Young Repubs'

reaction to Obama win:



Makes me want to comfort 'em, too.

Wassup

(Thanks, snarky!)

More Tips to Try to Make Sure Your Vote Counts

Evidence has been coming in fast and furious of all kinds of voter caging and other "dirty tricks" (see. e.g., this CNN story) including electronic machine malfunctions.

Here are a some suggestions, including a few new ones.

First, check canivote.org to try to make sure you haven't been dropped from the rolls for some reason.

Second, there have been reports of misinformation provided to voters re- WHERE they should vote. E.g., a reliable acquaintance in California says that while looking for the best website to tell people to confirm their polling locations, she discovered discrepancies between the CA Sec. of State's website and the League of Women Voters -- and it turned out the LEAGUE's website was the correct one. So best to cross-check your polling location with both your Sec. of State and your local League of Women Voters.

Also, please check with your local elections authority to confirm what kinds of machines will record and tabulate votes if you vote early vs. on election day vs. by absentee ballot, and if at all possible, vote when and where a paper ballot will be generated. For example, in Dallas County, Texas, ALL early voting will be ENTIRELY electronic, without any paper trail whatsoever -- so it will be impossible for there to be any meaningful recount or audit of those votes. On the other hand, on Election Day, many polling places will use machines that generate a paper record of your vote. So, in Dallas County, it's recommended that you wait to vote on Election Day if possible -- but what's best may vary from county to county.

Know what kind of i.d. to bring. You can check on this, too, through canivote.org.

Next, many states offer the option of "straight-party voting"; that is, instead of having to separately vote re- each office on the ballot, you can just select a particular party once to indicate that you want to vote for all the candidates of that party. Some reported electronic machine malfunctions have involved voters attempting to vote a straight Dem ticket who found their Presidential vote flipped to McCain (confirmed by Snopes). So please do NOT vote using the "straight-party voting" option; instead, please go through and vote for an individual candidate for each office on the ballot.

Use video, audio, or photographs to record your vote, and if you encounter a problem, try to record or write down the evidence, such as the names and phone numbers of witnesses, as well as voting machine serial numbers, names of poll workers, and the time of day. And if you do record or encounter a problem, get the word out about it.

At the first sign of a problem*, stop what you're doing and ask to speak to the polling place supervisor (skip the poll worker). Explain your problem. If they try to wave you off, call your main election commission number and ask to speak to the election commissioner until your problem is satisfactorily addressed. Poll workers/supervisors may try to blame you -- "operator error." Remain calm and courteous, but do not leave your polling place until your problem is well-documented and addressed to your complete satisfaction and, if the problem is with the machine, the machine is quarantined. Oh, and you've gotten to vote.

File reports wherever possible. Your local polling place should have incident reports available to you. If they do not, call the main election commission for your county and ask for someone to bring one to you. Make sure that both you and the supervisor sign it. An example of a report is here. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission also lists on their website where you can find out how to file a report in your state.

Also report your incident to the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Election Protection Hotline at 1-866-Our-Vote, especially if you feel you are being bullied or your incident is not being taken seriously. The ACLU also has a hotline at 1-877-523-2792. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Greg Palast offer suggestions as well in their comic StealYourVoteBack.org.

*Problems can include: machine problems, polling place problems (machines not set up on time), switching or closing of your polling place, voters forced to vote on a provisional ballot, long lines/waits, intimidation, unusual ID demands, poll workers asking inappropriate questions, etc.

Damon Weaver Is Too Cute + Cool

The 5th-grader interviews Joe Biden:

Stop, Drop, & Poll: What to Do if You Have Problems Voting

Anecdotal evidence is coming in fast and furious of early-voting incidences including voting machine malfunctions in Ohio, Putnam, and Jackson Counties in West Virginia and Davidson and Decatur Counties in Tennessee, as well as hidden problems with "straight ticket" voting (confirmed by Snopes) in Texas and West Virginia. A more complete list of the problems so far can be found at VotersUnite.org.

It CAN happen to you. If it does, here are a few suggestions on what to do:

1) Video Your Vote.
Use video, audio, or photgraphs, and if you encounter a problem, try to record or write down the evidence, such as the names and phone numbers of witnesses, as well as voting machine serial numbers, names of poll workers, and the time of day. And if you do record or encounter a problem, get the word out about it.

