Political Rant: Vote Early to Make it Harder for Them to Steal the Election

Good Morning Bloggers - It's getting down to the wire and I'm getting more and more nervous about Republican efforts to steal votes. The signs are not good. John McCain calling ACORN a "threat to democracy," a report in West Virginia about voters actually seeing machines switch their early votes from Obama to McCain right before their eyes, and the Obama campaign's allegations of "potential voter fraud" are making me very nervous.

"I think it is fair to say that some of these challenges do look like suppression efforts," said George Washington University Professor Jonathan Turley on MSNBC this weekend. He continued saying, "there is really grounds to be concerned here."

The Obama campaign took the less-than-impressive step of contacting our infamous do-nothing Attorney General Mukasey. You know him, he's the guy who won't enforce Congressional subpoenas and who pretty much said that George Bush is above the law during his confirmation hearings. Oh yea, our thanks to Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for allowing another corrupt AG into office.

They wrote him a letter expressing their concern about the election. "The allegations of voter fraud made by the McCain campaign about ACORN and Sen. Obama's alleged connections to it sound similar to another scandal during President Bush's administration," wrote Robert Bauer on behalf of the Obama campaign. "This is an astonishing repeat of the kind of toxic intrusion of politics into the lawful administration of justice that we saw during the U.S. attorney scandal," Bauer said. "We're seeing a repeat of that."

One of my favorites's, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, suggested the McCain campaign's allegations are an attempt to reduce the turnout of newly registered voters, most of whom are Democrats. "To keep turnout low, prevent votes from being counted and scare voters into thinking there are massive voting shenanigans and that their vote won't count anyway," Maddow said.

I think it's worse. I think they've had a plan to switch votes both electronically and otherwise for a long time. "The scenario for winning for us is a narrow-victory scenario," said Steve Schmidt, McCain’s chief strategist.

Unless we can persuade voters to turn-out early and en masse they might be able to switch enough votes to get those narrow victories in the electoral college swing states they need. Chuck Todd of MSNBC is reporting they are only focusing on the electoral college now. That's very good news for us, since they're being forced to narrow their focus, making it easier to catch them.

Remember, they got away with it before and there's no reason to believe they might not be able to pull it off again. I admit, I'm very worried, so please VOTE EARLY to make it harder for them to steal our election.

Monday's Political Rant #1 - Michael

Political Rant: Justice Department Finally Takes Action Against Gonzales and Gang

Hello Bloggers - For years I've been writing my senators and congressman for hearings, to subpoena witnesses, to enforce subpoenas, and to indict criminals at the Justice Department involving the firing of prosecutors, the politics of new hires, and the unbelievable Don Siegelman scandal (http://www.donsiegelman.com/).

It was obscured by the bailout crisis yesterday, but Attorney General Mukasey - a man I consider to be about as useful as the Pope's sex drive, probably less - finally appointed a longtime public corruption prosecutor to explore the basis for firing of the U.S. attorney in New Mexico two years ago. It's not everything, it's not even for all the fired prosecutors, but it's a start. Most incredible, it's a start under Mukasey and Bush. I'm still in shock to be honest. Most of us were convinced the criminals were waiting it out before their full pardons.

Congress has been upping its hand slowly, but many feel too slowly. I have always felt so slowly to the point of being co-conspirators -- they have been almost negligent! It would appear that Mukasey decided to act before Congress. He appointed Nora R. Dannehy, a 17-year veteran of the U.S. attorney's office in Connecticut, whose work led to the conviction of the state's former governor John G. Rowland (R) four years ago. She is responsible for delivering a preliminary report to Mukasey within two months. The best news is that lawyers involved in the case said her work will probably extend into the next administration - so it finally begins, I'm so happy.

Mukasey supposedly reacted to a report issued yesterday by department investigators that found "political motives" for the firing of three U.S. attorneys. He was probably thinking of his legacy when he decided to act. The report actually charges that senior officials "abdicated their duty to safeguard the independence of the process." Wow! Although prosecutors serve at the pleasure of the president, the report said that former attorney general Gonzalez - the real culprit - "bears primary responsibility" for the debacle because he allowed youthful subordinates to carry out the purge amid his "remarkable disengagement."

We all guessed it, but now we KNOW IT! Doesn't it sound like a common thread throughout the Bush Administration - "let the kids handle it?" Incredibly, the report said Gonzales was never notified about the dismissal of another top prosecutor, something the report calls a "stunning example of managerial default."

I know it's not everything we wanted, but like I said it is a start. Whether Obama or McCain (God forbid) wins the election the next administration will have to deal with it. I personally think Mukasey did it to cover his own ass in history. I don't think he wants to go into the history books having done absolutely nothing (though he is close, making him one of the worst AGs in history), so this is his something. No matter what, it's still real, and the person he appointed actually put a governor away.

I'm hoping things will finally begin to happen. I've been begging my elected representatives for indictments and perp walks for almost two years, and despite having the great Henry Waxman (D) as my rep, I've been disappointed. Let's hope this is the beginning of something BIG!

Tuesday's Political Rant #1 - Michael