This article and interview is over the top at times and it may all be crap, but it does raise some interesting questions. This is all starting to feel like Watergate (I watched all but 3 days of those amazing hearings) with more and deeper things coming out as layers are peeled away.

The Future of America Has Been Stolen

Investigative reporter Greg Palast says 4.5 million votes will be shoplifted in 2008, thanks largely to the “Rove-bots” that have been placed in the Justice Department following the U.S. Attorney firings. Being the guy who uncovered the voter “purge lists” of 2000 that disenfranchised black voters, he’s worth listening to, even if the mainstream press chooses not to.

This time around, he claims to have the 500 emails that the House subpoenaed and Karl Rove claims were deleted forever. They prove definitively, says Palast, that the Justice Department is infested with operatives taking orders from Rove to steal upcoming elections for Republicans and permanently alter the Department.

JD: Let’s move on to former Justice Department counsel (and Regent University graduate) Monica Goodling’s recent testimony in front of the House Judiciary Committee, since it’s so fresh…

GP: The blondeling underling of the Police State. The lady was trying to tell us something important, but the dim bulbs of the U.S. press and the committee dolts wouldn’t listen. She began by accusing her bosses of perjury. The issue was her allegation that they knew all about “caging.” And no one asked her one damn question about it. Like what is “caging” and why would they commit perjury to cover it up?
[…]
Caging works like this. Hundreds of thousands of Black and Hispanic voters were sent letters — do not forward. Letters returned as undeliverable (”caged”) were used as evidence the voter didn’t live at their registered address. The GOP goons challenged these voters’ right to cast ballots — and their votes were lost.

But whose letters were caged? Here’s where the game turns to deep evil. They targeted Black students on vacation, homeless men — and you’ll love this — Black soldiers sent overseas. They weren’t living at their home voting address because they were shivering under a Humvee in Falluja.

JD: As you put it in regard to election rigging, 2000 was about “purge lists,” 2004 was about “caging,” and 2008 will be about “verification.” Can you briefly explain the difference between these?

GP: Sure. In 2000, I cracked the computer disks (CD-ROMs then) from Katherine Harris’ office showing 56,000 names of voters “purged” from voter rolls as felons who aren’t allowed to vote. In fact, every one — every one — was an innocent voter, though most were guilty of VWB — Voting While Black. That was the 2000 “purge.”

In 2004, it was nearly identical. Except, instead of calling voters “felons,” they called them “suspect” voters, fraudulently using a false voting address. The effect was the same: the voter would lose their registration; or their vote on election day when they showed to vote; or, in the case of soldiers, their absentee ballot would be challenged and tossed.



  1. MikeN says:

    Hmm, he has all the deleted e-mails? This guy Palast is starting to look like the guy with the National Guard memos who got them at a county fair from some woman named Ramirez. Let’s hear how Palast got these e-mails.

  2. moss says:

    John King on CNN did an interesting piece on what Goodling represents as part of the whole process of corrupting government – how the thugs in the White House turn every question into ideology and religion – and both trump traditional qualifications.

    Unlike most of her graduating peers, Goodling did manage to pass the bar exam in her 1st try. The Christian school she went to is one of the few – all founded in the past decades – that exists only to crank out religious ideologues as lawyers.

    King understands that all law schools, jurisdictions, practices are made up of a broad range of individuals with varying political convictions and provide qualified lawyers for government based on their skill and work history. Until the Bushies took power. As often as they can, they have appointed flunkies based on religion and ideology – not quality.

    Goodling wouldn’t have been appointed by Daddy or Reagan or Nixon. No track record of performance on behalf of the public. Neocons don’t give a damn about qualifications. Just loyalty to the cause.

  3. god says:

    #1 – yup, let’s consider almost anything but the facts. Which door the messenger came in is so much more important than the papyrus in his pouch.

  4. Greg Allen says:

    I’ve been hearing this for a couple months now — that this was about stealing the election.

    Rove wanted US Attorneys who would look the other way at GOP shameless stealing while vigorously prosecuting bogus or dubious charges against Democrats. In the end, the waters would be so muddied that it would be impossible to untangle.

    The theory fits the known facts.

  5. Greg Allen says:

    By the way, anyone else find yourself loathing Monica Goodling? Does she have even a sliver of principles or integrity in her soul, anywhere to be found? She’s the perfect tool of the conservatives — until she is granted immunity then she blabbers to save her own skin.

    Blech. Typical conservative. Just like all the others who cheered Bush — when they had a chance to stop this train wreck of an administration then when, out of power personally, they turned on him and claimed they were just innocent bystanders.

  6. eddie says:

    And here’s a quote from Bush himself. “And it’s one of the wonderful — it’s like earning capital. You asked, do I feel free. Let me put it to you this way: I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it.”

    I think that quote says it all–Bush wants us to know he “earned” it. Kind of like the way bank robbers and used car salesmen “earn”

    Regarding cheating the election: If I remember correctly, the CEO of Diebold promised to “deliver victory” to Bush.

