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Latest Featured Reports | Thursday, March 28, 2024
BRAD BLOG Spring Breaking
And not a moment too soon...
Sunday 'Roll Out the Barrel' Toons
FEATURING: Rich Con, Poor Con!...Sex-Havers!...March Madness!...More! Have a barrel of fun with our latest collection of the week's best toons!...
It's Up to You, New York: 'BradCast' 3/21/24
Trump staring down barrel of both civil and criminal accountability in NY; Also: Biden forgives another $6B in student loans; U.S. seeks 'sustained ceasefire' in Gaza; Scientists baffled by spike in record global heat...
'Green News Report' 3/21/24
  w/ Brad & Desi
Biden EPA issues biggest climate regulation in U.S. history; Rio hits 144°F heat index!; Exxon CEO blames YOU for climate change; PLUS: U.N. issues climate change 'red alert'!...
Previous GNRs: 3/19/24 - 3/14/24 - Archives...
'It All Comes Down to Brett and Amy': 'BradCast' 3/20/24
Guest: Slate's Mark Joseph Stern on another stunning week of federal judiciary debacles; Also: Primary results from AZ, FL, IL, KS, OH, CA; Biden EPA's 'biggest climate move yet'...
American 'Bloodbath':
'BradCast' 3/19/24
Trump is promising political violence whether he wins or loses; Also: Navarro goes to prison; Scofflaw MI MAGA attorney arrested; SCOTUS allows TX to override federal law, Constitution; Biden's SOTU success...
'Green News Report' 3/19/24
  w/ Brad & Desi
EPA finally bans all uses of asbestos; Biden unveils billions for rebuilding communities broken by highway construction; Extreme heat in Africa; PLUS: MA coastal town follies...
Previous GNRs: 3/14/24 - 3/12/24 - Archives...
Corporations 'Taking a Bazooka' to NLRB, Hoping to Declare it 'Unconstitutional': 'BradCast' 3/18/24
Guest: Labor journo Steven Greenhouse; Also: Putin's 'election'; Trump can't find $450M...
Sunday 'Wouldn't Wanna Be Ya' Toons
FEATURING: Moses Mike...Trump II Terror...TikTok Truth...and more in our latest collection of the week's most secular toons!...
Schumer Steps Up; Trump Associates Paid Biden 'Bribe' Liar $600k: 'BradCast' 3/14/24
Also: TikTok foolishness; NY hush-money trial delay?; Navarro must go to jail; Trump owes $400k for failed 'Steele Dossier' suit in UK...
'Green News Report' 3/14/24
FL bans heat protections for workers; Methane leaks continue; GOP Project 2025 would ban Paris Agreement; PLUS: CA snowpack is back, but too late for salmon...
After Accountability for Fraud, What's Next for the Corrupt NRA and Gun Safety Reforms?: 'BradCast' 3/13/24
Guest: Brady Center's Kelly Sampson; Also: Biden, Trump clinch; GA judge nixes 6 counts...
How to Media Better and Other Smart Ideas:
'BradCast' 3/12/24
Press quietly resets weeks of misreporting on Biden; Suggestions for NYT; Stephanopoulos v. Mace; Also: Buck quits; RNC 'bloodbath'; WI's MAGA Speaker Recall...
'Green News Report' 3/12/24
Biden touts climate jobs boom at SOTU; Feb. obliterated global temp and ocean heat records; PLUS: Great Barrier Reef hit with yet another 'mass bleaching event'...
BARCODED BALLOTS AND BALLOT MARKING DEVICES
BMDs pose a new threat to democracy in all 50 states...
VIDEO: 'Rise of the Tea Bags'
Brad interviews American patriots...
'Democracy's Gold Standard'
Hand-marked, hand-counted ballots...
Brad's Upcoming Appearances
(All times listed as PACIFIC TIME unless noted)
Media Appearance Archives...
'Special Coverage' Archives
GOP Voter Registration Fraud Scandal 2012...
VA GOP VOTER REG FRAUDSTER OFF HOOK
Felony charges dropped against VA Republican caught trashing voter registrations before last year's election. Did GOP AG, Prosecutor conflicts of interest play role?...

Criminal GOP Voter Registration Fraud Probe Expanding in VA
State investigators widening criminal probe of man arrested destroying registration forms, said now looking at violations of law by Nathan Sproul's RNC-hired firm...

