With 2.8 million votes cast in Washington state, a margin of 42 votes (yes, 42!) separates Democratic candidate Christine Gregoire from her Republican opponent.

She is calling for a manual recount of all ballots in the state for accuracy. The previous machine recount changed the margin from 261 to 42, but, accorrding to a MoveOn.org statement, irregularities such as "counties that can't explain where they found additional votes, precincts with more votes recorded than there are registered voters, and voters who were inexplicably purged from the rolls" has prompted the candidate to seek a manual recount of all ballots.

Funds for this recount are needed by today to guarantee the recount occurs! DONATE HERE!

In a stunning flip-flop from their pre-election rhetoric, the Bush Administration appears to have begun a new appeasement policy for Taliban rebels in Afghanistan.

The BBC is reporting the U.S. amabassador to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, has announced in a recent Kabul press conference that Taliban fighters who give up their arms and pledge their allegiance would be allowed to go free:

The "wildly successful" war in Afghanistan, where 18,000 U.S. troops are still stationed, began well over three years ago.

Neither Mullah Omar, the head of the Taliban regime at the time of the U.S.-lead invasion, nor Osama bin Laden, the purported target of that attack have been either captured or killed as of this posting.

Appeaser George W. Bush, who once claimed that we would capture bin Laden "dead or alive", has more recently stated that he is "truly...not that concerned about him".

Friend and occasional guest-blogger here, Jaime, had this to say in regards to yesterday's item on the banning of the United Church of Christ's 30-second spot by NBC and CBS because it's message of tolerance and anti-bigotry was simply "too controversial"...especially, as the CBS press-release points out, in light of their need to kowtow to the ominous totalitarian fear tactics of an Executive Branch Gone Wild.

Jaime give us a quick look at how the wingnuts over at FreeRepublic.com are displaying their "Christian Values":

By the way, the good folks at Act For Change are submitting a petition to NBC and CBS asking them to air this anti-bigotry ad. Click here to sign their petition.

Think they wouldn't do it? Think again.

Bush/Cheney's 2004 Northeast Regional Campaign Director is indicted:

Please note that Josh Marshall reported way back in October on Tobin and his involvement in the 2002 campaign phone-jamming scandal.

Which, Marshall pointed out back then, meant that the Bush/Cheney campaign knew full-well about Tobin's involvement in the scandal for at least three and a half months before he was forced to resign due to Democrat complaints about his position in the Bush/Cheney campaign.

Still think they wouldn't do it? If they'd go to such lengths for a mid-term senate race, after all...Why would they have stopped attempting to fix elections in 2004, the fight of their lives?

Following up on a report posted here last night concerning the activist Judge in Delaware County, OH who has issued a "temporary restraining order" against the Green/Libertarian Party's lawfully sought recount in Ohio, the BRAD BLOG has learned a few more EXCLUSIVE troubling details about the Republican operatives seeking to subvert the democratic process in the Buckeye State.

The restraining order was issued quietly on Nov. 23rd "without contacting or seeking any input from the candidates or their attorneys." according to a statement issued yesterday on Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb's website.

A continuing BRAD BLOG investigation has learned --- thanks to this posting at the extremist rightwing website FreeRepublic.com --- that the activist judge who issued this questionable order is Delaware County Court of Common Pleas Judge, W. Duncan Whitney (pictured at right). Judge Whitney is an elected Republican whose term will not expire until 2009.

As previously reported, the lawful request by a presidential candidate (two in this case) for a recount in Ohio has been agreed to by Ohio Secretary of State and Co-Chair of Ohio's Bush/Cheney Re-Elect Committee, J. Kenneth Blackwell. Furthermore, as confirmed today by The Washington Post, the Kerry/Edwards campaign has joined "The Glibs" in filing court papers asking for "a full, fair and accurate recount" and for the restraining order to be immediately lifted.

Judge Whitney, by his order, seems to be overriding the intentions of election laws as duly created by the Ohio State Legislature, prompting this blog to wonder what constitutional legal grounds Judge Whitney has used to declare his apparent "legislation from the bench".

As this information has come in after the Delaware County Courthouse has closed for the evening, the BRAD BLOG has, as yet, been unable to discover that information.

However, according to the FreeRepublic.com posting (copied from a now-expired Columbus Dispatch article) appointed Republican county prosecutor David A. Yost, a legal advisor for the Delware County board of elections (pictured at left), is quoted as indicating that re-counting the votes of American citizens in his Ohio county in order to ensure accuracy is simply too expensive...

I've got many items on the drawing board today concerning GRAND THEFT AMERICA, including many tips, news items, and other developments that I'm currently looking into. I hope to be back with more news on that shortly.

For the moment though, this particular item is so chilling to me that I need to mention it here quickly.

You may have seen this on other blogs today, but if you've ever had any questions about the chilling effect of this Administration and its FCC's latest, intrusive and increasingly-hardline stance on those who broadcast over our public airwaves, please have a look at this item!

NBC and CBS have both refused to air a 30 second spot about tolerance and inclusion --- from the United Church of Christ, of all organizations! --- because it is "too controversial". Apparently, the response from CBS tells us, it is the oblique references to homosexuality that is the reason for the censorship. References, I might add, that are difficult to even notice without a prior heads-up that that's what the ad refers to in the first place!

Most chilling, is this part of the statement by CBS, as quoted in a statement from the UCC, on why CBS is refusing to carry the commercial on either of Viacom-owned CBS or UPN [emphasis mine]...

From the BBC World News (via Raw Story):

Top 10 words of 2004 according to Merriam-Webster:

Perhaps #10 there was looked up by folks wondering what ever came of democracy in America.