Portions of the so-called Real ID act — which is a bad idea anyway — purport to prohibit Judicial review. We figure they’re not just stupid — I mean, nobody sleeps through ALL of civics and still finds a seat in Congress — so we’re forced to conclude this is quite simply an overt statement of contempt for the Constitution, separation of powers, and the rule of law.

The State Department is responding to requests for information regarding John Bolton only if they come from Republicans.

One of the popular memes on the far right today is the notion that Christians are somehow persecuted in this country — which, frankly, doesn’t even pass what my friend Lloyd used to call the “risibility test.” Fred Clark over at Slacktivist had a grand post about this a couple weeks ago, and follows with this one that includes a truly spectacular bit of satire (which he’s quoting from Merlin Missy). Pick up on it.

They’ve been using Ralph Reed’s lobbying company.

Via Boing Boing:

It amounts to a kind of cultural censorship. Call me paranoid, but given all the manipulative tricks the Republicans have gotten up to recently, I am prepared to believe that this has less to do with Homeland security and more to do with keeping the American public ignorant and free of foreign influence and inspiration. An ill-informed, isolated, ignorant populace is a populace easily manipulated. Fed a diet of reality shows coupled with faith-based reasoning (an oxymoron if ever there was one) and you have a perfect recipe for a country in which the government that can do more or less whatever it wants. [Emph. added] Democracy becomes a farce without access to information. David Byrne

Apparently somehow threatened with the frequency with which our native state embarrasses us, our adopted state of Texas has elected to step up the bigotry. Lovely.

Our recollection of Ridge’s speech makes us view this Wired piece as “astoundingly charitable” with respect to former Secretary and current Dufuss Ridge. However, the balance of the story is worth reading, as the writer spoke to industry experts with a more reasonable view of RFID in security.

Fred Clark’s “The Scandal of the Originalist Mind” is a great view into Scalia’s mental tradition; we’ve been meaning to get it up here for days, but, well, we’re busy. Enjoy.

We’re not certain this is real — we got it here — but we hope it is:

from their editorial
Okay, We Give Up There’s no easy way to admit this. For years, helpful letter writers told us to stick to science. They pointed out that science and politics don’t mix. They said we should be more balanced in our presentation of such issues as creationism, missile defense and global warming. We resisted their advice and pretended not to be stung by the accusations that the magazine should be renamed Unscientific American, or Scientific Unamerican, or even Unscientific Unamerican. But spring is in the air, and all of nature is turning over a new leaf, so there’s no better time to say: you were right, and we were wrong. In retrospect, this magazine’s coverage of socalled evolution has been hideously one-sided. For decades, we published articles in every issue that endorsed the ideas of Charles Darwin and his cronies. True, the theory of common descent through natural selection has been called the unifying concept for all of biology and one of the greatest scientific ideas of all time, but that was no excuse to be fanatics about it. Where were the answering articles presenting the powerful case for scientific creationism? Why were we so unwilling to suggest that dinosaurs lived 6,000 years ago or that a cataclysmic flood carved the Grand Canyon? Blame the scientists. They dazzled us with their fancy fossils, their radiocarbon dating and their tens of thousands of peer-reviewed journal articles. As editors, we had no business being persuaded by mountains of evidence. Moreover, we shamefully mistreated the Intelligent Design (ID) theorists by lumping them in with creationists. Creationists believe that God designed all life, and that’s a somewhat religious idea. But ID theorists think that at unspecified times some unnamed superpowerful entity designed life, or maybe just some species, or maybe just some of the stuff in cells. That’s what makes ID a superior scientific theory: it doesn’t get bogged down in details. Good journalism values balance above all else. We owe it to our readers to present everybody’s ideas equally and not to ignore or discredit theories simply because they lack scientifically credible arguments or facts. Nor should we succumb to the easy mistake of thinking that scientists understand their fields better than, say, U.S. senators or best-selling novelists do. Indeed, if politicians or special-interest groups say things that seem untrue or misleading, our duty as journalists is to quote them without comment or contradiction. To do otherwise would be elitist and therefore wrong. In that spirit, we will end the practice of expressing our own views in this space: an editorial page is no place for opinions. Get ready for a new Scientific American. No more discussions of how science should inform policy. If the government commits blindly to building an anti-ICBM defense system that can’t work as promised, that will waste tens of billions of taxpayers’ dollars and imperil national security, you won’t hear about it from us. If studies suggest that the administration’s antipollution measures would actually increase the dangerous particulates that people breathe during the next two decades, that’s not our concern. No more discussions of how policies affect science either — so what if the budget for the National Science Foundation is slashed? This magazine will be dedicated purely to science, fair and balanced science, and not just the science that scientists say is science. And it will start on April Fools’ Day. Okay, We Give Up MATT COLLINS
THE EDITORS editors@sciam.com
COPYRIGHT 2005 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.

