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Toon of the Moment...

By Brad Friedman on 2/21/2006 9:27pm PT

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'Daily Voting News' For February 21, 2006

By John Gideon on 2/21/2006 5:00pm PT

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org and VoteTrustUSA.Org

Texas began early voting for their primary with the news that many counties still do not have their paper ballots or their ballot programming complete. In California the fall-out from last Friday's announcement by SoS McPherson is making news. One can only wonder when the lawsuits will begin....

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CALIFORNIA SCHEMING: About McPherson's Diebold About-Face

FEATURING: An EXCLUSIVE Video Tape Interview with CA's Clueless SoS Stating 'We'll Wait to Hear from the Feds About Diebold Before Certifying' (apparently, he was just kidding)

ALSO: Action Items for Americans Who Care About Democracy --- Five Phone Calls is All We Ask Right Now to Force E-Voting Vendors to Answer Questions Under Oath!

By Brad Friedman on 2/21/2006 2:18pm PT

Inveterate Huff Po contributor, R.J. Eskow picks up on our coverage of the latest mind-blowing Dieboldery by California Sec. of State Bruce McPherson and what it may bode for the Golden State as the GOP sets their sights on political manifest destiny.

Connecting a few dots, and noting big Bush Adminstration gunslingers, like Steve Schmidt, who are roving their way westward to help shore up the Governator's re-elect prospects out here, Eskow concludes:

So what does this all mean? It suggests that California, with its treasure trove of congressional seats and 2008 electoral votes, is the next battleground. Yes, Gov. Schwarzenegger is wildly unpopular now. But, as the GOP proved in the 2004 Presidential race, unpopularity need not be a barrier to re-election - especially when Diebold machines are counting the votes.

All the 'heavy hitters' are coming into town, their shiny cars pulling up to the curb. You've seen the movie. You know what happens next. If you live in California, my friend and blog-comrade skippy has a suggestion for how you can help.

Note: Eskow's appropriate concerns about McPherson's inexplicable Diebold double-cross don't even mention the Dept. of Homeland Security's warning about their hackable tabulator software, the recently flipped-without-a-trace-left-behind mock election in Leon County, FL, the GAO Report confirming the dangers of electronic voting, and his link to a page describing the failure rate of Diebold machines in a massive election test last summer pins the percentage of failed Diebold touch-screen machines at just 10% (a later report confirmed the number was more like 20%, and a later one still pegged it at 30%.)

It also still remains unexplained why McPherson didn't wait to hear back from the federal "Independent Testing Authority" (ITA) --- which isn't actually independent, as it's created and funded by the Voting Machine Companies themselves --- to whom McPherson had sent back the Diebold memory cards after the Leon County hack test revealed their machines employed hackable "interpreted code" which is expressly banned by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) guidelines for software used in electronic voting machines.

Back in December, McPherson's office sent a letter to Diebold explaining that they would not re-certify Diebold in California until the ITA completed their re-examination of the code in light of the hack test discovery:

We require this additional review before proceeding with further consideration of your application for certification in California. Once we have received a report from the federal ITA adequately analyzing this source code, in addition to the technical and operational specifications relating to the memory card and interpreter, we will expeditiously proceed with our comprehensive review of your application.

Apparently, the SoS's office was just kidding.

They went ahead and re-certified Diebold out here last week without waiting to hear back. They announced their decision late on Friday, at the start of the long holiday weekend and in apparent defiance of state election law and McPherson's own "10 Strict Standards" [PDF] which include "State certification testing does not begin until the federal qualification testing is successfully completed."

Apparently, he was just kidding about that as well.

With all of that in mind, readers of this blog would be remiss if they failed to take the actions described in Eskow's link to Skippy. Five phone-calls and/or emails this week are all that may be needed to finally see representatives from these unpatriotic Voting Machine firms subpeonaed and forced to answer questions --- under oath --- in a public hearing before elected officials concerning their secret software, shitty machines and under-the-table efforts to work around state and federal election laws. Hit that link, and call the five members of the California legislature's Rules Committee now!

By the way, McPherson himself also refused to show up at that hearing and refused to send a representative from his office to boot.

It should also be noted that Diebold is not the only bad player here. Add ES&S, Hart-Intercivic, Sequoia and several others to the list of cowardly unAmerican firms who recently refused the invitation to show up to testify before the California State Senate's Election Committee last week. All of those companies, apparently, believe it's none of our damned business how they count the votes (or not) in our American democracy.

Take action.

