Sunday, August 31, 2008

Vote theft: class war by other means.

This article is from Greg Palast:

We need to learn the issues. People are unarmed. That is, people know that they’re getting shafted, but they don’t really know exactly how.

The American press corps has finally begun to report on illegal activities of the Bush administration. However, the subject of election theft remains largely ignored. In recent years, the Republican Party has used an array of tactics to subtract votes from opposing candidates. These include sending defective voting machines to strongly Democratic precincts and removing low-income and minority voters from electoral rolls.

Reporter Greg Palast has been covering this issue since 2000, when he revealed that Florida officials ensured the election of George W. Bush by illegally suppressing the African-American and Democratic vote. (Learn more about that subject here.) In this interview, I asked Palast about his reports on the GOP’s dirty electoral tricks since 2000 and the possibility that the ’08 election will be stolen. He explained how the Help America Vote Act actually helps crooked Republicans and he previewed his upcoming broadcasts and publications, which will include a free guide with tips for safeguarding your vote.

–Chris Pepus

Chris: Your reports on vote suppression led to a congressional inquiry and the resignation of Tim Griffin, one of President Bush’s U.S. Attorneys. Could you describe how the Bush administration interfered with voting rights in 2004?

Greg: Item one is something that we discovered called caging. There were e-mails written by the Republican National Committee’s chief researcher, a character named Tim Griffin, who was a protégé of Karl Rove. He was sending out caging lists, which are hit lists of voters to challenge. The way caging works is they send out registered letters to voters and when the voters aren’t around to receive their letters—the envelopes say, “Do Not Forward”—the voters end up being subject to challenge. The particular hit list that we got was substantially filled with voters from the naval air station in Jacksonville (Florida). There are reasons why someone at a naval air station wouldn’t be at their voting address. That’s because, unlike Bush during Vietnam, they are off in a foreign war. Republicans also sent letters to students at black colleges in August knowing that they wouldn’t be there. They illegally challenged their votes. The Republicans challenged three million voters in 2004, which is absolutely unbelievable and unreported. That fact was right there in the records of the Election Assistance Commission of the federal government. Those voters received provisional ballots and a million of those ballots were thrown in the garbage. That is just one of the tricks. There are several and they are being sharpened for 2008.

Chris: But Griffin claimed that he didn’t know what caging was until he read your report. “I had to look it up,” he said.

Greg: Well, actually, I determined that he is correct. He sent out an e-mail saying, “Here is a caging list.” As he said, you have to be an expert in direct-mail marketing to understand what caging is. Now, that means that someone told him to send out an e-mail with caging lists, someone whose orders were so important that he wouldn’t question them, even if he didn’t know what (the list) was. Now, who would know direct marketing and who could give orders to Tim Griffin? Well, before he worked for George W. Bush, Karl Rove was head of Rove & Company, a direct-mail marketing firm. Rove is an expert on caging. Law professor Bobby Kennedy Jr., my co-investigator, says that this was an illegal act. So who ordered this illegal act? Hm, Mr. Rove?

Chris: How did you obtain these e-mails?

Greg: Griffin is not the sharpest knife in the drawer and he copied these e-mails not to GeorgeWBush.com, which was the campaign’s internal e-mail system, but rather to GeorgeWBush.org, a parody web site. The head of that site, John Wooden, knows me. He immediately passed (the e-mails) on to my team. He didn’t know what they were and, frankly, we didn’t know what they were at first either. It took a lot of work to decode.

Chris: Have there been any new developments in the case, other than Karl Rove’s refusal to testify before the House Judiciary Committee?

Greg: I have just returned from a meeting with David Iglesias, a fired prosecutor from New Mexico. Caging and gimmicks like it were behind his firing and the firings of other U.S. prosecutors.[iii] The U.S. press corps, as usual, got it completely wrong. The firing of U.S. Attorneys is not simply about the politics of the prosecutors or even the operations of their offices. Rather, it is about an attempt to force prosecutors to be involved in a scheme to arrest voters under voter-fraud laws to create hysteria to justify vote suppression. I was constantly asking Republicans, “If there are so many criminal voters, why haven’t you arrested them? Why aren’t there prosecutions?” The Republicans said, “Oh, there will be. Talk to David Iglesias.” I called him and other prosecutors and got all this hemming and hawing. So, I’m being told that Iglesias is about to bring prosecutions and he is saying, “I don’t think so.” It’s very clear to me that Iglesias was resisting phony prosecutions. He ran around the bases looking for fraudulent voters and he didn’t find one. Some were in the military, so they were not at their voting addresses.

