This just in...After various protracted legal battles (funded by the National Federation for the Blind, which had received a $1 million "donation" from Diebold previously) and along with the news out of Leon County, Florida, Volusia County has now come to their senses and also decided to dump Diebold voting machines!

Just out from the Orlando Sentinel...

A report received by The BRAD BLOG late last night from an activist down in Volusia in regard to the meeting anticipated today, summed it up thusly:

Well, three on the Volusia County Council still held out for Diebold. Fortunately, four didn't...and the vote wasn't held on paperless, hackable touch-screen machines, so it was transparent and reliable.

This report is yet another blow for Diebold coming on top of the resignation of their CEO, Walden O'Dell on Monday, along with a securities fraud lawsuit and the failed security test in Leon County on Tuesday. Quite a week for Diebold!

Our congratulations to the hard working citizen patriots in Volusia County and across Florida who have worked tirelessly on this issue for many months. Keep up the good work, folks! Democracy may not be dead yet!

Additional reporting on this story by John Gideon

The "hack test" of a mock election using Diebold voting equipment earlier this week in Leon County, Florida --- in which results of the election were completely flipped from 2-6 to 7-1 without even a trail of evidence left behind --- has continued to send shockwaves from Florida to Ohio to California and everywhere else in between.

The Director of Elections in Leon County, Ion Sancho reportedly proclaimed, after the stunning results of last Tuesday's test, that he would never use Diebold voting machines in any election in the county again.

Television news coverage began hitting last night in Tallahassee, the Florida state capital, which also happens to be in Leon County. And in a remarkable admission, Sancho now says he believes that such a hack occurred in the 2000 Presidential Election in Volusia County, Florida.

-- Here's a link to that video coverage...

Elections officials in Volusia County, by the way, are currently in the final throes of their decision of whether to go with Diebold's hackable voting machines, or whether they will go in a different direction. We may have more on that later today.

States and Counties across the country are continuing their last minute scramble to make decisions about new voting equipment many of them hope to acquire and have paid for by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002. The deadline for that decision is Jan 1, 2006 and yet there are virtually no reliable Federal standards for any of the available Voting Machines currently on the market.

Litigation was filed against Diebold, Inc. earlier this week in Federal District Court in a Class Action Securities Fraud complaint based, in part, on their attempts at disguising the vulnerabilities and flaws of their Voting Machine equipment from investors.

Just curious, but at what point do those who've been called "conspiracy theorists" in pointing out the crimes of the dirty Republican party get recognized as geniuses since one Repub after another is being charged with and/or pleading guilty to charges of "conspiracy"?!

Adam Kidan, he the partner of Jack Abramoff in the SunCruz gambling boat scandal (and subsequent murder) has now pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges in a trumped-up deal which resulted in the acquisition of the 11 boat fleet in Florida for he and Abramoff. Not long thereafter, the previous owner, Guy Boulis, was murdered gangland-style in Miami allegedly by three mafia thugs who had been put on the SunCruz payroll by Kidan. Kidan had previous direct ties to the mafia himself. Oddly enough, Kidan, who appears to have ordered the murder, according to one of the guys now charged in the crime, hasn't yet been charged himself in connection to it. Even though his three mafia pals have been. We'll see if that changes.

What it means for now? Kidan's guilty plea goes along with an agreement to testify at Jack Abramoff's upcoming trial on this matter and Kidan is also likely to cooperate with prosecutors on several other Abramoff-related investigations as well. Several of them involving boatloads (pun intended?) of GOP pols.

As well, our old friend, not-yet-resigned Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH), chair of the powerful House Administration Committee --- who held phony "hearings" last March on the 2004 Ohio Presidential Election "Irregularities" --- is also on the hook for his cooperation with Abramoff and Kidan in the SunCruz matter. Ney made statements on the House floor in support of Kidan and against Boulis as the deal was being played out. Apparently, Ney also received a few dollars in exchange.

Along with former Abramoff partner and one-time Tom DeLay staffer, the indicted Michael Scanlon, who has similarly agreed to testify against his old pals, we'd say Abramoff, Ney, and DeLay are all in hotter and hotter water to come. Where it stops...nobody knows.

And that's what happens when you participate in non-theoretical conspiracies.

From AP...

Please note that Tobin's crime occured in the 2002 election. He was known to be under investigation for the crime thereafter, but was hired anyway by Bush/Cheney '04 to run their NE campaign until he was indicted and the "honesty and integrity" campaign decided they better get rid of him. People might talk. More background on that particular GOP scandal here. And another update here, including info on the $722,000 that the RNC paid to defend their man, Tobin!

This is all counter, of course, to the horseshit put forth by the GOP front group calling themselves the "non-partisan" American Center for Voting Rights (ACVR). As you'll recall, they and their other Rightwing operative cronies had released reports, propaganda and all sorts of unsubstantiated claims about Democrats and various non-partisan Voter Registration groups such as ACORN having committed all forms of Voter Registration Fraud (which they tried to suggest was "Voter Fraud" --- which is something quite different).

