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tagged w/ Facts Matter
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Michael Steele admits: Facts don't matter.
Gotta give it to Chris. He's been on a roll lately.
"Michael Steele is a Moron!!!" "For some reason it makes sense why he lost his Job!!!"Gotta give it to Chris. He's been on a roll lately. "Michael Steele is a... more-
- KB723
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- 6 months ago
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E-Voting Machines Used in Disputed Franken, Coleman Race Failed Tests
E-Voting Machines Used in Disputed Franken, Coleman Race Failed Tests
By Jason Leopold
The Public Record
Electronic voting machines that a Michigan election official said last week incorrectly tabulated vote counts during pre-election tests in the state were used in Minnesota where the senate race between Republican incumbent Norm Coleman and Democratic challenger Al Franken is in dispute.
According to an Oct. 24 letter sent to the federal Election Assistance Commission (EAC), Ruth Johnson, the Oakland County Clerk/Register of Deeds, warned that tabulating software in Election Systems & Software M-100 optical scan voting machines recorded "conflicting" vote counts during testing in her state.
Minnesota voters uses optical scan ballots that voters mark by hand. ES&S's M-100 optical scan voting was used in Minnesota counties and in more than a dozen other states on Election Day.
On Wednesday, an unofficial vote count released by Minnesota election officials showed 2.9 million ballots cast with Coleman leading Franken by a razor-thin margin of .02%, or 475 votes. By late Wednesday, the unofficial vote total showed Coleman with 1,211,642 votes, or 41.99 percent of the total votes cast, while Franken had 1,211,167 votes, or 41.98 percent. Dean Barkley, who ran as an Independent, captured 15% of the vote.
That will lead to an automatic recount, which Minnesota state law says is triggered if the margin of victory is less than half of 1%. The recount will be conducted by hand and won't begin until Nov. 19.
The Associated Press declared Coleman the winner early Wednesday, but hours later the wire service "uncalled" the race. Franken told reporters Wednesday "this is a long election and it's going to be a little longer."
Franken went into Tuesday"s election with a slim lead over Coleman. According to exit polls, Franken won the 18-29 age group by 50% to 35% but apparently did not attract independent voters, according to polling data.
It's possible that a recount, the results of which would not be known until December, could turn out in Franken's favor or perhaps provide Coleman with additional votes.
Still, that the electronic voting machines manufactured by Election Systems & Software (ES&S) that were used in Minnesota Tuesday are said to be unreliable calls into question the integrity of the election.
The EAC,established by the 2002 Help America Vote Act (HAVA), launched a program to certify the integrity of e-voting machines in early 2007, but has been slow to act.
Johnson, the Oakland County Clerk, said in her letter last week to the EAC that the M-100 voting machines used in four communities Tuesday 'reported inconsistent vote totals during their logic and accuracy testing.'
'The same ballots run through the same machines, yielded different results each time,' says the letter addressed to Rosemary Rodriguez, the chairwoman of the Election Assistance Commission. 'ES&S determined that the primary issue [that caused the machines to formulate incorrect vote counts] was dust and debris build-up on the sensors inside the M-100'; voting machine. 'This has impacted the Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) settings for the two Contact Image Sensors (CIS).'
"This begs the question,' Johnson wrote. 'On Election Day, will the record number of ballots going through the remaining tabulators leave even more build-up on the sensors, affecting machines that tested fine just initially? Could this additional build-up on voting tabulators that have not had any preventative maintenance skew vote totals?
'My understanding is that the problem could occur and election workers would have no inkling that ballots are being misread.'
A spokesman for ES&S did not return calls for comment.
continued at link....E-Voting Machines Used in Disputed Franken, Coleman Race Failed Tests By Jason... more-
- Conniepae
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- 3 years ago
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Tool Developed to Detect Possible Fraud in Election Tabulating Software
Blogged by David Safier
Tool Developed to Detect Possible Fraud in Election Tabulating Software
Pima County, AZ, Election Integrity Group Creates Software to Analyze Diebold GEMS Databases, Wants to Share Capability With Others...
Guest Blogged by David Safier of Blog for Arizona
Just in time for the elections, the Pima County, Arizona, Election Integrity Committee has developed computer tools to examine election databases created by the Diebold/Premier system. The EI group is offering to examine data from any jurisdiction in the country that uses Diebold's faulty GEMS (Global Election Management System). GEMS will tabulate about half the nation's votes on November 4th...
Last year, the Pima County EI group won a groundbreaking legal case which gave it access to all the county’s computer-generated databases since 2002. Recently, computer programs were completed to examine the databases. They have already revealed problems and inconsistencies that warrant further examination. For example, they found that a few dozen memory cards from optical ballot scanners were uploaded twice, causing changes in vote counts. (A document by Tom Ryan gives more details about the capabilities of these tools and possible problems they have uncovered.)