I just came back from checking out some of the so-called fraudulent voters that Iglesias refused to prosecute. Republican leaders gave me their names. There was one lady, a waitress, who was signed up twice and there were two different signatures of her name. So I spoke to her—this “criminal”—and I said, “Did you register twice?” She said, “Yes.” She explained that, under the law, if you don’t receive formal acknowledgment of your registration, you can and should register again. They don’t put your name on the roll twice. I asked why there were two signatures: “Was there some fraudulent game going on?” She said: “No. One time, I signed at a table. The other time, I signed it on my hand.” This woman was supposed to be one of the six most obvious cases of a fraudulent voter in New Mexico. Governor Bill Richardson signed laws making it harder for people to register because of these so-called frauds. The laws are so horrible that Richardson, a Hispanic Democrat, is being sued by the Brennan Center for Justice for illegally impeding Hispanic voters.

Chris: It’s remarkable how many groups are targeted. I recall reading about defective voting machines in (Palast’s 2006 book) Armed Madhouse. You mentioned that, in ’04, the county in New Mexico where the most votes disappeared was a predominantly white, working-class county.

Greg: Yeah, I call vote theft “class war by other means.” Places like Native American precincts, black precincts, and Mexican barrios are often the hardest hit. But, statistically, we find that it is income more than race that determines whether your vote will count. I can tell you the probability that your vote will count if you tell me your income. By the way, the Republican secretary of state in Colorado (Mike Coffman) just attacked me. I reported that he purged all these voters. He said, “Palast is just trying to raise money for his operation,” but he didn’t say I was wrong. He said he was just following the law. I’d heard all this from Katherine Harris before. I’d said, “Guess the color of the voters purged.” He said, “We don’t keep track of voters’ race on our voter forms.” Yeah, right. They know. It’s by zip code. That’s the other thing: if they don’t know, they should know. Civil rights law does require election officials to take steps to determine that their actions don’t have a racial bias. When he said, “I don’t know,” that’s not true and, also, that’s not a legal answer. He’s supposed to know, especially when he removes a fifth of the voters in Colorado.

Chris: Another state with a history of vote suppression is Florida. In 2000, you reported that Florida Republicans removed tens of thousands of Democratic voters from the rolls. Have you found evidence pointing to a similar result this year?

Greg: Worse than ever. The whole nation’s been Floridated. George Bush signed the Help America Vote Act (in 2002) and, in 2006, they did a Katherine Harris on the whole nation. They told secretaries of state, who are partisan officials in every state, to purge away and remove “suspect voters.” A lot of the things that were illegal, like caging, that’s now in the law. Basically, we now have federal cover for mischief, instead of federal prohibition. In one New Mexico county, half the Democrats who showed up to vote in the (2008) primary/caucus couldn’t vote. You have address purges, I.D. purges. The Brennan Center said that about 85,000 voters in Florida are losing their right to vote, because they signed up in voter drives and couldn’t verify their identity. Overwhelmingly, those voters are black, because many black voters register in voter drives out of their churches. So, Florida’s back in the game. They’re just changing the rules.

Chris: How does the Help America Vote Act enable those tactics?

Greg: For example, Florida, when imposing special identity requirements on voter drives, they cited the Help America Vote Act. They said that it was required. Now, the fact that forty-six states don’t agree with them on that interpretation didn’t stop them. Also, HAVA basically required every state in America to change its laws. Once you open up the howling Pandora’s Box of election law, every reform becomes grounds for new mischief. HAVA creates this new shadow world of law. Florida officials said, “Well, we did this for HAVA.” Then the lawyers at the Brennan Center said, “Where in HAVA? How can you say this is for HAVA?” They said, “Oh, well, that’s our own interpretation.” Is this federal law? Is it state law? No, it’s Bush law; it’s Rove law. The nice thing about elections for vote thieves: there’s a “Fuck you” clause in vote theft. If you win, you control the review. You own the police.

Chris: Which provisions of the act are most often cited as authority for attacks on voting rights?

Greg: I go back to the 2006 codicils. Certain things kicked in in ’06 regarding verification of voter identity. That is the most mischievous thing. The law demanded that, beginning in ’06, each state must have centralized, computerized rolls of voters. Again, the first state to go full-on with computerized, centralized purging of voter rolls was Florida. That’s how we ended up with the phony felon purge (in 2000). With HAVA, they used the Florida fix as an excuse to create a so-called reform and the “reform” was to take Florida’s method and nationalize it. But people say, “Well, why shouldn’t we have verified rolls?” The answer is that this is a new law to prevent a crime that almost never happens. We have five or fewer convictions for vote fraud a year in America. We figure that, under the new system, five million voters a year lose their right to vote. You literally have a million voters losing their right to vote to catch one ne’er-do-well. You don’t arrest a million people to catch one murderer.

Chris: Now, regarding these centralized lists, you’ve written about a firm called Accenture that runs computerized voting lists for various state governments. Could you talk about that?

