Sounds as if Olbermann is concluding we don't have a case...

[ailsagirl]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6210240/

That is, he admits there are problems but not that fraud occurred.

But I could be wrong. Anybody??

[lonestarnot]

1. He's been hinting that for a couple of weeks... Maybe he's afraid of

a civil war too!

[NVMojo]

57. the comment at the top about being on vacation at a secure location...

interesting, but loved the slam related to Ann Coulter and loved the definition of a facists!!! HAHAHAHAHA!! Can't even begin to imagine the brainless emails he's been getting from the freeperville groups!!!

[Pam-Moby]

2. That is the way it sounded to me as well!!!

[goodboy]

3. wonder when he'll have an "accident" maybe he got too close?

[McCamy Taylor]

42. his mentor at NBC already had a really bad accident

[goodboy]

51. that's right...

[Carolab]

4. Tell him if he really wants to help

he'll help get the raw exit poll data to Conyers. I e-mailed him three times about this. NBC was a "subscriber" and is one of the networks Conyers wrote to requesting the data. KO should put up or just shut up altogether if he is not going to help where he can.

[AntiFascist]

12. aren't they starting to call him a "problem employee" or something?

[RaulVB]

5. Exactlty right, "carolab"!

Olbermann can request the exit poll raw data ANY TIME IF HE WANTS TO.

He doesn't, for some reason, and that would be the end of the deal.

So, he should shut up and enjoy his ratings, because we made him a big service during the last 30 + days!

[jdog]

6. Whoa there!

How do you know he hasn't? Have you ever worked for a large corporation, in a public position like his? He's the only MSM that's covered the story at all, but gimme a break, he's not the one who calls the shots on stuff like this - including the exit polls. That's going way beyond his reach I think. And he still is managing to keep election stories on the show most nights.

[RaulVB]

8. Simple:

Have you read Olbermann stating:

"I requested that information but the petition was denied..."

Plain english!

[jdog]

11. Oh yeah, you're right - -

he DID try asking for it.

[anamandujano]

9. I tend to agree with this

I doubt he could get the data. The whole world hangs on it. Why would the repukes (his bosses) let it out.

I can't watch him, I pulled the plug on cable a couple of years ago so I rely on what I read here and the blog. Sad that it's come to this but several here warned us.

[IStriker]

33. I warned people about what he was doing early on...

and got jumped all over for not thinking he was going to "save us."

[mattclearing]

64. You would think he already has access to it.

It is NBC property.

[Alizaryn]

7. I did not get that from his blog at all.

I felt he was playing the middle of the road and definately got his slams against the Conservatives in there.

"The mainstream media has so tiptoed around the voting irregularities stories that it’s deflated any reasonable belief that there are swarms of reporters bypassing facts to substitute their own agendas. Instead of a circus, the Conyers “voting forums” have received tepid coverage.

Had there been a reversal of the poles in this political equation, of course, the impenetrable Sean Hannity would be in his 49th consecutive day of broadcasting without sleep, and by now would’ve already announced that Democrats from Outer Space had stolen the election."

I really hope that "Brad Blog" or Curtis himself gets ahold of him and explains the details and other side in regards to the Curtis story. Hopefully, he will listen and report the many details left out.

[Doctor O]

17. I run a large software company and we have discussed

Curtis and his claims. All my senior technical people who each have twenty plus years of math, computer development, and/or architecture experience, Ph d's, masters and have worked for companies like IBM, HP, DEC, have concluded that his story does not hold water. We have worked on systems for a number of industries we have software running critical pieces of banking systems, INTERNET retail web sites, Internet Service Providers , in short some very top notch technical people, have concluded Curtis is off base. Now having said this, is it possible to do, yes, but we have concluded he is looking for minutes of glory.

I really think any computer expert could debunk him in 15 minutes.

And by the way has any bothered to check his background? From what I hear it is pretty colorful.

And isn't he the person how has reported that his neighbors have killed 22 of dogs over time?

[AntiFascist]

25. Can you provide specific details of what aspects of his claims....

you have analyzed, or are we just supposed to accept this statement due to your expertise? I have managed people with graduate degrees who have no clue when it comes to applied software development.

