The Seattle chapter of Drinking Liberally meets tonight (and every Tuesday), 8PM at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. Please join us for cheers, jeers and beers as we discuss this week’s political happenings.
I’ve been on a deadline all day, so I’m real thirsty.
And if you happen to be a liberal drinker on the other side of the mountains, the Tri-Cities chapter of DL also meets Tuesday nights, 7 PM, Atomic Ale, 1015 Lee Blvd., in Richland. Go ask Jimmy for more details.
Here is the latest update , state by state, of all the Republican “culture of corruption” pols indicted, under investigation, or convicted and currently serving time: http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/gopscorecard.php
Also, if you want to download or listen to the Neil Young album, Living with War, you can find a direct link to it here: http://www.hlrp.blogspot.com
Here is the latest update , state by state, of all the Republican “culture of corruption” pols indicted, under investigation, or convicted and currently serving time: http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/gopscorecard.php
Commentby headless lucy— 5/16/06@ 3:59 pm
Looks fairly innocuous to me. Less than 10% of the people on the list you linked have been indicted or convicted of anything. Maybe about 20 to 30 people nationwide (at all levels of state, local and federal governments) who have been charged with anything. Some of these people aren’t even government officials or political appointees.
I would imagine that the number of indicted or convicted Democrats during the Clinton Administration would be at least as much, if not far higher.
McGavick within 5 points of Cantwell. Put a fork in her. She’s done.
Time to turn up the gain on the hate machine goldy. Hey, maybe you can arrange a big oil hate rally and she can give the gouging speech for the thousandth fucking time. She can tell all you moonbats how grouchoandharpo should run the place.
I was thinking of stopping by this week. Will Ted The Swimmer be there? He’d never pass up free drinks.
Hey Rufus Fitzgerald Kennedy… are you going? Or Puddybud Kennedy?
Will you moonbats be riding the bus? Too bad to let Ron’s buses drive around empty.
Watching el presidente last night, blah blah yadda yadda blah blah, I felt like a character on Mystery Science Theater 2000, forced to watch a B horror movie, twitching at his inanity, nearly nauseated, heckling. So I turned off the volume and noticed Junior has large, pointy ears. Hmm. Then I noticed the backdrop flags. Anybody else notice their careful placement? Weird. The US flag on the left had its stripes pointing directly at tahe schmuck. The smaller flag on the right also had its stripes pointing right at him, like he was comic book Captain Freedom or something. There were some other props, photos, the family look. It’s all image with that clown, no substance. He’ll screw-up immigration reform like everything else.
Boy , I wonder if anyone saw the PI and their taking our girl Cantwell to task . I’m surprised Goldy never saw it .
Admittedly the GOP didn’t invent nor do they have a monopoly on corruption, deception and subterfuge. They have however significantly advanced the state of the art.
Cantwell leads by 19 points not much to worry about.
More GOP scandals…
* Republican staffers on the Senate Judiciary Committee were investigated for stealing thousands of confidential memos from Dem computers, a matter that has now been referred to the Justice Department for a possible criminal probe.
R. Pope sez:
“I would imagine that the number of indicted or convicted Democrats during the Clinton Administration would be at least as much, if not far higher.”
You “would imagine”? You’re usually Johnny Fact Check, Richard. Why would would you resort to IMAGINING? Could it perhaps have anything to do with the reality that FACTS prove contrary to your flaccid assertion?
Why do folks expect that even the more rational wingers like Richard Pope will respond to reasoned argument — and facts? That’s not their paradigm. Wingers know they can’t win on points, so instead they traffic in mass psychosis.
Wingers don’t care how the “commies” respond, because they are only props. The goal is to get a given meme embedded in popular discourse (e.g., Clinton more corrupt than Bush), and to do that repetition is all that matters. The outrageousness of the meme is immaterial. Indeed, the more outrageous, the more the public debate is likely to shift to the right.
A case in point is MTR’s advocacy of genocide against all Muslims. No mainstream Republican operative would dare state that out loud — yet. But the longer “freelance” wingers like MTR repeat that meme, the more legitimacy it is likely to gain.
This is why the wingers actually like it when folks argue with them, because it elevates their talking points. And this is why it is pure folly to think that you can “win” an argument with a winger.
I don’t mean to be overly negative here. It strikes me as a good sign that the wingers have been increasingly aggressive of late. That means they are running scared.
I agree Green Thumb. You look at the shit they spout and you hope this is all the GOP has to work with because if so, we win and we win big. I mean come on. Janet S arguing that Darcy should stay home because she has kids. Or MTR’s insane ravings. If that were the real voice of the GOP we’d win every election. I rarely try to engage them in argument. Poke fun at them? Call them names? Insult them? Sure. That’s why they’re here. But an actual discussion is simply not possible with any human being who can say they support the Bush regime after all the lies, corruption and deceit. Anyone who still supports Bush under these circumstances is completely drunk on the Kool Aid and won’t be coming back to this earth any time soon.
I wonder if the Seattle Chapter of the Liberal Losers Lonely Hearts Club will be discussing Stefan… again.
by Goldy, 05/16/2006, 10:52 AM
“With our good friend Stefan… ”
by Goldy, 05/15/2006, 9:34 PM
“Our sage friend Stefan …”
And that’s just the last 24 hours… and only by goldstein …
Has anyone ever taken a count of how many times the loonies bring him up?
Their magnificent obsession is bordering on creepy.
1,2,9,11 & 12
Did someone say corruption? Oh Ok…..
