The ABC/Disney program GMA did a piece on possible vote fraud in the upcomming elections this morning. It was quite informative and cast an eye of suspicion on Diebold voting machines. They also suggested that voting early rather than waiting to cast your vote on a Diebold machine would prevent the possibility of vote fraud.
I almost fell off the bed.
Perhaps not all media outlets are soooo bad. Perhaps they once again will take up the mantle of being the 5th estate and guard our collective freedoms. Perhaps they have grown weary of being dupes for the NeoCons and stenographers for Bushco.
Yeah, right..!!
One World,
Domino49
Posted by Domino49 at October 25, 2006 12:00 AMWhile the Republican campaign themes may not be as effective as they were in 2002 and 2004, the method you describe, adopt a narrative and pound it into public's minds, still works.
Posted by James E. Powell at October 25, 2006 12:02 AMThank goodness that few are still telling things as they are. For example, "We have turned Iraq into the most hellish place on Earth" in today's guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,329609495-103550,00.html
"...This country has been turned by two of the most powerful and civilised nations on Earth into the most hellish place on Earth. Armies claiming to bring democracy and prosperity have brought bloodshed and a misery worse than under the most ruthless modern dictator. This must be the stupidest paradox in modern history. Neither America nor Britain has the guts to rule Iraq properly, yet they lack the guts to leave.
Blair speaks of staying until the job is finished. What job? The only job he can mean is his own." simon.jenkins@guardian.co.uk
The comments are also worth reading.
PAZ
I have an interesting chart up on my blog that proves, once and for all, that Democrats in the U.S. Senate support our troops far more than their GOP counterparts.
H/T to Buffalo Pundit & the IAVA.
Posted by Christopher at October 25, 2006 02:52 AMhttp://abcnews.go.com/Politics/TheNote/story?id=2599592&page=1
Yeah, those people probably "betrayed" you on the above link. Exposing your allies in the media, funny how you always say they're biased toward the GOP.
What's this about your Senate hopeful Harold Ford endorsing Senator Lieberman on 10/17? Seems others have also endorsed him;
* Tom Carper (Del.)
* Mary Landrieu (La.)
* Ben Nelson (Neb.)
* Mark Pryor (Ark.)
* Ken Salazar (Colo.)
Are you going to campaign against any of these people? Come on, show your true colors. You need these supporters of Lieberman, these more moderate voices in the party. These pro-war Democrats.
Time (got to leave for work soon) prohibits me from finding the link but, Dick Morris seems to be big on this reality creation thing. Just a couple of days ago, he said that the GOP must scare its base and now, before even the 24 hour tracking polls can measure it, volia, it's working. Wish and it is so.
Posted by herbal tee at October 25, 2006 04:12 AMIs Dick Morris to be trusted at all. He seems to swing whichever way is popular.
Posted by peter at October 25, 2006 04:20 AMThen Limbaugh pivoted to a different critique: "Michael J. Fox is allowing his illness to be exploited and in the process is shilling for a Democratic politician."
How soon they have forgotten Teri Schiavo.
Posted by ann at October 25, 2006 05:20 AMOW, my arm hurts from patting myself on the back...but perhaps I should have my own blog...I've been predicting this for three weeks or more...just from the experience of reading/listening/watching over the past six years how THESE GUYS work and use their paid for pundits in the MSM...for a little bit the Russerts/Matthews/et al were worried that should the DEMS make headways they'd have to establish new connections for their compensations...NOW, notice their subtle shifts (over the past week and a half) towards a REPUG "comeback" to tighten the races! This is why Rove isn't worried...the fix is in and all he needs now, as mentioned above, is for the SHEEPLE to be sold on the idea that REPUGS are closing in...then whatever DIEBOLD or fraud setups are ready to go will take over...cynical, YOU BET...burned once/fooled once FOR SURE!!! The true test to watch is Santorum (the GREAT CLOSER) in PA...who will be lauded for clawing his way back up to a VICTORY!!! Want to put money on it???
