Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Saturday, March 31, 2007

[livvy]

ELECTIONS HACK TEST: Counter-Challenging Elections Officials on the Truth
by Paul R. Lehto

The Counter-Challenge To Supervisor Stone

...a very realistic security test would be to allow any citizen to hire the computer expert of their choice, and give that expert days or perhaps weeks to hack the system, BEFORE any seals and so forth are placed on them.

This is just like the real world in which top elections officials have virtually unlimited access to the machines.

To be even more realistic, the citizen and his computer expert will also be allowed to select, purchase, "certify" and "audit" their own computerized voting machines, prior to the hacking test, and further we must all with a straight face refer to this citizen and his computer hacking expert with their purchasing/choosing powers as the election "authorities." Finally, if there is even a hint that anyone is on to this huge conflict of interest, the hacker or rigger should immediately be able to condemn such citizens for damaging the confidence of the public in our elections, persuading members of the public to look the other way rather than follow their instincts to defend democracy.

Post-Challenge Implications

Just think: the government gets all of its money and power from the voters and yet Supervisor Stone and other government officials have the audacity to turn the bright lights of suspicion upon THE VOTERS, or We the People, the "masters" of this representative democracy. Shame on them. It is truly unbelievable what the servants are telling us these days, especially the idea that the government need not openly count votes to prove that they truly have earned the "consent of the governed" without which they have no legitimacy whatsoever under our American system.

See the first post for the link to the complete article.

Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News

All members welcome and encouraged to participate.



Please post Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News on this thread.

If you can:
1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web.

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3. Re-post stories and announcements you find on DU, providing a link to the original thread with thanks to the Original Poster, too.

4. Start a discussion thread by re-posting a story you see on this thread.



Please "Recommend" for the Greatest Page (it's the link just below).

[livvy]

1. Elections Hack Test by Paul Lehto

March 30, 2007

ELECTIONS HACK TEST: Counter-Challenging Elections Officials on the Truth

By Paul Lehto

March 30, 2007

Supervisor Jeff Stone
County Administrative Center

4080 Lemon Street - 5th Floor
Riverside, California 92501
[phone]

Re: COUNTER-CHALLENGE to your "HACK TEST" OF JAN 3, 2007

Dear Supervisor Jeff Stone, and Distinguished Supervisors of Riverside County California Districts 1-5:

I am an election law attorney as well as being the co-author of a scientific study on irregularities in Sequoia Edge touch screen DRE voting equipment during the 2004 election, found at http://tinyurl.com/ahkt9 .<1> I write to make a Counter-Challenge to the Supervisor Stone's in January 3, 2007 letter and December 2006 statements, and in light of Secretary of State Bowen's letter finding that the conditions on the hack test were "overly narrow" in that it required a voter to do the hack containing only what was in their pockets, etc. See http://tinyurl.com/2rgns4 This attempt to restrict conditions to a "voter fraud" hack at a hypothetical polling place bears an interesting resemblance to the current scandal involving US Attorneys being pressured to investigate "voter fraud" in 2004, when study after study indicates, and those prosecutors found, that voter fraud is rare, and the payoff for the typical voter fraud (one extra vote) is hardly worth a sentence of up to 5 years. See, e.g., March 5, 2007 report "The Politics of Voter Fraud" at http://www.projectvote.org/ One of the harms exposed in the US Attorney scandal is the misdirection of governmental prosecutorial resources when the focus solely on "voter fraud", for the reasons outlined in this counter-challenge.

THE CONTEXT OF THIS COUNTER-CHALLENGE

Rather than fallaciously considering the voters to be the bad guys by restricting the e-voting hack test to polling place conditions, Supervisor Stone should allow a fully realistic test.