CLINTON MACHINE CRIMES
FOR WHICH CONVICTIONS
HAVE BEEN OBTAINED
Drug trafficking (3), racketeering, extortion, bribery (4), tax evasion, kickbacks, embezzlement (2), fraud (12), conspiracy (5), fraudulent loans, illegal gifts (1), illegal campaign contributions (5), money laundering (6), perjury, obstruction of justice.
Ohhh culture of corruption. YOu mean a culture like this…
OTHER MATTERS INVESTIGATED BY SPECIAL PROSECUTORS
AND CONGRESS, OR REPORTED IN THE MEDIA
Bank and mail fraud, violations of campaign finance laws, illegal foreign campaign funding, improper exports of sensitive technology, physical violence and threats of violence, solicitation of perjury, intimidation of witnesses, bribery of witnesses, attempted intimidation of prosecutors, perjury before congressional committees, lying in statements to federal investigators and regulatory officials, flight of witnesses, obstruction of justice, bribery of cabinet members, real estate fraud, tax fraud, drug trafficking, failure to investigate drug trafficking, bribery of state officials, use of state police for personal purposes, exchange of promotions or benefits for sexual favors, using state police to provide false court testimony, laundering of drug money through a state agency, false reports by medical examiners and others investigating suspicious deaths, the firing of the RTC and FBI director when these agencies were investigating Clinton and his associates, failure to conduct autopsies in suspicious deaths, providing jobs in return for silence by witnesses, drug abuse, improper acquisition and use of 900 FBI files, improper futures trading, murder, sexual abuse of employees, false testimony before a federal judge, shredding of documents, withholding and concealment of subpoenaed documents, fabricated charges against (and improper firing of) White House employees, inviting drug traffickers, foreign agents and participants in organized crime to the White House.
Is that the culture you are talking about?
Thumb and left… the reason we will continue to win is that assholes like you say that you “support the politics” of assholes who do cowardly shit like this:
http://www.september-11th.us/media/jumpers.mpg
And you have no knowledge of basic concepts:
Government exists to make private wealth possible.
Commentby Belltowner— 3/12/06@ 4:15 pm
I like Castro’s system better. He confiscates the employer’s property, shoots the employer, and the workers get quality health care for free. We need something like that in America.
Commentby Roger Rabbit— 3/19/06@ 3:42 pm
Don’t talk to me about “core beliefs…”
Commentby headless lucy— 3/25/06@ 7:07 pm
…the oil industry is a zero sum game ( like checkers )
Commentby headless lucy— 4/9/06@ 2:56 pm
“…higher PRODUCTIVITY means fewer jobs…”
Commentby Donnageddon— 4/9/06@ 4:06 pm
“Most wealthy people inherited their wealth and haven’t worked a day in their lives…”
Commentby headless lucy— 4/13/06@ 5:14 pm
..Corporate profits are driven by the cheap labor binge. Corporate executives, board members and their lackeys have rewarded themselves hugely.
Commentby For the Clueless— 4/15/06@ 12:12 pm
America has been reduced to an oil for paper trade.
Commentby For the Clueless— 4/15/06@ 1:05 pm
…The only way to battle the oil-paper-land casino is to opt out of it through micro-capitalism, localized production and consumption…
Commentby For the Clueless— 4/15/06@ 4:21 pm
The rich people who get all these tax breaks lend us that money back in the form of government bonds that they buy and that we have to repay them at interest.
This is not investing in the economy. It’s a double jeopardy rip-off!
Commentby harry poon— 4/18/06@ 8:21 pm
…I said the revenue was the result of deficit SPENDING DO YOU SEE THE WORD “SPENDING” SPENDING SPENDING SPENDING…
Commentby dlaw— 4/18/06@ 10:17 pm
“This most recent round of tax cuts will continue to explode the deficit by giving away over $900 Billion to the super-rich over the next ten years. [4/5/06 NYTimes]
Commentby Harry Tuttle aka Voter Advocate— 4/24/06@ 5:17 pm
How about redistributing the wealth so the top 1% don’t own 60% of all the property in theU.S.?
Commentby harry poon— 4/24/06@ 5:54 pm
If 1% of the population of the US gets the same amount of dollars yearly as the bottom 50%, why is it unfair to tax them at a higher rate?
Commentby harry poon— 4/24/06@ 7:51 pm
People who want to drill into our strategic oil reserves so Exxon/Mobil can have some short term profit are flat out TRAITORS!!!
Commentby harry poon— 4/27/06@ 8:25 pm
And since you most of you were raised by single mothers, you have no fucking idea how to act. You can’t lead. You don’t see long term consequences. You don’t understand how the world really works.
Rakeface and Dondon put it best:
…it’s just that the reality is vaginas make us men .
Comment by GBS— 12/29/05 @ 5:44 pm
…vaginas do indeed make us men.
Comment by Donnageddon— 12/29/05 @ 5:55 pm
Here we go again. RUFAS SUCKS DICK is posting the same old tired lame shit he’s posted 100 times – too bad no one cares about your lies RUFAS SUCKS DICK but it’s comforting to know you support the traitors in the White House.
More GOP scandal…
* The Federal Election Commission investigated the National Republican Congressional Committee and determined that the GOP illegally transferred donations to outside independent groups for assistance in the 2000 campaign. The NRCC was fined $280,000. (Updated 4/9/04)
Another GOP scandal…
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories.....5028.shtml
* The Texas GOP’s decision to seek assistance from the FAA to track down Democratic lawmakers fleeing the state to deny a legislative quorum was the subject of two formal inquiries — one from the U.S. Department of Transportation, the other from the Department of Homeland Security.