The programs search for such things as unusual increases in vote tallies, changes in configuration information, and similar indicators that could point to vote flipping or other inappropriate activity. They go through the election from start to finish --- from the Logic and Accuracy tests to the early voting and election day counting to the final wrap up. The results can then be displayed in a spreadsheet.
Anyone interested in more information should email ElectionIntegrity@earthlink.net.
This program isn’t a magic bullet that will prove an election has been rigged. By pinpointing specific problem areas, the results allow investigators to focus on the portions of the GEMS database where possible election fraud is most likely to have occurred.
When the Pima County EI group won access to GEMS databases dating back to 2002 in a court ruling, it was also granted access to all databases from future elections. As a result, it’s likely that Pima County will have the most carefully monitored elections in the nation.
Election Integrity groups outside of Pima County that suspect election fraud have a huge hurdle in front of them – gaining access to the GEMS databases. Hopefully, the newly available tools will encourage them to put pressure on local officials to make the data available.
The long term objective of the Pima County EI Committee is to distribute the programs widely, but currently the data examination is only being done in Tucson. The programs are still evolving in their scope and sophistication, and the analysis team in Tucson is still learning how to use the tools to maximum advantage. Years of work has given the team a familiarity with the GEMS systems that usually isn’t available elsewhere.
This PDF goes into more detail about the computer tools. The Pima County EI group can provide more information, including technical details about the GEMS databases. Please email questions to ElectionIntegrity@earthlink.net.
Blogged by David Safier Tool Developed to Detect Possible Fraud in Election... more -
BREAKING:Federal Judge Compels GOP IT Guru Mike Connell To Give Deposition Under Oath
BREAKING: Federal Judge Compels GOP IT Guru Mike Connell To Give Deposition in Ohio '04 Election Case
Submitted by David Swanson
Contentious Hearing Today Results in Order For Republican 'High-Tech Forrest Gump' to Testify Under Oath on Monday
Appearance to Answer Questions on 2004 Election Scheduled Just 24 Hours Prior to Election 2006...
Guest Blogged by Steve Heller of VelvetRevolution.us at Brad Blog
The Republican IT guru, recently described as a "high tech Forrest Gump" for his proclivity to be "at the scene" of so many troubling elections since 2000, and even at the heart of the "lost" White House email scandal, has been ordered by a federal judge to appear for an under-oath deposition next Monday in Ohio.
The BRAD BLOG has learned that Mike Connell, the Republican IT guru whose company, GovTech Solutions, created Ohio's 2004 election results computer network appeared in federal court today, as compelled, and has been ordered to appear for his deposition on Monday, November 3, just 24 hours before Election Day 2008.
Today's court order came after a contentious hearing, at which Connell was present. The hearing was part of a long-standing voting rights violations lawsuit, King Lincoln v. Blackwell, as previously covered by The BRAD BLOG and by Velvet Revolution's Election Protection Strike Force here and here.
Though Connell's attorneys have fought to quash the subpoena, recently issued after the judge lifted a stay on the case several weeks ago, it looks like his options to avoid testimony, or at least jail for avoiding it, may have come to an end. The attorneys in the case have said that Connell's testimony may well lead to the subpoenaing and under-oath questioning of Karl Rove, who, they say, would be unable to use Executive Privilege as an excuse to avoid such a subpoena in a civil RICO case...
For more details on Connell, and his role in the '04 election, and within the GOP, see the video clip at right from John Ennis' recently-released documentary Free For All.
The issues in the King Lincoln v. Blackwell suit are complex, but in a nutshell, some Ohio voters filed a lawsuit alleging voting rights violations and election irregularities in the 2004 Presidential election in the Buckeye State. Taking the sworn deposition of Connell, the man who set up the computers for reporting election results, and re-routing them through his company's own Tennessee servers late on the night of the '04 election, has been a high priority for Election Integrity advocates and attorneys in Ohio.
While this story is still breaking and developing, from what we've been able to learn so far, sources tell us that Monday's depo will have a time limit of two hours. Any information gathered regarding trade secrets related to Connell's company, SmarTech, Inc., will be under seal, as per the judge's order today.
BREAKING: Federal Judge Compels GOP IT Guru Mike Connell To Give Deposition in Ohio... more-
- Conniepae
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Cheerleader Sarah Palin - Vovs to Balance Budget in First Term - No Accountability/No SHAME?
Sara Palin has gone too far! Mainstream media should be all over this. Where are they? She is not just a cheerleader who will say anthing to win. John McCain chose her to be a heartbeat away from President. If she doesnt know she is lying, thats even sadder.
No one is really held accountable any more. We just move along, they are campaiging? If they openly lie during the campaign, how can they be trusted? Sara Palin has gone too far! Mainstream media should be all over this. Where are... more-
- Conniepae
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- 3 years ago
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Legal experts question US Attorney's decision not to prosecute Obama 'assassination plot'
Legal experts question US Attorney's decision not to prosecute Obama 'assassination plot'
Brad Jacobson
Interviews with numerous legal experts suggest that Colorado US Attorney Troy Eid misled reporters and diverged from state law when declining to prosecute any of the three men arrested in Denver for threatening to assassinate Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.
