NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: February 26, 2005

Contact: Zack Kaldveer, Citizens Act, 415-637-4125

NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE, AND ELECTORAL REFORM GROUPS GATHER IN LOS ANGELES AND OAKLAND FOR ‘WHO GOT GLITCHED’ CONFERENCE

Conference begins as Kerry-Edwards campaign files explosive new challenges to legitimacy of Ohio recount. Filings cite manipulation of vote count, destruction of evidence, and violation of election laws

(CA) - Civil rights, peace, and electoral reform groups gathered today in Oakland and Los Angeles for an historic "Who Got Glitched" conference which includes public ‘teach ins’ and the viewing of yet to be released video footage of election day abuses. The gathering offers event participants the opportunity to share mounting evidence that November’s election was rife with fraud, discuss and coordinate strategies to most effectively reform the country’s broken electoral system, and educate the press, public, and elected officials of the myriad of pitfalls a privatized, corporate controlled, electronic vote counting system poses to America’s democracy.

Congresswoman Maxine Waters, one of 31 Democratic House Members to challenge the legitimacy of Ohio Electors on January 6th, will be the Keynote Speaker for Sunday’s ‘Teach In" in Los Angeles, and Ian Masters of KPFK will serve as the moderator. Saturday evening’s "Film as Evidence", also in Los Angeles, features three separate filmmaking teams presenting footage of Election Day civil rights violations, voter disenfranchisement, and evidence of fraud.

"Voting is perhaps the most important action a citizen can take. Throughout our history that fundamental access to democracy has been denied to many, but eventually all Americans won the right to vote," said Congresswoman Maxine Waters. "Unfortunately, the 2000 and 2004 Presidential elections highlighted the fact that many obstacles still remain. This weekend’s gathering demonstrates just how strongly Americans value their vote and it will take this level of commitment from experts, community leaders, elected officials, academics and activists to ensure the electoral process is returned to its rightful owners, the people."

The 2-day symposium began as explosive new court filings by the Kerry/Edwards campaign were released to the public. The filings question the legitimacy and legality of the Ohio recount and renew the debate over the accuracy of the state’s certified election results. The Kerry/Edwards campaign also came out in support of the Green and Libertarian Party’s motion to preserve all ballots and machinery connected to the 2004 presidential election and to investigate Triad Government Services, Inc. for allegedly tampering with machinery and ‘rigging’ recount results.

ﾒThe charges being filed by the Kerry/Edwards campaign come as no surprise to those of us who have been investigating electronic voting and the corporations that control it for the past 3 years," said Bev Harris of Black Box Voting, the country’s leading expert on electronic voting. "After traveling to 20 states, visiting county after county, we have found that the problems enumerated in Ohio are consistent with those found across the country."

ﾒThis weekends conference has nothing to do with Kerry versus Bush," said Sheri Myers, Co-Founder, Citizens Act, the group initiating the event in Los Angeles. "People across the country are working harder than ever to bring attention to the fraud that occurred on November 2nd. This past election was the first in American history to be ‘owned’ by partisan corporations with secret 'proprietary control' over our vote. We cannot let this issue die, because if we do, democracy dies with it."

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- Zack

Bush pisses off Canada

Our president has claimed control of Canadian air space. The arrogance of this is simply astounding.

PM DRAWS FIRE OVER MISSLES

Prime Minister Paul Martin said yesterday that Canada has to be involved in any U.S. decision to shoot down an enemy missile in Canadian airspace, but the American ambassador said the country had given up its right to be involved in any such decision. [..]

“We will deploy,” Mr. Cellucci said. “We will defend North America.

“We simply cannot understand why Canada would in effect give up its sovereignty, its seat at the table, to decide what to do about a missile that might be coming towards Canada.”

Moments earlier, Mr. Martin had told reporters he expected the United States to consult with Canada.

“Canada is a sovereign nation and we would expect and insist on being consulted on any intrusion into our space,” Mr. Martin said.

More

There is much more on this story at CBC News:

U.S. must not intrude on Canadian airspace: Martin

Prime Minister Paul Martin said Canada must be consulted before the U.S. decides to fire on missiles that enter Canadian airspace, despite Ottawa's refusal to participate in America's missile defence program.

