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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?...

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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...

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The Secret Koch Brothers Tapes...

Plaintiffs: Electoral Vote Certification Makes It Moot
A victory, it seems, for the bad guys. (Or is it?)
By Brad Friedman on 1/11/2005 3:09pm PT  

From AP:

Three dozen voters challenging the presidential election results in the Ohio Supreme Court asked to drop their lawsuit Tuesday, saying it is moot with last week's certification of the electoral vote and the upcoming inauguration.

Citing fraud, lawyers representing 37 voters on Nov. 2 had asked the court to examine several problems with voting procedures in the hopes of overturning President Bush's victory in the state.
...
Without giving specifics, attorney Cliff Arnebeck said challenges of the results would continue in state or federal courts. But he conceded that there was nothing available now to try to prevent Bush's inauguration.

"We are not quitting. We are going on to any other forum that's available and we intend to pursue those avenues aggressively," Arnebeck said.

The Bush campaign welcomed the announcement.

We imagine they would.

(For this, and other such Election 2004 related headlines as they happen...be sure to check out VelvetRevolution.us for more of the latest, up-to-date headlines than I am usually able to offer here on The BRAD BLOG! Of course, I will always attempt to post the most notable here. More often when I may have additional specific analysis to offer to the raw news reports!)

UPDATE: A report via a Yahoo Newsgroup on this issue reports that Susan Truitt, one of the attorney plaintiffs who brought the case, has said the decision to drop the case was based on a number of issues (which the AP story interestingly failed to mention). Amongst them, the report says they plan instead to file a Federal civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court, alleging civil rights violations and election fraud. That, instead of the Ohio action, which, they plaintiffs had come to discover, was being heard by the Republican Ohio Supreme Court Justice who had shown a lack of impartiality in the case (e.g. He refused to recuse himself from it, despite being a a candidate on the ballot in question).

The point seems to have some merit, especially since the original hope they had of overturning the election in Ohio is essentially a Constitutional impossibility once the Electors have been ratified by Congress as they were on January 6th.

The post, from a usual reliable source, also says that Truitt "was concerned the biased, Republican-dominated Ohio Supreme Court would assess huge fines and penalties against the plaintiffs/attorneys filing the suit, in order to attempt to "deter" any further legal action." And concludes with, "Susan is working hard toward the federal civil action which will be filed very soon."

We'll be watching...

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By Brad Friedman on 1/10/2005 10:19pm PT  

While I have been too busy since last Thursday getting the Velvet Revolution underway, I have been unable to adequately express my thanks to the members of Congress who didn't fail us last Thursday.

While Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones and Sen. Barbara Boxer received the lion's share of the notice and thanks last week, the Herculean efforts of Rep. John Conyers and his staff in ferreting out Election Irregularities and Malfeasance in Ohio and elsewhere cannot be understated.

They have been true to their promise --- made to me by a staffer back in November --- to "not let this one go".

To promise such a thing, and then actually do it seems to be a rare thing indeed in Washington these days. From Republicans and Democrats alike! Yet, Conyers and his staff have stayed true to their words. And for that, they have won our greatest respects and enternal thanks.

And this morning, in an open letter posted on John Conyers' website he continues that same promise; To stay on this until the job is done. There are very few politicians on either side of the aisle we can say this about, but we have come to believe that he means what he says.

Hoping to let us all know where he intends to go from here, Conyers' letter starts with a gracious thank you to all of us who helped make so much happen...

I believe what we achieved on January 6 will be a seminal event in the history of progressive politics, and significantly advance the cause of electoral reform. For this challenge to Ohio's electors to have occurred, I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to the internet activists, who spread the story of my efforts and supported me in every way possible. I am also thankful to the alternative media, including talk radio and blogs that gave substantial attention and investigation to these matters when all but a handful in the mainstream media refused to examine the facts. I cannot thank all of you personally, but you know who you are.

We do. And behalf of so many of us, you are tremendously welcome.

He then goes on to outline his intentions for today looking forward...