For full disclosure, we should also mention that we had the privilege of meeting both R.J. and Skippy in person over the weekend in an L.A. Blogger's get together out here. Good folks all of them, and we're delighted to see them jump into this most important game of all.

And finally --- since we've been looking for a good excuse to post this video --- we'll take this opportunity to give you an exclusive peek inside the "brain" of the man whose perplexing decision to re-certify voting machines and software known to be flawed and hackable may well effect similar decisions by Elections Officials around the entire country.

The following short Q&A with CA's SoS was video-taped by Dave Berman of GuvWurld about two weeks prior to the recent about face by McPherson. It's somewhat revealing --- particularly in the last couple of minutes where Dave gets to ask the questions --- as to the mindset and intellectual capabilities of the man currently appointed by Arnold to oversee free and fair elections in the country's largest "voting market" (as Diebold refers to it).

At one point in the questioning, when asked about the re-examination of Diebold software by the ITA, McPherson says, "If they're going to be certified, they're going to have to meet those levels of satisfactions to me...We, uh, we've, uh, just said that, uh, you have to meet these strict requirements and if they do, we'll consider it."

Apparently, McPherson was just kidding there as well....Since he recertified them without, apparently, waiting to hear back from the ITA.

Without further ado then, we give you the man, the myth, the elusive and rarely seen genius that is California Sec. of State Bruce McPherson --- as videotaped exclusively about two weeks ago in Humboldt County, just prior to his re-certification of Diebold voting machines in this state.

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

UPDATE: CA State Senator Debra Bowen (chair of the Senate Elections Committee) issues her own call to action to force McPherson to review his outrageous decision. Her reasons are summarized thusly:

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Article Categories: Diebold/Premier, Bruce McPherson, California, Voting System Certification

VIDEO - Secret Memo Warned Bush Admin on Torture Policy

'Prisoner Mistreatment was a Bush Policy Decision'

By David Edwards on 2/21/2006 8:59am PT

Guest blogged by David Edwards of Veredictum.com

A recently revealed secret memo from general counsel of the U.S. Navy warned the Bush Administration to halt the "disastrous and unlawful policy of authorizing cruelty toward terror suspects."

The memo shows that torture and abuse of detainees was a policy of the Bush Administration despite legal warnings from lawyers within the Military. Determined to continue the abusive policies, the Bush Administration sought out legal opinions which allowed them to go "above the law."

The New Yorker exposes the secret document (PDF) in a newly published article by Jane Mayer. In an interview with CNN American Morning, Mayer said:

It's clear that [the Bush Administration ] were consistently resisting any criticism on this... instead of listening to [the Navy counsel], they basically found another lawyer, somebody in the Justice Department named John Woo, who told them what they wanted to hear which was they could pretty much do anything they wanted.

It was a policy decision on their part. This wasn't an accident - what happened at Guant�namo and what later happened at Abu Ghraib in terms of mistreatment of prisoners. They did this with their eyes wide open.

UPDATE: The name in CNN screenshot above should be spelled "John Yoo" instead of "John Woo". For more information on the history of torture policies in the Bush Administration and John Yoo, check out this video from the CBC report "A Few Bad Apples."

Video in Streaming Flash format...
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'Daily Voting News' For February 20, 2006

By John Gideon on 2/20/2006 5:24pm PT

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org and VoteTrustUSA.Org

What's going on in Maryland? The Gov is against a vvpb; now he is for it. Democratic members of the legislature who are for a vvpb are belittling the Governor's change of heart as being political and are claiming he is creating chaos. Now kids! Can't we just get along and give the voter a vvpb like they want? Meanwhile in Pennsylvania the Governor has said he will veto the legislation that requires a voterID...

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VIDEO - Corporate Media Latches on to Dubai Port Takeover

By David Edwards on 2/20/2006 4:53pm PT

Guest blogged by David Edwards of Veredictum.com

Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff repeated the Katrina talking points on at least three networks yesterday. Maybe he forgot his talking points to deflect questions about a decision by the Bush Administration which will allow a company located in an Arab country to takeover six of the largest ports in the U.S.

Dubai Ports is located in the United Arab Emirates which has a history that causes many Republicans and Democrats to believe that the proposed takeover will compromise national security.

The corporate media seem to have replaced their focus on the Cheney shooting scandal with the Bush port give-away scandal. This clip is a quick compilation from the last 48 hours of pundits, politicians and other talking heads as they wake up to the latest Bush blunder.