"I don't think that anyone expected that there would be any other finger on a button than the Americans," Martin said Friday, a day after his decision not to join the program.

"But in terms of Canadian airspace, yes we would expect to be consulted. This is our airspace. We're a sovereign nation. And you don't intrude on a sovereign nation's airspace without seeking permission," Martin said. [...]

Martin repeated that the nearly $13 billion allocated for the military in Wednesday's budget proves Canada is committed to taking its share of responsibility for national and international security.

"I think the other important thing is the other affirmation of sovereignty is the very large defence budget, which is designed to protect our coast, borders and Arctic sovereignty and also make sure we can play a role in the world. That is also an affirmation of our sovereignty," he said.

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And in a related story the Missile Defense System doesn't even work:

Missile Defense Fails Test Again

A test of the national missile defense system failed Monday when an interceptor missile did not launch from its island base in the Pacific Ocean, the military said. It was the second failure in months for the experimental program. [...]

In Monday's test, the interceptor missile was to target a mock ICBM fired from Kodiak Island, Alaska. The target missile launched at 1:22 a.m. Monday EST without any problems, but the interceptor did not launch.

Bush continues to piss off the entire planet. What a brat!

- Jordan

I am loving this photo on Yahoo News

US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) speaks in Bratislava 24 February 2005. Europe is realizing Bush's 'vision' might work and should stop demanding from the US 'a high price for its political favors'(AFP/Joe Klamar)

classic

- Jordan

Zack's Link Roundup 2.25.05
The Gannon Special Edition

HOW LONG CAN JOURNALISTS GAIN ACCESS TO THE WHITE HOUSE WITHOUT AN FBI BACKGROUND CHECK? Most White House journalists have what is called a "hard pass," a permanent pass obtained after undergoing a rigorous FBI background check. Gannon skipped over that step. Instead, as Salon's Eric Boehlert explains, "the White House waved him into press briefings for nearly two years using what's called a day pass." Now, day passes are special exceptions that are "designed for temporary use by out-of-town reporters who need access to the White House, not for indefinite use by reporters." If the background check is necessary for reporters with extended access to the White House, why were the rules circumvented for Gannon? Is there a limit to how long a reporter can slide on "day" passes, as Gannon did for years?

HOW DID GANNON GET A WHITE HOUSE PRESS PASS TWO MONTHS BEFORE HIS SUPPOSED PUBLICATION EVEN EXISTED? Bush Press Secretary Scott McClellan admitted the White House gave Gannon his first day press pass in February 2003. The problem: His "publication," Talon News, didn't exist until April 2003.

BY WHAT CRITERIA DID THE WHITE HOUSE EVALUATE TALON NEWS? Talon News is the brainchild of a Republican activist from Texas, Bobby Eberle. Eberle, who runs the aptly named "GOPUSA," told the New York Times he created Talon News because he wanted to quietly construct a news service with a conservative slant: "if someone were to see 'GOPUSA,' there's an instant built-in bias there." In denying Gannon a pass, the congressional press office pointed out Gannon was unable to show that "Talon News has any paid subscribers." They also found that while actual working reporters can show their principal income comes from reporting stories for publication in actual news services, Talon's "paying a single reporter a 'stipend' does not meet the intent of the rule." As the Washington Post's Dana Milbank put it, Gannon was "representing a phony media company that doesn't really have any such thing as circulation or readership."

HOW DID GANNON GET A WHITE HOUSE PRESS PASS UNDER A FAKE NAME? Jeff Gannon's real name is James Guckert. (He told Wolf Blitzer that he changed his name because "Jeff Gannon" was easier to pronounce.) Although all applications for White House press passes are supposed to be thoroughly vetted, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said he was unaware that Gannon was using an alias. His predecessor, Ari Fleischer, also pleads ignorance. Gannon signed in to the White House each day as "Jeff Guckert," a name which did not match his pass ­ yet no one seemed to thing that was strange. In fact, no one at the White House seems overly concerned with what amounts to a stunning national security breach.