2) At the First Sign of a Problem*, Stop.
At the first sign of a problem with your machine or if you have any other problem listed below, stop what you're doing and ask to speak to the polling place supervisor (skip the poll worker). Explain your problem. If they try to wave you off, call your main election commission number and ask to speak to the election commissioner until your problem is satisfactorily addressed. Poll workers/supervisors may try to blame you -- "operator error." Remain calm and courteous, but do not leave your polling place until your problem is well-documented and addressed to your complete satisfaction and, if the problem is with the machine, the machine is quarantined. Oh, and you've gotten to vote.

3) File reports wherever possible.
Your local polling place should have incident reports available to you. If they do not, call the main election commission for your county and ask for someone to bring one to you. Make sure that both you and the supervisor sign it. An example of a report is here. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission also lists on their website where you can find out how to file a report in your state.

Also report your incident to the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Election Protection Hotline at 1-866-Our-Vote, especially if you feel you are being bullied or your incident is not being taken seriously. The ACLU also has a hotline at 1-877-523-2792. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Greg Palast offer suggestions as well in their comic StealYourVoteBack.org.

4) Call the Election Protection Hotline.
Report your incident to the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Election Protection Hotline at 1-866-Our-Vote, especially if you feel you are being bullied or your incident is not being taken seriously. The ACLU also has a hotline at 1-877-523-2792. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Greg Palast offer suggestions as well in their comic StealYourVoteBack.org.

5) Pledge to Stand Up to Stolen Elections.
Go to NoMoreStolenElections.org and pledge to not concede until every vote is counted -- and counted as cast.

*Problems can include: machine problems, polling place problems (machines not set up on time), switching or closing of your polling place, voters forced to vote on a provisional ballot, long lines/waits, intimidation, unusual ID demands, poll workers asking inappropriate questions, etc.

(Thanks, Uncounted Mary!)

Please share this info.

Political Advertising My Sig. Other Can Relate to

. . . the Obama "Bat-Signal."

(More here.)

More Re- Election Fraud

Here's a tip. Many states offer the option of "straight-party voting"; that is, instead of having to actually vote re- each office on the ballot, you can just check one box or whatever for a particular party to indicate that you want to vote for all the candidates of that party.

Please do NOT do that. Please go through and vote for an individual candidate for each office on the ballot. Investigation has shown that the electronic voting machines seem to be particularly error-prone when you vote straight-party. Blackboxvoting.org has stated, "[v]oting machine miscounts of straight party votes were proven by California researcher Judy Alter in the 2004 New Mexico presidential election; in Alabama Democrat straight party votes were caught going to a Republican; and [in] Wisconsin a whole slew of straight party votes disappeared altogether. Both DRE and optical scan machines are vulnerable." (Note, blackboxvoting.org is not my preferred source of info on this subject, but the general idea is consistent with other sources.)

Also, obviously, we NEED a landslide in order to overcome the cheating; but even if it becomes plain that we'll have a landslide in Obama's favor, cheating will still occur for TWO reasons:

1. Even if the presidential election can't plausibly be stolen, thousands of Congressional and other offices can be.

2. There is value in rigging elections to appear closer than they really were, because it sets precedents for interpreting the reliability of results in subsequent elections. E.g., if a Dem wins a certain office in a certain county by 2 points when the exit polls predicted 6, and in a subsequent election, the exit polls predict a Dem win by only 3 points, a Repub win by 1 point seems more plausible based on the previously-established historical discrepancy. Note that this since electronic cheating is believed to have been going on since the 2000 elections, we probably already have several cycles of distortion -- much of the country may be a lot blue-er than we realize.

Election reform must be a top priority of the next administration. We must have paper ballots, and the tabulation must be an entirely open process supervised by representatives from all parties and subject to complete audit.