  7. Bill says:

    Palast is an investigative reporter for the BBC, so you can count on his credibility. He was even specifically mentioned as a troublemaker in some of the released DoJ emails. HE was the one who uncovered this purging of the voter roles in Florida just prior to the 2000 presidential election. While it was heavily covered on the BBC and in the UK, it was totally ignored here. Why? The one major mainstream US media organization (can’t remember which) that was considering running the story called Florida Governor JEB BUSH of all people to ask if it was credible. He, of course, said it wasn’t. But, it was. The great scandal with the DoJ firings and the reason they now try so desperately to cover up is that the firings provide the smoking gun that Rove (most likely) was still directing that the voter purges be carried out even many years after the 2000 election thereby adding credibility to Palast’s discovery and leading to the conclusion that the 2000 election was, in fact, stolen. Now THAT would bring enough interest from our unconscious media to FINALLY cover the Palast story from 2000/2001. However, I still don’t see any real movement in this direction.

  8. Milo says:

    There’s still people like #1, amazing.

    Isn’t it better to assume something is wrong when it comes the the integrity of an election?

  9. prophet says:

    I am mystified that anyone can defend the actions of this administration. Regardless of political differences I have had with people in the past, there was the underlying feeling that we both wanted the same thing despite out differences on how to accomplish it: To make the world more fair, easier to live in, and maybe, just maybe, a better place.

    How can anyone sit back and look at the sheer audacity of what has taken place, the crimes that have been committed, and the lies that have been told and say “this was the right and just thing to do”?

  10. gquaglia says:

    Bullshit. Typical anti Bush rhetoric at its best. Bush sucks, so there is no way in hell we could have possibly elected him twice. Well we did, deal with it. 2008 is only a year away.

  11. Milo says:

    See my post gquaglia.

  12. Billabong says:

    When a political party thinks it has god on its side it will do anything to win.This is not antibush rhetoric it is the way the world works.The Dems just have to learn from Andrew Jackson when an election is stolen steal one back.The dream candidates to run against for the republicans are Obama and Clinton.They really fear Edwards and Richardson because they are not a woman or black.That is just about all you need to defeat any republican this election.

  13. Thomas says:

    The Democrats are just as bad. Here’s my prediction for the next election: both candidates will suck and everyone that votes for the winning candidate will say they sucked slightly less than the other guy/gal but still suck. We seriously have to devise a way of having more than two extremists as our choices.

  14. Rob says:

    I’m just waiting for the Monica Goodling TV movie, starring Christina Applegate.

  15. John Paradox says:

    everyone that votes for the winning candidate will say they sucked slightly less than the other guy/gal but still suck.

    That’s been my choice since I began voting.

    I’m just waiting for the Monica Goodling TV movie, starring Christina Applegate.

    Or Legally Blonde 3: The Evil Twin?

    J/P=?

  16. Jim Dittmer says:

    Can we PLEASE stop calling these people conservatives? They are no more conservative than Angela Davis is a Liberal! The difference is Angela would have been, shall we say, upset if you tagged her with that monicker! The neo- cons don’t stand for any of the things that we paleo- cons have always believed and espoused. Personal freedoms, protecting the Bill of Rights with our very lives if necessary, opposing governmental intrusion in our lives and our businesses wherever possible and still retain a just society. From the very beginning of our nation, the Constitutional Convention, those who wanted to conserve our liberty have resisted the intrusion of any religion into our political lives. Today we see all around us how wise those men and women were. So please, can we have a new term for these reactionary forces? Something that reflects their true beliefs? Perhaps Nationalists?

  17. Greg Allen says:

    #13 The Democrats are just as bad.

    Don’t be a sucker for Rove!

    That’s what he wants you to believe — I suspect this was the whole purpose of this stunt. Rove and the GOP were going to accuse Democrats of the very voter fraud they themselves were committing.

    On the inevitable day that some of their rigging came to light, they count on people like you saying, “The Democrats are just as bad.”

    At the very least, if you are going to say “the Democrats are just as bad”, you should give a link or an example. You could come up with some dirt but you might have to go back as far as Richard Daley (Sr.) to get as bad as the current Republican leadership.

  18. OhForTheLoveOf says:

    #13 – both candidates will suck and everyone that votes for the winning candidate will say they sucked slightly less than the other guy/gal but still suck.

    Well, the second part of that is right on the money. Everyone will say that.

    But will both candidates suck? Except for Bush in 2000 and 2004, I can’t really recall an honestly bad candidate going back 30 years. Although I do clearly remember a lazy voting population falling sway to the perception that certain candidates sucked because they were just too dumb to listen and research on their own.

  19. Roc Rizzo says:

    Greg Palast is the MAN!

    Time and again, his investigative reporting has outed these crooks of all stripes. In his recent book, Armed Madhouse, he goes through the whole deal with the current administration. Karl Rove even said a couple of weeks ago, that if people read this book en masse, the administration would be in the slammer.

    It’s a fun, fast read. Good for the beach, or wherever you like to read. He backs up everything he says with checkable facts. If you want to learn a thing or three about the way things are, and the way the people in power have us between the short hairs, read this book. Read it NOW! It’s an important piece of material.

