The BRAD BLOG Because it's not about Right or Left, it's about Right and Wrong! 2012-12-05T02:11:48Z Copyright 2012 WordPress Brad Friedman <![CDATA[Almost Half of GOP Voters: ACORN Stole It Again!]]> http://www.bradblog.com/?p=9762 2012-12-05T00:59:46Z 2012-12-05T00:59:46Z Election Fraud Voter Registration Republicans ACORN Election 2012 It was bad enough when a majority of Republicans were so disinformed after the 2008 election that they thought ACORN stole the election (almost 10 million votes, apparently) for Barack Obama.

Now that ACORN is no more (since early 2010), the massive disinformation campaign that Republicans have been suckered into believing seems to continue nonetheless. Just under a majority of self-identified GOP voters think the non-existent ACORN stole the election again this year for Obama! Those tricky non-existent bastards, apparently, somehow stuffed the ballot box 5.5 million times and never got caught even once!

From Public Policy Polling today, who note that Republicans are "not handling election results well"...

49% of GOP voters nationally say they think that ACORN stole the election for President Obama. We found that 52% of Republicans thought that ACORN stole the 2008 election for Obama, so this is a modest decline, but perhaps smaller than might have been expected given that ACORN doesn't exist anymore.

It should be noted, for any of those duped Republicans who may be reading this, that there is no evidence, none, zero, nada, that any vote has ever been stolen in any election either by ACORN or via one of the bad voter registrations submitted by one of its workers (bad registrations which were almost all discovered by ACORN themselves and turned in, along with the rogue worker who submitted them, to authorities.)

For those stooges who are still unconvinced, because they read something somewhere on the Internet about "voter fraud" in 2012, we dispatched with the most popular "massive voter fraud" myths of 2012 over the weekend right here.

Finally, as if all of that isn't pathetic enough, PPP has more sad news for a party which now seems intent on disappearing itself entirely...

Some GOP voters are so unhappy with the outcome that they no longer care to be a part of the United States. 25% of Republicans say they would like their state to secede from the union compared to 56% who want to stay and 19% who aren't sure.

One reason that such a high percentage of Republicans are holding what could be seen as extreme views is that their numbers are declining. Our final poll before the election, which hit the final outcome almost on the head, found 39% of voters identifying themselves as Democrats and 37% as Republicans. Since the election we've seen a 5 point increase in Democratic identification to 44%, and a 5 point decrease in Republican identification to 32%.

* * *
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]]> Desi Doyen <![CDATA['Green News Report' - December 4, 2012]]> http://www.bradblog.com/?p=9761 2012-12-04T22:55:23Z 2012-12-04T22:55:23Z New Jersey Alaska New York United Nations Environment Chuck Schumer State Department Green News Koch Industries Natural gas Coal Nuclear power Oil Wind Solar Climate change Extreme weather Hurricane Sandy
TWITTER: @GreenNewsReport
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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Time's running for UN climate talks (and for the planet); Record winter heat blasts the Midwest (again); NY, NJ press for billions in Sandy disaster recovery; PLUS: Cannibal lobsters ... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

Listen online here, or Download MP3 (6 mins)...

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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' (see links below): Air pollution regulations increase life expectancy in US; Mississippi River near record lows, threatens 20k jobs; Typhoon Bopha kills 40 in the Phillipines; Costs double for new French nuke plant; Bye, CFLs?: Cheap lighting breakthrough; 44 hazardous pollutants near gas drilling sites ... PLUS: 4 Reasons to hope we can still avert the worst impacts of climate change ... and much, MUCH more! ...

STORIES DISCUSSED IN TODAY'S 'GREEN NEWS REPORT'...

'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (Stuff we didn't have time for in today's audio report)...