UPDATE: Snopes has confirmed the risks of straight-party voting; see also VotersUnite ("Misprogramming has often caused voting equipment to tabulate straight-party votes incorrectly. . . . in prior elections, misprogramming caused straight-party votes to be dropped or counted for the opposite candidate, for example, in Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin. . . . Straight-party vote-flipping has already occurred in this [2008] election on two different e-voting machines in Texas -- the ES&S iVotronic in Dallas and the Hart InterCivic eSlate in Houston.") Also see another, excellent new RFK article via Rolling Stone (Thanks, Craig!)

The Last Debate.

Ok, it's all getting pretty tedious. Just, pls, VOTE.

How to Keep People from Stealing Your Obama Signs

Obama Foresaw Opponents' Attacks

Does McCain Have a Problem with, Shall We Say, Dark Horses?

On a Lighter Note . . .

McCain as The Penguin:

"Leave Sarah Alone"

Are We Palin-Ready?

I doubt it.

To Those Who've Compared Palin to Xena

. . . this from Lucy Lawless (who plays the "Warrior Princess"): "[s]omeone asked me today if I knew that Sarah Palin's supporters are calling her 'Xena.' I had to ask, 'Oh, is Sarah Palin a lesbian too?!' I don't see it on her bio anywhere . . . nope, not there. Curiously, in her earlier life, Xena traded motherhood for a career as an evil warlord. Hmmmm . . . "

More here.

More from Spoonamore on Electronic Voting

This is the first of 10 segments of a new interview taped 9-11-08 in Washington, D.C. The remaining segments are at the links below:

2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YadsHqxid8I
3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbxuXC4QlMk
4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOHkY7sJ4ZI
5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1--KHOo8tkM
6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJHmuG8d2bQ
7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z7DK3LgiOA
8: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WTe8ppEIic
9: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lrFkRHrRDI -- In this segment, Spoon predicts the outcome of the 2008 election.
10: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s07oi2G_K4c

For Spoonamore's previous statements, click here.

Artists Shepard Fairey & Robert Indiana Jailed

In case you missed it, the artists were held for 17 hours in Denver during the Democratic National Convention on charges of putting up unauthorized posters. More details here; Fairey's website here.

(Mural by Fairey with installation by Nic and Z.)

McCain Rushing Back to D.C. to Help with Economic Crisis???

(You can stop watching the first video at about 1:35 min., when it moves on to the subject of McCain's competency w.r.t. Iraq):



I'm so glad McCain's "suspended" his campaign and is trying to back out of the first debate so he can help cope with the crisis! Phil Gramm was key in pushing through the deregulation that led to the current financial meltdown. If my life savings weren't at stake, McCain & Co. would be hilarious.

Here's Barbara Boxer on his years of "experience" in dealing with our financial system (she gets to that subject after about the first minute in):



The Wall Street Journal reports, "Sen. Chris Dodd, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, said Thursday that [the] bipartisan meeting with President Bush at the White House on the mortgage rescue plan was nothing short of a disaster. . . . 'I am not going to sign on to something I just saw this afternoon,' Dodd said . . . . [t]he whole meeting 'looked like a rescue plan for John McCain . . . .'"

Bloomberg reports, "Hundreds of Economists Urge Congress Not to Rush on Rescue Plan."

Here's my solution. We don't have to enact any new legislation that no one's had a chance to review. We simply repeal the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, the law enacted after the crash of 1929 that was carefully designed to protect against exactly this kind of meltdown and that worked just fine until the Republicons repealed it, and make it apply to all kinds of depositaries without exception.

P.S.: If you were somewhat surprised by the revelation that the Bush Admin had a financial "Patriot Act" all ready just sitting on the shelf waiting for an opportune meltdown, see this and this.

"WE DO NOT SUPPORT GOV'T BAILOUTS OF PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS. Gov't Interference in the Markets Exacerbates Problems in the Marketplace . . .

and causes the free market to take longer to correct itself." (Emphasis supplied.)

From the 2008 Republican Party Platform adopted earlier this month.

P.S.: Did you catch (from The Washington Post), "The White House budget office said yesterday that it has decided not to incorporate mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into the federal budget, citing the temporary nature of the Treasury Department's takeover and 'the level of federal ownership' of the firms."

Dem. Rep. from Washington State, Jim McDermott

Wish I could say, I watch so you don't have to; but I alone can't keep up.