Mike Connell: A Trail of Questions At the End of the Road
[ed. - bumped on preliminary NTSB report - luaptifer]
The crash of Michael Connell's single-engine Piper last Friday leaves a somber Christmas season ahead for his wife and four children and ends the career of an information technology pioneer. Connell's expertise drove the Republican Party onto the infotech highway of the Internet era in time to seat the most famous of his three Bush clients in the country's top office.
His death should mark the beginning of a thorough examination of his political role inside the technology infrastructures that elected and that supported an Administration so widely recognized for politicizing the machine of Federal governance and justice.
For the Bush dynasty's RNC, Connell embodied a paraphrase of his favorite place -- he ~was~ the cutting-edge, not just at it. His partnership with the Party and its most powerful operatives (now known as DCI Group among other names) gave its political and corporate leaders the Internet edition of mass communication 'astroturfing' tools by which to engineer the consent of the public.
His rapid rise in the Party as the Internet also transformed the RNC's ability to coordinate its operations meant that, as the Republican revolution asserted control over a Washington morphing into "dot gov", Mike Connell knew more than most about what can be done embedded inside of government IT systems.
Over decades, Mike Connell has been more than a cybersurfer of government IT systems. He engineered wires and operating systems and websites into the governments of Florida, Ohio, Texas, and the offices which regulate the most sensitive of each branch of US Federal government.
But Mike Connell was nothing if not a partisan. Even as most of the nation exulted in the change that Barack Obama's election signalled, Bob Fitrakis and Henry Wasserman report that Connell lamented:
"In our 230 year history, our democracy has suffered worse fates. It's just that none come to mind right now."
His important legacy still seems poignantly illustrated by the simple line image that we thought might focus the right attention to his work.
http://intelligence.house.gov/images/ohgop_index_nline.gif -
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(click to display a live copy of the gif image in a new browser window.)
Nearly two years after our report, the image misplaced by 'non-partisan' GovTech Solutions into the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence during website development for the Ohio GOP by partisan NewMedia Communciations (in 2004), is still greeting visitors to the Democratic majority-controlled bipartisan website.
After nearly a decade in which Karl Rove politically engineered the policy machine of Federal government, the death of embedded information engineer and Bush operative, Michael L. Connell, adds new questions to those already proven difficult to answer but that must still be asked.
Towards answering those questions, we've tried to make a comprehensive and chronological list of the reports by ePluribusMedia researchers and writers from our first report of how Mike Connell's two companies bridged the political firewall between GeorgeWBush.com and Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell's election.sos.state.oh.us Election Night reporting service benefitting the citizens of Ohio in the elections of 2004 and 2006.
Please cross the line for more
The most recent item, at bottom, includes links to current articles from other sources, we hope to update this note with new reports.
- 11/07/2006 - Ken Blackwell Outsources Ohio Election Results to GOP Internet Operatives, Again
- 11/07/2006 - BREAKING, UPDATED: Bogus VA voter calls point to Allen campaign
- 11/09/2006 - Ohio's election website still sent real-time results to GOP mirror server
- 11/27/2006 - Election 2006 follow up: Team Allen, best of the worst
- 03/26/2007 - [UPDATE] The GOP, GeorgeWBush.com and the line that jumped the Congressional Firewall
- 03/28/2007 - Who is Michael L. Connell? Part I: The Atwater School of Politics
- 04/02/2007 - Who is Michael L. Connell? Part II: Behind the firewall.
- 04/22/2007 - Rove -ing emails: what else could go missing?
- 04/24/2007 - Ohio Election Night Results, Smartech server, and Netcraft, links
- 05/08/2007 - The GOP, GeorgeWBush.com and the line that jumped the Congressional Firewall
- 07/17/2008 - Ohio Attorneys to Assert RICO Claim Against Karl Rove for Orchestrating Theft of 2004 Election
- 07/18/2008 - Our Day in Court: Research into Ohio's 2004 Election Misdeed Finally Bearing Fruit
- 07/20/2008 - Where the Ohio 2004 Election RICO Lawsuit is Going, Interview With Attorneys Arnebeck and Fitrakis
- 07/22/2008 - 'Secrets of the Temple"" Held by GOP IT Handyman, Ohio Election Lawyers Say
- 07/23/2008 - Que RICO? - Rove's Contempt of Congress and Connell's Indicted Elite
- 07/24/2008 - Ohio Attorneys Seek Protection for Mike Connell and his Family against Alleged Threats from Karl Rove
- 07/24/2008 - Rove Threat to Blackmail GOP IT Mastermind Triggers Immunity Request to Ohio AG by Election Lawyers
- 08/08/2008 - Who is Roy Cales and What's his Connection to Mike Connell?