Eid, who was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2006, declined to prosecute the three men on charges of threatening to assassinate Barack Obama during his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, saying that the suspects were "just a bunch of meth heads" and their words failed to meet the legal standard for "true threat."
"When you talk about threatening presidential candidates, there's a legal standard you got to meet," Eid told reporters. "It's got to be a credible threat as defined by the law. And that means that someone has a way to carry it out. And at this time we don't have sufficient evidence that there was a true threat."
He added, "They didn't reveal a plan" and characterized the alleged threats and assassination plot as merely "the racist rantings of drug users" and "one meth head talking to another about life."
But multiple legal experts interviewed by RAW STORY -- including criminal and constitutional law scholars, former Assistant US Attorneys and Denver-area defense lawyers also familiar with Colorado state law -- agreed that voluntary intoxication is not exculpatory and that such a claim, especially for a prosecutor, is unorthodox. While it may be presented in an effort to reduce a sentence after a conviction, experts say it is normally the domain of defense counsel.
"It's very unusual," says Scott Horton, a Columbia Law School professor who also writes for Harper's Magazine. "Basically, you have a US Attorney trotting out the sort of arguments that defense counsel makes on a plea for reduced sentencing."
Legal experts say that Eid's definition of true threat directly conflicts with the statue covering threats to presidential candidates, 18 U.S.C. 879, which defines the threat as "whoever knowingly and willfully threatens to kill, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm upon a major candidate for the office of President or Vice President, or a member of the immediate family of such candidate."
While noting the statute must be weighed against First Amendment rights, they argued that because voluntary intoxication is not a viable defense the First Amendment does not protect a speaker's threatening speech.
George Fisher, Stanford Law Professor and one of the nation's top scholars of criminal law and evidence, explained, "Certainly when there's a state of mind requirement in a crime, 'knowingly,' for example, you could say as a logical matter that somebody can't do something knowingly while under the influence. But there are these other laws, sometimes in the form of statutes and sometimes in the form of case law, that will say, 'But voluntary intoxication is no defense.' And the Supreme Court many years ago upheld those laws as not being a violation of due process."
Colorado defense attorneys agreed. They said Colorado state law does not differ from the Supreme Court's ruling on voluntary intoxication.
Thus, legal experts agreed that a verbal threat alone, intended by the speaker to be taken seriously, and said willfully and knowingly, is all that is necessary to satisfy the legal requirement for true threat. Contrary to what Eid told the press, a prosecutor in this case would not have to prove a plan existed or the viability of any such plan, only that a threat was made and understood by the speaker and receiver of the words to be said in earnest.
continued at link ...
Legal experts question US Attorney's decision not to prosecute Obama... more-
- Conniepae
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McCain: count the lies
John McCain may be trying to sell himself as a "maverick" and a "straight talker" who will tell the truth no matter the consequences, but independent, non-partisan watchdog groups aren't buying it. But, since he wrapped up his party's nomination, John McCain has offered more of the same false attacks and smears. To date, independent, nonpartisan fact checkers have published more than 50 fact checks debunking John McCain's lies and distortions.
To hold John McCain accountable to his own standard, the Democratic National Committee will count and chronicle the lies here on the McCainPedia's "Count the Lies" page.
175 Fact Checks
CNN: McCain’s Claim About Creeping Tax Hikes Is False. In a campaign speech Tuesday, October 28, in Hershey, Pennsylvania, Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain accused Democratic opponent Sen. Barack Obama and his running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, of being inconsistent on taxes.…The Verdict: False. What McCain is doing here, in part, is comparing apples and oranges. He compares two different aspects of Obama's tax plan as if they were the same. And Biden never said people making less than $150,000 are the "only" people who would get a tax cut under Obama's policies. [CNN, 10/29/08: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/29/fact-check-obama-biden-creeping-down-on-who-gets-tax-relief/]
Politifact.com: “Tiny” Ad Makes Large Error. Back in May, McCain made the claim in an address to the National Restaurant Association in Chicago. We rated that claim False. We examined it again in August when the ad first aired and again found the statement to be False. But the ad will be new to many viewers this week, so we are revisiting it here.McCain is distorting Obama's original comments…McCain twisted Obama's words when he claimed that Obama characterized the threat from Iran as tiny or insignificant. Obama never said that. ...This isn’t the first time Obama has talked about the grave threat posed by Iran. He has repeatedly characterized it as such during his campaign. Obama never said the threat from Iran was “tiny” or “insignificant,” only that the threat was tiny in comparison to the threat once posed by the Soviet Union. And if the McCain campaign was unclear on that point, it should have been clear after Obama's comment in May that "Iran is a grave threat." To continue to twist Obama's words, especially after that clarification, earns another False. [Politifact: http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/828/]
McClatchy: McCain Wrong on World Series. What happened: "No one will delay the World Series game with an infomercial when I'm president," the Republican presidential nominee told a crowd Tuesday in Hershey, Pa… Why that's wrong: It's not unusual for World Series games to start after 8:30 p.m., and according to the Web site Politico, the Fox executive who's responsible for the Obama ad purchase said the infomercial was replacing only the pre-game show. "Our first pitch for the World Series is usually around 8:30 anyway, so we didn't push back the game. It was really just about suspending the pre-game, you know, Joe Buck," said the account executive, Joe Coppola. "That's all we did." The request to delay the game came from Major League Baseball. McCain himself was responsible for shifting the time of the National Football League's 2008 opening game ... Penalty: 15 yards for misleading the public about Obama and the World Series. [McClatchy, 10/29/08: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/746704.html]
Complete list at link ... John McCain may be trying to sell himself as a "maverick" and a... more -
Did Sports Complex Contractors Build Palin's House for Free?
