The Radio Equalizer: Brian Maloney

31 December 2004

The Seattle P-I = "Preposterous"

Seattle's dying Post-Intelligencer newspaper has always been one of the most extreme left-wing daily publications in the country. It almost always follows the Democrat party line.

When semiannual circulation figures have been revealed, the P-I has shown significant readership declines in every recent instance. Here we see just how dishonest they can be in defending the local political machine in this unsigned editorial:


Absolutely preposterous. Dino Rossi's call for a rerun of the governor's election has no basis, at least so far.

Christine Gregoire, Rossi's Democratic opponent, is now governor-elect as the result of a stunningly close election. By the very nature of the 129-vote margin, the election will always be subject to uncertainty. But that's life, not automatic grounds for another election, requiring more money and possibly ending with similarly close vote totals.

Gregoire's conduct throughout the difficult post-election period has been exemplary. She showed optimism, patience and a disciplined pursuit of legally valid processes on the basis of facts and principles, not vague feelings.

In contrast to Gregoire's dignified patience, Rossi now wants another shot at winning the election without meeting the high legal standards that should be required. On Wednesday, the Republican suggested skipping a court fight, avoiding any prolonged attempt to determine the grounds to overturn Gregoire's victory and giving him one more try at grabbing the governorship.

Gregoire was right to reject the request for a new election. It's one more sign that she is well suited for the office.

As we noted previously, however, Rossi has every right to pursue a judicial or legislative appeal. We would prefer legal proceedings. But any challenge to the election results should be undertaken with a patient pursuit of the facts, acceptance of existing law and self-restraint.

We are not surprised by much in politics, but Rossi's request that now Gov.-elect Gregoire join him in asking for a new vote was amazing. He said the election was "a total mess," an absurdly subjective way to describe the generally well-conducted election. A letter he sent to Gregoire needlessly frets about the effects on the state of a drawn-out process. And he complains the state Supreme Court "changed the rules," an insulting assertion that Secretary of State Sam Reed, a Republican like Rossi, flatly rejected yesterday.


There has been nothing "dignified" about Christine Gregoire's "patience" during this process. She used every sleazy trick in the book with her trial lawyer friends to change the rules after the election until she could get a count that went her way. She has been the same nasty person we've seen her be for many years. That's probably why many Kerry voters didn't choose her even though both are Democrats.

Rossi speaks for most of the state of Washington when he calls the election "a total mess". How Op-Ed page editor Mark Trahant of the P-I doesn't see that I can't imagine.

With each day (and help from a number of Puget Sound-area bloggers) more evidence of corruption has been uncovered. The Seattle media is there to protect Gregoire and the machine, while the new media is doing the investigating they refuse to take on for fear it will hurt Gregoire.

The editorial fails to point out that Rossi won the first two counts and was declared Governor-elect. Only when a less accurate third hand recount was conducted, with King County adding new ballots almost 10 times, did Gregoire squeak by him.

Trahant and his sinking ship resort to emotions in their editorial which really make them no better than any of the rest of us in our strong feelings about this illegally stolen election. The difference is that in their typical arrogance, the P-I staffers truly place themselves on a pedestal.


30 December 2004

Initiative King Eyman Steps into the Fray

Washington State tax-and-government-slashing king Tim Eyman has stepped into the fray over the stolen governor's election, and not a moment too soon. There is an effort to trick conservatives into thinking Rossi should concede for his and the GOP's own good.

Eyman correctly pours cold water over the idea of giving up, pointing out the extreme consequences if Gregoire is able to illegitimately take the governor's mansion.

Here's Eyman's letter:



TO: Our thousands of supporters throughout the state (cc'd to all media
outlets & all house and senate politicians)
FROM: Tim Eyman, ph: 425-493-9127, email: insignia@greekwatch.com


Christine Gregoire, the queen of King County, stole it, she knows it, and she doesn't care.


Alaska Way Viaduct needs billions of dollars? Christine will gleefully deliver it.

King County wants more authority to raise taxes? Christine
will happily give it.

Sound Transit wants to rob the taxpayers more,
Christine will cheerfully let them.

King County wants the regional
transportation package changed? Christine will gladly roll over.

No matter
what King County asks for, Christine will pay them off with a smile. If she
even hints there are other counties in the state, King County will simply remind her that she owes her governorship to their manufacturing of votes after the election.

When politicians forced the voters to accept a sports stadium that was rejected at the polls, the voters were furious FOR YEARS. Not coincidentally, that's when the support for our initiatives skyrocketed.

Politicians in Olympia have no idea what kind of venom will be spewed if King County's post-election manufacturing of votes decides this Governor's race.

But politicians only react when they hear from the voters. Call your state legislators to demand that they call for a revote. The legislative hotline is 800-562-6000. Tell them what you think.

Tell them all that you demand a revote on the Governor's race. Tell them you will redouble and retriple your support for our taxpayer-protection initiatives for the next four years if they don't. Tell them that they're kicking a hornet's nest by rejecting your vote and your decision for Governor.

It's time to bury Olympia in phone calls from the voters. Call your state legislators to demand that they call for a revote. The legislative hotline is 800-562-6000.

Regards, Tim Eyman, ph: 425-493-9127, email: insignia@greekwatch.com


Protest Ohio, Praise Washington?

Not surprising to see Democrats ready for a Congressional protest over their claims of fraud in Ohio's Presidential race. At the same time, the party is perfectly happy with the very real robbery they committed in Seattle. They are urging Dino Rossi to concede so they can celebrate their dubious victory.



From Keith Olbermann:

Back here, the office of Representative John Conyers of Michigan confirmed late this afternoon that he and several other Congressmen are planning to object— to formally challenge— the vote of the Ohio electors when the Electoral College ballots are opened before the joint session of Congress next Thursday.

Conyers says he is still seeking a Senator to join the House members— whom he does not name— and has written to each member of the Senate asking them to join him.

Conyers' letter today was addressed to Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer of California. It follows in its entirety:

"Dear Senator Boxer,
"As you know, on January 6, 2005, at 1:00 P.M, the electoral votes for the election of the president are to be opened and counted in a joint session of Congress, commencing at 1:00 P.M. I and a number of House Members are planning to object to the counting of the Ohio votes, due to numerous unexplained irregularities in the Ohio presidential vote, many of which appear to violate both federal and state law. I am hoping that you will consider joining us in this important effort to debate and highlight the problems in Ohio which disenfranchised innumerable voters. I will shortly forward you a draft report itemizing and analyzing the many irregularities we have come across as part of our hearings and investigation into the Ohio presidential election.
"3 U.S.C. §15 provides when the results from each of the states are announced, that "the President of the Senate shall call for objections, if any." Any objection must be presented in writing and "signed by at least one Senator and one Member of the House of Representatives before the same shall be received.The objection must "state clearly and concisely, and without argument, the ground thereof. When an objection has been properly made in writing and endorsed by a member of each body the Senate withdraws from the House chamber, and each body meets separately to consider the objection. "No votes . . . from any other State shall be acted upon until the [pending] objection . . . [is] finally disposed of." 3 U.S.C. §17 limits debate on the objections in each body to two hours, during which time no member may speak more than once and not for more than five minutes. Both the Senate and the House must separately agree to the objection; otherwise, the challenged vote or votes are counted.
"Historically, there appears to be three general grounds for objecting to the counting of electoral votes. The language of 3 U.S.C. §15 suggests that objection may be made on the grounds that (1) a vote was not "regularly given" by the challenged elector(s); and/or (2) the elector(s) was not "lawfully certified" under state law; or (3) two slates of electors have been presented to Congress from the same State.
"Since the Electoral Count Act of 1887, no objection meeting the requirements of the Act have been made against an entire slate of state electors. In the 2000 election several Members of the House of Representatives attempted to challenge the electoral votes from the State of Florida. However, no Senator joined in the objection, and therefore, the objection was not "received." In addition, there was no determination whether the objection constituted an appropriate basis under the 1887 Act. However, if a State - in this case Ohio - has not followed its own procedures and met its obligation to conduct a free and fair election, a valid objection -if endorsed by at least one Senator and a Member of the House of Representatives- should be debated by each body separately until "disposed of".
"Sincerely, John Conyers, Jr."