  • Declining Air Pollution Levels Continue to Improve Life Expectancy in U.S. (Science Daily) [emphasis added] [emphasis added]:
    "Since the 1970s, enactment of increasingly stringent air quality controls has led to improvements in ambient air quality in the United States ... [T]he extent to which more recent regulatory actions have benefited public health remains in question. This study provides strong and compelling evidence that continuing to reduce ambient levels of PM2.5 prolongs life."
  • Low Mississippi’s Ripple Effect Imperils 20,000 U.S. Jobs (Bloomberg):
    “Given the number of jobs at stake if commerce on the Mississippi is crippled, and especially given the ripple effect on local economies up and down the river, the administration cannot afford to remain silent on this critical issue,” said Tom Allegretti, president of American Waterways Operators.
    ...
    The Army Corps says navigation will be impaired by Dec. 11 and a record low-water mark will be set on Dec. 22.
  • Typhoon Bopha hits the Philippines at Cat 5 strength; at least 40 killed (Dr. Jeff Masters, Weather Underground):
    Bopha is the third Category 5 typhoon to affect the Western Pacific this year, and the strongest typhoon ever recorded to hit Mindanao, which rarely sees strong typhoons due to its position close to the Equator.
  • Costs of New French Nuclear Reactor Doubles:: French utility EDF has raised the cost of the construction of its next-generation nuclear reactor by more than 2 billion euros on Monday, the latest in a series of overruns for the first EPR reactor built in France.
  • 4 Reasons To Hope We Can Still Avert the Worst Impacts of Climate Change (Guardian)
  • New Plastic LED Lighting Save Energy: Goodbye, CFLs?:
    Scientists have designed an energy-efficient light of plastic packed with nanomaterials that glow. The shatterproof FIPEL technology can be molded into almost any shape, but still needs to prove it's commercially viable.
  • Study Finds 44 Hazardous Air Pollutants at Gas Drilling Sites: (InsideClimate News):
    For years, the controversy over natural gas drilling has focused on the water and air quality problems linked to hydraulic fracturing, the process where chemicals are blasted deep underground to release tightly bound natural gas deposits.
  • Judge Tosses Asian Carp Suit (AP):
    A federal judge Monday threw out a lawsuit filed by five states that want barriers placed in Chicago-area waterways to prevent Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes, but said he would consider new arguments if the case were filed again.
  • COVER STORY: It's Global Warming, Stupid (Businessweek):
    Yes, yes, it's unsophisticated to blame any given storm on climate change. Men and women in white lab coats tell us-and they're right-that many factors contribute to each severe weather episode. Climate deniers exploit scientific complexity to avoid any discussion at all.
    ...
    If all that doesn't impress, forget the scientists ostensibly devoted to advancing knowledge and saving lives. Listen instead to corporate insurers committed to compiling statistics for profit.
  • Essential Climate Science Findings:

    • ]]>         Brad Friedman <![CDATA[Republican Congressman on Susan Rice Witch Hunt: 'Maybe We Should Investigate Bush Too']]> http://www.bradblog.com/?p=9760 2012-12-04T15:05:13Z 2012-12-04T15:05:13Z Iraq War Accountability Republicans ABC Bush Legacy Libya Susan Rice Tom Cole From Henry Decker at The National Memo (where, by way of full disclosure, I'm also a fairly regular contributor)...

    For the second time in a week, conservative Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) is breaking with his party on a hot button issue.

    Last Tuesday, Cole made headlines for disagreeing with House Speaker John Boehner and advising his fellow Republicans to accept President Barack Obama’s offer to immediately extend tax cuts on incomes under $250,000, while negotiating a broader deal involving tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.

    During a Sunday morning appearance on ABC’s This Week, Cole offered his advice on the other issue that has animated Republicans in the weeks since the election: U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice’s response to the September 11th attacks in Benghazi, and her potential nomination as Secretary of State.

    When Dan Senor — the former spokesman for the Coalition Provisional Authority during the Iraq War, and the chief foreign policy advisor to Mitt Romney — suggested investigating “whether or not Susan Rice should be blamed” for the Obama administration’s response to the Benghazi attacks, Cole reminded Senor of the Bush administration’s false claims that Saddam Hussein was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction.

    “We saw President Bush out front defending something wasn’t true too,” Cole noted. “Maybe we should ask those guys some questions too.”
    ...
    In both cases, Cole is not adopting the Democratic position; he opposes raising tax rates for the wealthy, and he does not appear to support Rice (although he did not say whether or not he would vote to confirm her if he were in the Senate.) Instead, Cole seems to be trying to divert his party from embracing hopeless political positions. Just as Cole correctly identified that the White House has all of the leverage in the tax cut debate, so too does he seem to realize that a public battle over Rice could lead to some very uncomfortable questions about the Bush administration’s record — a history that the Republican Party would rather stay buried.

    Video of the ABC This Week moment mentioned above, from 12/2/2012, follows below...


    ]]>         Brad Friedman <![CDATA[After Four Years Obama Has Finally Learned Something (Or, We Wish You a 'Fiscal Cliff' Mess)]]> http://www.bradblog.com/?p=9759 2012-12-03T19:35:42Z 2012-12-03T19:35:42Z Barack Obama Republicans Economy After four years of lousy bills, or lack thereof, brought about through unnecessary concessions, it seems as though the President has finally learned something, at least: how to make an opening bid in a negotiation.

    As Josh Marshall aptly described the two party's relative positions in the so-called "Fiscal Cliff" negotiations (the specifics of which are broken down by Ezra Klein at the bottom of this article for anybody, understandably, not paying attention to all of this silliness):

    There’s no way to understand the jousting and positioning over the ‘fiscal cliff’ without understanding the following facts: Both President Obama and congressional Republicans are moving right along to the edge of the cliff. Both say they’re ready to go over the edge. Only President Obama is gliding along in a hot air balloon and John Boehner and co. are on foot. So the repercussions over going over the edge are quite different. And both sides know it.

    The take away here is that it's a welcome change of pace that Obama not only seems to understand his upper hand in these negotiations, but he's finally learned to actually negotiate on that basis this time around.

