Citizens On Patrol

Want to serve the Peach State? Georgia's Republican Secretary of State wants YOU to help keep undesirable people from voting!

Add Georgia to the list of states where Republican officials are actively engaged in voter suppression efforts.

In the midst of a record turnout for early voting in Georgia, that has led to long lines, discouraged voters and exhausted poll workers, Secretary of State Karen Handel, a Republican, has claimed federal law ties her hands, preventing her from extending early voting hours.

With just days to go to the election, Democratic politicians demanded yesterday that Handel step in and extend early voting hours -- as has been done in both North Carolina and Florida.

But in an opinion piece published in the AJC on Thursday, Handel blamed her inaction on the issue on federal law which requires Justice Department approval to change voting law.

Ironically, it is Georgia's history of discriminatory voting practices that puts it on a federal "pre-clearance" list, mentioned in Section 5 of the Voter Rights Act of 1965.

While the DOJ can take up to 60 days to review any change that is submitted, it has the power to grant expedited review in emergency situations -- and Georgia's situation would certainly seem to qualify, Gerry Hebert, a former acting head of DOJ's voting-rights section, told TPMmuckraker.

"Georgia has asked and been granted expedited review by the DOJ in the past, so to say because of the voting act, we can't do this -- that's not really accurate," Hebert said. "The DOJ has done this in as little as 24 hours. . . so to use Section 5 as an excuse that this isn't possible, that's someone that really doesn't want to make the change."

But here's the best part:

As first noted by the blog, Facing South, in an interview Wednesday with the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Handel took pains to remind voters that any voter can challenge another's qualifications to cast a ballot by notifying a precinct poll manager. According to Handel, that voter then would be given a challenge ballot and would have to go before the election board.

How many folks will be disenfranchised in Georgia because of this, I'm wondering?

Remember folks, 600 votes was the difference in Florida in 2000.

Those 600 voters disenfranchised by Republican Secretary of State Katherine Harris were the difference between Bush and Gore.

The thousands of African-American voters in Ohio disenfranchised by Republican Secretary of State Ken Blackwell in 2004 were the difference between Bush and Kerry.

The efforts this year are far more insidious, vile, and widespread.

They will stop at nothing to win. Do not take your right to vote for granted, especially if you are a minority voter in an urban area.

Bring Me His Head On Dry Ice

Wow.



(h/t Steven D at the Frog Pond)

Just think on this. We had a President who was, in effect, an unaccountable warlord, ordering the decapitation of his enemies. The "leader of the free world" was a man every bit as barbaric as the worst Islamic jihadist. And McCain would continue those same policies which Bush put in place. He jokes about bombing Iran, as if the murder of innocent Iranian civilians would be not only an instance of acceptable, "collateral damage" but the height of hilarity.

The Republicans chose George Bush. And they chose John McCain to continue what Bush started. McCain, a so-called man of "honor" who has sullied his reputation forever by running an even nastier negative ad hominem attack campaign against his Democratic opponent, Barack Obama, than Bush and Karl Rove ran against John Kerry in 2004. I cannot imagine a more disgraceful act on Tuesday than to cast your ballot for John McCain, the nominee of a party who, while they controlled Congress, enabled the most corrupt, the most power mad, and the most barbaric President in our history.

As he says, this illustrates nicely why the current batch of neocons can never be allowed near the reins of power again. Ever.

Really Early November Surprise

The gang at TPM Muckracker have the goods on how the story on Obama's aunt came out a convenient three days before the election.

The leaking of information about the immigration status of Barack Obama's aunt appears to directly violate guidelines for confidentiality laid out in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo obtained by TPMmuckraker.

As we reported earlier, ICE has begun an internal probe into the leak to the Associated Press, which revealed early this morning that Obama's aunt "is in the United States illegally after an immigration judge rejected her request for asylum four years ago."

Surprise surprise! Somebody in a Bush-controlled Federal agency most likely leaked the story to help McSame in the last weekend before the election.