Video in Streaming Flash format...
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REPORTER: Ann Coulter's Felony Vote Fraud Denial 'A Bold-Faced Lie'...

By Brad Friedman on 2/20/2006 4:40pm PT

Michelle Pilecki at Huff Po picks up on last week's story alleging that Ann Coulter committed a third-degree felony recently by voting in a precinct other than the one where her "$1.8 million crib on Seabreeze Avenue" in Palm Beach County reportedly is. She says it's a lie. The reporter who wrote the story says it's not:

Coulter was asked politely about voting in the wrong precinct, and that her response was a less-than-polite denial that she lives in Palm Beach. But Palm Beach Post columnist Jose Lambiet, who started this ball rolling, emails me:

There is no doubt whatshowever that Ann Coulter lives in Palm Beach. The deed is in her name. Her neighbor is Bill Brooks, a town councilman in Palm Beach who knows her well and sees her across the fence sometimes daily. Her publicist last year confirmed that she was moving because of stalkers and, finally, her lawyer called me last year when I wrote the story about her moving to Palm Beach because she was unhappy we reported the name of the street she lives on. Never mind that it's two miles long and has at least 100 homes on it. And finally, a woman who looks just like Ann Coulter, whose name is Ann Coulter and who acted like Ann Coulter voted in Palm Beach last week.

So, her statement to your reader is absolutely a bold-faced lie.

UPDATE 3/30/06: The Palm Beach Election Supervisor jumps in, and gives Coulter 30 days to explain herself before possibly referring felony charges to the State Attorney. Details here...

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Scathing WaPo Editorial Calls for 'Paper Trails' in Maryland

Says 'The integrity of Maryland's voting process is at stake'

Spanks MD's Election Administrator, Diebold Supporter Linda Lamone

By Brad Friedman on 2/20/2006 2:54pm PT

It's a curiously tardy call, WaPo, but welcome aboard.

From an editorial in today's Washington Post:

AFTER DAWDLING for a good two years and defending a certifiably untrustworthy voting process in Maryland, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) announced last week that he, too, has lost confidence in the state's ability to conduct fair and secure elections this fall. [ed note: See BRAD BLOG coverage of that here] A curiously tardy call, Governor, but welcome aboard: Time is short, but now an all-out effort to clean up the system before the elections can and should begin.

Lawmakers in both parties have warned repeatedly that the touch-screen machines that have been in use are seriously flawed. Voters cannot know for sure whether their choices are correctly recorded and tallied because the machines do not produce any paper trails showing each vote cast; that makes an audit impossible. Computer experts note, too, that results can be rigged without risk of detection.

Now Mr. Ehrlich has joined the paper-trail chorus, echoing concerns raised not only in Annapolis but also in dozens of states about machines manufactured by Diebold Election Systems.

There's more, but note WaPo's additional spanking of MD Elections Administrator and huge Diebold supporter, Linda Lamone:

State elections administrator Linda H. Lamone insisted Thursday that all is well, that the machines are reliable and that "you are asking for a catastrophe if you try to change" the system. After all, who needs audits or some paper record of how votes were cast? Just take it on faith that your vote was duly recorded and that the results are right.

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Feeney's Corruption Continues to Make Front Page News...

DeLay's #1 Supporter Unapologetic About Money Taken from Duke Cunningham, Abramoff-Funded Golf Trip to Scotland, Foreign Agent-Funded Trips to Asia and More...

Clint Curtis' Campaign Gets Some Florida Ink in the Bargain...

By Brad Friedman on 2/20/2006 12:32pm PT

Looks like our old friend, the indefatigably corrupt Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL), is making news again.

St. Petersberg Times takes a front page look at the "allegations pil[ing] up" against Feeney. Here's some highlights:

Three members of Congress went on a golfing junket to Scotland with lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Two of them are under investigation.

The third is Rep. Tom Feeney of Florida.
...
Feeney, 47, has tried to move past the allegations but, in typical fashion, has shown little regret or caution.

He kept patronizing Abramoff's Washington restaurant, Signatures, long after others stopped. He defended former majority leader Tom DeLay even after the Texas congressman was indicted. He let a private group pay for his trip to China last month, even though many in Congress are avoiding such travel because of bad publicity over questionable trips.
...
Feeney, usually one of the most accessible of the state's congressional delegation, refused to answer questions. His staff described questions into his relationship as a "fishing expedition" and said he has done nothing wrong.

