Blogged by Brad from the still-long and still-winding (and still very hot) road...

"They're dumb as shit."
-- Donna Brazile to Rolling Stone for an article this week, discussing her frustration with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and making the party understand the need to be vigilant during Election 2006.

"Fuck you."
-- Donna Brazile to an Election Integrity Advocate at the annual DNC gathering last weekend in Chicago after being asked where the party was in Ohio after Election 2004.

Such were the contradictions and dysfunctions on parade last weekend in Chicago where I was invited to address a panel on Electoral Integrity at the DNC's annual gathering of state party chairs. What a mess.

The Rolling Stone piece referenced above, by the good Tim Dickinson, is not currently online. But it's from the Aug. 24 issue of RS on newsstands now. It asks "Will Democrats Fight Back?" The answer, as Dickinson reports, is a decisive maybe, probably not, things don't look so good, we hope so but kinda doubt it.

While it'd be nice to give you an encouraging report from the DNC meeting of how the Dems have finally figured out what the hell is going on here --- how they are going to get out in front of this electile dysfunction thing, take the offensive, become proactive and lead the way in becoming the party which stands for vigilance, Electoral Integrity and the assurance that every vote will be counted and counted accurately --- I can't give such a report.

Yes, there are some good things going on there. One of the most notable being Greg Moore who is now the Director of the DNC's Voting Rights Institute. He gets it. Moore was responsible for all of the Election Protection-related events over the weekend. It seems he's been fighting heroically from inside the power structure to wake the Dems up as to what is going on. He's the one responsible for the historic DNC statement a few weeks ago calling for a full handcount in the illegally administered Busby/Bilbray U.S. House Special Election in California's 50th congressional district. But it's clearly been a difficult fight. And last weekend's events made that crystal clear...

Blogged by Brad from the road...

As The BRAD BLOG reported two days ago, a new Zogby poll has revealed that a stunning 92% of Americans want their vote counted transparently and not by secret vote counting machines. That overwhelming majority crosses all political, social, religious and economic demographics.

Today, Zogby has released their official statement and numbers from the poll. Their statement quotes attorney Paul Lehto, who is busy fighting the election contest down in San Diego's Busby/Bilbray CA50 challenge in which voting machines, using secret software to count the results of that election, were compromised when they were sent home with poll workers on overnight "sleepovers" for days and weeks prior to the election, as we have been reporting since that special U.S. House election on June 6th.

Here's a quick snippet from Zogby's official release...

The survey also says that some 60% of respondents "have heard news reports of flaws in new electronic voting equipment." So I guess someone is doing the job of getting this information out to the American people.

Apparently the news hasn't yet reached the DNC, however. More on that, and my personal experiences addressing folks at the DNC's annual gathering last weekend, in a report to come shortly today...

UPDATE from WP: Zogby has released more data in a PDF format. Just click here. There's a press release for Zogby too, and it's here.

Blogged by Brad on the still long and winding road...

Yes, I'm still on the road and will continue to be until at least the end of this month. Still travelling across the country for various double-super-secret meetings and projects, and even the occasional (very occasional, unfortunately) day spent off the grid entirely to catch up on some rest and enjoy the waning days of summer. There's a lot going on in the background --- fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you may see it --- so despite my best efforts, I haven't found much peace and quiet, even while not blogging here regularly. Oh, well. At least I've got it better than Stephen Heller, who really may be "taking one for his country" (see below.) Much to come on those background developments in the coming weeks and months in either case.

For now though, a couple of quick points...

-- HARTMANN ON THURSDAY...

I'll be checking in with Thom Hartmann's radio show for a very brief catch-up on Thursday, 2pm Eastern Time. See the "Media Appearances" section in the red box above for details.

-- HELLER IN HUSTLER NOW...

My article for Hustler on Diebold whistleblower Stephen Heller --- who is now thanklessly facing trial for three felony counts concerning documents he released from Diebold's California law firm, Jones Day, just prior to Diebold being decertified in the state back in 2004 --- is now on newsstands. So consider that an excuse to go out and buy this month's issue, or you may download the article right here in pornography-free PDF format instead.

-- CHICAGO ON FRIDAY & SATURDAY...

Heading to Chicago this weekend to a) attend the DNC's annual gathering of state party chairs and other such officials who may or may not wish to see me on Friday (this should be interesting,) and b) emcee Illinois Ballot Integrity Project's big Take Back the Vote, election protection event outside of the city, in DuPage County, on Saturday. Speakers at the event, other than yours truly, to include our old friends Fooled Again author Mark Crispin Miller, Bob Fitrakis of the Columbus FreePress and Robert Koehler of Tribune Media. It is one of several upcoming Election Protection events around the country being sponsored in part by VelvetRevolution.us (see VR's homepage for a number of other events, some of which I'll also be attending, with more on the way in California, Ohio and elsewhere.)

In the Chicago 'hood this weekend? Please stop by and say hello! More details and info on the event right here. I'll be the bedraggled one, with only slightly more of a tan than I had before I left, but with a happy-to-see-ya smile nonetheless...so please come on by!