[Doctor O]

27. It is his lack of detail and his lack of being specific that

are the real clues. He makes some genralizations that software challenged people can hang on, but no specifics.

[AntiFascist]

28. Listening to a radio interview the other day...

I don't think any mainstream media wants to air stuff that gets too technical because most listeners would tune out. I believe they even cut him off at one point. What is important are what details were provided to Rep. Conyers and the Judicial Committee.

[Doctor O]

34. I listened to his testimony and read all his affadavits,

he still did not provide details.

[AntiFascist]

39. Is there a link....

or some way to view these affidavits?

[crispini]

69. they're up on Brad Blog

and (as a designer/software engineer) ... they're *not* very technical; they just didn't give me everything that I wanted in terms of detail.

[Skarbrowe]

29. I have no idea if Curtis is totally on the up and up, BUT under oath

is how the guy told his story. So, if someone can prove what he says is a lie in any way, he has to know that means perjury. I can understand someone wanting their 15 minutes of fame and to be honest, I didn't like the way he laughed at times. I also got the impression that he was enjoying the spot-light. But, he said that what he was saying was true, he said it under oath and he has to know that.....whoa...do you think he could be a plant put in there to be exposed, therefore putting everything that IS true in jeopardy, like the "planted" fake documents on *'s Guard Duty AWOL?

Oh, I give up. I can't express my opinion on this subject because it's too much of a bummer.

[AntiFascist]

30. That's interesting....

now we're using conspiracy theories to argue against Curtis' validity? Why don't we just put our faith in the judicial process, since its all we have left, after all.

[Doctor O]

36. If true, he may also have implicated himself in a crime.

Conspiracy to commit election fraud.

[Lerkfish]

68. wow! I was waiting for this tactic, and now you have provided it.

classic republican tactic: when embarrassing info comes out, do a personal smear campaign against the whistleblower with unrelated accusations.

neighbors and dogs do not refute his testimony, but they do give us an insight into those scared enough to try this crap.

welcome to DU!

[pbartch]

76. look at the Doctor's notes and you'll see he is swiping at Dem's opinions,

evidence etc. He's prob a Repiglican.

[Peace Patriot]

83. Typical "rovian" attack...

"And by the way has any bothered to check his background? From what I hear it is pretty colorful."

"And isn't he the person how has reported that his neighbors have killed 22 of dogs over time?"

What are you trying to pull here, "Doctor O"? (--appropriate name--your credibility is getting closer to zero with every post).

[madison2000]

91. I can't see how anyone would "conclude" that

unless they weren't open to it in the first place.

[Carolab]

19. Too convenient

to pass the blame on down to the "others" in MSM.

The real fault lies with Blackwell and all of the stonewalling and obvious violations of laws in his state, impeding a genuine recount.

[fearnobush]

10. Is it time for the Impeach Bush bumper stickers yet?

Or do we have to wait till 2006.

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[RaulVB]

14. "We don't have a case?

Says who?

Who are "you"?

[robbedvoter]

15. Oh, I prefer it than when they misuse the "we". Less hypocritical this way

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[RaulVB]

20. Nice seen you, "buddy"...

You'll have a very short life here!

[Name removed]

24. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[saracat]

26. Because Bush Is an idiot Chimp and anyone who voted for him is either

stupid or evil. There was NO legitimate reason to vote for Bush. But some of his followers like the country in crisis!

[LIBERALNAVYVET]

73. I AGREE

KEITH CAN'T REPORT MORE ON IT BECAUSE HE IS AFRAID OF LOSING HIS JOB TO ANOTHER "CONSERVATIVE" I LIKE OLBERMANN, BUT EVEN HE CAN'T FIGHT THE GOVERNMENT

[crispini]

21. Mods, cleanup in Aisle 5.... n/t

[LittleClarkie]

31. Whooop! There it is.

The tombstone. Buh bye.

[LittleClarkie]

22. I can't say

We're not supposed to call them out anymore.

I do suspect he will have "disrupted poorly" in a few minutes though.

[txindy]

16. He's a reporter. He's not there to interpret or judge the news.

That's what we rail at Faux and CNN for doing, so why would we want Keith doing the same thing?

