seemingly addicted to it) --- America apparently doesn't deserve the truth.

From Knight-Ridder:

Asked how big a role the American administration had in forming the government and selecting the prime minister and president, Brahimi reminded reporters that American Ambassador L. Paul Bremer runs things in Iraq.

"Bremer is the dictator of Iraq," he said. "He has the money. He has the signature."

He later added: "I will not say who was my first choice, and who was not my first choice ... I will remind you that the Americans are governing this country."

No good man goes unpunished by the Mayberry Machiavellis.

After he finished speaking, he walked off from the podium, alone. A U.N. banner was tacked on the wall behind him, waiting to be taken down and replaced by the Americans in time for the next news conference.



...One more to go.
By Brad Friedman on 6/3/2004 11:39am PT  

To toot my own horn (for a change ;-) ...I predicted on April 4 that at least two Admin members would resign before the elections.

That prediction was made prior to both Abu Ghraib and the worst month of fighting in Iraq to date (more US Servicemen and women were killed in April than any other month so far).

My list would have looked a bit different after Abu Ghraib perhaps, but this is who I predicted would be gone back then:

(Listed in order of likelihood that they'll be gone - sez me)
George Tenet
Richard Foster
Dick Cheney
Karl Rove
Paul Wolfowitz
Condoleezza Rice
Colin Powell

...Looks like one down and --- so far --- in my predicted order to boot...Horn well tooted.




By Brad Friedman on 6/3/2004 10:48am PT  

It has been said, that John Kerry is a "Flip-Flopper". Said by those who are quite professional at creating a false impression of their challenger. And for good reason. It's the only chance they have.

I've spoken about this successfully waged fallacy before, but apparently the message still needs to get out on who the real "Flip-Flopper" in this contest is. Thankfully, the nice folks at the Center for American Progress have put together a short sheet listing 20 of the Flip-Flopper-In-Chief's greatest hits.

To put it all in perspective, they open with this:

From the beginning, George W. Bush has made his own credibility a central issue. On 10/11/00, then Governor Bush said: "I think credibility is important. It is going to be important for the president to be credible with Congress, important for the president to be credible with foreign nations." But President Bush's serial flip-flopping raises serious questions about whether Congress and foreign leaders can rely on what he says.

Then they list 20 of Bush's Flips and Flops. They've left out quite a few, but on the other hand, unlike the charges against Kerry from Team Bush, these charges are actually sourced so folks can both trust and verify.

(Thanks to the ever-on-the-ball KJO for the find!)




By Brad Friedman on 6/3/2004 9:35am PT  




By Brad Friedman on 6/2/2004 4:40pm PT  

While a new investigation gets under way to look into the revelations that Chalabi gave highly classified info to Iran --- specifically, which higher up it was who would have had such info in the first place and the access to share it with Chalabi --- here's another breaking story...

Just one foreboding line from Josh Marshall a few minutes ago:

President hires outside counsel in the Plame case.

Undoubtedly, details to follow soon...

UPDATE (5:38p PT): CBS and AP confirm. Whitehouse spokeswoman "deflected questions about whether Bush had been asked to appear before a grand jury in the case."




By Brad Friedman on 6/1/2004 6:48pm PT  




By Brad Friedman on 6/1/2004 11:34am PT  




By Brad Friedman on 6/1/2004 11:21am PT  

As one of the points in my original "GOP Win-Win Spin-Spin" piece (re-published today on DemocraticUnderground.com as their lead story), the Bushies used the excuse of the economic downturn to sell the same Tax Plan that they had previously devised in December of 1999 as necessary for the economic boom we were facing originally.

I must have had something right there, as Josh Marshell today goes into more detail on that same topic today in his examination of the flagrantly misleading David Brooks piece in the Times.

(After the Iraq/Judith Miller/Chalabi mess in the Times one would really have thought they'd begin being a bit more responsible in their unchecked Administration log-rolling, but perhaps not.)

Underscoring precisely one of the points in my piece, Marshall says:

For the authors of the plan, the tax cut was a justification in itself; the White House simply grasped on to whatever explanation made most sense at the given moment to advance it. That's why a plan devised at the height of a boom --- to cull an oversized surplus --- made equally great sense when the economy was in free-fall. The policy was driving the rationale, not the other way around.

This new argument --- that the White House pushed through big tax cuts because of the economic slow-down of early 2001 --- is simply an effort to retrospectively exonerate reckless and dishonest behavior which was demonstrably reckless and dishonest at the time. Columnists should challenge that sort of mendacity, not abet it.

But to connect the latest dots, I should have also realized that Bush's latest spin, on why he should be re-"elected", is also more of the (soon to be Trademarked?) GOP Win-Win Spin-Spin machine. As discussed a day or two ago, Bush now has the temerity to suggest that he should be re-upped because he is the man to clean up the mess that he created.

In other words, "My plan for Iraq is best, because it takes into account everything that I fucked up, and therefore, am the best person to fix because who knows those fuck ups better than me?!"