More GOP scandal…
* John Korsmo, Bush’s choice to chair the Federal Housing Finance Board, is the target of an ongoing Justice Department criminal probe related to his political fundraising activities and their subsequent cover-up. The scandal cost Korsmo his career; he was forced to resign from his position
Notice I haven’t had to repeat the same shit over and over like the inbred wingers? They make up shit about a guy who’s out of office six years and act like that’s a scandal and can’t answer the 50 I have posted dealing with the current GOP crooks in the Bush regime. How lame can they get? Never mind. I don’t want to know.
More GOP scandal…
* California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was investigated for violating state campaign finance laws, a charge for which he was later found guilty by a state judge. The state has a $100,000 cap on candidate loans; Schwarzenegger loaned himself over $4 million in the closing days of his campaign.
Death rattle is no longer strong enough. We need to come up with a new adjective to show just how bad the twisted traitors on the right are doing with the public. Confidence in GOP at an all time low!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12825539/
Let’s see you righties spin this. My guess is you’ll quickly change the subject. HE HE!
I have some good news for you moonbats. The world is NOT going to run out of oil any time soon. According to the CIA World Factbook, proved reserves of oil are currently 1.349 trillion barrels. Global consumption is 80 million barrels per day.
Knowing that most of you attended public school, let me explain some basic math. All those zeros can be confusing if you’re a moonbat fucking idiot like DonDon or Rakeface. 1.349 trillion can be expressed as 1.349 times ten to the 12th power. 80.1 million can be expressed as 80.1 times ten to the 6th power.
With all that as a helpful math lesson, I’ll leave it to you moonbats to calculate how many years of oil we have left based on proved reserves and current consumption.
Please post your answers. Tell me to just two “significant digits how many years our oil will last. I’ll grade your answers.
This oughta be entertaining… geez… I crack myself up sometimes…
By the way, Senator Cantwell, if you read my post at 26, you’re certainly welcome to take a crack at it. As soon as I have your wild ass guess, I’ll be more than happy to grade it. In fact, you’ll move to the head of the line.
Good luck…
Another GOP scandal…
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories.....5028.shtml
* The Texas GOP’s decision to seek assistance from the FAA to track down Democratic lawmakers fleeing the state to deny a legislative quorum was the subject of two formal inquiries — one from the U.S. Department of Transportation, the other from the Department of Homeland Security.
Commentby LeftTurn— 5/16/06@ 9:04 pm
A review a scandal? What charges were they looking into Left Turn?
Did they ever review the reason why dems abandoned their seats right before a crucial vote on rezoning? Hmmmmm I wonder?
@18, yeah sure, Vagina Lips. You who called for the genocide of muslims and asserted a correlation of the possession of a vagina and “stoopidity”, you can talk?
You are laughably insane.
Senator Cantwell… going back to 27… don’t ask Senator Dimbulb for help. We know she can’t do advanced math like this? Remember when she wanted to hire 100,000 teachers and proposed one billion dollars in funding? She was off by an “order of magnitude” (look it up).
Looking forward to your answer…
Ass – Show us how “smart” you are. Take my test at 26. Or are you a stoopid fucking woman too?
More GOP scandals and corrupt crony’s…
Katharine Armstrong, Anne Armstrong, covering up Dick’s drunken hunting accident (Katharine also seems to be present every time George and Tony get together to plan illegal wars)
More GOP scandals…Neil Bush, received donations earmarked from his mommy’s Katrina donation
(Uncle) Jonathan Bush, executive of the former Riggs Bank, money launderer for (among others) Augusto Pinochet and the Saudis
Joseph Canizaro, largely responsible for the Katrina profitable non-recovery
On immigration… I want to clarify something that you moonbats drink…
We are NOT a “nation of immigrants”. I was born here. My family has been here for 8 generations going back to “Tony The Redneck”. I am Murkan. My family quickly assimilated to the culture here and we became Murkans instantly.
Interesting story about Tony The Redneck…. when he left the home country he didn’ta speak the English. So one of his buddies put a sign around his neck that said “To New York” (and abbreviated New York) and took him to the docks. When he got to Ellis Island, the immigration guy thought that was his name, so he put “Tony” on his entry papers.
And a great line of Rednecks began…
Mark’s trying to make himself look smart, but it boils down to 134,900 divided by 8, or 46 years and a month…the same length of time it took Mark to first get laid.
However, the actual estimate of the world’s oil reserves from credible (ie, not corrupt) sources is 800,000,000 barrels, which puts the dry up date about 27 years.
Mind you, this doesn’t allow for growth. Add 5% per year in there for that, and all of a sudden the day is damn near twice as near.
Ah, typical selfish bullshit from the likes of Mark. He doesn’t give a single shit about his own kids–hell, he’d sell ’em to puddybud as “stinky finger friends” if he thought there was a dollar in it. Just like his brokeback-fantasy-object GWB, he simply puts the problem on the backs of the next generation. I mean, who cares if he’s got his?
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico-Mexico said Tuesday that it would file lawsuits in U.S. courts if National Guard troops on the border become directly involved in detaining migrants. Mexican border officials also said they worried that sending troops to heavily trafficked regions would push illegal migrants into more perilous areas of the U.S.-Mexican border to avoid detection. […………..Silverstein, Lowenstein, Loeb, and Goldystein standing by and ready to sue!!!!!!]