I was disappointed that he didn't present both sides of the Yang/Feeney/Curtis story as we know it today in his blog, but that doesn't mean he's given up on the story. Keith is not free to stand on his desk and scream, "Fraud!!!" There's a little thing called slander. This is a sensitive story. We're not feeling all that delicate about it, ourselves, but we can't project our feelings onto the reporting of the facts. I have to keep reminding myself of that, but it's true.

[Clark2008]

23. I wish some of you would try being a reporter for a day

instead of gossip mongers and rumor spreaders.

Look - I agree with the post above. The man is doing what he can. I don't think he hinted that there's no case - I think he said that ONE component of several is not panning out. And he is being a real reporter and telling all sides of the issue - not slamming his own version of reality down our throats.

There are several issues surrounding this case and I think the best way to get MSM to report on it is to first center it around the voter intimidation and low number of machines in minority districts: that's provable and allows for human drama.

Once the investigation gets underway, then you start bringing in the physical data. You have to draw in people before you start dropping stats on them like an anvil.

And as a "story-teller," if you will, Keith knows this and knows what makes people interested in an issue: the humanity.

Let it pan out.

Besides - Keith really jabs the MSM and the Republican Nazi Party on the nose on a regular basis.

[Carolab]

32. I was a reporter and for more than a day

I know it's hard to get the truth out and I give Keith tremendous credit.

BUT I do think he might belabor the missing raw data and get Mitovsky on to explain why it can't be released. I also wonder why he hasn't talked about the various ways in which Ohio has violated its own laws for recounting the votes.

[Clark2008]

35. Didn't Mitovsky turn him down?

I was thinking he had after he wrote Keith the unsolicited e-mail.

In any case, I don't know if NBC would turn over that information to one of its own reporters if it thought it might hurt their corporation.

I just wish some people who are complaining could realize how many legal hoops reporters must jump through - particularly if they're going against the mainstream tide, as Keith would be doing to report fraud - to get a story out.

I still think the only way the MSM gets involved is to humanize the story and a bunch of machines aren't going to do that. Although... maybe:

http://www.toostupidtobepresident.com/shockwave/recountdown.htm

:)

[Miami Liberal]

37. Well said n/t

[pilgrimsoul]

41. I think it's been so long since...

we've had truly impartial journalists reporting on important issues that we don't know how to take middle-of-the-road reporting anymore when we see it. My sense about Olbermann's non-polarity is that it is a deliberate reporting strategy designed not to satsify those of in the know, but to gently prod the minds of the uninformed about this issue and get them thinking about it. Once you get the people you're reporting to start asking questions themselves, then you've really accomplished something.

Like many of you, I have been frustrated by Keith's unwillingness to bluntly put it all out there and have posted that sentiment here. However, after more reflection, I now believe that Keith's sober, methodical approach will do more to legitimize the allegations of election fraud with the American public than anything else we may want him to do. As satisfying as it would be to hear him on the air saying everything we feel and know to be true about this farce of an election, Keith has to be careful with what he says in order to maintain his credibility with those he's trying to reach. If he makes one factual misstep or portrays the slightest bias, he will be marginalized. I admire the hell out of him for continuing to walk this tightrope day after day, and feel grateful Keith is still plugging away at this issue at all. You know he must be taking tremendous heat for doing it. So I'm going to stop second-guessing the guy and hope that his reporting is opening some eyes that to date have remained closed. If all I want is to be agreed with about the election fraud, I can come to DU and post.

I'd rather have Keith educating the ignorant about this issue than validating my feelings. I'm still on his bandwagon.

[Clark2008]

47. AMEN!

eom

[outrage]

74. "I think it's been so long since..."

I now believe that Keith's sober, methodical approach will do more to legitimize the allegations of election fraud with the American public than anything else we may want him to do.

I completely agree. A more reasoned approach is important instead of frothing at the mouth about it and being completely dismissed as a nutjob conspiracy theorist, right?

[mattclearing]

65. I understand the rigors of reporting and the need for proper sourcing.

My issue is that his debunking of the Sherole Eaton story completely ignores her allegation of a cheat sheet on the wall. Without accounting for whether or not that is fact or fiction, he can't seriously debunk her story or the Tri Ad manipulation as innocent. There's nothing innocent about coming in with a pre-conceived conclusion.

