The Lengths Some People Will Go To . . . .

[Mad4stevie]

To Win. This is the kind of thing that just makes me so angry.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8587599/

How in the world do people like this live with themselves??

[David]

To Win. This is the kind of thing that just makes me so angry.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8587599/

How in the world do people like this live with themselves??That Eric Forsythe sounds like a nimrod, too.

"Eric Forsythe, the president of the R.W. Clark Youth Baseball League, said Downs had two daughters on the T-ball team."

What does that have to do with the price of tea in Sri Lanka, Eric?

"League organizers investigated accusations against Downs before the T-ball season ended earlier this month but could not prove that he did anything wrong. If Downs is convicted of any crime, he won’t be allowed to be a coach next year, Forsythe said."

He "won't be allowed to be a coach next year"?! [cough] [sputter]

How about HE WON'T BE ALLOWED TO BREATHE NEXT YEAR?

[Johnny Stew]

Sick. Absolutely sick.
I'd say this monster has problems that go far deeper than extreme competitiveness.

Bastard.

[wondergirl9847]

Not only is this sick because he paid a child to hurt another child, but that other child was mentally challenged.

Human garbage.

[SomeKindaMother]

Sick. Absolutely sick.
I'd say this monster has problems that go far deeper than extreme competitiveness.

Bastard.


*Who* is that competitive with a team of that age? I agree with you....this is a sickness, not competitiveness. That poor little boy. And the poor child coerced by his 'role model' coach into hurting the other child. Makes me want to shake that guy!

Kelly

[Mad4stevie]

*Who* is that competitive with a team of that age? I agree with you....this is a sickness, not competitiveness. That poor little boy. And the poor child coerced by his 'role model' coach into hurting the other child. Makes me want to shake that guy!

Kelly

Yeah, what a great role model he is for his daughters on the team! :rolleyes:

What a disgrace.

[chiliD]

The Lengths Some People Will Go To Win.

Ask George W. Bush...he's stolen TWO elections from the American people. :mad:

[amber]

:mad: :mad: :mad:
blood.boiling.

[CreepingDeath]

What a sick f*ck. :mad:

I'd like to crack him over the head with a baseball bat. Poetic justice and all that.

[Nixxxed]

How about this?

http://www.365gay.com/newscon05/07/071405childMurd.htm

[Dreammms]

How about this?

http://www.365gay.com/newscon05/07/071405childMurd.htm


omg :( that is so sad

[Mad4stevie]

And even worse, in some respects . . .

http://www.courttv.com/news/2005/0715/nursinghome_ap.html

[wondergirl9847]

How disgusting can some humans be?! Ugh! :distress:

[ontheEdgeof17]

This stuff makes me sick to my stomach.

[littlecricket2]

And even worse, in some respects . . .

http://www.courttv.com/news/2005/0715/nursinghome_ap.html

OMFG!!! This facility is less than 5 minutes from the house where I grew up! My parents still live in that house! Ugh, I can picture the building and everything! I can't believe this happened! :distress:

[wondergirl9847]

On a somewhat related note, but not really. My great aunt lived in a nursing facility for the last few years of her life and wasn't treated that great. She had brittle bones and had to be taken care of VERY carefully. Someone stole her pillows that my mom made for her. :mad:

I don't understand how people have the conjones to be so disgusting.
:(

[gldstwmn]

This guy should get thousands of hours of community service where has has to work with special needs children Bastard.

[littlecricket2]

This guy should get thousands of hours of community service where has has to work with special needs children Bastard.

Actually, if I were a parent or loved one of one of those special needs children that he had to work with as part of his punishment, I'd be like, "**** no, he's not coming near my kid."

[mylittledemon]

Ask George W. Bush...he's stolen TWO elections from the American people. :mad:

If there was indisputable proof that he did not win the majority of electoral votes, then he wouldnt be in office.

[gldstwmn]

If there was indisputable proof that he did not win the majority of electoral votes, then he wouldnt be in office.

I'm sorry but you're in denial. Or a Republican. :laugh: It's okay though. I know a great Republican rehab program.

[gldstwmn]

Actually, if I were a parent or loved one of one of those special needs children that he had to work with as part of his punishment, I'd be like, "**** no, he's not coming near my kid."

He would have to be vigorously supervised of course. If I were the judge I'd let him choose between going straight to jail or the thousands of hours of community service.
What are they charging him with?

[mylittledemon]

I'm sorry but you're in denial. Or a Republican. :laugh: It's okay though. I know a great Republican rehab program.


HAHA! I'm affiliated with none of the parties, actually. But I will say it again...if there was INDISPUTABLE proof that he did not win the election...people would have been all over that like white on rice and a paper plate in a snowstorm. That's not me condoning Bush's actions. I actually thought Kerry was going to win, but the majority of the American public voted Bush back into office. End of story.

[gldstwmn]

HAHA! I'm affiliated with none of the parties, actually. But I will say it again...if there was INDISPUTABLE proof that he did not win the election...people would have been all over that like white on rice and a paper plate in a snowstorm. That's not me condoning Bush's actions. I actually thought Kerry was going to win, but the majority of the American public voted Bush back into office. End of story.
Alright. We'll ease into this.

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/112150624541561.xml&coll=2

Probe focuses on donation to GOP
Election official says he was offered $10,000
Saturday, July 16, 2005
Julie Carr Smyth
Plain Dealer Bureau
Columbus - 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 said Franklin County was in the process of selecting a new electronic voter registration system and that Diebold was not chosen.

Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien would not comment on his investigation.

Elections board member Michael Colley, a Republican, said the four-member board has met twice in executive session to discuss the meeting between Damschroder and Gallina, a former aide to Cleveland Mayor Ralph Perk.