In fact, under actual real-world conditions, it is clear upon any reflection that successful election cheaters get elected to office and then become, for example, elections officials with full access to the machines. Or, election cheaters could become legislators that make election law and policy. This is quite unlike the situation with a successful bank robber, who never gets to be a bank official or make bank vault security policy no matter how successful the bank robbery. See http://www.realchangenews.org/2006/2006_05_31/jessejames.html

Moreover, even legitimately elected officials have historically sold elections for money, and when the rigged election is close, we'll hardly be the wiser.<2>

It is a fundamental principle of our representative government that the people are the Master and the Government is the servant. California, Washington, and West Virginia have enacted by initiative or direct vote of the people some very similar statutes that set forth what American representative democracy is all about quite concisely:

>read the rest here:

http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/page.php?a=32778

[livvy]

2. Re-Post: Rough Justice By Gonzales Exposes "Voter Fraud"Scam: Michael Collins

March 26, 2007

Rough Justice by Gonzales Exposes "Voter Fraud" Scam

By Michael Collins

U.S. Attorney Firings Exposes Rough Justice

“Voter Fraud” Prevention Equals Voter Suppression

Michael Collins
First Published in
“Scoop” Independent News
Washington, D.C.

There’s a new clue to the motivation behind the recent firing of federal prosecutors. Reporters Gordon, Talev and Taylor of McClatchy Newspapers established a likely relationship between the post 2000 hard right turn in civil rights policies at the Department of Justice and the promotion of the new cadre of right wing U.S. Attorneys who support restricting voter eligibility. Karl Rove’s own words on the subject indicate a further connection between recent appointments in nine states where very tight Congressional races were anticipated

The Bush Justice Department is imploding after years of consistently undermining the rights and freedoms of those citizens it claims to serve. From the Patriot Act to the unfettered sadism endorsed at White House inspired and sponsored torture centers around the world, the Justice Department stands with the White House. It provides a fig leaf of legal justification for the various adventures which involve war, death a suffering.

Politicians and officials are taking cover from the dangerous debris of the fired federal prosecutor’s scandal. The legislative craftsman who allowed Bush to perform the previously barred dismissals, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), is now openly critical of the firings. The Democrats on Capitol Hill are uniquely focused in their demands that Gonzales go. Even Cong. Tom Tancredo (R-CO), a rabid right wing opponent of immigration, called on Bush to fire Gonzales.

The “Scoop” Independent News analysis of March 12, 2007 suggested that one prime motivation behind the abrupt firing of at least four of the eight U.S. attorneys was their failure to cooperate on election fraud related issues. In the case of two, it was a failure to pursue indictments requested by prominent state Republicans in New Mexico and Washington State. It seems the U.S. Attorneys in Nevada and San Diego went too far in their investigations of sitting Republican office holders. Fired U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden had the FBI looking into problems with Nevada’s must-win candidate for governor, Republican Jim Gibbons (who won). San Diego based U.S. Attorney Carol Lam put former Republican Cong. “Duke” Cunningham in jail and was investigating another Californian, Cong. Jerry Lewis (R-CA).

>read the rest here:

http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/page.php?a=32598

[livvy]

3. Citizens' Commission on Civil Rights Calls For Congression Oversight of JD....

OpEdNews

March 30, 2007

Citizens' Commission on Civil Rights calls for Congressional oversight of Justice Department for lax enforcement

By Michael Richardson

The Citizens' Commission on Civil Rights, a citizen watchdog group, has issued a report, The Erosion of Rights: Declining Civil Rights Enforcement Under the Bush Administration. One of the report sections examines the voting rights enforcement record of the U.S. Justice Department for the last five years and recommends increased Congressional oversight of the Department.

The voting section was authored by Joseph Rich, Mark Posner and Robert Kengle who began their report by noting 2005 media reports of the "politicization" of the Justice Department Civil Rights Division. A primary duty of the Civil Rights Division is to enforce the Voting Rights Act preventing discrimination in voting activity. Changes in election law in states and jurisdictions with a history of discrimination are required to be "precleared" by the Justice Department. The authors, two of whom occupied leadership posts in the Civil Rights Division, found the Justice Department "made inappropriate decisions and damaged its credibility."

"The influence of politics first became apparent only a few months after the Bush administration's political leadership of the Civil Rights Division was put into place in the summer of 2001." Citing the Mississippi state-redistricting plan, which was replaced by a plan offered by the Republican Party to secure partisan advantage, the report states the change was "extremely unusual and perhaps unprecedented."

"In 2003, partisan political concerns again played an important role in the Justice Department's preclearance of the controversial mid-decade Congressional redistricting plan enacted by the State of Texas. This was the highly partisan plan that had been adopted by the state legislature at the urging of then Republican House Majority Leader Tom Delay."

>read the rest here:


http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/page.php?a=32787

[livvy]

4. Bush Nuts: Are George W. Bush Lovers Certifiable?

I know this isn't exactly ER, but it certainly caught my eye, and I just had to share.

