Monday 1/17/05 update thread for fraud/election/recount/protests

[dzika]

In order to organize and document I thought it would be a good idea to have a daily thread to place items related to the recounts/fraud. This also make it easier to "catch up" when we are away from the computer for a while.

Please help us. If you see something that isn't here post it with a link to the thread and a thanks to the author. Thanks to everyone who is helping with this project.

Link to the thread from Weekend 1/15-1/6: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x285696

[dzika]

1. U.S. Marks Martin Luther King Day - Kerry critical of election

January 17, 2005

U.S. Marks Martin Luther King Day

Kerry makes critical momments about election


Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. appears
in deep thought at a press conference
in Atlanta, Ga. in this April 25, 1967
file photo.


ATLANTA Jan 17, 2005 — If he were alive now, Martin Luther King would be reacting to the sobering news emanating from overseas with a message of peace and compassion, his son said Monday.
...

Martin Luther King III asked the congregation to remember his father's legacy of peace as America wages war in Iraq, and to remember his message of compassion in light of the tsunami disaster.

"Let us respond to this challenge by reaching out to help our sisters and brothers who are suffering because of the tsunami," he said.

At a King day breakfast on Boston, Sen. John Kerry made some of his strongest comments since Election Day about problems with voting in some states.

While reiterating that he did not contest the presidential election, Kerry said: "I nevertheless make it clear that thousands of people were suppressed in the effort to vote. Voting machines were distributed in uneven ways. In Democratic districts, it took people four, five, 11 hours to vote, while Republicans (went) through in 10 minutes same voting machines, same process, our America."

"Martin Luther King reminded us that yes, we have to accept finite disappointment, and I know how to do that," Kerry said to chuckles from listeners. "But he said we must … never give up on infinite hope."


http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=419049

Thanks to meganmonkey at DU Thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x287812

[dzika]

2. Not all evangelicals lean to right in political views

Original publication: January 16, 2005

Not all evangelicals lean to right in political views

"The evangelical community got manipulated by fear,"

By GARY STERN
THE JOURNAL NEWS


WEST CHESTER, Ohio — You can't question the Christian credentials of the members of the small men's group from Crosspoint Church, even if they do not automatically vote Republican. They listen hard for God's voice and seek to become suburban examples of Jesus' will.
...

Its members, while Bible-believing evangelicals, are not part of the politically conservative evangelical culture sweeping through Butler County and much of America. Many are moderate or apolitical, and some even voted for John Kerry. To some degree, they feel detached from the moral values debate.

"The evangelical community got manipulated by fear," van Milligen said. "Like, 'If you vote Democratic, all hell will break loose.' I feel bad our evangelical community got corralled into that."

Several members saw Ohio's gay-marriage ban, passed overwhelmingly on Election Day, as a political ploy to galvanize Republican voters.

http://www.thejournalnews.com/newsroom/011605/a0116ohiomoderate.html

[dzika]

3. Springer: Talking a new game in Ohio

Sunday, January 16, 2005

Springer: Talking a new game

King of trash TV returns to his adopted hometown to battle the conservatives who dominate political radio

By John Kiesewetter
Enquirer staff writer


Talk show host Bill Cunningham (right)
isn't sure Jerry Springer will
succeed in the world of talk radio.



The right end of Cincinnati's AM radio dial starts leaning to the left Monday.

The city's first liberal radio talk format debuts at 9 a.m. Monday with Jerry Springer's new serious talk show, "Springer on the Radio."

The Clear Channel station, which will revert to its original WCKY-AM (1530) call letters Monday, also gives its 50,000-watt voice to syndicated hosts comedian-author Al Franken, Ed Schultz and Randi Rhodes.

Springer - the former Cincinnati mayor, councilman and top-rated news anchor - says the area has more than enough Democrats and liberals to make the station succeed. He points out that Democrat John Kerry received 199,679 votes in Hamilton County, or 47 percent of the vote.

"Cincinnati is clearly ready for this. Talk radio now is all (conservatives) Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. It does not make sense to only have the same (conservative) point of view," says Springer, 60, who wants to syndicate his show nationally, starting with Detroit next month. He will continue to host his syndicated TV show from Chicago.
...

However, Cunningham continues, "Who would have thought a foreign-born, New York Jew (Springer was born in England) would come to Cincinnati and become mayor?" Every once in awhile, the impossible happens."


http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050116/ENT/501160303

[dzika]

4. Insist on revote in Ohio to redress a wrong

Insist on revote in Ohio to redress a wrong

Peggy Miller, Amherst
Published: Sunday, Jan. 16, 2005


I thought to ignore this but decided it was far too important than that: I ask that you consider this and speak up within your publication.

The issue concerning Ohio election fraud is not whether John Kerry would win if a vote were retaken in Ohio, that is not necessarily the case at all.

Rather, the issue is that if the companies that run elections with their machines and polling booths believe that they are going to be allowed to steer people to the wrong polling places, if they are going to be allowed to develop machines that leave no trace of the actual vote though they have the technology to do otherwise, that they are going to be allowed to put up too few polling booths so that many leave having not voted, and to put up these fewer booths in the districts where the candidate they don’t want to win is predicted to be favored . . . .

Well, then, they will just proceed to expand such efforts to even more states next time. And elections will be absolutely worthless.


more
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050116/OPINION02/101160015

[dzika]

5. Insist on revote in Ohio to redress a wrong

Insist on revote in Ohio to redress a wrong

Peggy Miller, Amherst
Published: Sunday, Jan. 16, 2005


I thought to ignore this but decided it was far too important than that: I ask that you consider this and speak up within your publication.

The issue concerning Ohio election fraud is not whether John Kerry would win if a vote were retaken in Ohio, that is not necessarily the case at all.

Rather, the issue is that if the companies that run elections with their machines and polling booths believe that they are going to be allowed to steer people to the wrong polling places, if they are going to be allowed to develop machines that leave no trace of the actual vote though they have the technology to do otherwise, that they are going to be allowed to put up too few polling booths so that many leave having not voted, and to put up these fewer booths in the districts where the candidate they don’t want to win is predicted to be favored . . . .

Well, then, they will just proceed to expand such efforts to even more states next time. And elections will be absolutely worthless.


more
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050116/OPINION02/101160015

[dzika]

6. Bush believes that re-election clears WH about lack of accountibility

Published 01-17-05

Bush believes that re-election clears WH about lack of accountibility

Our View


George W. Bush was asked by The Washington Post why no one in his administration has been to date held accountable for the faulty intelligence about the Saddam Hussein regime's access or lack thereof to weapons of mass destruction and nonexistent ties to Al-Qaeda and what was needed on the ground to win the war and win the peace.

The answer that he gave to the query is simply mind-boggling.