Posted by Dancer at October 25, 2006 05:37 AMSo there is a tent set up on the White House lawn, for what purpose? To allow Sean Hannity and other Right Wing talkers access to the Bush Administration? So they can campaign?
Can anyone remember how apoplectic the Rethugs got when they caught wind of Clinton's Christmas card list?
Where is the Democratic outrage at this abuse of the taxpayer and government resources? This is a partisan effort headquartered on American government property!
It's uncanny.
I've been shouting "IMPEACH BUSH, IMPEACH CHENEY!" while wearing my 'Vote Democratic!' t-shirt all over town. In response to anyone who approached me I just shouted even louder "IMPEACH BUSH, IMPEACH CHENEY!" While waiting for my change at the grocery store "IMPEACH BUSH, IMPEACH CHENEY!" To my neighbors when they waved hello as they passed by my house "IMPEACH BUSH, IMPEACH CHENEY!" The country is ripe for impeachment so I figured I'd help whip up the underlying dormant sentiment that we all know is there. Because it is there. "IMPEACH BUSH, IMPEACH CHENEY!" Over and over again.
Funny thing is people have started to avoid me and cross over to the otherside of the street when they see me coming. People aren't returning my phone calls. Even my dog is avoiding me.
I don't get it. If the Democrats don't take over Congress like a tidal wave it won't be because I haven't been helping them get their message out. 'Cause I have.
"IMPEACH BUSH, IMPEACH CHENEY!"
Posted by snark at October 25, 2006 06:14 AMHere is what I suggest: Early next week chart all the House races that appear within range of Dem wins....count up the top fourteen biggest leads - the shoo-ins. Then start looking and listening at what's happening in #15 on out. Check the Polls, check the Media reports, check Print endorsements and so forth. I will bet that that most of those will "show" a tightening of the numbers toward the GOP candidate, with many if not most hitting the "toss-up" category by the November 5 Sunday Talk Shows. The GOPers need cover to rig, and the Media will give it to them. What I mean is you shouldn't believe the numbers you'll be hearing or the gloom and doom predictions for the Dems that will go with them. It will be a set-up to cover shenanigans in each key race.
Posted by T2 at October 25, 2006 06:26 AMWell, McCaskill has been leading Talet, but magically the race is tightening. Diebold will do the rest. The WH needs Mr. 94% back in Washington.
Posted by Judith at October 25, 2006 06:35 AMat least there's some MSM reporting on diebold. look, we knew this was gonna happen. we will never be allowed to win close races, so GOTV!
Posted by benjoya at October 25, 2006 07:10 AMThey have granted the majority party so much power that it seems they are secure in the belief that one party rule is guaranteed.
With 80% of America's votes passing through Diebolt or ES&S proprietary software, the opportunity for manipulation will surely be seized upon.
The days of Constitutional government are over. The United States of America has seemingly devolved into a banana republic. Massive public debt, propaganda passing for news, uncontrolled currency creation, fixed elections, abolishment of habeous corpus, etc.
If it walks like a duck.........
Posted by brisa at October 25, 2006 07:41 AMstv, xcllnt nlyss; yt, sspct tht thr myb nthr fctr mssng. n ny vnt, nthng mch wll chng n mttr wht hppns. s lng s vtrs rmn slfsh, nrrw mndd, nd vrll gnrnt, rsn dsn't hv chnc. Ths fls cn't ls, s th crp bys hv bn wrkng n th dstrctn f scl nstttns fr dcds. Ths, smtms thy slw, jst lttl, bt mk p fr t n fw dys, wks, mnths r cpl yrs. Fr, s y pntd t, w mst rmmbr tht th crps cntrl prcptn, s thy cntrl th md.
W nt jst hw pwrfl thr cntrl vr prcptn s wth th ncrdbl dpth f stbbrnnss nd gnrnc tht w s n sm trlls n th TLC. N mnt f rsnng cn vrcm sm prr cndtnng. W'r tst.
