The Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society asked you for your questions about Election Day legal issues, and you responded. Below are some questions and answers, which will become a “Frequently “Asked Questions” (FAQ) page, and we will be adding more soon
At:
http://citmedia.org/blog/2006/11/06/election-day-law-faq/
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REPUBLICANS COURT THE BIGOT VOTE
By Paul Waldman, TomPaine.com
In a number of key races, Republicans are running sexually charged ads and counting on the electoral power of racism to turn out voters in droves.
At:
http://www.alternet.org/stories/43783/
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More of interview revealed Stephanopoulos failed to challenge Cheney on further falsehoods
Additional portions of the interview of Dick Cheney showed ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos letting Cheney repeat the administration’s self-serving and dubious assertions on Democratic tax plans, Iraq, and the economy, including the oft-repeated Republican talking point that if Rep. Charlie Rangel were to become chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, “you would see a major tax increase.”
Read more
http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200611050007?src=other
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Federal investigators have interviewed at least two more former chiefs of staff to U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris as part of a federal inquiry into her relationship with a convicted defense contractor.
At:
http://www.rawstory.com/comments/22039.html
From: Poacnewsletter
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CUTTING AND RUNNING FROM STAYING THE COURSE
At:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/27/opinion/27lakoff.html
A simple Google search puts the lie to the Bush administration’s effort to distance itself from its own catchphrase about “staying the course” in Iraq. According to cognitive linguist George Lakoff, this latest rhetorical dodge shows that the White House has finally been caught in its own language trap. “‘Stay the course’ was for years a trap for those who disagreed with the president?s policies in Iraq,” he observes. “To disagree was weak and immoral. It meant abandoning the fight against evil. But now the president himself is caught in that trap. To keep staying the course, given obvious reality, is to get deeper into disaster in Iraq, while not staying the course is to abandon one?s moral authority as a conservative. Either way, the president loses.” At the Huffington Post, Matt Neuman suggests some candidates for a replacement catchprase, including “run and hide,” “bob and weave,” “hem and haw,” “”shuck and jive,” “twist and shout.”
SOURCE: New York Times, October 27, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5365
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Will Saddam Verdict Timing Manipulate U.S. Election?
The verdict and sentencing of Saddam Hussein are scheduled to be announced on Sunday, November 5, just two days before the U.S. midterm elections.
SUREYA SAYADI, MD, drpeacess@yahoo.com,
http://www.peacepalpitations.com
A Kurdish doctor and academic now living in the U.S., Sayadi said today: “I’ve been watching the trial very closely — the Kurdish channels on satellite TV show it late night. Hearing the stories from the victims, how they were blinded, how their families were killed is just heartbreaking. But now the U.S. government is using these people’s death and suffering for an election. Since the 1970s, the U.S. government has played with Kurdish lives. They are playing with Iraqi lives and now they’re even playing with American lives.
She added: “The trial is supposed to show justice, but it doesn’t. It doesn’t examine who gave Saddam the chemical and biological agents to kill people — it was the U.S. and Germany. If we were really after justice, there would be an international tribunal, like for Rwanda. Instead, the U.S. government just wants to use the trial of Saddam to continue its policies in Iraq today. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.”
See: “November Surprise? Why Hasn’t Mainstream Media Connected the Dots Between Saddam’s Judgment Day and the Midterm Elections?” by Tom Engelhardt
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1018-23.htm .
From: Institute for Public Accuracy
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Special Inspector for Iraq Reconstruction Reports, October 2006
06-032 Iraqi Security Forces: Review of Plans to Implement Logistics Capabilities, October 28, 2006:
“This review was requested by the Chairman, Committee on Armed Services, United States Senate. In his request, the Chairman stated that a critical element of the reconstruction effort in Iraq is the development of logistics support capabilities for the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) within the Ministries of Defense and Interior. The Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-I) is using funds from both the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund (IRRF) and the Iraq Security Forces Fund to build the logistics capabilities of the Iraqi Army under the Ministry of Defense and the Iraqi local and national police forces under the Ministry of Interior.”
At:
http://www.sigir.mil/reports/pdf/audits/06-032.pdf
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New Report Documents Contributions by Federal Judges to Bush Campaign
From the Center for Investigative Reporting and Salon.com: “At least two dozen federal judges appointed by President Bush since 2001 made political contributions to key Republicans or to the president himself while under consideration for their judgeships, government records show. A four-month investigation of Bush-appointed judges by the Center for Investigative Reporting reveals that six appellate court judges and 18 district court judges contributed a total of more than $44,000 to politicians who were influential in their appointments. Some gave money directly to Bush after he officially nominated them. Other judges contributed to Republican campaign committees while they were under consideration for a judgeship.”
Money Trails to the Federal Bench: an investigation into the history of campaign contributions by Bush-appointed judges (66 pages, PDF), released October, 31, 2006
At:
http://www.muckraker.org/content/investigations/Money%20Trails%20Full%20Report.pdf
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Public Interest Group Now Tracking 15 Members of Congress Under Investigation
CongressPedia, Members of Congress under investigation: “This article is an index of the members of Congress currently under investigation by the congressional ethics committees (House and Senate) or law enforcement authorities, based on credible media reports.”
At:
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Members_of_Congress_under_investigation
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November Surprise Shocker
Borowitz Report – G.O.P. Backs Same-Sex Massage
Republicans Surprise Voters with Election Day Hail Mary
In one of the most stunning November surprises in recent memory, the Republican Party today declared its unequivocal support for a constitutional amendment legalizing same-sex massage.
Buffeted in recent weeks by sex scandals involving former congressman Mark Foley and conservative evangelist Ted Haggard, the G.O.P had been expected to steer clear of any issues that might remind the electorate of those controversies — making its decision to back a same-sex massage amendment all the more startling.
But at a press conference at the White House, top Republican tactician Karl Rove said that the G.O.P. had decided to adopt an “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” strategy to win over undecided voters on Election Day.
“This constitutional amendment defines massage as a rub-down between a man and a man, one of whom may or may not be selling crystal meth,” Mr. Rove said.
The same-sex massage amendment was not the only Hail Mary pass thrown by a Republican on Election Day, as Virginia senate candidate George Allen attempted to close the gender gap in his race by announcing that he was a woman.
Mr. Allen, who did not know he was Jewish until earlier this year, said he made a similar discovery about his gender on the eve of the midterm election.
“When I discovered that I was a woman after all of these years of believing I was a man, all I could think was, ‘Oy,’” Mr. Allen said.
Elsewhere, an Iraqi court sentenced former dictator Saddam Hussein to death by hanging or by living in Baghdad, whichever comes first.
http://www.borowitzreport.com/
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three to see
Steve Benson: be sure to pick up your “i tried to vote today” sticker
http://www.azcentral.com/sshow/News/Benson/4271_71516.jpg
Signe Wilkinson: bush, not bush
http://www.uclick.com/feature/06/11/06/wpswi061106.gif
Steve Sack: state of denial, cont.