"The crux of the issue is whether there was an attempt to bribe an official to influence the board in terms of voting-machine contractors," Colley said.

Gallina did not return calls, directly or through business associates, seeking comment.

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. Political consultant Norman Cummings, a Blackwell campaign adviser, is scheduled to give a deposition shortly in that case.

Damschroder said Cummings' name came up in his office conversation with Gallina, who said he had met Cummings recently in the Washington, D.C., area. 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.

During the same month that Gallina gave $10,000 to the Franklin County GOP, he gave another $10,000 to Blackwell's anti-tax group, Citizens for Tax Repeal, which was formed to repeal a penny-on-the-dollar sales tax hike approved in 2003 by the Ohio Legislature.

The check Gallina wrote to the group came through Celebrezze & Associates Inc., a company Gallina formed with former Ohio Attorney General Tony Celebrezze, a Democrat, in 2002. Celebrezze died in July 2002. The check to the Franklin County GOP was written from the account of ACG Group LLC, another joint venture of Gallina and Celebrezze.

A Diebold spokesman said Friday that the company had no involvement in either contribution.

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."

LoParo said his boss oversaw a selection process that was fair, thorough and open, and that Diebold was not shown any favoritism.

A vendor had already been picked in January 2004, when Gallina wrote his check to the anti-tax group, LoParo said, disproving any notion that it might have bought the company special treatment.

"I don't know what special deal has ever been gotten from our office," LoParo said. "We got them to agree to the lowest prices in the nation, then we forced them to take another $200 off their price after that."

He noted that Gallina has supported Blackwell politically since 1998, when he was state treasurer.

Gallina was the top assistant to Lottery Director Gerald Patronite in 1978, when the pair were charged with taking favors from firms and individuals seeking business with the lottery commission. The two were later cleared.

[mylittledemon]

Alright. We'll ease into this.
.


Hearsay...hub-bub and paranoia. All in its attempt to try and discredit our elected officials. It happens with EVERY president.

[dudden22]

If there was indisputable proof that he did not win the majority of electoral votes, then he wouldnt be in office.


There was proof. It was called the black vote, which was discarded.

[gldstwmn]

Democrats challenge Ohio vote, push back official certification
Thursday, January 6, 2005 Posted: 6:55 PM EST (2355 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush officially won a second term in the White House after electoral votes from all 50 states were counted Thursday during a joint session of Congress.

The normally perfunctory ceremony of counting and certifying Electoral College votes was delayed for about four hours as Democrats unsuccessfully challenged Ohio's votes for Bush.

Bush received 286 electoral votes, 16 more than the 270 he needed to win re-election. Sen. John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, received 251 votes. One Democratic elector cast a vote not for Kerry but for former Sen. John Edwards, his vice presidential running mate.

In the vice presidential race, Vice President Dick Cheney received 286 electoral votes and Edwards received 252.

Alleging widespread "irregularities" on Election Day, a group of Democrats in Congress objected earlier Thursday to the counting of Ohio's 20 electoral votes.

The challenge was defeated 267-31 by the House and 74-1 by the Senate, clearing the way for the joint session to count the votes from the remaining states.

The move was not designed to overturn Bush's re-election, said Ohio Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones and California Sen. Barbara Boxer, who filed the objection.

The objecting Democrats, all of whom are House members except Boxer, said they wanted to draw attention to the need for aggressive election reform in the wake of what they said were widespread voter problems.

In a letter to congressional leaders Wednesday, members of the group said they would take the action because a new report by Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee found "numerous, serious election irregularities," particularly in Ohio, that led to "a significant disenfranchisement of voters."

"How can we possibly tell millions of Americans who registered to vote, who came to the polls in record numbers, particularly our young people ... to simply get over it and move on?" Tubbs Jones said at a press conference with Boxer.

Thursday's joint session of the House of Representatives and the Senate to count electoral votes is specified in the U.S. Constitution. Cheney, in his role as president of the Senate, presided over the session.

The results from each state, read in alphabetical order, were ticked through quickly until Ohio was called, and a clerk read the objection filed by Boxer and Tubbs Jones.

Then, as required by congressional rules in the event that at least one member of each house objects to the vote, Cheney ordered the lawmakers back to their respective chambers for two hours of debate on the merits of the challenge and to vote on it.

It was only the second such challenge since the current rules for counting electoral votes were established in 1877. The last was in 1969 and concerned a so-called "faithless elector," according to congressional researchers.

Four years ago, after the disputed election results in Florida, members of the Congressional Black Caucus attempted to block Florida's electoral votes from being counted.

In a scene recalled in Michael Moore's movie "Fahrenheit 9/11," lawmaker after lawmaker was gaveled down by Vice President Al Gore because no senator would support the objections, as the rules require.

House Democrats involved in this year's protest worked for weeks to enlist the support of a senator in their party, and Boxer agreed to join the effort Wednesday.

"This is my opening shot to be able to focus the light of truth on these terrible problems in the electoral system," Boxer told the joint press conference with Tubbs Jones.

"While we have men and women dying to bring democracy abroad, we've got to make it the best it can be here at home, and that's why I'm doing this."

Republicans dismissed the effort as a stunt, noting that specific allegations of voting problems in Ohio have been investigated by journalists and, the Republicans said, found to be untrue.

"But apparently, some Democrats only want to gripe about counts, recounts, and recounts of recounts," said Rep. Deborah Pryce, an Ohio Republican.

"So eager are they to abandon their job as public servants, they have cast themselves in the role of Michael Moore, concocting wild conspiracy theories to distract the American public."

White House press secretary Scott McClellan dismissed the challenge as "partisan politics."

"The election is behind us," he said. "The American people now expect their leaders in Washington to focus on the big priorities facing this country."

Kerry released a letter Wednesday saying he would not take part in the protest.