- 08/08/2008 - The Partisan Side of Mike Connell
- 08/08/2008 - Connell , Rove and the GOP Boys, Positioned for McCain?
- 08/08/2008 - Bush Whackers Now Whacking for McCain
- 08/10/2008 - Connell, Rove, and the GOP Boys, Positioned for McCain? - Discussion
- 08/13/2008 - Ohio Secretary of State Opposes Opening Lawsuit Alleging Theft of 2004 Election
- 08/16/2008 - Updated - Matching Finger Prints: Amassing the Evidence of Electronic Vote Manipulation in Ohio 2004 and Florida 2000
- 08/17/2008 - Ohio Election Officials Whistle Past the Graveyard of 2004
- 08/23/2008 - Open Thread -- ""Trust, but verify"" Voting Edition
- 09/01/2008 - Newly Released Video: Spoonamore Confronts Maryland Board of Elections Over SAIC Report
- 09/07/2008 - Any oversight by Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight - www.ofheo.gov?
- 09/19/2008 - Can Obama Win and Lose Ohio at the Same Time?
- 09/24/2008 - Spoonamore: 'You Don't Own a Genie' - Voting Machines Threaten National Security
- 09/29/2008 - Will Mike Connell Avoid Testifying on Cyber Rigging?
- 10/04/2008 - $100,000 Reward: for Citizens to Stop another Stolen Election
- 10/07/2008 - VR Calls on John McCain to Fire Michael Connell for Covering Up for Karl Rove in Federal Election Manipulation Lawsuit
- 10/30/2008 - Cyber Security Expert Says KingPin Attack Benefited Bush
- 11/03/2008 - Federal Judge Compels Testimony from Mike Connell
- 11/03/2008 - Mike Connell ""No magic bullet"" for 2004 or 2008 Elections
- 11/06/2008 - Florida Election Results - Hidden Outsourcing Can Take Votes for a Trip
- 12/20/2008 - Accidents Happen: Mike Connell, 45, Dies In Ohio Plane Crash
- 12/24/2008 - Mike Connell: A Trail of Questions At the End of the Road
- 01/04/2009 - Subject: Re "Jeb Bush for President", reality and doubt
- 01/09/2009 - GOP Technology Powerhouse eMerges Behind Firewalls on the Hill
- 08/09/2009 - Tobaccoup Road
- 08/14/2009 - The Freedom of No Choice
- 11/07/2009 - Longterm Republican 'Revolution' Control Financed by Tobacco
- 11/03/2010 - Jumping Florida Election Night Servers...
Note: on March 26, 2010, we'll still be wondering whether the security lapse symbolized by this link ( http://intelligence.house.gov/images/ohgop_index_nline.gif ) will ever have been considered by House security analysts. The reminder is still there almost three years after we first tried to make it obvious.
[UPDATE: 12/24/08 - minor edits to include hyperlinks and clarify discussion of House Intelligence image - luaptifer]
[UPDATE: 01/14/09 - added new hyperlinks - luaptifer]
[UPDATE: 01/29/10 - added new hyperlinks - luaptifer]
Comments
intranets
December 23, 2008 - 14:22
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nice roundup
To any posters, please do not post any conspiracies about his death unless they are supported by facts. Irresponsible "journalists" are spreading rumors that are insensitive and counter productive. Ask any pilot and they will tell you he was landing in very tight conditions.
luaptifer
December 23, 2008 - 19:30
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Real news!
McClatchy's report on the deposition by Mike Connell (kudos to Greg Gordon: Computer expert denies knowledge of '04 vote rigging in Ohio) the day before the November election marked possibly the only time that commercial media has dared to consider the Connell story after we first tried to bring it to public attention.
McClatchy's will to dare had drawn our respect in earlier work and Planet Washington has once more trodden where only they have gone before (Plane crash feeds conspiracy buzz),
Now, CBSNews.com's CBS Investigates has arrived a little late to the show (Republican IT Guru Dies In Plane Crash) and happened to miss ePluribus' entire body of work (see above) in what's otherwise a worthwhile consideration of important aspects of the story.