    One of our earliest and most consistent complaints about Obama has been his embarrassingly dreadful negotiation skills. In fact, that was one of our earliest documented complaints about him, way back in April of 2007.

    We were reminded once again about his lousy negotiation skills in August of 2011 when he gave away the store during that year's "hostage crisis", as Congressional Republicans were then holding the routine matter of voting to raise the debt ceiling --- and both the American and global economy along with it --- hostage to extreme spending cuts.

    Here's what we wrote in 2011, harkening back to our initial warning about Obama's horrific negotiation skills back in 2007...

    Back on April 1, 2007 --- in what wasn't an April Fools Day joke, unfortunately --- The BRAD BLOG highlighted pretty much everything you needed to know about Barack Obama. In the middle of a tense debate over a military spending bill passed by Democrats and threatened with a veto by George W. Bush since it included a requirement for the President to set timelines for a withdraw from Iraq, Obama told AP that even if Bush vetoed the bill, Senate Democrats would simply send back another bill that didn't include the timeline requirement.

    In short, he sold out his own caucus by showing their hand and thus paved the way for Bush to call their bluff with a veto without consequence. That's exactly what Bush did.

    As we reported at the time...

    If we ever need to negotiate for anything, remind us to not call on Obama to represent us.

    "I think that it's important for voters to get a sense of how the next president will make decisions in a foreign policy arena," he told AP.

    Great. We've just gotten that "sense," and if that's your plan, then thanks but no thanks.

    Yes, President Obama has been forced to deal with an unprecedented extremist GOP willing to use terrorists tactics to get their way, creating phony "hostage crises" time and again --- in the latest episode putting a gun to the head of the world economy. But negotiating with terrorists only ensures the likelihood of the bad guys taking another hostage in the future, which the Republicans have repeatedly done, and will continue to do. Capitulating to them, as he has now done time and again, is inexcusable.
    ...
    What was clear to us as long ago as 2007 was that Obama was the worst. negotiator. ever. His time in office to date has done nothing to assuage us of that initial assessment, as he has negotiated with himself and capitulated to terror tactics again and again, acceding to virtually ever demand of the hostage takers by the end.

    From giving away the store with un-stimulating tax cuts in a much-smaller-than-needed stimulus package, to giving up away the public option (much less single payer) right off the bat in the health care reform bill, to capitulating on extending the Bush tax cuts for the rich earlier this year, and now accepting a "bargain" which tosses out everything he had formerly promised to be a "bottom line" for any debt ceiling deal, the President has done almost precisely as he projected he would 4 years ago when we pointed it out, so that we could "get a sense of how the next president will make decisions."

    Happily, that was then and this is now. After four years of such capitulation, and with his concerns about running for re-election behind him, it seems President Obama has finally learned how to negotiate --- or, at least, make an opening bid in a negotiation. It remains to be seen how long he'll hang tough for his position before he starts negotiating with himself again. Signs, at the moment, suggesting that he plans to stay strong, however, are encouraging. But we'll see.

    On Friday on MSNBC, Ezra Klein broke down the details of Obama's opening bid in the so-called "Fiscal Cliff" negotiations --- in which the President not only asked for all of the tax cuts and tax increases and additional stimulus spending that he wanted and that we need, and that he successful ran on, without offering concessions before negotiations actually begin and before the GOP puts forward its own opening bid, forcing them to actually lay their cards on the public table first.

    This, it seems, for now, is something that the President has finally learned after four years...



    ]]>         Brad Friedman <![CDATA[Election Schadenfreude Toon of the Moment...]]> http://www.bradblog.com/?p=9758 2012-12-02T20:15:27Z 2012-12-02T20:15:27Z Barack Obama Mitt Romney Election 2012


    ]]>         Keith Darling-Brekhus <![CDATA[Myth Busting: Examining the 'Evidence' That Obama Won Due to 'Widespread Voter Fraud']]> http://www.bradblog.com/?p=9757 2012-12-01T18:52:21Z 2012-12-01T18:52:21Z Election Irregularities Ohio Florida Colorado Pennsylvania Election Fraud Barack Obama Mitt Romney Election 2012 Why isn't the FBI or the Justice Department investigating the "widespread voter fraud" that a number of Rightwingers are claiming enabled Barack Obama to win the 2012 election?

    The simplest answer is that there is nothing to investigate --- at least no evidence to suggest as much at this time. Lacking such evidence, such fishing expeditions are a waste of taxpayer money, particularly when the evidence of "fraud" forwarded by Republicans to date is easily dispatched with little more than a Google search and a few clicks of the mouse.

    All existing evidence suggests that President Obama soundly defeated Mitt Romney by an electoral vote margin of 332-206, and a popular vote margin of 50.9-47.4 percent. Yet, the myth that "widespread voter fraud" swung the election for Obama continues to persist on Rightwing web sites and blogs. These myths are usually divorced from the facts altogether or grounded in baseless speculation.

