Guest blogged by DES

We have a shorter rundown this week due to technology issues (yes, my computer died), but looking at the headlines below, two running themes are clear: rich and famous people really are different from you and me (especially when it comes to enforcement versus prosecution of voter fraud allegations), and no matter how much trouble you may be in, it's good to have friends in high places. And if you're really lucky, the press will help out, too!

Among the big stories this week --- besides the ongoing spectacle of Sad Conservative Clown and Vote-Fraudster Ann Coulter --- the deeply flawed House bill HR 811 sponsored by Rush Holt (D-NJ) passed out of committee minus a crucial amendment to ban the use of touch-screen DRE systems, and the election challenges of Clint Curtis and 3 other Democratic candidates were dismissed by the House Administration Committee (although we've heard it may be coming up for a full House vote later, btw), leaving only the challenge of Christine Jennings in FL-13. We also learned that no matter what else may be going on with those Krazy Kids in Kongress, Russ Feingold will find a way to punch through the fog with another way to keep the ante upped in hopes of ending the disastrous war in Iraq and bringing the troops home.

But things got still worse for the poor voters of San Diego, who have a brand spanking new Registrar of Voters freshly minted from the Diebold Sales Force! (Not kidding.)

Read on, dear reader, read on...

Guest blogged by DES

It was a quiet week in Lake Wobegon last week.... but not in the District of Columbia, where scandals and revelations erupted by the hour.

Bush's War in Iraq dominated the week - the fourth anniversary of "Mission Accomplished" --- as former CIA Director George Tenet attempted to defend himself, shamefully, with his just-released tell-all book, as closer to home a storm of BRAD BLOG comment controversies erupted in the wake of disturbing video of riot police beating and kicking demonstrators and reporters in the L.A. May Day Melee, and guest blogger Stephen Heller call to re-institute a draft...

The Abramoff Lobbying Scandal spotlight has re-focused on BRAD BLOG's favorite corrupt congressman, Florida Republican Tom Feeney. A free golf junket to faraway Scotland to escape the Washington "heat" probably sounds like a great idea right about now...

We saw major developments on the Election Integrity front: in Florida, the Governor and tireless activists were able to overcome all obstructions and finally restore paper ballots to the Sunshine state. And Missouri was 'ground zero' for the GOP's "suppress the Democratic vote" campaign --- a web of corruption that The BRAD BLOG has been following for years now --- along with the welcome addition of McClatchy News Service (even if the Kansas City Star has attempted to undermine them) in connecting the Republican Myth of "Voter Fraud" to the U.S. Attorney Firings Scandal via the Show-Me State. Click on our ACVR Special Coverage page to get the whole sordid story so far...

And be sure to check out last Sunday's peace-lovin' music video for inspiration, as we pause for a breath before finding out what the cat will drag in next week. Links to High and/or Lowlights from what the cat dragged in last week are conveniently summarized and linked below...

Guest blogged by DES

An incredibly busy week this last week went turbo-charged with the sudden re-emergence of the Abramoff Lobbying Scandal, now starring our favorite as-yet-unindicted Republican, Tom Delay's Rep. Tom Feeney (FL-24). Naturally, The BRAD BLOG has been following Feeney's follies for years, along with the heroic efforts of whistleblower, computer programmer, and now challenger for the 24th District, Clint Curtis... Click on our "Special Coverage" to catch up on all the fun in this twisted tale of corruption and vote-rigging...

The scandals continue to roll fast and furious: this last week, The BRAD BLOG exposed the connection between the cynical Republican myth of "voter fraud" and the ongoing scandal of the firings (and near-firings) of U.S. Attorneys. And the extraordinary failures of the Election Assistance Commission were already compounded when they were caught trying to hide and change the results of their own report debunking the Republican myth of "voter fraud", but now they're silencing their researchers when they don't like the results!

It's a "harmonic convergence" of scandals (or a Unified Field Theory of Corruption, if you will, plenty of snarky nicknames for this debacle to go around). Read on, dear reader, and do your best to keep up with this Great Unraveling of the Republican Culture of Corruption.

The headlines from many of last week's most notable articles follow after the jump...

Guest Blogged by DES...

Tragedy and bloodshed visited two very different worlds this week, related only by their utter incomprehensibility, when many souls were lost to violence in Virginia and Baghdad. Last week we spent quite a bit of time contrasting how each was covered in the media: a gusher of emotion over the heroism, selflessness, and senseless loss among the victims of the shootings in Virginia, yet an astounding lack thereof for the hundreds killed in the daily carnage that is today's Iraq. No attention must be paid to flag-draped coffins arriving from our wars; there are few photos and honors for the lives of our soldiers or their families.

