bleever
bleever's Journal
If a hack in Ohio failed, thank DU. (x-post)
Eight years ago, right around this time, a bunch of people starting discussing their suspicions about the 2004 election's many suspicious anomalies. Here, on DU. You couldn't do it at Kos; you'd get banned as a "fraudster".
DU's Election Results and Discussion Forum (as it was then called) became a place where a lot (and I mean a LOT) of work happened around this issue. It was a very dark time, and many of us believed we had witnessed a crime of incredible proportions. It was the theft of the United States of America, and in time it would lead to one of the most disastrous wars in our country's history, to the subversion of our Constitution in the form of warrantless wiretapping, torture, and more, including (via a blind eye to financial mis- and mal-feasance) the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression.
Consequences so bad, it's difficult to even take it all in.
This year, it looked like things were being set up to happen the same way. Vote suppression. Unverifiable electronic voting. GOP control of elections in key states, especially Ohio and Florida.
But it didn't happen.
Mark Crispin Miller wrote this the day after the election:
It’s time to put an end to such complacent jeering; because people need to know—and want to know—what’s happened here, and what they can do about it. That growing public interest is the reason why our work has finally broken through, with Brad, Victoria, Bob, Gerry and Harvey Wasserman, Jonathan Simon, Sally Castleman, Richard Charnin, Michael Collins, Greg Palast, Bev Harris, John Ennis, Sheila Parks, Paul Lehto, Marta Steele and so many others (and please do forgive me if I didn’t name you here—I’m really tired!) finally seeing, if not their names in lights, their vital findings resonating through the public sphere.
Of the above names, at least four were DUers, regular and heavy contributors to the ERD forum. I am proud to call some of them friends.
Yes, DU. Democratic Underground, playing a vital role in the national conversation about election integrity.
I believe.
If Ohio was going to be hacked, and it didn't happen, thank DU.
Eight years ago, right around this time, a bunch of people starting discussing their suspicions about the 2004 election's many suspicious anomalies. Here, on DU.
Couldn't do it at Kos. You'd get banned as a "fraudster".
DU's Election Results and Discussion Forum (as it was then called) became a place where a lot (and I mean a LOT) of work happened around this issue. It was a dark time. Many of us believed we had witnessed a crime of incredible proportions. It was the theft of the United States of America, and in time it would lead to one of the most disastrous wars in our country's history, to the subversion of our Constitution in the form of warrantless wiretapping, torture, and more, and (via a blind eye to financial mis- and mal-feasance) the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression.
Consequences so bad, it's difficult to even take it all in.
This year, it looked like things were being set up to happen the same way, with vote suppression, unverifiable electronic voting, and GOP control of elections in key states, starting with Ohio and Florida.
It didn't happen.
Mark Crispin Miller wrote this the day after the election:
My point here is that of the above names, at least four were DU stalwarts, regular and heavy contributors to the ERD forum. I am proud to call some of them friends.
Yes, DU. Democratic Underground.
Thank you, and may god bless you, and god bless the United States of America.
I believe.
"Axelrod, Gibbs, and Plouffe" -- a tribute to the brain trust of Obama's campaigns.
(After "Tinker to Evers to Chance", about the incredible double-play team of the 1907 Chicago Cubs.)
Three words that spelled certain doom for poor Mitt:
Axelrod, Gibbs, and Plouffe.
They took him apart with precision and wit.
Axelrod, Gibbs, and Plouffe.
Ruthlessly bursting his ambitious bubble,
Leaving behind a finely-grained rubble,
Underestimate these guys, you're asking for trouble:
Axelrod, Gibbs, and Plouffe.
Thank you gentlemen, and congratulations. I salute you.
Florida Caterer Sees Big Opportunity Go Horribly Awry
PD News Service, Del Boca Vista, Fl., Sept. 18, 2012 -- Local caterer and aspiring restaurant owner Ron Donald (above, second from right), thought he had landed the job of a lifetime when, as team leader of Party Down catering, he was hired to do an exclusive fund-raising event for GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Unfortunately, things took an unexpected turn when a video camera he had surreptitiously set up to monitor whether other team members were finishing the partial cocktails left by guests was accidentally bumped and aimed at the candidate.
Team member Roman DeBeers (above left) discovered the camera and its contents while cleaning up, and apparently, in a fit of inebriated pique, passed it along to fellow writer-in-training James Carter IV, who leaked it to media outlets, including Mother Jones magazine.