Still, from the available evidence, it appears ICE is the most likely source. And Dan Kowalski, a leading immigration law expert, told TPMmuckraker that there's "no question" the leak violated ICE's guidelines as laid out in the memo.

And he identified for TPMmuckraker some additional, pertinent questions, asking:

1. Did the leaker know it was a violation? 2. Was the leak politically motivated? 3. A solo action, or conspiracy of 2 or more? If the latter, who is the boss?

We'll be working to bring you answers...

Schmucks to the end.

How To Know When You're A Right Wing Douchebag:

You think a check into Joe The Plumber's background is a "chilling glimpse into the future" of an Obama administration, despite the fact you have no problem with President Bush wiretapping millions of Americans illegally.

You then think the same kind of check into Obama's Kenyan aunt living in Boston, revealing she's appealing her denial of asylum request, is perfectly fine and you see no problem with it.

This makes you a complete douchebag, Malkinvania.

That is all.

StupidiNews, Weekend Edition

• Oprah's early vote cast on an electronic touch screen system may not have been counted.
• It's the end of the road for "King of the Hill".
• Liddy Dole unleashes a second "Godless Americans" attack ad in North Carolina.
• Even "Madden" video game maker Electronic Arts is having to cut jobs in this economy.
• Gas prices are approaching the $2.50 a gallon mark and falling.

And If You Think I Worry Too Much About This Election...

I've got nothing on author Erica Jong.

It seems that the final days of the presidential campaign have made Erica Jong and her friends more than a little anxious.

A few days ago, Jong, the author and self-described feminist, gave an interview to the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, the choicest bits of which were brought to my attention by the reliably sharp-eyed Christian Rocca, the U.S. correspondent of Il Foglio, who published excerpts on his Camillo blog. Basically, Jong says her fear that Obama might lose the election has developed into an "obsession. A paralyzing terror. An anxious fever that keeps you awake at night." She also says that her friends Jane Fonda and Naomi Wolf are extremely worried that Obama will be sabotaged by Republican dirty tricks, and that if an Obama loss indeed comes to pass, the result will be a second American Civil War.

Gosh I hope not.

Of course, I took Monday through Wednesday off work for a reason...

Here's A Scary Halloween Treat For You

Atrios sez:

Digby:

I think we're about to get schooled. Again. The torture loving right is dusting off its completely hypocritical "government is full of jack-booted thugs" playbook --- and it's going to drive us all completely crazy.

Indeed. They'll try to bring Obama down on some abuse of power scandal. Should be fun!

I'll go one step further.

If Obama tries to clean up Bush's "unitary Executive" abuses of power by way of signing statement and Executive Order, he'll be accused of being soft on terrorism, and we'll hear William Ayers and Rashid Khalidi and cries of him being SECRET MUSLIM TRAITOR WEAKENING AMERICA FROM THE INSIDE, and the calls will be long and loud for his impeachment.

If he doesn't, as Atrios says, the calls for his impeachment will still be just as long and loud as all the other secret and highly illegal Bush programs that we don't know about are immediately leaked before Obama can do anything with them, with folks coming out of the woodwork to say "Well Obama knew about them as a Senator and didn't stop them then, and he's not stopping them now as President."

Has there ever been calls for a President-Elect to be impeached before taking office? We may set a record.

As I have said time and time again, if you thought they hated Clinton, wait until you see what they do to Obama. Twelve months from now, his approval numbers will look like Bush's, the financial meltdown will be his fault, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran will be his fault, everything will be his fault.

If the Pretty Hate Machine doesn't create the next Timothy McVeigh or Eric Rudolph to "handle the job" the Village Bipartisans and the Palinites will take him down the Clinton way.

I just don't see how Obama makes it through his term without extrordinary luck.

As Digby says about the GOP in her post linked up there:

They leave the rest of us standing on the sidelines looking like fools for ever caring about anything but winning.