Eight generations, and not a single branch on the family tree.
How to get rid of 22 million illegal aliens: Kill a few and the word will get out. If their military tries to intervene like it did a bit ago, kill a few more.
At 100,000 per year, it will take one hundred years to deport all the illegals already here.
But at least it’s a start.
C17s and C141s to Mexico City daily. No need to build detention facilities. If they won’t let us land, jettison the cargo at 3000 feet.
They won’t come back.
Goldystein, Do you consider yourself and American, or do you have dual allegence? If all the girls were drafted first, and if you every HAD to serve in a military, would you be in an American uniform?
More GOP scandals.
Here are four upstanding republicans that the righties tell their kids they should look up to…
All have been CONVICTED of crimes.
James Tobin, guilty of conspiracy for jamming the Democrats phones in NH in 2002
William Weld, for fraud related to Decker College
Brent Wilkes, guilty of bribing Randy Cunningham, possibly with hookers
Charles Wyly, for tax evasion (also funded the anti-McCain black baby ads and the Swift Boat campaign)
Maryland U.S. Senate candidate Kweisi Mfume said yesterday that Democrats risk losing the senatorial election because ”old-line party bosses” are undermining his campaign and alienating black voters. /break/ ”I can say that there will be people who will feel disaffected [if I am not the nominee],” Mr. Mfume told editors and reporters at The Washington Times. [………….In other words, “I gottsa win da election, or we be burnin down Baltimore!!!!”
Oh you mean party corruption like this
Voter fraud charges probed
GOP candidate claims 2 city Democrat forged up to 30 absentee ballots in primary
By DENNIS YUSKO, Staff writer
Click byline for more stories by writer.
First published: Thursday, October 20, 2005
MECHANICVILLE — State Police confirmed they are investigating voter fraud allegations leveled against two city Democrats.
The investigation stems from allegations raised by Republican mayoral candidate Jeff Brown, who alleged Joseph Connors, the city Democratic Committee chairman, and his brother William Connors, economic development director, engaged in voter fraud before primary day in September.
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Brown made the accusations during a news conference on Wednesday, saying the claims are based on evidence gathered by a private investigator he hired. Neither Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy III nor State Police would elaborate.
William Connors responded to the charges, through a message left on a reporter’s voice mail: “It’s typical, dirty politics from the GOP. I’m not concerned on this end.”
His attorney, Kevin Luibrand of Albany, said 8 to 10 city residents have provided statements saying the private investigator hired by Brown threatened them in an abusive manner while interviewing them on primary day, Sept. 17.
Brown called on the Connors brothers to step down from their political posts while they are being investigated. Joseph Connors is also employed by the city as a part-time animal control officer.
Brown claims the brothers tried to obtain the Conservative Party line nomination before primary day by forging absentee ballot applications for up to 30 city residents, picking up the ballots and turning some of them in.
Though Brown won the Conservative primary 32-27 over Democratic mayoral candidate Anthony Sylvester, he said the Connors brothers filled in several ballot applications for residents, falsely claiming they would be out of town.
He said he hired the private investigator, who gathered evidence on the alleged forgeries, and forwarded it to Murphy.
“This political machine in Mechanicville led by the Connors brothers is out of control and is infringing on people’s rights,” said Brown, a 25-year-old former member of the Mechanicville Board of Education.
State Police confirmed that Investigator Patricia Donovan of the Clifton Park barracks is investigating a “voter fraud” case in Mechanicville at Murphy’s request.
“We are conducting the investigation, and it’s currently an active investigation. At this time, we have no comment,” said Lt. Scott Coburn of the State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigations.
The Mechanicville Police Department received no complaints from residents about a private investigator and recused itself to ensure an independent probe, Mechanicville Police Chief Joseph Waldron said.
The Conservative Party had endorsed Brown, meaning his name was listed on absentee ballots. Democrats challenged the endorsement, and voters had to write in Sylvester’s name to vote for him.
Brown said he became suspicious when more than 30 absentee ballots were sent in for the Conservative primary, many of which were allegedly picked up by Joseph Connors or William Connors and contained the same handwriting at the top.
Many voters whose absentee ballots were submitted have stated they never intended to leave the city on primary day, Brown said. The applications contained valid signatures because voters signed blank pieces of paper, Brown alleged.
His charges come as Republicans mount challenges for four of the five seats on the City Council, which is controlled exclusively by Democrats. Brown asked the state Board of Elections to monitor voting in the city during the general election next month and urged city Democrats to disassociate themselves from the Connors brothers.
Democrats would not comment.
and like this…
Dem Ethics?
South Dakota Dems don’t acknowledge the importance of their voter-fraud problem.
By Jon K. Lauck.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D — Election tactics can brand a pol for life. Democrats perpetuated a half century of Nixon-hating following his defeat of Helen Gahagan Douglas, the “Pink Lady,” in the bruising 1952 California Senate race. And thanks to two decades of research by Robert Caro, LBJ will forever be remembered for stealing the 1948 Senate race in Texas. When LBJ’s lawyer (and fixer) Ed Clark needed extra votes, Caro reports, he said it “meant going into the Mexican country: the Rio Grand River, the border…” Sen. Tim Johnson’s (D., S.D.) campaign attempted a similar strategy on Indian reservations. And he, too, will be remembered for his bounty-hunting even if he wins.