Sam Reed Must Be Worried About His Own Neck

Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed has been the focus of much debate over the last two weeks as he aimed his support toward Democrat Christine Gregoire in the fraudulent gubernatorial election. Some argued that Reed, a Republican, was simply following his interpretation of the law and putting partisan politics aside. If so, that was commendable.

Now, however, he seems to be taking it a step further, turning a blind eye to the outrageous fraud that saw Gregoire take the election by a hair in the third, statewide hand recount. To say that what went on King County was fair, much less legal, cuts his credibility to zero.

Changing the rules midstream, marking ballots with ink pens, giving Gregoire the infamous "Christine Rossi" write-in vote and the dozens of other examples of questionable practices make Rossi's call for a new election the only fair one.

Part of it is self-serving for Reed. He wants his own office to come out of this looking competent and clean. Beyond that, though, I think Reed is worried about his own neck. He can't afford to take on the Democrat machine/Seattle elitist media establishment and he knows it. So he caves into their pressure at the expense of American democratic principles and standards. That's the very essence of corruption.


Seattle Times:

...Republican candidate Dino Rossi, a former state legislative leader and real-estate investor, said the election was hopelessly flawed and that the Legislature should authorize a new election. He won both of the earlier counts.

Rossi also held open the possibility of contesting the election in the courts.

"I do not feel like this has been a botched election," Sam Reed told a news conference. But he said that because it was so close, any error discovered took on great significance.

"I saw serious mistakes being made. I saw them being corrected," Reed said. "That's part of the process. The system itself has worked well."

"Nothing that I have been informed about rises to the level of fraud," Reed said. "There have been human errors. There have been mistakes. At this time there is nothing that appears fraudulent."

29 December 2004

Rossi's Masterful Move

Dino Rossi, in calling for a revote, has from a strategic perspective made a masterful move. It stole the thunder tonight from Christine Gregoire's bogus "governor-elect" designation and forces her to respond. Obviously she will say no to the request, making her look like the one that is afraid of the outcome.

Rossi had run out of time to make a play. Pouring over data for the next few days or weeks would have cost the GOP all of their public capital on the issue. This is a PR war as much as a legal one. It's about the perception of the voters in Washington State.

Many bloggers today have done a wonderful job examining data from King County and crunching numbers. The real consideration, though, is how to keep the public on Rossi's side.

Most people realize there was fraud in King County and that the rules were illegally changed along the way. What you can't let happen is for the public to throw in the towel and reluctantly accept Gregoire as their new governor.

ROSSI CALLS FOR REVOTE

Republican Dino Rossi has called for a re-vote, Ukraine-style, of the fraudulent gubernatorial election in Washington State. Don't hold your breath, Dino. Remember, Christine Gregoire stole this election fair-and-square!

Here's Dino's letter to Gregoire:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dino Rossi


December 29, 2004

Attorney General Christine Gregoire
1125 Washington Street
Olympia, WA 98504



Dear Attorney General Gregoire:



The Secretary of State will certify you as governor-elect tomorrow. Although you will be certified, with all the problems that have plagued this process there won’t be many people in our state who believe with certainty that you actually won the election. The uncertainty surrounding this election process isn’t just bad for you and me – it is bad for the entire state. People need to know for sure that the next governor actually won the election.

We’ve now had three counts – I was certified the victor after Counts 1 and 2, and you will be certified tomorrow as the victor of Count 3. Throughout the entire process, King County Elections staff changed the rules about which ballots would count and, at the end, the Supreme Court also changed the rules. As it now stands, some people in King County had the rules changed so their votes could count, while other wrongfully disenfranchised people across the state – including many members of our military – have been denied the opportunity to have their votes counted.

Additionally, I don’t believe you’ll find many people in this state who think the hand recount was more accurate than the first two counts. Even some Democratic elections officials have said hand counts are less accurate. So we’re now in a situation where nobody really knows who won this election.

Our next governor should enter office without any doubt about the legitimacy of his or her office. The people of Washington deserve to know that their governor was elected fair and square. Unfortunately, the events of the past few weeks now make it impossible for you or me to take office on January 12 without being shrouded in suspicion.

The law allows me to contest the election. An election contest would bring every questioned aspect of this election before the Legislature or a court for review. It would take many weeks, perhaps months, to complete. At the end, even if the results were to change back in my favor, the state would have suffered from the long, drawn-out process.

For several weeks, former Secretary of State Ralph Munro has argued that this election will never be seen as legitimate and that the best option is to put it back into the hands of the voters for a revote. If our roles were reversed, if you had won twice and I had only won in the less-accurate hand recount, I would support a revote. I would not want to enter office with so many people viewing my governorship as illegitimate.

The only good answer is for the people to decide, once and for all, who is the next governor. A revote would be the best solution for the people of our state, and would give us a legitimate governorship. If you and I were to join together and ask the Legislature to pass a bill calling for a special election, the bill would pass quickly, as soon as the 2005 session begins. The revote could be held as soon as possible.

I hope you will agree that a revote makes the most sense to build back people’s trust in our election process, and I look forward to your response.



Best regards,

Dino Rossi



PAID FOR BY THE WASHINGTON STATE REPUBLICAN PARTY

16400 Southcenter Parkway; Suite 200

Seattle, Washington 98188

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Point of This is What?

So the Democrats want Washington State Republican Dino Rossi to concede the gubernatorial election that was stolen from him in a third statewide count, featuring outright fraud by their partisan cronies, but think they have grounds for contesting Ohio? How could the Kerry campaign sign onto this pointless effort? The Ohio recount only gave Kerry a few hundred extra votes:


(AP) The recount shows Bush winning Ohio by 118,457 votes over John Kerry, according to unofficial results provided to The Associated Press by the 88 counties. Lucas County, where Toledo is located, was the last to report its results Tuesday.
The state had earlier declared Bush the winner by 118,775 votes and planned to adjust its totals to reflect the recount later this week.
The Kerry campaign supported the recount, but said it did not expect the tally to change the election winner. Supporters of the recount, requested by two minor party candidates, said they wanted to make sure that every valid vote was counted.

