I am in the middle of my complimentary copy of Fooled Again, Mark Crispin Miller’s 300 page polemic against the theocrats and ‘Busheviks’ who he believes stole the 2000 and 2004 elections for the Bush/Cheney crew, and while some of the stuff veers into outright fantasy, his assessment of Tom DeLaye is, in my opinion, spot on.
At any rate, when I finish it, I will discuss it in more detail, but right now, if you lefties want some partisan invective launched at all things GOP, this is a book you won’t want to pass up.
Some background on a pretty big flap between Miller and John Kerry here.
And just to let you know how left Miller is, Oliver stated to me in a private correspondence, “You’re reading it? thats fevered swamps even for me.”
Yes. That Oliver.
srv
Whether they were stolen or not, our democracy will not survive voting technologies without auditable paper trails. This issue has fallen off the radar map again, and we’ll see more fiascos in 2006 and 2008.
Your vote only counts if the programmer says is does.
Steve S
I don’t know how you can stomach something like that. I don’t read partisan books. I’m with Oliver on that.
So what’s his take on DeLay?
Jon H
There’s a serious fever swamp radio show here in Connecticut. It’s on a college public radio station, but it’s *not* NPR. (And it’s not Yale, it’s University of Hartford.)
It’s called “Assassination Journal”, and it explores the Kennedy assassination. Basically, the show looks at current events and, yes, traces how they’re connected to the Kennedy killing.
It’s been on the air since 1975.
joshua
Aren’t they aware Bill Clinton killed JFK? Someone should let them know so they can move on to finding Jimmy Hoffa’s bod…wait, that was found on the Whitewater land. Nevermind.
JWeidner
Heh. Reminded me of the episode of MythBusters where they used ground penetrating sonar (or something of that nature) to determine if Hoffa was, in fact, buried under Giants stadium. (Myth busted)
I love that show…
SeesThroughIt
I couldn’t agree more. Plus, when Diebold goes out of its way to not provide a paper trail, it only makes me think there’s something to hide there.
Krista
I can’t decide who has the best job in the world. Those two guys, or the guy who’s on The Thirsty Traveller.
goonie bird
Its getting so you cant trust these liberal journalist will they now fire him only to have the New York Pravda rehire him?
Bob In Pacifica
…because, as we know, there aren’t any conspiracies in America.
I would guess that a lot of the snarky remarks around here come from people who weren’t alive back in 1963. It was a coup. Anyway, if someone wanted to read more about them (the multiple assassinations of the sixties) one might start with Peter Dale Scott’s DEEP POLITICS. But then it might be too complicated to be reduced to a snark.
Kerry may be changing his mind, too.
http://www.consortiumnews.com/
Fledermaus
Count me as another hard core lefty who’s surprised you’re reading it, even if it was free. Judging from the Amazon blurb it probably even comes with its own tin foil hat. ‘Busheviks’ indeed. It’d be like me reading this book
On the other hand your party has been up to no small number of shannigans aimed keeping people from voting: two hour lines, haphazzard felon lists, and most recently in Seattle phony challenges.
Steve S
LOL! The War on Christmas!? BWAA HAHAHA!
God these whiners are sure good at playing the victim, aren’t they?
Lines
Hey, those were well researched phony challenges! It took a lot of time to write off people that like to get their mail at Mailboxes Etc
Fledermaus
It’s worse than that Lines, they challenged everyone in a single apartment building. Nothing special, just an apartment building – every single person there (including at least one Republican who lived there – well former republican now in all likihood)
the friendly grizzly
Fledermaus: it is a variation on the “poll watchers” if the 1960s and 1970s. In those days I was a Democrat. I walked in to my polling place to cast my first ballot ever, and had a nice, buffed, clean-shaven, call-cleaned-up-for-church, Up With People! type try to challenge my right to vote. His big mistake was to lay a hand on me.
When he picked himself up off the sidewalk and limped somewhat bowlegged to lean on his car, he had gotten the message that, yes, I DID have the right to vote in that election.
Both parties do this sort of thing (cf Chicago, New Jersey, just about anyplace with militant organised labor), but it sure as hell doesn’t make it right.
Then again, it isn’t right to instant-register bums and buy their votes for a bottle of Mad Dog, or a pack of smokes either.
Rob
I just voted in Ohio and there are now a paper ballots printed. It is in the side of the machine with a lid over it, so you might not see it.
You vote electronically, but when you are done it prints a ballots.
I will say the instructions are confusing, the first initiative goes over one page by 1 line, so the second page has a yes/no at the top with almost no text and a yes/no at the bottom, for #2.
I live in a very white bread (Republican) district, but there was a boy (maybe 20) handing out (in the rain) pro 2,3,4,5 lititure just outside the 100′ line. I told him I was proud of him.
I am VERY suspecious of the 2004 Ohio ballot, WAY too different from the exit polls. But am feeling better having a paper trail now.
p.lukasiak
I haven’t read Miller’s book, but one thing that anyone who has been paying attention knows is this:
As venal and craven as you may think the Bush regime at any given point in time, something will come up that makes you realize its worse than you imagined.
Eric Lindholm
Byron York discusses Miller’s book this morning on the Corner and closes with this punchline: “Miller, by the way, is a professor at New York University.”
Natch.
space
So, it records your vote on paper…but you can’t see the paper…so it might say something else?
Why am I not surprised?
BumperStickerist
Fledermaus-
Well, I spoze the Rethuglicans could adopt Democrat methods and start slashing tires of the opposition, shooting guns at political headquarters, and, in time, commit enough actual voter fraud, intimidation, and such to catch up with the Democrats … provided the Dems change their ways.
Also, and I welcome the correction if I’m wrong, but elections are locally controlled, aren’t they? How do Republicans manage to control voting in Democrat precincts?
The past two presidential elections have demonstrated nothing except that Democrats are incapable of running their local elections.
.
The Cavalry
Whine — the bitter drink made from sour grapes.
Tony Dismukes
No, you can see the paper, you just have to lift the cover and look. I voted this morning and I verified that the paper record matched the votes I cast. I’m not sure why they have the cover in the first place, though. It might be confusing to someone who didn’t think to lift it up and look.
space
Bumperstickerist:
Are you for real? Have more than ten people in the entire country been prevented from voting because of your alleged tire slashing? Has a single Democratic (that’s how the word is spelled, FWIW) operative been arrested for shooting at a Republican HQ? How many of these shooting incidents are you claiming have suppressed the vote?
On the other hand we have proven incidents of Republicans throwing away voter registration cards of Democrats, filing false affadavits challenging voter qualifications, jamming Democratic phone banks, collating phony felon lists, etc., etc., etc. That’s not even to mention the legal but totally underhanded tactic of flyering Democratic districts with phony election info (e.g. “Vote Wednesday!”)
Rob
Tony is correct, lift the lid and there is your paper ballot. But you could easily not know it was there. Also under the lid is magnifing “glass” made of cheap plastic that I could barely see through.
What the heck was that lid on there in first place, you should be able to see your ballot by default.
Rob
BumperStickerist Says:
As I understand it that is what one of the issues we were voting on is about. No the secretary of state (Repub) is in charge of all elections. The issue in question changes that to a non-partisan.
Geek, Esq.
Miller flamed David Corn and called him a rightwing hack.
Yes, that David Corn.
Fledermaus
I’m sorry BumperStickerist, I have no access or influence in Rush Limaugh’s fantasy world. I do however have some frequent flyer miles that I would be happy to use to buy you a ticket back to reality. :)