I wasn't sure if I should laugh...
or cry after reading it.





Bush Nuts

Are George W. Bush lovers certifiable?

By Andy Bromage

November 23 2006

A collective “I told you so” will ripple through the world of Bush-bashers once news of Christopher Lohse’s study gets out.

Lohse, a social work master’s student at Southern Connecticut State University, says he has proven what many progressives have probably suspected for years: a direct link between mental illness and support for President Bush.

Lohse says his study is no joke. The thesis draws on a survey of 69 psychiatric outpatients in three Connecticut locations during the 2004 presidential election. Lohse’s study, backed by SCSU Psychology professor Jaak Rakfeldt and statistician Misty Ginacola, found a correlation between the severity of a person’s psychosis and their preferences for president: The more psychotic the voter, the more likely they were to vote for Bush.

But before you go thinking all your conservative friends are psychotic, listen to Lohse’s explanation.

“Our study shows that psychotic patients prefer an authoritative leader,” Lohse says. “If your world is very mixed up, there’s something very comforting about someone telling you, ‘This is how it’s going to be.’”

>read the rest here:

http://www.ctnow.com/custom/nmm/newhavenadvocate/hce-nha-1123-nh48bushbash48.artnov23,0,1695911.story

[livvy]

5. NJ: Garfield Priest Forced Out Of Race

Garfield priest forced out of race
Saturday, March 31, 2007

By SUZANNE TRAVERS
HERALD NEWS

GARFIELD -- A Roman Catholic priest has withdrawn his school board candidacy after district officials took the unusual step of contacting the Archdiocese of Newark. Monsignor William J. Riley also ended his protracted battle with the district over the sale of a school building.

Riley, pastor of Most Holy Name R.C. Church, reached the decision not to run after conferring with archdiocese officials earlier this month. A Board of Education official had called the archdiocese to report the cleric's candidacy. Riley was the only candidate running against three board incumbents. The Catholic Church prohibits priests and nuns from holding elected office.

In the past, Riley has squared off with the school district in court several times, most recently on March 19, in a dispute over how many parking spots the church would have access to. The church, located at Marsellus Place and Passaic Street, sold the former parish school, which is across the street, to the district for $2 million.

In a letter Friday to the Board of Education on his withdrawal, Riley wrote he did so "reluctantly."

>snip

However, the 70-year-old Riley could still be elected unless the school district goes to state court to contest his candidacy, said Marlene Verrastro, election supervisor with the Bergen County Clerk's Office.

"As of now, we have him on the ballot unless we hear otherwise," she said.

>read the rest here:



http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2MDcmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTcxMDI3MDEmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkz

[livvy]

6. OH: A variety of blog commentaries on the Brunner complaint

In Ohio: GOP Party Kingpin (Guilty Yet Defiant) Battles On
by OhioRebel
Fri Mar 30, 2007 at 08:40:10 PM EST
Even Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid knew to get out of Dodge when they were outnumbered and outgunned. But Ohio GOP Party kingpin Bob Bennett, who also is chairman of the beleaguered Cuyahoga County Board of Elections (CCBOE), and his blonde Republicanoid sidekick, Sally Florkiewicz, have made yet another tragic miscalculation by thinking they can fight their way out of the political hot box Ohio's election chief put them in last week when they were asked to resign or be fired.

Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat, who last year became the first woman to be elected to the post, acted in her official capacity recently as the state's chief election officer by firing Bennett, Florkiewicz and the two other members of the board, both Democrats, effective March 21, 2007. Here's the complaint she filed outlining why Bennett and company were sent packing.

CLEVELAND GONE BAD

It took a couple days of deep soul searching for the two Cleveland Democrats, attorney Edward Coaxum Jr. and building trades leader Loree Soggs, to understand that after years of election screw ups (before during and after elections) by the CCBOE under their leadership, it was in the best interest of county voters, elections board staff and their now-tarnished reputations to resign without a fight.