WHAT IS GANNON'S CONNECTION TO THE VALERIE PLAME CASE? Jeff Gannon has been interviewed by FBI agents who are investigating another security breach in the White House, namely, the leaking of CIA agent Valerie Plame's name to the press. So far, Gannon has been coy, giving "conflicting signals, over many months, concerning whether he saw a secret document or merely knew about it from other sources." Today he says he never really saw the memo, he'd only read about it in the Wall Street Journal. Reps. Conyers and Slaughter are asking Patrick Fitzgerald, the lead prosecutor in the Plame investigation, to subpoena the journal Gannon kept over the past two years to find out what Gannon actually knew, and when.

SOCIAL SECURITY ­ HOUSE PRIVATIZATION LEADER A WALL ST. LUSH: The Republican chairman of the House Social Security Subcommittee, Louisiana Rep. Jim McCrery, has accepted nearly $200,000 in contributions over four years from the very same Wall Street firms that would likely reap billions if President Bush's privatization scheme is made law. Campaign for America's Future, a progressive advocacy group, yesterday accused McCrery of a severe conflict of interest, and announced plans to run "newspaper advertisements against Mr. McCrery under the headline 'Who Does This Man Work For?' in his hometown, Shreveport," the New York Times reports. McCrery responded by attacking the group's "extreme liberal bias," while ignoring the substantive charges.

Lots more right here folks

-Zack

When "Reason" Rings Hollow

This is a fantastic piece by my friend Greg. It is worth your time for sure.

Nick Gillespie, who I've never heard of before today, has a piece up for Reason entitled, Beyond the Politics of Personal Destruction: What the Bush tapes reveal about policy disputes.

Once I was done reading it I found myself appalled by the lack of any reason to this piece. His arguments are almost all torn down by reality. Let's begin this dissection, shall we?

His first paragraph I'll quote verbatim: "If Ronald Reagan was the Teflon president, and Bill Clinton was the Kevlar president (and Jimmy Carter the irrevocably stained Polyester president), what 21st-century wonder material describes George W. Bush, who is surely the most underrated—and seemingly invulnerable—politician in recent memory?"

"Oh, really," I gently mused to myself. "He's the most 'seemingly invulnerable politician in recent memory,' eh? Is that why he lost the popular vote?" And yes, I know he's President and Al Gore isn't, but Gore beat Bush and lost the Presidency through what some would call "bad luck" (damn Ralph Nader, damn the electoral college!) and what others would call "fraud" (damn Katherine Harris, damn the protestors who stormed the canvassing board, damn Jeb Bush and damn the Supreme Court!). But George Bush didn't beat Gore. Our system did, if we want to be nice, and for the sake of being reasonable I will be nice.

And underrated? I thought it was the Bush White House that has always made it a top priority for Bush to be underrated? You know, to help make him "folksy." It's always been a joke amongst Democrats, like myself, that if George Bush throws a press conference and doesn't drool on himself the press will talk about how he's mastering the office.

He is on a roll. Check it.....

- Jordan

Detroit Free Press Shows Promise

I am dying to see a main stream newspaper ask some hard hitting questions about Gannon. I mean how did a reporter, working for a fake news organization, who has no credentials, slip past the White Houses background check? Not to mention the fact that this man was slingin' crotch on the side. Well the Detroit Free Press has shown the rest of 'em how it is done:

Press Impostor At the White House, don't duck the real questions

How is it that an administration that screened thousands of people for attendance at Bush campaign rallies repeatedly let a fake reporter into the sanctorum of the White House pressroom under a false name? Who was running that background check? How could a president who declares that national security is his prime concern be so ill served for nearly two years by his own security detail?

What is the public to make of the fact that legitimate protesters are kept far away from President George W. Bush while an illegitimate "journalist" who's really working for a Republican propaganda mill is repeatedly allowed into the White House pressroom and regularly called upon by the president and the president's press secretary to ask questions?

Is it possible that the administration's formidable public relations machine was well aware that reporter "Jeff Gannon" of the Talon News Web site was really James Guckert, and that Talon and the Web site GOPUSA have the same owner and often the same pro-Republican content?

More More More

See it is safe to come out and play journalists! More of this please.

- Jordan

Gannon Video

And yes these videos are work safe.