In May, the head of the national Democratic party told the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, “We’re actively going after the Native American community,” and Johnson’s manager noted that the campaign was working hand-in-hand with the national group. In March, Johnson had told the Lakota Journal that he hoped to open a campaign office on each of South Dakota’s nine reservations. By July, he had made good on his promise.
After a voting-fraud scandal broke, however, the Johnson campaign denied that it had any offices on the reservations. According to the Associated Press, “[w]hen a reporter called the Lower Brule Reservation, a woman said she was a field officer for Johnson’s campaign and referred the reporter to Johnson’s office. [Johnson Campaign Manager Steve] Hildebrand said the woman was mistaken and that she works for the Democratic Party.” Two days later, however, Sen. Johnson himself told the Washington Times, “We do have campaign offices in Indian Country.” Soon afterward he backpedaled, telling Newsweek’s Howard Fineman, “That’s the state party’s business, not my campaign’s.”
At the heart of the problem is the Democrats’ decision to adopt the unorthodox practice of paying $3-per-head bounties for voter-registration cards and absentee-ballot requests, making fraud practically inevitable. The more registration cards and absentee-ballot requests one fills out, the greater the size of one’s check from the South Dakota Democratic party — and, naturally, the greater dimensions of the voter-fraud problem election officials must now untangle.
The Pennington County sheriff noted that one individual had probably gathered his bounties by copying names from the phonebook or from newspaper obituaries. At least six dead people were registered to vote. Further compounding the odds of fraud, the Democrats selected a man on work-release from jail to be the bounty-hunter. No one should now be surprised that such circumstances led to charges of forgery. Indeed, the only reason more counts weren’t filed was that authorities decided to prosecute only the “worst five.”
On Thursday, two women in Fall River County discovered that someone had forged Republican registration cards and reregistered them in counties at the other end of the state as Democrats — a move which could have deprived the people initially registered of their right to vote. Fortunately, one of the women worked for the state’s attorney, who was alert to the fraud problem.
Or take the now-infamous Becky Red Earth Villeda Maka Duta (BREVMD, for short). BREVMD collected more than $13,000 in bounties before being terminated for the voting irregularities that had piled up on her watch. Again, the Democrats compounded the odds of fraud by choosing this bounty hunter, who had previously been accused of submitting an election petition that contained a forgery. According to the attorney general, at least 15 forged absentee-ballot requests can be traced to BREVMD and she could be linked to as many as 1,750 questionable absentee-ballot applications. She herself claims that the charges are part of a conspiracy, organized by Dan Quayle’s nephew, to suppress Indian voting. The same conspiracy story (absent the Dan Quayle twist) has since become the Democrats’ mantra.
On October 17, the Mitchell Daily Republic reported that the Buffalo County auditor had turned suspicious registration cards over to the sheriff. The auditor for Lyman County also noted that registration confirmation cards had been returned — showing that their intended recipients did not exist. In Pennington County, 230 voter-registration cards are being analyzed for fraud; in Shannon County, one in ten of the 1,000 new voter registrations are being scrutinized; and at least 50 voter registrations are under scrutiny in Roberts County. And the Rapid City Journal recently reported that Meade County was investigating 5 questionable Democratic voter registrations and Hughes County was investigating 4. In a state known for close races — Tom Daschle won his first election by 139 votes — every suspicious registration demands investigation.
Reports from Dewey and Ziebach Counties have caused particular concern. Perhaps most famously, one woman applied for absentee ballots in both counties — twenty days after she had been killed in a car wreck. It remains unclear who signed and dated the fraudulent ballot requests, but the problem applications arrived in large envelopes containing other applications from the South Dakota Democratic party in Sioux Falls. Only time can tell how many of the registrations and absentee-ballot requests in those envelopes turn out to be problematic. But when the Democratic party sends Dewey County 350 applications for absentee ballots — amounting to 10 percent of registered voters in the county — and indicates that all 350 applicants will be out of the county on Election Day, something seems fishy. A frustrated Dewey County told the Argus Leader: “There’s no accountability.”
The Democratic party insists that only a “single person and a handful of documents” are at issue. Given the widespread accounts of fraud, however, this explanation falls flat: The FBI and the attorney general do not generally launch a large-scale investigation for one person and a couple of documents. And yet the Democrats persist. The same day that the Rapid City Journal reported additional fraud investigations underway in Meade and Hughes Counties, the Democrats were declaring that there were “absolutely no credible accounts of widespread voter-registration or absentee-ballot fraud.” The Democrats are refusing to let a state and federal investigation into voter fraud in 25 counties, involving as many as 1,750 registrations, to interfere with their spin. And, predictably, they are blaming Republicans for suppressing minority voting — even as they also reject Republican calls for federal election monitors to ensure a fair and open election.
Only when Democrats acknowledge the scale of the problem they created by paying voter bounties can the problem be properly addressed. And, win or lose, Sen. Johnson will likely never escape the taint of the bounty-hunting scandal.
or like this…
St. Louis Democratic Comptroller Darlene Green
A decision may be reached today on whether Nonaresa Montgomery committed perjury in her 2001 testimony regarding discredited voter listings that she admitted she turned into the elections office on the last elegible day. Closing arguments were scheduled for this morning:
On tape, Montgomery admitted taking from 1,000 to 1,200 voter registrations to the St. Louis Board of Elections on Feb. 7, 2001, just before the mayoral primary. Workers there launched an investigation after noticing that among the new voters was longtime Alderman Albert “Red” Villa, who died in 1990.
Montgomery told the grand jury that many of the fraudulent cards could have come from Operation Big Vote offices, based on the initials of volunteers and distinctive markings. She also matched initials to the names of more than a half-dozen workers.