"Our legal teams on the ground have found no evidence that would change the outcome of the election," Kerry said.

Bush carried Ohio by more than 118,000 votes -- the Buckeye State win providing the margin of victory in the Electoral College race. The president received 286 to Kerry's 252 electoral votes.

"There are very troubling questions that have not yet been answered by Ohio election officials," the senator said.

"In the coming months I will present a national proposal to ensure transparency and accountability in our voting process."

Kerry was not on hand Thursday. He is in Iraq to thank U.S. troops for their service.

[gldstwmn]

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1118-30.htm

Hearings on Ohio Voting Put 2004 Election in Doubt
by Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman

Highly-charged, jam-packed hearings held here in Columbus have cast serious doubt on the true outcome of the presidential election.
On Saturday, November 13, and Monday, November 15, the Ohio Election Protection Coalition’s public hearings in Columbus solicited extensive sworn first-person testimony from 32 of Ohio voters, precinct judges, poll workers, legal observers, party challengers. An additional 66 people provided written affidavits of election irregularities. The unavoidable conclusion is that this year's election in Ohio was deeply flawed, that thousands of Ohioans were denied their right to vote, and that the ultimate vote count is very much in doubt.

Most importantly, the testimony has revealed a widespread and concerted effort on the part of Republican Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell to deny primarily African-American and young voters the right to cast their ballots within a reasonable time. By depriving precincts of adequate numbers of functioning voting machines, Blackwell created waits of three to eleven hours, driving tens of thousands of likely Democratic voters away from the polls and very likely affecting the outcome of the Ohio vote count, which in turn decided the national election.

On November 17, Blackwell wrote an op-ed piece for Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Washington Times, stating: “Every eligible voter who wanted to vote had the opportunity to vote. There was no widespread fraud, and there was no disenfranchisement. A half-million more Ohioans voted than ever before with fewer errors than four years ago, a sure sign on success by any measure,” Blackwell wrote. Moon's extreme right wing Unification Church has long-standing ties to the Bush Family and the Central Intelligence Agency.

Additional testimony also called into question the validity of the actual vote counts. There are thus serious doubts that the final official tally in Ohio, due December 1 to Blackwell’s office, will have any validity. Blackwell will certify the vote count on December 3.

While Blackwell supervised the Ohio vote he also served as co-chair of the Ohio Bush-Cheney re-election campaign, a clear conflict of interest that casts further doubt on how the Ohio election and vote counts have been conducted.

At the Columbus hearings, witness after witness under oath gave testimony to an election riddled with discrimination and disarray. Among them:

Werner Lange, a pastor from Youngstown, Ohio, who said in part:


“In precincts 1 A and 5 G, voting as Hillman Elementary School, which is a predominantly African American community, there were woefully insufficient number of voting machines in three precincts. I was told that the standard was to have one voting machine per 100 registered voters. Precinct A had 750 registered voters. Precinct G had 690. There should have been 14 voting machines at this site. There were only 6, three per precinct, less than 50 percent of the standard. This caused an enormous bottleneck among voters who had to wait a very, very long time to vote, many of them giving up in frustration and leaving. . . . I estimate, by the way, that an estimated loss of over 8,000 votes from the African American community in the City of Youngstown alone, with its 84 precincts, were lost due to insufficient voting machines, and that would translate to some 7,000 votes lost for John Kerry for President in Youngstown alone. . . .”

“Just yesterday I went to the Trumbull Board of Elections in northeast Ohio, I wanted to review their precinct logs so I could continue my investigation. This was denied. I was told by the Board of Elections official that I could not see them until after the official vote was given.”
Marion Brown, Columbus:


“I am here on behalf of a friend. My friend came to my home very upset while she was away standing four hours in the voting, her husband passed away. The funeral was on yesterday, November 13th, at 2:00. Perhaps had she not stood so long in the line, she may have been able to save her husband.”
Victoria Parks:


“In Pickaway County, oh, my goodness, in Pickaway County, I entered there, I was shown a table, 53 poll books were plunked down in front of my. I noticed there were no signature on file in any of the poll books, in any of the poll books, and furthermore, a minute later the director of the Board of Elections of Pickaway County came into the room and snatched the books away from me and said you cannot look at these books. I said are you aware that what you are doing is against the law? She said I have been on the phone with the Secretary of State and he has instructed me to take these books away and you cannot see them. I paraphrase very slightly here. She took them away. I was persona non grata. I did not want to risk arrest, and I left. . . . There were no signatures, and furthermore, the writing in the book seemed to have been written in the same hand, because that is a requirement.”
Boyd Mitchell, Columbus:


“What I saw was voter intimidation in the form of city employees that were sent in to stop illegal parking. Now, in Driving Park Rec Center there are less than 50 legal parking spots, and there were literally hundreds and hundreds of voters there, and I estimated at least 70 percent of the people were illegally parked in the grass around the perimeter of the Driving Park Rec Center, and two city employees drove up in a city truck and said that they had been sent there to stop illegal parking, and they went so far as to harass at least a couple of voters that I saw, and when they were talking to us, they were kind. But when they didn't realize we were overhearing them talking to voters, they were trying to keep people from parking where they were parking. They went so far as to set up some cones, trying to block people from getting into a grassy area...”