    Let's take a look at four of the most popular myths currently being trumpeted by the Rightwingers...

    MYTH #1: Obama got 108 percent of the vote in Wood County, OH!

    One such myth, that has gained currency and has been cited in a petition demanding a recount, is the myth that Obama won one Ohio county with 108 percent of the vote. The petition alleges that in Wood County, OH "President Obama received 106,258 votes...but there were only 98,213 eligible voters. It's not humanly possible to get 108% of the vote!"

    However, this information is patently false. A look at the Wood County Board of Elections web page reveals that, contrary to the petition's outrageous claim, Barack Obama only received 31,596 votes in the county to Mitt Romney's 28,997 and that voter turnout was reportedly a rather mediocre 58 percent, dispelling any notion that an inordinate number of ballots were stuffed on behalf of the President.

    MYTH #2: St. Lucie County, FL had 141 percent turnout!

    A second popular myth, is that Democrats stuffed the ballot boxes in St. Lucie County, Florida, where 141 percent turnout helped Barack Obama carry the county. This myth was circulated by Free Republic, Town Hall and Kyle Rogers at the Examiner. Each of these sites went apoplectic when they jumped to the conclusion that 247,000 ballots were cast in a county with only 175,000 registered voters.

    The myth appears to have been started during Republican Rep. Allen West's short-lived challenge to the results of his race in that county, when the first page of the 11/11/12 St. Lucie County's Election Summary Report [PDF] said there were 175,554 "Registered Voters" in the county and 247,383 "Cards Cast" in this year's election. The result was what appeared by the incurious to be a 140.92% turnout.

    Naturally, that number was taken as a clear sign of voter fraud on a massive scale.

    Of course, there was a simple explanation. The ballot was printed on two pages and 247,000 ballots cast actually meant about 123,500 people had voted.

    The front page of the St. Lucie County Elections website even explains, in all caps:

    NOTE* - TURNOUT PERCENTAGE WILL SHOW OVER 100% DUE TO A TWO PAGE BALLOT. THE TABULATION SYSTEM (GEMS) PROVIDES VOTER TURNOUT AS EQUAL TO THE TOTAL CARDS CAST IN THE ELECTION DIVIDED BY THE NUMBER OF REGISTERED VOTERS. ALSO NOTE THAT SOME VOTERS CHOSE NOTE TO RETURN BY MAIL THE SECOND CARD CONTAINING THE AMENDMENTS.

    Beyond that, a simple look at the election results page, which no right wing blogger apparently bothered to check, would have revealed that in fact only 123,301 votes were reportedly cast in the Presidential race, and that turnout was 70.49 percent instead of 141 percent.

    When confronted with the truth, rather than recanting his allegations of fraud Kyle Rogers, writing for the Examiner, doubled down arguing that 70% turnout still suggested that more votes were counted than were actually cast, because the 70% turnout in St. Lucie County was well above the national average. What Rogers failed to mention is that the 70% figure was lower than the statewide average in Florida of 71.15% turnout. Since Florida was a crucial swing state and since St. Lucie County had the nation's most competitive and most expensive House race (the Allen/Murphy race) on the ballot, the fact that the turnout was higher than the national average is unsurprising.

    The surprise, if there was one, may have been that turnout in the county was actually slightly below the state average. Incidentally, four counties in Florida had turnouts that exceeded 80%. However, since Mitt Romney carried three of those four counties by margins of 30 points or greater, they do not lend a very convenient data point for arguing that high turnout in the counties meant Obama stole the election. Nobody has suggested that Baker County, where Romney reported won 79-21 and where turnout was apparently 82 percent of registered voters, was guilty of ballot stuffing. Yet St. Lucie County's 70 percent turnout and narrow victory for Obama is, for some reason, supposed to raise eyebrows?

    MYTH #3: Turnout in many CO counties exceeded 100 percent!

    Rightwing sites also alleged, without evidence, that turnout in ten Colorado counties was above 100 percent. However, according to the Secretary of State's web site no county exceeded 85 percent turnout. In addition the three counties that reported the highest turnout were all low population Republican counties that went heavily for Romney. Mineral, Hindsdale and Sedgewick Counties went for Romney 53-44, 59-38, and 66-31, respectively. They were the only counties in the state with above eighty percent voter turnout.

    MYTH# 4: Romney getting zero votes in Cleveland and Philadelphia Precincts proves fraud!

    The "turnout exceeding one hundred percent" myths can be dismissed as factually inaccurate by simply looking at official results county by county, an exercise that is quite simple if you have enough intelligence to operate a search engine. However, the claims that Romney received zero votes in large urban swing state precincts in Ohio and Pennsylvania require a more detailed analysis to determine if these urban enclaves are suspicious national anomalies, or if the pattern also holds true in non-swing states.

    It is true that nine Cleveland precincts and 59 Philadelphia precincts recorded zero votes for Romney. A few of these precincts were quite large, totaling 400 or more votes cast. To the casual observer, the idea that one candidate could shut out the other throughout an entire precinct may seem implausible. However, an understanding of history and demographics puts that concern to rest.