[Fly by night]

38. My direct response to Olbermann's latest blog

I just emailed this to Keith. I'm not holding my breath for a response, but his latest blog is not the first time I've wondered just what role Keith is playing in this process. Disagree with my concerns and suspicions if you want to, just please check your estrogen-stained blue dresses and rose-colored glasses at the door when you do. As for me, I think we're at the beginning of the second American Revolution and even this thread shows how many frauds and illusionists there are among "us".

Now for my long-winded (but evidence-drenched post) to Keith:
-----------
Keith,

1) First of all, unless and until NBC and the other media outlets comply with John Conyers' request to release the raw exit poll data, you have no credibility left with me. And your role in this story is moving from being Pulitzer-worthy to being Judas goat-like.

2) As I'm sure you're aware, the non MSM source for the Clint Curtis revelations (bradblog) has already refuted the points you've made in this blog entry on their website. Care to comment on your inaccuracies anywhere, as pointed out on bradblog?

3) You tell us that you've spoken with Feeney but no direct quotes and no face time on your show for the Repugs' "loose cannon". Further, Feeney still refuses to speak with Florida newspapers or any other media on the record. So your staff is either doing a half-assed job of journalism or you're providing cover for Feeney (something that his continued "no (public) comment"s fail to do for himself) Which is it?

4) The Hocking County "demonstration" is so laughably stupid that I'm amazed that you would give that flea circus any attention. Here's how I commented on it in a "letter to the editor" to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer: (Comments in parentheses are not in my letter -- they're directed to you.)

"In an effort to determine whether tampering with the vote counting machine by Triad had occurred in Hocking County, local prosecutors and police allowed the technician to "demonstrate" what he had done to "prove" that no wrongdoing occurred. (Of course, no one but him and his bosses really know what he did, but that seems to be beside the point.)

"It seems that we now have a solution to rampant crime in Ohio and the U.S. Just let accused criminals re-enact their crime to prove that they had done nothing wrong. Problem solved.

"Just how venal are Ohio officials and how stupid are Ohio media (and MSNBC) that they believe that this sham proved anything? What it is proving to the rest of us in the U.S. is that trusting the fate of our country's election process to Ohioans is the worst thing we can do. See you folks in court -- SOON."

5) Denigrating what John Conyers is doing, instead of blasting the inaction of the Republicans in the face of volumes of nationwide fraud/theft evidence, is blaming the wrong person here. My hope is that some honorable Republicans (i.e., the New England Senatorial contingent) will stand up with Democrats and demand that those who acted to betray our democratic principles will be brought to justice. Otherwise, the Republican Party has no future, other than hanging together.

6) "We still have no evidence of wrongdoing?" Well, here's a letter from one of the Ohio recount volunteers -- a friend of mine -- that describes three violations of election law undertaken at the behest of Blackwell. I believe I've sent this to you once, but maybe sending it to you a second time will be the charm. Please have someone who understands election law read and explain this to you and your staff:
-------------
Dear (my name),

I want to thank you for being the one to hook me up with the Greens for the recount. As you would expect, it was a nightmarish situation in many ways due to the inability or unwillingness of the Green Party to assess their human resources - both what they have available and what will be required -as well as an apparent lack of a coherent strategy. Tactically, they were unable to communicate amongst themselves effectively and of course volunteers were left entirely out of any meaningful loop unless they pestered, whined or threatened reprisals (just kidding about the threats).

Nevertheless, it is striking that the volunteers were indeed able to compile evidence of numerous incidents that would lead any rational person to conclude that the Ohio election was riddled with fraud. Let's just begin with the illegal withholding of the poll registries. Ohio state law specifically states that such refusal to permit examination of these documents constitutes prima facie evidence of electoral fraud. Every county board of elections director in Ohio was ordered to commit this illegal act. As far as I know, all complied with this order, thus willingly becoming perpetrators of a crime that counts every American citizen as its victim. It may come as no surprise that every director with whom I had dealings was a Republican.

I helped organize and facilitate the work of 12 Wisconsin volunteers who took time away from work and dug deep in their pockets to travel to Ohio to do the tedious work of turning over the rocks. It was an exhausting trip of some 1000 miles round trip for all of us, but we were happy to do it. We all love our country and want to awaken her from this long darkness that stretches out behind us for four years, and in front of us as far as the eye can see.

We began to arrive in Ohio on Wednesday morning and we dispersed to a number of counties in western Ohio. It is too early for me to share all of their experiences. I've barely gotten home myself, and family duties call along with holiday preparations. But I can share my experience with you.

The most startling conversation I had was with the county prosecutor, who was present "to represent the county" at the recount I attended. Also present was an attorney for the Republican Party - whether at the county or state level was not clear - and a representative from the office of Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell. In a sidebar discussion outside the counting room about a technicality concerning Nader's presence on the ballot, despite his removal on legal grounds, I was told by the prosecutor that the company supplying the tabulating equipment and software was Triad Systems.

Much has been written about their Republican connections and suspect activities in regard to the Ohio election, so I won't go into the details here. Here's the real shocker: Triad Systems had a technician in this particular county office the morning of the recount, before it started. He had disassembled the tabulator, and replaced "a switch" that had supposedly malfunctioned. He was lurking in the hallway outside the counting room during the entire recount. One of our volunteers engaged him in a conversation and obtained his name and other information which has been conveyed to the Green Party organizers for further action. The prosecutor, in conveying this information, repeated over and over again that the vendor was Triad. He is a Democrat, and I would say more interested in democracy than some of the other attendees.

I phoned this information up to the next level and we are in the process of documenting all that occurred. When I was speaking with our coordinator, I was told that a Triad technician was also busy in Greene County, which has been the scene of several recount melodramas that have been publicized. In this case, it turns out the technician was actually the president of Triad Systems. (Note to Keith: my friend was not in Hocking County. Sure seems like lots of Triad machines needed routine maintenance by high ranking Triad officials at exactly the same time last week. Yeah, right.)

Need I tell you that our observers were denied the right to inspect the voter registry from any precinct in the county, including the one used for the 3% sample? I think this may be a good thing, since this violation of law basically means that no valid recount took place.

I can't help but think that these types of scenarios were playing out all over Ohio this week, and that the discovery process in which we were engaged has surely produced enough evidence to establish probable cause in legal terms. I would be very surprised if there were not multiple suits filed at the county level in the coming weeks.

I hope that my theory is correct - that it does no good to simply elect a new president if the rest of the corrupt Hydra is left in place. This monstrosity has to be taken apart, down to the last remnant, and swept out of office, out of the process, and utterly discredited in the eyes of at least the vast majority of Americans. The only way to do this is to methodically expose the breadth and depth of the corruption of our electoral processes in a comprehensive manner. It's like an enormous jigsaw puzzle, and we need all the pieces to show the picture to the populace at large.

Our job is threefold:

-We must continue to dig, dig, dig for every particle of information, every piece of this vast puzzle.

-We must continue to tell every person we meet that our will as a people has been thwarted, that every vote cast was stolen by this fraud, regardless of party or candidate.

-And we must never give up pressuring the media to cover this travesty.

I don't know if John Kerry is as uninvolved in this tedious process as he appears to be. I sincerely hope that the Green Party will meet with Kerry and lay out the evidence we have uncovered of massive election fraud in Ohio. I hope he will fight - not for himself, but for all of us. But if he chooses not to fight, we will all carry on - and this time we'll know that the Democratic Party is not an option for us. I wonder if they really understand what has been unleashed. I wonder if either of our "two" major parties understand that if this fraudulent election is not examined, criminals prosecuted, and results reassessed, that they will have firmly and finally planted the seeds of their own destruction as viable political entities. It will be interesting, and no doubt painful, to witness the events to come as they unfold before us.

It was a great experience. I met some absolutely wonderful people, and I left Ohio feeling that we had taken our place in a small way at the turning point in our nation's history. Which way it will turn is still in question, but I know we all have a part to play. I'm going off politics, other than writing up reports, until after the holidays. By then, I am hoping that my way forward will be more clear. Thanks again for helping me find my part in this effort for now. And good luck tomorrow in Nashville. I'll be there in spirit.

Love, Diana (a pseudonym -- I'll be happy to put you (Keith) in touch with the writer if you call me)

---------------

Keith, I know my friend would be happy to be interviewed by you or your staff. Unlike Feeney, she'll be happy to go on the record. Here is an eye witness who directly observed wrongdoing, obstruction and likely additional tampering with Triad equipment by Triad officials -- what are you waiting for? Call me and I'll give you her number.

At this point in this saga, I am seriously questioning your role in this process. You will restore my faith that you are truly "one of us" if you will demand that NBC release the raw exit poll information. If NBC execs refuse, you can then do a full (and uncensored) story on why they refused. Anything else you do from this point forward will just be white noise, against which the ringing of your Judas goat bell will sound clear to me.

Yours truly, a once new and hopeful fan, and now a growing cynic that you are simply another MSM (mostly shit media) shill:

(my name)
(my phone number)
--------------
If and when I get a response from Keith or his staff, I will pass that along. For now, I'm putting my energies behind John Conyers, mobilizing public sentiment here in Tennessee and putting in a "call to action" to John Kerry, who needs to step forward now or let us all rest in peace. Out.

[Junkdrawer]

45. Thank you.

:thumbsup:

You folks are my heros.

[Clark2008]

46. Excuse my estrogen-soaked blue dress

but I am ALSO mobilizing public sentiment in Tennessee - in Republican East Tennessee, for that matter.

I've already put the bug in a columnist friend's ear to write about why the MSM is ignoring this story. He, too, wasn't up on the story, so he's researching it to report on it sometime closer to Jan. 6.

Glad to see another Tennessean on board.

I work in public relations now (former reporter) for a tech company. Everyone, even the Republicans, are concerned that our voting depends on Windows platforms as in the GEMS Tabulator. Others are concerned about voter intimidation as they are minorities. You have to tailor your message to the listener to - ahem - humanize it for them.

Curtis writes an interesting blog. And, he may have valid information - but he may have motives as well. But, if and until that information is picked up in such a format - such as Conyers' hearings - most MSM are going to shy away from it lest they be sued. It's too explosive. However, if its mentioned under cover of a public investigation, such as the Conyers hearings, then its fair game.

Is Conyers going to call Curtis to "testify" (not a technical testify, since it's an ad-hoc committee, but is still spoken in an open public forum)? If not, why not? And, as to the "he said, he said" between Olbermann and Curtis, that is a judgment call since it's up to the reader to decide who's telling what truth and with what information that person had at the time he blogged. I'm, for now, going to soak up the information from both and not pass a judgment.

And I'm glad you got that letter from "Diana" to Keith. Maybe he can and will do something with it. Of course, it won't be this week, but that letter from Diana humanizes it more than a bunch of stats from exit polling. I'm interested in this story and even my eyes blur when I read some of the info posted on this board regarding all these poll figures. I can only imagine what the sheeple in this country will do. As for Diana, I agree that we should keep the pressure up on the MSM, we shouldn't let this go. However, we cannot jump on every bandwagon that passes along, either. Personally, I think this story is becoming just too darned big for many of the MSM to even understand. The vast lot of the TV talking heads are former models and Miss America's - I just don't know how we're going to get them interested in something this complex. We need to start whittling it down.

That all said, I don't see why you're punishing Keith for doing something that no one else is.

[Fly by night]

62. Greetings, fellow "Orange Stater"

Thanks for your reply. Glad to hear that you're working hard over in East Tennessee. We were honored to have people from Knoxville, Crossville and Chattanooga (as well as Greens, Libertarians, Constitutionalists, veterans, students, old and new voters, and people from as far away as New Orleans, Seattle and Los Angeles -- and at least four Roveist "observers") at our Saving Our Democracy rally this Sunday. Working together, we will take our country back. We even (finally) broke the Nashville newspaper silence about the election theft (I'll write more about Nashville's rally later today for DU):

http://www.tennessean.com/nation-world/archives/04/12/63091649.shtml?Element_ID=63091649

As I said in my earlier post, I started out thinking highly of Keith Olbermann for covering the election theft story, but recently his actions (and inactions) have been concerning. Why he isn't ridiculing the Hocking County "re-enactment" is beyond me. I do hope that he and his staff will follow up on the "Diana" letter -- I have sent it to them twice now. I also hope they will demand that NBC release the raw exit poll data, and they will decide that if Congressman Feeney has any more to say, he can do it on camera.

As far as Clint Curtis goes, I'm not aware that he has his own blog. I was referring to www.bradblog.com a blog by Brad Friedman, who broke the Curtis story. And Curtis did testify under oath last Monday at the Conyers hearing in Ohio. In front of TV cameras and many newspaper reporters. And yet still no MSM coverage of anything that was presented at that hearing.

The media silence is the most frightening aspect of this story to me -- I already knew that the Bush Rethugs would do anything to stay in power. I just didn't expect our MSM to bend over and drop their drawers in unison -- that's the scary part of all of this.

That said, let's communicate off the board, so we can share info about Tennessee actions. Please email me and I'll write right back. Peace.

[ExpatriateTexan]

88. You Tell Him

Great letter. If he's got the guts to follow through, then do it. If not, then shut up.

[Junkdrawer]

40. Say, you don't think Olbermann's job is damage control, do you?

:think:

[AntiFascist]

43. Being the only prominent member of the media who is covering...

this story, he is in a unique position to put an end to the coverage as well.

[Junkdrawer]

44. Here's what I posted Monday...

Complete silence would have been damning, That's why I think Olberman was tapped. Remember his very first words on the subject were to "debunk" the media lockdown. And his coverage was pretty tame at best and is now becoming less and less prominent in his news casts (although he is giving it some ink in his blog).

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=180349&mesg_id=180771

[AntiFascist]

49. Interesting.....I hate to keep saying this but...

whenever the story comes close to coverage of (Windows-based) computers, he suddenly seems to shy away or debunk anyone reporting anything negative. Notice in his latest blog he mentions that since reporting of a certain issue was starting to hit major newspapers, only then was he able to report on it himself.

[Junkdrawer]

50. Microsoft and GE do sign his ample paychecks...

Follow the money, as they say...

[high density]

52. ? A CMOS battery has nothing to do with Windows

And if the computer is 14 years old, I could easily see the battery going dead. Plus the chances are that this 14 year old computer isn't running Windows. :)

[AntiFascist]

53. Isn't that the one voting system issue that KO did pursue? nt

[Clark2008]

54. No, but the GEMS Tabulator

uses Access - a Microsoft Window program that is easily - VERY easily - manipulated and should never, ever, ever be used without a shitload of firewall backups and VPNs.

And, yes, MSN is the MSN in MSNBC. I can see his having to shy away at this aspect.

However, I still contend he's not a ringer. He's walked away from better-paying jobs before because the corporation was yanking him around - I don't think he'd let MSN stop him from reporting on the entire kit and kaboodle.

[AntiFascist]

55. Perhaps it needs to hit another major news source first nt

[mirandapriestly]

59. That's what I've been suspecting

that he is reporting on the election fraud to make it look like someone is doing something, then he will say there is no case. Which I hate to think, because I really liked him

[bywho4who]

48. He is waiting

For the taboo to fall away

[terry4kerry]

56. I don't that was what he was saying..

I read his article and I didn't think he was saying anything against the fraud case or giving up. I think he was just saying not to put too much weight on what we have this far. Also not to count on just one or two individuals for that evidence. He had some very good points and I thought that his post was very well put. Just because we don't have the evidence yet, does not mean it isn't there.

[Nothing Without Hope]

58. My opinions are similar to what you express in your post.

KO's latest blog entry does not do the Repubs or their media apologists any favors:
(snip)
The mainstream media has so tiptoed around the voting irregularities stories that it’s deflated any reasonable belief that there are swarms of reporters bypassing facts to substitute their own agendas. Instead of a circus, the Conyers “voting forums” have received tepid coverage.

Had there been a reversal of the poles in this political equation, of course, the impenetrable Sean Hannity would be in his 49th consecutive day of broadcasting without sleep, and by now would’ve already announced that Democrats from Outer Space had stolen the election.
(snip)

Re Curtis and the other stories we are following, he is basically saying that the evidence he has so far seen on these cases isn't solid enough to build a winning case. He is not ruling out that this can still be done. At the same time, he is saying that the security of the voting process was deeply compromised and anything COULD have happened:
(snip)
But the real impact in Hocking is the simple fact that a computer technician had access to the voting equipment in violation of the Ohio Secretary of State’s controversial extension of the “canvassing period.” Simply put, according to Kenneth Blackwell, nobody should’ve been allowed to dust the machine, let alone replace a battery or parts, except under extremely controlled circumstances.