And winning means the absolute, total, and complete destruction of Obama and the Democrats by any means necessary.

Do not ever forget that. Yes, I'm assuming Obama actually wins...but assuming Obama wins is, of course, forgetting that, now isn't it?

Vote. Tuesday. And even then, there is a long hard fight ahead for all of us.

Helpful US Attorney Is Helpful

US Attorney Troy Eid is helpful, saving taxpayer money and stuff by refusing to prosecute those three fellows in Denver that allegedly threatened to kill Obama at the DNC Convention a few months ago.

Eid, who was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2006, declined to prosecute the three men on charges of threatening to assassinate Barack Obama during his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, saying that the suspects were "just a bunch of meth heads" and their words failed to meet the legal standard for "true threat."

Nope, not a serious threat. Even though they had weapons. But hey, it's not like Republicans are soft on crime or anything.

Legal experts say that Eid's definition of true threat directly conflicts with the statue covering threats to presidential candidates, 18 U.S.C. 879, which defines the threat as "whoever knowingly and willfully threatens to kill, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm upon a major candidate for the office of President or Vice President, or a member of the immediate family of such candidate."

While noting the statute must be weighed against First Amendment rights, they argued that because voluntary intoxication is not a viable defense the First Amendment does not protect a speaker's threatening speech.

George Fisher, Stanford Law Professor and one of the nation's top scholars of criminal law and evidence, explained, "Certainly when there's a state of mind requirement in a crime, 'knowingly,' for example, you could say as a logical matter that somebody can't do something knowingly while under the influence. But there are these other laws, sometimes in the form of statutes and sometimes in the form of case law, that will say, 'But voluntary intoxication is no defense.' And the Supreme Court many years ago upheld those laws as not being a violation of due process."

Colorado defense attorneys agreed. They said Colorado state law does not differ from the Supreme Court's ruling on voluntary intoxication.

Thus, legal experts agreed that a verbal threat alone, intended by the speaker to be taken seriously, and said willfully and knowingly, is all that is necessary to satisfy the legal requirement for true threat. Contrary to what Eid told the press, a prosecutor in this case would not have to prove a plan existed or the viability of any such plan, only that a threat was made and understood by the speaker and receiver of the words to be said in earnest.

But a Bush appointed US Attorney from the Bush Justice Department (home of a not-too-long-ago scandal involving the mass politicization of the department and ended with former AG Alberto Gonzales resigning in shame) once again taking unusual action that can only really be explained by a refusal to embarass McSame supporters by prosecuting folks threatening to kill Obama say, a few weeks before the election.

That's not political at all.

The Grand Delusion

John McSame once famously said "The media is my base." Sarah Palin on the other hand believes the media is in fact America's number one enemy.

Palin told WMAL-AM that her criticism of Obama's associations, like those with 1960s radical Bill Ayers and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, should not be considered negative attacks. Rather, for reporters or columnists to suggest that it is going negative may constitute an attack that threatens a candidate's free speech rights under the Constitution, Palin said.

"If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations," Palin told host Chris Plante, "then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media."

However she feels about the way her story has been told in the press, Palin told WMAL she is not discouraged.

"It's sort of perplexing to me, because I'm a practical person and plainspoken also, but just cutting to the chase and calling things like I see them, just like most Americans. But this has not left a bitter taste in my mouth, the bitter shots taken by the mainstream media and by some of the elitism there in Washington," Palin said.

"What this has left me with is a very energized and positive feeling about America, because there are enough Americans who are desiring the positive change that John McCain's gonna usher in."

Plante then suggested that in her next sit-down interview, Palin should tap the reporter on the knee and ask, "So who you votin' for?"

Palin laughed and said, "Yeah, maybe that just would say it all."

"I'm gonna try that," she said.