I believe what we achieved on January 6 will be a seminal event in the history of progressive politics, and significantly advance the cause of electoral reform. For this challenge to Ohio's electors to have occurred, I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to the internet activists, who spread the story of my efforts and supported me in every way possible. I am also thankful to the alternative media, including talk radio and blogs that gave substantial attention and investigation to these matters when all but a handful in the mainstream media refused to examine the facts. I cannot thank all of you personally, but you know who you are.

With the exigency of January 6 behind us, I wanted to let you know what I will be doing in the coming months. First, my investigation of Ohio voting irregularities is not over. In an effort to get as much information confirmed and circulated in advance of January 6, many valuable leads still need to be pursued and I pledge to do so. Substantial irregularities have come to light in other states during the course of this investigation and I will also pursue those leads. While there has been powerful opposition to my efforts and personal attacks against me as a result of my efforts, I want to assure you I remain steadfast.

Second, there are other matters involving wrongdoing by Administration officials that I will continue to pursue. Among other things, I will continue to seek answers about the role of senior Bush Administration officials in outing an undercover Central Intelligence Agency operative. I will also continue to examine the sources of the fraudulent case for the Iraq war, which intersects with the outing of this operative.

Third, I intend to develop and introduce legislation in a number of areas. Most importantly, I intend to introduce comprehensive election reform legislation in the coming weeks, and I will fight for its passage at the earliest possible moment. I intend to hold further hearings on this issue.

If there was any doubt before, there is certainly none left, that --- in a year marked by the heroic deeds of many great Americans (too numerous to list here) on behalf of our democracy --- John Conyers has truly, hands-down, deserved the high-honor of being our very first "BRAD BLOG Man of the Year".

As regular readers may have noticed by now, there are very few politicians these days that The BRAD BLOG is particularly fond of. So this is no small honor, as many of you would likely attest.

Thank you, Mr. Conyers. And we look forward to more historic and heroics efforts in the near future! (If you haven't sent him thanks yourself, feel free to do so via email here. For the other 31+1, BuzzFlash has put all of their names and addresses together here if you'd like to drop them a note as well.)

We will do whatever we can to support his efforts both here at The BRAD BLOG and over at Velvet Revolution where we exist to support such efforts and such great American heroes!

And onward we go...We'd hate to be nice for too long...gotta reputation to keep! ;-)

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Please Cast Your Vote For Us!
(Diebold won't answer our calls, so we need YOUR help instead!)
By Brad Friedman on 1/10/2005 5:58pm PT  

UPDATE 2/4/05: Looks like while I was gone The BRAD BLOG received another (our fourth) Koufax Award nomination. This time for Best Series (Clint Curtis: Whistleblower Affidavit). And I admit to being quite proud of that particular recognition! So we'll move this item back up to the top for a short while and again ask for your support by casting a vote for our "Clint Curtis" series by a leaving a comment in support of same at the aforementioned link. Looks like this nomination was announced well over a week ago while I was gone, so BRADBLOGGERS will have some voting/catching-up to do! Please drop by and give us a vote! For that one, and the others --- see below --- if you haven't already! (Yes, I'm finally back in town as of this morning, but have so much catch up work now to do, I probably won't be able to begin blogging again until Monday...unless I just can't help myself. Also...I'm not sure, but these votes may be just the semi-finalist voting, so I may have to debase myself yet again in the future to beg for your votes if we make it to the "finals". But we've long ago cast off all illusions of self-respect, so why worry about such things now?) - BF

UPDATE 1/12/05: Wow, embarrassment of riches. BRAD BLOG just nominated for yet another Koufax award category! This time, "Most Deserving of Wider Recognition". If you are inclined to vote for us (and thanks to those who already have in the other categories!) you may do so via the just added link to the third category in the list below. Bumping this item temporarily back up to the top, long enough to catch your attention! And thanks for all the exceedingly nice words in many of your votes! - BF

Looks like The BRAD BLOG has been nominated in (so far) two three different categories for The Koufax Awards!

Please feel free to put a vote for us by leaving a comment with "BRAD BLOG" in it, at the following nomination page links!:

More nominations for other categories are still to come. Keep an eye out at the Wampum blog (Home of the Koufax Awards), and feel free to shout out if you notice that we have been nominated in any other categories as they continue to announce them!