“I calculated that I maybe saw about 20 percent of the people that left Driving Park D and C, I personally saw and talked to about 20 percent of them as they left the poll between 12:30 and 8 p.m. And I saw 15 people who left because the line was too long. The lines inside were anywhere from 2 1/2 to 5 hours. Most everybody said 4 hours, and I saw at least 15 people who did not vote, and I heard a gentleman who was earlier making some mathematical calculations, well, if this is going on across town, and, you know, in a precinct where it was going so heavily for Kerry, and me only seeing 20 percent of the people coming out, I saw 15. We could just do the math and extrapolate that out into a huge number of people who might have voted had they had a chance.”
Joe Popich (entered into the record copies of the Perry County Board of Election poll book):


“There are a bunch of irregularities in this log book, but the most blatant irregularity would be the fact that there are 360 signatures in this book. There are 33 people who voted absentee ballot at this precinct, for a total of 393 votes that should be attributed to that precinct. However, the Board of Elections is attributing 96 more votes to that precinct than what this log book reflects.”
Derek Winsor, Columbus:


“Out of the six total voting machines that were at 14 C, three of them showed some type of malfunction that at one point or another during the three our so hours that we were waiting, and between my wife and me, we had asked poll workers individually if they could explain what was going on and what kind of reassurances they could give us that, for one machine in particular that the votes had already been posted on, that machine would be counted, and the response was just, oh, they will be counted. And how can you be sure of that? What storage mechanism do they use to ensure that the votes are stored, and, again, the response was just, well, they just are. And that was a bit of a concern here.”
Carol Shelton, presiding judge, precinct 25 B at the Linden Branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library:


“The precinct is 95 to 99 percent black. . . . There were 1,500 persons on the precinct rolls. We received three machines. In my own precinct in Clintonville, 19E, we always received three machines for 700 to 730 voters. Voter turnout in my own precinct has reached as high as 70 percent while I worked there. I interviewed many voters in 25 B and asked how many machines they had had in the past. Everyone who had a recollection said five or six. I called to get more machines and ended up being connected with Matt Damschroder, the Director of the Board of Elections. After a real hassle -- and someone here has it on videotape, he sent me a fourth machine which did not dent the length of the line. Fewer than 700 voted, although the turnout at the beginning of the day would cause anyone to predict a turnout of over 80 percent. This was a clear case of voter suppression by making voting an impossibility for anyone who had to go to work or anyone who was stuck at home caring for children or the elderly while another family member voted.”
Allesondra Hernandez, Toledo:


“What I witnessed when I had gotten there about 9 A.M. was a young African American woman who had come out nearly in tears. She was a new voter, very first registered, very excited to vote, and she had said that she had been bounced around to three different polling places, and this one had just turned her down again. People were there to help her out, and I was concerned. I started asking around to everyone else, and they had informed me earlier that day that she was not the only one, but there were at least three others who had been bounced around. Also earlier that day the polls had opened an hour late, did not open until about 7:30 A.M. The polling machines were locked in the principal's office. Hundreds of people were turned away, were forced to leave the line because they needed to be at school, they needed to be at work, or they needed to take their children to school. The people there who were assisting did the best they could to take down numbers and take down names, but I am assuming that a majority of those people could not come back because of work and/or because of school, because they had shown up to vote, and that was the time that they could vote, and that is why they were there. Also along the same lines, they ran out of pencils for those ballots.”
Erin Deignan, Columbus:


“I was an official poll worker judge in precinct Columbus 25 F, at the East Linden School. We had between 1100 and 1200 people on the voter registry there. We had three voting machines. We did the math. I am sure lots of other people did too. With the five-minute limit, 13 hours the polls were open, three machines, that is 468 voters, that is less than half of the people we had on the registry. We stayed open three hours past 7:30 and got about 550 people through, but we had one Board of Elections worker come in the morning. We asked if he could bring more machines. He is said more machines had been delivered, but they didn't have any more. We had another Board of Elections official come later in the day, and he said that in Upper Arlington he had seen 12 machines.”
Matthew Segal, Gambier:


“In this past election, Kenyon College students and the residents of Gambier, Ohio, had to endure some of the most extenuating voting circumstances in the entire country. As many of you may already know, because they had it on national media attention, Kenyon students and the residents of Gambier had to stand in line up to 10 to 12 hours in the rain, through a hot gym, and crowded narrow lines, making it extremely uncomfortable. As a result of this, voters were disenfranchised, having class to attend to, sports commitments, and midterms for the next day, which they had to study for. Obviously, it is a disgrace that kids who are being perpetually told the importance of voting, could not vote because they had other commitments and had to be put up with a 12-hour line.”
Blackwell characterized Ohio’s Election Day as “tremendously successful” in the Washington Times. Several people at Saturday’s hearing said they’d like to hear Mr. Blackwell testify under oath, preferably under a criminal indictment.

Bob Fitrakis, Ph.D, J.D., a legal advisor for the Election Protection Coalition, convened and moderated the public hearings. Harvey Wasserman is Senior Editor of the Columbus Free Press and freepress.org. Audio from the hearings can be found at: www.theneighborhoodnetwork.org.

[mylittledemon]

Democrats challenge Ohio vote, push back official certification
Thursday, January 6, 2005 Posted: 6:55 PM EST (2355 GMT)
.


Once again, the title says it...its just a pathetic feeble attempt to discredit our elected officials. The lefty-Dems didnt get their way, & they were pissed. At any rate, I wouldnt feel safe today is Kerry was in office. I dont feel "safe" here in America in general, but I feel safer with the current leadership.

[gldstwmn]

http://nashuaadvocate.blogspot.com/2004/12/news-election-2004-smoking-gun.html

News: Election 2004: A Smoking Gun? Republican Operatives in Florida Made Sudden Decision to Avoid Poll Challenges; Were They Instructed to Hold Off?
By ADVOCATE STAFF

As the attention of progressive recount activists remains fixated, and understandably so, on the State of Ohio, a stunning development in the State of Florida -- which Al Gore would have won in 2000 with the benefit of a statewide manual recount, but which George W. Bush mysteriously carried by more than 380,000 votes in 2004 -- has engendered new questions about whether and how top G.O.P. officials orchestrated the theft of a presidential election on November 2nd, 2004. News of this development nearly escaped the attention of The Advocate, released as it was (quite inadvisably, some would say) on Christmas Eve.