I found this post a couple weeks ago on Dailykos. Ted Stevens was found guilty today, so I thought I would post this on current today to see what others think? Did the "First Dude" build their house?
by stef - dailykos.com
Sat Oct 11, 2008 at 08:52:55 AM PDT
The prosecution just rested in the Ted Stevens trial, in which he is accused of accepting $250,000 worth of free renovations to his house from VECO, an oil pipeline company. VECO workers labored for months remodeling Stevens' home at the company's expense.
The Palin's two-story, four bedroom, four bath home on Lake Lucille is worth $552,000. "Todd Palin built the house with friends who were contractors, he said in a recent television interview."
At the same time the mighty Todd was building the house, the Wasilla Sports Complex was under construction right down the road. Just who were these "friends who were contractors" who did such a huge favor for the Palins by building their house for them? Was it payback for the sports complex contracts? Wayne Barrett of the Village Voice asks the question, below the fold.
stef's diary :: ::
I posted this question last week but I believe it deserves a second look in light of the corruption uncovered in Troopergate and the Stevens trial. Todd's explanation, I built the house with the help of a few buddies, defies belief. Todd! You're a fisherman, a snomobile champion, an oil worker, a caribou hunter, a government operative, AND a plumber, electrician, mason, carpenter? Wow! You are one Super Dude.
Wayne Barrett reports that after the $12.5 million Wasilla Sports Complex was approved, the design contract went to architect Blase Burkhart, "son of Roy Burkhart, who is frequently described as a "mentor" of Palin and was head of the local Republican Party." Roy Burkhart was also a Palin campaign contributor. Palin then appointed Blase Burkhart to the builder-selection committee, which awarded the construction contract to "Howdie Inc., a mostly residential contractor owned at the time by Howard Nugent." Nugent was a Palin campaign contributor, also.
What happened next is rather curious. Here's Barrett:
A list of subcontractors on the [sports complex] job, obtained by the Voice, includes many with Palin ties. One was Spenard Builders Supply, the state's leading supplier of wood, floor, roof, and other "pre-engineered components." In addition to being a sponsor of Todd Palin's snow-machine team that has earned tens of thousands for the Palin family, Spenard hired Sarah Palin to do a statewide television commercial in 2004. When the Palins began building a new family home off Lake Lucille in 2002—at the same time that Palin was running for lieutenant governor and in her final months as mayor—Spenard supplied the materials, according to Antoine Bricks, who works in its Wasilla office. Spenard actually filed a notice "of its right to assert a lien" on the deed for the Palin property after contracting for labor and materials for the site. Spenard's name has popped up in the trial of Senator Stevens—it worked on the house that is at the center of the VECO scandal as well.
Todd Palin told Fox News that he built the two-story, 3,450-square-foot, four-bedroom, four-bath, wood house himself, with the help of contractors he described as "buddies." As mayor, Sarah Palin blocked an effort to require the filing of building permits in the wide-open city, and there is no public record of who the "buddies" were. The house was built very near the complex, on a site whose city purchase led to years of unsuccessful litigation and, now, $1.3 million in additional costs, with a law firm that's also donated to Palin collecting costly fees from the city.
I found this post a couple weeks ago on Dailykos. Ted Stevens was found guilty today,... more-
- Conniepae
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- 3 years ago
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The Year the Media Died 2008 - That Pretty Much Says It All Doesn't It?