Greg: Accenture used to be Arthur Andersen, but after they got caught cooking the books for Enron, they tend not to use that name. Arthur Andersen was split into two parts: one was liquidated, put into bankruptcy, and one was renamed Accenture. They haven’t changed their ways. There’s Accenture; there’s ES&S (Election Systems & Software). These characters are some of the greasiest operators out there. They combine bias with incompetence and high fees. ES&S has been involved in New Mexico. It’s a firm founded by Republican Senator Chuck Hagel (of Nebraska). Every time ES&S gets involved in purging voter rolls, they turn astonishingly Republican. Everyone knows that if you use certain methods, it knocks out certain types of voters. That’s why I’m doing this investigation with Bobby Kennedy. We are investigating the theft of the 2008 election before it happens. We’re looking at what’s happening in Colorado, New Mexico, Alabama, Florida. We’re going to be putting out a big national magazine article with our findings. We can’t say where.

Chris: When is that going to come out?

Greg: In September. We will then also have a film out starting with a broadcast on BBC Television and a U.S. national network. For the first time, we’re going to break through the electronic blockade in America.

Chris: I read that you’re raising funds for the broadcast. How are you doing on that?

Greg: Well, that’s the thing. (The network) finally opened the door, but they said, “Of course, we’re not paying for this.” Okay, I’ll tell my cameramen to eat dog food. My staff is pretty good at living on very little. They were here last night ’til 2 a.m. (Research associate) Zach Roberts—I want to give him his due—his last day off was about seven weeks ago. This is a nonstop operation, but I have to raise money to provide the bare minimum. We do want to be able to provide outreach and give stuff out to some activist groups. We’re going to have a voter guide, Steal Back Your Vote, which I’m putting together with Kennedy. A lot of this is going to be in comic-book form, designed by Top Shelf. I had a complaint from one of my fundraisers that we give away too much stuff—my books, DVDs. But that’s our game: to get the word out and build a knowledge base. Now, I’ll give a hint of my age. The protests against the war in Vietnam began with massive teach-ins: “Here’s where Vietnam is.” We need to learn the issues. People are unarmed. That is, people know that they’re getting shafted, but they don’t really know exactly how.

http://www.gregpalast.com/

DON'T SEE THIS SHIT!



Phase two of high tech lynching doing a unfunny movie dissing Michael Moore and Sen.Obama.It stars Gary Coleman and David Alan Greer as slaves.It features Bill Oreilly as a Hero.If you're in the Klan its the feel good movie of the year.It comes out a month before the election.I AM NOT MAKING THIS SHIT UP,I REPEAT I AM NOT MAKING THIS STUFF UP!


Here are some reviews:

D.Duke "I loved it ,especially the slavery"

A.Hitler " Me ,Pat Buchanan and Gov.Palin loved it"

B.Oreilly "F*** it, I guess we have to shoot it now"


As a added bonus lets go down memory lane and look at Sean Hannity's sleepover buddy Harold "Hal" Turner.Watch for yourselves as a Tiger quickly turns into a pussy.


The High -Tech Lynching will commence

From Newshounds:

Bill O'Reilly forced out of his comfort zone for three whole days, while in Denver, ran back to New York on Wednesday evening, Telling viewers, last night, that his plane landed at 2 AM, he wanted to emphasize the urgency of his return. BOR claimed that besides the difficult logistics of broadcasting in a stadium, he returned home to oversee the production of his 25 part Obama Chronicles.

Yes, Bill O'Reilly, looking grave and heroic, informed viewers of his grand mission to save them from Barack Obama . Ray Bradbury grabbed our imagination in 1950 with his classic Martian Chronicles then we were enchanted by C.S Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. Will the Obama Chronicles capture the American psyche too?

What profound revelations about Barack Obama and his family will O'Reilly offer in 25 segments? We can expect the usual suspects like Wright, Ayers, Pfleger, Rezko, parents and grandparents, friends ( foreign names preferred), Michelle and of course Jesse Jackson.

What important questions will be explored in this classic in the making? Is Obama really a citizen, a secret muslim, a revolutionary like Ayers, a crook like Rezko, a (gasp) socialist. Then there are the other burning issues like his preference for arugula over iceberg and his poor bowling skills. The list is endless and it better be if BOR intends to fill 25 segments.

Bill O'Reilly's TPM last night was just the usual offering of anger, disdain, spite, and ego. It was obvious that he was relieved to be back in his cocoon where he could safely bash and smear his perceived enemies without risk.

note: No doubt, Bill O'Reilly forgot to announce his plans for a 25 part series about John McCain. I'm sure he must have mentioned it last night and I somehow missed it.

BEN STEIN'S MONEY IS ONLY FOR WHITE PEOPLE



It official Sen.Obama is a angry black man, Ben Stein said so

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Massa is good



Even Rusty Limbaugh said it was fake.