"Well, we had an accountability moment, and that's called the 2004 election," the president told the Post for a story that was published on Sunday.

"And the American people listened to different assessments made about what was taking place in Iraq, and they looked at the two candidates, and they chose me," President Bush said.

So the vote washed the slate clean. That's how W. sees it, anyway, which gives us valuable insight into his decision to nominate Alberto Gonzales to head the Justice Department in spite of Gonzales' links to a controversial memo that dismissed the Geneva Conventions provisions barring the use of torture on prisoners of war as "being quaint," as one example of the cleansing magic of an election, in the president's view.

If only President Bush had actually been up front with the American people during the '04 election campaign about what was going on in Iraq so that they could have made the election a matter of his accountability and the accountability of Gonzales and other subordinates.

The Bush campaign went 180 degrees in the other direction instead, shrugging off media reports questioning whether or not Hussein had WMD stockpiles - as we now know he did not - and the bits about the failure of intelligence analysts to link Hussein and Al-Qaeda as being the products of a liberal-biased media that was unfairly out to get him.


more
http://www.augustafreepress.com/stories/storyReader$30699

[dzika]

7. The recount is over, but ...

01-17-05

The recount is over, but ...

Notes from the Press
Chris Graham
[e-mail]


STILL FIGHTING THE VOTE: The votes have long since been counted, and Congress has certified the results. But the 2004 presidential-election recount controversy is not over yet.

Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb last week accused election officials in New Mexico of "deliberately obstructing justice" with an order to counties in the state to clear electronic-voting machines.

Cobb and Libertarian Party candidate Michael Badnarik have a demand for a recount of the state's presidential vote, which saw George W. Bush outpace John Kerry by 6,047 votes, that is still unresolved in state court.

Cobb received 1,251 votes in New Mexico. Badnarik received 2,383 votes, or 0.3 percent, after running as high as 5 percent in the state in late-summer polls.

"The conduct of New Mexico's governor and secretary of state has gone from bad to worse," Cobb said. "They have gone from showing a complete disregard for New Mexico law and for the integrity of the democratic process to deliberately obstructing justice.



http://www.augustafreepress.com/stories/storyReader$30713

[dzika]

8. USATODAY - Protesters plan to turn their backs on Bush

Posted 1/16/2005 8:10 PM Updated 1/17/2005 9:01 AM

Protesters plan to turn their backs on Bush

By Jill Lawrence, USA TODAY


WASHINGTON — Disaffected voters can protest President Bush's second inauguration Thursday from the comfort of their own homes. Anger at Bush has inspired national calls to fast, pray, skip work, buy nothing and wear black.

Thousands of unhappy Americans are also expected to converge here, braving unprecedented security to protest and party. There's a tactic for every taste, from traditional rallies and marches to quieter plans to "turn your back on Bush" along the Inaugural Parade route.

The Florida recount energized protesters at Bush's 2001 inauguration. The primary motivator this time is the war in Iraq. Sgt. Scott Fear of the U.S. Park Police said authorities expect an activity level "very similar to last time." He said two of six protest permits went to groups supportive of Bush, the rest to opponents.

Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER), is putting up bleachers in a park along the Pennsylvania Avenue parade route. They'll be filled with opponents of the Iraq war, including veterans, elected officials, religious leaders and families that have lost relatives in Iraq.

Brian Becker, national coordinator of the protest, says 10,000 people will fit in the park and it is the first time the anti-war movement has had its own bleachers. But he calls that only "a partial victory," contending inaugural organizers have severely limited public access along the rest of the parade route. ANSWER filed a court challenge to the restrictions Friday.

more
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-01-16-inauguration-protests_x.htm

[dzika]

9. US administration plan "final solution" for Arab detainees

(not directly about the election)


STRANGE BUT TRUE

On 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz...
America Promises Final Solution for Camp Internees

By Lolo Laroche in Washington


The Bush administration has finally reacted to heavy criticism throughout the world community over its treatment of the Arab prison population in the Guantanamo bay concentration camp.

The US had been strongly condemned for

• Its treatment of prisoners: One FBI agent described in a memo seeing prisoners at Guantanamo shackled, hand and foot, in a foetal position for up to 24 hours at a time, and left to defecate on themselves.
  
• Its refusal to apply the Geneva convention to the prisoners held there, the first time since the second world war that a democratic nation has openly refused to apply the convention.
  
• Lack of legal process: There is no mechanism to prosecute or free the prisoners held in Guantanamo bay. In effect prisoners have been prosecuted of no crime, but can be held indefinitely.

The US yesterday reacted by setting up a new legal framework to judge the prisoners. The system, which will use a new form of tribunal, where 5 officers from the US military will act alone as both judge and jury, will now review the case of each prisoner, deciding whether the ultimate death sentence by electric chair or lethal injection should be applied. The process will not, the US claimed, be open to appeal, nor will the internees have legal support of any form available.

Critics said that on this, the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz in which millions were forcibly transported, held, tortured and killed, the US administration’s decision to call this a “final solution” was unfortunate.

Meanwhile a spokesman for the Bush administration was at pains to point yesterday out that as Guantanamo bay holds Arab prisoners, rather than Jewish ones, any historical comparisons were "inaccurate."


http://www.bigfib.com/issue36/head1-en.html

[dzika]

10. Letters to the Editor - It's time to demand democracy

Monday, January 17, 2005

Monday Letters to the Editor
It's time to demand democracy

"Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio?" is a stinging report by House Judiciary Committee Democratic staff, and it led to the objections raised by Sen. Barbara Boxer and a number of representatives. For Republicans to turn a blind eye to this report and not carefully consider its findings is a slap in the face to Ohioans and all voters.

The Democrats who stood up and demanded this debate are not the opponents of democracy -- the Republicans who refuse to discuss or address the problem are. It is time to call on Republicans to affirm their commitmment to the American value of democracy by supporting an investigation into the reported irregularities and to commit to creating legislation that creates national standards and accountability in federal elections.

Unlike in 2000, when every senator stood silent, Sen. Boxer's courageous act brought national attention to this crisis in our democracy and forced a much needed two-hour debate on voting and elections.

-- DORIAN HARRIS,

Manhattan Beach

http://www.dailybreeze.com/opinion/articles/1355831.html

[dzika]

11. We must get our house in order

Monday, January 17, 2005

We must get our house in order

By: PAUL JACOBS - For The Californian


Tomorrow's holiday honors Martin Luther King Jr., who raised America's consciousness and directed this nation on an enlightened, moral path toward equality for humankind. Almost 37 years after his march for civil rights was cut short by an assassin's bullet, his dream has yet to be fully realized.

Progress has been made in the absence of pointing out accomplishments of African-Americans as though they somehow beat the odds. When Chuck Washington was elected to the Temecula City Council in 2003, thankfully there was no headline screaming, "First African-American elected to Temecula council." This is an encouraging sign that our society is finally learning to be colorblind.