DOJ PROBE SOUGHT AFTER VA ARREST
Arrest of RNC/Sproul man caught destroying registration forms brings official calls for wider criminal probe from compromised VA AG Cuccinelli and U.S. AG Holder...

Arrest in VA: GOP Voter Reg Scandal Widens
'RNC official' charged on 13 counts, for allegely trashing voter registration forms in a dumpster, worked for Romney consultant, 'fired' GOP operative Nathan Sproul...

ALL TOGETHER: ROVE, SPROUL, KOCHS, RNC
His Super-PAC, his voter registration (fraud) firm & their 'Americans for Prosperity' are all based out of same top RNC legal office in Virginia...

LATimes: RNC's 'Fired' Sproul Working for Repubs in 'as Many as 30 States'
So much for the RNC's 'zero tolerance' policy, as discredited Republican registration fraud operative still hiring for dozens of GOP 'Get Out The Vote' campaigns...

'Fired' Sproul Group 'Cloned', Still Working for Republicans in At Least 10 States
The other companies of Romney's GOP operative Nathan Sproul, at center of Voter Registration Fraud Scandal, still at it; Congressional Dems seek answers...

FINALLY: FOX ON GOP REG FRAUD SCANDAL
The belated and begrudging coverage by Fox' Eric Shawn includes two different video reports featuring an interview with The BRAD BLOG's Brad Friedman...

COLORADO FOLLOWS FLORIDA WITH GOP CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION
Repub Sec. of State Gessler ignores expanding GOP Voter Registration Fraud Scandal, rants about evidence-free 'Dem Voter Fraud' at Tea Party event...

CRIMINAL PROBE LAUNCHED INTO GOP VOTER REGISTRATION FRAUD SCANDAL IN FL
FL Dept. of Law Enforcement confirms 'enough evidence to warrant full-blown investigation'; Election officials told fraudulent forms 'may become evidence in court'...

Brad Breaks PA Photo ID & GOP Registration Fraud Scandal News on Hartmann TV
Another visit on Thom Hartmann's Big Picture with new news on several developing Election Integrity stories...

CAUGHT ON TAPE: COORDINATED NATIONWIDE GOP VOTER REG SCAM
The GOP Voter Registration Fraud Scandal reveals insidious nationwide registration scheme to keep Obama supporters from even registering to vote...

CRIMINAL ELECTION FRAUD COMPLAINT FILED AGAINST GOP 'FRAUD' FIRM
Scandal spreads to 11 FL counties, other states; RNC, Romney try to contain damage, split from GOP operative...

RICK SCOTT GETS ROLLED IN GOP REGISTRATION FRAUD SCANDAL
Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) sends blistering letter to Gov. Rick Scott (R) demanding bi-partisan reg fraud probe in FL; Slams 'shocking and hypocritical' silence, lack of action...

VIDEO: Brad Breaks GOP Reg Fraud Scandal on Hartmann TV
Breaking coverage as the RNC fires their Romney-tied voter registration firm, Strategic Allied Consulting...

RNC FIRES NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION FIRM FOR FRAUD
After FL & NC GOP fire Romney-tied group, RNC does same; Dead people found reg'd as new voters; RNC paid firm over $3m over 2 months in 5 battleground states...

EXCLUSIVE: Intvw w/ FL Official Who First Discovered GOP Reg Fraud
After fraudulent registration forms from Romney-tied GOP firm found in Palm Beach, Election Supe says state's 'fraud'-obsessed top election official failed to return call...

GOP REGISTRATION FRAUD FOUND IN FL
State GOP fires Romney-tied registration firm after fraudulent forms found in Palm Beach; Firm hired 'at request of RNC' in FL, NC, VA, NV & CO...
The Secret Koch Brothers Tapes...

Rep. Barbara Lee Joined by 26 Co-Sponsors
As Some 300 Third Anniversary DSM/TreasonGate Events are Planned for this Saturday
By Brad Friedman on 7/21/2005 8:02pm PT  

The 'Downing Street Documents' continue to cause trouble for the Bush White House, as a formal "Resolution of Inquiry" into the matter was finally introduced in the U.S. House today according to AfterDowningStreet.org...