DAMN YANKEE

This is from Lossip:

As if his endorsement of John McCain weren’t enough! Apparently, Daddy Yankee wants to make it clear that his support of the Republican presidential candidate goes far beyond a few photo shoots and public appearance.

The singer has now committed to perform at the Fiesta Americana Concert as part of next week’s Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota.

I’m sure performing for a stadium full of 3,000 suit-and-tie Republicans is the ideal audience for some reggaeton. I bet that fiesta is going to get hot!

Daddy Yankee has been getting busted on left and right for his support of the Arizona senator. It seems that a lot of people just don’t see the link between reggaetoneros and 72-year-old white men.

Most recently, fellow performer Fat Joe put Daddy Yankee on blast for his politics, saying to MTV News:

“I opened the newspaper and got sick to my stomach. I felt like I wanted to vomit when I seen that. The reason why I called him a sellout is because I feel he did that for a [publicity] look, rather than the issues that are affecting his people that look up to him. How could you want John McCain in office when George Bush and the Republicans already have half a million people losing their homes in foreclosure? We’re fighting an unjust war. It’s the Latinos and black kids up in the frontlines, fighting that war. … We over here trying to take the troops out of Iraq and bring peace. This guy immediately wants war. If not with Iraq or Afghanistan, he’ll start a new one with Iran. I feel real disgusted that Daddy Yankee would do that. Either he did that for a look, or he’s just not educated on politics.”

Just a note,Puerto Ricans are Americans citizens! So when "Popeye McPain" had Daddy Yankee there, it would be the same as Janet Jackson with a Steelers jersey on in Cleveland.McPain is anti-immigrant,(except white folk).

Now for something completely different.



Glenn Beck says that Gov.Sarah "Michael" Palin of Silly Walks.... I mean Alaska supports gay marriage.Take a look at this article.

AP falsely suggests Palin supports benefits for same-sex partners of state employees

Summary: The Associated Press reported that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin "opposes gay marriage -- constitutionally banned in Alaska before her time -- but exercised a veto that essentially granted benefits to gay state employees and their partners." However, the AP did not note that Palin stated that she vetoed the bill because the Alaska attorney general had advised her that it was unconstitutional, not because she believed same-sex partners of public employees should receive benefits.


She's also antisemitic.That's right she was a former Rat Buchanan supporter. He hates Jews more than Admadinjad.She has a trial coming up for corruption.No wonder his posters say KKKountry First.But PUMA supports her. She's anti affirimative action (except for herself.)Yes a bigot is a heartbeat away from the presidency, don't you feel better.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Hillary its all your fault.,accept it.

There wouldn’t be a problem if Hillary didn’t act like a Klanslady.Running around drinking moonshine,talking about hers guns and religion.I still don’t believe her. First she should apologize to Rev.Wright and Rev.Moss for the death threats.Rev.Otis Moss III is the son of Dr.Otis Moss Jr. He was M.L.K. best friend.Hillary said that she wouldn’t attend a church like that. When her husband was caught getting his Duck Sick Rev.Wright was there for them.She also went on Oreilly show and said how fair he is. Oreilly is a racist and Fox has called her a bitch many times.Bill Clinton visited Rush Limbaugh ,a man that committed voter fraud on the citizens of Cuyahoga County , and the state of Ohio, for Hillary.That was a piss poor apology,If you don’t believe me just ask Rev.Moss the new minister of Trinity Church in Chicago.Thanks Hillary.

Let's see if Bill will apologize. No I don't think so.If you want my support,in memory of Steffannie Tubbs-Jones go after Rush Limbaugh for the voter fraud and take a swipe at Fox, a hard swipe , then we can talk.Stop being the phonies that we know you are.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Lets get Fox

From time to time I will post a list of Fox advertiser. Feel free to use it.I will also post e-mail addressed for embassies in other countries that Fox has pissed off.Yes I will try to get Fox news ejected from some countries.Think about it Fox has pissed off nations,Canada,France,Spain and the list goes on.Its time to make them lose money.

This is dedicated to Emmitt Till and W.E.B. DuBois who passed on August 28th.Fellas this butt kicking of Fox is for you.It is also the anniversary of the March on Washington.

Fox Advertisers: Our primary focal points are Ford, GM and Citibank. But as you can see, there are other sponsors listed as well.

