BRAD BLOG Cited, Quoted Yet Again...
Plus: A Few More Ion Sancho Items...
By Brad Friedman on 3/16/2006, 1:51pm PT  

Following up on his "Whistling Diebold" column last week, Tribune Media Service's Bob Koehler stays on the case in his nationally syndicated column this week. He begins this way...

Something fundamental about who we are as a nation is dribbling away, it seems, without alarm or even debate. We torture prisoners - it's out in the open, a done deal. We're fighting an unnecessary war that, well, yes, was launched on a lie, but too late now; we're in, we can't get out. And our neighbor's phone is being tapped.

But the worry that trumps all others is the state of this proud, imperfect democracy. We may be surrendering our power to change the national direction or demand that government be responsive to us. My fellow Americans, our voting machines don't work, at least not all the time. The mechanism of our democracy is in chaos, and almost everyone is going along with it.

Thanks to the allegedly well-intentioned, but disastrous, Help America Vote Act, the country is shifting, county by county, to electronic voting machines, which are not only glitch-prone on a spectacular scale (e.g., 100,000 phantom votes were recorded in Tarrant County, Texas, during the state's primary last week), but work, like God, in mysterious ways, which we're not supposed to question.

Koehler goes on to describe the astounding situation that Leon County, FL Election Supervisor Ion Sancho --- the hero who revealed that Diebold optical-scan machines can be hacked without a trace left behind --- finds himself in.

As well, Koehler cites and quotes your humble webmaster (two MSM cites of your friendly neighborhood BRAD BLOG in as many days? What's happening here?!). Finally, he concludes thusly...

I humbly submit that this is nuts, and that if we don't scream out at the top of our lungs we're going to lose our democracy. What we're witnessing, I fear - and what isolated watchdogs like Sancho are warning us about, but cannot prevent all by themselves - is democracy's transition to expensive charade.

As the power of the vote leaks away, the hissing sound I hear are the words "Trust us, trust us."

NOTE: I'll be on the air today with Sancho on Houston's KPFT 90.1 FM as guest hosted by occasional BRAD BLOG Guest Blogger, Pokey Anderson at 5pm PT (8pm ET). You can listen live online here.

SECOND NOTE: My hourlong interview with Ion Sancho from Feb 28th's edition of The Young Turks radio show, during one my Guest Host stints, is now available online here [MP3]. It's an amazing interview methinks, Sancho is awesome in this one, if you didn't hear it or watch it live at the time.

FINAL NOTE: The Turks have asked me back to Guest Host along with them tomorrow (Friday), and I'm trying to clear the time right now. If I'm able to do so, it'll be posted in the "Media Appearances" box at the top of the BRAD BLOG front page so you can listen and/or watch along at home (or via Sirius Satellite).

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