VOTE MACHINE DEFECT
BRAD BLOG - Stephen Heller, the Los Angeles whistleblower who turned
over documents from Diebold's attorney, Jones-Day, in 2004 showing the
Voting Machine Company had illegally installed uncertified hardware and
software in California - and was preparing to lie about it - has pled
guilty, according to a statement tonight from the LA County District
Attorney's office. . . Heller. . . was a temporary worker at the voting
machine company law firm when he stumbled across the troubling
documents.
At the time, we quoted Michael Kohn, general counsel for the National
Whistleblower Center, as saying, "This is a very rare instance. In fact,
the only one of which I'm aware, in which a whistleblower has been
charged with a felony. I find it outrageous.". . .
But Heller doesn't have the same kind of money for high-priced attorneys
that Diebold does (that would be your money that Diebold uses for this
sort of thing, by the way); we're not surprised he opted for the deal.
In an email message from Heller sent to The Brad Blog tonight, he wrote:
"My wife and I are very happy it is over. The deal will protect me and
my wife and our assets (we have no assets left, other than our house,
but whatever we are able to accumulate in the future cannot be taken
away from us in civil court). My attorneys and I think this is the best
deal I could get based on the circumstances."
The LA County DA's statement says Heller pled to "unlawfully accessing
the company computer in connection with its legal representation of
Diebold Inc." and they quote his formal "apology" as follows: "Today, I
pled guilty to unlawfully taking Jones Day's privileged documents
without its permission while I worked there. There was no excuse for my
conduct. I very much regret taking the documents. I also regret any
disparaging statements suggesting that Jones Day committed any wrongful
acts. Upon reflection, I now believe and understand that such statements
were unjustified. I apologize to Jones Day and its client."
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3824
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POLITICAL WIRE - According to the Christian Science Monitor, women made
significant gains in nearly every political arena during this year's
midterm elections. Among them: The House will have its first female
speaker, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) Congress will have its largest corps of
women ever - 16 in the Senate and at least 71 in the House, from both
parties. Women will hold nine governorships, tied with the record set in
2004 In state legislatures, a record 2,426 women were general-election
candidates, and unofficial results show 1,735 winning, which would be a
record.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PoliticalWire/~3/52112901/women_
continue_to_move_up.html
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INDIAN COUNTRY TODAY - Montana state Senator-elect Carol Juneau of
Browning was happy with the results on election night, when a total of
10 Indians - all Democrats - won election to either the state House or
state Senate. "This is the most we've ever had in the state
Legislature," she said. When she was first elected to the state House of
Representatives in 1999, four Indians were serving in the state
Legislature: and that was higher than in earlier years. It has gradually
increased since that time, and in the last session there were eight.
http://indiancountrytoday.com/content.cfm?id=1096414040
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CLINTONISTAS OUT TO GET HOWARD DEAN
YOU MAY have noticed that the recent election of a Democratic Congress
was solely due to the efforts of Clintonista Rahm Emmanuel. At least
this is the impression given by a media which has been doing the
Clintons' bidding ever since the 1992 New Hampshire primary. The latest
victim of this obsequiousness is Democratic chair Howard Dean, who - at
least according to the media - played no role in the party's wins. It is
hard to recall another instance in which a DNC chair has gotten so
little public credit for such an achievement.
An exception is Josh Kraushaar of Hotline who notes that "James Carville
has been generating a wave of publicity in criticizing DNC Chair Howard
Dean for not sufficiently funding competitive House races. He's claimed
the Democrats could have won another dozen seats if the DNC allocated
more money in the campaign's final weeks." But then he goes through the
races case by case by case and concludes:
"There's realistically only four - certainly no more than six seats -
that perhaps could have been won with extra cash. Extra money could have
made a small difference, but certainly not to the degree that Carville
has been suggesting. Dean may have made strategic blunders in the past,
but his fiscal responsibility here seems like the wiser course."
In fact, the Democrats did well because there were enough running who
ditched the eastern elite liberal pet issues for a more populist
approach, who - to dredge up a metaphor these liberals hated when Dean
used it in his own campaign - went after the guys with confederate flag
stickers on their pickup trucks.
http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2006/11/the_carville_cl.html
AP - In one interview, Carville called Dean's errors "Rumsfeldian," a
reference to the Defense secretary. In the past, Rumsfeld has railed
about "Old Europe" and its reticence in the leadup to the Iraq war.
"The people who complain always get the headlines," Dean said, adding
there are other high-profile Democrats who support his initiative. "But
the fact is that this strategy not only works, it works in states
Democrats have given up on for 30 years. "We cannot give up on anybody."
The Association of State Democratic Chairs, gathering at this ski resort
getaway, adopted a resolution voicing strong support for Dean, who
turned 58 on Friday. The resolution said the state chairmen "honor and
thank Governor Dean for his tireless commitment to state Democratic
Parties and the '50-state strategy' ... and for never retreating from
what was right for every Democrat in every state.". . .
Dean said the victory included Republican strongholds that Democratic
strategists wrote off. Even where they lost, he argued, Democrats made
their best showing in years because of the beefed up state
organizations. "That is what the 50-state strategy is about," Dean said.
State party chairmen who receive their checks from the Democratic
National Committee clearly took Dean's side. "I don't think Mr. Carville
knows what he's talking about," said Richard Stallings, the Idaho party
chairman. "Democrats haven't been winning on the kind of stuff Carville
is talking about. The 50-state strategy is the future."
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/
20061118/ap_on_el_ge/democrats_dean
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