Total deaths of prisoners in US custody in the Iraqi war: 108
Total deaths of prisoners in North Vietnamese custody during that war: 114.

(Referenced in this post (which you should read) which in turn points to this story for the Iraqi stat, and this site for the Vietnam figure.)

If there’s a better framing of the Schiavo thing out there than Digby’s, I’ve yet to see it.

Why should we give a shit whether or not millionaires playing a game for a living take steroids? More on point, why the fuck is Congress wasting time worrying about this “crisis” instead of spending that time on the economy; Iraq; the ongoing failure to capture or kill OBL; scary developments in North Korea; etc.?

Salon has a good summary of how GWB’s administration has systematically avoided any sort of public accountability for its actions by ignoring the mainstream press — and, more disturbingly, how the country doesn’t care.

In 2002, Sun millionaire John Gilmore refused to show ID to board a flight. He hasn’t flown domestically since, as he’s fighting the government on the issue; the Feds, for their part, won’t even let him see the law that supposedly mandates that he show ID to fly.

Think about that. Are you comfortable with the notion of being governed by secret laws? No? Then donate to the EFF. Today.

The GOP’s contempt for written law is, at this point, old news. They’ve trotted out the “no judicial review” bullshit on all sorts of things, including but not limited to gay marriage bans. However, now they’re getting even scarier. Read more here.

Here’s the real fun bits:

Section 102(c) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 … is amended to read as follows:

(c) Waiver.

(1) In general. – Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall have the authority to waive, and shall waive, all laws such Secretary, in such Secretary’s sole discretion, determines necessary to ensure expeditious construction of the barriers and roads under this section.

(2) No judicial review. – Notwithstanding any other provision of law (statutory or nonstatutory), no court shall have jurisdiction —

(A) to hear any cause or claim arising from any action undertaken, or any decision made, by the Secretary of Homeland Security pursuant to paragraph (1); or (B) to order compensatory, declaratory, injunctive, equitable, or any other relief for damage alleged to arise from any such action or decision.

Because this is what we really need: a government agency totally above the law in all respects, and with no possibility of review or restraint from either other branch of the government.

Fred Clark reminds us about the meaning of jubilee. Think the Falwells, et. al., care as much about this as the bits about gay people?

The Fafblog Social Security FAQ makes it all clear.

Accordian Guy also enjoyed the Fox Smackdown, and has a transcript and a Quicktime versionto boot:

Fox News: We were noticing all the snow in Washington, boy it’s really coming down! I hope that doesn’t put a crimp in anybody’s plans. Look at that gorgeous shot of the White House… Judy: Well I, I have a feeling that maybe it should put a crimp, or at least something should put a crimp in the plans of the White House to have such a very lavish inaugural at a time of war. Fox News: Really? Judy: Yes. What I’ve noticed is the worse a war is going, the more lavish the inaugural festivities. When Franklin Delano Roosevelt was President, during a time of war, of course as you know, he had a very modest inauguration and a very tiny party where he served chicken salad, or where chicken salad was served. And that was when we were winning a war. Fox News: Right, but, well, no, I, look, I mean, the President has, has addressed this, hasn’t he, he said that this is a, I believe the quote was that we’re celebrating, we’re celebrating democracy, we’re celebrating a peaceful transfer of democracy. What’s wrong with doing that? Judy: Have you noticed any peace or any transfer of democracy in Iraq? If you have, you’re the first person to have seen it. Fox News: Well, I’ve noticed the elections coming up, and, to be honest… Judy: They don’t seem very peaceful. Fox News: ….I didn’t want to argue politics with you this morning. Judy: Oh really? I thought I was allowed to talk about what I wanted to talk about. Fox News: You certainly, you certainly have that right. Let me ask, let me ask you this: what, I mean, what — what should they have cut back on? I mean we… Judy: How about $40 million. Fox News: All right, well… Judy: May I say something? May I say something? Fox News: Sure. Judy: We have soldiers who are incapable of protecting themselves in their humvees in Iraq. They have to use bits of scrap metal in order to make their humvees secure. Their humvees are sitting ducks for bombs. And we have a president who’s using $40 million to have a party. Fox News: What would you suggest for the inauguration? How would you do it? Judy: How about a modest party? Just like FDR. I’m sure you’ll agree he was a pretty good President with a fine sense of what’s appropriate and what’s not. And during a time of war, 10 parties are not appropriate when your own soldiers are sitting ducks in very, very bad vehicles. Fox News: Well, don’t you think that the President has, has given his proper respect to our troops? I mean yesterday, as far as I can tell, the festivities opened with a military gala, they ended with a prayer service. There does seem to have certainly been a tremendous effort over the past couple of days and more than that to honor our troops! Judy: Well, gee, that prayer should sure keep them safe and warm in their flimsy vehicles in Iraq. (emph. added) I’d rather see that money going to them, rather than to a guy who already is President, for the second time. Quinn on the ropes. The lesson to be learned: don’t shoot off your mouth when your brain is full of blanks. Click to see the video. Fox News: All right, well, Judy Bachrach, I think we’ve given you more than your time to give us your point of view this morning. Judy: Thanks for having me on.