Major Fox Advertisers

Earl J. Hesterberg
Vice President, Marketing
Ford Motor Company
1 American Rd
Dearborn, MI 48126-2701
TEL: (313) 322-3000
FAX: 313-845-6073

Koichi Kondo
President& CEO
American Honda Motor Co.,
Inc.
1919 Torrance Boulevard
Mail Stop: 500 - 2N - 7D
Torrance, CA 90501-2746
TEL: (800) 999-1009
FAX: (310) 783-3023

Rick Kornhauser
Vice President, Marketing
Chattem, Inc.
1715 W 38th St
Chattanooga, TN 37409-1248
TEL: (800) 366-6077
FAX: (423) 821-0395

Patrick M. Byrne
Chairman & President
Overstock.com
6322 S 3000 E Ste 100
Salt Lake City, UT 84121-6931
TEL: (801) 947-3100
FAX: (801) 944-4629

William R. Rhodes
Chairman
Citibank
399 Park Ave
New York, NY 10022
TEL: (800) 285-3000
FAX:

Henry A. McKinnell, Jr.
Chairman & CEO
Pfizer
235 E 42nd St
New York, NY 10017-5755
TEL: (212) 573-2323
(212) 573-7851

Javed Ahmed
Executive Vice President
Reckitt Benckiser Inc.
Morris Corporate Center IV
399 Interpace Parkway
Parsippany, NJ 07054-0225
TEL: (800) 333-3899
FAX: (973) 404-5700

R. Kerry Clark
Vice Chairman
Procter & Gamble
1 Procter & Gamble Plaza
Cincinnati, OH 45202
TEL: 513-983-1100
FAX: 513-983-9369

Charles Fruit
Chief Marketing Officer
The Coca Cola Company
1 Coca Cola Plaza
Atlanta, GA 30313
TEL: 404-676-2121
FAX: 404-676-6792

Paul Carothers
Vice President, Public Affairs
Kraft Foods
3 Lakes Drive
Northfield, IL 60093
TEL: 847-646-2000
FAX: 847-646-6005

Kathleen Flaherty
Chief Marketing Officer
AT&T
1 AT&T Way
Bedminster, NJ 07921
TEL: 908-221-2000
FAX: 908-532-1675

John Middlebrook
Vice President
General Motors
300 Renaissance Center
Detroit, MI 48265-3000
TEL: 313-556-5000
FAX: 248-696-7300

Janine M. Bousquette
Chief Marketing Officer
Sears
3333 Beverly Rd
Hoffman Estates, IL 60179
TEL: 847-286-2500
FAX: 847-286-7829

Kelly Mankin
Vice President, Marketing
DaimlerChrysler
1000 Chrysler Dr
Auburn Hills, MI 48326-2766
TEL: 248-576-5741
FAX: 248-576-4742

Jill Kelly-Paget
Corporate Communications
Director
MediaVest
1675 Broadway
New York, NY 10019
TEL: 212-468-3828
FAX: 212-468-4110

Charlie Rutman
President
Carat USA
3 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10016
TEL: 212-689-6800
FAX: 212-689-6005

Dennis Donlin
President
General Motors Planworks
150 W. Jefferson, Suite 400
Detroit, MI 48226
TEL: 313-237-8111
FAX: 313-237-8490

Cheri Carpenter
Media Contact
Starcom MediaVest
35 W. Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60601
TEL: 312.220.6218
FAX: 312.220.6530

Bob Lilley
Vice President, Media Marketing
Optimedia
375 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10014
TEL: 212-820-3161
FAX: 212-820-3300

Charles Courtier
Worldwide Executive Chairman
MediaEdge
825 Seventh Avenue
New York, NY 10019
TEL: 212-474-0000
FAX: 212-474-0001

Robert Mancini
Executive Director
Ford Motor Media
500 Woodward Ave.
Detroit, MI, 48226-3428
TEL: 313-964-3800
FAX: 313-845-6073

Marc Goldstein
Chief Executive Officer
MindShare
498 7th Ave
New York, NY 10018
TEL: 646-756-4000
FAX: 646-756-4060

Mike Vogel
Chief Executive Officer
PHD Detroit
840 W Long Lake Rd
Troy, MI 48098
TEL: 248-293-3400
FAX: 248-293-3434

Peter M. Butterfield
President and CEO
KIA
PO Box 52410
Irvine, CA 92619-2410
TEL: 949-470-7000
FAX: 949-470-2800

Richard D. Fairbank
Chairman, President and CEO
Capital One
1680 Capital One Dr
McLean, VA 22042-4500
TEL: 703-720-1000
FAX:

Jay Carothers
Chairman and CEO
Levitz
300 Crossways Park Dr
Woodbury, NY 11797
TEL: (516) 496-9560
FAX: (631) 927-1780

John Stratton
VP & Chief Mktg Officer
Verizon
180 Washington Valley Rd
Bedminster, NJ 07921-2120
TEL: (800) 214-3555
FAX: (908) 306-7766

John F. Antioco
Chm & CEO
Blockbuster
1201 Elm St
Dallas, TX 75270-2102
TEL: (214) 854-3000
FAX:

Yukitoshi Funo
Pres
TOYOTA
19001 S Western Ave
Torrance, CA 90501-1106
TEL: (310) 468-4000
FAX: (310) 468-7800