    Read it!

  20. MikeN says:

    Why in the world should we believe that Greg Palast actually has these e-mails? This is looking like the National Guard story all over again, only now we don’t have Dan Rather to make it primetime news.

  21. gquaglia says:

    #17 Ahh Greg, you are so naive! Democrats have historically been the greatest perpetrators of voter fraud. You need not look any further then Louisiana, Mississippi and the history of other deep south states to know what voter fraud and corruption really is.

  22. Pfkad says:

    #16, Jim: Bravo! I think most other true conservatives would agree with you. I’m pretty liberal and have been most of my life, but I remember a time when people like you and me could actually work together to accomplish things of value. And even if we couldn’t, we could agree that the rules of engagement were fair and civil. Was it really that long ago?

  23. ECA says:

    I have found it humorous when talking to GROUP of crooks/thieves and BUMS, and trying to explin the truth of something, that TRUTH isnt what they want, and you will be silenced by the overwhelming Bias.

  24. TJGeezer says:

    Palast says he got confirmation from the GOP before he published this piece (the original is still at http://www.gregpalast.com/index.php if anyone’s interested). I believe it, because everyone on K Street has been so CYA busy it’s very easy to accept that someone confronted with these emails – which Rove intended to lock away – waffle and blurt. Which is pretty much what he describes. Plus he’s a very good journalist and so far as I know has never been successfully challenged on his facts.

    These may be the “keys to the kingdom” that Goodling was so panicked about and that CNN reported yesterday didn’t exist. While the BBC was leading the news with it everywhere else in the world. Don’t you just hate that “liberal” CNN?

    I never considered myself a conservative until I watched this Rovian crew in action. You know how they propose constitutional amendments whenever they have some mouth-breather hot-button issue to exploit? Personally, I love the U.S. constitution as a process document and the Bill of Rights as statement of the underlying principles of American freedom. Those people are hot to change it whenever they smell some short-term poltical advantage. That makes me the conservative, not them.

    Jim Dittmer (#15) is absolutely right. Rove and his pols are NOT conservatives. They are crooks, pure and simple, and the final piece of the puzzle is now in place. No wonder they tried to manufacture “voter fraud” by Democrats as a counter to the voting fraud their operatives got caught committing. And massive disenfranchisement on fraudulent grounds? That is, and should be, a serious felony. Seriously, that whole crew deserves a well publicized perp walk right out of the halls of power. And a serious criminal trial to follow.

    Funny thing about those people. Every time they accuse the political opposition of doing something, it is a very safe bet it’s exactly what they’ve been doing themselves. It happens every time.

  25. Anonymous Coward says:

    Do you think she’s wearing panties?

  26. joshua says:

    I was pretty young for most of the Clinton years, but I remember the almost hysterical charges and accusations of the right wing against him and his administration.
    Then Bush got elected (and I believe he actually did, thanks to Nader, Dade County Democratic party and Gore’s very stupid move to cherry pick recounts). And now it’s the left wing that are almost hysterical in their charges and accusations against Bush and his boys/girls.

    These people aren’t conservatives, and maybe not really neo-cons…..just far right power mad individuals, who thankfully will be out of office in 19 months.
    Most of what Bush has done will go with him as so much of it is by executive order. As to the Patriot Act, well, there were a lot of Democrats on board for that one. So it will take congress to clean that up.

    As to Palast. The fact he works for BBC doesn’t make him either good or reliable. His involvement as a labour group advocate and other liberal groups tends to make him not too unbiased. Like we keep being told when an article comes out showing that global warming may not be caused by humans….***look at the authors, they work for so and so***…..who you work for and what your agenda is counts.
    If this man has the proof he claims he has, then make it public….end this administration immediately. Stop playing games. Quit waiting for the highest bidder for your next book….do mankind a good deed……SHOW THE WORLD THE FUCKING PROOF!!!!!!……sink these people.

  27. Milo says:

    joshua why shouldn’t this be checked out? Or if it should why are you barfing out that much text over it?

  28. mark says:

    #1 Fucking idiot

    #10 Bigger fucking idiot.

    Neither one of you assholes are fit to live in this country.

  29. mark says:

    26. Whos gonna do it joshua? The Dept of Injustice, its the fox watching the henhouse. We have more proof of illegalities than ever in this nations history, and all we can do is bitch about on blogs, soon we wont be able to do that. Where are the leaders, the democrats? I wont hold my breath.

  30. ECA says:

    I HOPE you all understand 1 thing….
    IT AINT just BUSH doing this stuff….
    AND you ALL either ELECTED these idiot/money loving/silver spoon Duck wupes INTO OFFICE,
    OR you DIDNT vote to KEEP them OUT…

    I want a petition…
    I want another button on ALL votes..
    It says “NONE OF THE ABOVE”
    And I want it COUNTED…It is not an Abstention, its a Vote of NON-Acceptance that THIS is all we have to support this nation, PROPERLY.


1

Bad Behavior has blocked 5024 access attempts in the last 7 days.