These guys are a marvel. If Democrats could spin this well, they would own the world.

Next thing you know they'll start telling us their plan for allowing Brahimi and the UN to select the new Caretaker Government in Iraq to whom we hand over "complete sovereignty" in a few weeks is going just as planned! Oh, wait...well, whaddaya know?!

Coming Soon: How "complete sovereignty" doesn't actually mean complete sovereignty! (and you thought the meaning of "is" was confusing!)




By Brad Friedman on 5/31/2004 5:24pm PT  

As we sit outside on Memorial Day, enjoying coffee and wireless net access at a friendly Coffee House (Thanks-a-Latte!) outside of Solvang, California where we've taken a few days respite from the L.A. grind...I've been pondering the interesting ironies of a free choral concert by the Capella of Santa Barbara that we caught last night at the historic Mission Santa In�s nearby.

The mission is celebrating it's 200 year presence here amongst the clear blue skies and rolling tawny vistas of the Santa Ynez mountain valley.

Within 3 minutes drive, one passes from the windmills of the Dutch founded tourist mecca of Solvang, through the Spanish Mission and onto the Chumash Indian reservation (featuring a beautiful sprawling new casino by the way - even if it doesn't feature my favorite game, Pai Gow Poker).

Just a few miles in the other direction towards the sea and through the rolling hills dotted with vineyards in bloom and horse and cattle and ostrich farms is the Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Centuries of American multi-culturalism blended seamlessly into the melting pot that America is supposed to be...all along one 10-mile or so stretch of peaceful central California Gold Country.

The Faux Conservatives in this country love to refer to this state as the Land of Fruits and Nuts. Either because it is, or because California's gone Democrat in Presidential elections ever since the Reagan glory days have faded. Or perhaps because we generally stand as a bellweather state in the forefront of Progressive Governmental Policy in America.

Those same Wingnuts, like the despicable Michael "Hope you get AIDS and die" Savage, love to decry the continuing march towards "Multiculturalism" in this country as somehow anti-American or pro-Terrorist or whatever absurdity du jour they like to use to ridicule the varied people of this country who are simply trying to get along with each other in increasingly crowded quarters.

While enjoying the splendid acoustics and moving performance of near-to-authentic-as-possible religious (and a few traditionally secular) hymns and songs that have found their place here for hundreds of years --- all brought to the area via Mexico and Spain and Russia and by the original native Chumash inhabitants --- one can't help but marvel at the many colors and flavors that have come together to embody the America that most of us live in today.

The Choir's director, apparently a scholar in local culture and religious lore, told the story of how he was recently reading through some of the archives at the Santa Barbara Mission from the early to mid 1800's. He came across a petition presented to the first Public School in Santa Barbara, signed by the parents of the attending children, protesting the newly emerging movement towards Bilingual Education at their school.

In short, they were against it. They didn't want any of their children to be taught classes in English!

A bit of irony there, not lost a bit on the Californicators of all ethnicities in attendance last night. But also one that gave me both hope and pause that this growing movement of hostility towards this newest tinting of the American color as we muddle into the main of the 21st Century, may just be the normal passsing knee-jerks of those reactionaries who have conveniently either forgotten their own past, or who simply wish to horde all the spoils for themselves.

It seems there's little new in the world as far as the intolerance and selfishness of some of those already established in this great country towards the newer or less fortunate arrivals.

But if this small, quiet, peaceful and welcoming stretch of Central California, with several centuries of history to learn from, is any indication then perhaps we indeed shall overcome someday.

Here's hoping your Memorial Day was as peaceful and splendid as ours.




By Brad Friedman on 5/31/2004 10:36am PT  

Josh Marshall hits the nail on the head in his analysis of last week's speech by Bush.

He points out that as Bush continues to inch ever closer to Kerry's position on Iraq, he is no longer trying to sell what good may come of the mess he made there, but rather, that he is the best equipped to not fuck up too much more than what he has already so desperately fucked up:

Originally, the case for war was built on claims about the Iraqi regime's possession of weapons of mass destruction and its support for terrorist groups like al qaida. To a lesser degree, but with increasing force as these other rationales faded way, the case was made on the basis of democratizing and liberalizing Iraq.

As that prospect too has become increasingly distant and improbable, President Bush has taken a fundamentally different tack. His emphasis now is seldom on what good might come of his Iraq policy but rather the dire consequences of its unmitigated 'failure' or its premature abandonment.

In other words, the president now argues that he is best equipped to guard the country from the full brunt of the consequences of his own misguided actions, managerial incompetence and dishonesty.

Sounds about right. He closes with a wonderfully disturbing metaphor...

The president's actions, if not his words, concede that Iraq has become the geopolitical equivalent of a botched surgery --- botched through some mix of the misdiagnosis of the original malady and the incompetence of the surgeon. Achieving the original goal of the surgery is now close to an afterthought. The effort is confined to closing up as quickly as possible and preventing the patient from dying on the table. And now the 'doctor', pressed for time and desperate for insight, stands over the patient with a scalpel in one hand and the other hurriedly leafing through a first year anatomy text book.