Six volunteers pleaded guilty in December of dozens of election law violations for filling out the cards with names of the dead and other bogus information. One still faces charges.
Montgomery had testified to the grand jury that she could not definitively track the cards she turned in. “Well, I don’t have the ability to track the cards, I mean the registrations, once we give them to the Board of Elections,” she said in response to a question from a female grand juror.
Prosecutors say that Montgomery perjured herself in that statement. They say she did have copies of the registrations but disposed of them after a Feb. 12, 2001, meeting – sparking a second charge of tampering with evidence.
That meeting, held in the campaign headquarters of St. Louis Comptroller Darlene Green, was attended by Montgomery, Keena Carter, the assistant Democratic director of the election board, and Pearlie Evans, a longtime political activist who was Green’s campaign manager.
Evans told jurors Tuesday that during the three-hour meeting there was a discussion about getting rid of the copies, but she could not remember who was involved. She was vehement that Green did not participate.
or like this….
Kelvin Ellis, a top administrator at East St. Louis City Hall, was indicted yesterday for plotting to kill a witness in the year long East St. Louis, Illinois federal vote fraud investigation.
…Federal officials made only measured statements at a news conference, and hinted there is more to come from a yearlong investigation. This is “the beginning of a concerted and focused effort to root out public corruption,” said Weysan Dun, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Springfield, Ill., field office, which has jurisdiction over the Metro East area.
Ellis, 55, who once served a prison term after abusing a city post, is now the director of regulatory affairs, which puts him in charge of housing inspections. He also is a precinct committeeman with close ties to the community’s Democratic Party leaders.
The indictments accuse Ellis of trying to have an unidentified witness killed. Court documents say he is a target of an ongoing vote fraud inquiry. He also is accused in a separate indictment of income tax evasion.
The investigation became public last year when more than a dozen subpoenas were delivered to city Democratic Party leaders after the November election.
According to one of Ellis’ indictments, the investigation began at least a month earlier. A female witness told agents on Oct. 5 that Ellis, “had committed election fraud and other potential criminal offenses.” Ellis learned the same day of the substance of what she had said, the indictment states.
In the following days, Ellis spoke repeatedly with an unidentified person, first discussing plans to discredit the witness, perhaps through a bogus drug sting, court documents say. The indictment includes excerpts of what appear to be recordings of these conversations between Ellis and the other person.
“I want her credibility destroyed,” Ellis is reported to have said. She is “trying to destroy us. No telling what she’s saying.”
As the weeks passed, the conversations turned more sinister, with Ellis saying on Nov. 19, “I want her … taken out, however we have to do it.”
Ellis was convicted in 1990 of extortion. He had been an executive assistant to Mayor Carl E. Officer, officials said, when Ellis stopped work on a nursing home project until its builder steered work to a company Ellis controlled. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 21 months.
The fraud investigations were first reported in the Post Dispatch in early January…
The investigation is limited to 13 absentee votes that were cast from a boardinghouse in East St. Louis. The federal government has declined to talk about its case, but a search warrant issued during an FBI raid at East St. Louis City Hall on Nov. 23 indicates that the reach is much greater. Oliver Hamilton, a Democratic precinct committeeman, owns the boardinghouse, at 1232 Cleveland Avenue, targeted by the investigation.
or like this….
Big Vote was part of a national campaign — promoted by Democrats — to register more black voters and get them to vote in the November elections.
Montgomery is accused of hiring about 30 workers to do fraudulent voter-registration canvassing.
They were supposed to have canvassed black neighborhoods and recorded names of potential voters to be contacted later to vote in the Nov. 7 election. And they were paid by the number of cards they filled out.
Instead of knocking on doors, however, they sat down at a fast-food restaurant and wrote out names and information from an outdated voter list.
The charges stem from about 1,500 fraudulent voter registration cards that were turned in to the St. Louis Board of Elections on Feb. 7, 2001, the deadline for registering for the mayoral primary.
Board employees realized that there was a serious problem with some of the cards when they spotted the name of longtime alderman Albert “Red” Villa, who died in 1990.
Apparently Montgomery is not the one who filled out the fake voter registration cards (six Operation Big Vote workers pleaded guilty in December to dozens of election law violations and one still faces charges) but Montgomery failed to tell a local grand jury investigating the case about a meeting , and failed to mention when asked that she had copies of some or all of the voter registrations.
The meeting referred to in the case was in February 2001 where discussion about destroying the fake voter cards to stymie police investigators…
The meeting was at the campaign office of Comptroller Darlene Green.
The probable cause statement says Green attended, and “the idea of burning copies of the registration cards was discussed”.
Also attending: political consultant Pearlie Evans and St. Louis election board official Keena Carter. Carter (Assistant Democratic Election Director ) is now cooperating with investigators.
Darlene Green testified late Wednesday…
Carter, Montgomery and a Democratic Representative Bill Clay operative, Pearlier Evans, all met with Green to discuss the problem of the cards. Green confirmed for the jury today that “it was discussed, what should we do with them”.
Several times, prosecutors had to jog Green’s memory by showing her pages of her testimony before a grand jury. She insisted she had little memory of the meeting, saying, “There’s no way I could remember what was said.”
Under questioning by Montgomery’s defense lawyer, Green’s memory was usually much better, and she was quite cooperative with Herman Jimerson.
After the meeting at Green’s office, the voter cards disappeared, and have never been found.