28 December 2004

Baghdad Jim Faces New Ethics Investigation

Will Saddam-loyalist "Baghdad Jim" McDermott, Seattle Congressman-for-Life, finally be taken to task for his unethical acts? Better late than never, but I wonder what sparked this new investigation?


(AP) -- WASHINGTON -- The House ethics committee will investigate Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., to determine whether he violated standards of conduct when an illegally recorded telephone conversation was leaked to reporters during a committee investigation.

Committee Chairman Joel Hefley, R-Colo., and ranking Democrat Alan Mollohan of West Virginia formed a four-member investigative subcommittee Tuesday to investigate the 1997 incident. McDermott was ranking Democrat on the ethics committee at the time, and the panel was investigating the conduct of then-Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga.

The incident began when a Florida couple taped Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, who was using his cell phone to discuss the Gingrich case with other Republicans. The tape ended up in McDermott's hands and subsequently was leaked to reporters.



Boehner sued McDermott in federal court. U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan concluded earlier this year that McDermott was responsible for the leak and ordered the Washington lawmaker to pay Boehner for "willful and knowing misconduct" that "rises to the level of malice." Boehner said the payment could total about $600,000, including his legal fees.

Responding to a complaint filed by Rep. David Hobson, R-Ohio, Hefley and Mollohan said the subcommittee would consider whether "McDermott's conduct violated the House Code of Official conduct," which requires members to conduct themselves "at all times in a manner which shall reflect creditably on the House of Representatives."

The investigative panel also will consider whether McDermott ran afoul of a government ethics code, and committee rules barring improper disclosures and protecting confidential information.


Bush Bashers Return After Brief Holiday

Bush-bashers are using the earthquake/tsunami catastrophe as an excuse to attack him, saying the holidaymaking President is being "insensitive" while Clinton, in the UK, couldn't resist the opportunity to grandstand on the aid issue:


(Washington Post) The Bush administration more than doubled its financial commitment yesterday to provide relief to nations suffering from the Indian Ocean tsunami, amid complaints that the vacationing President Bush has been insensitive to a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions.

As the death toll surpassed 50,000 with no sign of abating, the U.S. Agency for International Development added $20 million to an earlier pledge of $15 million to provide relief, and the Pentagon dispatched an aircraft carrier and other military assets to the region. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, in morning television appearances, chafed at a top U.N. aid official's comment on Monday that wealthy countries were being stingy with aid. "The United States is not stingy," Powell said on CNN.

Although U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland yesterday withdrew his earlier comment, domestic criticism of Bush continued to rise. Skeptics said the initial aid sums -- as well as Bush's decision at first to remain cloistered on his Texas ranch for the Christmas holiday rather than speak in person about the tragedy -- showed scant appreciation for the magnitude of suffering and for the rescue and rebuilding work facing such nations as Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and Indonesia.

After a day of repeated inquiries from reporters about his public absence, Bush late yesterday afternoon announced plans to hold a National Security Council meeting by teleconference to discuss several issues, including the tsunami, followed by a short public statement.

Bush's deepened public involvement puts him more in line with other world figures. In Germany, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder cut short his vacation and returned to work in Berlin because of the Indian Ocean crisis, which began with a gigantic underwater earthquake. In Britain, the predominant U.S. voice speaking about the disaster was not Bush but former president Bill Clinton, who in an interview with the BBC said the suffering was like something in a "horror movie," and urged a coordinated international response.

Earlier yesterday, White House spokesman Trent Duffy said the president was confident he could monitor events effectively without returning to Washington or making public statements in Crawford, where he spent part of the day clearing brush and bicycling. Explaining the about-face, a White House official said: "The president wanted to be fully briefed on our efforts. He didn't want to make a symbolic statement about 'We feel your pain.' "
Many Bush aides believe Clinton was too quick to head for the cameras to hold forth on tragedies with his trademark empathy. "Actions speak louder than words," a top Bush aide said, describing the president's view of his appropriate role.



Meanwhile, weren't the news networks shameless in their frequent mentions of the supermodel survivor of the tsunami? What makes her any more important than other victims?

What Happens When Illegals Run Amok

Salinas, California, is in the news today because it plans to shut down all of its public libraries in a budget crunch.

What the coverage doesn't mention is that Salinas, population 150,000, is a particular magnet for illegal aliens in California's Central Coast. How much of the budget is wasted on illegals that could go instead toward basic services for legitimate residents of the city? Salinas is a big example of what's wrong with California. How can the mentality that has ruined the state be changed? What to do, Arnold?


(Boston Herald) So how would Steinbeck have reacted to the news that the cash-strapped city is closing its libraries in the spring?
"He'd obviously be upset. He knew that literature can lift and elevate the spirit and enable humans to rise above any situation," Gamble said. "He probably even read some of the great literature at the Salinas library."
Facing record deficits, the City Council voted Dec. 14 to shut all three of Salinas' libraries, including the branches named after Steinbeck and labor leader Cesar Chavez. The blue-collar town of 150,000 could become the most populous U.S. city without a public library.
Salinas, nicknamed "salad bowl to the nation" for the lettuce and broccoli fields nearby, is the 1902 birthplace of the Nobel Prize-winning author of "Cannery Row" and "Of Mice and Men." Steinbeck, who died in 1968, described the region as "pastures of heaven" and memorialized Salinas in his 1952 novel "East of Eden."

Washington State GOP Builds its Case

Chris Vance and the WA GOP will now face a true test of their resolve to keep the Democrats from successfully stealing the Washington State governorship. They are seeking data from King County to help them compile evidence:

Dan Brady


AP

(Seattle P-I) Dan Brady, the lead ballot counting observer in King County for the state Republican Party, uses an enlarged sample of a ballot at a news conference to explain what he says are discrepancies in vote counting in the governor's race.


(Seattle P-I) Rossi won the first count and the mandatory mechanical recount by 261 votes and 42 votes, respectively.

Secretary of State Sam Reed is scheduled to certify Gregoire the winner Thursday. Republicans may challenge the results, but yesterday they didn't specifically say what they might do.

State Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance said under normal circumstances, the parties have a responsibility to be "good stewards to the process."

That means the loser should accept the result and move on, "no matter how small the margin."

But these were not normal circumstances, said Vance, adding the election raised several questions about the fairness and accuracy of the election process.

"At that point, I think you have an affirmative duty to raise those questions because if we don't, no one else will," Vance said. "It is up to the combatants, the participants in this process, to hold the system accountable."

He said the biggest problem in King County was insufficient and inconsistent instruction for election workers charged with enhancing ballots to determine voter intent.



Contrary to state law, a significant but unknown number of ballots were permanently and irrevocably altered, Vance said.

"You might have had your mark permanently filled in with a black pen," Vance said. "You might have had nothing done to it. You might have had it whited out."

He said although the inconsistency was the rule it consistently benefited Gregoire, who picked up 179 votes in King County during the hand recount.



This will be a PR strategy as much as a legal one. The party has to be noisy to keep the Seattle media from convincing the public that Gregoire has actually won the election. If they back down at all, the partisan Seattle news outlets will go out of their way to shoot down Rossi. Not that they haven't started already.