Eric Milledge
Company Group Chairman
LifeScan, Inc.
1000 Gibraltar Drive
Milpitas, CA 95035
TEL: (408) 263-9789
FAX:

Jim Julow
Vice President
Dodge Magnum/Dakota,
DamlierChysler Corp
1000 Chrysler Dr
Auburn Hills, MI 48326-2766
TEL: (248) 576-5741
FAX: (248) 512-2817

Emil J. Brolick
President
Taco Bell
17901 Von Karman Ave
Irvine, CA 92614-6253
TEL: (949) 863-4500
FAX: (949) 863-409

Marc Covent
President
Slim Fast
777 S Flagler Dr Ste 1400
West Palm Beach, FL 33401-
6176
TEL: (561) 833-9920
FAX: (561) 822-2876

William R Rhodes
Chairman
Citigroup
TEL: (212) 793-6872

Welcome to Denver Fox



I have a strange feeling that the only rioting in Denver will be directed at the Fox news crews.I was worried about what PUMA would do but I'm relieved that all 20 of them,yes 20 will just chill the hell out.Here's something to think about if you love Hillary, one of the leaders of PUMA said that they helped raised $10 million towards removing Hillary debt.They actually raised about $80,000. What happen to all those 18 million cracks in the ceiling?Hillary probably smoked those 18 million pieces of crack.I still think something strange is going on.Why is it that most of Hillary's former staffers now work for Fox ? Something is going on here and it don't look right.I hope I'm wrong.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

CONE OF SILENCE,(yea right)

I Spent Years as a POW with John McCain, and His Finger Should Not Be Near the Red Button

A fellow Vietnam POW of McCain's warns of the candidate's "quick and explosive temper" and suggests McCain is exaggerating his imprisonment.


John McCain is a long-time acquaintance of mine that goes way back to our time together at the U.S. Naval Academy and as Prisoners of War in Vietnam. He is a man I respect and admire in some ways. But there are a number of reasons why I will not vote for him for President of the United States.

When I was a Plebe (4th classman, or freshman) at the Naval Academy in 1957-58, I was assigned to the 17th Company for my four years there. In those days we had about 3,600 midshipmen spread among 24 companies, thus about 150 midshipmen to a company. As fortune would have it, John, a First Classman (senior) and his room mate lived directly across the hall from me and my two room mates. Believe me when I say that back then I would never in a million or more years have dreamed that the crazy guy across the hall would someday be a Senator and candidate for President!

John was a wild man. He was funny, with a quick wit and he was intelligent. But he was intent on breaking every USNA regulation in our 4 inch thick USNA Regulations book. And I believe he must have come as close to his goal as any midshipman who ever attended the Academy. John had me "coming around" to his room frequently during my plebe year. And on one occasion he took me with him to escape "over the wall" in the dead of night. He had a taxi cab waiting for us that took us to a bar some 7 miles away. John had a few beers, but forbid me to drink (watching out for me I guess) and made me drink cokes. I could tell many other midshipman stories about John that year and he unbelievably managed to graduate though he spent the majority of his first class year on restriction for the stuff he did get caught doing. In fact he barely managed to graduate, standing 5th from the bottom of his 800 man graduating class. I and many others have speculated that the main reason he did graduate was because his father was an Admiral, and also his grandfather, both U.S. Naval Academy graduates.

People often ask if I was a Prisoner of War with John McCain. My answer is always "No - John McCain was a POW with me." The reason is I was there for 8 years and John got there 2 1/2 years later, so he was a POW for 5 1/2 years. And we have our own seniority system, based on time as a POW.

John's treatment as a POW:

1) Was he tortured for 5 years? No. He was subjected to torture and maltreatment during his first 2 years, from September of 1967 to September of 1969. After September of 1969 the Vietnamese stopped the torture and gave us increased food and rudimentary health care. Several hundred of us were captured much earlier. I got there April 20, 1965 so my bad treatment period lasted 4 1/2 years. President Ho Chi Minh died on September 9, 1969, and the new regime that replaced him and his policies was more pragmatic. They realized we were worth a lot as bargaining chips if we were alive. And they were right because eventually Americans gave up on the war and agreed to trade our POW's for their country. A damn good trade in my opinion! But my point here is that John allows the media to make him out to be THE hero POW, which he knows is absolutely not true, to further his political goals.

2) John was badly injured when he was shot down. Both arms were broken and he had other wounds from his ejection. Unfortunately this was often the case -- new POW's arriving with broken bones and serious combat injuries. Many died from their wounds. Medical care was non-existent to rudimentary. Relief from pain was almost never given and often the wounds were used as an available way to torture the POW. Because John's father was the Naval Commander in the Pacific theater, he was exploited with TV interviews while wounded. These film clips have now been widely seen. But it must be known that many POW's suffered similarly, not just John. And many were similarly exploited for political propaganda.