Montgomery has waived the sentencing hearing and received two years probation.
Judge David Mason added conditions that included community service work in which she would help young people understand how to properly register to vote.
**Here is a video of the court proceedings from the trial.**
Note: The defendent’s lawyer says the accusations are politically motivated yet all of those involved were either Democrat office holders, consultants or operatives. Democrats have dominated the politics in St. Louis City for years. Republicans have not held the mayor’s office since Aloys P. Kaufman held the office from 1943- 1949.
or like this….
Dannita Youngblood, 30, testified during the trial of five Democratic politicians in East St. Louis that one of the defendants, her former East St. Louis city hall boss, Kelvin Ellis (who operated a prostitution ring from City Hall), told Kern during the October call that the price to pay a voter would have to be increased. In October, Kern (the former Belleville Mayor) was the Democratic candidate for the chairman’s job.
Under questioning by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Carr, Youngblood was asked whether she was certain that Ellis talked to Kern about buying votes.
“Yes sir, he (Ellis) stated that,” answered Youngblood, who said she was then considered to be a member of Ellis’ political “A-team” and was not suspected of being a spy.
“He said he might have to start them off at $10,” because of Kern’s reputation in a nearly all black city and Democratic stronghold crucial to his hopes of getting elected County Board chairman, Youngblood testified Kern was told.
She stated that Kern, who is white, later met at his political headquarters in Belleville with herself and five other black East St. Louis politicians, including Ellis and Yvette Johnson, both on trial for vote fraud.
Youngblood testified, “He (Kern) was considered to be a racist within the city of East St. Louis.”
The Democrat A-Team made a “Vote Buying Spreadsheet” (in Excel!)to display at meetings with “racists”:
Kern was given a copy of results for a previous election for East St. Louis that outlined how many votes needed to be bought, Youngblood stated. She said she made the spreadsheet at Ellis’ direction and that Ellis first showed it to Charles Powell, the East St. Louis Democratic Committee chairman. Powell is also a defendant in the same trial but was not at the meeting with Kern.
“I was told to make copies and bring it to our meeting with Mr. Kern,” Youngblood testified about the document.
When an image of the spreadsheet was displayed for jurors on an overhead screen, Carr pointed out handwriting in the margin that Youngblood testified was hers. She said it showed that the amount of money being sought for a particular precinct was $1,320, or $5 multiplied by the 264 voters who voted for the Democratic precinct committeeman in the 2000 election. There was no explanation why it was $5 per vote and not $10. Other precincts had similar computations.
According to county election documents, Kern gave cash, made in-kind contributions or loaned $177,370 to the county Democratic Central Committee from Oct. 17 to Nov. 1, about half of what the entire committee had on hand just before the election.
Youngblood said that during the meeting, both she and McIntosh wore concealed recording devices installed by the FBI.
But Carr, the prosecutor, stopped short of eliciting testimony about what was said at the meeting with Kern and Sprague. It is not known whether there are tapes of the session, although jurors spent most of the day listening to excerpts from 19 secret tapes made by Youngblood and McIntosh of vote buying in East St. Louis allegedly involving one or more of the trial’s five defendants.
More is coming out from the testimony today in the St. Louis Post Dispatch:
Youngblood’s testimony was largely directed at Ellis and Johnson. Her claims included:
* Seeing Ellis pay voters in the 2002 election, when Ellis was running for precinct committeeman. It happened in the bathroom and open areas of a home near the poll, she said.
* Paying voters herself in the November election, which she insisted was at the behest of Ellis and Johnson.
* Observing Ellis flash five fingers, then 10, when asked how much voters should be paid.
* Having Ellis tell her to type a racist, anonymous letter urging Republican election judges to get blacks out of power; she said it was a ploy to keep them out of the city on Election Day.
My apologies for not putting this story in proper context, Charles Powell is “Head of the Democratic Party in East St. Louis”.
Defense Lawyer, Bruce Cook, is going to try to paint the FBI as the guilty party. The defense is also going to attack the federal witnesses.
Cook, who developed a national reputation as a personal injury lawyer in Belleville, has been an area leader in the party himself.
On Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Carr said money flowed from the powerful St. Clair County Democrats based in Belleville to their counterparts in East St. Louis.
“This is a conspiracy to get poor, undereducated, addicted, uninterested persons to vote,” he said in his opening remarks. “Those who could care less; those who look forward to election day as payday.
“Literally on the eve of the election, the St. Clair County Democratic Committee sent thousands of dollars to each precinct committeeman to be spent,” Carr said. “Phony, bogus, outrageous budgets had been sent to cover up what was going on.”
Cook was first up for the defense on Tuesday and given unlimited time by U.S. District Judge G. Patrick Murphy for his opening statement. It meandered from the Industrial Revolution to the Civil War and even touched on vote fraud allegations he said were leveled against George Washington before the American Revolution.
As far as defendent Sheila Thomaas, her attorney had this to say:
“There will be no direct evidence that my client paid anyone a thing,” he said. Thomas apparently made one secretly recorded statement that “we paid everybody,” but he said that was open to interpretation, especially when the entire conversation is heard.
Also, Cal Skinner, over at The Illinois Leader has a great article and this to add:
The beneficiaries of the alleged scheme were Democrat Presidential candidate John Kerry, Illinois State Supreme Court candidate Gordon Maag and Mark Kern, the Democratic candidate for Chairman of the St. Clair County Board of Commissioners…
It used to be called “walking around money.” Now, according to the St. Clair County Democratic Central Committee’s reports to the State Board of Elections, it’s called, “election expenses.” $76,150 was reportedly paid to 51 individuals living in East St. Louis days before the 2004 election.