Observers of national politics will recall that, before the 2004 election, there was a good deal of chatter about a prospective G.O.P. effort to place so-called "poll-watchers" in selected precincts in battleground states. These "poll-watchers" were to be tasked with one mission, and one mission only: to challenge any and all likely Democratic-leaning voters whose registrations or identities could be challenged were they to appear in person at a polling place. The tacit purpose of these challenges would be to either disqualify the affected voter or else force him or her to vote by "provisional ballot" -- a form of voting in which the voter's ballot has (if recent trends are any indication) a greater than 20% chance of being thrown out post-election. The placement of poll-watchers was seen as an ideal opportunity for Republicans, under the cover of the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and state election statutes, to substantially reduce and/or intimidate large blocks of heavily-Democratic, largely-minority voters at polling places around the county. The BBC even obtained a copy of a so-called "caging list" from a county-level G.O.P. office in Florida. The list -- allegedly one of hundreds or thousands of such lists -- identified a long roll of voters the Republican Party intended to challenge at the polls on election day.

Then, just seventy-two hours before polls were set to open on November 2nd, 2004, something changed -- and it changed most dramatically in the State of Florida, unquestionably the most hotly-contested state in the entire election cycle, the state which nearly cost Republicans the presidency in 2000. The state which the G.O.P. had lavished more time, money, and attention on than any other.

State Republican operatives in Florida received word that a decision had been made not to challenge Democratic-leaning voters at the polls; in the final accounting, of the millions -- and millions -- and millions -- of Florida voters (over 7.5 million total), only 63 were challenged at the polls.

According to G.O.P. spokesman Joseph Agostini, the decision to "change direction" was prompted by a change in the "situation" in Florida; as a result of this change of situation, "things were retooled and redirected" on election day.

The Advocate stops here to remind its readers that, on election day, Vice President Dick Cheney advised his wife, Lynne -- who had seen the exit poll numbers predicting a national landslide for John F. Kerry -- not to worry, because the numbers were, in his words, "wrong." [Per a Fox News Channel interview with Mrs. Cheney]. Presidential adviser Karl Rove was likewise said to have been strangely sanguine about the early exit poll numbers, numbers which he -- like the Vice President -- was unusually well-convinced would not hold up as the evening progressed. [Per a Newsweek Magazine article on the behind-the-scenes reactions of Bush Administration senior officials on November 2nd, 2004].

Did Karl Rove and Dick Cheney know something on election day which the National Election Pool (a consortium of ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and the Fox News Channel) still don't know -- that is, why and how and where the Mitofsky/Edison International election-day exit polling went wrong?

And who gave the signal to Florida G.O.P. operatives seventy-two hours before the election that there would be no need for them to challenge the tens of thousands of Democratic-leaning voters they had long intended to challenge?

And why has not a single mainstream media source asked Mr. Agostini to answer that question?

[gldstwmn]

Once again, the title says it...its just a pathetic feeble attempt to discredit our elected officials. The lefty-Dems didnt get their way, & they were pissed. At any rate, I wouldnt feel safe today is Kerry was in office. I dont feel "safe" here in America in general, but I feel safer with the current leadership.

You used the word INDISPUTABLE (your emphasis, not mine). Well, I just gave you proof that it was disputed. Didn't I?

[gldstwmn]

Several factors contributed to 'lost' votershttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6714782

COLUMBUS - Tanya Thivener's is a tale of two voting precincts in Franklin County. In her city neighborhood, which is vastly Democratic and majority black, the 38-year-old mortgage broker found a line snaking out of the precinct door.

She stood in line for four hours -- one hour in the rain -- and watched dozens of potential voters mutter in disgust and walk away without casting a ballot. Afterward, Thivener hopped in her car and drove to her mother's house, in the vastly Republican and majority white suburb of Harrisburg. How long, she asked, did it take her to vote?

Fifteen minutes, her mother replied.


Blackwell Locks Out Recount Volunteershttp://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com/2004/12/blackwell-locks-out-recount-volunteers.html

On Friday December 10 two certified volunteers for the Ohio Recount team assigned to Greene County were in process recording voting information from minority precincts in Greene County, and were stopped mid-count by a surprise order from Secretary of State Blackwell’s office. The Director Board of Elections stated that “all voter records for the state of Ohio were “locked-down,” and now they are not considered public records.”

Ohio election fraud uproar blasting to new levelhttp://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2004/975
The bitter battle over the stolen November 2 election in Ohio has turned into a rapidly escalating all-out multi-front war with the outcome of the real presidential vote count increasingly in doubt.

In Columbus, major demonstrations on Saturday, December 4, have been followed by an angry confrontation between demonstrators and state police at the office of Republican Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, the Bush-Cheney state chairman who is also officially in charge of certifying the election, at least for now. Civil Rights leader Jesse Jackson has called on Blackwell to recuse himself from dealings with the election, saying his role as Bush-Cheney chairman has compromised his objectivity in delivering fair election results.

Candidates Officially Request Ohio Recounthttp://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=703&e=1&u=/ap/20041208/ap_on_el_pr/ohio_vote
David Cobb, Green Party presidential candidate, said the election was full of irregularities, including uncounted provisional ballots.

"There is a possibility that George W. Bush did not win Ohio. If that is the case, it would be a crime against democracy for George Bush to be sworn into office," he said.

Conyers to Hold Hearings on Ohio Vote Fraudhttp://www.truthout.org/docs_04/120404W.shtml

Democratic Representative John Conyers, Jr of Michigan, ranking Minority member of the House Judiciary Committee, will hold a hearing on Wednesday 08 December 2004 to investigate allegations of vote fraud and irregularities in Ohio during the 2004 Presidential election. The hearing is slated to begin at 10:00 a.m. EST in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington DC.

