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PATH: BS | Government | Insatiable Hubris
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Election Dirty Tricks Get Even Nastier
Posted by Pile
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As if it weren't possible, some groups are not playing fair, intimidating voters, and deploying various dirty tricks to affect the vote. (This article is going to be continually updated with more news, so be sure to bookmark it.)- In an apparent violation of FCC rules, conservative talk radio station KFBK 1530 AM in Sacramento transmitted a paid political advertisement to an unknown number of other stations in the area using the Federal Emergency Alert System (EAS), thus automatically forcing the ad onto the stations' airwaves.
- Republican Senate candidate from Maryland Michael Steele and Republican Gubenatorial candidate Robert Erlich crank out a fake "democrat voting guide" with bogus endorsements to mislead the other party's voters into thinking they're democrats when they're really republicans.
- Tim Daly from Clarendon, Virginia got a call on his voicemail saying that if he votes Tuesday, he will be arrested. There are also widespread reports of calls from election "volunteers" telling VA voters that polling locations have changed that are completely bogus.
- "Phone Spam" by Republicans pretending to be Democrats: There are reports from at least seven states of voters being harassed by multiple phone calls with recorded messages--"robocalls"--that appear to be a devious manipulation of voter's pre-election advertisement overload. A typical example was described in Pennsylvania's hotly contested 6th Congressional District, in the Philadelphia suburbs, where incumbent Republican Jim Gerlach is locked in a statistical dead heat with challenger Lois Murphy. The calls begin by offering "important information about Lois Murphy," leading voters to assume the call is from her campaign. Most recipients slam down the phone before finding out otherwise--and then call to complain. A Philadelphia Inquirer columnist did some researching and found that in fact the calls were being paid for by the National Republican Congressional Committee, which spent over $21,000 in the past week alone on anti-Murphy phone bank expenses. NRCC spokesman Ed Petru readily admitted the scheme, noting that they wouldn't be spending money on robocalls if they weren't working. He added, no doubt with a straight face, "We don't think there's such a thing as an overinformed voter."
- The Democratic Voter Protection Hotline is being flooded by prank phone calls - a tactic, no doubt by a few mean-spirited activists who want to disrupt complaints of voter suppression reports.
Remember to vote Tuesday!
Bring a video camera if you can to catch what's going on. Preserve America's democracy!
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ATF Director Abuses His Position to Help Out His Nephew
Posted by ueberbill
(6332 views) [E-Mail link]
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| In response to an anonymous tip that the then-director of the ATF had abused his position, hired an unqualified former colleague, and made expensive design changes to his new office, the Office of the Inspector General began an investigation. Regarding those charges, the OIG found that the director had in fact shown poor judgement, but did nothing not within his discretion. However, during the course of the investigation, the OIG heard another complaint that the director had used ATF equipment, employees, and time (upwards of 50 man-hours over 10 months) to help his nephew with a video project for high school. The director resigned before the report was released, but at least the nephew got an 'A'! |
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In the face of seemingly crazy characterizations of the "enormous successes" in Iraq, Washington Post reporter, Dan Froomkin is wondering, is Dick Cheney unravelling, or as we here at BSA wonder, has he completely lost his mind?
Now that he's lost control of both Houses of Congress, President Bush has decided that balancing the budget and stopping federal pork is a good idea, according to his Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal today. Only 6 years after he got elected it is apparently time "to set aside politics and focus on the future." Whew.
Hussein's execution will be remembered as a case of America destroying an Arab leader who no longer obeyed his orders from Washington.
If you're a state senator and you're an outspoken proponent of immigration issues, one thing you might want to do is check to make sure your wife isn't an illegal alien. Georgia's State Senator Curt Thompson has found himself in an uncomfortable situation now that the authorities, in what looks more like a witch hunt, are going after his wife trying to have her deported.
I honestly don't mean to appear to be some sort of cheerleader for Keith Olbermann, but he does make many excellent points, and due to the "biased liberal media," he's largely alone in the mainstream world of news when it comes to discussing U.S. history and the implications of the future based on the past and present. 
What happens when your political party seems to be completely filled with pedophiles and those who protect them? What can you do with an election looming?
Rep. Mark Foley, R-Florida, submitted a letter of resignation from Congress on Friday in the wake of questions about e-mails he wrote a former 16-year-old male page, according to a congressional official. Foley, 52, had been considered a shoo-in for re-election until the e-mails surfaced in recent days.