I find it disheartening that you can't pick up a newspaper or turn on the TV and get impartial news. I DON'T want to know what those at the newspapers or television stations feel - I want to know the NEWS. It almost seems like they are being paid to write or broadcast only THEIR version of the stories and NOT what's really going on out in the world. It amazes me how they've helped contribute to the following Obama has in the polls - I ask those of you in the media - could you give us the truth that is out there or is it too late for that? I want more then what your boss just wants me to know. Wake up America!I find it disheartening that you can't pick up a newspaper or turn on the TV and... more-
- bringthetruthtolight
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ACLU Demands Information on Military Deployment Within US Borders
ACLU Demands Information on Military Deployment Within US Borders
Deployment Erodes Longstanding Separation Between Civilian and Military Government
NEW YORK - October 21 - The American Civil Liberties Union today demanded information from the government about reports that an active military unit has been deployed inside the U.S. to help with "civil unrest" and "crowd control" - matters traditionally handled by civilian authorities. This deployment jeopardizes the longstanding separation between civilian and military government, and the public has a right to know where and why the unit has been deployed, according to an ACLU Freedom of Information request filed today.
"The military's deployment within U.S. borders raises critical questions that must be answered," said Jonathan Hafetz, staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project. "What is the unit's mission? What functions will it perform? And why was it necessary to deploy the unit rather than rely on civilian agencies and personnel and the National Guard? Given the magnitude of the issues at stake, it is imperative that the American people know the truth about this new and unprecedented intrusion of the military in domestic affairs."
According to a report in the Army Times, the Army recently deployed an active military unit inside the United States under Northern Command, which was established in 2002 to assist federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities. This deployment marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to Northern Command.
Civilian authorities, not the military, have historically controlled and directed the internal affairs of the United States. This rule traces its origins to the nation's founding and has been reaffirmed in landmark statutes including the Posse Comitatus Act, which helps preserve the foundational principles of our Constitution and democracy.
"This is a radical departure from separation of civilian law enforcement and military authority, and could, quite possibly, represent a violation of law," said Mike German, ACLU national security policy counsel and former FBI Agent. "Our Founding Fathers understood the threat that a standing army could pose to American liberty. While future generations recognized the need for a strong military to defend against increasingly capable foreign threats, they also passed statutory protections to ensure that the Army could not be turned against the American people. The erosion of these protections should concern every American."
In order to assess the implications of the recent deployment, the ACLU requested the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security and Defense today to immediately make public all legal opinions, executive orders, presidential directives, memos, policy guidance, and other documents that authorize the deployment of military troops for domestic purposes.
Since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the Department of Defense has dramatically expanded its role in domestic law enforcement and intelligence operations, including the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping programs, the Department of Homeland Security's use of military spy satellites, and the participation of military personnel in state and local intelligence fusion centers. The ACLU has repeatedly expressed concern about these incremental encroachments of the military into domestic affairs, and the assignment of active duty troops to Northern Command only heightens these concerns.
ACLU Demands Information on Military Deployment Within US Borders Deployment Erodes... more-
- Conniepae
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Unprepared for a YouTube world
Bachmann, to Politico:
Despite the way the blogs and the Democratic Party are spinning it, I never called all liberals anti-American, I never questioned Barack Obama’s patriotism, and I never asked for some House Un-American Activities Committee witch hunt into my colleagues in Congress.
What I did was ask legitimate questions that Minnesotans have been asking me: What does Barack Obama mean by change?
So clearly, she's blatantly lying to Politico, just like Rep. Robyn Hayes did earlier today. The question is why?
Remember, Republicans have been able to score cheap points for a long time by playing to the media's sense of "fairness". Hence, the "he said, she said" tradition arose. As a reporter, you couldn't write "the sky is blue" without getting "the other side" of the story to tell you "the sky is purple". Truth and fact are irrelevant.
And in the old world, blatant lies like this could be easily covered up. A reporter catches you saying something stupid? Who cares! Just lie and deny it. At that point it becomes a "he said, she said" question, and people will shrug their shoulders unable to independently determine who is right.
Enter YouTube. Both Hayes and Bachmann can blatantly lie and it doesn't matter because we have the video and we can see for ourselves what was actually said. What's more, the more Bachmann and Hayes explicitly deny their comments, the more insulting it becomes for those who can see for themselves the truth of the matter. People may assume politicians lie, but they don't appreciate having it rubbed in their face.
There is a silver lining to all of this -- Republicans are starting to learn that it's politically perilous to accuse Democrats of being un-American. It wasn't long ago that they were all spreading this bullshit. Today, when they're caught doing so they fervently deny it and hope they can get away with it.
That's progress.
Bachmann, to Politico: Despite the way the blogs and the Democratic Party are... more-
- Conniepae
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- 3 years ago
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The presidential candidates' positions on the war on drugs
Every year we throw away billions on a failed program to punish addicts -- an approach both candidates should know doesn't work.
By Joe Conason
Oct. 20, 2008 | If Barack Obama or John McCain wants to find a federal program that wastes hundreds of billions of dollars, he can take the scalpel (or better yet the hatchet) to the national war on drugs. Economists, physicians, police chiefs and prison wardens have repeatedly concluded that the drug war has been a very costly failure over the past four decades, but then neither Obama nor McCain needs to hear the truth from any expert -- because each of them can draw on his own painful personal experience.