3) John was offered, and refused, "early release." Many of us were given this offer. It meant speaking out against your country and lying about your treatment to the press. You had to "admit" that the U.S. was criminal and that our treatment was "lenient and humane." So I, like numerous others, refused the offer. This was obviously something none of us could accept. Besides, we were bound by our service regulations, Geneva Conventions and loyalties to refuse early release until all the POW's were released, with the sick and wounded going first.

4) John was awarded a Silver Star and Purple Heart for heroism and wounds in combat. This heroism has been played up in the press and in his various political campaigns. But it should be known that there were approximately 600 military POW's in Vietnam. Among all of us, decorations awarded have recently been totaled to the following: Medals of Honor -- 8, Service Crosses -- 42, Silver Stars -- 590, Bronze Stars -- 958 and Purple Hearts -- 1,249. John certainly performed courageously and well. But it must be remembered that he was one hero among many -- not uniquely so as his campaigns would have people believe.

John McCain served his time as a POW with great courage, loyalty and tenacity. More that 600 of us did the same. After our repatriation a census showed that 95% of us had been tortured at least once. The Vietnamese were quite democratic about it. There were many heroes in North Vietnam. I saw heroism every day there. And we motivated each other to endure and succeed far beyond what any of us thought we had in ourselves. Succeeding as a POW is a group sport, not an individual one. We all supported and encouraged each other to survive and succeed. John knows that. He was not an individual POW hero. He was a POW who surmounted the odds with the help of many comrades, as all of us did.

I furthermore believe that having been a POW is no special qualification for being President of the United States. The two jobs are not the same, and POW experience is not, in my opinion, something I would look for in a presidential candidate.

Most of us who survived that experience are now in our late 60's and 70's. Sadly, we have died and are dying off at a greater rate than our non-POW contemporaries. We experienced injuries and malnutrition that are coming home to roost. So I believe John's age (73) and survival expectation are not good for being elected to serve as our President for 4 or more years.

I can verify that John has an infamous reputation for being a hot head. He has a quick and explosive temper that many have experienced first hand. Folks, quite honestly that is not the finger I want next to that red button.

It is also disappointing to see him take on and support Bush's war in Iraq, even stating we might be there for another 100 years. For me John represents the entrenched and bankrupt policies of Washington-as-usual. The past 7 years have proven to be disastrous for our country. And I believe John's views on war, foreign policy, economics, environment, health care, education, national infrastructure and other important areas are much the same as those of the Bush administration.

I'm disappointed to see John represent himself politically in ways that are not accurate. He is not a moderate Republican. On some issues he is a maverick. But his voting record is far to the right. I fear for his nominations to our Supreme Court, and the consequent continuing loss of individual freedoms, especially regarding moral and religious issues. John is not a religious person, but he has taken every opportunity to ally himself with some really obnoxious and crazy fundamentalist ministers lately. I was also disappointed to see him cozy up to Bush because I know he hates that man. He disingenuously and famously put his arm around the guy, even after Bush had intensely disrespected him with lies and slander. So on these and many other instances, I don't see that John is the "straight talk express" he markets himself to be.

Senator John Sidney McCain, III is a remarkable man who has made enormous personal achievements. And he is a man that I am proud to call a fellow POW who "Returned With Honor." That's our POW motto. But since many of you keep asking what I think of him, I've decided to write it out. In short, I think John Sidney McCain, III is a good man, but not someone I will vote for in the upcoming election to be our President of the United States.

Obama Doesn't Sweat. He should.

Obama Doesn't Sweat. He should.

by Greg Palast

Greg Palast on the Thom Hartmann show - Obama Doesn't Sweat,


In swing-state Colorado, the Republican Secretary of State conducted the biggest purge of voters in history, dumping a fifth of all registrations. Guess their color.

In swing-state Florida, the state is refusing to accept about 85,000 new registrations from voter drives – overwhelming Black voters.

In swing state New Mexico, HALF of the Democrats of Mora, a dirt poor and overwhelmingly Hispanic county, found their registrations disappeared this year, courtesy of a Republican voting contractor.

In swing states Ohio and Nevada, new federal law is knocking out tens of thousands of voters who lost their homes to foreclosure.

My investigations partner spoke directly to Barack Obama about it. (When your partner is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., candidates take your phone call.) The cool, cool Senator Obama told Kennedy he was “concerned” about the integrity of the vote in the Southwest in particular.

He’s concerned. I’m sweating.

It’s time SOMEBODY raised the alarm about these missing voters; not to save Obama’s candidacy – journalists should stay the heck away from partisan endorsements - but raise the alarm to save our sick democracy.