BENNETT BATTLES ON (UNTIL HE RESIGNS)

For someone who sang from the same songbook authored by Karl Rove and George Bush that decried the problem caused by "frivolous lawsuits" filed by greedy trial lawyers, Bennett seems to have put that horse back in the barn, given the high-priced Cincinnati trial lawyer he just hired to file an purely antagonist "frivolous lawsuit" designed to deflect attention away from his deplorable leadership at the CCBOE. The courts should summarily dismiss it, as has already been done in the "court of public opinion," which has ruled that Bennett is wrong and Brunner is right.

>more commentaries here:

http://scoop.epluribusmedia.org/story/2007/3/30/204010/155

Direct link to the pdf of removal complaint:
http://blog.cleveland.com/openers/Removal%20Complaint.PDF

[livvy]

7. Questions For Karl Rove-And President Bush

Questions for Karl Rove – and President Bush
by Elizabeth Holtzman and Cynthia L. Cooper; San Diego Union-Tribune; March 31, 2007

The stealth dismissal of U.S. attorneys by the Bush administration carries echoes of the Nixon administration firing special prosecutor Archibald Cox in 1973. Now, as then, we may be witnessing criminal acts of obstruction of justice at the highest levels of government. If left to fester, they will poison our system.

Cox was investigating White House misdeeds when Nixon told Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire him. Richardson refused and resigned, as did Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus. Third-in-charge, Robert Bork, complied, and the “Saturday Night Massacre,” as it was called, came to epitomize an imperial administration, acting above the law and using its power to interfere with legitimate processes of justice.

Outrage among the American people triggered the impeachment inquiry against Nixon and his eventual resignation.

In the current U.S. attorney massacre, the public outrage and the line of inquiry invited by these events feel eerily familiar: Why were these eight U.S. attorneys ousted? Why did the Justice Department misrepresent the reasons for the firings? Why were political aide Karl Rove and other top administration advisers involved in the decisions of whom to fire? Why is Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ aide who helped coordinate the firings, Monica Goodling, invoking the Fifth Amendment to avoid testifying before Congress? And what did the president know and when did he know it?

>read the rest here:

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=72&ItemID=12466

[livvy]

8. Egypt Blogs Show Footage Alleging Ballot Stuffing

A strong opposition against the vote

2007-03-31
Egypt blogs show footage alleging ballot stuffing
Analysts say video clips seem authentic, consistent with reports by rights groups that accuse government of fraud.
By Cynthia Johnston – CAIRO Egyptian blogs have published amateur video footage purporting to show ballot stuffing and vote fraud in a nationwide referendum on constitutional amendments which opposition groups say was rigged.

Egypt says it won 76 percent approval in Monday's vote for the amendments, which give the state powerful tools that could be used to drive opposition Islamists from politics. Rights groups say the changes are a step backward for freedom.

A handful of video clips, most of which appear to be taken by mobile phone cameras and circulated on Egyptian blogs and Web sites, contain some of the first images of alleged fraud in the vote and could reinforce the accusations of vote fixing.

Egypt says turnout in the referendum was 27 percent. But all main opposition groups boycotted the vote and rights groups said the real turnout was much lower. The independent Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights estimated that just 5 percent of registered voters took part.

>read the rest here:

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/features/?id=20210

[livvy]

9. Voter Fraud Issue Is Code For Anti-Hispanic

Published March 30, 2007

Voter fraud issue is code for anti-Hispanic

San Diego — One of the most distressing aspects concerning the eight fired U.S. attorneys is what happened to David Iglesias of New Mexico, and what it tells us about how allegations of voter fraud have become a proxy for anxiety over illegal immigration.

First, try this: Whenever you hear the phrase "voter fraud," substitute "surging Hispanic political power."

Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson were so fearful about voter fraud ("surging Hispanic political power") and how it might hurt Republicans and benefit Democrats in New Mexico, that they tried to pressure Iglesias to make prosecutions out of whole cloth. When he refused, state Republican Party officials complained to the White House, where others were also concerned with voter fraud ("surging Hispanic political power"). After Republicans took a thumpin' in the 2006 midterm elections, Iglesias' name was suddenly added to a list at the Justice Department of the U.S. Attorneys slated to get the ax.

Context is everything. This isn't about allegations of the dead voting, or even of live folks voting more than once. In New Mexico, and anywhere in the Southwest, when someone says they're worried about voter fraud ("surging Hispanic political power"), you know they're talking about the possibility of illegal immigrants going to the polls. And since in these parts, most illegal immigrants happen to be Hispanic, the issue comes with built-in and not-so-subtle ethnic overtones.