Leave it to the UN

Leave it to corrupt UN officials to use a major natural disaster as an excuse to bash America and western nations. UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland is now backing off his earlier "stingy" comment directed at the US and others, but only after Colin Powell took the UN to task over it:

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The international response to a catastrophic tsunami in Asia has been quick and generous, a senior U.N. official said on Tuesday, playing down his earlier comments that wealthy nations were stingy.

U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland rowed back from statements he made on Monday after an annoyed Secretary of State Colin Powell said Washington was "the greatest contributor to international relief efforts in the world."

"The United States is not stingy," Powell told CNN's "American Morning" program.

Egeland, a Norwegian, pleaded at a Monday news conference for individuals and governments around the world to respond generously to the humanitarian disaster created by the tsunami that struck a broad swath of southern Asia on Sunday.

Asked about the response of rich nations to such crises, he said: "It is beyond me why are we so stingy, really."

"If actually the foreign assistance of many countries now is 0.1 or 0.2 percent of their gross national income, I think that is stingy really. I don't think that is very generous," he said.

The United Nations urged rich nations a quarter of a century ago to give away 0.7 percent of their gross domestic product every year in the form of development aid.

To date, however, just a handful of European nations, most of them in Scandinavia, actually meet that goal.

The United States, the world's largest economy, contributes about 0.13 a year of its GDP to development aid. But that figure excludes aid to Iraq and Afghanistan as well as food aid, where the United States is the world's largest donor.

"We are busting our butts to help and comments like that don't reflect what we are doing," said a State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity.


24 December 2004

Something to Like About Canada

One faulty assumption American liberals and conservatives alike are making these days is in assuming that all Canadians think alike and agree with their federal government's policies. The real story is that Canada, perhaps more than any western nation, is sharply divided along regional lines. In many parts of the country there is little love for Ottawa.

Often the examples of this come from BC and Alberta, but today it's from Newfoundland, where Premier Danny Williams has had it with tyranny from the feds:

ST. JOHN'S, Nfld. (CP) - Canada's most recognized symbol - the red-and-white Maple Leaf flag - disappeared from provincial buildings in Newfoundland and Labrador on Thursday, under orders from a premier enraged with Ottawa over failed offshore oil revenue talks.

Photo
Canadian Press Photo

"They're slapping us in the face. They're insulting us. I'm not willing to fly that flag any more in the province," a feisty Danny Williams told a news conference in St. John's.

"You know our country, Canada, is about a partnership . . . but when the senior partner in that relationship turns its back on you, then we feel it's most appropriate that that flag not fly in our province."

Prime Minister Paul Martin called the action disrespectful.

"The Maple Leaf is the flag of all Canadians, including every single Newfoundlander and Labradorian. It should not be treated as a tool for partisan politics," Martin said in a release.

The order to take the flags down indefinitely came one day after Williams broke off talks with federal Finance Minister Ralph Goodale in Winnipeg. The negotiations involving both Newfoundland and Nova Scotia were aimed at nailing down a final deal to rework the way offshore oil revenues are shared between the federal and provincial governments.

Federal officials said the latest offer would see Ottawa end its practice of clawing back about 70 cents of every dollar of oil and gas revenues through reduced equalization payments.

Officials said the move would create about $3 billion in additional revenues for Newfoundland and about $640 million into Nova Scotia over the next eight years.

Williams turned it down, arguing the province would lose up to $1 billion when Newfoundland, no longer qualifying for equalization payments due to offshore oil royalty revenues, would gradually have its federal offset payments decreased.


The American media wants you to think all Canadians are in love with the ruling federal establishment and its policies, but it isn't so. Premier Williams has seen his popularity in the province soar since taking this hard line with Ottawa and Prime Minister Paul Martin.

Washington State GOP: It's Not Over Yet

After King County's sleazy actions, finding extra compromised "ballots" nine times over the course of three counts, Christine Gregoire has finally been able to come out on top by 130 votes. Media coverage went from bad to worse, as they are declaring her the "winner" -- something they were never willing to do for Dino Rossi as he led the Governor's race ballot counting for eight straight weeks and even after being declared Governor-Elect.

Thankfully the state GOP is not going to back down. Here is a statement outlining what is next (followed by a Free Republic discussion on the issue if you click on the link above):


This count is not over

This battle is not over

After King County closes today, Rossi is behind 130 votes

Republicans statewide turn to County Auditors to reconsider legitimate Rossi votes

Statement on the status of the Governor’s race

This count is not over. This battle is not over.

Throughout this process we have opposed efforts to change the rules. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court did just that yesterday so we are aggressively fighting under those new rules. Today, in counties across the state, Republicans formally requested County Auditors to reconvene canvassing boards in order to reconsider legitimate votes cast for Dino Rossi that were erroneously rejected. These voters are no different from voters in King County whose votes were counted today, and recanvassing is allowed under Supreme Court’s recent decision until the Secretary of State finally certifies the election.

In fact, one county, Thurston, has already reopened their process after first certifying their results. Several counties have either agreed to hold new canvassing board meetings or are seriously considering doing so. This activity will continue, and we ask the Secretary of State to delay final certification until we know every legitimate vote has been counted.

We believe Dino Rossi is the legitimate Governor-elect of the State of Washington and we will continue fighting to protect his election.

Question & Answer on the Statewide Recount

Why now do Republicans cry “count every vote”?

Republicans have consistently said the rules for the election should not be changed, and that all votes should be counted and recounted under the rules in place before election day. Against Republican opposition, the rules have been changed several times – by a King County Judge, by the Secretary of State, by the King County canvassing board, and now by the state Supreme Court.

We still feel that a consistent, fair set of rules is the most important thing in an election process. However, we no longer have such rules, so now we think it is important that EVERY vote be counted – not just the ones in King County.

Why should counties reconvene the canvassing boards?

Many – if not most – counties around the state have ballots that were rejected because the county did not have enough information to verify the voter’s signature, as well as ballots from military personnel who did not receive their ballots until after election day. The Supreme Court has said county canvassing boards have the authority to correct discrepancies and inconsistencies, and we believe they should use that authority to fix the errors that stopped these votes from being counted.

Have any other county canvassing boards gone back to reconsider votes after they have already certified?

Yes. Thurston County reconvened its canvassing board after it certified the manual recount in order to add one ballot – a vote for Christine Gregoire – to the returns.

Who are the voters whose ballots were thrown out? Why were they thrown out?

Many reasons:

  • The county could not verify that the signature on their absentee or provisional ballot matched the signature on file.
  • The county failed to locate the signature on file for comparison to the one on the ballot.
  • Voters serving in the military overseas received their ballot after election day.

Are these voters from a concentrated area or do they live throughout the state?

These voters are in counties all over the state.

Could these votes change the outcome of the election?

There are thousands of voters whose ballot were rejected, and those ballots certainly could change the outcome in such a close race.