[Editor: ignore=off]Since political reporting in America (like everything else) revolves endlessly around sports metaphors (it's all we understand), it's not a surprise that the media want to essentially present our politics as a football game, who's ahead, who's behind, who's gaining, who's fading, who's fumbled, who's recovered the ball, etc. etc.
Thus, the GOP MUST be reported to be closing the gap, in order for the "game" to be tied in the final seconds.
Of course, under the "game" metaphor, no media attention is paid to actually informing the voters about the real issues facing the country: an imminent environmental crisis, exploding national debt, loss of economic security, a policy toward islamic terrorism which increases the number of terrorists, an unsuccessful military occupation of a muslim country (with attacks on more muslim nations being threatened), and a "conservative" Republican moment whose goal is to permanently transfer authoritarian power to the president, whatever the Constitution (or courts) may say about the matter.
Conventional wisdom was that the Dems wanted to "nationalize" the election around such national issues. Frankly, I haven't seen much evidence of that, nor much evidence of party "branding" or sloganeering such as "Protect the Constitution: Vote Democratic" or "Protect the Country: Vote Democratic". Instead, the national-Dem party based ads I've seen mostly focus on discrete information concerning whatever Republican is running in the particular district.
Plus, it seems to me that the Republican ads are much more forceful, negative and hard-hitting against their opponent, always ending with something like "[Democrat X]: bad ideas, bad judgement". This is what works, especially in the final two weeks.
Will we come out with a final two weeks of equally effective attack ads? With all the ammo we have available to us, failure in this election will be catastrophic. The great battle for the soul of the country is reaching its last stages, enormous clouds of dust are forming, and it's hard to see how the fight is progressing.
Posted by euzoius at October 25, 2006 09:31 AMincredible depth of stubbornness and ignorance that we see in some trolls on the TLC.
Well, it's good to see you're taking responsibility for your trollish behaviour, non-Prophet. Now, the next step is to go away, pin up your "GRILS AN HOMOS NOT ALLOWED!" sign, and start your own authoritarian/bible-lies blog! It'll be a hit with the other inmates in your cell block.
Posted by iamcoyote at October 25, 2006 09:35 AMWell, it's good to see you're taking responsibility for your trollish behaviour, non-Prophet.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Posted by Christopher at October 25, 2006 12:02 PMLast time I saw that kind of comment Christopher it was from a troll over at the CDP, California Democratic Party. Joe Combs always used Christopher's "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He very rarely had anything to say. Seems you two have something in common.
Posted by peter at October 25, 2006 12:44 PMChristopher, you're right. The trolls have been awfully amusing lately in their lame attempts to convince themselves of their relevence. For some reason, they think that just because they can say something on a blog, we're supposed to listen and believe. Funny little clowns!
Posted by iamcoyote at October 25, 2006 12:55 PMpeter,
Are you back to share with us your understanding of the limits of normal dialogue on foreign policy?
Or do you have nothing to say?
Posted by snark at October 25, 2006 01:11 PMDang it snark, he was hoping you'd have forgotten!
Posted by Seven of Six at October 25, 2006 02:12 PM"He very rarely had anything to say. Seems you two have something in common." - Peter
Well, that's your opinion and you know what they say about opinions, Peter.
They're like assholes: everybody has one.
Funny thing is people have started to avoid me and cross over to the otherside of the street when they see me coming.
Wear your Vote Dem t-shirt and start yelling "I LIKE KITTIES!" at everyone you pass. You'll get the same reaction.
On the other hand: Impeach the bastards. Otherwise, we become them. Empowering death and destruction around the world. The 600,000 dead Iraqi civilians, the veterans, the dis-enfranchised, the students, the seniors, the damaged and the poor should be on our consciences. Impeach the bastards and send them to the Hague.
W-07 and supporters. Frog March to the Hague.
Posted by phidipides at October 25, 2006 06:05 PMWear your Vote Dem t-shirt and start yelling "I LIKE KITTIES!" at everyone you pass. You'll get the same reaction.
Cats suck.
Posted by snark at October 26, 2006 05:50 AM