Congresswoman Barbara Lee (Dem., Calif.) today introduced - along with 26 co-sponsors - a Resolution of Inquiry in the House of Representatives which, if passed, will require the White House and the State Department to "transmit all information relating to communication with officials of the United Kingdom between January 1, 2002, and October 16, 2002, relating to the policy of the United States with respect to Iraq."

Lee's resolution, asking the White House for information concerning the Downing Street Documents comes just two days prior to more than 300 nationwide events scheduled for this Saturday, July 23, which are set to mark the third anniversary of the original Downing Street Memo.

The documents are official high-level British minutes and memos documenting the Bush Administration's plan to "fix" the intelligence and facts around their pre-determined policy to topple Saddam Hussein by military force. That policy, the documents conclude, was based on "thin" evidence concerning Saddam's WMD, included plans to goad Saddam into a war through U.N. sanctions and early bombing of targets in Iraq, and explain that the Bushies had little or no planning for post-war Iraq. They were all written while the Bush Administration was telling the American People and Congress that no plans had yet been made for attacking Iraq.

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) will be a guest on this weekend's BRAD SHOW to discuss the DSM/TreasonGate town hall being held in Los Angeles. We will also have reports from John Conyers' Detroit event as well. More details on all the events are here.

More information on the Resolution of Inquiry, and how you can help by contacting legislators, is here [PDF].




Florida County at Center of Battle Between Several Disabled Rights Groups
Emergency Appeal Filed by Group Who Received $1 Million Donation from Diebold
By Brad Friedman on 7/21/2005 7:27pm PT  

Within the past few hours, The BRAD BLOG has learned, a Federal District Court has ruled against the National Federation for the Blind (NFB) who had filed suit against Volusia County, Florida earlier this month to force the county to use paperless Electronic Voting Machines in the upcoming fall elections there.

The court order denying NFB's motion has been obtained by The BRAD BLOG and is available here [PDF].

The BRAD BLOG has also learned that the NFB has decided late in the day to file an emergency appeal to that Federal District Court decision.

This debate, and the decision by the District Court in Orlando, could have far-reaching implications in the national debate concerning touchscreen voting machines for which the NFB has been an advocate nationwide.

The objectivity in regard to the NFB's national campaign for paperless touchscreen voting machines, or DRE's, has been questioned by several groups due to the NFB's receipt of a $1 Million contribution from America's largest voting machine company, Diebold, Inc.

On the ground in Volusia, another disability advocacy group, the Handicapped Adults of Volusia County (HAVC), says they are "opposed to spending money on machines that do not provide a paper record of a person's vote," according to a report by The New Standard.

HAVC joined with the Electronic Frontier Foundation in a court brief which opposed the now-rejected motion brought by the NFB. The decision of the suit will be stayed pending the NFB's emergency appeal.

Earlier today, NFB member and vice-president of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), Jim Dickson --- who has been very outspoken nationally in support of the paperless touchscreen voting machines made by Diebold --- told The BRAD BLOG that U.S. District Judge John Antoon II was wrong in his verdict siding against the NFB and in favor of Volusia County's decision to not purchase voting machines made by Diebold.

Dickson, who has also been alleged to have accepted money from Diebold, which he has denied, said the decision was "crap"...

--- Click here for REST OF STORY!... ---




Cites Several Hundred Instances in Floor Debate Today over Act's Renewal
Supports Most Provisions, But Concerned about 'Protecting Civil Liberties While Fighting Terrorism'
By Brad Friedman on 7/21/2005 1:53pm PT  

Earlier today, Larisa Alexandrovna of RAW STORY reported on the 70-page position paper released by House Judiciary Democrats outlining their disenting view on the renewal of the PATRIOT Act as now being debated on the House floor.

In a statement obtained by The BRAD BLOG for today's debate, Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), the ranking member of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, called several of the PATRIOT Act provisions --- 16 of which are now up for renewal --- into question, cited hundreds of instances of "abuse" and outlined those provisions which he viewed as the most significant threat to our civil liberties.

Citing evidence of "a few provisions that are subject to abuse, and need greater checks and balances," Conyers outlined three of the provisions specifically of concern during debate today of "HR 3199 USA Patriot and Terrorism Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2005"

Amongst those which Conyers' expressed concerned about is Section 215 which allows for the FBI to obtain any record "relevant" to an investigation, including library books and medical records. Conyers said that targets are not allowed to tell anyone --- even their own attorneys --- about such records requests. The provision has been "abused," said Conyers', citing reports from the American Library Association alone of some 200 such requests since September 11.