Yet even the Bush Administration managed to get in on the act, appearing at the Virginia Tech tragedy in just over 24 hours, beating their own record of four days in responding to Hurricane Katrina. (Perhaps because the university is so near the White House...?) Bush then said at the memorial, in perhaps his all time "greatest" urecognized-irony-laden moment: "Those whose live were taken did nothing to deserve their fate --- they were simpy in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Electronic voting machines, and the U.S. EAC, which is supposed to oversee them, are still a disaster --- as we were reminded, yet again --- this time when ES&S iVotronic machines across America were revealed to have a vulnerability allowing an undetectable voter-flipping virus about which the EAC refuses to alert America. Also, Diebold Whistleblower Stephen Heller offers encouragement for the Honest American confronted with secret wrongdoing --- a must-read during these troubled times.

"Elections have consequences", and it showed most this week when Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was called on the carpet before the Senate Judiciary Committee in a vain attempt to explain himself --- the attempt being in vain because there is no honest explanation for this perversion of justice.

Not to worry --- there still appears to be consequences for actual voter-fraudster Ann Coulter! But if any small good can come from this shameful period in our nation's history --- notably the U.S. Attorney scandal --- perhaps it will be the wide exposure and long-deserved death of the Republican myth of widespread 'voter fraud' --- which we've been covering for years on these pages (literally).

That, however, may be only the tip of the poisoned arrow into the Heart of Justice, as Brad revealed late in the week what could well be the "underlying crime" and direct link to the White House that the wingnuts claim isn't there. Brad tells me there is more where that came from...

There will be more --- do try to keep up. And see below for links to those stories and many others you may have missed at BRAD BLOG last week...

Guest Blogged by DES...

The Progressive blogosphere has a long-running joke "theory" regarding a holy grail of sorts - the one story or the one piece of evidence that would tie together all the scandals rolling out of the Bush Administration on a near-hourly basis. A sort of Unified Field Theory, only of corruption, political style.

This week, the U.S. Attorney Purge Scandal has mushroomed like a toxic Turdblossom cloud over the Executive Branch, tying together the electoral and campaign machinations of the Bush White House with the increasingly obvious, and now documented, politicization of the Department of Justice. Not only were U.S. Attorneys fired for not pursuing bogus "voter fraud" cases while other U.S. Attorneys retained for misusing their substantial power in politically motivated prosecutions, but considerable taxpayer resources have been devoted (and misused) towards trumping up claims of "epidemic" voter fraud where none exists: even the supposedly non-partisan U.S. Elections Assistance Commission (EAC) is in on it, covering up their own reports whenever the results don't jibe with the Bush Admin Master Plan.

Democratic advocacy organization People For The American Way (PFAW) is still inexplicably mis-stating (or purposely obfuscating) the true nature of the difference between paper trails vs. paper ballots in the Holt bill, HR 811 and has now been found to be deceptively using Brad's name, and that of The BRAD BLOG to do it. We will, of course, remain vigilant in keeping the pressure on PFAW and their friends to do the right thing, and several articles this week call on you to write pfaw@pfaw.org to demand exactly that.

The unsinkable Secretary of State for California, Debra Bowen, presented a knock-out editorial last week spelling out the steps ahead for truly verifiable elections. And sitting right next to the Secretary of State's op/ed was BRAD BLOG's own guest blogger Emily Levy's op/ed, literally and figuratively on the same page!

As Arlen Parsa exposed last week, the Iraq surge is (unsurprisingly) unraveling like the U.S. Attorney Purge cover-up, and the next few weeks of House Oversight and Reform Committee hearings (will Condi Rice show? will Gonzales?) should be nothing if not, er, interesting.

And as Michael Richardson detailed, voter registration issues in Florida are once again drawing questions, even as AP reported thousands of destroyed voter registration forms found in Atlanta.

Catch up on the key headlines you may have missed last week at The BRAD BLOG, so you'll be upped for this coming week's istallment of Incompetence and Corruption on Parade. If lastweek's developments were any indication, hold onto your hats, folks, it's becoming an increasingly bumpier and bumpier ride...

Guest blogged by DES...

Apropos of voter registration database problems elsewhere, as covered by BRAD BLOG's Michael Richardson earlier today, the Georgia Secretary of State's office has announced an investigation into how 75,000 voter registration cards ended up in an Atlanta trash bin, exposing sensitive information with voters' full names, addresses, and social security numbers.

AP has the details...

Guest Blogged by DES...

Major movement this past week on the Election Integrity front --- Hackin' Harri Hursti traveled all the way from Finland to speak directly to a "Blue Ribbon" commission on hackable electronic voting machines in Riverside County, California. The testimony from Hacking Democracy's hacker of Diebold optical-scan and touch-screen systems, and his subsequent interview with Brad declaring touch-screen systems a no-go and op-scan systems the most secure and transparent, sent Election Integrity advocates and Holt Bill supporter alike scrambling for new cover...

