UPDATE: Guess what happened when I tried to vote this morning?....
FLIP!
I was voting for the Democratic RR Commissioner candidate Mark Thompson and when I tapped the box, it put a check on the next office race (a democratic candidate). They took the [voting] computer out and put me on the next one which let me vote without any DETECTABLE problem.
Prediction: Massive voter turnout. Polls showing Obama with a double-digit lead in the polls on election day. Exit polls showing Obama with a landslide victory.
McCain wins in an upset, confounding the experts. Vice President-elect Palin declares it a miracle.
We have been warned.
I received two reports this morning of vote flipping, one from Travis County (Austin) and one from Bexar County (S. Antonio). In the second case the individual claimed that after detecting and fixing 5 "flipped" votes they then discovered two more.
dave
Here is what our local Democratic HQ leader wrote in response to this:
Every voting machine in Smith County is programmed by ES&S. All of the ballot programming and PEB programming is done in Nebraska and air-frieghted here for each election (at great expense to the county taxpayers, I hasten to add). I am 100% confident that no one in the county Elections Administrator's office has the knowledge or the ability to do the programming you suggest. Nor do I think any of them would be willing to do such a thing. The folks in Nebraska ... well, I don't trust them at all.
However, I agree that flipping the vote is entirely possible. The scenario you outlined is likely a workable method. This is not news. Believe me, I share your sincere concern, both for Smith County voters and for every other voter in the US who is forced to use these damned machines by the county and/or state legislators who chose them and continue to ignore significant studies which indicate how easily they can be tampered with. Further, our officials, specifically the County Commissioners Court, ignore the many counties and states which have essentially junked their machines in favor of the good old printed ballot.
Until we get control of our local decision-makers, we can either vote on these machines or sit at home and refuse to vote as a protest. I know which of those choices is the better at this point. I am begging for volunteers at each poll to insure the integrity of the process, both inside as appointed Poll Watchers and outside as Election Protection team members and electioneers. Are you willing to step up and work for freedom on Nov. 4?
People laughed out loud upon hearing the audio tape of Quebec comedian Marc-Antoine Audette talking to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as he pretended to be Nicolas Sarkozy, the president of France.
But now, coming as it did just before the election, Palin's obliviousness during the prank phone call cannot be overlooked. If she is that easily duped by some joker obviously dropping clues to let her off the hook, then what does this reveal about her judgment and political street smarts? Reasonable observers can only conclude that she's naïve, easily manipulated and not even close to being ready for prime time.
Palin's heart may be in the right place, but her head is in the Alaskan clouds. Inattention to detail and gullibility are not exactly qualities that help the vice president do a good job. In 2008, at least, Palin simply represents too much of a threat to national security for voters to let her get any closer to Washington that she already is. --updoc1011
This kind of idiot stunt negates what the Democratic Party stands for, Chad. Especially since this kind of behavior is EXACTLY what we are trying to stop. Any questions, dumbass?
Folks, I just had a conversation with several people last night that are convinced that Obama will be assassinated. One of them also said that McCain, if elected, will be assassinated and Sarah Palin will become president and set everything straight.
Imagine that.
Whatever the outcome, the next president will inherit a fractured nation where a huge chunk of them will dance in the streets if Obama is picked off with Joe Six-pack's .306 Remmington deer rifle. Thanks to the RNC's propaganda machine, we are teetering on the verge of civil war once again over race. We all know where that led as well.
I guess by these McCarthyism standards, I am now classified as one who 'hates America.' Well, I guess those of you who 'love America' better get busy contacting the DHS to report my 'un-American' activities. For the record, back in July of 1997, I took an oath to 'protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.' I still consider that oath to be in force. To pledge allegiance to some flag is meaningless if 'for which it stands' means something completely different than this precious document. I you regard this country to be something different than upholding the Constitution of the United States, then consider me your sworn enemy.