>read the rest here:

http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070330/OPINIONS/703300342/1006/OPINIONS

[livvy]

10. ID-Editorial: Idaho Thwarts Voters: GOP Tightens Grip At the Expense of Democracy

Editorial
Our View: Idaho thwarts voters
GOP tightens grip at the expense of democracy


March 31, 2007

Idaho Republicans are trying to control voting in the Gem State as much as possible, spurred by the fear that Democrats are a threat to their supermajority.

This week, they resurrected a bill to close their party primary to Democrats and Libertarians and stood by as state Rep. Tom Loertscher, R-Iona, chairman of the House State Affairs Committee, unilaterally tabled a popular vote-by-mail bill. The closed-primary bill has been shot down twice, before the Idaho Senate revived it this week, despite opposition from respected Secretary of State Ben Ysursa and county clerks. The vote-by-mail bill died when Loertscher pulled it back from the House floor after his committee approved it on an 11-7 vote in February.

Loertscher, who was roundly criticized this session for helping kill day-care safety rules and background checks by saying women should stay home with their children, promised another hearing on the legislation but failed to follow through. He defended his actions in pulling back the vote-by-mail legislation by saying he has problems with it. But he couldn't remember what those problems were.

Despite their overwhelming numbers in the Legislature and complete control of state executive offices and the congressional delegation, Republicans are thumbing their noses at voters who prefer the traditional open-primary system and a chance to vote by mail. They're banking on blind party loyalty to carry them through a dust-up that'll ensue if they approve a modified closed primary that forces the independent-minded to declare their party allegiances and prevents Libertarians and Democrats from voting in the Republican primaries as they can easily do now. They're out of touch with rank-and-file Idaho residents.

>read the rest of the Editorial here:

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/opinion/story.asp?ID=182066

[texpatriot2004]

11. K & R for transparent democracy nm

[livvy]

12. "Voter Fraud" Politics is Justice Scandal

Michael Waldman: 'Voter fraud' politics is Justice scandal
By Michael Waldman and Justin Levitt -
Published 12:00 am PDT Saturday, March 31, 2007

As Congress probes the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, attention is centering on who knew what, and when. It's just as important to focus on "why," such as the reason given for the firing of at least one of the U.S. attorneys, John McKay of Washington state: failure to prosecute the phantom of individual voter fraud.

Allegations of voter fraud -- someone sneaking into the polls to cast an illicit vote -- have been pushed in recent years by partisans seeking to justify proof-of-citizenship and other restrictive ID requirements as a condition of voting. Scare stories abound, on the Internet and editorial pages, and quickly become accepted wisdom.

But the notion of widespread voter fraud, as these prosecutors found out, is itself a fraud. Firing a prosecutor for failing to find voter fraud is like firing a park ranger for failing to find Sasquatch. Where fraud exists, of course, it should be prosecuted and punished. (And politicians have been stuffing ballot boxes and buying votes since senators wore togas; Lyndon Johnson won a 1948 Senate race after his partisans famously "found" a box of votes well after the election.) Yet evidence of actual fraud by individual voters is painfully skimpy.

Before and after every close election, politicians and pundits proclaim: The dead are voting, foreigners are voting, people are voting twice. On closer examination, though, most such allegations don't pan out.

>read the rest here:

http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/147092.html

[livvy]

13. CO: Rich: Ballot Rule Changes Could Cost County Thousands

Rich: Ballot rule changes could cost county thousands

By MIKE SACCONE The Daily Sentinel

Saturday, March 31, 2007

A bill that would allow Coloradans to apply for permanent mail-in elector status could cost Mesa County upwards of $30,000, the county’s top elections official said Friday.

Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Janice Rich said the postage costs associated with Senate Bill 234, which was introduced in the Senate last week, “would have a potentially staggering effect” on the county’s elections budget.

Senate Bill 234, sponsored by Sen. Ken Gordon, D-Denver, would allow electors to sign up for permanent mail-in elector status. Under current law, absentee voters must apply every election cycle to vote by mail.

Rich said because of the bill’s requirement that the county pick up the tab for return postage on the permanent mail-in elector applications, that could translate into thousands of postage expenses not currently incurred by the county.