23 December 2004

Mass Says: Squeal on Fellow Citizens

Did it ever occur to Massachusetts politicians that residents are evading taxes using neighboring states because they are too high in the first place? Rather than cut down on wasteful spending and streamline government they choose to be punitive and encourage people to squeal on each other (Boston Globe):

Gov. Mitt Romney has said that his administration will get tough with tax evaders as well. This includes residents who rent post office boxes in New Hampshire to avoid taxes and other fees.

The state established its own hot line -- 1-800-I-Pay-Tax -- to report Massachusetts residents with out-of-state plates. In the last two years, the state telephone line received 1,232 tips. Of those, 262 violators complied immediately by registering in Massachusetts and another 343 complied after being threatened with a hearing before the Department of Motor Vehicles.

"If you look at the numbers we're picking up, it's definitely becoming more and more successful," said Rob Creedon, spokesman for the Registry.

Michael W. Hennessy, city council vice chairman, said he sometimes picks up his grandchildren from school and sees people with New Hampshire plates also getting students. He said the issue has been one of his "pet peeves" for some time.

"Unfortunately, the smell test is a little tough because you have neighbor pitted against neighbor," Hennessy said of the hot line. "But everyone should be on the same playing field."


Has Gregoire Finally Stolen the Election?

Once King County manufactured enough fishy ballots to put Christine Gregoire over the top by ten "votes" the Republicans hinted they aren't going to take this lying down. Details tonight aren't entirely clear, but it looks as though the decision by the Democrat-controlled Washington State Supreme Court to count the 700+ compromised ballots next might open the door for a reassessment of ballots in other counties and the possible inclusion of late-arriving military votes from overseas.

In effect, it is possible the Supreme Court, in trying to deliver the election to Gregoire may have actually made it tougher for her. That may be the GOP's best hand to play at this point. Republicans can't afford to back down for a single moment against Gregoire and her trial lawyer friends.

Life on the Left Coast

Are liberal cities really tolerant? Floyd McKay of Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington, talks about quality of life in San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver BC, from where he wrote this piece:

Vancouver is one of the four cities that I think of when I think of the particular quality of life that exists on what conservative pundits now sarcastically refer to as "the Left Coast." The others are Seattle, Portland and San Francisco.

There is a decidedly liberal political climate in all of these cities, and to the extent that they influence life in their hinterlands, these states (and province) tend to show up blue on the ubiquitous red-blue maps that are all the rage these days.

The definition of liberal, according to my dictionary, is nonpartisan. A classic liberal is "one who favors progress or reform," or is "free from prejudice, tolerant "... and so forth. No mention of George W. Bush. Liberals should want to be identified by what they are for, not whom they are against.

It has always seemed to me that the classic liberal is marked by a willingness to tolerate other views or lifestyles, and keep an open mind. And, yes, many people who call themselves liberal don't always fit that description!

Liberalism in this sense seems almost inevitable in the four "Left Coast" cities because of their proximity to the sea, which brings with it ideas and people from afar, and which has always lured the adventurous.

Vancouver is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world, with a population now over 50 percent of Asian heritage (from many lands), and a religious mix that includes all the world's major faiths. Somehow, it seems to work here, despite inevitable tensions and the problems of big-city life.

That's due to tolerance, a bedrock value of classic liberalism. One finds much the same in Seattle, Portland and San Francisco. The necessity of living with diverse neighbors, going to work and school with people of other religions, colors and histories, opens one's eyes to a world beyond that of our own kith and kin.

We are products of our families, our education and religion, but also of our geographic surroundings. It is no accident that the most "liberal" of the American states and cities are on the two coasts.


What McKay mentions once but doesn't seem to grasp is that Seattle, Portland and San Francisco are some of the least tolerant cities in the country if your views differ from the leftist party line.

And Seattle is by far the most racist city I've ever spent time in, where white liberals pretend to like black people but don't associate with them or want them invading their white neighborhoods. I've never seen a more segregated city considering it is the year 2004.

Vancouver has of course its liberalism inside city limits but the suburbs have large pockets of conservative strength. Many of the Asian immigrants living in Richmond and the other huge outlying areas have helped send BC Liberals (a conservative branch of the national Liberal Party) to the provincial legislature in Victoria and Tories to Ottawa. I'm always surprised in visits how little liberalism seems to exist in BC compared to Seattle or Portland.

The Real Washington Fights Back -- Finds its Own "Ballots"

Thanks to Jackie Juntti for this item. Nice to laugh about it, but stolen elections are a serious matter. The point in this "story" is well taken, that King County's fake "ballots" are no more legitimate than the ones these pranksters cooked up for this stunt.


Tuesday, December 21, 2004

Box of ‘ballots’ dropped off in Chehalis
By Brian Mittge
bmittge@chronline.com


Eat your heart out, King County: Lewis County now has its own box of newly found ballots.

In a country bumpkin-style poke Monday morning at vote-counting problems in urban and urbane King County, several local Republicans brought in a dusty wooden crate overflowing with yellow “ballots” marked with illegible scribbled signatures.

“A guy at church gave them to me. Said he found them out behind his tavern,” Centralia leather and vinyl repairman Al Denison said to Lewis County Elections Supervisor Mariann Zumbuhl.

A quick inspection, however, showed the yellow vote-by-mail envelopes to be fakes, covered with gibberish.

Republicans, including Sheriff John McCroskey, said the group just wants to make sure every vote gets counted ­ even votes that have been sitting in the back of someone’s pickup truck since the Nov. 2 election.

“There must be 573 ballots in here,” Denison said in a speech prepared for the occasion, referring to the number of ballots found in King County last week.

That number has grown to 735 since local Republican activists Rene Remund, his son R.J., and radio talk show host John Panesko hatched the prank Friday.

Denison admitted the ballots don’t look real, but said they’re not too sure about the newly found ballots in King County, either.

McCroskey, a Republican who soon will leave office to sell emergency vehicles, said he was there to attest that the ballots had been kept secure ­ at least since Denison had taken them out of his truck.

Washington State Republican Party Chair Chris Vance has voiced suspicion about the ballots in King County, saying there isn’t sufficient evidence that the ballots were kept secured since the election.

After chortling over the joke, the local pranksters took the tongues out of their cheeks long enough to offer a bit of serious commentary about the growing ballot turmoil in King County.

Lewis County voted for Republican Dino Rossi over Democrat Christine Gregoire by more than a 2-to-1 margin, with a few hundred votes for the Libertarian candidate thrown in.

King County, by contrast, chose Gregoire by a slimmer 57 percent to 40 percent margin, yet if the newly found votes are counted, that margin is expected to tip the election to the Democrat.

“Can you imagine what would happen if Lewis County produced 700 ballots six weeks after the election?” Rene Remund said.

Lewis County Auditor Gary Zandell can imagine, and that’s why he wasn’t laughing at the joke by his fellow Republicans.

He said the problems in King County, where updated signatures weren’t scanned into the computer, aren’t as likely in his smaller office. Other problems can and do happen, he said, such as a proofreading error that appeared on a third of Lewis County’s ballots in September.

“What’s that saying, ‘There but for God go I’ ­ it could happen here,” Zandell said.

He’s anxiously awaiting Wednesday’s hearing before the state Supreme court over King County’s ballots.