Another concern is Section 505 which allows the FBI "to obtain financial, telephone, internet and other consumer records" without requiring prior judicial approval. Though this provision has been found unconstitional by Federal Courts, the Bush Administration continues to use it, according to Conyers.

Conyers also cites the provision which allows so-called "sneak and peek" searches in homes, cars and business, even when there is no emergency. The provision --- which Conyers' says was not in the version of the PATRIOT Act that came out of Judiciary Committee conference but was added by the Administration "in the middle of the night" --- has been "subject to wide spread abuse." The provision, the statement says, has been used more than 240 times...Moreover, only 10% of these uses have had anything to do with terrorism, the purported justification of the PATRIOT Act."

Conyers also calls for renewed "sunsets" to the current PATRIOT provisions, rather than making them permanent as the Bush Administration has called for.

The BRAD BLOG has obtained Conyers' statement which follows in full [emphasis from the original document as obtained via Conyers' office]...

--- Click here for REST OF STORY!... ---




By Brad Friedman on 7/21/2005 11:50am PT  




4th Country to Legalize Gay Unions...
By Brad Friedman on 7/20/2005 9:05pm PT  

Oh, Canada! Way to go!

Thank you for setting the standards for how elections should be counted (by hand), wars should be fought (only when necessary) and how human beings who wish to wed should be treated by the state.

As reported by AP, the bill which became law today "gives homosexual couples the same rights as those in traditional unions between a man and a woman."

Imagine that.




30 Days Pay 'Wrist Slap' for Matt Damschroder who Retains $97k/year Job
Not 'Illegal' in Ohio (Apparently) for Elections Officials to Take Pay-Offs from Voting Machine Companies
By Brad Friedman on 7/20/2005 8:03pm PT  

Just back in town after a day off, and man do I have a lot to catch up with...While I'm doing that, if you haven't noticed already, the Franklin County, Ohio Elections Director, Matt Damschroder, who last week acknowledged accepting a $10,000 check from a lobbyist for Diebold, was given a slap on the wrist yesterday and docked 30 days pay from his yearly $97,240 salary.

He has also claimed that the Diebold lobbyist, Pasquale "Pat" Gallina, told him that he'd made $50,000 in donations to groups that support Ohio's Secretary of State (and, coincidentally, the Co-Chair of the Bush/Cheney Re-Elect Committee) J. Kenneth Blackwell.

All of this has come about amidst a lawsuit filed by voting machine company, ES&S in Ohio against Blackwell for giving the entire state to Diebold. This should be very interesting to watch. Depositions are upcoming.

In the meantime, while Franklin County's head of election, who seems to have accepted a $10,000 bribe gets off virtually scot-free, Sherole Eaton --- the courageous whistleblower from Hocking County, OH, who gave testimony in an affidavit of employees from voting machine company, Triad gaming the Ohio recount --- has been accused of absolutely nothing. Nonetheless, she is still fired from the Hocking County Board of Elections.

Ohio. Retaining its slim edge over Florida for now...as the filthiest fucking state in the union.




So Much Unprecedented Corruption, So Little Accountability...
By Brad Friedman on 7/18/2005 4:12pm PT  

Never one to put all of our democracy lovin' eggs into a single basket, no matter how much treason is in that basket's "gate", the breadth of scandals finally coming home to roost right now on this administration (has there ever been a dirtier one?) is simply remarkable.

While any one of the scandals and investigations listed below would have likely taken down "lesser" administrations long ago --- though those administrations, unlike this one, would likely have had some help in that direction from an actual fourth estate --- it's remarkable to see how many of these scandals are currently rolling.

To date, we don't believe anyone has actually been held accountable yet for any of the following (with the exception of a few poor sap soldier/scapegoats from Abu Ghraib --- of course, when the rubber meets the road, the Bush Administration blames the troops rather than supports them!).

