Open Thread -- "Trust, but verify" Voting Edition

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"Trust, but verify."

        -- Ronald Reagan¹
          40th US President

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As each election cycle approaches, more and more articles about alleged voter fraud, voter caging, vote manipulation and voter intimidation begin to come out. Sometimes, they are simply examples of fear-mongering used to attempt to move the public in one direction or another with regard to Voter Identification laws. Sometimes, they appear to be conspiracy theories by nutcases. And sometimes, they turn out to be grounded in reality. In all cases, you never know what you'll find unless you first look at the facts -- and sometimes getting to those facts takes Herculean efforts.

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"Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything."

        -- Josef Stalin (1879-1953)
          Georgian Soviet politician

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Why? Over the fold, some quotes, some reflections, some news about ongoing developments over at the Velvet Revolution and a list of related stories. This is an Open Thread.

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Currently up over on the VelvetRevolution's RoveCybergate site, there's more information about their efforts to prosecute Karl Rove for his alleged role in vote manipulation:

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We are working with Ohio election attorneys, Cliff Arnebeck, Bob Fitrakis and Henry Eckhart to find out the truth about recent information indicating that Karl Rove architected and directed a strategy to manipulate elections through the use of computers. Rove’s Cyber Guru, Michael Connell, has worked for the Bush family for over 20 years and helped Bush Sr., Jeb and Bush Jr. “win” their elections using his computer skills. Whistleblowers, including Republicans, say that several of these and other national elections have been rigged through various invisible and illegal means, including vote tabulation manipulation, improper partisan use of the Justice Department to target Democrats and uncooperative US Attorneys, and the laundering of hundreds of millions of corporate dollars funneled into fake advocacy groups directed against Democrat candidates running for public office. Ex-Alabama Governor Don Siegelman has stated publicly that Rove was the person who directed Siegelman’s rigged election and criminal prosecution.

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US Attorneys. Siegelman. Diebold. The politicalization of the US Department of Justice. Money laundering (e.g., Jack Abramoff and company). The use of "Executive 'privilege'" to hinder investigations, among other things -- like the loss of millions of emails, or bypassing the White House auditing system. Every one of the above topics is a snakepit. Every one of them appears to have more and more information coming to light, and the more information that surfaces, the dirtier and bloodier the waters get.

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The real distinction is between those who adapt their purposes to reality and those who seek to mold reality in the light of their purposes.

        -- Henry Kissinger, (1923 - )
          US (German-born) diplomat & scholar

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It seems that with the level of questionable oversight, lack of accountability and absence of verification and validation, nobody in their right minds would want to avoid actually getting to the bottom of whether or not our method of selecting leaders has been compromised. The amount of information that points toward increasingly believable and verifiable evidence of malicious manipulation and fraud is growing. It's about time we set our sights on getting to the truth, and deciding how to ensure the sanctity and preserve the integrity of the backbone of our Democracy -- the voice of people, as expressed by their vote. ...isn't it?

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Don't be afraid to see what you see.

        -- Ronald Reagan (1911 - 2004)
          40th president of US

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_____________________________________________________ Additional Sources and Articles _____________________________________________________

ePluribus Media recently published a substantial piece about with whom, doing what, and where Connell was involved in Florida during 2000.  

Connell, Rove and the GOP Boys, Positioned for McCain?

But that comes long after we first discovered him buried in Blackwell's IT systems, at Ohio's SOS office.

These link delve into past and recent coverage of Connell, the RNC's IT guru embedded with McCain's campaign now.

Previous stories

• Ken Blackwell Outsources Ohio Election Results to GOP Internet Operatives, Again
• Ohio's election website still sent real-time results to GOP mirror server
• The GOP, GeorgeWBush.com and the line that jumped the Congressional Firewall
• Who is Michael L. Connell? Part I: The Atwater School of Politics
• Who is Mike Connell behind the firewall:  Part II
• Rove -ing emails: what else could go missing?

Recent stories

• Bush Wackers Now Wacking for McCain
• Que RICO? - Rove's Contempt of Congress and Connell's Indicted Elite
• Rove Threat to Blackmail GOP IT Mastermind Triggers Immunity Request to Ohio AG by Election Lawyers
• Where the Ohio 2004 Election RICO Lawsuit is Going, Interview With Attorneys Arnebeck and Fitrakis
• Our Day in Court: Research into Ohio's 2004 Election Misdeed Finally Bearing Fruit

Friends' stories

• Behind the firewall: Bush loyalist Mike Connell controls Congressional secrets as his email sites serve Karl Rove
• BradBlog: Ohio Attorney Files to Lift Stay on '04 Election Case, Cites Allegations, Evidence of Massive Fraud by a Number of GOP Operatives
• RawStory: GOP cyber-security expert suggests Diebold tampered with 2002 election
• VelvetRevolution.US: Several commentary and original video posts

__________________________________ Footnotes __________________________________

1. "Trust but Verify" is a signature phrase of Ronald Reagan, but he wasn't the first to say it. See the Wiki.