“I have a great deal of compassion for my fellow election managers,” said Zandell, who has been the top voting official in Lewis County for 24 years. “As a body, I think we would like our elections stolen fair and square.”


21 December 2004

How Massachusetts Gets its Reputation

What was supposed to be a $40 million renovation of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and Appeals Court has mushroomed into a $150 million boondoggle complete with lavish facilities for justices. From the Boston Herald:


The project's cost was originally estimated at $40 million when it was first funded in the early 1990s. Its current $146.6 million price tag could grow higher when outstanding disputes with the contractor are resolved, officials said.
The 350,000-square-foot building was gutted and then rebuilt in sometimes meticulous detail.
For example, the elaborately painted ceiling in the lobby's atrium was cleaned, repaired, and restored by artisans working atop staging and scaffolding nearly 75 feet high.
Justices were each given an office or suite with their choice of furnishings, a small kitchen and private bathrooms.
The main SJC courtroom is entirely new. Panels of makore, a reddish mahogany, line the walls, and the ceiling is distinguished by a colored glass skylight.
The state also spent millions updating systems and wiring the building for computers. Some court proceedings will be digitally recorded with built-in cameras and can be broadcast over the Internet.
Suffolk County Register of Probate Richard Iannella called the expenditure ``an absolute disgrace,'' considering the public has the most contact with district courts.
``When the state budget has been cut by millions, why do they need to build a museum?'' he said. ``My colleagues are working out of rundown buildings across the state. I don't understand why we need to build such an elaborate building for such a small group of people.''


Maybe this is why voters across America are leery of electing Democrats from Massachusetts like Kerry and Dukakis?

Will Gregoire's Behavior Backfire?

Christine Gregoire is demanding that Washington State Governor-Elect Dino Rossi concede the election if the third count goes her way. Essentially, she wants him to concede an election she is attempting to steal through fraudulent means. Luckily I don't think the Republicans are going to back down.

This kind of tactic might help her in a courtroom but in the court of public opinion it has great potential to backfire. Already, polls don't seem to be going her way, but that hasn't slowed her down one bit. Perhaps this is why the race was so close in the first place: normally the Democrat is a shoo-in but even some Kerry voters had reservations about her and selected Rossi on election day.

Reed's Flawed Reasoning

As we await the Washington State Supreme Court's ruling on the appeal by Democrats of a ruling by a Pierce County judge that King County could not add late "ballots" to the third count, Secretary of State Sam Reed has a mighty strange argument for counting hundreds of compromised ballots.

He says in his filing with the court that a handful of other counties would also have to subtract votes they added in the second and third counts of the disputed governor's race if King County's are set aside.

The problem with his reasoning is that he fails to consider that King County has now "found" extra ballots nine times since election day in various odd places. These ballots were not in secure locations and were accessible to any number of people. They could have easily been altered if legitimate in the first place. In King County's case there are over 700 extra ballots now in the mix. The other counties had very small changes to their totals through the second and third counts.

John Fund has the best account of the situation to this point in the Wall Street Journal.

20 December 2004

Limbaugh Subjected to NBC Hate Attack

NBC's unfunny Saturday Night Live subjected Rush Limbaugh to a mean-spirited attack on the most recent program, according to Drudge. Backstage production and support people are said to have objected after seeing the image of Limbaugh passed out on the floor in front of a toilet with pills and bottles around him.

The worst part of the story is that these supposedly outraged staffers are afraid to be named, fearing retribution from program dictator Lorne Michaels. If Michaels really wants to stand by something this awful, after all of the fatal drug abuse he turned a blind eye to for years, then perhaps it's time for advertisers to revisit whether they really want to be a part of such a program. When someone's substance abuse issue becomes a punchline then it's time to examine what's going on at the network.

Rush has faced his demons, been through rehab and honestly discussed his addiction with millions of radio listeners. It's a highly addictive substance that any one of us could get hooked on after a medical procedure.

Don't expect media outrage, they will give SNL and Michaels a pass since Limbaugh is a conservative Republican.

Some Sites To Look At

While I get my links section constructed, here are some sites worth checking out.

Power Pundit:Rick Edwards keeps you up to date on the latest in this widely read blog

RadioDailyNews: a great way to keep up with radio industry and news happenings

The American Thinker: excellent political analysis

National Review Online: speaks for itself

ChronWatch: Bay Area crusaders against media bias, a noble cause inside the belly of the beast

Instapundit: another great political site
More will be added soon.

"Christine Rossi" Write-in Vote Counted for Democrat Gregoire!

In The American Thinker, Richard Baehr provides an excellent and thorough account of the disaster that is the 2004 Washington State gubernatorial election. The comparison to Mayor Daley's efforts in 1960 to carry Illinois for Kennedy is appropriate and logical rather than emotional. In both cases, whenever Democrats fall behind, "votes" suddenly appear out of thin air. It's the oldest trick in the book.

That a write-in vote for "Christine Rossi" was credited by corrupt King County to Democrat Christine Gregoire is in itself scandalous. His source for this bit of information, which I haven't seen elsewhere, is The Wall Street Journal's John Fund. This is of course reminiscent of the same type of manipulation of a voter's intent that occurred in the Florida 2000 mess.

19 December 2004

Shoppers Fed Up With Exclusion of Christmas

The ongoing effort to purge and strip any mention of "Christmas" from stores, their advertising and marketing is really ticking off shoppers this year, especially in Massachusetts. The politically correct effort ends up offending more people than it placates but retail chains are sticking to it (Boston Herald):


A recent Macy's advertisement urged customers to take advantage of savings before the ``big day.'' But the company doesn't have a policy against using ``Merry Christmas,'' officials said.
``We have a had a fair number of calls and e-mails on this,'' said Federated spokeswoman Carol Sanger. Most have been critical of the company although a few have said thank you for being more inclusive.
Officially, the decision to use ``Merry Christmas'' is left up to Federated's divisions.
``The irony is that we're doing nothing differently than we have for the last 10 years,'' Sanger said. ``It's merely a reflection of the more multicultural society in which we live.''


What I've noticed in ads is that some will say "happy holidays" and "happy Kwanzaa" right next to each other. If you can reference one holiday by name why not the other? Doesn't it sound downright moronic to refer to Christmas as the "big day"?

More Fishy King County "Ballots" Blocked From Third Count by Pierce County Judge

As King County, WA continues to cook up more fishy "ballots" in their attempt to unseat Governor-Elect Dino Rossi, a Pierce County judge, after examining relevant laws, has determined that King County may not include those late ballots in the third count (second hand recount).

Democrats are still screaming about "counting every ballot" but they want every mysterious new batch of "votes" that workers "find" in various places to be included as they demand count after count, hoping to change the election outcome. Democrats will appeal the judge's decision but the law isn't on their side.

There has to be finality to an election, you can't keep adding ballots to the mix until you get the desired result. Democrats are really straining the limits what the public could be expected to buy as new stacks turn up almost every day.

The oddest turn of events was the call by former Republican Secretary of State Ralph Munro for a revote that would be held in February. Some Republicans, including state party chairman Chris Vance, were said to be warming up to the idea.