So will Feeney disclose who paid for that trip to China last month, in which he visited the Chinese Space Agency and called for more cooperation with them? Perhaps he should, considering that NASA, where his wife also works, is in Feeney's district. Even more notably, Feeney spent years as the general counsel and registered lobbyist for the firm Yang Enterprises, Inc. --- which harbored an illegal Chinese alien eventually found guilty of espionage charges related to sending military missile guidance chips to China --- a firm that currently has lucrative contracts with NASA.

Full disclosure on this matter would seem to be particularly important, given the revelation of Feeney's lies regarding his continuing relationship with the Yangs and their company.

On a related point, here's an unfortunate little tidbit from the article:

Feeney...has been infatuated with politics since he dressed up as his childhood hero Richard Nixon in a mock grade school election

The list of allegations against Feeney continues in the article, along with some ink for Clint Curtis' run for Congress against him:

Feeney was immediately taken with DeLay, to whom Feeney sometimes is compared, and voted with him almost all the time. Later, Feeney became a prominent defender of DeLay, giving $5,000 to his legal defense and supporting a Republican move to allow him to keep his leadership post if indicted.
...
He received $5,000 from former Rep. "Duke" Cunningham's PAC before Cunningham resigned last year amid a bribery scandal.

"My concern about him is that he seems to view the rules are optional," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, a group that has primarily criticized Republicans. "Rules are there for a reason."

In September, Feeney was named one of "the 13 most corrupt members of Congress" by Sloan's group. The Congressional Accountability Project demanded that the House ethics panel investigate Feeney and others for their ties to Abramoff.

"No one likes being attacked but he still continues with his daily routine," said Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, a Brooksville Republican who served in the Florida Legislature with Feeney. "This hasn't changed him at all."

Feeney did not face opposition in 2004 but this year already has two opponents, veterinarian Andy Michaud, a Democrat, and computer programmer Clint Curtis, a lifelong Republican turned Democrat. Both Curtis and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee question Feeney's ethics.

Here's a complete list of Reps who received money from Duke Cunningham. Feeney is among those accepting the most, but has not returned the money at this time.

Hat-tip to Jesselee from Stakeholder, who has more on the St. Pete Times article.

Clint Curtis' campaign website, where he needs much financial and logistical support if he's to have a chance of taking on Feeney and the Florida Republican Machine is right here.

For more info on The BRAD BLOG's continuing investigative series on
The Clint Curtis/Tom Feeney/Yang Enterprises Vote-Rigging Scandal series, please see:
- A Quick Summary of the story so far.
- An Index of all the Key Articles & Evidence in the series so far.

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Article Categories: Bob Ney, Jack Abramoff, Tom Feeney, Clint Curtis, Tom DeLay

VIDEO - Matalin's MTP Showdown with Gregory and Dowd

Matalin Blames Press over Cheney's PR Blunder

By David Edwards on 2/20/2006 6:48am PT

Guest blogged by David Edwards of Veredictum.com

Video in Streaming Flash format...

Mary Matalin appeared on NBC Meet the Press (transcript) to defend Vice President Cheney's handling of the shooting scandal. She attacked NBC White House correspondent David Gregory and New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd for their attention to the discrepancies in Cheney's story.

Gregory: Mary, ...the Vice President of the United States accidentally shot a man... and the Vice President's office doesn't feel an obligation to disclose that to the American people directly? You do it through a ranch owner in Texas? It just strikes me as odd.

Matalin: It strikes you as odd because you live in a parallel universe...

Gregory: ...If the Vice President did everything right by disclosing it the way he did, why did you do a big national interview this week?

Matalin: Because you went on a jihad, David. For four days you went on a jihad...

Gregory: That's an unfortunate use of that word, by the way.

Matalin: Oh OK... Were you saving up for that line?

So, Matalin slips in the inflammatory "jihad" remark and then accuses Gregory of "saving up for that line"?

I created a video compilation of the exchanges between Matalin, Gregory and Dowd that is posted at Crooks and Liars. If you haven't already seen it, watch the clip here in streaming flash format or download other video formats at Crooks and Liars.

Matalin's performance is a popular topic throughout the blogosphere: Arianna Huffington, firedoglake, Think Progress, AMERICAblog, James Wolcott, Hullabaloo, Talking Points Memo.

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Article Categories: NBC, Bush Legacy, David Gregory

'Daily Voting News' - Top 5 Stories from the Past Week!