But in the same week that we celebrate the life of MLK Jr. and inaugurate the president, there are painful indications that more must be done before we reach that promised land where all men and women are created and treated equal.

It hardly made a blip on the news cycle, but a historic event occurred Jan. 6 when Senator Barbara Boxer joined with U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, a Democrat from Ohio, in objection to the certification of Ohio's electoral votes, resulting in the Senate and the Congress adjourning for two hours to discuss and vote on the objection ---- an event that hasn't happened in this democracy since 1877.

Republican representatives quickly dismissed the serious allegations as the plaintive wail of frustrated Democrats and ignored numerous election irregularities that appeared designed to disenfranchise certain segments of voters in Ohio, as well as other states. The Republicans who control Congress, the Senate and the White House, have no interest in reforming an election system that appears to be bent in their favor.

Ohio's secretary of state, who also co-chaired the state Bush-Cheney campaign, faithfully certified Ohio's election results despite nonsensical voter tallies in a number of precincts, such as in Franklin County where Bush originally received an extra 4,258 votes in a precinct where only 638 people voted. These incongruities were fixed with no explanation for the original corrupt data.


more
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/01/16/news/columnists/jacobs/20_39_301_15_05.txt

[dzika]

12. USA TODAY - Kerry questions election fairness

Posted 1/17/2005 3:01 PM

Kerry questions election fairness

BOSTON (AP) — Sen. John Kerry, in some of his most pointed public comments yet about the presidential election, invoked Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy on Monday as he criticized President Bush and decried reports of voter disenfranchisement.


Kerry raised questions Monday
about ballot access for
the 2004 election in some
Democratic districts.

"Voting machines were distributed in uneven ways. In Democratic districts, it took people four, five, eleven hours to vote, while Republicans (went) through in 10 minutes — same voting machines, same process, our America," he said.

In his comments, Kerry also compared the democracy-building efforts in Iraq with voting in the U.S., saying that Americans had their names purged from voting lists and were kept from casting ballots.

"In a nation which is willing to spend several hundred million dollars in Iraq to bring them democracy, we cannot tolerate that too many people here in America were denied that democracy," Kerry said.


http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-01-17-kerry-election_x.htm

[dzika]

13. Nashua Advocate - Kerry Speaks of Election Reform, Seventy-Five Days Late

Monday, January 17, 2005

Calculated Deployment of Personal Principle Is No Principle At All: Kerry Speaks of Election Reform, Seventy-Five Days Late

By THE NEWS EDITOR


During a Martin Luther King Day speech at the Boston Convention Center, speaking resolutely in front of an audience of over a thousand, Senator John F. Kerry (D-MA) uttered words whose irony he could not have comprehended, or, having comprehended, had not the sufficient force of will to adequately appreciate: "We are living in the year 2005, and if Dr. Martin Luther King were here today, he'd talk to you about it, believe me he'd talk to you about it..."

Yes, Senator, he would have talked to us about many things worthy of our attention and support, and would, undoubtedly, have had comments of great moment and insight to impart to us.

And most likely he would have focused the better part of his attention and boundless wisdom on the desperate need for immediate and meaningful election reform in the United States.

But he wouldn't have waited seventy-five days until after a U.S. presidential election fraught with irregularities to do so. And to pay tribute to the man with a calculated deployment of those principles his life and death so embodied is to neither pay homage to those principles nor to the man who so honorably made them the ineluctable foundation of his public life.



Read more
http://nashuaadvocate.blogspot.com/2005/01/editorial-election-2004-calculated.html

DU Thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x288111

[dzika]

14. Why We Must Question Our Elections (by a truthout statistician)

(thanks to WilliamPitt)

Why We Must Question Our Elections

By Arlene S. Ash, Ph.D.
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Monday 17 January 2005


I am a statistician. When I testified about electoral tampering in Martin County, Florida, in November 2000, I focused exclusively on the fact that the number of disputed ballots would have changed the outcome. That was shortsighted. As U.S. newspapers have written about the Ukraine, an election's outcome may be less important than how it was conducted. Democratic elections must be verifiably fair.

Before November 2, several U.S. newspapers pursued concerns about election integrity. They reported on the vulnerability of electronic voting to simple errors and malicious hacking, and the unnecessary dangers posed by non-verifiable touch-screen voting. They exposed obstructionist maneuvers, such as Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell's telling election commissioners to reject voter registrations submitted on thin paper.

Post-election, though, the mainstream media has largely ignored or ridiculed concerns about U.S. electoral errors and fraud.

For example, a front page article by Tom Zeller, Jr. in November 12's New York Times told us that the "elections department in Cleveland set off a round of Web-blog hysteria when it posted turnout figures on its site that seemed to show more votes being cast in some communities than there were registered voters." But, the figures did show over 93,000 more votes than voters. Why is it hysterical to be disturbed by this?

On the evening of November 2, Election Day ("exit") poll data showed comfortable margins for Kerry. These figures disappeared shortly after midnight, replaced by numbers very close to the final tallies. In Ohio, for example, as late as midnight the Bush/Kerry split was 47.9%/52.1%. Later, it was 50.9%/48.6%. The official vote tally is 51.0/48.5. The press has published speculation about how the early numbers might have come to be wrong, yet, two months after the election, there is still no convincing explanation of the discrepancy.

...more...
http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/011805Y.shtml

DU Thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x288009

[dzika]

15. We Who Believe In Freedom Cannot Rest

Sunday, January 16, 2005

We Who Believe In Freedom Cannot Rest

Let us march on ballot boxes, march on ballot boxes until race-baiters disappear from the political arena. Let us march on ballot boxes until the salient misdeeds of bloodthirsty mobs will be transformed into the calculated good deeds of orderly citizens.

Let us march on ballot boxes until the Wallaces of our nation tremble away in silence. Let us march on ballot boxes until we send to our city councils, state legislatures, and the United States Congress, men who will not fear to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God.

Let us march on ballot boxes until brotherhood becomes more than a meaningless word in an opening prayer, but the order of the day on every legislative agenda. Let us march on ballot boxes until all over Alabama God's children will be able to walk the earth in decency and honor.

—Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Montgomery, Alabama, March 25, 1965

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 states that “No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color.” Its provisions outlaw poll taxes and literacy tests and set up the basis for enforcing equal access to voting. The Act was passed speedily on August 6, 1965, in large part because of the dramatic march from Sema to Montgomery, Alabama in March of 1965.

continued
http://minorjive.typepad.com/hungryblues/2005/01/we_who_believe_.html

[dzika]

16. We must count all the votes

Sunday, January 16, 2005

We must count all the votes

Reporter Editor:

All those who voted in the 2004 election should be extremely grateful to Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio, for calling our attention to voting irregularities.