Diebold Whistleblower Stephen Heller traveled all the way across the San Fernando Valley to tell you (and Brad) firsthand what it's like to be targeted for prosecution by a huge corporation with deep pockets, after you've caught them with their grubby, scheming hands in the election cookie jar...

And The BRAD BLOG steps out in front to exhort the nation's biggest Democratic advocacy groups to grasp the imperative of sending democracy-damaging DRE touch-screen voting machine systems to the toxic waste bin now, before HR811 locks them in permanently.

Read on for why we must demand a paper ballot that is actually tabulated for every vote cast in America. It's seems too common-sensical, I know --- but such is the Bizarro world we live in... Head over to PDA's petition if you haven't already, and add your voice to this fight for truly verifiable elections!

Oh, and don't miss the hilariously misguided (and increasingly incoherent) partisan stylings of Corporate Media Wingnuttery, this week's episodes courtesy of Hume (with a slimy nod to BRAD BLOG) and O'Reilly (with a slimy attack both a 29-year vet as well as Geraldo)...It's better than Saturday Night Live!

That and so much more of the under-reported stories developing hard last week, under the radar of the corporate mainstream media, that will affect you and yours for decades to come. Read on to catch up on what you may have missed --- there will be a test!...

Guest blogged by DES

Obstruction of Justice, whether in political appointments or in elections, was the recurring theme this week, again.

Thankfully, "Elections have consequences." Those words from Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) continued to reverberate throughout the halls and offices on The Hill this week, as Kyle Sampson, the former Chief of Staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, was tasked with the unenviable role of "Next Fall Guy" (Lying Liars Division) in the Oversight and Accountability portion of our new Congressional program.

We also welcomed BRAD BLOG's newest Guest Blogger, Arlen Parsa, this week, with his explosive article connecting electoral dots, past and future, in the political perversion of justice at the Department of Justice.

And speaking of perversion, our D.C. Correspondent Margie Burns caught WaPo in what seems to be another act of swift-boating by media-abetted anonymous White House slur.

"Elections have consequences"... Do all roads lead to Rove on the Turdblossom Express?

In the meantime, get the popcorn ready and set your televisions to C-Span this next week --- The Waxman cometh...

For a look back at all of the above and much more that you may have missed last week, read on...

Guest blogged by DES

It was anything but a quiet week at The BRAD BLOG last week... Revelations continued to hemorrhage out of the Department of Justice regarding the, er, inconsistencies in statements from DoJ officials, as contradicted by their own emails in the firing of eight (or more?) U.S. Attorneys, revealing the apparent transformation of Justice into a political blugeoning arm of the Bush Administration. Brad called out People for the American Way for their troubling advocacy in favor of disenfranchising DRE touch-screen voting systems. And a new breed of honest and responsible (and female) Secretaries of State proved that voters' faith was not misplaced last November, when they voted for these reformers to restore accountability to their state governments.

The Accountability and Oversight Juggernaut continues --- woe betide those who would get in the way of these strong, honest women! Not to mention Barbara Boxer!

MONDAY, MARCH 19th...

OHIO SOS DEMANDS IMMEDIATE RESIGNATION OF ALL CUYAHOGA COUNTY ELECTION BOARD MEMBERS
Robert Bennett, Ohio's GOP Chair and President of the Board of Elections in Ohio's Most Democratic County, Vows to Stay On
Growing Battle Underscores a Host of Other Myths, Disinfo Campaigns Concerning Buckeye State Election Administration...

A Challenge to Opponents of a Ban on Electronic Ballots
Seeking Just One Democracy-Serving Reason to Keep DREs Allowable Under the Holt Bill
Any takers?....
Guest Blogged by Ellen Theisen of VotersUnite.Org

U.S. Attorney Purge: DoJ Releases 3,000 Pages in Late-Night Document Dump
Conyers Statement: House Judiciary Prepared to Use Subpoena Power if Necessary...

Steve Rosenfeld Critical of Our Call for a DRE-Ban in Article Published Today at AlterNet
Says 'Voting Machine Purists Should Not Let The Perfect be the Enemy of the Good'
We Disagree With Both the Premise and the Conclusion...

TUESDAY, MARCH 20th...

SENATE JUDICIARY HEARINGS: Half a Trillion Spent in Iraq With No Controls, Leahy Introduces Oversight Bill
The Vermont Senator Says We Are Otherwise On Track to Send a Full Trillion with No Oversight Adequate to Control Waste, Fraud and Abuse...
Guest Blogged by BRAD BLOG D.C. correspondent Margie Burns

DoJ Emails: Cunningham Complained About Lam in Letter to DoJ Just Prior to His Guilty Plea
Corrupt Congressman Joined Concerted GOP Effort to Criticize Prosecutor Who Would Soon Put Him Behind Bars...

