Jet, a lot of these things are techniques which the Democrats pioneered, some of them going back into the 1800s. It's interesting that the GOP has managed to take those old ideas, institutionalize them, make them more efficient, and put them into a high-tech database, thus getting ahead of the Demos who pioneered these methods. But um, what was your point?

Dave

Jet,

Dont worry we Dems have these guys beat ! We have a list of every person who has died in the US for the past 20 years! Gee these are also people who otherwise couldn't go to the polls.

Best of all we dont have to spend any of our dirty soft money because these voters dont have to be tempted at all.

Jet I hate to tell you this but as you make this sound so sinister and unethical...but its how we we Dems have been winning elections for years you know...remember all those times we spent on election day picking up winos and street people and taking them to vote for Al Gore and then for John Kerry...hmmm maybe they didnt vote the way we told them to vote...

Your right if these Republicans do the same thing we are... we are going to lose again!

From The Left...JustOneMan


PS Do you plan on writing and more TV reviews on furry little critters? As I stated your work is much better than this politcal stuff. In addition I heard Animal Planet is doing a special on Gerbils!

Dave, the point? There is no point, I admit that.

This all came about because I was watching a report about early elections in Florida when the reporter said one polling station was down for because of a power failure causing dozens of elderly people to wait for hours.

Then they explained why; they were bussed in by Republican groups to vote, and my imfamous bus loads of preprogrammed voters came to mind.

The point is this...

The republicans are well organized and smart. If the democrats ton't get their act together and stop being so complacent, they're going to lose because in a close ract, all those bus loads and all those absentee ballots are what make up the difference between the exit poles and the actual voting. In this election the GOP are points ahead of the Dems days before the actual voting and they don't even know it.

I'd never heard of the voter vault until I wrote and researched this article.

I figured lots of other people had never heard of it either, so I wrote it up as a news/topic of interest story but couldn't keep my personal views out, so I changed it to an opinion piece.

Jet

PILGRIM: Volusia County has 300,000 registered voters. Last Saturday during early voting, seven churches mobilized buses to take voters to the polls.

SUSAN PYNCHON, FLORIDA ELECTION COALITION: The voting started at 8:00. At five minutes before 10:00, the power failed. It's probably coincidental, but one of the surefire ways to disenfranchise voters with electronic voting machines is a power failure.

PILGRIM: That power outage kept the electronic voting machines down for hours and hundreds of voters were turned away.

For the rest of this CNN article click anywhere in the underlined section

"I figured lots of other people had never heard of it either, so I wrote it up as a news/topic of interest story but couldn't keep my personal views out, so I changed it to an opinion piece."

Jet, that's great to hear. If only CBS did that!

At least I'm honest about it, right? I've never presented my opinions as facts, because I've never professed to know everything.

I stopped watching CBS last week after not being able to take her whiney voice anymore.

I depend on NBC and CNN now.

Ohhh Noooo! Bad new for us Democrats! Our efforts to beat the republicans has started to unravel in Missouri! Hope it doesent spread..we may have to use the "voting machine" excuse when we fail to take the house and senate.


Four people have been indicted on charges of voter fraud in Kansas City, officials said Wednesday.

Investigators said about 35,000 questionable registration forms for new voters were collected by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, a group that works to improve minority and low-income communities.

The four indicted -- Kwaim A. Stenson, Dale D. Franklin, Stephanie L. Davis and Brian Gardner -- were employed by ACORN as registration recruiters.

The U.S. Attorney's office says a federal grand jury handed up indictments this afternoon against four people who, the indictments claim, worked for the community group ACORN to register voters.

The four face two felony counts each: of providing false information to the KC Election board, and of filing a false voter application with the board.

Each carries a 5 year/$250,000 fine penalty.

ACORN says it's happy the indictments were handed up -- they say they provided the names of three of the four indicted individuals, who, they say, no longer work for ACORN.

Said U.S. attorney Bradley Schlozman, in a statement: "Those who commit fraud in the electoral process dilute the votes of their fellow citizens."

From the Left...JustOneMan

Thanks for this, Jet. This is more evidence of politics as branding. Stealth marketing today goes so far as to plant fake but blissful users of new products in pseudo-public places (like Starbucks)so that when someone sits down beside them they say, "Hey man, I just got this cell phone and it's the best thing I've ever bought. Check out this function..." This is the pseudo-event that PR/Marketing Guru BErnays originated and that Boorstin wrote about, is perfected in government-military staged PR events, and has saturated political life, too. But the surveillance part of what you're talking about also points to a)money, resources to gather info on people with the goal of managing/controlling them, and b)is more evidence of how politics and media have developed a relationship much closer to military strategies and goals than to open democratic argument in a free society. WElcome to Politics as The TRuman Show.
cheers,
Jayson

Glad you enjoyed it Jayson. Don't forget HBO tonight at 9PM.