Over on “fair and balanced” Fox, one of their partisan hacks got a bit of surprise when she asked Judy Bachrach what she thought of the incredibly lavish inaugural balls.

MediaMatters gives us a rundown of the conservative and progressive commentators included in the coronation coverage yesterday.

Frank Rich points out what a fucking joke the program’s swan song was:

NEW YORK One day after Tucker Carlson, the co-host of CNN’s “Crossfire,” made his farewell appearance and two days after the network’s new president made the admirable announcement that he would soon kill the program altogether, a television news miracle occurred: even as it staggered through its last steps to the network guillotine, “Crossfire” came up with the worst show in its 23-year history. This was a half-hour of television so egregious that it makes Jon Stewart’s famous pre-election rant seem, if anything, too kind. This time “Crossfire” was not just “hurting America,” as Stewart put it, by turning news into a nonsensical gong show. It was unwittingly, or perhaps wittingly, complicit in the cover-up of a scandal.

There’s more.

Slacktivist is, as always, more polite than the Heathen, but that’s no surprise. The president lies; that’s also no surprise. He lied about Iraq, and he’s lying now about Social Security now, which even the SSA itself says will be fine until at least 2042 (more on this here). Fred says:

George W. Bush lied. And George W. Bush doesn’t care that he lied. And he doesn’t care that you know he lied because he knows that more people will believe his lies than not, which was what yesterday’s forum on Social Security was all about.

Fred also points us to a decidedly more Heathenesque quote, from Kevin Drum, who is angry at both the President and our lapdog press:

What should a responsible press do when faced with a president who baldly lies over and over about stuff like this in a blatant attempt to scare the hell out of people? Somebody needs to figure it out, because people like George Bush have no incentive to stop lying if the press lets them get away with it.

Word.

(* With apologies to Fishbone.)

Twofer from the wires:

• Gonzales’ nomination concerns ex-officers (retired generals and admirals are very worried about his apparent contempt for the Geneva Convention); and
• Gonzales torture memo controvery builds (the White House won’t release copies of his memos written in crafting the torture policy).

Atrios gives us a rundown of the planned inaugural ceremony:

The inaugural ceremony will include performances by the U.S. Naval Academy Glee Club, the U.S. Marine Band and mezzo sopranos Denyce Graves and Susan Graham. Guy Hovis, a vocalist from Tupelo, Miss., who performed on the Lawrence Welk show, will sing, “Let the Eagles Soar,” a song written by Attorney General John Ashcroft. (Emph. added.) MSNBC

When we told Rob about this, he said, and we quote:

G A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A

Bush and his corporate cronies are so bent on selling Federal timber on the cheap that they’re once again ignoring established science, even to the point of threatening Forestry Service scientists who refuse to go along.

This is the administration you picked, America. It’s a shame we’ve all got to live with it.

Remember back when James Watt told Congress that conservation didn’t make any sense, since Jesus was coming back soon? It turns out that those dispensationalist goons are still lurking around, and have nontrivial influence with the current administration.

PBS journalist and general voice of sanity Bill Moyers was honored recently by the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School, who presented him with its fourth annual Global Environment Citizen Award. Moyers had this to say on receiving the award about the insanity of the Administrations’ environmental policies.