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21st...

Brad Friedman (BRAD BLOG) v. Ralph Neas (PFAW) on Amending the Holt Election Reform Bill to Ban DRE Touch-Screen Voting Systems
As Heard on 'Ring of Fire' with RFK Jr. & Mike Papantonio: I Support Banning DREs, Neas Opposes Such a Ban, and Speaks in Support of DREs
Papantonio: 'Brad, my bet is on you on this one' ---
Audio & Transcripts Now Posted

VIDEO - Boxer Spanks Inhofe, Reminds Him Who Is In Charge During Gore's Senate Testimony Today
'You're Not Making the Rules Anymore...Elections Have Consequences,' Says Boxer

NEW CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION LAUNCHED INTO ELECTION IMPROPRIETIES IN CUYAHOGA COUNTY, OH
Election Results of Early Voting Found Printed Prior to Election Day
NATIONWIDE EFFORT? - Identical Situation Recently Discovered in Pima County, AZ...

Diebold Fails Again: Nearly 50% of DRE Touch-Screen Systems Fail Accuracy Test in Montgomery County, OH!
56 of 125 Machines Tested, after Voter Complaints, Incorrectly Registered Votes!

Waxman Letter Challenges Bush Claim of 'Unprecedented' Access to White House Officials, Information
Lists Many Clinton AND Bush Administration Officials Who Have Been Allowed to Testify Under Oath Before Congress
Cites Previous White House Disclosure of Information, Communications...

THURSDAY, MARCH 22nd...

CA50: Appellate Court Dismisses Busby/Bilbray Election Contest as Now 'Moot'
Voters, State Law, Rendered Meaningless, Plaintiffs Likely to Appeal Decision to CA Supreme Court...

FRIDAY, MARCH 23rd...

OH SOS Brunner Slams Remaining Cuyahoga County, OH Election Board Members
They Were Warned To Resign or Come What May...And So It Shall Be...

CA SoS Debra Bowen Releases 'Top to Bottom Review' Criteria for E-Voting Machine Certification in California
It's a Bad Day in Cali for Diebold and ES&S and Sequoia and Hart Intercivic...But a Great Day for the Voters!

ES&S MELTDOWN '07: Trainwreck Begins Anew as Voting Machine Company Fails in Wisconsin
Clark and Taylor Counties Short-Changed as Nation's Top Voting Machine Vendor is Yet To Deliver Materials for Election Just 12 Days Away...

SATURDAY, MARCH 24th...

One of America's Worst Elections Administrators Gets a Promotion! Congratulations Mikel Haas!
San Diego County Chief Promotes Hard Rightwing Haas to Top Executive Position in County!

BREAKING FL-13: NEW UNDISCLOSED LETTER OF AGREEMENT FROM ES&S TO STATE UNEARTHED!
Terms of 'Independent' State Run Audit, Source Code Review Dictated by Voting Machine Company to Florida State Election Director Prior to Tests of Failed Touch-Screen Voting Systems from Contested Jennings/Buchanan Election!

Guest blogged by DES...

Just thought we would take a moment to applaud the stellar work of Josh Marshall and his reporters over at Talking Points Memo and sister site TPM Muckraker, for their dogged pursuit of the truth underlying the firings of eight U.S. Attorneys --- a story that has led to serious questions over the prosecutorial independence of the U.S. Department of Justice. (This isn't Marshall's first time at the rodeo --- the "Duke" Cunningham and Jack Abramoff scandals also sprung from Marshall's keyboard, among others back when the MSM didn't find them worth much of their time.)

Saturday's edition of the Los Angeles Times gives credit where credit is due, acknowledging Marshall & Company's stellar work --- in a huge feature story on the front page, no less!

Hopefully Mainstream Corporate Media denizens will take a cue from the LA Times and cite the blogs they use as sources. Give credit where it is due. It's really not that hard. Maybe now the MSM can all move on from the ridiculous old vs. new journalism feud-mentality and get on with the pursuit of the truth.

Congratulations to Talking Points Memo and TPM Muckraker. You guys rock.

(Photo credit: Carolyn Cole, Los Angeles Times)

Guest blogged by DES...

It's hard to believe that in this week alone, we've gone from a major blowup over the politically-motivated firing of eight U.S. Attorneys to the riveting testimony of outed, covert CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson, speaking publicly for the first time since her cover was blown in another politically-motivated disinformation campaign, in the newest installment of the CIA Leak scandal. It's been quite the scandalicious year so far, in what Brad had dubbed "The Year of Accountability." So far, it's right on target.