And that somebody is YOU. Joining with US, the Palast investigative team. Here’s how:

We have been offered an astonishing opportunity to place the Kennedy-Palast investigative findings on a national, prime-time, major-network television broadcast. Plus, separately, we have an extraordinary offer to create a series of reports for national network radio.

But guess what? The networks will NOT PAY for our public service reports. We have to raise the start-up funds in the next two weeks to film it, record it and get it on the airwaves.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

The Truth

Saturday, August 23, 2008
Fox 'News' Continues RNC 'Voter Fraud' Disinformation Campaign
Brad Blog
8/15/2008

Republican Cable Outlet Continues to Avoid Reporting on Actual ELECTION Fraud Concerns, Even as They Ignore the Very REAL Case of Ann Coulter's Third Degree Felony VOTER Fraud in Florida...

Eric Shawn, on behalf of Fox "News," on behalf of the RNC, continued their disingenuous and misleading "voter fraud" series over the weekend. As usual, they highlight phony fears of Democratic "voter fraud," naturally, while noting that there are "increasing cases" at what "some consider an alarming rate."

Again, and predictably, they recycle the same old, previously debunked ACORN bullshit in the latest segment. Prepare to hear more of the same, always mentioning ACORN by name, non-stop between here and November.

Trouble is, there are a few important points that Fox seems to forget to note when they join the Republicans in their misleading swiftboat campaign against ACORN. And then there's that one, rather notorious case of voter fraud felony that, for some odd reason, they seem unwilling to discuss in their continuing "investigative reports"...

In fact, ACORN has turned in a number of fraudulent registration forms from a few rogue workers in the past. But, as usual, Fox/RNC fails to note that it's ACORN themselves who verify each registration form before turning them over, as they are required to do by law whether they are fraudulent or not, to officials. The group flags the ones that can't be verified as potentially "fraudulent," before turning them in, as they are required to do by law. (Figured that was worth mentioning twice.) ...

We reported on the slimy new Fox/RNC "voter fraud" propaganda effort in May, when they first introduced their "special investigative series," and encouraged folks to send information to their special email "tip" address (VoterFraud@FoxNews.com) about Ann Coulter's no-uncertain-terms case of actual voter fraud which she committed in Florida. (Our years-long coverage of Coulter's fraud is detailed in full here and documented in full here.)

Despite the hundreds of BRAD BLOG readers who sent those "tips," Fox has yet to manage, as far as we know, to find time to report on Coulter's absolutely-proven case of third-degree felony voter fraud. Feel free to let 'em know again, and send them the links mentioned in the graf above. We'll be happy to appear on FNC anytime to back up our reporting. For some reason, the phone has yet to ring from them.

As News Hound's "Chrish" noted today ... t's the image, the perception, the psychology of storylines that is so important, not actual facts that might interfere. FOX is setting the stage for complaints of Democratic voter fraud come November when FOX candidates lose, should traditional Republican election-rigging tactics fail, delegitimizing the Democratic winners from the get-go.

Yup. Precisely. Though the misleading complaints will come beforehand and will be used by Fox and the Republican to try and keep legal, legitimate (even if they're Democratic-leaning) voters from being able to cast their votes at all. Fox and the RNC, of course, despise democracy.

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6275
Posted by Alex Constantine at 6:23 AM

Sunday, August 17, 2008

GUESS WHO'S BACK ?



Clayton Bigsby - video powered by Metacafe


Swill O'Liely just made a movie, its about Michael Moore.Gary Coleman and David Allen Greer star as slaves. It shows Bill with J.F.K and Gen.Patton as icons of just-US. It comes out in October.What the hell is wrong with America? You have the book of Sen.Obama with the phony quotes and lies in it. You have a movie about him coming out soon.Someone has to stop Fox,they're destroying America and no one can stop them. I just got my phone cut back on, and now I'm ready for payback.

A lot has happen since I was cut off,but you have the same crap going on.The lies, propaganda, the planned riot in Denver by Hillary's PUMA racist.Fox sent lawyers to help the people of Denver that want to express their freedom to assemble(riot). I going to contact embassies in Muslim countries and ask them to expel the anti-Islamic Fox reporters from the there. Fox must be stopped.

Never in my life have I seen journalist joke about killing a presidential candidate, and America is silent.Hey Saddleback Church, do Otis Moss III deserves a fatwa on him by Fox? Rev.Warren have you seen the newspaper with the target of a certain candidate on it? the picture of his wife being branded?America is so full of it.Racist are going to give Herr Bush a third chance of destroying America, meanwhile Sean Klannity has a neo-Nazi , anti semitic, bomb maker at his house for a sleepover, and McPain don't say Shiite.God bless America... and no place else.

This video is dedicated to the Toms such as Make it Plain, SugarnSpice, Juan Williams, jesse Lee Peterson,Erik Rush , and all the other anti-Americans that want to have a third coup of the U.S. by the Republiklans,FU-2.