This list is rather extraordinary when taken in total. So... We leave it to you... Tell us which scandal and/or investigation will be the straw that finally breaks this Administration's back and why? (The various options presented here are in no particular order)

1) Plame/Rove "TreasonGate" investigation
2) Jack Abramoff/Tom Delay investigation
3) Thomas Noe/Ohio "Coingate"/RNC investigation
4) "Duke" Cunningham/MZM investigation
5) Sproul & Assoc./RNC investigation
6) Halliburton/Dick Cheney investigation
7) Downing Street Documents/Iraq War investigation
8) Abu Ghraib/Gitmo/Torture accusations/investigation
9) Election Fraud allegations/investigation
10) Jeff Gannon investigation
11) 9/11 investigation
12) Combination of all of the above
13) Scandal/investigation we failed to list above
14) An as of yet unknown/unpublicized scandal/investigation
15) None of the above and none in the future

Place your bets in comments and consider it an open thread as I attempt to get the hell outta Dodge for 24 hours or so to celebrate (my birthday, not Bush's woes). We'll see if I make it out of town or not. Trying to...If I do, hopefully Winter Patriot will feel free to cover the slack here --- as needed --- while I'm gone. Peace.




First Major Print Ad by Such a Group, Critical of Admin's Vet Health Care Budget
Ad Text: 'Mr. President, You're Either With Us or Against Us'
By Brad Friedman on 7/18/2005 3:23pm PT  

As if Dubya didn't have enough (self-inflicted) problems...OpTruth.org, a coalition of U.S. veterans of the Iraqi and Afghanistan wars whose slogan is "Really Support the Troops - Listen to Them!", is taking out an ad in tomorrow's Washington Post critical of the Bush Administration and calling on Bush to "provide leadership" by meeting the needs of healthcare for returning vets.

In their ad, the group generously attributes the $1 Billion shortfall in Bush's 2005 budget for "Veterans of the War on Terror" to a "miscalculation".

In 2006, the ad claims, the budget shortfall will be a full $3 billion short of what our returning veterans need to cover health care costs at Veterans Administration hospitals. OpTruth covers this issue in more detail on their website.

OpTruth.org founder Paul Reickhoff --- who we've previously covered here and more recently here, quit his Wall Street job after 9/11 to fight in Afghanistan and has been critical of Bush's level of support for troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Reickhoff tells The BRAD BLOG that this ad represents the "first time an Iraq vets group has taken out a major print ad."

The text from the OpTruth ad is as follows...

THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION recently admitted that they miscalculated the health care costs for Veterans of the War on Terror this year by at least $1 billion. In 2006, the shortfall will be $3 billion.

WITHOUT IMMEDIATE CHANGES, four out of five returning Veterans could be turned away from care at VA hospitals. That's a raw deal the American people will not tolerate.

A UNANIMOUS, BIPARTISAN SENATE has moved quickly to cover this year's outrageous budget gap with a $1.5 billion emergency supplemental. Congress should adopt the Senate's plan, and should make up the 2006 budget gap as well.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, President Bush needs to act immediately and provide the leadership that will prevent Veterans from being shortchanged now and in the future.

A graphic version is below (click to see full PDF version):




Or, George W. Bush Unites America...
(For all except the Bush Dead-Enders)
By Brad Friedman on 7/18/2005 2:21pm PT  

(Hat tip Jesse at Stakeholder!)




By Brad Friedman on 7/17/2005 2:57pm PT  




But Keep Your Eyes On What Matters, As the Investigation Moves Up the Food Chain...
What Did the President Know? And When Did He Know it?
By Brad Friedman on 7/17/2005 1:10pm PT  

"I am saying that if anyone was involved in that type of activity which I referred to, they would not be working here."
- Ron Ziegler, press secretary to Richard Nixon, defending the presidential aide Dwight Chapin on Oct. 18, 1972. Chapin was convicted in April 1974 of perjury in connection with his relationship to the political saboteur Donald Segretti.

"Any individual who works here at the White House has the confidence of the president. They wouldn't be working here at the White House if they didn't have the president's confidence."
- Scott McClellan, press secretary to George W. Bush, defending Karl Rove on Tuesday.

Thus begins Frank Rich's NY Times editorial today, "Follow the Uranium" (we might have suggested, "Follow the Yellowcake Road", but they didn't ask us first).

It's been said that the political landscape is littered with the corpses of those who've "misunderestimated" George W. Bush. But it's not Bush who should take the credit for his political mastery. It is, of course, his brain, Karl Rove.