From opposite ends of the social and economic scale, both candidates have observed the casualties and injustices of American drug policy. Both should be able to understand why the system of punishment must be replaced by a paradigm of medical treatment. And both seem reluctant to discuss the subject for obvious reasons.
In "Dreams From My Father," his candid and moving memoir, Obama admits that as a young man he got high, using marijuana regularly, and that he was on the way toward something worse during his high school and college years. Although he stops just short of confessing that he snorted cocaine occasionally, when he could "afford" it, he has never denied using coke, as the book clearly implies. He watched at least one friend go to prison while others succumbed to heroin addiction.
After Obama overcame the angst that had had caused him to seek solace in dope, he tells of watching the devastation of Chicago's South Side -- and especially of the children who lived there -- by the crack epidemic. Government and society seemed powerless to prevent the ruin caused by crack and smack; the Prohibition-like policies that drove up prices, tempted kids to become dealers and corrupted the police force accomplished nothing.
As a community organizer, Obama came to know those alienated, dangerous kids and their families intimately. The only certainty for him was that the young people swept up into addiction, prosecution and incarceration were not to blame for their circumstances -- that they were "the consequences of a malnourished world."
Meanwhile, upstairs in the overnourished world, beer heiress and Senate wife Cindy McCain was scheduled to write her own memoir this year. Last spring she got an advance that reportedly came close to a million dollars for a book that would tell not only about her relationship with her husband, John, but, according to the Wall Street Journal, would also recount "her past battle with an addiction to painkillers." Originally scheduled to appear in September, her book was abruptly canceled only a month after the publisher bought it. The McCain campaign explained that with the demands of campaigning, she simply wouldn't have the time (despite the hiring of a ghostwriter).
But it is hard to imagine why she or husband John would want to excavate any unhappy memories of her Percocet period. Her battle with addiction included a series of major felony offenses in the early '90s, which included falsifying prescriptions, stealing drugs from a medical charity she founded and underwrote with her family fortune, and inducing doctors and other employees of that charity to help her obtain Percocet and other Schedule III narcotics illegally. The Drug Enforcement Administration opened an investigation of her after a former employee, whose name she had used to obtain drugs, reported her criminal misuse of her charity. At the time, seasoned defense attorneys in Arizona believed that she could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted on half a dozen counts (and that if her name had been José Lopez, she surely would have).
Every year we throw away billions on a failed program to punish addicts -- an approach... more -
DEA said Cindy McCain stole drugs from her charity
Now that the New York Times is bringing it up, here's the whole story.-
- caseygane
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WHAT TEDDY ROOSEVELT SAID ABOUT CRITICIZING THE PRESIDENT
"The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else."
"Roosevelt in the Kansas City Star", 149
May 7, 1918
"The President is merely the most important among a large number of public... more-
- Conniepae
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John McCain calls JFK's assassination an "intervention"
Note to John McCain: Assassination is not an "intervention" - IT"S MURDER!
Marilynn_Murray, I think it was a Freudian slip too. But Joe the plumber wasnt. Misinterpreting what Obama said about redistribution of wealth wasnt an accident. He distorted Barack Obama"s words. I"m sick of it!
It was actually probably poor sentence structure, but this election is important to me! I don"t want to "get over it" again. Mainstream media should stop covering Joe the plumber. They are wasting precious time, spinning Joe the plumber? Note to John McCain: Assassination is not an "intervention" - IT"S... more-
- Conniepae
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Trader Drove Up Price of McCain ‘Stock’ in Online Market
By Josh Rogin, CQ Staff - An internal investigation by the popular online market Intrade has revealed that a single investor’s purchases prompted “unusual” price swings that significantly boosted the prediction that Sen. John McCain will become president.
Over the past several weeks, the investor has pushed hundreds of thousands of dollars into one of Intrade’s predictive markets for the presidential election, the company said, resulting in repeated monetary losses through a strategy that belies any financial motive.
“The trading that caused the unusual price movements and discrepancies was principally due to a single ‘institutional’ member on Intrade,” said the company’s chief executive, John Delaney, in a statement released Thursday. “We have been in contact with the firm on a number of occasions. I have spoken to those involved personally.”
After an extensive investigation into the suspicious trading patterns, Intrade found no wrongdoing or violation of its exchange rules, the company said.
Citing privacy policies, Delaney would not elaborate on who the investor was or whether or not that investor was affiliated in any way with a political campaign.
According to Delaney, this investor, who boosted the McCain prediction significantly over the market value and above the levels of competing predictive-market Web sites, was using the Intrade market to protect other positions and hedge other investments.
Pundits and politicians have used Intrade to track the fortunes of the two presidential candidates. Through the site, begun in 1999 and incorporated in Ireland, traders buy and sell “contracts” that function as stocks, allowing investors to gamble on the outcomes of political, cultural, or even geological events such as the weather.