In the midst of all the drama on the Hill, blind and disabled voter advocates and groups called for the "immediate ban of DRE/touch-screen voting systems" in a major announcement that debunked the myths peddled by supporters of these hackable, crappy machines. And Justice was sort of served as two Ohio elections workers were finally convicted for rigging the recount in the 2004 Presidential Election --- although there is currently no scheduled "do-over" to find out the actual count. Justice and government accountability are still being denied to whistleblowers and voters in Florida. In case you missed these and other exciting stories during this roller-coaster ride of revelations, here's last week's review...

MONDAY, March 12th...

Rove Directly Implicated by New Mexico GOP in U.S. Attorney Firings
State Party Chair Admits Bush's Right-Hand Man Claimed 'He's Gone' After Demands to Fire David Iglesias
New York Times Calls for Gonzales's Head, but The BRAD BLOG Calls for Bush's...

Sunday Toon of the Moment...
CANCELLED, LIKE CANDORVILLE, BY THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

TUESDAY, March 13th...

LIBBY TRIAL: Rightwing Noise Machine Launches an Attack on the Verdict
Republican Commentators Misstate Chronology, Facts
Corporate Mainstream Media All Too Happy to Offer the Platform for Demonstrable Untruths...
*** Special to The BRAD BLOG
*** by Libby/CIA Leak Trial Correspondent Margie Burns

Rice Ignored Congressional Info Requests on Bogus Iraq/Uranium Claims...

We'd say this new report further underscores our recommendation to keep an eye on Waxman's Congressional Oversight Committee and his investigation into the Iraq uranium/yellowcake scam by the White House...

FL-13: Company Warned of Touch-Screen Voting System Defect, But Sarasota Declined to Fix Machines or Caution Voters
FULL LETTER POSTED: ES&S Urged State, Local Officials to Take Corrective Measures Three Months Prior to Contested Jennings/Buchanan Race Last November
Election Integrity Advocate's Warning About Bug Also Ignored Both Before and After Election...

Ohio Election Workers Sentenced to 18 Months for Rigging 2004 Presidential Recount
Judge Says He Believes the Conspiracy Goes Higher...

WEDNESDAY, March 14th...

BLIND AND DISABLED VOTER ADVOCATES, GROUPS CALL FOR 'IMMEDIATE BAN' OF DRE VOTING SYSTEMS!
Two Different Statements from Civil Rights Leaders Call for Discontinuation of Unsecure, Unverifiable, Disenfranchising DRE/Touch-Screen Voting Technology
Both Destroy Myth of Need to Sacrifice Verifed Ballots for Accessibility...

Sibel Edmonds Asks For Your Help Again in Forcing Congress to Allow Her to Tell Her Story
'Gagged-Ordered' FBI Whistleblower Calls on BRAD BLOG Readers to 'Demand, Beg and Implore' Congressional Dems to Announce Public Hearings
'State Secrets Act' Still Used by DoJ to Prevent the Fired Translator from Testifying on 9/11, Corruption by Hastert, Perle, Feith...
Guest Blogged by Luke Ryland

THURSDAY, March 15th...

Ann Coulter...In Desperation...Plugs Her New Book
True Conservative, Guest Blogger Daniel Borchers, on Coulter's Fall from Grace, Her Continued Discrediting of the Conservative Movement, and His Experience With her Thugs at CPAC...
Guest blogged by Daniel Borchers of Citizens for Principled Conservatism

EXCLUSIVE: New Details on the Phony 'Voter Fraud' Angle in the U.S. Attorneys Purge Scandal...
An Insider's Report from a New Mexico Election Attorney on the Firing of David Iglesias and the Rove/DoJ/Republican Efforts to Create a 2004 'Voter Fraud' Scare in the State...
RELATED? - The GOP 'Voter Fraud' Front Group ACVR Goes Suddenly AWOL!

FRIDAY, March 16th...

VALERIE PLAME-WILSON UNDER OATH TO CONGRESS: 'I WAS COVERT, SERVED OVERSEAS IN LAST FIVE YEARS, WORKED UNDERCOVER OVERSEEING WMD PROLIFERATION ISSUES IN IRAQ'
Testifies She Had Nothing to do With Sending Husband to Niger, Blows Out Every Claim by Republicans, Novak, Toensing, etc. That She Wasn't Covert
LIVE-BLOGGING HOUSE OVERSIGHT HEARINGS...

CIA LEAK HEARING STUNNER: WHITE HOUSE SECURITY DIRECTOR ADMITS 'NO INVESTIGATION INTO LEAK' BY HIS OFFICE
Director James Knodell, Under Intense Questioning, Can't Explain Why There Was Never an Investigation by White House
Victoria Toensing, in Third Panel, Also Subjected to Intense Scrutiny on Previous 'Plame Wasn't Covert' Statements, Seems Shaken, Offers Much Conflicting Info, Explanations...