>read the rest here:

http://www.gjsentinel.com/hp/content/news/stories/2007/03/31/3_31_11B_Mail_in_ballots.html

[livvy]

14. GA: Absentee Balloting: Convenience Could Have a Price

Absentee balloting: Convenience could have a price

Walter C. Jones | Friday, March 30, 2007 at 10:29 pm

ATLANTA - Voting used to be a social affair in many precincts as old acquaintances caught up with one another while standing in line and poll workers shared pictures of their grandchildren.

But today's hectic pace has many voters searching for a quicker alternative.

Republican lawmakers latched onto one solution, no-excuse absentee ballots. When they gained control of both chambers of the General Assembly, they passed a sweeping election law in 2005 that allowed anyone to vote absentee without having to be out of town or ill, the traditional reasons.

The same measure also strengthened the requirements for voting in person by requiring a government-issued photo-ID, a provision courts have ruled cannot be enforced while lawsuits on its constitutionality are outstanding.

>read the rest here:

http://savannahnow.com/node/252596

[livvy]

15. Commentary: The Rise Of A Very 'Loyal Bushie'

Commentary: The Rise Of A Very 'Loyal Bushie'

2007-03-30 21:20:43

f you want to know what the career path of a "loyal Bushie" looks like, let me introduce you to J. Timothy Griffin, a Karl Rove protege who was slipped into the post of U.S. Attorney in Little Rock, Arkansas, and now is at the center of the controversy over whether the Bush administration has sought to politicize federal prosecutions.

Since college, the 38-year-old Griffin has been following the stations of the cross for a Republican legal/political operative with ambitions to rise to a position of power and influence in a government like the one headed by George W. Bush.

Griffin has pretty much touched them all - the Federalist Society, work for a Clinton-era special prosecutor, the Florida recount battle in 2000, opposition research and voter security duties for the Republican National Committee in Campaign 2004, a brief tour as a military lawyer in Iraq, a deputy in Karl Rove's political shop at the White House.

But now this carefully groomed Republican operative stands out as Exhibit A for Democrats as they contend that the Bush administration imposed political litmus tests on federal prosecutors who wield enormous power over the lives of those they investigate. A U.S. Attorney not only has wide discretion over normal prosecutions but can tip a political race by either shutting down or starting up a criminal probe.

>read the rest here:

http://freeinternetpress.com/story.php?sid=11122

[livvy]

16. Scandal Gives Democrats A Chance To Investigate Rove

Posted on Fri, Mar. 30, 2007
U.S. ATTORNEYS

Scandal gives Democrats a chance to investigate Rove

By Margaret Talev and Greg Gordon
McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON - Allegations that politics improperly influenced the Bush administration's decision to fire eight U.S. attorneys last year are providing the new Democratic majority in Congress with a long-sought opening to investigate the maneuverings of White House political strategist Karl Rove.

The testimony in the Senate this week by a former top aide to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales seemed only to heighten Democratic lawmakers' determination to force Rove to provide a sworn, public accounting of his role in the controversy. In that seven-hour testimony by Kyle Sampson, Rove's name came up some 70 times.

Democrats have long seen Rove - the guru of President Bush and Republican Party successes - as having too heavy a hand in the operations of federal agencies in ways that unduly injected politics into policy. But as the minority party for the last six years of the Bush presidency, the Democrats lacked the power to investigate him.

In recent weeks, House Democrats have been asking whether Rove, who's the president's deputy chief of staff, or his aides exerted improper political influence on the General Services Administration, after learning of a controversial presentation to 40 of the agency's political appointees.

But the U.S. attorneys' scandal has given Democrats the strongest ammunition.

>read the rest here:

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/17003053.htm

[livvy]

17. A 'toon for you....

http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/shared-blogs/ajc/luckovich/

[Kurovski]

19. LOL!

Bush is almost a mosquito.

:rofl: The Easter Bunny is bigger than him.

[pat_k]

18. A look back at R. Alexander Acosta's actions ('03-'--'05 Asst. Atty. Gen. Civil Rights Div) . . .

is in order, given the current attention on the many ways the fascist are manipulating our judicial branch to steal elections.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=541003&mesg_id=541003

[autorank]

20. What a resource. Worthy of reveiw and bookmarking. n/t

[pat_k]

21. Just realized many links have moved since pulled together. . .

. . .will be correcting if I can I can find new locations.