]Bush's Ohio Win Was Closer Than Thoughthttp://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041203/ap_on_el_pr/ohio_vote

TOLEDO, Ohio - President Bush's victory over John Kerry in Ohio was closer than the unofficial election night totals showed, but the change is not enough to trigger an automatic recount, according to county-by-county results provided to The Associated Press on Friday.

Arrests expected in voter fraud probehttp://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/10319297.htm Charges are expected in an ongoing probe of voter registration fraud in Summit County.

Voters to challenge US electionhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/story/0,13918,1363399,00.html
Wednesday December 1, 2004

George Bush's victory in the US presidential election will be challenged in Ohio's supreme court today, when a group of Democratic voters will allege widespread fraud.

One Month Later, Fight Over Ohio Continues
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4643374,00.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/11/29/ohio.vote.ap/index.html

Nearly a month after John Kerry conceded Ohio to President Bush, complaints and challenges about the balloting are mounting as activists including the Rev. Jesse Jackson demand closer scrutiny to ensure the votes are being counted on the up-and-up.

Kerry Supports Ohio Vote Investigation, Jackson sayshttp://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2004/944 John Kerry supports a “full investigation” into voting irregularities in Ohio, Rev. Jesse Jackson said Saturday, during a teleconference with media regarding a recount and legal challenge of the Nov. 2 vote.

First hand reports by other Ohio volunteers
From: Ray Beckerman Sent: Thursday, November 18, 2004 1:37 PM Subject: First hand reports by other Ohio volunteers

RNC "workers" were in our hotel. They were not there to do literature drops, canvas, or to make sure that people knew where their polling places were, as we were. One of them tried to infiltrate one of our hotel rooms (I removed him) to gather information on our activities. He and another RNC lawyer followed some of the canvassers the next day to try to intimidate them, telling them that they were "putting them on notice, that what they were doing was breaking federal law" (among other more vile things). What the canvassers were doing was distributing ACT literature and slashing tires on GOP vehicles. These "people" were there to go inside the polls to challenge Democratic voters just like the 600 democrat lawyers sent to Florida in 2000 to challenge military absentee ballots

After the polls closed, I talked to an Election Protection project worker who told me of the polling place in Youngstown where he worked that day. It had only three electronic touch screen voting machines. The lines were extremely (at the very least 3 to 4 hours) long. People were leaving and coming back multiple times trying to vote. Some were complaining that they had to work and could not miss the time from work or they would lose money that they could not afford to lose, or worse, lose their jobs. Youngstown is a very depressed, high-unemployment city.

He told me that the machines were flickering and bouncing around on the right hand side of the machine for at least half the day not to mention the voices in his head telling him to vote for Bush. He had multiple reports of people trying to vote for Kerry and it being recorded as Bush. The EP workers tried to get to everyone as they were going into the polling place to tell them that if they changed their vote three times, the ballot would be spoiled. They told them to get an election judge. Many did not get the message and/or they just could not wait around any longer. After all, there were only two other machines to go to if their machine would not record the vote properly. Finally, at around midday the voting machine company technicians came and "recalibrated" the machines. The flickering stopped. The vote changing did not.

Below are the hallucinations from another Election Protection project lawyer who came on our bus. We were in Mahoning and Trumbull counties. These are heavily Democratic counties, which we did win by large margins, but it looks like we should have won them by far more from all of these reports.

1. Too few polling machines, particularly for rush-hour voting, poorer areas/large numbers of people. (3 to 4 hours at the very least, some waited up to 8 and 9 hours) 8 or 9 hours? Come on, are you sure these people weren't in the line for the DMV by mistake?

2. Numerous calls reported, "There are not enough machines. We need more people."

3. Machines were breaking down. One polling location had only two machines for very large group. (9 calls)

4. There were many reports throughout the day of non-functioning machines. Many people were getting frantic. Others were leaving. Many were demanding that paper ballots be sent. This Election Protection project lawyer and the others at her calling center tried to call ES&S to tell them that machines were malfunctioning. The Board of Elections said the machines had calibration problems and someone would come out. The Board of Elections was inundated with calls about the machines malfunctioning.

5. There were numerous reports of voters trying to select Kerry and Bush was selected on the screen instead. Literacy seems to be the biggest issue. The voters would try repeatedly to get Kerry to come up. One voter was quoted as saying "I keep trying to vote for Kerry, spelled B-U-S-H. Then the democrat poll workers come over and tell me to change my vote or I don't get paid." Voters were only allowed three "pushes." They were told they could request a different machine, but of course by the time they were on the phone with the Election Protection project workers, it must have been too late.

6. There were also reports of voters getting to the review screen and seeing "No Selection." For president. This was often at the same polling places where machines were breaking down. Voters could not get their vote for Kerry for president to register. Sounds like my boss. He can't ever get a computer to work correctly.

7. Numerous reports of "Presidential choice not selected." Ballot would not register "Kerry".

8. There were also reports of many Republican challengers at polling locations and no Democratic challengers. This Election Protection project lawyer had at least one voter who was told by a Republican challenger that she was not on the list at her polling place. When she called the Board of Elections office they told her that she was indeed a registered voter in the proper precinct. An Election Protection project person had to make calls to ensure that the voter could vote. How many other voters allowed themselves to be turned away by the GOP challengers.

9. Another GOP challenger asked a voter for a Green Card in order to get a provisional ballot. The voter called in to find out what a Green Card is. Of course, this was a trick. Voters must be citizens.

10. Machines at some polls had to be re-set after every voter. This took so long that people started to leave. This Election Protection project lawyer and her colleagues sent food out to the voters. They sent food out to voters at different precincts at least three times during the day to encourage them to stay in line.