Bob Novak, Douchebag for Liberty, has his own little world where HIS ethics don’t matter, but he’s free to complain about other people’s.

Fuck him.

Salon takes a look at some of the claims of the “abstinence only” programs being fed American kids in the name of “education.” Sen. Waxman is on the case, thank goodness. Among the claims:

• HIV can be contracted through sweat or tears;
• Touching genitals can result in pregnancy;
• Condoms do not prevent HIV;
• Half of gay male teens are HIV+

And it gets even better:

Waxman also criticized some programs for reinforcing sexist stereotypes to children. One — Why Know — says: “Women gauge their happiness and judge their success by their relationships. Men’s happiness and success hinge on their accomplishments.” Another program, Wait Training, says: “Just as a woman needs to feel a man’s devotion to her, a man has a primary need to feel a woman’s admiration. To admire a man is to regard him with wonder, delight, and approval. A man feels admired when his unique characteristics and talents happily amaze her.”

Not much to say about that, is there?

The fundies think they’ve finally found a way to pass laws that won’t withstand Constitutional scrutiny in the Federal courts: block the Federal judges from reviewing said laws by legislating away judicial review. This, kids, is true contempt for our rule of law, our democratic values, and our nation as a whole.

Please, please, please, read what Fred has to say about Ohio’s “marriage protection” measure. Please read it. He’s right. Jesus, he’s right.

45% of Bush voters want Creationism taught instead of evolution.

Salon’s review of Ashcroft’s tenure as AG makes clear his farewell letter’s assertions that we’re somehow safer as a result of his jackbooted tactics are nothing more than wishful thinking:

Being John Ashcroft apparently means never having to say you’re sorry. On Nov. 10, the attorney general congratulated himself in a farewell letter “to the American people” with this assessment: “I am blessed to leave public office in a nation that is safer and stronger than the one I found; a nation in which the flame of freedom illuminates every American and burns a signal fire to a watching world.” In fact, there is little reason to believe Ashcroft’s claim that the nation is safer and stronger; file boxes of evidence to demonstrate that if the “flame of freedom” still burns, it is despite Ashcroft’s efforts, not because of them; and every indication that the “signal fire” America is sending to the “watching world” is not one of freedom.

And, needless to say, Gonzales will almost certainly be no better. At least the Onion got some laughs out of it with its throwaway headline this week: “Ashcroft Loses Job To Mexican”.

Or at least sad for the same reason:

As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron. — H.L. Mencken, July 26, 1920, in The Evening Sun

Found at Slacktivist.

WASHINGTON (AP) Ñ Moving to protect Majority Leader Tom DeLay, House Republicans want to change party rules to ensure that DeLay retains his post if a Texas grand jury indicts him as it did with three of his political associates. The House Republican Conference, composed of all GOP members in the chamber, was to vote Wednesday to modify a requirement that would force DeLay to step aside if charged with a felony requiring at least a two-year prison term. Party rules require leaders to relinquish their posts after a felony indictment, but the change would eliminate the requirement for non-federal indictments.

More from the Washington Post; Josh Marshall points out the irony over at TPM, which is that this rule is the one the GOP has used over and over against Democrats in the past.

See, it’s okay to lie under oath if it’s about terrorism; just so long as you don’t do it about a blow job.

The scientific community — a segment of the “reality based community” the Bushies are so hostile to — is bracing for another four years of bullshit.

The Bush administration and the scientific community have never had an easy relationship. For the past four years, scientists have accused the Bush White House of ignoring widely accepted scientific studies in favor of fringe theories that support the administration’s political agenda. Meanwhile, government officials say scientists are exploiting research for political purposes. Never was this rift more clear than at an American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in September, when former House Science Committee chairman Bob Walker, speaking on behalf of the Bush re-election campaign, warned scientists that their moaning about the government’s treatment of science could lead to a “push back” from the federal government. More at Wired News

This administration’s tendency to view scientific findings in conflict with ideology as “politically motivated” pops up with alarming frequency, and reminds us that we have right-wing religious nutbirds in charge. Which is, apparently, the way 51% of the electorate wants it. It’s important at this point, we reckon, to note that it’s not so much that our country was founded by those seeking religious liberty; we were founded by people who were too uptight to be British. It’s this legacy that sends us into fits over sex on TV, Janet Jackson’s boob, gay marriage, medical pot, and science that disturbs our ideologies; what this means for the future of our country is left as an exercise for the reader.