Mr. Donald, in addition to seeing his career hopes severely damaged, also found that the Romney team had failed to designate anyone to be responsible for the gratuities.
His van was also towed for being parked in front of the residence, rather than at the rear tradesman's entrance. Surveying the debacle at night's end, team member Henry Pollard was heard to remark, "Are we having fun yet?"
It's official: Mitt is a "legitimate" candidate.
The body politic has a way of shutting things down.
Great timing on the slogan, pal.
Screwed six ways to Sunday: Paying Zero Taxes Edition.
As I listen to Republicans' outrage -- OUTRAGE! -- that Harry Reid would accuse Mitt Romney of paying zero taxes, it's clear that "paying zero taxes" has now been successfully defined in the public sphere as an Awful, Terrible Thing that no one should be accused of.
In fact, there could be good reasons that someone doesn't pay income taxes in a given year. Even wealthy people, under benign circumstances where their net worth contracts for one reason or another, might have an obligation of zero.
But instead of being able to say, "Sure, I paid no taxes in years X and Y, because of various losses in investment value and income, while other years I a paid pretty big sums", by virtue of the Republican outrage "paying no taxes" is defined as something criminal.
I'm very confident that Harry Reid didn't make this up, that Mitt really had years with a zero tax obligation, and that now he has nowhere to go.
I propose a new term: LaTourette's Syndrome
LaTourette's Syndrome Noun: la/to͝oˈrets/
{fr. Steve LaTourette, U.S. congressman from Ohio} A neurological condition afflicting Republican politicians who experience the realization that the GOP has been commandeered by extremists, and feel obligated to leave the services of that party.
Often preceded in its early stages by involuntary and inappropriate utterances of the truth.
E.g.: Sen. Hagel was a decorated military veteran who served the state of Nebraska and later succumbed to LaTourette's Syndrome.
Bain Capital did NOT create wealth. It moved it. (x-post)
Watching these poor folks on Ed Schultz from Freeport, Illinois, who are losing their jobs because Bain management is closing their plant and moving the production to China really drives home a point for me:
We are told that Bain Capital created wealth. It's more accurate to say that Bain specializes in moving wealth.
Yes, some people (overwhelmingly people who were already wealthy) got wealthier. But what about the wealth of the workers whose jobs go overseas? Their loss of employment and their meager wealth is exactly what turned into the wealth that flowed up to Bain investors.
All the dollars that cascade into the accounts of Bain investors directly corresponds to wealth and opportunity lost by "overpaid" U.S. workers, and to their lost equity in homes they can't afford, and lost opportunities for a decent and dignified retirement, and lost opportunities for their children and grandchildren.
And don't forget that the U.S. government, through tax incentives, pension guarantees, etc. also contributed to the flow of wealth from taxpayers to the fortunes of Romney and his cohorts.
So let's stop letting them get away with saying, "At least Romney was successful at creating wealth in his business career". He wasn't; he specialized in moving it from other, weaker people and institutions to those with the money and power to make the system work in their favor, at the cost to the rest of us.
Tell the truth: Bain didn't create wealth. It moved wealth.
Watching these poor folks on Ed Schultz from Freeport, Illinois, who are losing their jobs because Bain management is closing their plant and moving the production to China really drives home a point for me:
We are told that Bain Capital created wealth. It's more accurate to say that Bain specializes in moving wealth.
Yes, some people (overwhelmingly people who were already wealthy) got wealthier. But what about the wealth of the workers whose jobs go overseas? Their loss of employment and their meager wealth is exactly what turned into the wealth that flowed up to Bain investors.
All the dollars that cascade into the accounts of Bain investors directly corresponds to wealth and opportunity lost by "overpaid" U.S. workers, and to their lost equity in homes they can't afford, and lost opportunities for a decent and dignified retirement, and lost opportunities for their children and grandchildren.
And don't forget that the U.S. government, through tax incentives, pension guarantees, etc. also contributed to the flow of wealth from taxpayers to the fortunes of Romney and his cohorts.
So let's stop letting them get away with saying, "At least Romney was successful at creating wealth in his business career". He wasn't; he specialized in moving it from other, weaker people and institutions to those with the money and power to make the system work in their favor, at the cost to the rest of us.
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Member since: Tue Nov 9, 2004, 07:22 PMNumber of posts: 20,616