I bet she would in fact follow up on that idea as President. After all, Bush did. The current administration's famous "Free Speech Zones" exist to keep protesters away from the President at his events. You can just imagine the wheels turning as she pictures what she'll do to that nasty media that doesn't agree with her.

One of the reasons the GOP base loves Sister Sarah so much is because she's bought into the notion that the "Evil Liberal Media" is out to destroy the GOP talk radio empire. You see this delusional behavior often from folks on that side, that there's a vast conspiracy by American news organizations, television networks, cable channels and newspapers to try to limit what right wing folks say. They complain that the Media is "in the tank for Obama" and

That's laughable on its face considering what the Bush administration really has done to limit free speech in this country. But the right wingers plunge on and vow that anyone who doesn't agree with them is un-American, Socialist, Communist, terrorist, or traitor, while at the same time they "defend their free speech rights" to slander millions of Americans for he crime of dissent.

GOP Rule #1: If they complain that the Democrats are doing something, it's because the GOP is already doing it. Always. What's the GOP complaining about? Socialism, vote fraud, and stifling dissent. What are the GOP currently doing? Giving banks trillions, purging millions of traditionally Democratic voters from the rolls and making voting nearly impossible for those traditionally Democratic voters who ARE still on the rolls, and now of course they are working to harm any outfit that might publish dissenting viewpoints.

Think about that on Tuesday when you vote...those of you who can. We already know what the litmus test for belonging to the GOP post-November 4th is: Where did you stand on Sarah Palin?

Are you ready for her to be your President? Do you think Obama would be a better President then Sarah Palin?

Be honest. Either way, vote.

StupidiNews, Halloween Edition!

Here's some scary news, kids. What's your Halloween costume this year?

• 10 million homeowners are going as hobos this year, breaking even or owing more on their homes than their homes are worth.."underwater" on equity.
• Nearly 1 in 4 Texans are going as Archie Bunker, they believe Obama is Muslim.
• The US military is going as the Men in Black, complete with "flashy things" to manipulate memory and amnesia.
• 12,000 Floridians are going as the Invisible Man, because state law says their IDs don't exactly match voter registration, they need to now present other forms of ID to be able to vote.
• Phillies Phans are going as Phillies Phans to today's World Series parade.

Scary stuff, huh kids? Woo!

M Night Bipartisans' The Village

They're coming.

The Village Bipartisan Idiots.

They'll never leave Obama alone until he becomes one of them.

Their attack is already underway from people like Nebraska's Bob Kerrey.

I believe this is likely because Obama will surround himself with professionals, not ideologues or acolytes. An unprecedented number of patriotic, politically savvy and centrist men and women have been part of his campaign team - and are therefore likely to make up President Obama's governing team.

I believe this is likely because of who Obama is. Republicans have tried desperately to paint the man as a secret radical. But the imagery just doesn't connect; Americans see a man who is calm, respectful, considerate and careful. That is just what the doctor ordered for our politics.

Last, I believe this is likely because Obama understands that to succeed, he must make peace with John McCain just as he has done with Hillary Clinton. When this historic election concludes, I expect the two to sit down, without precondition, and negotiate an agenda of reform.

But that will only be the beginning. To build up the political capital for the kinds of changes needed in these difficult times, Obama will need to communicate the following to Congress, in no uncertain terms: The Democrats have not won a mandate for all their policies. Rather, the American people have resoundingly registered their frustration with a failed status quo, and the next President must chart a new, less partisan course.

Bob Kerrey is only the start of the Sensible Washington Establishment douchebaggery that will start in long and loud on November 5.

Everyone in the Village Idiot club, left, right, "sensible" center, will be saying how Obama now needs to immediately do whatever the hell the GOP wants to do as a "bi-partisan effort".

There will be a good two months of pressure for Obama to:

1. Keep as much of Bush's cabinet as possible, especially Robert Gates and Michael Mukasey, if not Condi Rice.
   
2. Drop all charges/pretense of charges/hints of pretenses of charges against Bush and quash any investigations.
   
3. Drop any notions of reversing controversial Bush policy at all: PATRIOT Act, Gitmo, torture, wiretapping, etc. Kerrey's already asking for this.
   
