For those who don't think a corporation would help steal an election

Thanks.

:)

:kick:

Recently, in Ohio, four ELECTION REFORM initiatives which were predicted to win by 60/40 votes, got flipped over on election day to 60/40 LOSSES!--the most audacious flipover yet. It seems that the machines and their masters are now dictating election policy and preventing reform--a chilling Orwellian twist.

Read Bob Koehler's article on the Ohio initiatives:
http://www.tmsfeatures.com/tmsfeatures/subcategory.jsp?custid=67&catid=1824

I won't trouble you with the other gadzillions of statistics. You get the picture.

Talk about corporate takeovers... And people even wonder if they would mess with our votes?

:kick:

:evilfrown: :spray: :evilfrown:

became Rove's executive assistant.

Any chance Rove had access to Diebold's known security holes?

:)

Is Fitzgerald's GJ a "Special Grand Jury"?

Mention has been made of Fitz' expansion of the investigation to include pre-war intelligence abuse.

I wonder if Fitz has authority (supposedly equal to that of the US Attorney General, IIRC?) to investigate "wherever crime trails lead him" and possibly/eventually pursue election system fraud issues.

Googled +Rove +Ralston +Abramoff
Daily Kos, Tag: Susan Ralston

potentially criminal activity uncovered in the course of his investigation. How directly relevant to the original alleged offense it must be may be open to interpretation.

This is from Fitz's DOJ website:




Certainly since Plame's outing is related to the forged Niger documents, Fitz has authority to investigate and prosecute the relevant people involved in that. I believe from there it is not too far to Abramoff, Diebold, and the election theft.

Fitzgerald's authority with regard to Valerie Wilson's burning is plenary, or all-encompassing, in theory. However, I have seen such statements legally turned on their head to show that everything after the "and includes" part of that statement is actually a restriction on that plenary authority. It makes no sense in the real world, but I've seen it done. Our American Indian friends are often burned by "and includes" lines which are later held up as restrictions, rather than examples.

The White House will have the luxury of being able to maneuver the case into the hands of whatever bought judge they think will best protect them. And if they can get Fitz's authority whittled down some, the next step would be to require that Fitz must show that concealment of the source behind the Niger documents was a primary motivation for the burning of Wilson. I think the White House has already laid out this defense by priming the press with the idea that the burning was an act of political revenge, rather than an attempt to intimidate those who would investigate the much larger crime of the Niger documents.

Rather than going in the Abramoff direction, I think the primary concern of the White House is keeping investigators away from the inclusion of the Niger forgeries in the State of the Union Address. It's against the law to knowingly give false information to Congress, and if the President gives false information while performing the duty required by Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution itself, well, that's impeachable, particularly by the limbo-low bar set by the Republican Party so recently.

However, you may yet be right. The Plame case right now is sort of like a wet bar of soap that's being squeezed. The more pressure one applies to make sure that it won't go in a particular direction, the more likely it is to squirt out somewhere else, with unexpected momentum.

From the December 30th <2003> press conference:

"Q: You mentioned that the -- you felt that Fitzgerald will have a broader -- actually a broader mandate, broader abilities than an outside counsel. Can you expand on that a little bit? In what respect will he have a --

MR. COMEY: Yes. An outside counsel has a -- the regulations prescribe a number of ways in which they're very similar to a U.S. attorney. For example, they have to follow all Department of Justice policies regarding approvals. So that means if they want to subpoena a member of the media, if they want to grant immunity, if they want to subpoena a lawyer -- all the things that we as U.S. attorneys have to get approval for, an outside counsel has to come back to the Department of Justice. An outside counsel also only gets the jurisdiction that is assigned to him and no other. The regulations provide that if he or she wants to expand that jurisdiction, they have to come back to the attorney general and get permission.

Fitzgerald has been told, as I said to you: Follow the facts; do the right thing. He can pursue it wherever he wants to pursue it."

Plenty more good info and analysis at:http://citizenspook.blogspot.com/2005_08_07_citizenspook_archive.html

.

looking at returns down to the precinct or at least county on election night (2004). I got very suspicious right there. It's not impossible, and may even be likely.

Pic takes on added perspective when Ralston is viewed as lobbyist Abramoff's connection to Rove, and Abramoff is known connected "way back" with Norquist.

• Norquist and Abramoff go way back.
  
• Abramoff's assistant, Susan Ralston, was passed on to Rove.
  
• Abramoff used Ralston as his Rove contact.
  
• Abramoff is Diebold's lobbyist.
  
• Ralston reported to Norquist, as to who whould or should not get access to Rove

:hi:

Reminder of an archived thread with great points of info, e.g. background Norquist & Abramoff, HAVA, Ney, Feeney (mentioned in Clint Curtis video, below)

Any Connection? Abramoff & Diebold Fixing of Elections. Point of Origin?

On Election night, and why he was the authority to call the election for the MSM. Regardless of what the exit polls showed.