We continue to fear fundamentalism of all stripes, and are pretty sure the ones we ought to be watching the most aren’t in the Mideast; it’s the ones in Washington.

He may have resigned, but he’s still the AG. Take a look at what he said to the Federalist Society, the gist of which is, basically, “judges ought not rule against the President.”

Of course, his replacement has famously described the Geneva Conventions as “quaint,” so it’s not like we’re going to be any better off.

So we got pissed off and went on hiatus. But that doesn’t mean you get a free pass; here’s some choice ranting about the state of the Union:

• In case you thought this jackass had a mandate — what with the endless chatter in the media — MediaMatters can set you straight.
• Fafblog has the only response to the phrase “Attorney General Gonzalez” that doesn’t make us want to hurl.
• So you can keep score at home these next four years, here’s 14 Signs of Fascism.
• Of course, creeping fascism isn’t limited to us; maybe Doug Adams was right about these people.
• Also, Kerry voters are smarter.

I’m too disgusted to do this anymore. I leave you with a few choice words, some mine, some from others.

Tom Tomorrow quotes Tbogg in full rant mode, which is angry, sad, and mostly accurate:

Four more years of American soldiers being used as cannon fodder. Four more years of scientific decisions being made by people who believe in a ghost in the clouds. Four more years of debt that our children and grandchildren will have to pay off. Four more years of racists and lunatics for judicial appointments Four more years of looting the treasury and squandering it on corporate cronies. Four more years of making enemies faster than we can kill them. Four more years of fear and darkness and racism and hatred and stupidity and guns and bad country music. I look at the big map and all of the red in flyover country and I feel like I’ve been locked in a room with the slow learners. We have become the country that pulls a dry cleaning bag over its head to play astronaut.

And Lessig quotes one of his commenters:

I’m going to spend time these next few days looking for the America in my heart. It may be a while before I see it anywhere else.

Billmon points us to HST in his prime:

This may be the year when we finally come face to face with ourselves; finally just lay back and say it — that we are really just a nation of 220 million used car salesmen with all the money we need to buy guns, and no qualms at all about killing anybody else in the world who tries to make us uncomfortable. Hunter S. Thompson
Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail
November 1972

And this:

The amazing thing to me about this race was that Bush could be as divisive as he wanted to be, but it never penalized him. The most important things in the world were responded to with infantile answers or complete ignorance. Where he stood was clear. Simplicity wins. Oliver Willis

Someone commented, a bit ago, that I should take comfort in it being a democracy, and that he was just as pissed off and certain of doom under Clinton, but see how it worked out?

I wish I could share that optimism, but I just can’t.

As for Clinton, I ask you this: What policies cost thousands of lives under Clinton? The British journal The Lancet estimates 100,000 Iraqi dead now, to say nothing of our own wounded and dead soldiers. What huge debts did he run up, to be paid by our children and grandchildren? What allies did he alienate in a rush to war against a country that wasn’t threatening us? What enemies did he ignore to do so? What CIA operatives did his administration “out” as political payback? When did he claim he could arrest anyone he wanted, declare them an “enemy combatant,” and be free of judicial oversight? When did his party actively campaign to amend the Constitution to LIMIT rights?

Near as I can tell, the worst thing he did was lie about a blow job in the midst of a political witch hunt. He wasn’t a great president, but he wasn’t a disaster like this guy, either.

Bush and his people have lied when the truth would do better for four years, but half the electorate doesn’t seem to care. He campaigned as a “uniter,” but cruised to office on a 5 to 4 vote and proceded to govern from the hard, hard right. His GOP is openly pandering to the nutball religious right and corporate interests, and in doing so is weakening even our last line of defense (the courts). A Bush-packed SCOTUS will be hostile to the vital decisions supporting, among other things, our right to privacy, and I’m kind of attached to it. (Remember, Griswold wasn’t about abortion; it was about the right to buy birth control.)

Add to all this the open hostility to accepted science, his endless saber-rattling while failing utterly to pursue Osama effectively, our growing quagmire in Iraq (which, contrary to Cheney, is getting worse, not better — check the stats), and frankly I don’t see much to be hopeful about. I doubt you can point to a similar list of events attributable to Clinton.