It is important to note that such irregularities have made the news more often since the 2000 election, when the race in New Mexico was decided by 366 votes, while the one in Florida was not decided by the voters at all, but by the Supreme Court. With only a handful of votes separating the new governor of Washington from her opponent, I am glad that people are willing to make sure that every vote counts, as it can make an enormous difference.

Greg Currey, Vacaville

http://www.thereporter.com/Stories/0,1413,295~30192~2657149,00.html

[dzika]

17. Why the fight in Ohio Matters

Sunday, January 16, 2005

Why the fight in Ohio Matters

Now that the coalition of Democrats, Greens, and Progressives in Ohio have given up on their election challenge since the certification of the Ohio votes and the US Congress' completion of the electoral college process. This has led to several comments from those sane Republican talking heads. Watch as Hanity and Colmes, O'Reily (when he is not talking about himself), and crazy Coulter keep incessantly bragging about how easily they won the election and how this election is a realignment of politics which marks an age of real God given values.

Yeah, values like deceit -- lies for going to war, where are the weapons of mass destruction again Mr. President? You remember them, that is why we want to war in Iraq before you started talking about being the handmaiden of democracy to the middle east. And values like greed -- tax breaks for corporations and the wealthiest Americans while the average American is facing high state taxes, increasing school taxes and fees for their children, and perhaps the value that most affects Americans today, the classic good ol' military Republican value: slaughter -- death and disfigurement for far too many American service women and men even though they lack the basic equipment, intelligence, and are facing confusing orders (to torture or to not torture, that is the question).

But speaking of the value of deceit, the debate over unfair election rules in several states and unfair election day shenanigans matter for now and into the future. It matters because the republicans did cheat. Let me make this absolutely clear, dear reader... THE REPUBLICANS IN THE STATE OF OHIO CHEATED AND DELIVERED THE ELECTION TO BUSH!!

The debate over the unequal distribution of voting machines in Ohio is not a matter of crazy logic or a review of a ledger. The screaming nut-wing on Fox "news" and in talk radio and other nether regions where the light of rational enlightenment thought has been repeatedly attacked state over and over that there could not have been election fraud. But they are wrong.

more
http://rising-hegemon.blogspot.com/2005/01/why-fight-in-ohio-matters.html

[dzika]

18. The Republican Spin Machine At Work

The Republican Spin Machine At Work

If you can not say anything else good about the Republican party, you have to hand it to them for knowing how to defend themselves. They are truly masters of this art. The Republicans have mastered pinpointing what is a threat to them and then working to effectively neutralize this threat.
...

I feel the same is true of Fahrenheit 9/11. Was the Bush administration portrayed poorly? Yes, it was. But Michael Moore did not hire actors to play the parts of the Bush administration , the Bush administration played themselves. They did not have any scripts, it was completely natural. Michael Moore could not have portrayed them in the light he did UNLESS they gave him the material to work with. Moore did not doctor the film or dub it. Whatever looked bad for the Bush administration was because they made themselves look bad. Michael Moore only gave us a small window to glance through, Bush provided the entertainment.

So if we are to conclude that the movie was true, we would have to believe it is a threat to the Bush administration since it paints them in such a bad light that they should have lost the election due to that movie alone. So what was the Republican party to do? Well, they had to neutralize Moore and make it so people did not want to be associated with his thoughts and ideas. The best way to neutralize him was to make the name 'Michael Moore' synonymous with crazy conspiracy theories. They planted these ideas throughout the media including RW talk show hosts. It was spread so thoroughly that no one wanted to be a Michael Moore Democrat. (besides those of us who saw through the facade and realized what a hero he is to our country.)

Did Michael contribute to this? Sure, just like the Bush administration gave Michael footage to work with, Michael gave them ammunition like when he went up on stage at the awards show. He was painted as a rabid dog except to those of us that saw it was really his passion for the country that was expelled to the world that evening, he was not a conspiracy theory nut. Not by a long shot.

The RW parties moves in this situation helped discredit Michael Moore and also helped the RW party cover their butts where Moore was concerned. They have done such a good job that I still hear Democrats trying to distance themselves from him. It is a shame because he is a true patriot.

Another great spin, from RW, came when election time hit. A lot of people had theories about certain things taking place while voting was supposed to be going on. These are not just theories, some people have spent numerous hours researching the actions of the Republicans on election day. The Republicans were not about to give anything up and loose any ground. (perhaps there is something to hide?) The RW Machine went into action. All you heard was that Democrats had conspiracy theories. These people are good. So good that a lot of talk went underground. You dared not speak of any proof for fear that the men with white jackets may come to take you away.

http://abettercountry.blogspot.com/2005/01/republican-spin-machine-at-work.html

[dzika]

19. Houston Chronicle Reports Shocking Texas House Vote Story

Sunday, January 16, 2005

Houston Chronicle Reports Shocking Texas House Vote Story

In the case of the newcomer Democrat and Vietnamese refugee Hubert Vo who reportedly beat long-time Republican power Talmadge Heflin for the State Representative seat for the 149th District by only 33 votes out of 43,499 counted, the investigation has found a real shocking result. This is Texas politics, and there is no apparent fraud.

The Houston Chronicle reported January 15th that their investigation showed no indications of vote fraud, and the relatively few voting errors that have been found to have occurred will not change the outcome of the election.

Of course, the Republican Talmadge Heflin has appealed to the Republican controlled Texas House of Representative, so there may yet be vote fraud committed. We’ll just have to wait, watch the Texas House of Representatives at work, and determine if the normal fraud and criminal activity of that august body rises to the surface in this case.


http://politicsplusstuff.blogspot.com/2005/01/houston-chronicle-reports-shocking.html

[dzika]

20. CALL FOR NATIONAL INAUGURATION DAY "INVESTIGATE OHIO" FBI RALLIES

January 17, 2005

CALL FOR NATIONAL INAUGURATION DAY "INVESTIGATE OHIO" FBI RALLIES

This came through the Coalition Against Election Fraud e-mail list. I strongly support this call to action (emphasis added).

For all those who would like to be protesting in Washington on Inauguration Day but will not be able to attend, this is a call to organize "Investigate Ohio" rallies at noon on Thursday, Jan. 20 at the office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation nearest you.

We see the purpose of the rallies not only to protest what appears to be the second illegitimate inauguration of George W. Bush, but more importantly to push the FBI to fully investigate the evidence of widespread vote rigging in Ohio, and by inference in other states, as documented in the historic "Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio" (pdf), published by the House Judiciary Committee's Democratic staff, under the leadership of Congressman John Conyers Jr.

The report, which has received no significant press attention, found: "...massive and unprecedented voter irregularities and anomalies in Ohio. In many cases these irregularities were caused by intentional misconduct and illegal behavior..."

