Archives

29 October 2004

GOP Trickster Defends Shady Tactics

Nathan Sproul, under fire, for allegedly destroying Democrat registrations.
"It's unethical to not register anyone who comes to you to register," said Karen Osborne, a Democrat who is elections director for Maricopa County, Arizona's most populous county.

Whether the Justice Department is investigating Sproul is unclear. The department did not immediately return a call for comment, but Nevada Secretary of State Dean Heller said the FBI has taken the lead on an investigation into claims of voter fraud in his state by a company headed by Sproul.

Sproul is fighting back. After former canvasser Eric Russell of Las Vegas claimed that he saw a Sproul supervisor tear up eight to 10 registration forms completed by Democrats, Sproul hit Russell with a slander suit.

Russell said he managed to grab some of the shredded documents as evidence.

It's a shame when a "Christian" justifies such unethical practices, including adopting a name to purposefully confuse and mislead the public.

Voters Outreach of America — an organization reportedly run by Nathan Sproul, the former head of the Arizona Republican Party — has run registration drives in Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Florida and Nevada. These registration drives are often run under the name "America Votes," which is a problem, since America Votes is an actual nonpartisan political organization.

"Voters Outreach is not in any way, shape or form associated with us. They called themselves America Votes when they were registering voters," said Carrie Sandstedt, the Nevada director of America Votes. "We've actually sent out a letter to Sproul & Associates [Sproul's Arizona-based political consulting firm] asking them to stop calling themselves America Votes."

Salon has published a lenghty piece on the matter, showing that it's not just one "disgruntled employee" telling of impropriety with this RNC funded enterprise.

It should be a slam dunk if Russell indeed saved "shredded paperwork" that includes signed voter registration forms. Of course, lawyers for Sproul can counter that he was the one who destroyed those forms, unless Russell's testimony is collaborated.

And here is a videotape of past Sproul work, in an anti-Clean Elections campaign, demostrating more dishonesty.

28 October 2004

Once again, Southern conservatism is at its core

John Dean, former counsel to President Nixon, is predicting post-election chaos "unlike any we'ver ever known".
It is impossible to get a complete count, but it appears that at least 10,000 - and possibly as many as 150,000 -- attorneys, paralegals and law students will be working as observers, or handling election problems, on November 2-- just in the swing states. They have been trained in the relevant state's election laws, and they will focus on the casting and counting of votes.

With so many legal minds looking for problems and such combative attitudes on both sides, litigation seems inevitable - especially if the November 2 tally is close. And if litigation starts, it won't stop soon: A game of litigation chicken -- testing who will fold first - seems likely, with each party bent on holding out.

27 October 2004

Why don't they get new jobs if they're unhappy – or go on Prozac?

That, in essence, is the George W. Bush answer to outsourcing and mass displacement of American jobs to foreign locales. Kerry/Edwards have released their plan to keep high-paying jobs in America.
The Bush Administration refuses to acknowledge the extent of the challenge facing America's innovation-intensive services - a key engine of our 21st century economy. George Bush has even pronounced outsourcing "a plus" and has refused to take measures to defend America's competitive advantage or to help white-collar professionals displaced by the new wave of offshore outsourcing. This is not only insensitive to the needs of American families. It is short-sighted, blunting our competitive edge and putting the futures of even more Americans in doubt.

I have doubts that many of these proposals will have a major impact on the problem (or even be implemented – a Kerry victory may mean nothing but four years of Republican controlled Congress blockade), but at least one side has acknowledged that a problem does indeed exist. As opposed, to Republican appeasement in face of corporate and lobbyist public relations blitzes, that the issue is overblown and insignificant.

25 October 2004

An American demands the truth from Bush

Karl Schwarz was a guest on KFNX Charles Goyette this morning, and shared his interesting take on why he, as a conservative Christian Republican, cannot cast a vote for Bush. Here is his "30 Questions" email letter to Bush.
Mr. President,                                                              

I am a Conservative Christian Republican that has no intentions of voting for you in this year's election and many other Conservative Republicans are following me.

America demands the TRUTH and not after the elections; this nation demands the truth from you RIGHT NOW!  This letter and an identical email will be going out to hundreds of thousands by me, millions by others.  The following content was sent to the White House by facsimile earlier today from Ground Zero in New York City.


» read more

22 October 2004

12 reasons why it's not in the Republican Party's best interest to stop the outsourcing of jobs

The Greedy Dozen
Jobs are leaving America at an alarming rate. But rather than try to put a stop to the outsourcing, our current administration encourages it by giving tax incentives to companies that ship jobs to other countries - and Americans are left training the workers that will replace them.

Who are the worst, unpatriotic, un-American perpetrators? We bring you the GREEDY DOZEN - the twelve worst outsourcers in America. Take notice of where their campaign contributions are going...

Another reason to vote Kerry.

20 October 2004

Because blood is thinner than oil!

Bush Relatives for Kerry.
Bush Relatives for Kerry grew out of a series of conversations that took place between a group of people that have two things in common: they are all related to George Walker Bush, and they are all voting for John Kerry. As the election approaches, we feel it is our responsibility to speak out about why we are voting for John Kerry, and to do our small part to help America heal from the sickness it has suffered since George Bush was appointed President in 2000. We invite you to read our stories, and please, don't vote for our cousin!