New Bush-Cheney campaign slogan?: "Vote for us! How much worse could we possibly do?!"




By Brad Friedman on 5/31/2004 9:45am PT  

Now that the dissembling, history re-writing and legacy creating on Iraq is in full swing by the Republican Spinmeisters (I actually had one Rightwingnut blogger write me recently with a straight face that he "didn't think Bush actually said anything about nuclear weapons...") we can thank the fine Americans in Rep. Henry Waxman's office for providing a searchable database on Administration lies and misstatements on the threat posed by Iraq.

So next time you hear one of your brain-addled Rightwing friends or family members regurgitate Paul Wolfowitz saying on the radio (as he did on March 16th, 2004) that "We never said there were stockpiles." ...

Or Rumsfeld shows up on Face the Nation (as he did on March 14th, 2004) to say "Well, you're the ... you and a few other critics are the only people I've heard use the phrase 'immediate threat.' I didn't. The president didn't. And it's become kind of folklore that that's... that's what's happened."...

You'll be able to stop by this database, and easily find the time when Rumsfeld said to the Congressional Armed Services Committee on September 19th, 2002:

"[N]o terrorist state poses a greater or more immediate threat to the security of our people than the regime of Saddam Hussein and Iraq."

You can only fool some of the people some of the time. Thankfully, it's getting much harder for these bad bad dangerous irresponsible folks to be able to do just that. Is it time to start calling him "Baghdad Bush"?




By Brad Friedman on 5/30/2004 1:22am PT  




Coming Soon...Everywhere you turn.
Brad Blog responds: 'Bring it on!'
By Brad Friedman on 5/29/2004 1:19pm PT  

It's only gonna get worse before it gets better, I'm afraid. The faint of heart may want to turn back now.

Bill Sammon, the Whitehouse mouthpiece from the Washington Times, the Whitehouse organ, reports the new plan...

President Bush's political strategists have concluded that the way to battle back from record low job-approval ratings and months of bad news from Iraq is to talk about Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry.
...
"We are going to continue talking about it through ads, through the Web, through surrogate events, through remarks by the president, by the vice president, through talk radio, through all kinds of different sources of information," Mr. Mehlman said.
...
"The days of there being three networks that provided people all their information that they needed to know are gone," Mr. Mehlman said. "Today, they get information from cable; they get information from original newspapers; they get information from blogs; they get information from talk radio."

The campaign has resolved to push its message through all these outlets whenever possible.

Try to keep all of the above in mind as you listen and watch the Mainstream Conservative Media over the next six months. The message from all corners should be in remarkably predictable GOP lockstep coordination, unless they really start to panic. In which case, all bets are off.

For the record, all opinions on the BRAD BLOG are the original thought of it's author and belong neither to the DNC, the DCCC, the Kerry Campaign, or the Daily Barbra Streistand Talking Points Memo.

Bring it on.




Vote a new loser off each week!
By Brad Friedman on 5/29/2004 12:09pm PT  

View the Trailer and sign up to watch new episodes for free...Looks like it should be funny. For Survivor fans and Democrats anyway...Or Republicans with a sense of humor (therefore, Republican viewership may be very low).




Total Pages (539):
« Newest ... « 520 521 522 523 524 [525] 526 527 528 529 530 » ... Oldest »

Support The BRAD BLOG
Please visit our advertisers










Support The BRAD BLOG
Please visit our advertisers
Brad Friedman's
The BRAD BLOG



Recent Entries

Archives


Important Docs
Categories

A Few Great Blogs
Political Cartoonists



Please Help Support The BRAD BLOG...
ONE TIME ONLY
any amount you like...
$
MONTHLY SUPPORT
any amount you like...
$
Or by Snail Mail
Make check out to...
Brad Friedman
7095 Hollywood Blvd., #594
Los Angeles, CA 90028

The BRAD BLOG receives no foundational or corporate support. Your contributions make it possible to continue our work.
About Brad Friedman...
Brad is an independent investigative
journalist, blogger, broadcaster,
VelvetRevolution.us co-founder,
expert on issues of election integrity,
and a Commonweal Institute Fellow.

Brad has contributed chapters to these books...


...And is featured in these documentary films...

Additional Stuff...
Brad Friedman/The BRAD BLOG Named...
Buzz Flash's 'Wings of Justice' Honoree
Project Censored 2010 Award Recipient
The 2008 Weblog Awards



Wikio - Top of the Blogs - Politics

Other Brad Related Places...

Admin
Brad's Test Area
(Ignore below! It's a test!)

All Content & Design Copyright © Brad Friedman unless otherwise specified. All rights reserved.
Advertiser Privacy Policy | The BradCast logo courtesy of Rock Island Media.
Web Hosting, Email Hosting, & Spam Filtering for The BRAD BLOG courtesy of Junk Email Filter.