4. Show he "reaches across the aisle" by giving into more bad GOP legislation from the wingnuts.
   
5. Abandon progressives, period. Obama will be pressured to prove he's not a liberal, and will be advised to "distance himself from Pelosi/Reid".
   
6. Enact McSame's economic, health, and military plan rather than his own.
   
7. Escalate wars in Afghanistan and start one in Iran.

In other words, Obama will be told to be McSame, because he doesn't have a "mandate like Bush did." Even if the Democrats have 60 Senate seats, 275 or even 300 in the House, and Obama in the White House, it's not a mandate for change...it's a mandate to do the same exact f'ckin stuff for the last 8 years, got it?

Palinocrats

There's been a lot of talk this election season about Obamicans: pissed-off moderate Republican voters (mostly male) who are sick of Bush, sick of the wingnuttery, and sick of the GOP in general.

But there's always a flipside to everything, and to the Obamicans, their opposite number is the disaffected pro-life feminist who believes that the GOP putting Palin on the ticket and Hillary's loss of Obama is proof the Democrats have abandoned feminism...the Palinocrats like the Daily Beast's Wendy Button.

The final straw came the other week when Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher (a.k.a Joe the Plumber) asked a question about higher taxes for small businesses. Instead of celebrating his aspirations, they were mocked. He wasn’t “a real plumber,” and “They’re fighting for Joe the Hedge-Fund manager,” and the patronizing, “I’ve got nothing but love for Joe the Plumber.”

Having worked in politics, I know that absolutely none of this is on the level. This back and forth is posturing, a charade, and a political game. These lines are what I refer to as “hooker lines”—a sure thing to get applause and the press to scribble as if they’re reporting meaningful news.

As the nation slouches toward disaster, the level of political discourse is unworthy of this moment in history. We have Republicans raising Ayers and Democrats fostering ageism with “erratic” and jokes about Depends. Sexism. Racism. Ageism and maybe some Socialism have all made their ugly cameos in election 2008. It’s not inspiring. Perhaps this is why I found the initial mocking of Joe so offensive and I realized an old line applied: “I didn’t leave the Democratic Party; the Democratic Party left me.”

The party I believed in wouldn’t look down on working people under any circumstance. And Joe the Plumber is right. This is the absolutely worst time to raise taxes on anyone: the rich, the middle class, the poor, small businesses and corporations.

Our economy is in the tank for many complicated reasons, especially because people don’t have enough money. So let them keep it. Let businesses keep it so they can create jobs and stay here and weather this storm. And yet, the Democratic ideology remains the same. Our approach to problems—big government solutions paid for by taxing the rich and big and smaller companies—is just as tired and out of date as trickle down economics. How about a novel approach that simply finds a sane way to stop the bleeding?

That’s not exactly the philosophy of a Democrat. Not only has this party belittled working people in this campaign from Joe the Plumber to the bitter comments, it has also been part of tearing down two female candidates. At first, certain Democrats and the press called Senator Clinton “dishonest.” They went after her cleavage. They said her experience as First Lady consisted of having tea parties. There was no outrage over “Bros before Hoes” or “Iron My Shirt.” Did Senator Clinton make mistakes? Of course. She’s human.

But here we are about a week out and it’s déjà vu all over again. Really, front-page news is how the Republican National Committee paid for Governor Sarah Palin’s wardrobe? Where’s the op-ed about how Obama tucks in his shirt when he plays basketball or how Senator Biden buttons the top button on his golf shirt?

As Digby says at the end of eviscerating Wendy Button here:

I suspect there's going to be a very lucrative niche opening up for these Palin Democrats with lots of wingnut welfare to go around.

Hell, I'll go one step further: The path Sarah Palin will have to take to the Oval Office in 2012 is by walking directly on the backs of people like this. They need each other, just like Bush and Rush did.