You'll be surprised to learn, no doubt, that ACVR and friend were full of shit. It turns out that one year later, the organizations they scurrilously attacked --- in a transparent attempt to smokescreen the real Election Fraud that they were neck deep in perpetrating --- have been vindicated of the various bogus charges, as virtually all of the frivolous lawsuits and investigations the GOP liars made so much noise about have simply collapsed. See this for more [PDF].

Sorry for both the vulgarities and the terse report on both of these items. Too much to cover for the huge BRAD BLOG "Staff" (that would be me and an occasional helping hand from one or two similarly overworked and patriotic helpers!) that isn't adequately being covered by the "real" media. And that means I'm both way too busy, and way too cranky and just a little too foul-mouthed this evening. Don't fucking like it? Go read the fucking NY Times instead. By next week, they oughta have a great story on Wally O'Dell resigning from Diebold! (There, now I feel better).

For more information on the "non-partisan" tax-exempt ACVR scam and the snake-oil salesmen who invented it, Bush/Cheney '04 National General Counsel Mark F. "Thor" Hearne and RNC Communications Director Jim Dyke, please see BRAD BLOG's full Special Coverage of the "American Center for Voting Rights" at https://BradBlog.com/ACVR.

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

It is apparent that the PR machine has been cranked up and is working overtime. The Associated Press picked-up the Leon County story and the always available David Bear of Diebold is suddenly refusing to speak. Diebold did speak through a letter to Florida and Ion Sancho in Leon County. Of course, they made it all Mr. Sancho's fault. Florida just threw up their hands and said they had nothing to do with anything. In California, two Diebold counties have come out in support of Diebold and say that it can't happen there. That message will surely be repeated in "Diebold counties" across the nation as Diebold and their customers try to save the day. In the meantime there is an excellent OpEd from Centre County, PA below....

Excellent detailed coverage of the Leon County hack situation, as discussed in the previous item in reference to AP's coverage and the scramble by both Diebold and Florida to cover their asses. Had I seen the Herald report prior to AP, I would have pointed to it instead. Has been a busy day...

Please read Miami Herald's excellent article therefore, before moving to my analysis of Diebold/Florida's attempted ass-covering in the previous BRAD BLOG item. Here's some of the key points from the Herald [emphasis added]:

That last graf is highlighted just so the folks at ES&S don't rejoice too much while Diebold is currently on the hook. Rest assured, ES&S folks, you are not off the hook by any stretch of the imagination...

(UPDATE: On the graf before that, in re: "many conservatives" and the "liberal ploy" please note the thoughts of real conservative John Cole on this same article...as opposed to the bulk of the phony "conservatives" littering the American political landscape these days.)

And then more actual common sense, spoken out loud by Elections Official (and American Democracy's latest hero!) Sancho:

And the heavens opened...and the light shined through...Is it morning again in America yet?

AP has finally taken note of the Leon County, FL hack test. The extraordinary test election which was entirely flipped last Tuesday as reported here previously.

In the bargain --- in light of that devasting test, after which the Elections Director of Leon County reportedly vowed to never allow Diebold's machine to be used in another election and has requested funds to replace all of Diebold's voting machines --- and along with the Securities Fraud suit that was filed against Diebold on the same day, Diebold's PR machine has kicked into overdrive. Though their normal spokesman, David Bear, normally in charge of lying about things having to do with their Voting Machines has been notably missing in action, Diebold has been issuing press releases and sending letters in an attempt to counter and distract from the devastating news of late. And the State of Florida is similarly scrambling to find someone else to blame as well.

From AP's report today on the Leon County hack, Diebold goes on the offensive and conjures up the gall to send a letter attempting to place blame for the incident on Ion Sancho, the Elections Director in the county who was wise enough to let the test move forward in hopes of determining if the machines were as vulnerable as many of us have been charging forever...

Guest blogged by David Edwards

Since 9/11, the Department of Defense has been authorized to expand the collection of information inside US borders.

NBC News is reporting that the Pentagon is watching "peaceful anti-war and counter-military recruitment groups." One example includes extensive information that was collected on a group who were meeting to discuss how to protest military recruiting at a local highschool.

A recent article in the The Palm Beach Post described the group. It consisted of about 20 people, including five Quakers and a 79-year old grandmother. This was only one of 1,500 "suspicious" incidents in the database.

The Christian Science Monitor also has a good article on the Bush Administration's current domestic spying and psychological operations activities.

- Video in Windows Media format...
- Video in QuickTime format...

Yet another dubious distinction for Walden O'Dell, the now-former CEO of Voting Machine Company, Diebold, Inc. (The American Voting Machine Company that hackers love most!)

On Monday, O'Dell was forced to resign from the company for..."personal reasons". On Tuesday he was named in a Class Action Securities Fraud suit. And that evening, MSNBC's Countdown included O'Dell in their "World's Worst" segment alluding to --- but not mentioning outright --- our news of the suit on Tuesday afternoon. (We'll give them the benefit of the doubt since we broke it just an hour or two before their air time. We're just generous that way.) What will tomorrow bring?...

