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Thursday, August 14, 2008
Attention Carl Weiser and other coincidence theorists: The 2004 election was stolen!
Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
Photo courtesy of here.
For years, The Cincinnati Beacon has been bringing the story of the 2004 stolen election to Southwest Ohio. Remember Stephan Skirtz? He’s the guy who made waves in the 2004 blogosphere when he captured a photograph of a red pickup truck with a George W. Bush bumper sticker, and a guy handling uncounted ballots in a dark parking lot with no one around. We interviewed him for posterity’s sake! We captured BBC Reporter Greg Palast sharing some of his collected evidence about the 2004 stolen elections in Ohio, too. Let’s not forget the interview with UC’s Dr. Bob Drake about stickered ballots. The list goes on. So when The Enquirer’s Carl Weiser proclaimed that the story of the 2004 stolen election was over, we couldn’t help but think about the matter a little more.
This is the same Carl Weiser who, back in 2006, said, “The folks who know Ohio elections best checked into it and found there was no conspiracy.” Naturally, when asked to identify just one of these “folks,” Weiser refused to release the name of a single expert. Why the obfuscation?
Without providing any analysis, Weiser proclaimed at the Enquirer’s political blog that the Columbus Dispatch has “debunked” the 2004 stolen election theory: “The Dispatch Sunday debunked - again - the theory that President Bush ‘stole’ the 2004 election in Ohio, while noting that it has now become a ‘cottage industry’ and an article of faith among the far left.”
Back in 2006, I asked international elections observer Dr. Bob Fitrakis about this very claim by Carl Weiser. (Fitrakis also spoke to our cameras about some of his collected evidence concerning uncounted votes.)
This week, Bob Fitrakis has issued his own rebuttal to the alleged “debunking” published by the Columbus Dispatch. (Read the original Dispatch story here.)
Here are some experts from Fitrakis’ recent rebuttal:
Columbus Dispatch articles explaining the 2004 election irregularities all embrace the same formula: ignore the more than 1000 signed affidavits and sworn testimonies of disenfranchised voters; rely only on the word of OSU Law Professor Dan Tokaji who has no background in statistical analysis and who always tells the Dispatch whatever they want to hear; and then apologize for former Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell and fail to mention what is routinely reported in every other major newspaper in the state of Ohio.
In the Sunday, August 10 Dispatch front page story, the paper conveniently avoids reporting on Blackwell’s well-documented activities. There’s no mention of: Blackwell’s directive that returned voter registration applications that weren’t on “80-bond paper weight”; Blackwell’s refusal to count the votes for the first time in modern Ohio history if voters were at the right polling place but the wrong precinct table; the fact that Blackwell outsourced Ohio’s official vote count tabulation to Michael Connell, a Bush family partisan who sent the vote tally to a Republican server site in Chattanooga, Tennessee tied to the White House; or of his full-court blitz on TV trying to get Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry to concede with 250,000 uncounted votes ...
From the paper’s perspective: 308,000 voters purged from voting registration rolls in the urban centers of Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Toledo, are not deliberate, even though 80% or so would have likely voted for Kerry; dozens of sworn statements from voters saying that they touched the computer screen for Kerry and saw their vote flip to Bush is only an accident; and that Kerry’s votes ran significantly behind an underfunded retired African American municipal judge from Cleveland on the ticket – only in 14 Republican counties – is simply ignored.
On Friday, July 25, the Dispatch ran the headline: “’04 Ohio election was fair, Blackwell says.” In the course of the story, they quote the ubiquitous Tokaji who states without facts or political science qualifications that Bush’s margin “was sufficient to overcome any legal challenge that might have arisen from provisional ballots that were uncounted ambiguously marked punch-card ballots and long lines that may have discouraged many citizens from voting.”
Tokaji’s assessment runs contrary to dozens of social and political science texts on the subject. He has refused to appear on panels with political scientists who offer different views. Nor has Tokaji indicated that he’s actually gone into the boards of elections’ warehouses and looked at hundreds of thousands of actual ballots, as his critics do in preparing their analyses ...
But the key reason the Dispatch is attacking the election integrity movement and lead litigator Cliff Arnebeck, of the King Lincoln Bronzeville case that seeks to protect the civil rights of voters in the 2008 election, is because of the revelations concerning Bush family loyalist Michael Connell and the allegations that the vote can easily be stolen with the flip of a switch in the computerized vote tabulation process.
The Dispatch avoids dealing with the revelations by highly respected Republican IT man and McCain supporter Steve Spoonamore at a Columbus press conference on July 17. With Dispatch reporter Mark Niquette in attendance, Spoonamore stated in no uncertain terms that he felt the evidence suggested fraud in the 2004 election. The Dispatch is also not telling its readers that Spoonamore’s analysis as an expert witness was offered to the Ohio Attorney General’s office.