CIA LEAK HEARING: 20 Different Disclosures of Plame-Wilson's Covert Identity by White House, State Dept. Officials
Chart as Displayed During Today's Congressional Oversight Hearing During the Testimony of the Outed CIA Agent...

NY Times on the Phony 'Voter Fraud' Claims Behind U.S. Attorney Purge
More Evidence that the Bush Administration Used the Dept. of Justice for Little More Than a Blunt Political Instrument
Even as Democrats Continue to Rubber Stamp Wildly Inappropriate White House Appointments to Oversee the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission...

BREAKING: Waxman Demands White House Explanation for Lack of Investigation into CIA Leak Case
Letter to Josh Bolten Follows Earlier Congressional Testimony from WH Security Director That No Investigation Was Ever Conducted Into Disclosure of the Identity of Covert Operative Valerie Plame-Wilson...

SATURDAY, March 17th...

Happy Anniversary.
Four Years Of 'Mission Accomplished'...And Counting...

Guest blogged by DES

Apparently the right-wing mouthpiece Fox "News" Channel is a little freaked out over getting fired as hosts of a Democratic presidential debate in Nevada. FNC management has responded to the drubbing by putting out a thinly-veiled threat to other Democratic presidential candidates and their media coordinators to keep Fox "News" on speed-dial (with Roger Ailes's newest bitch-slap here). My, my, such a hissy fit just because they finally got called on the carpet for being the Republican Fox in the henhouse.

As they continue to wring their hands and stamp their feet over such shoddy treatment, Mort Kondracke let drop this amusing little bit of cluelessness:

See the full clip here at Think Progress. Hat tip to John Aravosis at Americablog.com for pointing out this little gem.

Additional thought from Brad: Dear Fox 'News' Whining Cry-Baby Sore-Losers: You lost. Move on. Get over it.

Guest blogged by DES

...And what a week it was: The story that would not be ignored, the story that would not die, became a very big deal as the I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby CIA Leak trail finally drew to a close. But it ain't over yet! The Oversight and Accountability portion of our program is just beginning. Be sure to stay tuned to Special Correspondent Margie Burns's in-depth analysis, exclusively for BRAD BLOG readers.

Plus there were oodles of opportunities to contemplate free speech and the First Amendment, courtesy of a judge in Kansas (what is the matter with Kansas, anyway?) and the ongoing fall-out from the "F-bomb" dropped by that sad clown of rightwing "comedy," Ann Coulter. Apparently impeachment is back on the table, and now a safe word for even a Republican to say out loud! That's free speech in action, folks! And.... oh, yeah --- a computer security scientist told the Senate some very not-nice things about those electronic touch-screen voting machines...do ya think they'll listen?

SUNDAY, March 3rd...

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Clint Curtis Documents Evidence of Widespread 2006 Florida Election Fraud
The Whistleblower Turned U.S. House Candidate Continues His for Fight for Election Integrity and His Federal Challenge to his 2006 Race with the Corrupt Tom Feeney
*** Special to The BRAD BLOG
*** By Guest Blogger Jim Cirile

MONDAY, March 4th...

BRAD BLOG Runs Judge-Censored Stories on Kansas City's Board of Public Utilities
In Support of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America...
Including 'The Pitch' Version of the Story in full, along with the Kansas City Star's version

TUESDAY, March 5th...

Hypocritical GOP Bloggers' Ann Coulter Condemnation of Convenience
'Conservative' Bloggers Call on CPAC to Exclude Ann Coulter, But Give Themselves a Pass for Enabling Her For Years
The Sad, Discredited Republican Clown's Long Documented History of Vile Hate Speech and Rhetoric Conveniently Ignored by Newly Converted 'Conservatives' Only Now Declaring 'the Age of Ann Has Passed'

NSWBC: FBI Whistleblowers Confirm Illegal Wiretaps of Government Officials
Out this morning from the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition...

William Weaver, NSWBC Senior Advisor: "Preservation of the balance of powers between the branches of government increasingly relies on information provided by whistleblowers, especially in the face of aggressive and expanding executive power."

LIBBY TRIAL: While Awaiting the Jury Verdict, Some Questions
Were Cheney, Bush and Their Top Aides Briefed on the Reports Revealing the Niger/Uranium/Iraq Deal Was Bogus?
What the Records from the CIA Briefing Books Might Show...
*** Special to The BRAD BLOG
*** by Libby/CIA Leak Trial Correspondent Margie Burns

CHENEY CHIEF OF STAFF 'SCOOTER' LIBBY FOUND GUILTY IN FOUR OF FIVE COUNTS!
Two Counts of Perjury, One Each of Obstruction of Justice, Giving False Statements to the FBI
DETAILS FROM THE COURTHOUSE FROM BRAD BLOG LIBBY TRIAL CORRESPONDENT MARGIE BURNS...