    For example, when pundits remarked that Romney was shut out in 59 Philadelphia precincts, they failed to point out the relevant historical information that John McCain did nearly as poorly, getting shut out in 57 Philadelphia precincts.

    In his 2004 victory, George W. Bush received zero votes in just five Philadelphia precincts. However, few people may remember that according to exit polls George W. Bush fared reasonably well among black voters compared to both Romney and McCain. Bush managed to secure 11 percent of the black vote nationally, almost double Romney's performance, and he did even better in Ohio and Pennsylvania where he scored 16 percent of the African-American vote. This modestly strong support (by Republican standards at least) enabled him to scrape up a vote or two in even the most hostile precincts, but even with his relatively strong performance among black voters he was still shut out in five of Philadelphia's inner city precincts.

    In Cleveland, where Romney getting zero votes in nine precincts raised red flags among the GOP, he actually fared better than his predecessor John McCain. McCain was blanked in thirteen of Cleveland's voting precincts.

    Although these precincts have a history of delivering zero or near zero votes for Republican candidates, the fact that they have been in crucial swing states may lead some to question whether fraud has always been present in those places, situated as they are in pivotal electorally decisive swing states. The skeptic might ask if there are any such precincts in safe "red" or "blue" states, where the incentive for defrauding a national election might be limited or non-existent. For example, in Illinois, a safe "blue" state, Mitt Romney failed to secure any votes in 37 of Chicago's precincts. Since Chicago has many predominately African-American precincts and it is Obama's home town, these results may not be surprising. However, given that the city of Chicago has a documented history of election fraud and machine politics, this example alone is unlikely to be persuasive.

    Fortunately, it need not be, because several other urban precincts also show Mitt Romney unable to muster a single vote. In states where Obama had no chance to win and Romney coasted to victory, Obama still was able to shut out Mitt Romney. For example in one precinct in Little Rock, Arkansas, Barack Obama managed 474 votes and Mitt Romney zero. Two additional votes were cast for other candidates.

    Romney also is shown to have received zero votes in 22 precincts in Dallas, 22 precincts in New Orleans, 9 precincts in Birmingham, Alabama, 7 precincts in Gary, Indiana (adjacent to Chicago), 6 precincts in Louisville, Kentucky and 3 precincts in Baton Rouge.

    Even in the deepest red states, there were precincts (predominately urban and African-American) where Romney's message fell so flat that it appears he was not even able to scrape up a single vote. Even in Oklahoma, one of Obama's worst states, one precinct reportedly went 606-3 for Obama and he carried several other large precincts with over 97 percent of the vote.

    Not all of these precincts went unanimously for Obama, however. Gary Johnson, Jill Stein and Virgil Goode were able to scrounge up a few votes in these areas, but then none of those minor candidates had been as thoroughly dismissive towards black voters' concerns as Mitt Romney and the Republican Party were.

    On the other side of the ledger, Barack Obama received zero votes in several mostly white precincts in Utah, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Mississippi. Although admittedly none of these precincts was as large as the biggest urban precincts where Romney appears to have been shut out, they nevertheless suggested that unanimity is not strictly an inner city phenomenon.

    Quite simply put, if people are going to argue that Barack Obama's four million vote popular vote margin and his decisive 332-206 electoral vote margin were achieved because of fraud, they are going to have to do better than to continue to promote fake reports of exaggerated turnout and real reports of Romney's colossal failure to secure the votes of urban African-American voters. They are going to need compelling evidence, of which to date, there is none.

    * * *

    Keith Darling-Brekhus is a sociologist who specializes in observing and analyzing the FBI and other law enforcement agencies. He was a Green Party candidate for US Congress in Missouri's 9th Congressional District in 2002, has worked as a labor organizer, political consultant and a public outreach coordinator for a non-profit peace organization. He holds a Master's Degree in Sociology from the University of Missouri in Columbia. His thesis was entitled "Internal Colonialism and Social Control in an Age of Terror: The FBI's War on Islamic Charities Following the September 11th Attacks of 2001". Follow him on Twitter: @KeithBrekhus

    * * *
    Please support The BRAD BLOG's fiercely independent, award-winning coverage of your electoral system, as available from no other media outlet in the nation, with a donation to help us keep going (Snail mail, more options here). If you like, we'll send you some great, award-winning election integrity documentary films in return! Details right here...


    ]]>         Brad Friedman <![CDATA[GOP 'Voter Fraud' Fraudster David Horowitz Falls Apart On Air When Questioned...By Me]]> http://www.bradblog.com/?p=9756 2012-11-30T14:35:05Z 2012-11-30T14:35:05Z Election Irregularities Election Reform BRAD BLOG Media Appearance Election Fraud Accountability ACORN Election 2012 There's a reason why most Republican wingnuts don't venture outside of the safe confines of Fox "News" or other venues where they won't have to face actual, reality-based information and questions from outside of their comfortable, fact-free bubble.

    My conversation on air Thursday with RW "voter fraud" fraudster, commie-hunter, and fact-challenged Fox fave David Horowitz illustrated that point with crystal clarity once again. The result wasn't pretty. At least for him.

    When asked for actual facts to back up his extraordinary claims about "Democratic voter fraud" --- specifically, that caretakers at his brother-in-law's residential care facility "committed fraud" by helping the brother-in-law, and purportedly sixty others at the home, to vote --- Horowitz had nothing.

    He was, however, able to call me a "communist wanna be", a "liar" and an "extreme partisan" for having displayed the temerity to ask him for such facts. He was even able to pile on top of all of that by claiming (falsely) that I'd called him all sorts of names and even that I had accused him of committing fraud!

    That's why these guys don't leave the Fox Fantasy World bubble.

    As I say, it wasn't pretty. But the audio of yesterday's radio "interview", and the background on what happened, all follows below. I think you may enjoy it...

    * * *

    Thanks to technical problems during the show, Fairness Radio with Patrick O'Heffernan, the beginning of the audio posted below is cut off. But most of the good stuff is there.

    What you will have missed was about 20 minutes of me and O'Heffernan discussing various issues of election integrity --- like my advocacy in favor of Republican Rep. Allen West's recently aborted challenge to his reported election loss in Florida's 18th Congressional District --- and the beginning of Horowitz' litany of allegations about "Democratic voter fraud", as he detailed in his post-Thanksgiving column last week.

    O'Heffernan is a progressive and, until recently, had co-hosted the show (which I've been on several times, and always enjoyed) with a Rightwinger friend of his. Instead, on yesterday's show, Horowitz was to have been O'Heffernan's guest co-host. It didn't really work out that way, however.

    Thanks to the myriad tech probs on the show, the producers had trouble getting Horowitz on until about 20 minutes into the hour (thus, my time with O'Heffernan by myself at the top of the show which you won't hear below).

    The audio picks up as Horowitz, who was given the "mic" to ask me a question once he finally came on, was detailing the allegations from his column.

    Among the allegations you won't hear him discuss, thanks to the truncated audio, is the one which I responded to first --- wherein the conversation went immediately down hill (or, up hill, depending on how you may see it.)

    Since you won't hear him tell the story that I immediately asked him questions about, here are the key elements of that story, as published in his column last week:

    I am incredibly steamed this Thanksgiving Holiday over what the Democrats are doing to my country. Everybody by now knows – or should know – how readily Democrats conduct election fraud, and how determined they are to defend it.
    ...
    So we know that Democrats have little respect for the election process, and we should assume they will attempt to pursue their victories by any means necessary.

    But even knowing this, I was not prepared for a conversation I had at Thanksgiving dinner today with my brother-in-law, Henry, who has lived most of his life in a home for the mentally disabled, and though now in his forties has the intelligence level of a six-year-old.

    “Obama saved me,” he said to me out of the blue.

    “What do you mean?”

    “I voted for him for president and now he’s saving me.”

    I was taken aback by these words, since Henry had no idea who Obama was, or what a president might be, and would be unable to fill out a registration form let alone get to the polling place by himself. So I asked him how he knew that and how he had registered and cast his vote. In halting, impeded speech he told me that the people who take care of him at the home filled out “the papers” to register him to vote, told him how Obama cared for him, even taught him the Obama chants, and then took him to the polling place to vote. They did the same for all of the mentally disabled patients in their care, approximately sixty in all.

    This is so appalling in its contempt for the voting process, which is the very foundation of our democracy, and in its cynical exploitation of my brother-in-law and the other patients in the home, many of whose mental capacities are even more limited than his that I am at a loss for words to express it.

    Horowitz goes on in the column to express his hope that "poll-watching groups like 'True the Vote' will comb the rolls of residents at other homes for the mentally disabled, and attempt to stop this particular abuse."

    Though Horowitz claimed during the show that he is "not a crusader on this issue", back in 2010 he appeared in the video used to launch the Rightwing, Republican-funded "non-partisan" True the Vote outfit (who, by the way, were found by an Ohio county to have committed fraud themselves in the 2012 Election!) He was seen in the video offering unsubstantiated claims such as "ACORN is a voter fraud machine" and asserting that "our elections are being manipulated by the radical Left."

    We covered that video and True the Vote's pretend claims to be a "non-partisan election integrity" organization when they first appeared along with that video (which also included a fraudulent, Photoshopped photo of an African-American woman holding a sign reading "I ONLY GOT TO VOTE ONCE!") when they first emerged in 2010. You can read our coverage of that here, and see the faked photo. Unfortunately, the video that featured it --- and Horowitz --- has been "removed" from the Internets by True the Vote for some reason.