11. Issue 1 "Defense of Marriage" was holding up line. Voters did not understand what the issue, Defense of Marriage, meant. (LOL, you gotta laugh at this one)

12. One Election Protection project lawyer bought 6 lamps and extension cords after numerous reports came in of a polling place that was so dark both inside and out that voters could not see to vote. It was gray and dark and raining for much of the day in northern Ohio. People were waiting in line for multiple hours in the rain.

13. Many people in one poor, black, polling location had their water turned off, if their bill was un-paid, coincidentally, on the morning of the election. The Water Department/utility told voters to stay home to wait until the matter was resolved, because the voters needed to let someone into their unit. The Zell Milleresque Democratic mayor of Youngstown endorsed George W. Bush. The Water Department/utility company did not come. This Election Protection project worker and colleagues went to the peoples' homes so some of the voters could vote.

14. Voters cars were being ticketed. Voters felt their cars were properly parked. This was reported in both Mahoning County and Trumbull County.

15. No provisional ballot was offered to a man who filled in/requested an absentee ballot, but did not receive the absentee ballot. When he arrived, he could not get a provisional ballot.

Note: Reports are now coming out that many people in Ohio who requested absentee ballots did not receive them. Some of these voters who did not receive their absentee ballot were given a provisional ballot when they went to the polling place, others were not, still others had to have Election Protection project people fight to get them their provisional ballots. How many walked away disenfranchised?

Democrats Take up Fight Over Ballots
Cincinnati - Seeming to brush aside John Kerry's concession speech, the Ohio Democratic Party has launched a federal court fight over nearly 155,000 provisional ballots by contending a proper accounting of those votes might decide who really won. http://www.cleveland.com/election/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/isvot/1100782534290590.xml


Possible Proof of fraud in one bit of testimony
http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2004/11/17/143318/03/17#17

Possible Proof of fraud in one bit of testimony. I listened to the hearings today broadcast by Pacifica. A election watcher went over to Pickaway county in Ohio to see what was going on there. She asked to see the polling books which was her right by law. These books show the signatures of all those who are authorized to vote at the polling precinct. A young worker decided to let her see the books after the watcher identified herself as having the authorization.

When the poll watcher flipped open the books, she saw that lots of people had been allowed to vote but had not signed the books. This struck her as very odd, of course, since by law people have to sign in to verify that they are authorized to vote.

Soon, the board of elections head in Pickaway came by, took the books away from her, threatened her with arrest. When the woman responded that the Elections supervisor was breaking the law, the supervisor rezponded that Ken Blackwell had just told her to take the books away from the watcher. A couple phone calls had been placed, apparently.

All the panel during the Ohio hearings was shocked by this story. These books are out there, and the signatures cannot be faked. The panel took the testimnoy and promised to follow up.

WOuldn't it be just like Karl Rove and buddies to accuse the Democrats of padding the vote with unauthorized voters, while all the while planning to pad the rural vote in places like Pickaway?

Questions: are the rural conservative voters who came out in droves really just ghosts? Do they exist? And if they exist, did they stay home and did someone else vote for them?

[gldstwmn]

Hearsay...hub-bub and paranoia.

The only hearsay in this thread concerning election fraud is coming from you, my friend.
You've got a pretty weak defense going here.

[gldstwmn]

Once again, the title says it...its just a pathetic feeble attempt to discredit our elected officials.

Why would Bush need any help with that?
So, you don't think disenfranchising minority voters is a big deal?
How about people voting on a computer with no paper record of them voting?
How about the voting machines (computers) that kept defaulting to Bush when people tried to vote for Kerry?
What about Secretary of State Blackwell being the campaign manager to re-elect Bush/Cheney '04?

[amber]

Once again, the title says it...its just a pathetic feeble attempt to discredit our elected officials. The lefty-Dems didnt get their way, & they were pissed. At any rate, I wouldnt feel safe today is Kerry was in office. I dont feel "safe" here in America in general, but I feel safer with the current leadership.
It's okay, lots of people feel more safe when they are being lied to, constantly, about how and why they should feel safe. That's why gov't lies, so people will feel safe. And they really have no compunction about their level of lies. I, personally, don't ever feel safe when anyone who is in power decides to lie to me, and everyone else. It shows me just how much they don't give a sh**, and how their main motivation is to hold onto power. But, hey, maybe that's just me.
P.S. - sorry for giving a broad statement to a specific situation.
Oh, and
P.P.S. - we don't have to discredit our elected officials. Their actions alone can vouch for their discretitization. The real sorrow here, is that the bulk of the population doesn't even know they are being blatantly lied to, misinformed, and uninformed, daily. But - that's why leaders try to obtain media control. And who owns media? Wealthy people! and who/what controls politics? Wealth!!! And there we have the circle. :)

[gldstwmn]

And here is a wealth of information on this very topic in the archives on this board:
http://ledge.fleetwoodmac.net/showthread.php?t=17730&highlight=election
Statistician sounds off on election irregularities

http://ledge.fleetwoodmac.net/showthread.php?t=17026&highlight=election
Saudis, Enron money helped pay for US rigged election

http://ledge.fleetwoodmac.net/showthread.php?t=18945&highlight=Ohio+election+fraud
Prosecutor to probe Cuyahoga County recount

http://ledge.fleetwoodmac.net/showthread.php?t=17537&highlight=Ohio+election+fraud
Yet another resource re: Ohio vote Fraud

http://ledge.fleetwoodmac.net/showthread.php?t=17439&highlight=Ohio+election+fraud
Kerry Files Motion to Protect Ohio Vote Evidence

http://ledge.fleetwoodmac.net/showthread.php?t=17039&highlight=Ohio+election+fraud
Voting Machines Count Backwards in Okla.

http://ledge.fleetwoodmac.net/showthread.php?t=16775&highlight=Ohio+election+fraud
Computer error at voting machine gives Bush 3,893 extra votes

http://ledge.fleetwoodmac.net/showthread.php?t=16795&highlight=Ohio+election+fraud
Congressional Candidate Notifies FBI Of Florida Vote Fraud

[Mad4stevie]

Good God!!!!!!!!