Spoonamore, who has worked for the Secret Service and major corporations on credit card fraud, stated that the IT system designed by Mike Connell for Blackwell is vulnerable to election rigging. In the Dispatch version of reality, little-qualified Party appointees and untrained volunteer election workers stand as a bipartisan impenetrable fortress against election tampering. The ultimate thesis is always based on the tenuous fact that there’s a bipartisan system of Democrats and Republicans at county boards of elections, therefore election rigging is “impossible.”
Spoonamore’s point is the exact opposite of the Dispatch’s. As long as all the Ohio election results are compiled at county central tabulators and fed officially to sites in Ohio and Tennessee, overseen partisan IT companies using proprietary secret software, then our elections are vulnerable to manipulation. All the well-intentioned “bipartisan” grandmothers, grandfathers and political operatives working the polling places and boards of elections watching the flashy touchscreens and shiny county central tabulators have no idea what’s really going on inside the black box and what happens when the digital vote count heads off into cyberspace.
It’s unfortunate that people like Carl Weiser resort to name calling (like “conspiracy theorist") instead of doing some real work and analysis. This is actually a typical attitude in the current political culture: attack the messenger, and avoid the message entirely. Here at The Cincinnati Beacon, we pride ourselves in trying to understand different political perspectives, even when we may not agree with the person saying them!
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14 Aug 2008 at 08:51 am | #
Carl has spent too much time with his relative, Bud. To write the lies he has written he must anesthetize his concience. He must be terribly tormented to know that the entire community recognizes deception so blatant and that every word be writes, from now on, will be viewed in that light. His rationale is no doubt covered by some crap about “they made me write it” or “I had no choice” but in the end he will reap what he has sown.
Ben Franklin spoke about those that exchange liberty for security and Carl fits that description. He collects a pay check to spread lies for his employers at the Enquirer. What he doesn’t see is that he is being used and is disposable to his masters. Too frightened to step out from under the corporate security blanket, he must live with himself for the remainder of his time here on the planet. The other part he missed is that security is an illusion, just like the corporation he works for, and could vanish tomorrow leaving him alone to pursue a new career. Who would have a reporter with no credibility?
14 Aug 2008 at 10:53 am | #
Carl “the coincidence theorist” is none the wiser because he hasn’t gotten off of his ass to do any type of investigation on the subject what so ever.
Reading the Dispatch which hasn’t done any real investigative reporting on this issue either isn’t investigative reporting Carl.
I mean, you could have at least asked Congressman John Conyers when he came to town last year since Conyers held extensive hearings that found that during the 2004 debacle there was “unprecedented disenfranchisement of African American voters”.
His Congressional report ”What Went Wrong in Ohio” (I suppose it’s part of that “cottage industry") basically said that the voting machines could be easily hacked which was confirmed more recently by SOS Brunner’s $2 million tests. We don’t even need to get into the 12 hour long lines in Democratic precincts only.
In my exclusive interview with Conyers on this subject he talks about the move towards paper ballots across the country because many of the electronic voting machines are owned and operated by “outspoken partisan’s that raise a lot of questions”.
I asked him if he was concerned about the integrity of our elections and he said “I’m still very much concerned about the integrity of the election process because the justice department has crumbled”.
Conyers said, “The voting rights section of the Department of Justice is in very poor shape. They prosecuted fewer cases, they’ve investigated fewer cases and we’re not at all confident that we’re up to speed and ready to go even though we’ve passed a couple of laws that weren’t fully funded. So, you’ve probably put your finger on one of the biggest immediate concerns that we have for the upcoming election next year”.
Adding, “one frequently touted way of dealing with this problem is to have a paper trail”.
He continued, “We’re not even sure if that’s going to be enough because paper trails can be jammed”.
Conyers said, “We need a very aggressive DOJ that can quickly get up to speed”.
So now we have Carl Weiser spewing the offcial propaganda from his right-wing rag that is so incredibly shameless that they actually endorsed Ken Blackwell.
There were many problems with the recount which led to some convictions. (We wouldn’t have even had a recount or an investigation of any of this without the Green Party). And we know that 56 of the 88 counties illegally destroyed the ballots despite a court order to protect them like Florida’s 2000 ballots were protected.
In the words of Freedom Fighters, Carl Weiser is Pathetic!
14 Aug 2008 at 01:18 pm | #
http://www.witnesstoacrime.com
From April 23, 2008 Press Release and Dr. Richard Hayes Phillips’
Appearance in Cincinnati (Hyde Park)
Tonight at Awakenings Coffee Shop on Hyde Park Square, 2734 Erie Ave
Wednesday, April 23, Dr. Richard Hayes Phillips will be speaking about his book, Witness to a Crime: A Citizens’ Audit of an American Election ( http://www.witnesstoacrime.com). Richard is the ONLY person in the U.S. to actually investigate the allegations of election fraud in the 2004 presidential election. He used a court order to examine the ballots, voter registration books, and blank ballots from each of the controversial counties in Ohio following the 2004 presidential recount.