Misunderestimating him and what he's able to pull off, slither out of and otherwise apply his ample slime to is a game that one plays at his own peril. As Rich summarizes points of Rove's illustrious career (but barely scratches the surface):

Trashing is in his nature, and bad things happen, usually through under-the-radar whispers, to decent people (and their wives) who get in his way. In the 2000 South Carolina primary, John McCain's wife, Cindy, was rumored to be a drug addict (and Senator McCain was rumored to be mentally unstable). In the 1994 Texas governor's race, Ann Richards found herself rumored to be a lesbian. The implication that Mr. Wilson was a John Kerry-ish girlie man beholden to his wife for his meal ticket is of a thematic piece with previous mud splattered on Rove political adversaries.

Yet even with those "successful" campaigns under his belt, this time, it seems Rove is quickly finding himself at a dead-end. At least as Rich sees it. And we tend to agree with him.

Aside from his observation that "there's only one certainty ahead: the timing of a Karl Rove resignation," Rich aptly moves the ball forward by pointing out that Rove, Joe Wilson, Matt Cooper, Judith Miller et al. are small potatoes in this matter.

As the Plame Game moves up the food chain, through All The President's Men, the real question is rapidly --- and we mean rapidly --- becoming a matter of What Did the President Know and When Did He Know It?

Says Rich:

It is about the president of the United States. It is about a plot that was hatched at the top of the administration and in which everyone else, Mr. Rove included, are at most secondary players.
...
This case is about Iraq, not Niger. The real victims are the American people, not the Wilsons. The real culprit - the big enchilada, to borrow a 1973 John Ehrlichman phrase from the Nixon tapes - is not Mr. Rove but the gang that sent American sons and daughters to war on trumped-up grounds and in so doing diverted finite resources, human and otherwise, from fighting the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11. That's why the stakes are so high: this scandal is about the unmasking of an ill-conceived war, not the unmasking of a C.I.A. operative who posed for Vanity Fair.

Rich is precisely correct here, and makes a damning case for it. On the pages of the Pro-War, Pro-Bush New York Times nonetheless. Read it. If only so that you'll know what happened when the house of cards quickly tumbles any moment...or when it doesn't because the evil genius Karl Rove is once again able to amass his dark, hateful, whispering armies to overcome the voices of truth.

When you play clean against those who play dirty --- and who have gained an alarming body of professional experience in doing so as they've slimed their way to the very pinnacle of world power in the process --- one should never "misunderestimate" the ability of these sorts of charlatans to retain that power. No matter how many decent human beings, public servants, innocent civilians and patriots need to be destroyed along the way.




Blog Along With Us if you please
We're Being The Media --- because somebody's got to!
By Winter Patriot on 7/16/2005 3:58pm PT  

Guest blogged by Winter Patriot

This week's Brad Show is almost ready to hit the airwaves.
Once again we have a fine lineup and the prospect of an excellent show.

Tonight's scheduled guests include:

GREG PALAST: Author of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy on "Mr. Rove and the Access of Evil"!

DAVID SWANSON: Co-Founder of AfterDowningStreet.org on the 7/23 'Downing Street' events and Comcast deleting AfterDowningStreet's Email!

ERIC BREWER: BTCNews' White House Correspondent/Blogger on Scottie McClellan's WH Press Room shenanigans!

MIKE ROGERS: Managing Editor of PageOneQ.com with another action packed BRAD SHOW Big Gay Hour!

--- Click here for REST OF STORY!... ---




Blog Along With Us if you please
We're Being The Media --- because somebody's got to!
By Winter Patriot on 7/16/2005 3:48pm PT  

a href="http://www.BradShow.com" target="_blank">Guest blogged by Winter Patriot

This week's Brad Show is almost ready to hit the airwaves.
Once again we have a fine lineup and the prospect of an excellent show.

Scheduled guests include:

GREG PALAST: Author of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy on "Mr. Rove and the Access of Evil"!

DAVID SWANSON: Co-Founder of AfterDowningStreet.org on the 7/23 'Downing Street' events and Comcast deleting AfterDowningStreet's Email!

ERIC BREWER: BTCNews' White House Correspondent/Blogger on Scottie McClellan's WH Press Room shenanigans!

MIKE ROGERS: Managing Editor of PageOneQ.com with another action packed BRAD SHOW Big Gay Hour!

And Lord Knows What Other Suprises!

Listen LIVE via the Web! Saturday from 7p-11p ET (4p-8p PT)!
Repeating Sunday 12noon-4p ET (9a-1p PT)
Quick and easy access to LIVE listening links, archives, upcoming guests,
donation links and ad info (it's not to late to advertise!)
and more via www.BradShow.com!

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Donate here to help defray costs!
Join us Saturday Night 7p-11p ET (4p-8p PT)! Listen up via www.BradShow.com, call in with your questions and comments for our guests at 323-650-1286, and blog along with us right here at The BRAD BLOG in our LIVE Open Thread during the show!

URGENT REMINDER: The BRAD SHOW is supported (for now) by listener donations! So please pick up the phone, or send some e-mail, and tell a few friends about The BRAD SHOW. You (and they) will be glad you did.

LIVE OPEN THREAD BLOGGING below: click on the "comments" link at the bottom-right corner of this item to join in!




We're shocked...shocked!
Board of Elections' Matt Damschroder Continues his impressive 'bi-partisan' record in Ohio.
By Brad Friedman on 7/16/2005 10:50am PT  

From Cleveland Plain Dealer this morning...

A member of the Franklin County election board said Friday that prosecutors are investigating whether a GOP political consultant tried to bribe the board's director to buy voting equipment made by his client, Diebold Inc.

The director, Matthew Damschroder, has told prosecutors that the consultant, Pat Gallina, came to his office in early 2004, offering him $10,000.

"Pat Gallina came into my office at the Board of Elections and said, 'I'm here to give you $10,000. Who should I direct it to?' " Damschroder recalled. "I said, 'Certainly not to me. But I'm sure the Franklin County Republican Party would appreciate a voluntary donation. That was my first mistake."

The law prohibits Damschroder from accepting political contributions on county property. He said he took the check home and mailed it to the party, where he had just completed a stint as executive director.
...
Damschroder told prosecutor O'Brien of Gallina's visit after his testimony was sought in a civil suit filed by one of Diebold's competitors, Election Systems and Software.

ES&S charges in that suit that Secretary of State Ken Blackwell improperly favored Diebold in selecting electronic voting machines for use statewide.
...
Gallina told him that he and Cummings agreed on the cut-rate price Diebold would charge the state for its machines, and that Gallina promised in return to give $50,000 to "Blackwell interests."

Carlo LoParo, a spokesman for Blackwell, called the claim "absolutely ridiculous," and that Cummings has not negotiated any part of the state's voting machine contracts.
...
Diebold executives had ceased contributing directly to political campaigns in October 2003, after the company president sparked an uproar by saying he was "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes" to secure President Bush's re-election.

Spokesman Mike Jacobsen said the firm pays Gallina - through Celebrezze & Associates - to work as a liaison on state and county government contracts.

"It's a separate company," he said. "Just because we contract with a lobbyist and they make a contribution doesn't mean, in any way, that we use them as some sort of political back door to curry political favor."

(Hat-tip BRAD BLOG commenter, KestrelBrighteyes for the catch via RAW STORY)




Saturday Night LIVE! 7p-11p ET (4p-8p PT)
By Brad Friedman on 7/15/2005 4:54pm PT  

If the Democracy and Radio (and IBC Network) Gods are with us...we're back Saturday Night with an all-new LIVE BRAD SHOW via RAW RADIO!

Guests to include...

  • GREG PALAST: The author of "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy" on "Mr. Rove and the Access of Evil"!
  • DAVID SWANSON: The AfterDowningStreet.org Co-Founder on the 7/23 'Downing Street' events and Internet giant Comcast deleting AfterDowningStreet's Email!
  • ERIC BREWER: The White House Correspondent/Blogger on Scottie McClellan's Press Room shenanigans!
  • MIKE ROGERS: Managing Editor of PageOneQ with another BRAD SHOW Big Gay Hour!
  • Saturday Night 7p-11p ET (4p-8p PT)! Join us at BRAD BLOG for the LIVE Open Thread and listen up via BRAD SHOW.

    Your DONATIONS are greatly appreciated, defray the costs of studio time and help us stay on the air! And be sure to buy some kewl stuff in The BRAD STORE!




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