-- Windows Media Version of Video
-- QuickTime Version of Video

The BRAD BLOG similarly contributed to a "World's Worst" segment last week after Ann Coulter was recognized for posting the private, unlisted family phone number of one of our Guest Bloggers, Lydia Cornell, on her website. But more on that soon...

(Hat tip to David Edwards whose TiVo machines are always on overdrive!)

Guest blogged by David Edwards

Earlier this week Robert Fisk was interviewed at California State Polytechnic University. Robert Fisk, a journalist for The Independant, is a specialist in reporting on the Middle East. Host, Saul Landau, asked Mr. Fisk about the current situation in Iraq.

Fisk makes some important points during this interview:

-- Video in Windows Media format...
-- Video in QuickTime format...

The entire video of Robert Fisk's interview includes some discussion on Robert Fisk's new book. It can be streamed from California State Polytechnic University.

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

The MSM today has been active with news about the resignation of Wally O'Dell and how analysts think that is great for Diebold. There is still very little there about the securities fraud suit or the Leon County test results. I guess we wait to see if they are going to report these stories. In the meantime, counties in North Carolina are lining up to buy Diebold, ignoring what news there is and the fact that they were probably illegally certified to be used in the state. This brings us to the lawsuit itself and the judge has delayed proceedings for a week while he becomes familiar with the case. That helps no one, least of all the counties who need to make decisions....

Here is the full Securities Fraud Class Action complaint as filed yesterday against Diebold, Inc and eight top officers including former CEO Walden O'Dell and current CEO Thomas Swidarski. It was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division.

-- Diebold Class Action Securities Fraud Suit [PDF]

For those playing along at home, the case number is: 5:05CV2873.

For those not yet playing along at home, here is the full story on the litigation as broken yesterday by The BRAD BLOG.

As mentioned yesterday, this initial 13-page filing has been described to us as "a bare-bones version" with additional information to be added via amended complaints to be filed in the weeks and months ahead. More as it all develops, of course...

Guest blogged by David Edwards

If reporters and cameras greet you as you leave for work in the morning then you are probably in the media's spotlight. Karl Rove found himself in that familiar situation this morning and it's making some Republicans a little nervous.

As MSNBC's David Shuster says in the following clip, Viveca Novak's testimony did little to help Rove. Robert Luskin, Rove's attorney, has predicted that Viveca Novak's testimony about indirectly reminding Rove of a conversation with Time's Matt Cooper would explain why Rove's initial testimony to the grand jury didn't include those conversations in which Rove revealed the identity of a CIA agent.

-- Video in Windows Media format...
-- Video in QuickTime format...
-- Audio in MP3 format...

If reports are correct then Viveca Novak's testimony did little or nothing to bolster Rove's case. It also doesn't explain why Rove took 5 months after being "reminded" of his conversation with Cooper to notify the grand jury. An article posted at The Raw Story says that Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is presenting additional evidence to the grand jury today.

The other unrelated "Novak" popped out of his hole long enough to stir up some more controversy in the CIA Leak investigation. As reported by The News & Observer, Robert Novak, who was first to disclose the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame in the press, said the president knows the identity of the individual in the White House who leaked Plame's identity.

UPDATE from The Raw Story: Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald did not meet with the grand jury today as expected. Sources (vague as they are) report that Fitzgerald did "move forward" with the case.

The bad news keeps rolling in for Diebold. But that is hopefully good news for democracy and America! And it doesn't get any plainer than this stunning report from election watchdogs at BlackBoxVoting.org

Even as the beleaguered American Voting Machine company smarts from yesterday's filing of a securities fraud class action suit a test election was carried out on Diebold voting machinery in Leon County, Florida. Diebold's security measures failed miserably and were easily defeated by a hack performed by a computer security professional on a Diebold Touch-Screen Voting Machine and Central Tabulator.

In a post yesterday about the test and its remarkable results, BBV's Jim March gave this stunning summary of what happened:

March added later, "this was all done without getting any passwords for any system. All we had was the same degree of physical access that any mid-to-high level elections staffer or official would have."

Case closed? One would think so! But remarkably, states and counties around the country are still entering into contracts with this company to count your votes in upcoming elections!

Be sure to let California's Sec. of State know about this latest knews, as well as your local Elections Board! Otherwise, these machines may well be coming to a hacked election near you!

UPDATE: John Cole points out that Leon County is one of "those" counties from FL 2000!

UPDATE 12/15/05: The Leon County hack story has now been reported by the actual mainstream media! Go figure! See coverage of the AP report here and a terrific article from Miami Herald here. A preview: Both Diebold and the state of Florida are now frantically scrambling to try and cover their asses over all of this!

(Thanks John Gideon for the assist!)

While it wasn't necessarily the full-out knock-down drag-out that rightwinger Lars Larson and I have enjoyed on his radio show in the past, there were a few good shots thrown between us about the phony "War on Christmas", the real War on Iraq and the far-too-real War on Democracy as being waged here on the homefront...All in all, that good ol' Political Pornography that the Right in America just can't seem to get enough of. No matter what the cost...

-- A Spin Through Rightwing World with Lars & Brad! [MP3]

Oh, and Merry Christmas, Lars and Bill!