I couldn't agree less. Dino Rossi won this election and is the governor-elect. There is no reason to hold another election and undo the results of a perfectly legitimate vote held in November simply because Christine Gregoire wants to steal it for the Democrats through dirty and dishonest trickery.

17 December 2004

High School Principal Sends Police After Concerned Parents and Reporters

The big Boston-area flap at the moment is about concerned parents and a local newspaper reporter who wondered why a Newton high school was sponsoring extremist pro-gay indoctrination on campus with students able to skip regular classes to attend.

When they insisted on being allowed to monitor the activities, the principal brought the police in to bar them all, even the reporter. The fringe group providing the content engaged in explicit language and sexual discussions with students. From the Boston Herald:


Two parents, shocked at frank talk during a gay and lesbian awareness day at Newton North High, were forced off the property after one parent whipped out a video camera and started taping.
``This does not belong in curriculum,'' said Kim Cariani, who said four police officers and the principal told them they would be charged with trespassing if they did not leave.
``It's against my religion. It's morally wrong and forced in a child's face.''
Each year, some students at Newton North forgo classes during To BGLAD: Transgender, Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Awareness Day with assembly-like sessions including ``Out at the Old Ballgame'' and ``Color Me Queer.'' Students are not required to attend.
Cariani kept her two kids home during the day, but she was curious.
Cariani and another parent, Brian Camenker, were in the audience when adults in a panel discussion talked about being gay. When one man told the students he was attracted to his sister's husband, Cariani said she started to record the ``propaganda, false information and lies.''
The principal demanded Cariani turn over the videotape or leave, Camenker said.
``They took the two of us and pulled us out and gave us one minute to leave and if we came back on the property we would be arrested for trespassing,'' he said.
Tom Mountain, a columnist for the Newton Tab, was also barred from the assembly ``for the safety and security of the children,'' he said he was told.



In news coverage of the confrontation, the principal is clearly very angry that anyone would question this type of event and obviously did not want the general public to find out about it. If only more parents paid attention as they did our schools would be in much better shape.

16 December 2004

If it Didn't Work Before the Election...

Are public attacks on Bush by Hollywood liberals a way to get more acting work? If so, Chevy Chase should get a starring role soon. His profanity laced attack on Bush at the Kennedy Center in Washington apparently topped Whoopi Goldberg's similar public rant during an election season fundraiser.

It must be about acting work, or maybe election-induced insanity. I'm not sure. But it sure didn't help them win the election. I hope they keep it up. Watch Chevy to see if he is rewarded in the coming months by the entertainment industry.

15 December 2004

Rossi Gains More in Hand Recount

Republican Governor-Elect Dino Rossi of Washington State has now gained 81 votes in the third vote count to add to his previous 42-vote lead. Still no King County numbers, where election officials are busy "finding" more votes every day. Will a 123-vote lead be enough to overcome King County's sleazy tricks?

Meanwhile the Seattle Times has moved dangerously into the realm of journalistic activism by publishing the names of those whose absentee ballots were rejected due to signature issues. It gives a contact number for those voters to reach the county elections department.

And Seattle Post-Unintelligencer columnist Joel Connelly, normally known as a more independent liberal, shows his true partisanship today, praising Democrats for standing firm in the gubernatorial race against the real villain, Republicans. He faults Gore for caving in too easily in Florida during the 2000 mess.

You can trust the Seattle media in this fiasco even less than King County Elections officials.

Reactions to Harry Reid Essay

Thanks for the feedback received on the op-ed piece I wrote about Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid for WorldNetDaily. Here is a sampling:


You're exactly on target with Harry Reid. I remember
when you were on KOH in Reno and I listened.

He plays definite dirt hardball and isn't to be
underestimated by the Republicans in Congress. If
they do it'll be to their detriment.

Regards

Michael H.
Dayton, Nevada

-----------------------------------------

Brian -


Good heads up on Reid.


Imagine a democrat, tolerant on everything, appreciative of diversity and only for the common man acting in such a decidedly vindictive, aggressive manner! I am shocked! Shocked that a liberal politician could be so mean spirited!


In the end, he is a petty fascist like all his stinking cohorts in the only legalized theft ring on the planet. They had better never lose control.


Kirk A. H.

------------------------------------------
Reid Vs. Daschle

1 - Reid's wife is NOT a money player in Washington


2 - Reid does not talk in that annoying voice


3 - Reid may not be Ted Kennedy's b***h


4 - Reid has his own agenda, and it starts with Yucca Mountain, not ANWR


Otherwise, I agree that Reid is both a very tough customer (he deals with casino owners) and a mean guy when he wants to be. But for reasons 1-4 above, I am on my knees. I just could not take listening to Daschle's voice any more


Duggan F.
Austin, Texas

---------------------------------------------

Nevada has been run by the mob for a long time (Illinois where I live and New Jersey ain't much better). Of course Reid is the D.C. consigliere and it showed in his theft of an election in 1998 and the lay down farce that was arranged in 2004. Looks like Chris Dodd also got an "offer he can't refuse", too. Going after Thomas was a three in one:

1. Get the black (a true Mormon doesn't believe they can enter heaven, despite the recent "revelation" to the contrary).
2. Get the younger man who would reign for a long time and the wedge candidate that hurt the black Democratic plantation.
3. Please Reid's Italian "associates" by boosting Scalia.

Yes, he's a venomous partisan, but as a spokesman, he doesn't help them. They would have been better off with Dodd. I wouldn't be surprised if Reid is out in 2007 after the Dems lose more Senate seats. But then again, the "Dixie Mafia" may want him to stay on to help Hillary.

Grant N.

----------------------------------------------------

The best defense against Reid for the GOP is to change the Senate filibuster rules. He came out of the closet, like a vampire getting out of his casket, when he made his outrageous attack on Justice Thomas. Forget Bi-partisan!

I hope the Senate is more perceptive about Reid than Bush is about Norman Mineta (or was about Teddy Kennedy).

G.B. H., Marietta, Ga.

-----------------------------------------------------

14 December 2004

Demo Fraud Stopped in its Tracks by WA Supreme Court

Democrats were stopped in their tracks today in their quest to steal Washington State's governorship from Governor-Elect Dino Rossi. Their transparent attempt to change the rules midstream was rejected by every justice on the Washington State Supreme Court. The court overcame the temptation to become political activists as their Florida counterparts did in 2000. Keep in mind almost all of the justices are liberals.

From the Seattle Times:

The court, echoing the position of Secretary of State Sam Reed and Republican lawyers, said Washington state law makes clear that a recount should "retabulate" votes already counted and that county canvassing boards cannot be ordered to look again at ballots thrown out during the first two tallies.

The eight of nine justices who attended yesterday's emergency session to hear oral arguments on the case also said there was no call for the court to mandate a statewide standard for signature checking of absentee and provisional ballots.


King County "Finds" More Gregoire Votes

As expected all along, King County has suddenly come up with enough votes to swing the election away from Washington State Governor-Elect Dino Rossi. The issue: 561 absentees that were rejected because the county didn't have a signature on file for comparison purposes. Without the signature there is no way to know whether the absentee has been submitted by the person or someone else.