The report also said: "...Cumulatively, these irregularities, which affected hundreds of thousands of votes and voters in Ohio, raise grave doubts regarding whether it can be said the Ohio electors, selected on December 13, 2004, were chosen in a manner that conforms to Ohio law, let alone federal requirements and constitutional standards."

Laws apparently violated include: The Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1968, Equal Protection, Due Process and Ohio right to vote laws. This, of course, means that there is likely no legitimacy to the 2004 Bush "election".

In spite of the exceptional documentation in the Conyers report, which formed the basis for objections to Congressional approval of the Ohio presidential vote on Jan. 6, by Barbara Boxer in the Senate and 31 House members, the FBI has failed to investigate the apparent widespread violations of Federal law.

Indeed, as of earlier this week, the FBI failed to answer a December 15 request by Congressman Conyers for investigation of possible tampering with Ohio voting machines by the firm Triad. The FBI has made no response to a request of investigation of the Presidential vote in Ohio, Florida and other states, made on December 3 by citizens of Westchester County, New York. Congressman Conyers continues to seek FBI action and to call for a full investigation of Ohio by Congress.

We see the rallies as a way of not only specifically supporting Congressman Conyers, but to thank Senator Boxer and the House members who had the courage to object to "Ohio" and by implication, the election and inauguration of George W. Bush. The rallies, further, would thank the hundreds of citizens who have worked tirelessly in Ohio, Florida and a number of other states to document and publicize widespread voter disenfranchisement.

Congressman Conyers' appears to be the only initiative now available that could result in convictions for Ohio voter disenfranchisment. It can be argued that there is no way to prevent further schemes for disenfranchisement without convictions for what happened in Ohio.

We recommend that you read the Conyers report, which can be found at http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/, because it documents specific steps that were taken in Ohio to dismantle the franchise, particularly for black voters and also, to a lesser degree, for low-income and young voters.

In Ohio, and other key states, the challenge for Republican officials, party workers and consultants was to counteract the highly effective voter registration drives aimed at likely supporters of Democratic candidates.

The Conyers report shows that Ohio Republicans moved to meet this challenge in a number of well-conceived, systematic, illegal steps that exploited weaknesses in the state voting system, including: failure to put adequate numbers of voting machines in precincts where a high Democratic turnout was expected, particularly black precincts; manipulation of provisional ballots; voter intimidation; misinformation to voters; and manipulation of voting machines.

A particularly interesting incident, that one would think would spark FBI interest, is cited in the Conyers report:

"In Franklin County, a worker at the Holiday Inn observed a team of 25 people who called themselves the 'Texas Strike Force' using payphones to make intimidating calls to likely voters, targeting people recently in the prison system. The 'Texas Strike Force' members paid their way to Ohio, but their hotel accomodations were paid for by the Ohio Republican Party, whose headquarters is across the street. The hotel worker heard one caller threaten a likely voter with being reported to the FBI and returning to jail if he voted. Another hotel worker called the police, who came but did nothing."

It is essential that we demand justice in Ohio, and other states.

For additional information, please contact: Nick Mottern [phone], Investigate N-02.

link
http://nostolendemocracy.typepad.com/blog/2005/01/call_for_nation.html

[dzika]

21. Reminder: 50.7% is not a mandate

Reminder: 50.7% is not a mandate

We live in the United States of Amnesia, as writer Gore Vidal calls us.

What happened last week already is ancient history, and everyone knows how much Americans suck ass at history.

So I will remind you, whenever "President" Bush and his spokesweasels talk about all of that "political capital" he supposedly has "to spend" and how he supposedly has "the will of the people at his back" and all of that shit, that in reality he received only 50.7 percent of the popular vote to John Kerry's 48.3 percent -- even with the probable election fraud that the Republicans committed. (Speaking of which, Kerry most directly spoke about that election fraud today. It's not enough, but I guess it's something.)

Bush won "re"-election by the smallest margin ever in U.S. history. (Reports Wikipedia: "Bush won with the smallest margin of victory for a sitting president in U.S. history in terms of the percentage of the popular vote. In terms of absolute number of popular votes, his victory margin was the smallest of any sitting president since Harry Truman in 1948.")

You call Bush's "re"-election a "squeaker," not a "mandate."


more
http://blogs.salon.com/0001517/2005/01/17.html#a455

[MelissaB]

22. Way to go, dzika!

:yourock:


(I've been out of town today, and it's so good to see this thread filled!)

[berniew1]

23. Systematic dirty tricks throughout U.S. as method of disinfranchisement

Florida
http://www.flcv.com/dirtytrf.html
New Mexico http://www.flcv.com/fraudpat.html see URLs there
Ohio www.freepress.org departments
http://northnet.org/minstrel/alpage.htm
http://www.flcv.com/fraudpat.html
Pennsylvania http://www.flcv.com/philaddt.html
http://www.flcv.com/mercerco.html
North Carolina http://www.flcv.com/northcar.html
Texas http://www.flcv.com/texas.html
Louisiana http://www.flcv.com/neworlea.html


and widespread vote machine fraud and suppression of minorities and students- per URLs I've already posted.
(these also have cases of dirty tricks for other areas I haven't specifically searched and broken out a file for; I only do very limited search of data available)

[dzika]

24. Republican conspiracies go nuts

Monday, January 17, 2005

Republican conspiracies go nuts

What amazes me about the conservative blogging side of the street is the echo chamber they create and how easily they convince themselves of conspiracy and fraud in the world around them. The latest comes from Wisconsin, where one blogger says the fact that up to 10,000 votes cannot be verified in the Milwaukee area is a clear sign of Democratic deception.

Blogs for Bush picks up the story and runs with it as well. And I can see that others have trackbacked from BfB as well. It's spreading like wildfire.

Of course, it's not proof. And it's always tougher on the right when you actually read the articles they link:

A Republican lawmaker who advocates a voter ID requirement is criticizing the Milwaukee Election Commission's handling of voters who registered at the polls Nov. 2, saying some 10,000 could not be sent cards to verify their address.

State Rep. Jeff Stone (R-Greendale) said Friday the number reflects cases where registration cards filled out by voters were illegible or, in some cases, duplicates.

City officials, though, said late Friday there may be other explanations, such as voters who registered at the polls even though they had registered in advance, or filled out cards to update flawed ones they had submitted earlier.

Sloppy handwriting is part of the Democrats plan to take over Wisconsin! Brilliant!

If I were a conservative blogger, I would now find a study that shows Democrats tend to have sloppier handwriting that Republicans and suggest it as proof of a mad conspiracy against Bush and his massive mandate of anyone but Kerry.

