it is sad considering the information Brad and other voting monitors say about the diebold (and other) "fix" at 4%.
what is absurd is that the numbers are strange if you consider the actual amount of voters that either tried, thought they did, and then didn't have their votes counted. How many votes do you suppose they "lost" any chance that people in charge might have done this? naaa
ask your state to require paper ballots. for us it was quite easy. the people overwhelmingly approved it, it was done. no more problems unless the monitoring process is flawed. at least you can watch people. you don't have the right to know anything about a voting machine. you don't have the right to know
Posted by oldtree at January 5, 2007 08:17 AMyes, Mary, the point that struck me the most about the November elections is that the Dems won, in many cases handily, even though the deck had been heavily stacked against them by the DeLay-type mechanisms meant to keep them from winning even if favored. But the mechanisms were meant to work in the 2-3% margin-of-victory range, not landslides like many Dems enjoyed. I'm still amazed at the whimper the national GOP made when the results were in....having speculated for some time that they would not give up power simply by being outvoted. But they reacted like most bullies when confronted, they folded.
Posted by T2 at January 5, 2007 08:21 AMNow that the FBI tells us that William Rehnquist was a halucinating drug addict since the 70's, I think the comparison can be made that he was just one more mal-functioning voting machine when he cast the deciding vote that ordered Americans to stop counting votes in 2000.
Every deciding vote that he cast thru the years should be challanged.
In a letter to Bush from Reid & Pelosi jointly, the message to Bush this morning "NO SURGE MR. PRESIDENT" copied to Raw Story & Huffington Post.
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Reid_Pelosi_call_on_Bush_not_0105.html
Dare we hope that the commenter over at Kos yesterday who shouted: "Sic 'em" was indeed reflecting the leadership we prayed would step up?
Posted by mainsailset at January 5, 2007 10:22 AMIt's BREAKING NEWS over at CNN.com too:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have sent a letter to President Bush saying "surging forces" in Iraq is a failed strategy and calling for phased redeployment instead.
Way to get out in front of the ball I suppose. If they're getting anything more concrete than what's in the media it seems they can be pretty confident of what The Decider is decidin' at this point.
Posted by snark at January 5, 2007 10:27 AMAnd then there's the blip over at ThinkProgress that the military has informed Bush they only have 9,000 troops available to commit to a surge ...
Since the war powers act of '73 allows Bush to commit troops for up to 90 days without Congressional approval, just rescinding the Authorization for Military Force won't be enough to stop Bush.
Posted by mainsailset at January 5, 2007 10:53 AMIt is not enough to have paper ballots. As the HBO documentary "Hacking Democracy" demonstrated, Diebold optical scanning software includes a program that scans the memory cards for instructions and then executes them prior to counting the votes. Manipulative software can be introduced through the memory cards. I asked our supervisor of elections if she reformats the memory cards prior to use and she answered in the negative. She said she used the memory card as delivered by the manufacturer and wasn't comfortable asking them for a machine to reformat them.
What is needed is independent evaluation of software or, preferably, open source software. Additionally, mandatory random audits at the district level are needed to discourage hanky panky.
Politicians have demonstrated thoughout history that, given the opportunity, they will cheat. It's high time they were cut off at the knees with these latest vote counting integrity loopholes.
Posted by brisa at January 5, 2007 12:02 PMYou're right mainsailset, but Bush's own 101st Wingnut Think-Tankers won't support a 90 day surge with 10,000 troops. Too puny.
The plan should be Confront & Rescind! The whole rotten Bushco structure could collapse.
Posted by euzoius at January 5, 2007 12:07 PMEuzoius: yeah, and as the deck chairs are moved about I'm not liking the nomination of an Admiral into the leadership of ground troops in Iraq; of course in Bush's world, nominating an Admiral who has a respectable history flying any fighter jet as well as a strength in naval operations/strategies makes alot of sense if one were wont to strike Iran. And that, my friend, would make those neocons purr.
Posted by mainsailset at January 5, 2007 12:51 PMWhat is needed is independent evaluation of software or, preferably, open source software.
Posted by Simp at January 5, 2007 12:56 PMAll senior officers have cross training in all warfare colleges.
Posted by Seven of Six at January 5, 2007 01:59 PM"The Democratic win in 2006 was big."
Big?
Big?
A one vote majority in the Senate and a slate of RINOs that ran as Democrats in the Congress. Big?
You are kidding, right.
Posted by Bagley at January 5, 2007 05:55 PMLeaving Iraq is brilliant. If there is no genocide to follow.
How would you like to run against "Don't Vote For Genocide Enablers".
Or suppose Iraq falls and becomes a terrorist haven. Then what will you do? Call on the President to take it back? That will look real good.
Well the Ds have the reins. We shall see what happens.
Just a bit of advice: be careful what you wish for or it could be two years and out. For decades to come.
Posted by M. Simon at January 5, 2007 08:29 PMI suppose a nuclear armed Iran will make Democrats happy.
I know how to solve the problem. Let Jimmy Carter negotiate the same deal with Iran that he made with North Korea on nukes.
I can see the positive outcome already.
Posted by M. Simon at January 5, 2007 08:35 PMdestroy these fucks. I mean it. harsh as it sounds, it should be our only mantra.
is it clear enough these assholes want to trash the world and don't give the slightest fuck about anything. they must not only be stopped, they and their bullshit must be ground into paste for the sake of all life on earth. let's roll.
Posted by Sharkbabe at January 5, 2007 09:45 PMBaggy, still nursing those wounds of loss I see.
Posted by Judith at January 6, 2007 06:50 AMHere is some interesting experience getting to the bottom with electronic voting issues in Cook County in Chicago, using some advanced data forensics.
http://diamondinfoanalytics.com/blog1/2007/01/16/analytics-as-the-instrument-for-election-process-forensics/