I've covered the problems and failures in NY-23's recent Special Election for U.S. House in a number of previous articles here at The BRAD BLOG, detailing some of the early problems with results as they emerged, pointing out that, thanks to Republican precedent in 2006, it now no longer really matters whom the actual voters may have voted for, but arguing that a full manual hand-count of paper ballots would be appropriate nonetheless.

Over the holiday weekend, the good Richard Hayes Phillips --- author of the book Witness to a Crime, in which he painstakingly detailed, ballot by ballot, the scandal which was the Ohio 2004 Presidential Election --- reported on some curious numbers he's now found in that election, over at the right-leaning Gouverneur Times. As luck would have it, Richard is a resident of NY-23 himself, and seems to be finding that both "impossible" and then many more "improbable" tallies were certified, as NY tested its Seqouia/Dominion e-voting systems on live voters, in a real, live election, for the first time earlier this month.

Both of his pieces are worth a quick read over there.

And now, the Gouverneur Times has asked me to put together a bit of a "backgrounder" for them on all of these e-voting nightmares, and how they pertain to NY-23, since it seems that right-wingers, for some odd reason, are somewhat lacking (up until now anyway) in real information on just how dangerously insane our privatized system of e-voting in public elections has become. Too much time spent being fooled by ACORN-conspiracists like Andrew Breitbart and Fox "News," I guess.

My piece for them, "NY-23, Sequoia and the Private Corporate Takeover of Your Once-Public Democracy," as written over the weekend, following the latest in a string of embarrassing "concessions" and "un-concessions" by the Conservative Party's Doug Hoffman, is now their front page lead story if you (or Breitbart) care to give it a look.

[Updated several times at bottom of article...]

Rightwing con man, ACORN conspiracy monger, Drudge protégé, and, naturally, Fox "News" perennial, Andrew Breitbart tweeted in favor of the murder of a climate scientist yesterday...

...as part of a Twittered string of his usual lies about global warming, ACORN, and whatever other stuff he feels like making up, as he and his desperately shameless ilk of pretend "conservatives" are wont to do.

But Hansen's murder wasn't the only one Breitbart subsequently called for to his flock of gullibles...

Guest blogged by Frank Schaeffer

Op-Ed Columnist Thomas Friedman's editorial in today's New York Times , "America vs. The Narrative", sparked this thought:

If the Islamic world has a fantasy "narrative" about America and our intentions, don't we ourselves --- those within the American religious right --- have a similarly misinformed "narrative"?

Here's my thought experiment: Read Friedman's original, posted below for your convenience, then read my Americanized version which follows. All I've done is change a few names and issues and you'll get the point.

We have our own religious/political myths and they are no less dangerous...

Sarah Palin's tea baggers are ready to give the Presidency to her, even as they don't seem to have a clue what her policies actually are. Go figure. Kudos to Chase Whiteside and Erick Stoll of New Left Media for telling the story of these folks --- as we strongly encouraged others to do in our own not-dissimilar film, Rise of the Tea Bags --- at a Going Rogue book signing event recently in Columbus, OH, even if they're a bit less "confrontational" than we were...

And, again, if you missed it previously, here's our own Rise of the Tea Bags...

Keep telling the stories, folks!

One small step for man...

[Hat-tip Sibel Edmonds, for whom we are always thankful.]

And while things are decidedly imperfect this year, we remain thankful nonetheless that, unlike last year, these are not the photos we are forced to see on our Thanksgiving open thread this year.

Mostly, we are ever thankful for those of you who share your time, generosity, goodwill, feedback, tips, thoughts and well wishes with us here at The BRAD BLOG, even as you continue to spread the word and keep fighting the good fight however, whenever and wherever you can.

And what do you find yourselves thankful for this year?...

IN TODAY'S AUDIO REPORT: The hidden costs of fossil fuels; Sick of turkey? Recycle those Thanksgiving leftovers!; California sets new TV efficiency standards ... PLUS: "Cash for Caulkers" ... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

Got comments, tips, love letters, hate mail? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA': Solar’s rapid evolution makes energy planners rethink the grid; Texas plant reverses course, won't burn Mexican PCB materials; IRS Disclosures Show Extent of Oil and Coal Groups' Outreach; Glacier loss on Kilimanjaro continues unabated; Biotech crops cause big jump in pesticide use...

...PLUS: So you want a green career? Here's what you need to know....

Info/links on those stories and all the ones we talked about on today's episode follow below...

Yesterday I posted what I learned while driving across Kansas. Someone asked in comments if I'd seen "Any Obama=Hitler type signs yet?" Well, here's what we saw today while driving across Missouri (my home state, I'm sorry to say) just outside of Kansas City...

(Looks like Fired Up! Missouri noticed it too a few days ago, and ThinkProgress followed up on it with a bit of additional info, including the billboard it replaced. Couldn't be prouder.)

UPDATE 11/28/09: Jill C. at Brilliant at Breakfast on this billboard: "When leftists talked about revolution in the 1960's, we were called traitors. Today when the right wing does it, it's called patriotism."

First, my thanks to Michelle Malkin, and all her of sycophantic re-linkers in the wingnut echosphere for all the swell traffic yesterday while I was on the road all day.

Second, how desperate the poor, sad, angry woman must be to try to find some story, somehow, somewhere, by someone, that she thinks she's gotten right and others must have gotten wrong, after having gotten so many stories completely and embarrassingly wrong over and over again over so many years.

Her latest: Apparently she believes that Andrew Sullivan and/or The BRAD BLOG (both of us, great mavens of "the Left," dontcha know?) have something to "retract" concerning the story of U.S. Census worker Bill Sparkman whose death by hanging in Clay County, KY, last September --- which appeared to be a possible murder by rightwing fomented "Fed"-haters --- is now believed by officials to have been a staged suicide meant to appear as such a murder...

Spent the entirety of today driving across the entirety of Kansas. Here's what I learned...

(And, as long we're on on the subject...)

I think it's outrageous that the religious elite continue to deny the Theory of Evolution from being taught in Religion classes.

IN TODAY'S AUDIO REPORT: Flooding around the world; Icebergs in New Zealand?; The not-so-great drywall of China; No 'amore' for foreign nuclear waste ... PLUS: Climate scientists' emails --- hacked! ... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

Got comments, tips, love letters, hate mail? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

CORRECTION TO OUR AUDIO REPORT: The hacked emails referenced in our report today were from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, not the Hadley Center, which is a separate institution.

IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA': US to announce emissions standards ahead of Copenhagen conference; Industrialized Nations Unveil Plans to Rein in Emissions; Toll in Chinese Mine Explosion Rises to 104; Sarah Palin’s book spreads falsehoods about clean energy legislation; Oceans rising faster than expected as climate change exceeds grimmest models; Report Warns of Rising Water Demand; Uh-oh: Tamiflu-resistant swine flu rears up in the U.S. and U.K.; the Coal Industry's $47 Million PR Spending Spree ...

PLUS: Have a 'greener' Thanksgiving!....

Info/links on those stories and all the ones we talked about on today's episode follow below...