It is, as they say, an honor just to be nominated! :-)

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A New Home for the New American Patriot!
It's been a long time coming...
By Brad Friedman on 1/10/2005 3:42pm PT  

We've been working hard to get things in order to help put much of your discussion here, into action over at Velvet Revolution!

We've still got much work to do over there, but now we need you on board to help!

Grab your pitchfork and light your torches! We are officially open for business!

Stop on by, sign-up as a founding Velvet Revolutionary, jump into the Discussion forums, and let's take all of the energy, patriotism, civic-mindedness and hope for a better America and turn it into action and mobilization for the cause!

It was Velvet Revolutions that so effectively overturned despotic regimes through peaceful civil disobedience in places like the former Soviet Union, East Germany, Czchekoslovakia, Poland, South Africa, and of course...most recently...Ukraine.

In all of those places, the citizenry rose up to take matters into their own hands to demand that their governments be held responsible. Now it is our turn to learn from those countries what it really means to have a government of the people, by the people, and for the people!

I've posted more information over there about why we feel that Velvet Revolution has become necessary in the United States. And there will be more information and mobilization of a hopefully great citizen's brigade in the days, weeks, months and even years ahead!

Join us! It's your Velvet Revolution! We've just made it possible for everyone to come together in one place! But without you...we're nothing! Please lend a hand, volunteer, organize, share your ideas and thoughts, and come on board in every way possible!

For a start, we need you to spread the word high and low about VR and take it upon yourself to make things happen there! We have several more affilliate groups coming on board shortly, and our hope is to bring all such groups together for our common goals.

Velvet Revolution is Issue Based not Party Based and we hope to focus like a laser on a few issues of great importance to our democracy while lending our support and strengths to smaller groups who are working on aspects of those same issues. See the "ABOUT" link at VR for more details...

And as an added plus...If you guys help take this ball and run with it, perhaps I'll soon be freed up a bit more here so that I'll have more time again on The BRAD BLOG to keep causing trouble for the bad guys...I can't do all the heavy-lifting you know! ;-)

I expect there to be many bumps in the road ahead. We'll do our best to smooth them out as we move forward. Revolutions can be messy.

Let the Velvet Revolution begin...

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By Brad Friedman on 1/9/2005 7:39pm PT  

More dirt from Florida Elections...This from AP (includes an alleged Democrat wrongdoer as well, so little wonder it makes it to the wires):

A campaign consultant said he was hired by several Florida politicians over the past seven years to gather absentee ballots during their elections, a violation of state law.

Ezzie Thomas, who has been granted immunity, told prosecutors that he was paid numerous times since 1998 to gather absentee ballots, most recently by Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer's campaign last year, his attorney said Friday. (ed. Note: Dyer's a Democrat)

Thomas told prosecutors four months ago that he was hired to do similar work for U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez (ed. Note: Republican) when he ran for Orange County chairman in 1998, Florida Secretary of State Glenda Hood's (ed. Note: Republican) 2000 campaign for Orlando mayor, and two other minor campaigns.

How filthy is the "Sunshine State", anyway?! Doesn't anybody down there just run for office and when/if more voters vote for them than the other guy/gal they can be the winner?

Or is my naiveté showing again?

And of course...we wonder if Mr. Thomas may have also worked with any other less-than-forthright, less-than-upstanding Republican Florida Politicians who we've been keeping our eye on of late...

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By Brad Friedman on 1/9/2005 2:27pm PT  

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(In Case You Hadn't Noticed)
By Brad Friedman on 1/9/2005 1:13am PT  

Too tired, too busy...too exhausted for proper analysis. So I point you to someone with a better brain than I for the moment.

From The Editors at The Poor Man...a few days ago...when there were a dozen or so more living U.S. Troops in Iraq.

The entire article seems particularly germaine given some of the appalling discussion I've seen from the wingnuts in BRAD BLOG comments of late...The insurgency continues to grow in Iraq...