Powell was a member of the East St. Louis city council until he was voted out of office in April. Two weeks before that election, he was indicted for vote fraud.
In late March three other Democratic precinct committeemen–Lillie Nichols, Leroy Scott, Jr., and Terrance Stith–pled guilty to “knowingly and willfully” paying or offering “to pay voters for voting” during a federal elections.
They agreed to render assistance that, if “found to be complete and thoroughly truthful” (underlining in the plea agreement), could lead to the U.S. Attorney’s recommendation of a reduction in their sentences. Democratic precinct worker Sandra Stith, Terrance’s wife, entered into a similar plea arrangement.
Ellis is also charged with writing a “threatening and misleading” letter to Republican election judges “in order to intimidate” them “so they would not appear at their assigned polling place.”
Cal also has a list of the names of 51 election officials and the amount they were paid for “election expenses” from the East St. Louis Democrat Party.
The trial is expected to last 2 to 4 weeks.
East St. Louis: corrupt Democrat shit hole. aka Harare, Zimbabwe
CITY OF REDMOND
Ballots Cast/Registered Voters: 6304 / 23983 26.29%
Poll Precincts Counted/Total Poll Precincts: 60
/ 60 100.00%
Proposition No. 1 Increase In Regular Property Tax Levy Rate
YES 2416 38.34%
NO 3886 61.66%
This was a 53% Tax Increase proposal.
The King County Journal highly recommended it’s passage or citizens will be dying in hoards!
SOURCES SAY Goldy stumbles ought of the Montlake Ale House shit-faced as usual. A cop sees Goldy stumbling around and asks if he needs any help. Goldy replies, “I can’t find my car!”. The cop asks Goldy where he last saw it. Goldy pulls out his key chain and slurs “The last time I saw my car was right on the enda this KEY”!
The cop then notices Goldy has no pants or undies on.
The cop yells at Goldy, “SIR, DO YOU REALIZE YOU ARE PUBLICLY EXPOSING YOURSELF?!!!”
Goldy looks down and sez “SHIT, I LOST DARCY BURNER TOO!!!!!!!!!”
Goldy andThe Talking Clock
While proudly showing off his new apartment to his gay chums tonight, Goldy led the way to his bedroom where there was a big brass gong.
“What’s that big brass gong for?” one of his dates asked. “Why, that’s the talking clock” Goldy replied. “How does it work?” “Watch”, Goldy said, giving it an ear-shattering pound with a hammer.
Suddenly, someone on the other side of the wall screamed, “For fuck sake, you wanker, it’s 2am in the fucking morning!!”
Those are singularly unfunny “jokes.” Can’t republican dimwits do anything right?
Hey Goldy
Another blog improvement idea: limit comment lengths to 1000 characters or similar. That way when JCH or Rufus start pasting their talking points, the rest of us don’t have to swim through the shit.
I bet JCH has a weedy little mustache.
BUSH ORDERS NATIONAL GUARD TO PROTECT APPROVAL RATING
10,000 Troops to Prevent Supporters From Leaving Country
In a nationally televised address last night, President George W. Bush announced that he would order 10,000 National Guard troops to protect his sagging approval rating.
The use of the National Guard to safeguard the president’s political fortunes struck many Beltway observers as highly unorthodox, and Mr. Bush’s decision to do so seemed likely to draw fire from congressional Democrats.
But with his approval rating hovering at 29%, the president said he had “no choice” but to use the National Guard to prevent that number from sinking any lower.
Speaking from the White House with his now-familiar tone of steely resolve, Mr. Bush said that he would send 10,000 troops to the Mexican border to prevent any of his supporters from leaving the country.
“Many of my supporters have amazing second homes south of the border,” Mr. Bush said. “By taking this action, I am sending the clear message that they are not to leave the country until the midterm elections are over.”
The president stopped short of saying that any supporters caught leaving the country would be shot on sight, but he warned, “Their tax cuts will be history.”
Even as Mr. Bush was tightening security at the Mexican border, he said that he had “no plans” to keep people from fleeing to Canada: “Everyone who wanted to move to Canada did so after I was reelected in 2004.”
Elsewhere, surgeons who successfully separated conjoined twins over the weekend said they failed to separate Sen. John McCain’s lips from Jerry Falwell’s ass.
More GOP scandals…
Republican Connecticut Gov. John Rowland is under a criminal investigation (and an impeachment investigation) after he lied about prominent state contractors and several government aides paying for
Haley Barbour, for funding GOP Marketplace, the NH phone jamming firm
More GOP scandals…
Republican Lanny Griffith indicted, for funding GOP Marketplace, the NH phone jamming firm, also involved in New Bridge Strategies, arranging business deals in Iraq.
More GOP scandals…
Republican Wally O’Dell indicted, for allegations of fraud (former CEO of Diebold)
More GOP scandals…
Republican Manuel Stamatakis indicted, for suspect insurance contracts negotiated for the Philadelphia port authority.
News Flash: MONKEYS are able to string together a simple “sentence”, according to research that offers the first evidence that animals might be capable of a key feature of language.
British scientists have discovered that the putty-nosed monkey in Nigeria sometimes communicates by combining sounds into a sequence [ebonics] that has a different meaning from any of its component calls, an ability that was thought to be uniquely human. British scientists noted that the monkeys first sentence was “Mofo GBS is a homo”.