The company claims and experts confirm that the Intrade market is generally more accurate in predicting outcomes of major events than other leading indicators, such as polls.
But the relatively small scale of the market and its lack of outside regulation leave the system vulnerable to activity from well-monied investors who either have inside information or seek to manipulate the market for political purposes.
Justin Wolfers, an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, said the trades in Intrade’s McCain-Obama market do not follow any logical investment strategy.
“Who knows who’s doing it, it’s obviously someone who wants good news for McCain,” said Wolfers, who has been following the situation closely.
Ripple Effects
Intrade users first noticed something amiss when a series of large purchases running counter to market predictions sparked volatility in the prices of John McCain and Barack Obama contracts.
By Josh Rogin, CQ Staff - An internal investigation by the popular online market... more-
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McCain - Palin: Unethical conduct and lies
Given the deceitful distortions and inherent lies the McCain-Palin team, and particularly Mrs. Palin herself is telling about Senator Obama's record, it should be no surprise that Governor Sarah Palin was found last Friday to have acted unethically under Alaska law by abusing her power as governor.
The finding is the result of a bipartisan investigation approved by the Republican-controlled Alaskan legislature into Governor Palin's firing of Alaska's state safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, for refusing to bend to her pressure - and pressure from her husband Todd and her staff - to fire her former brother-in-law from his job as State trooper.
Contrary to what Ms. Palin and Senator John McCain are telling voters to gloss over her unethical conduct, the inquiry into her unethical behavior didn't originate with Obama supporters and Democrats. It began on a bipartisan vote by Alaska's legislature in June, more than a month before Senator McCain made his surprising decision to select Mrs. Palin as his running mate.
The legislature's independent investigator's 263-page report made public last Friday ended a months-long investigation and related hearings. It concluded that Governor Palin wrongfully exerted pressure to fire trooper Michael Wooten, and also allowed her husband to use state resources and records, including the governor's offices and access to records, in the effort to have trooper Wooten fired. The report noted that Mrs. Palin, her husband and various staff members pressured Commissioner Monaghan, himself a Palin appointee, and his aides more than three dozen times in calls and meetings to get trooper Wooten fired.Given the deceitful distortions and inherent lies the McCain-Palin team, and... more-
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Iglesias: "I'm astounded" by DOJ's ACORN probe
Iglesias was fired because he would not do the work of the Republican Party in his court. Facts matter! Is the DOJ being used for the benefit of the right? Thats just wrong! Justice in America is supposed to be balanced and unbiassed.
By Zachary Roth
David Iglesias says he's shocked by the news, leaked today to the Associated Press, that the FBI is pursuing a voter-fraud investigation into ACORN just weeks before the election.
"I'm astounded that this issue is being trotted out again," Iglesias told TPMmuckraker. "Based on what I saw in 2004 and 2006, it's a scare tactic." In 2006, Iglesias was fired as U.S. attorney thanks partly to his reluctance to pursue voter-fraud cases as aggressively as DOJ wanted -- one of several U.S. attorneys fired for inappropriate political reasons, according to a recently released report by DOJ's Office of the Inspector General.
Iglesias, who has been the most outspoken of the fired U.S. attorneys, went on to say that the FBI's investigation seemed designed to inappropriately create a "boogeyman" out of voter fraud.
And he added that it "stands to reason" that the investigation was launched in response to GOP complaints. In recent weeks, national Republican figures -- including John McCain at last night's debate -- have sought to make an issue out of ACORN's voter-registration activities.
As we noted earlier, last year, Sen. Diane Feinstein publicly highlighted changes made to DOJ's election crimes manual, which lowered the bar for voter-fraud prosecutions, and made it easier to bring vote-fraud cases close to the election.
Speaking today to TPMmuckraker, Iglesias called such changes "extremely problematic."
The way in which the news was revealed today -- Associated Press sourced its report to two "senior law enforcement officials" who "spoke on condition of anonymity because Justice Department regulations forbid discussing ongoing investigations particularly so close to an election" -- is also raising eyebrows.
Both Iglesias and Bud Cummins -- another of the U.S. attorneys who, according to the IG report, was also fired for political reasons -- told TPMmuckraker that DOJ guidelines do allow US attorneys to speak publicly about an investigation, even before bringing an indictment, if it's to allay public concern over an issue.
But that certainly wouldn't cover anonymous leaks. "If you can't say it with your name on it, it's fair to say you should not be saying it," Cummins told TPMmuckraker.
Earlier this afternoon, House Judiciary Chair John Conyers (D-MI) released a letter he sent to Attorney General Michael Mukasey and FBI director Robert Mueller, which connected today's news to the U.S. attorney firings, and to recent GOP efforts to stoke fears over voter fraud.
Iglesias was fired because he would not do the work of the Republican Party in his... more-
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Did John McCain mispronounce Joe the plumbers las name on purpose?
