"Jesus H. Christ in an Uncle Sam suit..."

[WorseBeforeBetter]

Party Hacks
The fix is in for 2008.

By Chris Floyd

"03/02//06 "Moscow Times" -- -- Two weeks ago, an obscure, unelected, Republican-appointed official in California decided the future of the world. That future -- at least for the next several years -- will be an accelerating nightmare of war, corruption, repression, atrocity and terror. That's because the loyal apparatchik has, with the stroke of a pen, guaranteed the perpetuation of the Bush faction in power in 2008 and beyond.

One of the few certainties in modern U.S. politics is that no Democrat can win the presidency without carrying California. Thanks to the Electoral College system set up by the Founding Oligarchs to keep the low-born rabble from voting directly for president, the big haul of California's electoral votes is crucial for Democrats to offset the multitude of small, sparsely populated states that reliably vote Republican. Bagging California doesn't guarantee Democratic victory, but without it, the cliffhanger electoral counts in the goosed elections of 2000 and 2004 wouldn't even have been close.

Thus, the sudden, hugger-mugger decision by California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson to override the objections of his own experts and certify the eminently hackable voting machines of the politically partisan firm, Diebold, for use throughout the state means, quite simply, that the fix is in for 2008. It doesn't matter who the Democrats run -- Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, George Clooney or Jesus H. Christ in an Uncle Sam suit. It won't make a bit of difference. California is lost, the presidency is lost and the Bushists are in -- already. It's over.

...

America's votes are increasingly controlled by a small number of interrelated corporations: Diebold, ES&S and Sequoia, all of which have close political and financial ties to the Bush faction -- and to other dark forces as well. Diebold and ES&S were both bankrolled by tycoon Howard Ahmanson, who was also a major funder of the Christian "Reconstructionist" movement, which openly advocates a totalitarian theocracy in America, including the death penalty for homosexuals, slavery for debtors, stoning for sinners and stripping nonbelievers of citizenship. As journalist Max Blumenthal reports, these extremists have been welcomed as a key part of the Bushist base of politicized evangelicals, whose cadres have been quietly filling government posts for the past five years. Meanwhile, Sequoia -- whose machines racked up 100,000 "mistakes" in just one Florida county in 2004, according to a recent audit -- is owned by a business partner of the Carlyle Group, the investment firm whose insider deals and war profiteering have earned millions for the Bush family."

More at:

http://context.themoscowtimes.com/story/166395/

[acmavm]

1. Yes, Mr. Floyd does know how to turn a phrase.

.

[Selatius]

2. Can California voters recall the state's secretary???

Who is subject to recall petitions? Only governors and members of the state legislature? What about cabinet positions like secretary of state???

[WorseBeforeBetter]

6. Perhaps some Californians will weigh in, but it seems to me...

they are stuck with this guy:

"Bruce McPherson became California's 30th Secretary of State on March 30, 2005. After being nominated by the Governor..."

http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00002453.htm

Enron's CA "energy crisis", Issa, Gray Davis' recall, Ahnuld, McPherson, Diebold - it's all coming to fruition. And they ain't gonna stop with The Golden State.

[NV Whino]

9. He is up for election this year

We have a kick ass woman from SoCal running against him. If we can get past the re-certified Diebold machines, he's toast. As is Arnie.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

14. Debra Bowen's link for "Stop the Diebold "rush job""

http://ga3.org/campaign/diebold?qp_source=blog%5fdiebold

"On a recent Friday afternoon, as millions of Californians were preparing for their Presidents' Day holiday weekend, Secretary of State Bruce McPherson quietly re-certified Diebold electronic voting machines for the 2006 elections.

To rush through this re-certification, the Secretary of State had to go back on his word -- twice -- and violate federal and state law in the process. Compounding this travesty is that the re-certification is based solely on the views and recommendations of people on the Secretary's payroll.

This is unacceptable! Urge Secretary of State McPherson to reverse his decision on Diebold -- email him today!"

[Selatius]

16. Sadly, I don't believe emails will work on this guy, but...

money would probably work. If money bought him, money can unbuy him, but I'd be advocating bribery in all honesty. If it's not his being bought that is driving this man to recertify these election machines, then it is blind ideology. If that is the case, then he is truly lost, and nothing will make him listen.

[Canuckistanian]

3. He shore is a good journamalist

Doesn't pull any punches, either.

[AntiFascist]

4. K & R n/t

[redphish]

5. The truly scary part of this is.....

These companies are saying that despite the having all of our computer technology at their disposal, it's somehow impossible to have a paper trail from the machines as the votes are cast. I guess they have never heard of a cash register journal.

[Sal Minella]

7. I read somewhere that Diebold makes many types of machines,

and the voting machine is the ONLY one that doesn't have a paper trail. And what does that tell us, boys and girls.

[NV Whino]

10. Check your ATM machine the next time you go to get cash

It will probably have a little Diebold logo on it somewhere. And don't forget to get a paper receipt.

[rasputin1952]

11. That is the entire case against these machines, no paper trail, and no

good reason not to have one....except to make sure that whomever wants to, can skew the results.

The people of CA, and other states that use this horrid piece of crap, should rise up and demand that the cheat boxes give up a paper trail!

Citizens have to rise up against this, regardless of their party affiliation.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

8. Just goes to show...

what total dumbasses they think we (voters) are. I guess they're counting on the high level of apathy in this country - seems to be a winning strategy for them. Honestly, how many people would take the time to pore through this:

http://www.bbvforums.org/cgi-bin/forums/board-auth.cgi?file=/1954/19353.html

Not enough, unfortunately, and that's what they're counting on.

[bleever]

12. Kicking over to the Greatest.

No privatizion of elections!

[RazzleDazzle]

13. and I've never known him to be wrong

There are some good writers on the left; IMO, he's at the very top o' the heap, with a good long gap between him and #2.

[orleans]

15. well, when california goes red

and chicago goes red
and new york city goes red

THEN will people think: "hum...maybe there's something wrong with these machines?"