Under pressure from King County Councilman Larry Phillips, a Democrat whose own ballot was rejected, county election officials suddenly reversed their earlier policy and will add the ballots to the count. From the Seattle Times:


The state Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing today in the Democratic Party's lawsuit seeking to compel counties to reconsider thousands of ballots rejected in the first two gubernatorial counts because of problems such as signatures that did not match those on file with election offices. Before a statewide hand recount began last week, Republican Dino Rossi led Democrat Christine Gregoire by just 42 votes.

Kirstin Brost, state Democratic Party spokeswoman, called the rejection of Phillips' ballot "a prime example" of why ballots must be reviewed.

"The Democrats are going to the state Supreme Court tomorrow to ask that in the hand count we review ballots that may have mistakenly been thrown out," Brost said last night.

State Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance responded: "The Democrats are asking for far more than counting a few ballots that were missed the first time. They want them to look at every ballot that was rejected the first time. It would destroy our election process."

At every turn Democrats have cooked up new schemes in King County to manufacture more Christine Gregoire votes, changing the rules mid-stream. In their selfish and desperate grab at power they have created a state of election chaos that voters aren't going to forget anytime soon.

13 December 2004

Peterson Jury Took Their Role Seriously in Death Verdict

What's clear is the Scott Peterson jury had a great deal of respect for both human life, our legal system and the impact of the decision in their sentencing determination for the Central Valley's Boy Wonder.

It isn't easy to get a death penalty conviction in a place as liberal as the San Francisco Bay Area. Just wait until the Ninth Circuit Court of Lefties, based in San Francisco, gets ahold of this case. Peterson will die in prison, not as the result of an execution. Before that even happens the judge can downgrade the death penalty recommendation to life in prison.

What gives me pause is that 850 reporters have been camped outside the courtroom, waiting for this moment. How many news events attract 850 reporters?

Another Euro-Scolding on the Election Results

At this point I'm not sure why time and money is wasted conducting polls on western European views of this country. The American media can't get enough of them, they probably duke it out in the newsrooms over which reporter will break the "bad news" to their readers.

Here's part of the latest:

At least seven in 10 in France, Germany and Spain said they have an unfavorable view of President Bush. Just over half of the French and Germans said they have an unfavorable view of Americans in general, and about half of Spaniards felt that way.

Especially inclined to have an unfavorable opinion of Bush in those countries were people between ages 18 and 24. A majority of all respondents in France, Germany and Spain said they were disappointed that Bush won a second four-year term, defeating Democrat John Kerry.

Spend some time in any of these countries and you'll realize quickly that the last group we want to be in agreement with are 18-24 year olds in France, Germany or Spain. I'd rather focus on winning over the youth of Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, etc., the future of Europe.


11 December 2004

WorldNetDaily Op-Ed on Harry Reid Now Available

My op-ed piece on Sen. Harry Reid is now on the WorldNetDaily site. I'll be posting reader feedback here soon. Let me know what you think.

Let's Stop Hiring Illegals

While on the one hand it's unfortunate to lose a potentially effective pick for Homeland Security Chief, Bernard Kerik should have known better than to hire an illegal alien as a nanny and household helper.

Aside from the law, what do you know about the person's background? How do you know this person is safe to be around your wife and children? Is it really worth the money you save?

This should be a wake-up call to others who might think it's okay to hire illegals, that we are ready to attack it from the demand as well as the supply side.

The Costly, Foolish Third Count

The keep-recounting-until-I-win strategy of Washington State gubernatorial loser Christine Gregoire may be backfiring in two ways: one, Republican Dino Rossi is so far gaining votes in the hand count and two, costs are skyrocketing.

If Gregoire doesn't get the desired result this time, her party will be on the hook for the full cost of the unprecedented statewide hand recount. It was reported Friday that it could run as high as $1.3 to $1.5 million to fund this circus.

Yet again it boils down to what these guys are able to pull in Seattle's King County. And as usual they will be the last to report results. Time for an Orange Revolution, Kiev-style.


10 December 2004

Bush Supporters Need Not Apply

Is it any wonder that conservatives feel locked out of campus faculty positions? Jack L Goldsmith, a tenured Harvard Law School professor, apparently slipped through the cracks during the PC vetting process. His crime? Supporting the Bush Administration's view of the Geneva Convention. From the Harvard Crimson:

Elizabeth Bartholet ’62, the Wasserstein professor of public interest law, was quoted yesterday in The Boston Globe saying that “the faculty was seriously at fault for not inquiring more deeply, prior to making this appointment, into any role Jack Goldsmith may have played in providing legal advice facilitating and justifying torture.”

In other words, disagreement with Bartholet on her twisted view of treaty interpretations is grounds for rejecting a faculty appointment. More tolerance from the campus left on public display.

06 December 2004

Harry Reid Didn't Waste Time

New Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), isn't wasting any time getting nasty, the way he has done it in Nevada for years.

He's attacking Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas:

(CNN) When asked to comment on Thomas as a possible replacement for Chief Justice William Rehnquist, Reid told NBC's "Meet the Press": "I think that he has been an embarrassment to the Supreme Court.

"I think that his opinions are poorly written. I just don't think that he's done a good job as a Supreme Court justice."

I wrote earlier that I felt Reid was being underestimated by the GOP, still full of euphoria after Daschle's removal from power. This is a good time to reiterate that warning.


05 December 2004

The Push to Steal the Election Gets Underway

Are you as tired as I am of news stories that fail to point out to the reader that Dino Rossi is in fact Washington State's Governor-Elect? Rossi has been certified by the Secretary of State, but the news media are frequently not pointing that out, calling the race "unresolved" as though two full ballot counts hadn't already happened.

Yes the Demos, with help from John Kerry, quickly came up with the necessary funds to pay for a third count of the ballots, one which will be done by hand and less accurate than the second machine count.

The real story of course is the series of legal moves Democrat Christine Gregoire is making in order to produce a result favorable to her. She now wants another group of illegitimate King County votes to be included in the third round.

Rossi and the WA GOP have stepped up the vocal objections to this attempt at theft but it isn't loud or bold enough. Rossi himself needs to take the gloves off and make it clear that this is nothing more than fraud. He had a low key campaigning style that turned out to be the winning strategy against her in-your-face trial lawyer personality, but now he must win the PR battle as much as the Republicans must prevail in court.

03 December 2004

Move On Isn't Going To

Clearly any conservative who believes the left has been permanently vanquished by the most recent election is terribly mistaken. At best the blowout results for the GOP gave the right a few months off from the culture wars while bitter foes lick their wounds.

But they will be back. They always have before and it won't be any different this time. With each passing day the election hangover passes a little more, the losing side regroups and begins to regain strength.

The question comes down to what they will choose to stand for, whether they will have much credibility and learn from their mistakes. To me the toughest hurdle they have have to overcome is the ever-shrinking number of people who share their beliefs. If they keep pushing the same tired positions it will only get worse.

MoveOn.org hasn't gone away, they are already back with a new round of excuses and takes on how the election really wasn't such a Republican field day after all. Conservatives should be delighted that some of their best fundraising tools are still alive and kicking.



 
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