From the page: "Neither of the candidates have shown real support for soldiers and veterans. We came here to try and get serious questions answered, questions that we as veterans of the Iraq war, have a right to ask, but instead we were arrested. We will continue to ask these questions no matter who is elected. We believe that the time has come to end this war and bring our troops home, and we will be pushing for that no matter what happens in this election." said Jason Lemieux, a former Sergeant in the US Marine Corps and member of IVAW who served three tours in Iraq." Dear friends and supporters,
Yesterday Veterans For Peace Long Island was privileged to march in solidarity with the Iraq Veterans Against the War to the front gates of Hofstra University. As I am sure you are aware, the peaceful march to express concerns to the Presidential candidates was meet with unprovoked violence and brutality by the Nassau County Police. Following a mounted police assault in which we all peaceably moved back from the front gate of Hofstra, the Police abusively sought out and arrested members of IVAW. Three veterans were injured in the assault and taken to local hospitals. In all fifteen demonstrators were arrested, twelve of them Iraq War veterans.
The Hempstead 15 will be arraigned on November 10 and VFPLI will be there to stand in solidarity with those who continue to sacrifice so much for our country. Please remember them and join us to support our courageous brothers and sisters and to demonstrate to our representatives that such police brutality will not be tolerated on Long Island.
Peace and justice for the Hempstead 15.
The following photos are of Nick Morgan, IVAW member, after the above described police assault targeting Iraq veterans exercising their rights to freedom of speech and assembly. His injury is a result of being trampled by one of the police horses. He suffered a broken cheekbone.
The photos were taken by Vietnam Veterans Against the War member Bill Perry.
You can see more on the IVAW site and watch the full coverage on Democracy Now. Here is an update on the Hempstead 15 from Kris Goldsmith of IVAW, one of the veterans arrested at Hofstra.
On Wednesday, October 15th 2008, a peaceful protest outside the third Presidential Debate at Hofstra University on Long Island was met with violence and misconduct by police.Iraq Veterans Against the War had a clear mission that night: to ensure that the issues most important to Veterans would be at the forefront of the debate. With over 4,183 service members having been killed in Iraq (at the time of the protest), it's unforgivable that the candidates have been allowing the Occupation of Iraq and it's casualties to fall into avoidable talking points instead of focused attention.At 7:00pm the night of the debate, IVAW members led a contingent of a few hundred peaceful protesters to the main gate of Hofstra University. As per our letter to Moderator Bob Scheiffer, because we hadn't received notice that two of our Veterans would be allowed to enter the debate to address the candidates, a small, uniformed contingent of Veterans physically attempted entry.Immediately police began arresting those who "crossed the line". They then began using horses to physically knock protesters back away from the Hofstra gates.As the order to get back on the sidewalk was being complied to at least one officer charged his horse up the curb, and onto the sidewalk- directly resulting in at least three injuries- including two Iraq Veterans.Nick Morgan, a former Army Sergeant was trampled, knocked out, and had his face crushed by the hoof of a horse.Witnesses say that police left him unconscious on the sidewalk for up to ten minutes before arresting him. Nick, disoriented and obviously suffering a concussion, was initially refused medical treatment beyond a simple piece of gauze taped to his face.When Morgan was escorted onto the bus in handcuffs, he didn't know where he was, or why he was arrested. Police initially refused to bring him to the hospital irregardless of his potentially life threatening condition. It wasn't until other members of IVAW demanded he be allowed to see a doctor, that the police hesitantly put Nick into an ambulance.At the hospital Morgan received stitches, and it was discovered after an x-ray that his right cheek bone was clearly displaced and pushed back into his skull.After treatment, the semi-conscious Veteran was brought to Nassau County's Headquarters Jail and shackled to a bench with the rest of us. With fifteen in total sitting in the jail, the officers and detectives began taunting and harassing Nick, with all of us witnessing this misconduct by police.We, the "Hempstead 15" were issued the same summons and case number for "disorderly conduct" and "failure to obey a lawful order".On November 10th 2008, the Marine Corps Birthday, and one day before Veterans Day, we will be heard in court. We would like to invite you to come out in support of the very Freedoms granted by the United States Constitution that we swore to uphold and defend when joining the military.First District Court, County of Nassau, Arraignment Part, 99 Main Street, Hempstead New York 11550 (Room 268)I hope to see you all there, for a Peaceful action.