    The non-crusading Horowitz also created a website, DiscoverTheNetworks.org, which includes dozens of scammy, disinformative articles on "Democratic voter fraud", including those purported to be about "ACORN's Continuing Pattern of Voter Fraud" (they actually committed none) and "Voter Fraud & Voter ID Laws".

    He is also proudly featured on fellow GOP "voter fraud" fraudster and Master of Misinformation Matthew Vadum's website endorsing comrade Vadum's phony "investigative" book about ACORN this way: "The criminal enterprise called 'ACORN' is the largest, most elusive, and most dangerous radical organization in America. If you are wondering about the operations and influence of a vast left-wing conspiracy, this is it, with tentacles that reach right into the heart of the Obama White House."

    Other than that, of course, he's "not a crusader on this issue".

    With all of that in mind, you'll have to listen to the audio to hear what happened after Horowitz told the story above (the audio below begins as he finishes that story from his column, and explains that, after publishing, he received many emails from others claiming "similar experiences" elsewhere), when I then politely responded to ask Horowitz for the name and location of the facility where his brother-in-law, and "approximately sixty" others were allegedly directed to commit fraud by their caretakers, and whether or not he'd at least reported this seemingly very serious crime to any law enforcement officials.

    There is one moment in the audio where Horowitz appears to have hung up. Apparently his cell phone dropped the call and he rejoins us a few moments later. But then, a few minutes after that, the cross-talk got so ugly that the producers were forced to go to a break. When we came back, Horowitz was gone for good.

    Apologies in advance for the less than stellar audio, due in part to the tech problems. It's a bit over 30 minutes, in all, but Horowitz is gone for good after about 20. The stuff that came after he left was fun too, though!

    Enjoy!...

    Download MP3 or listen online below...
    [See post to listen to audio]

    * * *
    Please support The BRAD BLOG's fiercely independent, award-winning coverage of your electoral system, as available from no other media outlet in the nation, with a donation to help us keep going (Snail mail, more options here). If you like, we'll send you some great, award-winning election integrity documentary films in return! Details right here...


    ]]>         Desi Doyen <![CDATA['Green News Report' - November 29, 2012]]> http://www.bradblog.com/?p=9755 2012-11-29T22:30:04Z 2012-11-29T22:30:04Z California New York United Nations Accountability Environment Stephen Colbert Republicans Jon Stewart State Department Green News BP Oil Disaster EPA Coal Canada Oil Solar Climate change Extreme weather
    TWITTER: @GreenNewsReport
    FACEBOOK: Green News Report
    VIA SMART PHONE: Stitcher Radio!

    IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: 2012 set to be one of the hottest years on record; Sea levels rising faster than predicted; Plankton is in trouble; Does air pollution raise the risk of autism?; PLUS: EPA knocks BP out of federal contracting ... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

    Listen online here, or Download MP3 (6 mins)...

    Link:
    Embed:

    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' (see links below): Superstorm Sandy to cost $79 Billion; Rising seas to swallow NYC without action; L.A. inks solar deal with Moapa Tribe; 'Buyer beware' on San Diego's desalination plant; How to destroy the planet from the comfort of home; DOE's 'Road to Fuel Effienciency'; Ex-coal executive charged in mine disaster; Jordan fights water shortages ... PLUS: Meet The Climate Denial Machine ... and much, MUCH more! ...

    STORIES DISCUSSED IN TODAY'S 'GREEN NEWS REPORT'...

    'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (Stuff we didn't have time for in today's audio report)...