Leave it to the right wing to take an article calling for a fix to our voting system and use it to claim that the entire country is corrupt with the exception of themselves (you can see that here, when Kerry speaks out about the election, he's a sore loser. Republicans apparently are crusaders for the truth).

Here's my favorite part from the initial post:

Republicans are often charged with trying to suppress the vote. Well, we won in November and it's impossible to charge us with that after the election's over.

Uh, what? Because you won, it's "impossible to charge you with cheating?" Please show your work on this one.

Was the Ohio vote stolen? I'm not convinced, no. Wisconsin? Again, no. But imagine if the right and the left, instead of accusing each other of massive voter deception decided to work together to make the system more accountable. Imagine developing rules and laws that would make this sort of speculation unnecessary. Wouldn't that be better than partisan sniping and these mad witch hunts?

Why wouldn't you want, for example, an even ratio of voting machines to voters in all districts, if not only to prevent it as a claim of voter suppression? Why not take out as many of the kinks as possible to stop claims of suppression?

And did anyone check the Republican districts in Wisconsin, those that use the same day registration policy and see how many votes they had that could not be verified? No? Why not?

Because that doesn't fit the story line. Instead it's Democrats = sore losers, Republicans = crusaders for truth.

http://getyourblogup.blogspot.com/2005/01/republican-conspiracies-go-nuts.html

[dzika]

25. Clermont County Board of Elections Refused to Answer Recount Questions

January 17, 2005

Clermont County Board of Elections Refused to Answer Recount Questions About Irregularities

Report by Bob Drake of the Clermont County recount team. He read the following letter to the Board of Elections on Thursday, December 16, 2004. "Clermont County used optical scan sheets, many of which were altered with stickers to cover a third party candidate vote (and at least one vote for Kerry), and modified to cast a vote for Bush. There were many other irregularities as well, and most are detailed in the letter below (e.g., Ralph Nader's name being present on the ballot). We still have not received answers to any of our questions.":

2004 COBB/BADNARIK RECOUNT
CLERMONT COUNTY, OHIO
DECEMBER 16, 2005

Presentation at 2:00 PM Board of Elections Meeting

We the undersigned witnesses for the Ohio 2004 Cobb/Badnarik Recount in Clermont County hereby present this challenge and action request to the Board of Electors of Clermont County (“Board”):

1. We ask each member of the Board to disclose publicly what knowledge he or she has of the “stickers” found on certain ballots selected for the 3% hand count in Clermont County. Who affixed such stickers, what was their purpose and what statutory or regulatory authority can be cited in support of such practice?

2. We ask the Board to explain the decision of the Director not to reprint the ballots in order to remove the name of Ralph Nader as a candidate. If the decision was made not to reprint the ballots because there was insufficient time before Election Day, why is it that other counties were able to reprint their ballots to remove Nader’s name in time for the election? What actions were taken to attempt to reprint the ballots in time? What considerations went into such decision with respect to how the presence of this candidate might tend to siphon off legitimate votes for other candidates?

3. We ask the Board to explain each decision made at the Tuesday, December 14 meeting of the Board to count potential “overvotes” and potentially altered ballots, specifically:
a. Ballots to which stickers had been affixed to cover up marks in front of the name of one candidate where ovals were blackened for another candidate – such votes being treated in accordance with your Tuesday vote as votes for the candidate whose oval remained blackened, and not as overvotes
b. Ballots where there were two votes for a single candidate, one vote evidenced on the write-in line and a second vote being evidenced by a blackening of the oval next to the same candidate’s name, these ballots being treated as overvotes or, potentially, inconsistently depending upon the identity of the candidate benefiting from the characterization
c. Votes for both Ralph Nader and another candidate, which votes were not treated as overvotes, but rather a vote for the second candidate whose oval was blackened

4. If the Board has voted or does vote in the future not to change the characterization of the ballots in question as described in (3) above, which decision will result in there being no discrepancy between the 3% hand count and 3% tabulator count, we challenge such action on the grounds that it operates to lead to a false conclusion that no irregularities exist that justify a 100% recount in accordance with the Secretary of State’s guidelines. We hereby exercise our right to demand a 100% hand recount of the votes of Clermont County.

5. In the absence of a 100% recount and a completion of the review of documents pursuant to the recount (viz., the poll books, the uncounted abstentee ballots and the uncounted provisional ballots, as described below), we challenge any premature certification of the Clermont County 2004 election.

6. In the event there is no 100% hand recount, we restate our request that there be a substitution of some larger precincts so that the sampling will be more representative of the constituency of the county and we request that the Board override the decision of Danny Bare, director of the Board of Elections, not to accommodate this request.

7. In the event no substitution of precincts is made as requested in (6) above, we challenge the randomness of the selected precincts under the guidelines issued by the Secretary of State, which require a “random” selection. The precincts selected for recount were not selected randomly; rather, the smallest precincts were selected, plus one additional precinct, which could “skew” the results.

8. We hereby restate our request for the following documents and challenge any certification of the 2004 vote on the grounds that the recount has not been completed, because there has been no 100% hand recount and the following have not been provided for reasonable review by Cobb/Badnarik witnesses:
a. Polling books for all precincts
b. Uncounted (rejected) absentee ballots
c. Uncounted (rejected) provisional ballots (which should include the name and address of each provisional voter), together with an explanation in each case as to the reason for the rejection

9. Additionally, we ask as citizens for
a. A list of the names, addresses, telephone numbers and titles or job duties of all employees, contractors, officials, Board members and others playing a role in the process of counting, recounting, systems certification and other matters affecting the integrity of the 2004 election in Clermont County and a list of any conflicts of interest that any such individuals or companies may have with respect to the role played by each such individual or company.
b. Online minutes and other public information as to the proceedings of the Tuesday, December 14 Board meeting and the meeting held today. Signed this 16 day of December, 2004:

_____________________________________________|
Tina Herald, Clermont County Recount Coordinator

_____________________________________________
Cynthia Asrir, Recount Regional Coordinator, SW Ohio

_____________________________________________
Bob M. Drake, Clermont County Recount Witness

http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2005/01/clermont-county-board-of-elections.html

[dzika]

26. Election Reform Poll by Rep. John Conyers, Jr.

January 17, 2005

Election Reform Poll by Rep. John Conyers, Jr.

Congressman John Conyers, Jr., has posted a poll on election reform:

http://johnconyers.com/index.asp?Type=SUPERFORMS&SEC={D806E54D-86E7-42DF-BA64-771A221369F1}


Source: http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2005/01/election-reform-poll-by-rep-john.html

[dzika]

27. Four Members of Congress Call for Special Prosecutor to Investigate Blackw

January 17, 2005

Four Members of Congress Call for Special Prosecutor to Investigate Blackwell

On Friday, January 14, 2005, Congressional Representatives John Conyers, Jr., Jerrold Nadler, Robert C. Scott, and Sheila Jackson Lee, asked the Justice Department to appoint a Special Counsel to investigate possible criminal conduct in connection with the Ohio 2004 Election by J. Kenneth Blackwell.