8/17/2006: UPDATE! POSSIBLE SCHEDULE CHANGE!: Incredibly late in the game, the DNC has now invited me to address some of their people at a Saturday afternoon round table, which occurs at the same time as the event in DuPage County! Having not (yet) figured out how to clone myself, and now making the difficult decision that a few minutes time speaking directly to the DNC about the mess on our hands may ultimately be more fruitful than emceeing the DuPage event, I may now be either late or a no-show at the Illinois Ballot Integrity Event! Depending on what time I finish with the DNC event in downtown Chicago, I'll then speed out to the DuPage event to make it for at least some of that event...if at all humanly possible. If it's not possible for me to make it out there at all, I hope I'll be forgiven... Yeesh... What a mess... Here's a 53-second video of Thom Hartmann underscoring why this matters... (Hat-tip to Ginny Ross of Election Defense Alliance!)

...And now, back to your regularly scheduled BRAD BLOG sans Brad (for the most part)...

Blogged by Brad from the road...

As has been his practice over the last several months, the primary election opponent to vote-rigging whistleblower turned congressional candidate Clint Curtis was a no-show in a recent televised debate.

Curtis spoke about election fraud (vis a vis Tom Feeney), the Iraq War and the price of gas. Needless to say, he won the "debate" hands down.

With his primary election opponent, Dr. Andy Michaud, failing to appear at events across Florida's 24th Congressional District, does this mean the good Doctor is giving up? Or is there something going on that we don't know about?

The primary is September 5th. Should Clint win, he'll be going mano-a-mano against the well-monied and impossibly corrupt Rep. Tom Feeney --- the very man he claims had asked him to create vote-rigging software back when they both worked at the same software firm (even while Feeney was Speaker of the Florida State House of Representatives.)

For the record, Feeney is now the only Republican congressman who was with lobbyist Jack Abramoff on those golfing junkets to Scotland, now that both Tom DeLay and Bob Ney have dropped out of this November's election. Feel free to donate to Clint Curtis as he takes on Feeney, one of the GOP's top-tier money behemoths!

Blogged by Brad from the road...

Apologies in that normally this would have been a siren-worthy item on the day it broke (last Thursday) here at BRAD BLOG had I not been on the road and looking the other way for the most part (as I still am). Particularly since we've been following Diebold's financial malfeasance closely for some time, including breaking the original report of both the Securities Fraud Class Action suit against the company last December, and the SEC's original "informal" (now formal!) investigation of Diebold in May.

Hat-tip to Warren Stewart of VoteTrustUSA.org for picking up news of the now-formal investigation late last week (and to John Gideon who, naturally, noticed in last Thursday's 'Daily Voting News')...

More at VoteTrustUSA...

Blogged by Brad from the road...

We've been "off the grid" for the last three days, so we're a few days late in reporting that...The BRAD BLOG congratulates George W. Bush for outlasting former President Richard M. Nixon in office!

Despite proven crimes against both his country and the U.S. Constitution which he swore to protect and defend (not once, but twice), Bush has managed to out-trick Tricky Dick as BRAD BLOG readers have likely noticed while our countdown clock (formerly posted in our right hand sidebar, a screenshot of which is now posted at left) had been tracking for many months.

It has been no easy feat to out-slick Tricky Dick, but with the help of a compliant rubber-stamp congress and a castrated roll-over media, Bush has managed to get away with a contempt for his country in a way that Nixon could only have dreamt of. As the legendary and mysterious Freeway Blogger has previously pointed out, we're all wearing the blue dress now.

Thanks to all of the parties involved, Bush has faced no accountability whatsoever as self-proclaimed Commander-in-Chief up until now. That, despite an administration of unprecedented corruption. So a hearty congratulations is due The Decider! Nixon would be impressed, Joseph Stalin would be in awe-filled appreciation and The BRAD BLOG extends its "thanks" to Bush for supplying us with not a single day since we've been in "business" in which we haven't had something to write about.

Would that thousands of more Americans were still alive, but for Bush's loathesome, irresponsible, deadly and illegal policies, to give him that same "thanks."

Blogged by Brad from the road...

UPDATE: Trageser sends us a one line reply to the following article (instead of bothering to return our call): "Thanks for the traffic bump!" was all that he wrote. To which we replied: "Thanks for not giving a damn about your country." We also realize we neglected to post Jim's contacts previously so you can thank him yourself. As posted with his "column", you may contact staff writer Jim at: (760) 631-6628 or jtrageser@nctimes.com. Letters to his editor may be sent to: letters@nctimes.com, though that's likely the same editor who allowed his factually incorrect and evidence-free article to be published in the first place, so who knows how much they actually give a damn about such things at The North County Times.

I've been completely off line for nearly a week, only to return briefly enough to find Jim Trageser's sad attempt at a column from Wednesday in the North County Times wherein he bashes the Busby/Bilbray election contest as nothing more than "a political stunt."

The evidence for his conclusions? Apparently he has none. Other than the "facts" he has simply made up out of whole cloth without, seemingly, bothering to speak to a single source involved in the contest.