Understand that the people killing us in Iraq aren't motivated by Gore Vidal or inspired by Susan Sontag or organized by Michael Moore or in cahoots in any way with any of the right's celebrity piñatas - not literally, not metaphorically, not if you look at it in a certain way, not to any infinitesimal degree, not in any sense, not in any way at all.
...
And if you really want to help the American war effort, you can join the fucking armed forces and go to Iraq like thousands of others have, and then you can do the best job you can to show them that Americans care about them and want, above all else, for all of our futures to be better and more peaceful than the past, and get paid shit. You will then be my personal hero, really, and I hope you don't get killed or maimed or see or do something that makes you hate everything for the rest of your life, which is a very real possibility.

In other related news that you probably haven't heard much about...

  • According to AP, "An Army platoon sergeant who ordered his soldiers to throw Iraqis into the Tigris River was sentenced Saturday to six months in military prison, but will not be discharged."
  • From Reuters, "The U.S. military said on Saturday a bomb dropped by one of its planes during a mission in northern Iraq hit the wrong target and it 'deeply regrets the loss of possibly innocent lives.'" (We're wondering what makes the 14 civilians killed when we bombed the wrong house --- many of whom were woman and children --- just "possibly" innocent).
  • And again from AP, "As of Saturday, Jan. 8, 2005, at least 1,351 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003."
  • Which brings us nicely back once again to the final graf from The Poor Man article...With apologies to anyone who may have been offended by the language around here of late, the final graf hits the nail on it's head...

    …And, before you ask: no, I have no clue about how we can improve things in Iraq. I don't have a single idea for how we can un-shit the bed, and I don't hold out much hope that this whole bed-shitting episode is ever going to be brought to a lemony-fresh conclusion. I do, however, know who shit the bed, and have some sense of how frequently he shits there. Let's stop shitting for a start.

    (Hat tip BRAD BLOG buddy Maz for the tip on The Poor Man piece!)

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    By Brad Friedman on 1/8/2005 10:38pm PT  

    Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports...

    The Pennsylvania Department of State will open an examination of electronic voting system problems that plagued balloting in three counties and led to the resignation of an election director, agency officials said.

    Voters using the new machines in Mercer, Greene and Beaver counties on Nov. 2 complained that their votes were voided when they tried to review their choices, which led to long lines at some balloting locations.

    Eight counties used the same machines made by UniLect, based in Dublin, Calif., but the voting difficulties were limited to the three counties in Western Pennsylvania.

    Misprogrammed electronic voting machines malfunctioned in 4th Congressional District precincts in Shenango Township, West Middlesex, Wheatland, Farrell and Hermitage.

    A pencil and a piece of paper hardly ever malfunction.

    Not to be a luddite or anything.

    UPDATE 1/9/05: From an emailer...for whatever you may decide it's worth...

    Look at the stats on the counties that had problems in PA:

    MERCER COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA
    VOTER REGISTRATION FACTS AS OF 10/26/2004
    REGISTERED VOTERS IN MERCER COUNTY

    DEMOCRATIC 36,749
    REPUBLICAN 31,621
    LIBERTARIAN 219
    GREEN 105
    OTHER 7,379
    TOTALS 76,073

    MERCER COUNTY, COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA

    DEMOCRATIC JOHN F. KERRY . . . . . . . . . . . 47.71%. . 22761
    REPUBLICAN GEORGE W. BUSH. . . . . . . . . . . 51.45%. . 24545

    -------------------
    -------------------

    Greene County historically registers Democrats at a 2:1 ratio to Republicans, this year the registration was slightly less than a 2:1 Democratic advantage.

    COUNTY OF GREENE

    DEMOCRATIC JOHN F. KERRY/JOHN EDWARDS . . . . . . . . . . 49.30%. . 7674
    REPUBLICAN GEORGE W. BUSH /DICK CHENEY . . . . . . . . . . . 50.02%. . 7786

    -------------------
    -------------------

    Beaver County

    Same goes for this county, registration for Democrats is just less than 2:1 advantage over Republicans.