In this detailed letter, the congresspersons stated that through the House Judiciary Democrats' investigation, they had learned of "numerous instances of voter intimidation and misinformation,improper purging, caging of minority voters, misuse of Help America Vote Act (HAVA) funds, voting machine tampering, perjury, and most recently, potential misuse of the federal seal in a campaign solicitation by Ohio Secretary of State Blackwell. Since this and other apparent violations by the Secretary of State presents such an obvious conflict for your office, we would ask that you appoint a special counsel to investigate this matter."

Full text of the letter: http://miamedia.com/news/20050114dojelectionspconltr.pdf
or http://www.BradBlog.com/Docs/SpecialCounselLetter.pdf
or http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/dojelectionspconltr11405.pdf
or http://shadowbox.i8.com/HJCletter2DOJ.pdf

Incredibly, although the existence of this letter was publicly disclosed on Friday, January 14, 2005, the "corporate media" have concealed the information from their viewers, readers, and listeners.
-R.B.


source: http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2005/01/four-members-of-congress-call-for.html

[Name removed]

28. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[genieroze]

32. Wouldn't this hurt Kerry more than Bush?

[suffragette]

29. Election reform gets lawmakers' attention

Seattle Post Intelligencer

Monday, January 17, 2005



Election reform gets lawmakers' attention
Legislators vow change after controversial governor's race



By RACHEL LA CORTE
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

OLYMPIA -- Florida's off the hook. Washington state is now under the election reform microscope.

"This is the issue of the year," said Sen. Jim Kastama, D-Puyallup, chairman of the Senate Government Operations and Elections Committee, which holds a public hearing on the issue today. "People expect action."

In her inauguration speech last week, Gov. Christine Gregoire announced that she will create a task force to review the election process and to report recommendations to her and the Legislature by March 1.

Secretary of State Sam Reed, who has been criticized by fellow Republicans for certifying the results, has unveiled a package that he wants lawmakers to support. His proposals include moving the September primary to the third Tuesday in June and requiring absentee ballots to be postmarked by the Friday before the election or received before the polls close on Election Day.

Lawmakers agree that election reform needs to be a bipartisan issue.

[dzika]

30. 47% of Americans say they are worried about Bush 2nd term

47% of Americans say they are worried about Bush 2nd term

I kept seeing headlines this weekend about how the majority Americans were "hopeful" about Bush's second term.

The article by AP about the poll (also by AP), didn't mention that the respondents were allowed to pick more than one word to describe their feelings about Bush's second term.

"Hopeful" might be too generic of a word to take it to mean that 60% of American approve of Bush's second term. I'm "hopeful" that Americans will wake up to the scandal that is this administration.





In PDF format:
http://www.ipsos-na.com/news/client/act_dsp_pdf.cfm?name=mr050117_2tr.pdf&id=2525

[texpatriot2004]

31. kick this Jan. 17th thread. n/t

[dzika]

33. In the Shadow of Dr. King, counting the vote remains a civil rights issue

Mon Jan 17 2005

In the Shadow of Dr. King, counting the vote remains a civil rights issue

by Bob Fitrakis, Steve Rosenfeld and Harvey Wasserman


In the shadow of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., America's electoral crisis continues.

King marched across the south and the nation to guarantee all Americans, black and white, the right to vote. But in 2000 and again in 2004, that right was denied.

Now in the wake of another bitterly contested vote count, is the electoral situation improving in the spirit of Dr. King?

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, when briefing the Senate Democratic leadership on the day before the historic challenge to the Ohio electors, told them that in the 40 years since the Voting Rights Act, the people opposed to voting rights have simply changed parties -- from "Dixiecrats" to Republicans -- while still doing "everything in their power to suppress the voting rights of poor and minorities." Jackson also told Senators Reid, Durbin and Stabenow that after President Lyndon Johnson refused Martin Luther King, Jr.'s pitch for voting rights in 1964 at a ceremony commemorating King's Nobel Prize award, it was a "remnant of the civil rights movement that went down to Selma" that was beaten and bloodied in a struggle that led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

In Jackson's analysis, all that was won was a Jim Crow "state's rights" voting system that with new Republican political strength has moved to openly suppress voting rights. His Rainbow/PUSH is beginning talk about a Montgomery (Ohio) to Selma bus ride in the spring.

In Ohio, Republican Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell is taking steps to ensure perpetual Republican domination of Ohio. On January 12, Blackwell issued a statewide directive requiring all of Ohio’s 88 county Boards of Elections to commit to optical scan voting machine systems from two notoriously partisan Republican corporations – Diebold Election Systems or Election Systems & Software (ES&S). The choices are to be made by February 9.


continued
http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2005/1096

[dzika]

34. Australia News - INAUGURATION PARTY CRITICISED

18.1.2005. 12:42:41

INAUGURATION PARTY CRITICISED

On the eve of Washington's biggest and most expensive party, critics are questioning the size and extravagance of President George W Bush’s inauguration party.
...

But some say Thursday’s lavish celebrations are inappropriate, given the rising death toll of US troops serving in Iraq and the scale of the devastation caused by the Boxing Day tsunami across.

“I just think that the sobriety of the times dictate that we be mindful of the imagery of these things," said Democratic Republican Anthony Weiner.

He’s called for President Bush to ask donors to redirect their inaugural contributions to equipment for troops in Iraq, some of whom have complained of having to scrounge for scrap metal to protect their vehicles.

Mr Weiner says the $40m bill could pay for 690 Humvees and a $290 bonus for each soldier serving in Iraq.

He claims history is on his side, recalling President Franklin Roosevelt’s reserved celebrations after winning the 1945 presidential election, near the end of the second world war.


continued
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=103332®ion=4

[dzika]

35. Firms with financial stake in Bush's agenda lead inaugural funding

Posted on Mon, Jan. 17, 2005

Firms with financial stake in Bush's agenda lead inaugural funding

BY MARK SILVA

Chicago Tribune


WASHINGTON - (KRT) - The private fund raising for President Bush's $40 million inaugural ceremonies has drawn millions of dollars from businesses with an interest in the outcome of Bush's ambitious second-term agenda.

Among the leading donors are banks and financial companies that stand to gain from Bush's proposal to allow workers to invest some of their Social Security payroll taxes in private retirement accounts. The banking and investment industry has donated at least $4 million of the $25 million that the inaugural committee has reported raising so far.

Bush's inaugural donors include oil companies with a stake in Bush's plans for opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, part of his energy agenda.