Add to that several pieces of out-and-out incorrect information (he says that Bush beat Gore in 2000 and that "every post-election recount...all upheld Bush's narrow win in Florida" --- Here's the actual numbers from the studies you cite, Jim. Don't bother to read them, we'd hate to destroy your rich fantasy life) and you've got the perfect picture of everything that is wrong with today's lazy, faux media.

At one point, Trageser actually has the temerity to hunt and peck the following words out of his keyboard...

Blogged by Brad on the Road from Minneapolis/St. Paul...

Just a quick personal blog item to touch base from out here on the road. I'm currently in St. Paul for just a few more moments. We drove up Friday (from St. Louis) to tape two episodes of John Forde's Mental Engineering for PBS. Not certain when these episodes will air (some time this fall, I believe) but I'll try to let you know when I find out.

I was honored to sit on a four-person panel with the brilliantly hysterical comedian Tom Rhodes, the delightful and smart media literacy professor Renee Hobbs from Temple University and the lovely and deviously clever actor Desi Doyen (DISCLOSURE: Desi is also my girlfriend)...

Motel Blogged from the road by Brad...

In addition to the previous article mentioned in Florida, more Voting Machine 'Sleepover' coverage today, this time from Marc Songini in ComputerWorld...

Blogged hastily by Brad from the road...(I think I'm in Cedar Rapids, Iowa...though not actually running for anything)...

From an article in today's Daytona Beach News-Journal...

Blogged by Brad on the long, hot road...

The DNC Media Office released information on their planned "Expanded National Voter Protection Effort" today. I'll avoid my knee-jerk reaction to say "Expanded" from what?! Their full media release is posted below.

As I've got to get in the car and head up to St. Paul for a PBS TV show taping (Mental Engineering) over the weekend, I don't have much time to comment on the strategy and release for now. As you may guess, I have some feelings on both. You'll simply have to guess at those feelings for now. Suffice to say, we need more than paper "trails" and attorneys on Election Day... I applaud the tireless efforts of Greg Moore, heading up the DNC Voting Rights Institute. He "gets it" --- but the rest of the DNC still seems to be burying their head in the sand about the seriousness of the problem.

To that end, and by way of example, we could also use their help in dealing with issues like the Busby/Bilbray U.S. House special election in CA50 now if they are serious about protecting the ballot box in November everwhere! (An essay I posted some weeks ago describing how what happens now in CA50 affects the vote everywhere this November is right here: "A Line in the Sand")

The full release from the DNC as issued within the past hour follows...

"More evidence tonight that the security of our elections, the integrity of our democracy are at risk from electronic voting machines. A county in Iowa has just come close to putting the wrong candidate in office because of a massive programming error."

This Dobbs report underscores the problems in the Busby/Bilbray CA50 election fiasco, as the candidates shown as losing the election based on the optical-scan count in Iowa were later found to be winners --- but only after the ballots were actually counted by hand to determine if they were counted accurately by the machine! They were not.

By way of ironic side note, the Iowa Republican primary election in question, as we've noted here many time before, took place on June 6th --- the same day as the flawed Busby/Bilbray election...in which nobody has yet bothered to count the op-scan votes in order to find out if the results were reported accurately. Election integrity, it seems, is more important in some states than in others, we guess.

Says Dobbs in his closing remarks to Kitty Pilgrim: "If this message is not getting through that's emanating from every corner of the country using these voting machines, I don't know what it will take."

Video in Streaming Flash format...
Video in Windows Media format...

(Hat tip David Edwards for the video, John Gideon for the transcript and tracking, etc.)

The complete text transcript of the Lou Dobbs/Kitty Pilgrim report follows...

Blogged by Brad on the road...

The case to challenge the announced results of the Busby/Bilbray election was filed today in San Diego County's California Superior Court as reported earlier this morning in some detail. The case number is: GIC870044 and may be downloaded here...

-- Busby/Bilbray Election Contest complaint, [PDF]

There's some extraordinary and fresh stuff in the suit that you'll want to read, since I'm still on the road and unable to cover as thoroughly as usual.

The local media covered the press conference held and attorney Paul Lehto appeared on Ed Schultz. Coverage of both follows...

Blogged by Brad from the road...

I was able to listen in via cell phone to the Press Conference just held outside the San Diego courthouse where Attorney Paul Lehto has filed a lawsuit to contest the results of the Busby/Bilbray election.

I wasn't able to hear everything...but here are a few quotes as transcribed as best as I could from speakers Lehto, Judy Hess, Barbara Gail Jacobson and Mimi Kennedy...

Blogged by Brad on the road...

RAW STORY's Miriam Raftery offers more details on today's filing of an Election Contest in the Busby/Bilbray race (covered by The BRAD BLOG late last night). Her excellent coverage includes an exclusive interview with attorney Paul Lehto who is speeding to the courthouse in San Diego even as I write this, with a press conference to follow at 10:30am PT as reported previously.

He's also now scheduled to appear on the nationally syndicated Ed Schultz radio program to discuss the lawsuit with Big Ed at 5:30pm ET (2:30pm PT). [UPDATE: Audio from Big Ed appearance now available for download here.]