Last night during the debate John McCain mispronounced Joe the plumbers last name. Did he do it because if he pronounced it correctly, people with memories would associate his last name to Charles Keatings Son-in-Law, Robert M. Wurzelbacher Jr., who had pleaded guilty to three counts of misapplying $14 million from Lincoln, an Irvine, Calif., savings association.
Is Keatings Son-in-Law related to Joe the plumber? The last name is the same? Leads one to wonder if this is coincidence, or a smoking gun plumber? This article is from 1993, but it gives the name of Keatings Son-in-Law who has the same last name as Joe the plumber.
Keating Son-in-Law to Serve Prison Term
Published: December 13, 1993
A son-in-law of the former head of Lincoln Savings, Charles H. Keating Jr., must surrender next year to begin a 40-month prison sentence.
United States District Judge Mariana R. Pfaelzer imposed the sentence last week on the son-in-law, Robert M. Wurzelbacher Jr., who had pleaded guilty to three counts of misapplying $14 million from Lincoln, an Irvine, Calif., savings association.
Mr. Wurzelbacher, 39, was an executive with Lincoln's parent, the American Continental Corporation, which Mr. Keating controlled.
Prosecutors asked for a six-year sentence, saying Mr. Wurzelbacher had volunteered little of use to them after making a plea bargain.
Mr. Wurzelbacher's lawyer, Mark Beck, had asked for probation and community service. He said Mr. Wurzelbacher was likely to serve 26 months before parole.
On Tuesday, Judge Pfaelzer ordered Mr. Wurzelbacher to begin his sentence on Feb. 4. She said she would recommend that he be sent to prison camp at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.
Mr. Wurzelbacher did not plead guilty to the indictment charging him and others, including Mr. Keating and Mr. Keating's son, with looting Lincoln and swindling investors who lost money buying risky bonds. Instead, he admitted that he helped Lincoln extend loans to a hotel partnership in which he, Mr. Keating and other insiders had interests. He said he knew the loans were unlikely to be repaid.
Lincoln's failure in April 1989 cost taxpayers $3.4 billion, a record.
Last night during the debate John McCain mispronounced Joe the plumbers last name.... more-
- Conniepae
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Greenberg invokes his Fifth Amendment right
Hank Greenberg declines to answer questions in civil case about his role in a transaction with General Re that resulted in convictions of others.
By James Bandler and Roddy Boyd
NEW YORK (Fortune) -- Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, the legendary former chief executive of AIG, declined to answer questions Saturday from the New York Attorney General's office about his role in a controversial transaction between AIG and another insurer. Instead, Greenberg invoked his Fifth Amendment rights, his defense lawyer confirmed.
Questions about the deal led to Greenberg's forced retirement from the once-mighty insurance giant three years ago. Since 2005, lawyers on Greenberg's civil defense team had insisted that their client was eager to testify about the transaction, a reinsurance deal that AIG made with Berkshire Hathaway's (BRKB) Gen Re unit.
They said repeatedly that as long as he was provided with the results of AIG's internal investigation of the deal - which he eventually was - he would answer all of state regulators' questions.
Greenberg's chance to testify finally came on Saturday, but he declined. It was a stunning turnaround for a man who along with associates has spent just shy of a quarter of a billion dollars in legal and public relations fees to tell his side of the story and clear his name.
The questions involved Greenberg's role in a phony $500 million reinsurance transaction with General Re that masked a problem with AIG's loss reserves. The transaction generated intense regulatory scrutiny and resulted in then-New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer suing Greenberg and his former chief financial officer Howard Smith for civil fraud. The civil case is now being pursued by Spitzer's successor, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.
In February, federal prosecutors in Hartford and Washington, D.C. won criminal convictions of four senior Gen Re managers involved in the transaction, including the company's former chief executive and former chief financial officer, as well as a close Greenberg AIG associate, Christopher Milton.
Greenberg's lawyers say that any wrongdoing happened on the General Re side. Greenberg, 83, insisted to Fortune that he merely initiated the idea of a legitimate deal, moving on to more pressing matters shortly after he broached the subject. (Greenberg was the subject of a recent Fortune feature, "Hank's last stand.")
The New York office of the Securities and Exchange Commission issued Greenberg a so-called Wells Notice in May of this year, an indication that the staff was strongly considering recommending civil charges be filed against him in connection with the deal.
Settlement talks break down
The issue of whether Greenberg would or would not testify in the New York Attorney General's case was hotly debated by his criminal and civil defense teams.
His civil defense lawyers, led by Boies, Schiller & Flexner's David Boies and Nicholas Gravante, had supported their client's desire to testify, arguing that a refusal to talk would hurt his chances in ongoing civil litigation. Robert Morvillo, his criminal lawyer, argued that testifying increased Greenberg's chance of indictment.
Hank Greenberg declines to answer questions in civil case about his role in a... more-
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