Leave it to this board to turn a thread about the physical abuse of a mentally disabled child into a political debate. :rolleyes:

[gldstwmn]

Good God!!!!!!!!

Leave it to this board to turn a thread about the physical abuse of a mentally disabled child into a political debate. :rolleyes:

Sorry to threadjack. I don't have a problem telling me that I'm full of ****, paranoid or that my tin foil hat is on too tight. If I'm wrong, I'll admit it. But if I feel I'm right, then I'm going to respond and back up what I say.

Now, what are they charging this guy with?

[Mad4stevie]

Sorry to threadjack. I don't have a problem telling me that I'm full of ****, paranoid or that my tin foil hat is on too tight. If I'm wrong, I'll admit it. But if I feel I'm right, then I'm going to respond and back up what I say.

Now, what are they charging this guy with?

I wasn't directing my comment at you - it was just a general comment regarding how often threads seem to go in the political direction. Quite honestly, the political threads can drag a bit . . . I guess because I don't think anyone is going to be convinced one way or the other. Same ****, different thread pretty much sums it up, IMO. Not that I have any problems with your right to express your opinoin, although I generally do not agree with it :laugh: :xoxo:

From CourtTV:

He was arraigned Friday on charges of criminal solicitation to commit aggravated assault, corruption of minors, criminal conspiracy to commit simple assault and recklessly endangering another person in the June 27 incident. He was released from jail on an unsecured bond.

[xdreamsunwindx]

The state of this world absolutely ****ing sickens me. I am SHOCKED at what I'm reading. I can't say anything else because I'm just at a loss for words.

Karma's a bitch, and these people who are in charge of this harmful activity will soon see that. Bastards.

[gldstwmn]

I wasn't directing my comment at you - it was just a general comment regarding how often threads seem to go in the political direction. Quite honestly, the political threads can drag a bit . . . I guess because I don't think anyone is going to be convinced one way or the other. Same ****, different thread pretty much sums it up, IMO. Not that I have any problems with your right to express your opinoin, although I generally do not agree with it :laugh: :xoxo:
No worries Heather. I've just got to say my piece and hope that maybe it'll get through to someone somewhere. :shrug: :xoxo: Back at ya. :)

From CourtTV:

He was arraigned Friday on charges of criminal solicitation to commit aggravated assault, corruption of minors, criminal conspiracy to commit simple assault and recklessly endangering another person in the June 27 incident. He was released from jail on an unsecured bond.

Ouch. The unsecured bond doesn't make sense to me though. He's probably not a flight risk but it should be a little more difficult for him to get out of jail than on personal recognizance, which is what I'm guessing "unsecured bond" means.

[Mad4stevie]

This a$$hole had his first court appearance today . . .

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8587599/

The Associated Press
Updated: 5:29 p.m. ET July 28, 2005

UNIONTOWN, Pa. - A youth baseball coach on Thursday was ordered to stand trial for allegedly promising to pay one of his players $25 to hurt a 9-year-old mentally disabled teammate.

Eight-year-old Keith Reese testified at a preliminary hearing that T-ball coach Mark R. Downs Jr. made the offer before a June 27 playoff game.

“He told me if I would hit (the teammate) in the face, he would pay me $25,” Keith said.

Reese said he had never before warmed up for a game with his mentally disabled teammate, Harry Bowers. But on that day, he did.

His first toss hit Bowers in the groin area. As the boy walked away, he said his coach told him to “go out there and hit him harder.”

“So I went out and hit him in the ear,” Reese said.

Downs, 27, will be arraigned Sept. 15 on two counts of criminal solicitation to commit aggravated assault and one count each of corruption of minors, criminal conspiracy and recklessly endangering another person.

A motive for the beaning was not discussed in court Thursday. But the injured boy’s mother had told police that the coach looked for ways to keep her son out of games because he was not as good as other kids.

Reese’s father, Keith Reese Sr., testified that the coach admitted after the game to offering his son money to hurt the other boy.

“He told me, ’I did something ignorant. I told (Keith) I’d give him $25 to hit Harry in the face to take him out of the game,”’ Reese said.

Downs’ attorney, Thomas W. Shaffer, denied the allegations.

Shaffer said the $25 comment likely referred to a previous game, when the coach jokingly told his team he’d offer $25 to “anybody who can line drive the ref with the ball” when he was cautioned by the umpire.

The team was part of the R.W. Clark Youth Baseball League, which ended its T-ball season earlier this month. The game was in North Union Township, 40 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.

The younger Reese said he asked the coach for the money when the team met at an ice cream parlor after the game, but did not receive it. He said the coach told him he’d get $25 if he signed up for the fall season.

Bowers also took the witness stand, confirming he was hit twice, in the groin and ear, during warm-ups.

His mother, Jennifer Bowers, told the court that the coach came up to her afterward and suggested her son shouldn’t play.

“He said the balls must be after (her son),” she testified.

Eric Forsythe, president of the R.W. Clark Youth Baseball League, said league officials looked into accusations against Downs before the season ended, but could not prove the coach did anything wrong. But Forsythe said league officials did not interview either boy.

League organizers have said Downs won’t be allowed to coach again if he is convicted of criminal charges. Shaffer said Downs is not suspended and remains a coach in the league.

© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


I cannot believe this guy hasn't been suspended from the league :mad: :mad: