Bad Deeds for 2-14-07

U.S. Election Assistance Commission Chair, Donetta Davidson, Knew About Problems of Voting Machine Test Labs But Kept Quiet – Bush-Appointed Chair Found Near Center of the Growing Scandal/Cover-Up Which Even Included a Stealth Attack on Election Integrity Advocate John Gideon. The EAC’s current Chair, Donetta Davidson, seems to have a long, storied and increasingly well-documented history of silence concerning electronic voting machine test laboratory problems and has been an active partner with EAC Executive Director Tom Wilkey in keeping the public uninformed about failures in the secret test labs. Wilkey is at the center of the controversy surrounding a failure to disclose to both the public and election officials around the nation that CIBER, Inc, the country’s largest so-called “Independent Test Authority” (ITA), was banned last summer from further testing of voting machines. Wilkey kept test lab problems hidden from public scrutiny for years in his earlier duties at the National Association of State Election Directors (NASED) where he was in charge of monitoring and qualifying the labs. Davidson is now Wilkey’s boss at the EAC where she landed after serving as Colorado’s Secretary of State since 1999 where she was later tied to significant failures by that state in properly certifying electronic voting systems.

Veterans face consecutive budget cuts – The Bush administration plans to cut funding for veterans’ health care two years from now — even as badly wounded troops returning from could overwhelm the system. Bush is using the cuts, critics say, to help fulfill his pledge to balance the budget by 2012. After an increase sought for next year, the Bush budget would turn current trends on their head. Even though the cost of providing medical care to veterans has been growing rapidly — by more than 10 percent in many years — White House budget documents assume consecutive cutbacks in 2009 and 2010 and a freeze thereafter. The proposed cuts are unrealistic in light of recent VA budget trends — its medical care budget has risen every year for two decades and 83 percent in the six years since Bush took office — sowing suspicion that the White House is simply making them up to make its long-term deficit figures look better.

Foggo And Wilkes Indictments About To Come Down In San Diego Despite Bush Regime’s Efforts To Derail Investigation – With two key GOP operatives in the Republican Culture of Corruption, Brent Wilkes and Kyle Dusty Foggo about to be indicted extreme paranoia is sweeping the Republican congressional caucus. At least two dozen GOP congressmen were on the receiving end of goodies from these two. If either turns state’s evidence, you will see crooked congressmen like Virgil Goode, Jr., Jerry Lewis, Duncan Hunter, John Doolittle and many more joining their pals Cunningham and Ney in prison. Think of this as a farewell gift from Carol Lam, the Republican prosecutor fired by the Bush Regime– without cause in order to derail the investigation which had already nailed Cunningham and is close to ending the political careers of at least 4 California Republican congressmen.

From the Wonderful Folks Who Brought You Iraq – By now, the story of how neoconservatives hijacked American foreign policy is a familiar one. With Vice President Dick Cheney and Rumsfeld leading the way, neocons working out of the office of the vice president and the Department of Defense orchestrated a spectacular disinformation operation, asserting that Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction posed a grave and immediate threat to the U.S. Veteran analysts who disagreed were circumvented. Dubious information from known fabricators was hyped. Forged documents showing phony yellowcake-uranium sales to Iraq were promoted. What’s less understood is that the same tactics have been in play with Iran. Once again, neocon ideologues have been flogging questionable intelligence about W.M.D. Once again, dubious Middle East exile groups are making the rounds in Washington—this time urging regime change in Syria and Iran. Once again, heroic new exile leaders are promising freedom.

William Donohue Smear of Edwards May Violate 501(c)(3) Laws – William Donohue, President of the Catholic League, may have broken the law by attempting to intervene in a political campaign. Donohue appears to be using the Catholic League to campaign against John Edwards bid for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President. Beyond Donahue’s appearances on broadcast media, during which he has spoken out against the John Edwards campaign, Donahue used the Catholic League’s 501(c)(3) non-profit status website to publish the following articles that included explicit attempts to intervene in a political campaign:

Edwards Blogger Strikes Again: They Must Be Fired Now!
Newsweek Lies About John Edwards
Look What John Edwards Has Done
John Edwards Tolerates Anti-Catholicism
Barbara Walters-House Mom To Bigots
John Edwards Hires Two Anti-Catholics
CBS Stifles Free Speech; Promotes Anti-Catholicism
Democrats Haven’t Changed On Life Issues

Bill O’Reilly Chalks Off John Edwards – Bill O’Reilly proudly put another notch in his belt declaring John Edwards finished. Calling Edwards “arrogant” for standing by the two bloggers working on his campaign, he claimed that Edwards only did something after ” critical mass” had been reached and by then “it was too late”. From his throne at the center of the universe, O’Reilly patted himself on the back for the recent Edwards hit job until his guest, Jane Fleming, offered some perspective.

O’Reilly announced in his Talking Points that ” within minutes” of his talking points, Amanda Marcott resigned and soon after Melissa McEwen was ” shown the door”. O’Reilly added that he gave Edwards a chance to set the record straight but Edwards response was a ” middle digit”.

Jane Fleming supported Edwards for showing leadership by not folding under pressure and held William Donahue responsible for the smear campaign. She added that the two women had been harrassed and threatened. O’Reilly couldn’t have cared less making a nasty comment about them being ” victims”.

Of course, Bill O’Reilly had no intention of humanizing Marcotte and McEwen who he portrayed as vicious bigots. Here is Amanda Marcotte’s announcement of leaving the Edward’s campaign posted on Pandagon

Fleming tried to expose Donahue but BOR pretending he was protecting Donahue sounded like he just wanted all the credit. ” He only fired them when we got involved” However, neither Marcotte or McEwen were fired. Here is Mellissa McEwen’s statement about leaving the Edwards campaign posted on her blog Shakespeare’s Sister.

Comment: Bill O’Reilly may think he’s won some sort of victory but he’s wrong. Bill O’Reilly and his vicious hate squad only look uglier now if that’s possible.

The Fox TV Show ’24’ is Hurting Our Troops. Who Says So? A U.S. Army General – The United States Military Academy at West Point yesterday confirmed that Brigadier General Patrick Finnegan recently travelled to California to meet producers of the show ’24’, broadcast on the Fox channel. He told them that promoting illegal behaviour in the series – apparently hugely popular among the US military – was having a damaging effect on young troops. According to the New Yorker magazine, Gen Finnegan, who teaches a course on the laws of war, said of the producers: “I’d like them to stop. They should do a show where torture backfires… The kids see it and say, ‘If torture is wrong, what about 24’? “The disturbing thing is that although torture may cause Jack Bauer some angst, it is always the patriotic thing to do.”

Troop Surge to Take Place Without Proper Equipment – U.S. Army units in Iraq and Afghanistan lack more than 4,000 of the latest Humvee armor kit, known as FRAG Kit 5, according to U.S. officials. The Army has ramped up production of the armor, giving priority to troops in Baghdad, but the upgrade is not scheduled to be completed until this summer, Army officials said. That is well into the timeline for major operations launched last week to quell violence by Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias, which the U.S. military now views as the top security threat in Iraq.

Regards,

Jim