HAGEL: 'Before This is Over, You Might See Calls for his Impeachment'
The Republican Senator, Decorated Vietnam War Vet, Puts the I-Word 'Back on the Table' in Esquire Interview...

Democratic Judiciary Statement on Today's U.S. Attorney Firing Hearings
CONYERS: 'It is time to rein in this President and his Administration'
SàNCHEZ: 'DoJ acted behind closed doors to intimidate appointees...Had no effective oversight during previous majority'

Court of Appeals Overturns Kansas City Judge, UN-Censors Story on Alleged Violations by Public Utility Board
The First Amendment Wins Again...

WEDNESDAY, March 7th...

Libby Trial Ends, Reveals Clear-Cut Patterns
An Eyewitness 'Selective Memory' Postmortem...
*** Special to The BRAD BLOG
*** by Libby/CIA Leak Trial Correspondent Margie Burns

THURSDAY, March 8th...

NEW GAO REPORT: Yet Another Confirmation That 'Security and Reliability Concerns' of Election Integrity Experts are 'Legitimate' (To Say the Least)
And Another Reminder That 'Problems with Recent Elections Resulted in Loss and Miscount of Votes'
And Another Reminder that the both the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission (EAC) and the Mainstream Media Alike Have Utterly Failed in their Missions...

TRANSPARENCY: House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Reports Out Four Good Bills
Chairman Henry Waxman Lets the Sunshine In
Bills the GOP Tried to Pass Against Clinton Now Resurrected With Bipartisan Support...
Guest Blogged by BRAD BLOG D.C. correspondent Margie Burns

Fitzgerald Invited, Plame Confirmed for Testimony at Congressional Hearings
Role of Cheney and Bush in CIA Leak Scandal to be Probed in Hearings...

FRIDAY, March 9th...

20 Voters File Complaint Alleging Touch-Screen Vote-Flipping in Montgomery County, OH
County's Election Director, Steve Harsman, Wholly Clueless...

AVI RUBIN: 'After Four Years of Study, I Now Believe that a DRE (touch-screen) with a VVPAT (paper-trail) is Not a Reasonable Voting System'
Johns Hopkins Professor, E-Voting Security Expert Goes on Record Against Electronic Ballots at Congressional Hearings on Election Integrity...

UPDATES FROM BRAD:

In meetings, on deadlines, and following several items at once is BRAD BLOG Libby Trial correspondent Margie Burns, with whom we've been in contact from the courthouse. She's now back at her home office, and we'll have details from her soon.

For the moment, we'll point to coverage from the two outlets that bothered to investigate and report on this story while the MSM was completely ignoring it:
+ RAW STORY's coverage...
+ Huffington Posts's coverage...
+ Libby Trial bloggers (firedoglake, etc.) react, Wilson/Plame statement...

We'll also point you to Burns's earlier piece this morning concerning questions worth asking, which are even more relevant, in our opinion, now that Libby has been found guilty. What exactly were Cheney and Bush and their aides told about the CIA findings that the Iraq/Niger uranium yellowcake story was bogus way back in 2002? Burns examines here...

FURTHER UPDATE 12:42pm PT:
FROM BRAD BLOG LIBBY TRIAL CORRESPONDENT MARGIE BURNS

Margie sends in the following based on her observations and notes from this morning, as the verdict was read and beyond...

Guest blogged by DES

The twin buzzwords of "Oversight" and "Accountability" reared their sleepy little heads this week, as Democrats in Congress began the long, slow slog of uncovering just what has been going on during the Republican hegemony that has been U.S. Government over the last six years. Sad wingnut clown Ann Coulter spewed some more bile, eagerly lapped up by her wingnut fans at CPAC (scads of conservatives in attendance, but strangely, no military recruiters --- why is that?). The jury's still out on the Libby-CIA Leak Case trial, but BRAD BLOG's Special Correspondent Margie Burns from D.C. has uncovered some interesting connections while drilling down into court documents.

And oh, yeah --- that Election Reform juggernaut just keeps on a-coming, with revelations from a new study this week that's chock full of those pesky facts that make voting machine companies, elections officials, and Democratic supporters of the Holt Election Bill (like Common Cause and PFAW) feel all queasy... Enjoy!

SUNDAY, Feb. 25th...

LIBBY TRIAL: Bush Admin Targeted
Wilson's Wife Long Before Wilson's Article Published in NY Times
Trial Docs, Testimony Reveal Admin Reasons for Outting CIA WMD Analyst May Be More Than Simple Retaliation Over 'Yellowcake' Op-Ed...
What Were They REALLY After?
*** Special to The BRAD BLOG
*** by Libby/CIA Leak Trial Correspondent Margie Burns

MONDAY, Feb. 26th...