-Sergeant Kristofer Goldsmith Iraq Veterans Against the War "1 of the Hempstead 15"
For those who would like to support the Hempstead 15, here are some suggestions from IVAW
So what can YOU do about it? My fellow veteran brothers need you. We need to call the NY police department and ask them why they would trample IRAQ WAR VETERANS exercising their FREEDOM SPEECH in a peaceful manner. Is this the way members of the military who don the uniform and make an oath to defend the constitution, America, and it's people are treated? We MUST NOT ONLY hold the Police Department accountable but the Presidential Candidates as well for allowing this to happen. THIS IS NOT DEMOCRACY, THIS IS A POLICE STATE.
Below are the numbers. Call now and anytime until November 10th when the court date is set for the detained veterans. Stay posted for a possible action then.
LAWRENCE MULVEY COMMISSIONER OF POLICE Public Information Office 516-573-7135 516-573-7138 (24 hour) 516-573-7118 FAX And the complaint line Call 516-573-7000 and ask to be connected to the Desk Officer where the incident occurred (Hofstra University). NC Police Internal Affairs Unit: 516-573-7120 NC District Attorney’s Office, Special Investigations : 516-571-2100 NYS Attorney General, Civil Rights Division: 1-800-771-7755
Thank you for your continued support,
Wendy Barranco President IVAW - Los Angeles Combat Medic SPC, USA OIF 05-07 Tikrit, Iraq
Here are the names of those veterans arrested at Hofstra.
A total of ten veterans were arrested during the action, including Matthis Chiroux (Army Sergeant), Kristofer Goldsmith (Army Sergeant), Adam Kokesh (Marine Sergeant), Mike Spinato, Geoff Millard (Army Sergeant), Marlisa Grogan (Marine Captain), Nathan Peld (Navy, 1998-2004), Nick Morgan (Army Sergeant), James Gilligan (Marine Corps, 6 years) and Jose Vasquez (Army & Army Reserves, 1992-2007).
1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy 2. Create a gulag 3. Develop a thug caste 4. Set up an internal surveillance system 5. Harass citizens' groups 6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release 7. Target key individuals 8. Control the press 9. Dissent equals treason 10. Suspend the rule of law The witch hunt is begun.
Because an election takes place and people vote, democracy is not guaranteed. Because a constitution is written and a parliament or congress convenes, a democratic government does not automatically follow. A supreme court can be formed to decide the constitutionality of laws, yet, democracy can be absent. Even when rights are written down, they can still be in jeopardy. All the forms can be in place. There still must be leaders who preserve, protect, and defend a democratic constitution. A republic must be defended from tyranny which follows naturally from uncontrolled power. Never trust government to [govern.] Trust it only to yourself. --Judson Malone
If you think these fascists are going to go away easily, I've got some real estate mutual fund stock for 'ya!
This series of e-mails were exchanged recently starting with the argument about who has the best qualifications to be president with my good friend Dave Collins jumping albeit reluctantly into the fray. What started out as a discussion of lawyers vs. business leaders ended with Dave suggesting who really is running the show in the good ol' USA: It's not the democrats, republicans, lawyers and certainly not the people. If that were true, we'd be out of Iraq today. We are no longer referred to as citizens. We are repeatedly referred to as 'the average consumer' in the media and our leaders. I submit that we are but cattle just as cows are fed grain to produce our McDonald's Big Macs. Just as the 'average consumer' is fed our microwave dinners along with cars, toasters and 401K's to produce yachts and vacation homes and the best boarding schools for the offspring of the top 1%. Only during election time are we ever called citizens. Elections are an illusion disguised as our contribution to democracy. The Democratic and Republican parties are just ranch hands for the corporations and the people who run them. Don't believe me? Follow the money that's being sucked out of the taxpayer's coffers to bail out the ruling class as the American electorate cattle allow themselves to be polarized and constantly at each other's throats, blaming one another for the threats posed by the other over ridiculous issues that are born out of fear. We the people? United we stand? One nation, indivisible? Give me a break. We are being manipulated like marionettes and we even think it was our idea to dance.