Jet

All of this information gathering by ANYBODY for ANY REASON ought to be illegal and totally outlawed. None of these organizations should have the least shred of right either to any information about me, or to compiling any information about me, regardless of their motives or what they want to do with it, and they sure as hell shouldn't be allowed to sell, trade, rent, or otherwise spread it around or "share" it, even if the sources of this information are in the public domain! All information about an individual should belong solely and wholly to that individual, and NO ONE should be able to access or compile that information without specific permission from the individual.

Fortunately for me, I did take several classes about this sort of thing a long time ago. There ARE ways to minimize what's available & who gets it, altho it's impossible to totally protect yourself against these vultures. But it's been useful in guarding myself against those who seek to market all kinds of shit to me, or gull me into supporting them, contributing to their cause, etc.

God help the sorry bastard that comes knocking on my door & just happens to like the same things I do, etc. because I'm probably one of the few who's well aware of what he's up to, where he got the information, & why he's trying to use it on me. He won't do it again, nor will his organization, I can promise him that.

As far as accumulation of info by the parties, I have to admit JOM is absolutely right in his assessment of the respective capabilities of GOP vs Dem info rolls. It gave me a wry laugh. It also confirmed for me that it will be a cold day in Hell before I vote for a party that keeps 1984 Orwellian tabs on me, for any reason. Another confirmation that the GOP is the party of no principles & utter evil.

Jet, unfortunately (don't laugh you parisophiles out there) I'm in Paris most of the year and can't get the HBO stuff. I'll look forward to hearing about that here and elswhere through its mediation.
cheers,
j

Stuck in Paris most of the year ... well, it's a dirty job, but I suppose someone's got to sacrifice themselves to do it, hey? Spare a thought for us poor slobs stateside, while you're suffering there on the Champs, OK?

Jayson # 13:

I should think it would be the Parisophobes, not the Parisophiles who would laugh at you...

Great article JiC.

I'd heard of the VV for months. Interesting note about the people bused into the polls.

I like how you fleshed it out though.

Nancy#12-It's a consequence of the information age, and completely legal,though I'm uncomfortable with the GOP having farmed the whole thing out to another country-Any country-other than ours having that much information about all of us is dangerous.

As for the GOP having it, the Dems are working on the same system, they're just slower at it and they're trying to play catch up.

As I've said all info is legal to gather, it's just scattered to the wind, in individual pieces it's not all that worrysome, but assembled...

shudder

Jet

Jayson 13: The last time I tried to send a Parisienne a note in French, I went on line and used a translator. It came out all garbled so I won't try.

Are you voting absentee?

excuse my french
Jet
---------------
Geais 13: L'ultime le temps MOI tried à émettre une Parisienne une la remarque en français , Je suis allé one ligne et utilisée une traductrice. Le êtes venu éteint toutes trompeur tellement MOI won't tâcher. Êtes vous vote absente?
apologises mon Français
jet

Bill Lenner 16, I learn more from the comments I encourage sometimes than I do from writing and researching the article itself.

I've been ranting about thos bus loads of preprogrammed voters for years, I'm just glad someone finally included them in a news article to vindicate me.

As for the Voter Vault. When I learn of something interesting, I like to pass it along.
I'm glad you enjoyed the article.

Jet

According to several news sources, the Bush Administration is pressuring Iraq to bring in a verdict on Saddam's trial just before our midterm elections next tuesday.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm
Jet

Jesus Kee-rist. Talk about desperation. Hopefully, they'll exercise their new spirit of independence they've been demonstrating in the past few days & tell Dubya to blow it out his arsehole.

I don't know, he thinks he's still a hero for merely capturing Saddam... he's not counting on the short memory of American voters

The idea of not bussing people to the polls is far more offensive to me. And Nancy, do you work in a union shop?

Providing preprinted ballots to single minded simple minded people and giving them bus rides to the polls is as offensive to me as the old style "stuffing the ballot box"

Offering people rides to the grocery store or drug store in return for voting on the eway there is wrong.

Making people believe that their membership in a church depends on which way they vote, or that god only loves republicans is offensive to me.

According to several news sources, the Bush Administration is going to cure cancer, offer proof that aliens exist and annouce that Bush just found out that he is really Jewish before our midterm elections next tuesday.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm
From The Left...JustOneMan

...New York, Ohio and Massachusetts are favored to replace Republicans not running for re-election.

Voters will elect governors in 36 states, 22 of which are run by Republicans. That lineup of races favors Democrats at a time when the war in Iraq and Washington scandals have battered the Republican Party's national standing and threatened its control of Congress.

For the rest of this BLOOMBERG article click anywhere in the underlined section.

Nobody should be allowed to bus people somewhere & while holding them 'captive' as it were, push them to vote one way or the other. Hate to say it, but anybody that feckless that they can't get themselves either to the polls or get hold of an absentee ballot on their own initiative is too stupid or senile to vote. Which is exactly what those providing the buses et al are counting on.

True Nancy, but these people can't get around very well and a ride out anywhere is a break in an otherwise dreary day.

I know old people that'd pay a neighborhood kid a dollar just to sweep their porch so they'd have someone to talk to.

On top of that, it's a free ride to the grocery store or pharmaciat.

I'm assuming of course that you're referring to comment 4?

Jet