    DEMOCRATIC JOHN F. KERRY/JOHN EDWARDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51.06%. . 42146
    REPUBLICAN GEORGE W. BUSH/DICK CHENEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48.36%. . 39916

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    By Brad Friedman on 1/8/2005 6:09pm PT  

    What is it about "The Rule of Law" that these Republicans just can't seem to keep straight?

    The letter which Ohio's Secretary of State, J. Kenneth Blackwell (supervisor of fair and free elections in Ohio, as well as Ohio Co-Chair of the Bush/Cheney Re-Elect Committee) apparently asked supporters for illegal corporate donations, according to AP:

    The state's chief elections officer, accused of mishandling the presidential vote in Ohio, sent a fund-raising letter for his own 2006 gubernatorial campaign that was accompanied by a request for illegal contributions.

    A pledge card with the letter from Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, a Republican who co-chaired the Bush-Cheney election campaign in Ohio, said "corporate & personal checks are welcome."

    Corporate donations are illegal in Ohio.

    As we reported earlier in the week, the letter in which Blackwell takes credit for "helping deliver the great Buckeye State for George W. Bush" along with hitting every Christopublican Hotbutton Phrase in the Karl Rove "How to Win Elections and Influence Gullible Americans" handbook, was created to raise funds for Blackwell's gubernatorial bid even while recounts in Ohio were still ongoing. (We have recently updated that original report to include the text of the entire letter, by the way).

    Then there is the matter of the official-looking letterhead used in the fundraising letter (the outside envelope refers to him, apparently without irony, as "The Honorable Ken Blackwell"):

    While we're fairly certain that the use of official letterhead to raise funds for an upcoming campaign would be a no-no, we're not certain about the use of this official-ish letterhead, and the official-ish looking version of the Great Seal of the United States along with it.

    We had hoped to look into the requirements for the legal use of the Great Seal this week until several items distracted us. Amongst them, live coverage of only the second time in well over one-hundred years that an arcane Constitutional provisional had to be invoked in Congress, thanks to Mr. Honorable's Ohio Election calamity, and, of course, the business of final preparations for America's Velvet Revolution which we hope to officially get underway on Monday.

    In the meantime, we welcome any thoughts, research or other contributions via comments here on the letterhead matter from any of you crime-hating freedom-lovers out there on the Internets. Crime-justifying, GOP-apologists need not apply.

    UPDATE: It should be noted that the letter reported on by AP, included in the Democratic House Judiciary Committee's 102-Page report of evidence suggesting fraud and/or malfeasance in Ohio's election, and blown up for use behind Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) during his speech last Thursday in the historic Congressional debate on the Ohio Electoral challenge was originally discovered and reported by RAW STORY.

    AP chose not to give the Internet-only News Source the proper credit for their excellent original reporting. The reasons for that we will leave to the reader to discern. We don't wish to make the same mistake ourselves, however. We linked to them in our original story on the matter several times, but should have credited their hard work in this report as well!

    UPDATE: 1/12/05 "Blackwell Ignores Rule of Law! Twice in Same Letter!"

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    (No...LITERALLY this time!)
    By Brad Friedman on 1/7/2005 11:47pm PT  

    Travel took longer than expected. Much. (Who said it never rains in Southern California?!)

    So...much catchup to do over the weekend, I guess. Along with preparations for the revolution. (Anyone have a pitchfork or torch I can borrow? I wanna look my best for the opening!)

    So to that end, apologies for a quiet day today (not that you guys were quiet! Which is just fine by me!), and a potentially quiet-ish weekend while we take care of various pieces of related business. We'll see how it goes.

    But this is mostly just a quick note to say that I had the 11pm PT repeat of Hannity & Colmes on just now in the background when Republican Ed Rollins, apologizing for Americans committing torture or something says, "It's all bullshit."

    Yes..."Bullshit"! On the Fox "News" Channel!

    I, for one, am outraged and offended! Has Fox no moral or family values?! I could have been watching that at 6pm PT with my young daughter! If I had one!

    And while such a thing can happen on live TV (though we'd expect it would get snuffed out in the delay), this was the 11pm PT repeat! And it wasn't even bleeped out before the second airing!