REPORT: Undervote Rate Plummets 85% in New Mexico's Native American Precincts after Statewide Switch from Touch-Screen Voting to Paper Ballots
Comparison of Voting Data from 2004 to 2006 Shows Hispanic Undervote Plunged 69% as the 'Civil Rights' Case for DREs Continues to Fall Apart
ALSO: New Concerns Emerge About Racial Profiling vis a vis Touch-Screen Voting Systems...

"We were looking for any impact the change to paper ballots may have had on New Mexico's historically high undervote rate. When we found the dramatic drop in Native American precincts, we were shocked," says New Mexico's Theron Horton. The Election Defense Alliance (EDA) activist added, "something was going on with the DREs in those precincts in 2004."

EXCLUSIVE: California SoS Finds No State Law to Prohibit Proposed Riverside County 'Hack Test' of Sequoia Touch-Screen Machines!
But Secretary Bowen Says Board of Supes Proposed 'Ground Rules' for Test 'Overly Narrow,' 'Would Prove Little and Give Voters False Sense of Security'
Supervisor Stone's Hope for SoS Participation in '1000 to 1' Bet with Election Integrity Advocates under Unilateral, Unrealistic Restrictions Flatly Rejected by State's New Election Chief...

TUESDAY, Feb. 27th...

Doing Comedy for Fox 'News'? 'It's Just a Job' Says the Not-Necessarily Right-Wing Actor Jonathan Mangum...

So now, with FNC even beginning to run dry on phony outrage, in the latest desperate Fox "News" Hail Mary attempt to fill 30 more minutes of their 24 hour broadcast day with anything but actual news, they've shamelessly set aside all pretense by choosing to fill those 30 minutes with attempts at satirical comedy. Sort of. Not even CNN or MSNBC has crossed that rubicon. Yet. But give 'em time.
...
Imagine my surprise then, when halfway through the thing, an old acting colleague of mine showed up in one of the mid-show sketches. The first question that popped to mind when I saw Jonathan was, "What the hell must he have been thinking?!"

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 28th...

VIDEO: Florida Governor Crist Discusses Election Problems, Wolf Blitzer is a Brainless Dolt
Wolf Blitzer asks Florida's new Republican Governor Charlie Crist if there could be a replay in 2008 of the "2000 election fiasco?"

CIA LEAK CASE: Dear Mr. Cheney --- Know Anybody in Marseilles?
One Week After the Bush-Cheney Cabal Learned About a Port That Shipped Uranium...A US Agency Found Uranium There!
What Were the Odds?
*** Special to The BRAD BLOG
*** by Libby/CIA Leak Trial Correspondent Margie Burns

THURSDAY, March 1st...

Brad, Common Cause Debate Rush Holt Election Reform Bill on 'Peter B. Collins Show'
Common Cause Election Issue Rep Relies on Same Old Discredited Talking Point Chestnuts to Avoid Calling for Ban of DRE/Touch-Screen Voting Machines
Link to Complete Text-Transcript, Audio...

JUDICIARY COMMITTEE ISSUES SUBPOENAS IN U.S. ATTORNEY FIRING SCANDAL
First Subpoenas Issued by Dems Since Taking Control of Congress...

"The former U.S. Attorneys are alleging very serious charges against the Administration and we need to hear from them," Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) says in his statement. "We want to hear their stories and we want the Administration to address the charges head on so that we can get to the bottom of this."

FRIDAY, March 2nd...

Ann Coulter Suggests John Edwards a 'Faggot' at Country's Most Important 'Conservative' Political Conference
The Hate-Monger, Apparent Vote Fraud Felon Continues her Pathetic Downward Spiral Today in D.C. at CPAC...

'Daily Voting News', Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

In a disturbing article from Chicago, IL, it is revealed that Cook County will pay Sequoia for their voting machines based on a sliding scale that will be controlled by how quickly machines transmit results to election headquarters and also by how quickly those votes can be tabulated. The county does not seem to care as much about accuracy or security as it does for speed.

SATURDAY, March 3rd...

EXCLUSIVE: JOHN EDWARDS SAYS 'YES' TO BAN ON TOUCH-SCREEN (DRE) VOTING MACHINES!
Presidential Candidate Becomes First to Join Growing Movement When Queried About Issue at Campaign Event in California
Edwards Becomes Second Politician in a Week to Announce Support for the Election Integrity Movement After Being Asked About it at Public Event

'Daily Voting News', Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

Miller Co. Arkansas Election Administrator Robby Selph resigned from his job saying this about Election Systems and Software, "The reason I am leaving is the provider of the Ivotronics and related software lacks competency to make their equipment work timely and effectively. They ... make a difficult job impossible to do. They can't spell, meet deadlines, send documents to the right address or code elections correctly. They leave races off the ballot for us to correct, they can't program their software to work and you have to hand add the results. And they don't return phone calls...