His contributors include defense contractors with a share of the government's multibillion-dollar weapons program. They also include hotel chains that could benefit from his proposal to allow undocumented immigrants to become guest workers.

"Interests give to the inaugural for the same reason they give to candidates and campaigns," said Steve Weiss, spokesman for the Center for Responsive Politics in Washington. "They've got an agenda they want passed, and they want a sympathetic ear from the administration."

Bush's biggest inaugural donors include many of the wealthy individuals - the Rangers and Super Rangers of the Republican Party's 2004 election campaign - who helped Bush raise a record $270 million for his re-election.


continued
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/politics/10667866.htm

[dzika]

36. Thousands plan to protest inauguration with silence, rowdiness

Posted on Mon, Jan. 17, 2005

Thousands plan to protest inauguration with silence, rowdiness

BY ANDREW ZAJAC AND FRANK JAMES

Chicago Tribune


WASHINGTON - (KRT) - President Bush recently declared that his victory in the Nov. 2 election constituted an endorsement of his conduct of the war in Iraq, and provides him with a mandate heading into his second term.

Not so fast, says Morrigan Phillips, a representative with Counter-Inaugural 2005, an information clearinghouse for anti-war, human rights, environmental and other groups opposed to the president's policies.

"It was 52 percent," said Phillips, referring to Bush's share of the popular vote. "That's no sweeping mandate."

Lest the president forget that, Phillips and thousands of like-minded protesters plan to take to the streets Thursday, hoping to get out their message of dissent amidst the pomp, glitz and intense security of Bush's mid-day inauguration to a second term.

Massive anti-war rallies are not believed to be in the offing, and some key anti-war and liberal groups are taking a pass on the festivities. Still, dozens of groups plan activities that range from silent protest to street theater to a "festive, rowdy" march promised by a loose-knit collection of self-described anarchists.

Planned street performances include a mock New Orleans funeral by women's groups decrying the withering of a range of freedoms under Bush and satirical auctions of the Social Security system and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by a group dubbed Billionaires for Bush.


more
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/politics/10667895.htm?1c

[dzika]

37. War lessons elude Bush

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

War lessons elude Bush

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD


As he enters a second term, President Bush shows few signs of learning lessons from the Iraq troubles. Indeed, the president believes Americans decided things have gone fine there.

It's a curious judgment, particularly since the president appears to be speaking more reflectively about international affairs in a series of pre-inauguration interviews. But in an interview published Sunday in The Washington Post, Bush spelled out his rejection of holding his officials accountable for the continuing failure to create security in Iraq.

"We had an accountability moment, and that's called the 2004 elections," Bush said.

Presidential elections are usually won on the public's assessment of who will lead best in the future, not as a referendum on the past. Describing the election as an unequivocal endorsement of the war is a stretch.
...

The president said he hopes Condoleezza Rice, his nominee for secretary of state, will do more to explain U.S. motives and intentions. If winning greater trust has anything to do with changing our actions in Iraq, however, the administration isn't ready to respond.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/208237_iraqed.html

[dzika]

38. Exit pollsters to release election report to media

1/17/2005 10:08 PM

Exit pollsters to release election report to media

By Mark Memmott, USA TODAY


This week, the firms that produced exit polls of voters last November will tell the news organizations that paid them what, if anything, they think went wrong.
The surveys of voters as they left polling places led to widespread speculation on Election Day that Sen. John Kerry was sweeping President Bush out of office. But whether voters will ever know what happened remains unclear.

Edie Emery, a spokeswoman for the six-member media consortium that paid for the exit polls, says representatives from ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, NBC and the Associated Press want to review the report before making any decisions about what to make public.

The behind-closed-doors delivery of the report could come as soon as today. Because the report's conclusions might not be made public, the report is unlikely to appease critics who say the six media companies have moved too slowly to release information collected in the exit polls and have said too little about possible problems with those surveys.

"It's amazing to me that there's even a possibility that the report won't be released to the public," says Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. "There was a major national controversy involving the integrity of the news organizations and of the polling firms involved."


continued
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-01-17-exit-poll-report_x.htm

[dzika]

39. Ohio Sen. Miller: SOS Blackwell "disenfranchised other African Americans"

Monday, January 17, 2005

Senator delivers poetic message at King event

Miller offers advice for young people and fires some barbs at Republicans
By LaRAYE BROWN


STATE SEN. Ray Miller speaks to a
gathering Sunday night at the Triumph
Foundation Church in Fremont. The
senator was the keynote speaker at
the NAACP's Martin Luther King Jr.
Celebration.

He blamed those legislators for pulling a gay marriage ban into 2004's political agenda.

"There's been a law since 1953 that says a marriage is between a man and a woman," he said.

He characterized last year's vote on banning gay marriage a ruse.

"That's to divert you from employment, education, health care and poverty," he said, gathering a long, loud applause. "I believe that a marriage is between a man and a woman, but that's not the big issue of the day.

"Let's make it strong public policy that racism and discrimination shouldn't exist," he said, again gathering a hearty applause. "Let's have Bob Taft do that one."

He continued his punches at the other side of the political aisle, saying that Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, who is an African American, disenfranchised other African Americans during the last presidential election when he said his office would not accept voter registration cards printed on the wrong weight of paper.


http://www.thenews-messenger.com/news/stories/20050117/localnews/1880336.html

[dzika]

40. Kerry alleges voters were 'suppressed' - Links issues to King's struggle

January 18, 2005

Kerry alleges voters were 'suppressed'

Links poll issues to King's struggle

By Scott S. Greenberger, Globe Staff


In his first high-profile address since conceding the presidential election, Senator John F. Kerry used Boston's annual Martin Luther King Jr. memorial breakfast yesterday to decry what he called the suppression of thousands of would-be voters last November.

"Thousands of people were suppressed in their efforts to vote. Voting machines were distributed in uneven ways," the former Democratic nominee told an enthusiastic audience of 1,200 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center in South Boston.

"In Democratic districts, it took people four, five, 11 hours to vote, while Republicans (went) through in 10 minutes. Same voting machines, same process, our America," Kerry said.
...

"My friends, this is not a time to pretend. We're here to celebrate the life of a man who, if he were here today, would make it clear to us what our agenda is. And nothing," Kerry said, his voice rising in anger, "would he make more clear on that agenda than, in a nation that is willing to spend several hundred million dollars in Iraq to bring them democracy we cannot tolerate that, here in America, too many people are denied that democracy."
...

After listening to Kerry's remarks, Governor Mitt Romney, a Republican, said that "there are many improvements to be made in our electoral process." Romney said no eligible voter should be denied the right to vote, but like many Republicans he is at least as concerned about allowing ineligible voters to cast ballots.

"Either voter fraud or voter suppression -- either or both is wrong," he said.



more
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/01/18/kerry_alleges_voters_were_suppressed/