Lets start it off by watching Gannon squirm a bit when questioned (real questions mind you) by CNN's Anderson Cooper. Props to Cooper for not tossing Mr. Softball any soft ones. Video Here

Now let us move over to the great John Stewart, who had a fantastic piece on Gannon on the Daily Show recently. Worth seeing again. Video Here

Lastly we have Bill Maher who is back from vacation and had a superb piece on his opening show about the gannon scandal. Video Here

- Jordan

Priceless

Rick Santorum was out pimping for the destruction of Social Security yesterday. Of course Democrats gathered around for a good ol' chant of "hey hey, hoho, Rick Santorum has got to go". Well the rethugs gathered were not to be out done. Oh no. They started up with the brilliant chant of "hey hey, hoho, Social Security has got to go!".

Letting the true colors shine though. Chuck Pennacchio has some video of it on his blog.

- Jordan

From Rawstory

Senate Democratic leadership joins push for Gannon inquiry

The Senate Democratic leadership is privately circulating a letter calling for other senators to join a call for an investigation into discredited White House reporter Jeff Gannon, RAW STORY has learned.

The letter, issued from Minority Whip Richard Durbin (D-IL), calls on President Bush to “order a full inquiry” into how a “fake” journalist working for a “sham” news organization got access to the president.

The letter was leaked to RAW STORY this evening. A decision on taking action on Gannon has been brewing for about a week, since Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) called on the White House to turn over all documentation relating to Gannon’s credentialing.

The Senate Democratic leadership is encouraging members to sign onto the letter behind the scenes. As Congress is in recess, Democrats will be calling on members in their home districts before the Senate reconvenes next week.

Senator Durbin’s letter follows.

- Jordan

From Pollingreport

Not much action today. A few articles under the must read column. I have been spending some time doing a redesign of the site. Look for that soon....

- Jordan

Taking The Red Pill

This is an article written by my friend Zack, who you all know from the great news roundup segments that are posted here. He wrote it about a year and a half ago but it seems more true today than the moment it was written. It's a great read and could be particularly eye opening for those who have tuned out to politics, succumbed to cynicism, and feel like they can't make a difference so why even try?

Check out these two passages from the column:

In many ways, Americans are faced with a similar choice offered to Neo. Do you take the blue pill, and continue living your life in the false comfort of the Matrix? Or, do you take the red pill, and decide you want the increased responsibilities and challenges that knowing the truth will bring?

- snip -

Indeed, the competition for the attention of our minds is a fierce one. This mass media overload produces short attention spans, short memories, and conditions us to seek what is entertaining and simple, not what is complex or demanding. In other words, how does the truth, in all its uncomfortable detail, get through all these competing messages? And if it does, are we really going to recognize it?

Read 'Take the Red Pill'
in its entirety by clicking the image below:

- Jordan

Interesting. Saw this on a Kos diary. It's worth posting here to get the word out fast. Rep. Henry A. Waxman and Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney are both calling for new hearings to ascertain the truth about who knew what, when they knew it, and whether this administration has continued its habit of deceit about warnings given regarding 9/11.  This is edited. Click HERE for full version.

Dear Mr. Chairman:

    We are writing to request that our Committee hold hearings to investigate two extremely serious questions raised by an article that appeared in this morning's New York Times. The first question is whether the Administration misused the classification process to withhold, for political reasons, official 9/11 Commission staff findings detailing how federal aviation officials received multiple intelligence reports warning of airline hijackings and suicide attacks before September 11. The second question relates to the veracity of statements, briefings, and testimony by then-National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice regarding this issue.

Declassification Process

    The first question Committee hearings should address is whether the Bush Administration abused the classification process to improperly withhold the 9/11 Commission findings from Congress and the public until after the November elections and the confirmation of Condoleezza Rice as Secretary of State. Although the 9/11 Commission staff completed its report on August 26, 2004, the Bush Administration refused to declassify the findings until January 28, 2005, less than 48 hours after Ms. Rice was confirmed as Secretary of State. [2] At that time, the Department of Justice delivered both a classified version and an unclassified version to the National Archives, the agency charged with collecting and retaining all 9/11 Commission documents.

    During the period between August 26 and January 28, the Administration was reportedly reviewing the Commission's report to determine whether it contained any information that should be classified in the interest of national security. Problems with this process had been raised previously by the 9/11 Commission. [3]

The Committee should investigate the process by which the Administration handled the declassification, redaction, and release of this 9/11 Commission report. Specifically, the Committee should investigate the following questions:

(1) What was the process for declassifying, redacting, and releasing this report, and who specifically was responsible for these actions?