His book includes a CD with over 1000 photographs of things such as optical scan ballots altered with stickers covering Kerry votes and Bush bubbles filled in. He was an advisor to Representative John Conyers, and provided data for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for the articles Kennedy wrote regarding these issues in Rolling Stone. Kennedy also provides a forward for the book.
Many claims have been made regarding the 2004 election, but Richard Hayes Phillips is the only person to actually gather documentation and conduct an audit. His findings are incontrovertible, and are currently being considered by Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner for prosecution.
The interesting part of the event was the recap for those of us who had followed RHP’s work and the informational feedback from those citizens who had actively been there when RHP was visiting the Boards of Elections in Southwestern counties, including Hamilton and Clermont. When I hear “conspiracy theorist” stated, it is usually by those whose best inerest is in circumnavigating or distorting the facts for the general population. Not just the political culture, but the media culture that “creates” the news.
By the way, ARE THERE ANY real reporters or journalists alive in this day and age?
Thanks for the article, Justin!
14 Aug 2008 at 03:19 pm | #
Jenny, Richard actually didn’t work alone. He worked with Bob Fitrakis and some other people as well. I was with them in Miami County when Richard and Bob were photographing the ballots that were kept in a place that wasn’t very secure. There was a leak in the roof and some of the boxes were moldy.
Anyway, that’s how the Beacon got a copy of the stickered ballot about 6 months before the Enquirer ran it on their blog. They should have had access to it the day we had the press conference in Columbus for the case where the court ordered the ballots to be protected.
Unfortunately 56 of the 88 counties illegally destroyed them against the instructions of the court order. I believe many had already been illegally destroyed before the court order. I think they are legally supposed to wait 2 years after the election to destroy the ballots.
14 Aug 2008 at 03:50 pm | #
Good point on not working alone. Listening to many of the people accompanying him on rounds, hearing their take and view, Fitrakis’ skills in the strategy....the very essence of great work on a grassroots scale with citizen savvy. Most people do not venture beyond their TV screen waiting for the nightly news feed........these are the stories that make for credible information gathering and presentation.
My understanding was that our county of Hamilton had alrady gotten rid of ours. Am I correct on that?
14 Aug 2008 at 04:29 pm | #
Dean, there is fresh evidence of Diebold’s participation in election tampering in Georgia. Read about it at The Raw Story’s website.
14 Aug 2008 at 05:19 pm | #
Many votes went UNCOUNTED!
Rather than pay attention to the many emails and tips about election day irregularities and exit poll discrepancies they received after the 2004 election, corporate media reporters and journalists collectively rolled their eyes or stuck their fingers in their ears and said, “La la la la la I’m not listening!”
But a rare exception was Tribune Media Services syndicated columnist, Bob Koehler, who was one of the first to report nationally on the glaring problem, got the story out so that now we can be prepared for what lies ahead in 2008.
Or will the coporate media be Rip Van Hoodwinkled again?
14 Aug 2008 at 07:21 pm | #
As much as I want to hand over full control of the voting system to Justin, the Dean, Ralph Nader,and all their incorruptible associates, I still have that nagging feeling that the current flawed system probably works better. Come on now, if there ever was a chance to expose a large scale stolen presidential election, wouldn’t the current situation of a switched U.S. Congress and Ohio Governor and Secretary of State be the perfect storm to do just that? If it could be proved, it would make Watergate look like a walk in the park. But instead Congress (except for Reps. like Conyers from safe, far-left districts) passes and the media ignores it (because we all know the media isn’t interested in stories that would increase its viewership by tens of millions). Please forgive me if I agree with those hated institutions in this case.
14 Aug 2008 at 07:41 pm | #
trey, with how often you debate Justin, I can’t believe you would make that comment. You can’t already see how he’ll respond?
If you were serious, you would identify the most obvious counter-arguments he’s going to make (instead of making an appeal to ridicule by throwing jokes), and then you would deconstruct why you find those to be incorrect.
But you didn’t do that. So you must be so dim that you can’t predict, after all this time, what Justin is likely to say in response to this, or (and I think this is more likely the case), you just don’t have an actual argument to bolster your position.