The GOP is already maneuvering for 2012. The sycophants and water carriers are already lining up for Obamabashing, The Industry.

As I've said before, the hatred for Clinton and Bush combined will be shockingly pale compared to the pure vehemence against Obama.

His honeymoon will be over before he is even sworn in.

Starting the Palinocrats tag now, and keeping an eye out for em. There will be more.

Errm, Another Last Reminder Of Bushenomics

GDP officially contracted by 0.3% for 3rd quarter. Remember, that's all BEFORE most of the bailout. Steve Benen makes the point about what this means for the last 6 days:

The McCain campaign, presumably with a straight face, issued a statement that argued Barack Obama, by moving the country in an entirely different economic direction, "would accelerate this dangerous course." The McCain campaign added, Obama is "change Americans cannot afford."

I have to admit, this is rather amusing. The economic policies of the last eight years clearly haven't worked. Obama is offering a new approach. McCain's argument, in effect, is that we need to stick with what we know has already failed. If can only keep doing what Bush has done, and wait for it to start working, everything will work out fine. Indeed, we "cannot afford" to go in a different direction.

Why anyone would find this persuasive is a mystery.

22% of America still believes Bush and his policies are fine, remember?

One Last Reminder Of Bushenomics

ExxonMobil reported a nearly $15 billion third-quarter profit today, a new American milestone of capitalist excess. Fifteen. Billion. Dollars. So far the company has made $80 billion plus in the last 21 months or so despite the financial downturn.

Companies make profit, it's what they do. But oil companies still need government subsidies for "exploration" and land deals and tax credits and discounts, and ExxonMobil is making roughly $1 billion a week, and that's where I have something of a problem with them when they're still demanding my taxpayer dollars with the best lobbyists money can afford.

And of course, the Maverick Twins fought these companies so very hard. Dems are just as complicit. But it's time to get our priorities straight.

How To Know When The GOP Is Up To No Good

Follow this simple checklist:

1. The GOP exists.
2. It's a day of the week ending in the letter 'y'.
3. They are behind in the polls.
4. They are accusing the Democrats of cheating, for this is the only way Democrats could possibly be ahead in the polls.

If you answered yes to all four questions, simply take whatever the GOP is accusing the Democrats of doing, and you now know exactly what the GOP is up to.

The Ohio Republican Party launched Tuesday a radio ad that opens with the sound of a ticking clock and asks, "Could Ohio's election be stolen?"

In suggesting that "many" voting registrations in the state "may be fraudulent," the 60-second spot cites the case of a Cleveland man who has told election officials and news reporters that he signed multiple registration cards in exchange for cigarettes. The ad says that the man was "bribed to register 72 different times and vote illegally."

Mike West, a spokesman for the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections in Cleveland, said Tuesday that the board has uncovered 80 registration cards with Freddie Johnson's name on them that were submitted since January, "but he has never voted. ... We have no record of him ever voting."

Ohio Republicans have said in court briefs that fraudulent registration forms raise fears that fraudulent voting could occur.

The ad berates Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner (D) for allegedly ignoring problems with voter registrations and "concealing evidence." The ad will run throughout the state, as many as 20 times a day in some locations through Nov. 4.

Asked about the spot, Kevin Kidder, a spokesman for Brunner, said, "We are not going to dignify it with a response."

The fact that the GOP is taking out radio ads on this is a huge clue that the GOP is up to no good in Ohio. When they are accusing Dems of trying to steal the election, you'd better believe the GOP is trying to do exactly that.

Interestingly enough, the US Justice Department said it's not going to investigate the Ohio GOP's claims too closely. Not enough evidence. Perhaps they are tired of being Bush's legal thugs. Perhaps they are being held in reserve. Perhaps it's one hell of a feint.

Perhaps Obama is going to win by such a margin that Ohio really won't matter by itself.