General Franks Claim Contradicted by News Reports

Media Matters with an informative piece on Tommy Franks contradictions in his comment that "…neither attention nor manpower was diverted from Afghanistan to Iraq".
U.S. intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because intelligence matters are classified, said that as much as half of the intelligence and special forces assets in Afghanistan and Pakistan were diverted to support the war in Iraq.

18 October 2004

From whence came the brownshirt movement that slavishly adheres to the neocon agenda?

Former Reagan administration assistant treasury secretary Paul Craig Roberts with a harsh denunciation of the neoconservatives and their blind allegiance to Bush.
Bush’s supporters demand lock-step consensus that Bush is right. They regard truthful reports that Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction and was not involved in the September 11 attack on the US—truths now firmly established by the Bush administration’s own reports—as treasonous America-bashing.

Bush’s conservative supporters want no debate. They want no facts, no analysis. They want to denounce and to demonize the enemies that the Hannitys, Limbaughs, and Savages of talk radio assure them are everywhere at work destroying their great and noble country.

I remember when conservatives favored restraint in foreign policy and wished to limit government power in order to protect civil liberties. Today’s young conservatives are Jacobins determined to use government power to impose their will at home and abroad.

16 October 2004

Electoral College Graph

A timeline of the changing electoral vote landscape over the past few months.

12 October 2004

The rectangular bulge that was visible under Bush's suit coat during the presidential debates

Casting aside staff dismissals that it's just "a little lump", an expert says it looks like an electronic device he designs and makes.
Now a technical expert who designs and makes such devices for the U.S. military and private industry tells Salon that he believes the bulge is indeed a transceiver designed to receive electronic signals and transmit them to a hidden earpiece lodged in Bush's ear canal.

"There's no question about it. It's a pretty obvious one -- larger than most because it probably has descrambling capability," said Alex Darbut, technical and business development vice president for Resistance Technology in Arden Hills, Minn. Darbut examined photographs of the president's back taken from the Fox News video feed at the first presidential debate in Coral Gables, Fla., as well as 2002 photos of the president driving and working in a T-shirt on his Crawford ranch, which were posted on the White House Web site.

He cheated, and still lost the debate.

Update (04-10-28): NASA physicist says imaging techniques prove the president's bulge was not caused by wrinkled clothing.

How can Nelson be certain there's some kind of mechanical device beneath Bush's jacket? It's all about light and shadows, he says. The angles at which the light in the studio hit Bush's jacket expose contours that fit no one's picture of human anatomy and wrinkled shirts. And Nelson compared the images to anatomy texts. He also experimented with wrinkling shirts in various configurations, wore them under his jacket under his bathroom light, and couldn't produce anything close to the Bush bulge.

"Look, he says, "I'm putting myself at risk for exposing this. But this is too important. It's not about my reputation. If they force me into an early retirement, it'll be worth it if the public knows about this. It's outrageous statements that I read that the president is wearing nothing under there. There's clearly something there."


» read more

9 October 2004

Unfortunately, for the Iconoclast and its publishers there have been threats — big ones including physical harm

Disagreeing with conservatives has gotten to be a physically dangerous undertaking in the present political climate. We've seen incidents of arson and vandalism directed at Democratic campaign offices, assaults on protestors at Bush/Cheney appearances and outright political thuggery. Then there was this story about vicious personal hate filled diatribes delivered via greeting card inserts in response to lawn signs in support of John Kerry.

The Lone Star Iconoclast, the hometown newspaper of President George W. Bush in Crawford, Texas, is embroiled in reader repercussions for its endorsement of Senator John Kerry in the presidential race.

We expected that perhaps a few readers might cancel subscriptions, and maybe even ads, but have been amazed at a few of the more intense communications, some of which bordered on outright personal attacks and uncalled-for harassment.

We have been told by several avid Bush supporters that the days when newspapers publish editorials without personal repercussions are over. As publishers, we have printed editorials for decades, and have endorsed candidates, both Republican and Democrat. When Bush was endorsed four years ago, the Gore supporters did not respond with threats, nor did Democrats when we endorsed Reagan twice. Republicans did not threaten us personally or our business when we endorsed Carter and Clinton for their first terms.

It seems the endorsement of Kerry generated a firestorm of feedback, though most of the emails were supportive.

And these events are no surprise to me, given the level of hate spewed by some of the extremist right wing media voices like Ann Coulter who recently said "a baseball bat is the most effective way these days" to talk to a liberal or Michael Savage who commends prison abuses and claims Democrats are to blame for beheadings. Or Savage's remarks on Bill Clinton's recent heart surgey that "hell was full".

8 October 2004

Bush and Kerry are cousins

Not just fellow Skull & Bones members, but ninth cousins twice removed, too, according to genealogist Gary Boyd Roberts.
Genealogist Gary Boyd Roberts has revealed that President George Bush and his presidential rival John Kerry, are actually cousins.

According to The Sun, Roberts claims that the forefathers of Kerry and Bush hail from Wickford in Essex, and the link between them dates back to the 1600s in form of their common ancestor named Edmund Reade, who was reportedly a minor member of the town's gentry.