(2) Were there political considerations behind the declassification, redaction, or timing of the release of the report?

(3) What were the specific rationales for each redaction in the report? Were these redactions appropriate?

    On December 2, 2004, we joined with Rep. Christopher Shays, Chairman of the National Security Subcommittee, and 23 other members in a letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft specifically requesting the 9/11 Commission report at issue. [4] We noted that "there have been a number of calls for its release, to no avail," and we expressed concern that "politics may be playing a role in its release." This specific congressional request was apparently ignored by the Administration. When the staff report was declassified on January 28 and sent to the National Archives, no notice was provided to us.

As the Kos diary notes, here is the real kicker:

Document Request

    Finally, we request that the Committee obtain from the Administration the following documents identified in the New York Times article this morning:

(1) A full, unredacted copy of the classified version of the 9/11 Commission report on FAA intelligence warnings delivered to the National Archives;

(2) Full and unredacted copies of the 52 intelligence reports received by the FAA;

(3) Full and unredacted copies of the CD-ROM presentation distributed to airlines and airports in 2001; and

(4) Full and unredacted copies of slides, reports, or other documents used in classified briefings for security officials at 19 airports in mid-2001.

    Sincerely,
    Henry A. Waxman
    Ranking Minority Member
    Carolyn B. Maloney
    Member of Congress

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This is the stuff dreams are made of. But I am not holding my breath...

- Jordan

I do too. Thats why this is THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE we currently face. There is work for you to do:

Senator John Ensign of Nevada recently introduced the "Voting Integrity and Verification Act" (VIVA, S.330). This bill requires a voter-verified paper ballot, and ensures that paper ballots govern in case of any discrepancy between a machine count and paper count. Voter-verified paper ballots also make it possible to recover from e-voting machine malfunctions, such as those experienced last year in California, Georgia, North Carolina, and elsewhere, without having to re-run a costly election from scratch.

The bill is simple and straightforward, and provides the necessary "bottom line" without which we cannot have reliable elections.

The bill's passage will mean that all the states and counties still seeking to purchase new voting equipment can only buy systems which can provide a voter-verified paper ballot. It is far easier and more cost-effective to start out with a verifiable system than to retrofit!

To pass quickly, S.330 must have strong bi-partisan support. You can make the difference: contact your Senators today and urge them to co-sponsor this critically important legislation!

Click Here and be heard

Click here for Gvernment Employee contact information

Write your Senators and Reps. This is it. There is no more important battle than this one.

- Jordan

Operation "Destabilize The Entire Middle East" is well under way

With "Operation Saddam Hussein Attacked Us On 911" "Operation Free The Iraqi People" out of the way, we can move on to the next phase.

With the assassination of prime minister Rafik Hariri in Lebanon the other day, I see a growing shit-storm on the horizon. With the White House itching for another war in the middle east, they quickly pointed the finger at Syria, even though we have no evidence of such a connection. In fact such a move by Syria seems not to benefit them at all since the reaction is a call for the withdrawal of all of Syria's troops in the region. The whole things just doesn't add up.

Syrian Expatriate Affairs Minister Buthaina Shaaban said she was "baffled" by the US reaction to the killing.

"To point to Syria in a terrorist act that aims at destabilizing both Syria and Lebanon is truly like blaming the US for 9/11," she told the BBC.

Indeed. I am no expert on this but I think we could look a bit deeper before claiming to know who is responsible. The whole Saddam Hussein was behind 911 fiasco comes to mind. Look how that one turned out!

Why are we there again?

But heck, Syria is on the short list Bush keeps under his pillow of evildoer nations and that seems to be good enough for the chimp. Syria did it! Syria did it! Thats right people. Are you ready for shit-storm 2.0?

We point the finger at Syria and look what happens. Russia tells Syria it will be happy to sell them an advanced missile system. Then to put the cherry on the cake Iran tells Syria it will help them defend themselves against US aggression. Oh boy look! We are creating dangerous alliances in the Middle east! Oh joy! It's not like we are over extended militarily or anything. It is not as if we can't afford this war.

Sigh....

- Jordan