    • New York, New Jersey expect Sandy to cost U.S. $79 billion (Chicago Tribune):
      Superstorm Sandy's tab swelled Wednesday as New York and New Jersey estimated they would need $79 billion in federal aid to cover damages, recovery and mitigation measures to cope with a future storm.
    • Los Angeles Signs Deal for Moapa Reservation Solar Plant: (Las Vegas Review-Journal) [emphasis added]:
      Council members for the city of Los Angeles approved a $1.6 billion, 25-year pact Tuesday to purchase solar power from a company that will build nearly 1 million photovoltaic panels on tribal land.
      ...
      "We are going to have a solar farm and jobs for our people," Anderson, 39, said about the 320 members of the Moapa band.
    • Desalination: Let the Buyer Beware (Huffington Post Green) [emphasis added]:
      In a new report issued today, the Pacific Institute released the results of a year-long analysis of the complex and controversial costs of seawater desalination. The conclusion? It is still really expensive, especially compared to alternatives.
    • VIDEO: TEDx Matt Grocoff - Shelter: How to Destroy the Planet from the Comfort of Home (Home Energy Pros):
      What it takes to get to a Net Zero Energy home.
    • INFOGRAPHIC: The Road To Fuel Efficiency: (Dept. of Energy)
    • Ex-Official Is Charged After Deaths at Coal Mine (NY Times):
      Federal prosecutors in West Virginia charged the highest-ranking executive to date on Wednesday in a broad investigation stemming from the 2010 explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine that killed 29 miners, a move that suggests more senior executives at Massey Energy, the mine’s operator, are likely to be prosecuted.
    • A Parched Jordan Places Hopes in Reservoir (NY Times):
      Jordan is the world’s fourth-poorest country in terms of water resources per capita, according to the World Bank. ... Against that background, Jordan is betting heavily on a major pipeline, the Disi Water Conveyance Project, which is expected to start carrying water next year to the capital, Amman, from deep underground sources in southern Jordan, which the country shares with Saudi Arabia.
    • Pace of Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon Falls (Wall St. Journal):
      Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest slowed dramatically last year as the government stepped up efforts to detect and halt illegal farming and logging, though some environmental groups warn that recent changes to the law protecting the forest might slow further progress.
    • Solidarity for Tar Sands Blockade and Climate Justice Spreads Worldwide (TruthOut.org)
    • Meet The Climate Denial Machine (MediaMatters.org):
      Despite the overwhelming consensus among climate experts that human activity is contributing to rising global temperatures, 66 percent of Americans incorrectly believe there is "a lot of disagreement among scientists about whether or not global warming is happening." The conservative media has fueled this confusion...Media Matters looks at how conservative media outlets give industry-funded "experts" a platform, creating a polarized misunderstanding of climate science.
    • COVER STORY: It's Global Warming, Stupid (Businessweek):
      Yes, yes, it's unsophisticated to blame any given storm on climate change. Men and women in white lab coats tell us-and they're right-that many factors contribute to each severe weather episode. Climate deniers exploit scientific complexity to avoid any discussion at all.
      ...
      If all that doesn't impress, forget the scientists ostensibly devoted to advancing knowledge and saving lives. Listen instead to corporate insurers committed to compiling statistics for profit.
  • Essential Climate Science Findings:

    • ]]>         Brad Friedman <![CDATA[Frum Backs Up Bartlett's Fox 'News' Ban Claim, Skewers Murdoch and his Pretend 'News' Channel]]> http://www.bradblog.com/?p=9754 2012-11-29T19:05:22Z 2012-11-29T19:05:22Z Fox 'News' Accountability Intellectually Honest Conservative Award Republicans Bush Legacy Earlier this week, we named former Reagan/Bush Sr. official Bruce Bartlett as the newest recipient of The BRAD BLOG's far-too-rarely-bestowed "Intellectually Honest Conservative" award for his blistering, must-read essay, "Revenge of the Reality-Based Community: My life on the Republican right-and how I saw it all go wrong", as published this month by American Conservative magazine.

    Among the points noted by the long-time real (versus pretend) conservative was that he was "banned from Fox News" after the publication of his 2006 book, Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy.

    Yesterday, Greg Sargent at Washington Post quoted Nicole Dewey, Bartlett's publicist at Doubleday at the time, confirming Bartlett's assertion that while he had previously been a regular on Fox, upon publication of his book that was critical of Dubya, "no one would book him" at the pretend "news" channel.

    Today, David Frum, former George W. Bush speechwriter (the one who coined the phrase "Axis of Evil") --- also a past awardee of The BRAD BLOG's "Intellectually Honest Conservative" award and one who has been similarly rejected by the rabid Right for his interest in the Reality-based world --- confirmed the credibility of Dewey, describing her as "one of the best of the best in the business".

    But it was this remark from Frum, specifically his wicked parting shot, which cuts the deepest, and likely ensures (as if there was any question about it), that he will not be appearing on Fox "News" at any time in the foreseeable future either:

    [M]aybe Bruce should consider himself fortunate. Totally ignoring untoward events is only Step 1 of the Fox method. Step 2 would have been to invite people to revile Bruce on air, without any opportunity for him to respond or defend himself.

    Oh well. At least they didn't hack his phone.

    Ouch.

    Perhaps he should have added: "...as far as we know."


    ]]>         Brad Friedman <![CDATA[KPFK 'BradCast': On Ending, Not Mending, the Filibuster; FL GOP Voter Suppression; Climate Change and Denialism]]> http://www.bradblog.com/?p=9753 2012-11-29T03:44:55Z 2012-11-29T03:44:55Z Election Irregularities Fox 'News' Florida Election Reform BRAD BLOG Media Appearance Environment U.S. Senate Harry Reid Election 2012 KPFK Mitch McConnell Charlie Crist On my KPFK/Pacifica Radio show today we covered quite a bit of ground.

    From Republican admissions about the most obvious story in the world (that the Florida GOP was attempting to suppress the vote this year), to the debate over filibuster reform in the U.S. Senate, and whether it should be mended, ended, or none of the above, with David Swanson (his vote: end it!), to the latest Green News Report and a remarkable piece of audio tape from a (now former?) Bill O'Reilly fan who saw the new documentary Chasing Ice and is pissed that she's been so misled by O'Reilly and Fox "News" about climate change for so many years...

    Download MP3 or listen online below [appx. 58 mins]...
    [See post to listen to audio]


    ]]>