By John Gideon on 2/19/2006 5:15pm PT

Guest Blogged by John Gideon, of VotersUnite and VoteTrustUSA

The "DVN Top 5" is a feature in the weekly voting newsletter of VoteTrustUSA. The February 13 edition can be found here. The selection of what will be the "Top 5" for each week and where it goes on the list is all mine. The fact that you may disagree with my choices is great because it shows that you have been reading the DVN articles that I've posted throughout the week here on The BRAD BLOG!...

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Photo of the Moment...

(And free ad, cuz I'm just generous that way)

By Brad Friedman on 2/19/2006 1:28pm PT

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The 'Liberal' Media...

On Sundays.

By Brad Friedman on 2/19/2006 1:22pm PT

-- Executive Summary of the Study here...
-- More charts here [PDF]...

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'Daily Voting News' For February 18, 2006

By John Gideon on 2/18/2006 5:00pm PT

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org and VoteTrustUSA.Org

The big news for the day is the announcement that California's SoS McPherson has conditionally certified Diebold AccuVote OS and TSx voting machines for use in the state. This announcement has many people puzzled and mad. Has McPherson bowed to pressure from the counties and, in actuality, set them up for legal problems? It seems that may be the case. Meanwhile in Maryland ES&S steps forward and says they have no idea what Linda Lamone is saying when she says no one can provide a paper based system to the state before November. They say they can do it no problem. Could it be that Linda Lamone has been caught in another lie?...

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U.S. Senate Candidate in MD Charges Electoral Failures, Misinformation by Board of Elections, Diebold

Kevin Zeese Issues Open Letter to Maryland Media via BRAD BLOG, Calls for Independent Review of Diebold in State

Says MD Election Administrator Linda Lamone Failed to Report Electoral System Facts Accurately in Diebold's 'Showcase' State, Calls for New Voting Equipment in State in Light of Unreported Details, Contradicting Information and Stunning Letter from Republican Governor...

By Kevin Zeese on 2/18/2006 3:27pm PT

Guest Blogged by Kevin Zeese

EDITOR'S NOTE: Kevin Zeese is an independent candidate running for the U.S. Senate in Maryland. His following "Open Letter to the Maryland Media" comes on the heels of Thursday's news of Republican MD Governor Robert Ehrlich's letter announcing, amongst other things, that he "no longer [has] confidence in the State Board of Elections' ability to conduct fair and accurate elections in 2006." In the letter, Ehrlich expressly singles out Democratic Election Administrator Linda Lamone, charging that she and the SBE have been "working primarily on behalf of partisan legislators and their interests" and questions her claims that Diebold's paperless touch-screen voting machines --- deployed across the state in 2002 as part of Diebold's "showcase" roll-out of their new system --- could not be replaced by voting devices with voter-verified paper trails in time for the 2006 election. Ehrlich called for paper ballots in his letter.

It was also revealed on Thursday, that Lamone had allowed uncertified Diebold voting machines to be used in elections in Maryland in both 2002 and 2004. Diebold's election equipment has since been show to be hackable, prone to massive failure, and has lost votes in recent elections according to a recently released non-partisan GAO Report, a recent "hack test" in Leon County, FL, and scores of other confirmed reports, studies and analysis from around the country. Lamone is also the curent President of the National Association of State Election Directors (NASED).

Given the national implications of this matter and the media's general lack of coverage of these important matters, we're happy to honor Zeese's request to run the letter in full here at BRAD BLOG.

OPEN LETTER TO THE MARYLAND MEDIA

There is an unreported elections scandal in Maryland. Part of the story has been reported on the web in an article I wrote, at RAW STORY and at TrueVoteMD.org at the hearing. It has yet to be reported in the traditional media.

Kelly Brewington in the Baltimore Sun demonstrated in an article today ("Voting machine maker says new system doable by fall") that whenever Linda Lamone makes a claim, the media should either ask for documentation or get independent verification - from somewhere other than Diebold. Lamone testified in the Senate this week that it was not possible to get new machines by the fall, but the manufacturer told Ms. Brewington that they could provide appropriate equipment in time for the elections.

As someone running in what will become a close three way race for the U.S. Senate, I am very concerned that Maryland have voting equipment that voters can trust and that can be counted in an open and transparent manner in 2006. Every legislative office in the state and the governor is up for election. Maryland cannot afford to use insecure machines, that have a history of machine failure and that do not allow for an independent recount. Therefore I favor leasing an optical scan system for one year and use that time to develop a long-term solution that ensures accurate, transparent and trustworthy elections in Maryland.

LETTER CONT'D BELOW...

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