The trouble is, it wouldn’t be much better had Kerry won decisively. Under Clinton — the last president we can say really WON in the traditional sense — you saw how the GOP acted. They pursued him with a vigor and relish that defies belief for no other reason than he beat them in the election. They were gunning for him before he took office, for Christ’s sake, and they didn’t stop until they’d spent nearly a hundred million bucks and caught him in a lie about a blow job — when they were, ostensibly, investigating real estate in Arkansas. The GOP doesn’t want to govern; they want to rule, and their actions since Whitewater make that clear. There is no bipartisanship with Bush. There will be less now. They’re in power, and they’re willing to do anything it takes, pander to any divisive cause, and abandon any nominally American principle to do it. They don’t care what else happens.

Yes, it is a democracy. But you’ll never go broke pandering to the baser desires of the American populace (c.f. Fox). The GOP understands, and therefore appeals to the very worst of the soul of America. And they’re winning.

For now, I’m done. I have to figure out how to live in a country whose apparent values are hostile to tolerance, to complex solutions to complex problems, to truth, to accountability, and to critical thought.

There’s nothing like the realization that, by and large, more than half your countrymen are willing to vote for a party of greed, fear, bigotry, and war despite just having four years of precisely that.

That John Kerry did not win in a walk is disgusting. It sickens me. Bush and his cronies have lied and been caught at it dozens of times, and on issues far more important than a fucking extramarital blow job, but no one cares. He has taken us to war in Iraq for no good reason (though he cited several candidates over time), and now has us stuck in an ever-worsening quagmire while Osama is still at large. He’s presided over the worst jobs record since Hoover. He’s spending us into oblivion. His organization funds and supports groups like Swift Boat Vets, whose members have no compunction about saying whatever they think will hurt Bush’s challenger. His party wants to institutionalize bigotry in the form of an anti-gay marriage amendment, and is openly hostile to the right to privacy enshrined in Griswold and Roe. I could go on and on here. It’s that bad.

And yet, at last count, 58,000,000 people voted for this goatfucker, and I’m not very proud to share a country with them. Frankly, if the GOP keeps moving us in this direction, I think there’s a very good chance that, eventually, I won’t. They’ve made it abundantly clear they will do whatever it takes to win, no matter what that implies. Given how they fought Clinton — for no reason other than he beat them at the polls — can you imagine a gracious loss in this case, should Ohio’s provisional ballots go Kerry’s way? Last time the SCOTUS gave Bush the election; this time he may well have generated enough hate and fear to win in outright (but barely), and that doesn’t bode well for this country.

My home state has joined eight others in approving a gay marriage ban. In Mississippi, the margin was 85%.

Reading this site, you might get the impression that we’re foursquare against the whole notion of electronic voting. That’s not quite right; information technology COULD play a valuable role in the electoral process, and could, if done correctly and carefully, actually lower the margin of error.

However, that’s unlikely to happen with proprietary systems like Diebold’s. And that’s why we support the Open Voting Consortium, a group dedicated to creating an open source voting system. With open source, it would be easy to verify that the code was good, that the tallying methods were unbiased, and that the best algorithms and practices were used. We’ll never have that with Diebold. OVC is a small group, but it’s a promising idea, and one much more likely to preserve our votes than black boxes from Diebold.

(Thanks, Eric!)

BoingBoing points out the perils of e-voting.

This site documents voter fraud, voter supression, and voter intimidation today. Watch carefully, especially now that the appeals court has said the Ohio thugs can challenge away.

Bev Harris has uncovered evidence that Diebold voting machines may be hacked through their modems during an election.

Josh Marshall details a story from ABC on the whole Kerry-shirts-at-Bush-rallies thing. Basically, they got folks to wear the other guy’s shirts at campaign events, and then documented the results. No surprises here: Dems were polite, but tried to surround the Bush shirts so they wouldn’t be on camera; the GOP threw them out.

Vote.

They’re now pledging allegience to Bush. Billmon over at Whiskey Bar has a bit more.

The GOP’s Justice Department is arguing that only they, not individual voters, may sue to enforce the voting rights portions of the Help American Vote act.

Veteran voting-rights lawyers expressed surprise at the government’s action, saying that closing the courthouse door to aspiring voters would reverse decades of precedent. Since the civil rights era of the 1960s, individuals have gone to federal court to enforce their right to vote, often with the support of groups such as the NAACP, the AFL-CIO, the League of Women Voters or the state parties. And until now, the Justice Department and the Supreme Court had taken the view that individual voters could sue to enforce federal election law.

Remember, if you vote for Bush, you’re voting for shit like this.

Atrios has a bit about bigoted administrators at a Missouri school. Nice.