RawStory is on the ground in Ohio with Former president of GOP IT guru's firm dismisses allegations of foul play where Randy Cole, GovTech President between 2005 and his run for office this year, says Connell never intimated exposure to threats despite a Cleveland television news report of what's now the third claim of risk to Connell.
Bradblog has coverage of Ohio Attorney Cliff Arnebeck's reaction to the death of the witness. While mentioning that his request to 'the top career organized crime guy at Justice' didn't establish a spotlight of protection around Connell,"however it was caused", he considers Mike Connell's death a tragic event.
Arnebeck's experience with Mike Connell in court was summarized simply, "Connell was a man of conscience" and anticipates that election fraud litigation will build upon his testimony.
Attorney Arnebeck is scheduled to appear on Lou Dobbs show, tonight, December 23.
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"I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations which dare already to challenge our government in a trial of strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country." - Thomas Jefferson
luaptifer
December 24, 2008 - 15:02
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Federal agencies examining deadly Lake Township plane crash
Just time for verbatim quote:
NTSB investigator Mitch Gallo examined wreckage and talked with witnesses on Tuesday, agency spokeswoman Bridget Serchak said on Wednesday. The agency still needs information from the air traffic controller, weather details and a radar study, she said. So far the investigation shows that the plane had no issues with flight control and there was no icing, Serchak said. The plane's propeller had damage that indicates the engine was operating when the crash occurred.
[...]
Indications are Connell died from massive traumatic injuries. Although the wreckage burned following the crash, Connell's body wasn't burned, the spokeswoman said.
http://www.cantonrep.com/news/x16586786/Federal-agencies-examining-deadly-Lake-Township-plane-crash
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"I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations which dare already to challenge our government in a trial of strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country." - Thomas Jefferson
Newshound2
December 24, 2008 - 23:17
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Mike Connell
Luaptifer
I wish to thank-you for all the great work done on Mr. Mike Connell death.
My open question to the press ,is why no statement from the white house ?
Did they not work with Mr. Connell for eight years.
Please keep up the good work
TXsharon
December 26, 2008 - 09:19
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Image
I can't get that image to open. A new window opens with a blank page.
Bluedaze
luaptifer
December 26, 2008 - 09:58
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TXSharon, is it possible that you are not seeing it?
The link still works on my browser but the image is tiny, of dimensions only 176 x 1 pixels.
In fact, the two lines shown in the original post, above, are loaded directly from intelligence.house.gov. When they disappear is when we'll know that they've changed the image reference.
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"I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations which dare already to challenge our government in a trial of strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country." - Thomas Jefferson
DEFuning
December 26, 2008 - 14:53
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The HuffPo & Thomas Edsall Weigh In
It was curious to read the Huffington Post's treatment of the Connell story and the dismissal of Luapt's and Todd's work(and others) as so much tin foil. Even with the "update" that sort of apologizes for painting ePluribus ,Raw and others with such a broad brush, I still find myself puzzling over Edsall's comments. Being the student of human behavior that I am, I am want to question WHY? And a cursory query to Mr. Google gives me more than a whiff of possible journalistic taint to Edsall's egregious broadside.
Edsall may overcompensating for his monumental failure to cover the real story --and , in fact, he and his WAPO pals ran down the alley of accusing Gore of trying disenfranchise the GI Joes overseas in order to win one of the elections that Connell was "in the middle" of , replete in his fervor to further the Republican cause as evidenced by his own words as has been well documented in these pages. Edsall has extensively attempted to be the "voice" of authority on the Bush /Gore election through the "Deadline"series at the WAPO and also his "definitive" book on the subject--which ,somehow ,don't seem to mention any of the angles ePluribus has brought to light. He has an agenda and he is not interested in our facts. I don't care how many awards he has--he could have been bought and sold just like Judy. MUST. CONTROL. SPIN. NOW.
susie dow
December 26, 2008 - 21:46
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Nicking truth
I was baffled by Edsall's need to just completely dismiss ePluribus Media ironically with not so much as an example to back up his claim. I wondered what truth was inconveniently nicked. 'Conspiracy' must be the new 'shrill.'
GreyHawk
December 27, 2008 - 08:50
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Prof. Edsall issued an update that includes an
apology now at the same original story link.