15 Aug 2008 at 08:18 am | #
Oh, is that how that debate thing is done? I thought both sides just exchanged goofy jokes and that was the end of it. ....No, seriously; I’ve had this debate a million times with Justin and it goes nowhere. My point above is that if there ever was a time that a possible stolen election could be deeply investigated by responsible, accountable institutions (like the U.S. Congress and the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office--not just rabble-rousing internet activists)it would be now when there was an unexpected switch in the party running them. And they have basically passed (And don’t tell me they have no incentive to investigate.---The Dems could seriously damage the Repub brand for many, many years if they could do so.) Almost all our civil institutions are based on this adversarial concept-that corruption can be kept to an acceptable level if people with opposing self-interests are watching the other guy.(Call me a fool for sticking with this centuries old succesful system of checks and balances and not handing the oversight function over to pure, uncorruptible patriots like Justin and Ralph Nader but I guess I’m old-fashioned.)
I’ve actually spent too much of my precious time investigating this blatant hoax. Go check the election record yourself and see that this is in fact the norm and not some smoking-gun anomaly that reveals guilt of tampering. The mirror image flip-side of this can be found in any heavy Democratic prectinct. Its simply what happens when the “up-ticket” candidates are extremely famous and the down-ticket candidates are unknown. And as I explained to Justin a million times, any reasonably intelligent fifth grader could figure this out. But still, his pure, incorruptible heroes like Fitzrakis continue to mention this canard as proof (see above) when it has to be assumed that they have heard of its fallacy. Makes one wonder if they are really the pure-hearted patriots they claim to be and not just another operator trying to get in on the action.
15 Aug 2008 at 12:49 pm | #
The Obamacrats stole this one on live television. I am sure there is a tape of it someplace. They used he caucus system in texas , blatantly( actual real reporter working on that one), and the used the rules committe on live television to finish the rest. I thought the great part was Rep Wexler, who represents parts of Broward County, and yet, has not, and does not even live there. Not even a room at the motel six as a legal address. He is a legal resident of MD .
Isn’t that against the law? Using Moms address in a 55 or older retirement community, who does not allow kids, or visitors for a total of 2 weeks per year ( as Florida Condo associations like to make stupid rules) so how can he be a resident of Florida? Nay a word. That’s just one example . The far left is so intent of this election, that they will even give up profits and journalistic integrity to have Obama elected. wow give up profits !! I think the CE is a secret undercover school on how to discard any journalistic integrity one of these people may have left. Maybe they are in cahoots with the Sea Arrgs and scientology ? But it is clear, this paper has NO integrity.
They had the story about the Grant county Sheriff Jailers who threw the kid in a cell with 14 “sexual deviants” and watched as he was gangraped for hours. The did put that on there but when I pointed out the story next to it was the FED interviewing the Gov about former Gov’s road contracts and suggested the investigate the ties to the troopers who put this kid there, They removed my post.
so, whenever I have a little extra time, I like to write comments on the Cincy.com in response to articles, and time how fast they take them off.
The Winners so far
1.5/3 bank story about the lawsuit. less than 3 minutes.
2. trolley. about 5 minutes.
3. anything 3cdc. Instant. I see a trend.
Having the votes of the citizens “ WE THE PEOPLE “ being stolen is becoming a big business. It used to be “ Vote them out” as a way to protest, now we dont even have that any more. What’s next? drag out the muskeets?
I hope like heck that HRC pulls a fast one, as a friend of the Peppers wrote in the e-mail I recieved last night ( guised as we should all visit his( Davids) new site). This group is like the Birth certificate people , and indicated infighting on who got to hand in the petition at the convention. Would make for good TV thats for sure.
Great story guys.
PS Commissioner Pepper. I think your site is a good idea, but I dont appreciate your friends taking my Data and personal information to Solicit me to get people to visit your site. kind of cheesy. Nothing personal, it is just cheesy. Have us over to dinner with something nice from the cellar, then we will talk. Once again though, I think the idea of an elected official communicating with the people is a noval approach, but dont ask your house guests for their lists of people.
15 Aug 2008 at 12:52 pm | #
trey, do you remember when the exit polls were off in the Ukrainian election? That was a red flag and the international community called for a new and fair election.
The US wouldn’t meet the requirements to be accepted into the EU based on our elections alone. We don’t meet the requirements that third world nations must meet to have the Carter center monitor elections. We don’t have international election observers? Why?
You’ve never moved to any of the other problems with the election like the 12 hour long lines or the fact that you had partisan private companies secretly counting our votes on machines that have been proven to be rife with “critical security failures”. There are sworn affidavits where people say they watched the machines flip their votes among other problems.
Until you deal with those issues, the exit polls we can leave aside for now. That was merely one giant red flag.
22 Aug 2008 at 11:36 am | #
Did anyone see this headline today?
Now even Diebold has bought into the “conspiracy theories”. But keep moving folks, there’s nothing to see here.
22 Aug 2008 at 07:15 pm | #
Stephanie Tubbs Jones wasn’t a conspiracy theorists, she was a champion of the people. Here was yesterday’s headline that mentions how she led the fight to bring the 2004 election scandal in Ohio to light. May she rest in peace!