    Hannity didn't even say a word about it. Just went on with his harranguing of the Democratic guest as usual!

    It's almost like these guys say one thing, and then do another or something!

    Jesus Fucking Christ! How fucked up is that fucking bullshit, anyway?

    ...CONTACT...
    Fox News Channel
    Phone: 1-888-369-4762
    Email: Viewerservices@foxnews.c...m?CC=Hannity@foxnews.com, Colmes@foxnews.com&...om&Subject=Bullshit on Hannity and Colmes!">Several Potty Mouths at Once!

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    Soon Cometh the Velvet Revolution...
    And more...
    By Brad Friedman on 1/7/2005 12:11pm PT  

    Will be on the road for a few hours today, so won't be able to post much until a bit later today/tonight...

    Have a number of things in the works. Amongst them, a Velvet Revolution - Dedicated to all the BRAD BLOG readers of the world, and the like-minded individuals who have taken the cause of preserving democracy into their own hands. Count on nobody but yourself.

    I've gotten much email over the last 24 hours or so (not to mention the last month or two!), so I beg your patience while waiting on replies, and forgiveness for those which I have just been unable to reply to for any number of reasons. I do my best to always reply, but recognize that I don't always suceed in that effort. (I also do my best to read all comments, even if I'm sometimes slow to get to them all, and can't always answer them.)

    So...More ahead on yesterday's historic events, Clint Curtis,and the upcoming Velvet Revolution later today and/or this weekend.

    Get some rest. We're all gonna need it.

    Or use this as an Open Thread to chat your hearts out. But seriously...get some rest and find some peace. There is much muckraking to come in the days, weeks, months and years ahead...And we're gonna need a bigger rake.

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    By Brad Friedman on 1/6/2005 3:11pm PT  

    Electoral Votes Awarded to George W. Bush: 286
    Electoral Votes Awarded to John Kerry: 251
    Electoral Votes Awarded to John Edwards: 1

    Pages of Evidence Documenting Election Irregularities in Ohio: 102
    Counties in Ohio Whose Recount was Illegally Conducted (out of 88): 86
    Congressional Republicans Who Voted To Uphold Ohio Election Laws: 0

    Number of American Cable "News" Networks Who Carried Today's Historic Proceedings: 0

    U.S. Troops Killed in Iraq During Today's Joint Session of Congress: 7
    U.S. Troops Killed in Iraq During George W. Bush's "Presidency": (*) 1,349
    Iraqi Civilians Killed by U.S. Forces During George W. Bush's "Presidency": 100,000+
    WMD's Found So Far in Iraq: 0

    ...Missions Accomplished...

    (*) Includes only those troops who died while still within Iraq's airspace.

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    Joint Session Concludes to Debate Issue in Both Houses!
    BRAD BLOG LIVE BLOGS DEBATE! SINCE CABLE NETS NOT COVERING HISTORIC DEBATE!
    By Brad Friedman on 1/6/2005 10:24am PT  

    Moments ago, in the joint session of Congress, the Electors from the state of Ohio were formally challenged by Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones of Ohio and Senator Barbara Boxer of California...

    Dick Cheney, presiding over joint session: "The two houses will withdraw from the chamber and will deliberate separately and report back after Debate."

    All cable "news" nets...Even Fox...now covering... (Though Fox's Major Garrett incorrectly informs us that "all 88 counties were fully recounted" and adds other apologies on behalf of the Republican Party.)

    ...MORE...

    Most "news" nets back to commercials and occassional coverage. C-SPAN carries full coverage. Tubbs-Jones speaking now...

    ...CONTINUING...LIVE BLOGGING IN LIEU OF COVERAGE BY "NEWS" NETWORKS...

    Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-OH) quotes Kerry's concession speech. Says, "Their challenges is no more than an excercise to obstruct, destroy and divide..." FIRST MENTION of "Conspiracy Theories"! And "Michael Moore" as a bonus!

    Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) asks and receives unaminous consent request to include the full 102-page report, "Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio?" into the record. Is speaking now..."Not a single official in Ohio has given us an explanation for the many irregularities in Ohio...Read the full report on our website..."