Regards, Andy
Obama: Occidental College - Two years. Columbia University - B.A. political science with a specialization in international relations. Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude
Biden: University of Delaware - B.A. in history and B.A. in political science. Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)
McCain: United States Naval Academy - Class rank 894 of 899
Palin: Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in journalism
Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard
Walt Disney never went to college
Gen. George Patton finished last in his class at West Point
The Democrat Party has become the Lawyers' Party. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are lawyers. Bill Clinton and Michelle Obama are lawyers. John Edwards, the other former Democrat candidate for president, is a lawyer, and so is his wife, Elizabeth. Every Democrat nominee since 1984 went to law school (although Gore did not graduate).
Every Democrat vice presidential nominee since 1976, except for Lloyd Bentsen, went to law school. Look at the Democrat Party in Congress: the Majority Leader in each house is a lawyer.
The Republican Party is different. President Bush and Vice President Cheney were not lawyers, but businessmen. The leaders of the Republican Revolution were not lawyers. Newt Gingrich was a history professor; Tom Delay was an exterminator; and, Dick Armey was an economist. House Minority Leader Boehner was a plastic manufacturer, not a lawyer. The former Senate Majority Leader Bill First is a heart surgeon.
Who was the last Republican president who was a lawyer? Gerald Ford, who left office 31 years ago and who barely won the Republican nomination as a sitting president, running against Ronald Reagan in 1976. The Republican Party is made up of real people doing real work.
The Democrat Party is made up of lawyers. Democrats mock and scorn men who create wealth, like Bush and Cheney, or who heal the sick, like First, or who immerse themselves in history, like Gingrich.
The Lawyers' Party sees these sorts of people, who provide goods and services that people want, as the enemies of America And, so we have seen the procession of official enemies, in the eyes of the Lawyers' Party, grow.
Against whom do Hillary and Obama rail? Pharmaceutical companies, oil companies, hospitals, manufacturers, fast food restaurant chains, large retail businesses, bankers, and anyone producing anything of value in our nation.
This is the natural consequence of viewing everything through the eyes of lawyers. Lawyers solve problems by successfully representing their clients, in this case the American people. Lawyers seek to have new law passed, they seek to win lawsuits, they press appellate courts to overturn precedent, and lawyers always parse language to favor their side.
Confined to the narrow practice of law, that is fine. But it is an awful way to govern a great nation. When politicians as lawyers begin to view some Americans as clients and other Americans as opposing parties, then the role of the legal system in our life becomes all consuming. Some Americans become 'adverse parties' of our very government. We are not all litigants in some vast social class-action suit. We are citizens of a republic that promises us a great deal of freedom from laws, from courts, and from lawyers.
Today, we are drowning in laws; we are contorted by judicial decisions; we are driven to distraction by omnipresent lawyers in all parts of our once private lives. America has a place for laws and lawyers, but that place is modest and reasonable, not vast and unchecked. When the most important decision for our next president is whom he will appoint to the Supreme Court, the role of lawyers and the law in America is too big.
When lawyers use criminal prosecution as a continuation of politics by other means, as happened in the lynching of Scooter Libby and Tom Delay, then the power of lawyers in America is too great. When House Democrats sue America in order to hamstring our efforts to learn what our enemies are planning to do to us, then the role of litigation in America has become crushing.
We cannot expect the Lawyers' Party to provide real change, real reform, or real hope in America Most Americans know that a republic in which every major government action must be blessed by nine unelected judges is not what Washington intended in 1789. Most Americans grasp that we cannot fight a war when ACLU lawsuits snap at the heels of our defenders. Most Americans intuit that more lawyers and judges will not restore declining moral values or spark the spirit of enterprise in our economy.
Perhaps Americans will understand that change cannot be brought to our nation by those lawyers who already largely dictate American society and business. Perhaps Americans will see that hope does not come from the mouths of lawyers but from personal dreams nourished by hard work.
Perhaps Americans will embrace the truth that more lawyers with more power will only make our problems worse.
[J. Custer]
Mr. Custer,
I would not normally respond to something like this written by somebody I do not know but as I do know some of the other folks on this distribution I am making an exception.