    Flipping back and forth between House Hearings (on C-SPAN) and Senate Hearings (on C-SPAN2)...Both live streaming at C-SPAN.org...

    ..."Attny Jimmo" --- a BRAD BLOG commenter/troll --- is thoroughly discredited today and any credibility (if any existed in the first place) for the Freeper is lost....His Tuesday comment, "What are you going to drum up on Friday, the day after ZERO Senators and ONE nutty Representative challenge the electoral votes?" and Wednesday's comment, "After you get cold shouldered tomorrow by the Democrats; you are welcome to join us in the light of the GOP"...demonstrate "Jimmo's" lack of knowledge on, well...anything...that dispute, if there was one, is now over...

    In Senate...Durbin and Kennedy speak in support of Tubbs-Jones/Boxer challenge...

    ...MORE LIVE BLOGGING CONTINUES...

    --- Click here for REST OF STORY!... ---

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    By Brad Friedman on 1/6/2005 10:09am PT  

    The Joint Session of Congress, led by "Vice-President" Dick Cheney, and House Speaker Dennis Hastert has just begun...

    Only C-SPAN is currently covering it live. Available streaming online also at C-Span.org.

    If a challenge occurs to the Electors, as announced previously, it would be the first time since 1877 that such an event has occurred. A historically signficant event, to say the least.

    The three Cable "News" Networks seem to have better things to do at this time...

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    AP Confirms Boxer Challenge
    By Brad Friedman on 1/6/2005 9:04am PT  

    According to several sources, Jesse Jackson has just announced six Senators who will join in challenging the Electors today in a joint session of Congress. His announcement was made to a rally going on at this hour in Lafayette Park across from the White House.

    Jackson told the crowd that Senator Barbara Boxer will stand to challenge, and will be supported by at least the following Democratic Senators: Hilary Clinton (NY), Harry Ried (NV), Barack Obama (IL), Dick Durbin (IL) and Christopher Dodd (CT).

    Jackson's statement was just confirmed by The BRAD BLOG with a second source. A representative from Rainbow/PUSH and an aide to Rev. Jackson who spoke to us by cellphone moments ago as Jackson could be heard in the background speaking to reporters has confirmed that Jackson announced Sen. Barbara Boxer will stand and make the challenge, and will be supported by at least a half a dozen Senators.

    "When they convene for the debate," he told us, "at least a half dozen if not more will speak about the irregularities and the need for Election reform. Boxer herself will raise the challenge."

    He confirmed the Senators named above and suggests that people continue to send in Email and phonecalls asking Senators to stand up.

    MORE...

    AP is confirming that Boxer "and a small group of Democrats" will challenge.

    According to the AP article:

    It would be only the second time since 1877 that the House and Senate were forced into separate meetings to consider electoral votes.

    Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., signed a challenge mounted by House Democrats to Ohio's 20 electoral votes, which put Bush over the top. By law, a protest signed by members of the House and Senate requires both chambers to meet separately for up to two hours to consider it. Lawmakers are allowed to speak for no more than five minutes each.

    "I have concluded that objecting to the electoral votes from Ohio is the only immediate way to bring these issues to light by allowing you to have a two-hour debate to let the American people know the facts surrounding Ohio's election," Boxer wrote in a letter to Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio, a leader of the Democratic effort.

    And the White House seems prepared to keep their "conspiracy theorist" defense firmly in place. We'll expect to hear the following language, as reported by AP repeated quite frequently as the day goes on...

    White House spokesman Scott McClellan dismissed the move as politically driven.

    "I think the American people expect members of Congress to work together and move forward on the real priorities facing this country, instead of engaging in conspiracy theories and rehashing issues that were settled long ago," McClellan said.

    If you can't beat 'em, slime 'em...

    MORE FROM BOXER'S PRESS CONFERENCE...

    Senator Boxer: "It's not about overturning the election. For me, this is the opening round in the call for Electoral Justice."

    Bravo, Senator. We got your back...(and, unlike others who may say it, we actually mean it.)

    ...MORE SOON...

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