Sir, you write with apparent respect for the leadership of corporate America. May I inquire; to what extent have you worked with the men and women who occupy the senior executive positions of the pharmaceutical industry, financial services industry, communications industry, hard rock mining industry, automotive industry and consumer products industry? For myself, I spent 20 years doing so with clients in each of those industries who served as Chief Executive Officer, CFO, COO, CIO, plant general managers, division executive VP and so on. I am not an attorney (in fact, I have the shortest legal career on record - the time required to walk down the steps of the law school and dispose of the school bulletin). But, after my experience and observing the behaviors of those men and women and those who hoped to rise to displace them, I too, rail against the corporations of this nation. These are not individuals who care one whit for the working folks of their companies, no matter how many crocodile tears are shed as they sign the papers to send the jobs to some other country, who bemoan the hardships they create when, in order to bolster the quarterly filings they gut employee benefits. They care nothing for the communities in which their offices, plants and facilities are located, only how many tax payer dollars they can intimidate corrupt political officials into offering up as enticements to come or to stay.
During the first half of the life of this nation established by "we the people" corporations were held on a very short leash, distrusted by government officials and the people who elected them. Strict constraints were placed on those legal entities and in many cases were limited to the life of a single project and then forced to disband. Here in Texas, when the Constitution was drafted the only state official given explicit, detailed duties was the Attorney General. His only specific job requirement (beyond the general requirement to enforce the laws of the state and serve as legal representative to state agencies and offices) was this:
" shall especially inquire into the charter rights of all private corporations, and from time to time, in the name of the State, take such action in the courts as may be proper and necessary to prevent any private corporation from exercising any power or demanding or collecting any species of taxes, tolls, freight or wharfage not authorized by law. He shall, whenever sufficient cause exists, seek a judicial forfeiture of such charters"
As you may know, the nature of corporations in this country changed dramatically in the1886 Supreme Court ruling in Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad. In this ruling the court created the legal fiction of "personhood" for corporations. Well, actually, they did not but courts have acted for over 140 years as if they had. It turns out that a clerk to one of the justices wrote what is called the "head notes" for the ruling, mis-stating the intent of the ruling. That clerk was a former employee of the Southern Pacific Railroad.
Mr. Custer, the power and influence that the corporate entity has gained in this country , aided and abetted by politicians of both parties has twice led it to the brink of destruction. The first time was the Gilded Age of the late 19th and early 20th century, ultimately undone by the combine effects of T. Roosevelt's trust busting (remember inter-locking directorates?) and the excesses that led directly to the Great Depression. Then, after WW II the same forces, often the same families - the Walker and Bush families among them - began dismantling the reforms intended to control and tame the corporate beast. By the time William Jefferson Clinton left office and turned it over to the idiot with an illegitimate MBA, not only had the last shreds of those regulatory protections been stripped away - by the actions of both parties - but the ground work had been laid for the outsourcing of huge segments of the federal government to those corporations. So, today, fully 1/3 of the Pentagon budget (which is greater than the combined total of all other nations of the world, by the way) goes for SEVICES - not weapons, planes, tanks or ships - provided by private corporations. From the wholly dysfunctional FEMA to the National Security Agency to the EPA, it is common to enter a federal office and find more corporate contractors than federal employees. There is a political and economic theory that describes such a relationship between a national government and private corporations. Benito Mussolini coined that term; he said that the proper term for his party was not fascist but "corporatist".
Among many of my colleagues there is a bright light of hope that as the economy continues to collapse and the lives of average, middle and working class families become more and more dire they will recognize the true source of their hardship - the mega wealthy executives that were once my clients and their bought and paid for government enablers. You sir, do not inspire hope for that outcome as it appears you have a serious problem with what we in the military (USMC 1967-71) refer to as "enemy identification.
I sure hope Obama is taking notes on this and Jon Stewart's The Daily Show. If this gets out where more people can see it, we can win... assuming it's not already lost via Diebold.
Prediction: Massive voter turnout. Polls showing Obama with a double-digit lead in the polls on election day. Exit polls showing Obama with a landslide victory. 