Thus the evidence of a “fix” in Hocking is almost nil. The evidence of holes in the security of the voting system big enough to drive a full-sized scandal through, is conclusive.
(snip)

I believe it is counterproductive to attack KO every time he doesn't say things we want to hear or doesn't push the stories we want to see pushed as hard as we would like. I see no reason to disbelieve his honesty. I remain unconvinced of Curtis' verifiability myself and am awaiting further developments on that front. But I am hoping that further investigations in Ohio and other states will produce solidly documented evidence that will ultimately build a successful case to challenge the election. In the meantime, I am glad that Keith Olbermann is continuing to keep the election fraud story in the news.

[autorank]

60. Who cares. It's all bull shit if it's the CM (Corporate Media)!!!

Fuck leaders, media personalities, those who look like rescuers! They're all simply bull shit. They wake up lying, they lie all day, they go to bed at night with the express purpose of dreaming up more lies.

Do not pin you hopes on any one person or savior. We've been burned in the past, it will continue in the future.

If Kieth O stays on the story, he's part of our movement and he will benefit. If he doesn't, he'll miss the greatest story since WWII.

Same for Kerry. Sit it out if you want, be cautious, history will pass you by.

The cause of Democracy is an ongoing struggle. We're the latest chapter. It's the grassroots baby and we'll win.

[anamandujano]

61. I like your style autorank

We're all in various stages of realization and creeping cynicism. I think I'm almost where you are in the latter but I will say one more thing about Keith. He doesn't have the time to go into the details of every development every day. He takes the respectful course in dealing with the so-called accepted people, to clarify--those that most people see as honest members of our society. He is dealing with Feeney in this manner (as I'm reading here--I haven't seen or read a thing more about this interview). If he got Feeney to weigh in on anything, that's good. If Feeney might come back to talk some more, better yet.

About Curtis--I'm still not sure, after reading a fair amount, how reliable he is or will be as evidence to break this fraud wide open. I give more weight to his being on the level just from what I've read here. But, I think it's better for Keith to doubt and doubt until he can doubt no more on each and every twist and turn.

Many of us are worried that things aren't progressing fast enough. We get dejected hearing anything that seems to side with the criminals. I'm in that group and this week especially am living off the energy of posters like you. Did we ever think we'd be called upon to fight again for our freedoms. What a time this is.

[autorank]

86. "It's grassroots time!" Like your style too.

I remember a guy from CA named David Harris. He was a Stanford student way back when and he marched and spoke for civil rights in AL. Got the crap beat out of him. He went from being a bright student to a national figure (married to Joan Baez briefly) out of no where because he stood up. There were many other's like that in the Civil Rights movement. Tad before my time but I knew about Harris through friends who told the story and had articles on him. Cong. John Lewis is similar in that his willingness to speak out and participate in a "lost cause" at real personal risk made everybody step back. Our new heroes are all over the country counting votes, investigating fraud, and, I hope, cruising the internet figuring out how the tallies were manipulated.

[berniew1]

63. Its because no one has sent him the documentation of fraud-its proven

Systematic vote machine fraud, "Default to Bush" has been documented in swing states such as Ohio, Florida, and New Mexico- and some of this has been observed in other states as well.
http://www.flcv.com/fraudpat.html
http://web/northnet.org/minstrel/youngstown.htm
Other types of systematic fraud have also been observed in many areas.
These appear to explain the swing to Republican seen by the difference in the exit polls and official vote totals.

This means that Bush or another default candidate would get not only the votes of those who didn't notice that the intended candidate didn't register, but any intentional non votes or accidental non votes or unsuccessfully completed votes. Quite an advantage. Under normal circumstances this would result in a swing as much as 2 to 4% in many areas. But since it is a matter of record that the default was hard to override and sometimes impossible as reported by the EIRS reports and acknowleged by poll workers, only the most watchful or purposeful voters may have been able to successfully vote for a chosen non-Republican candidate. Thus the swing was likely much larger for some machines and even more in some minority precincts that appear to have been targeted to produce high levels of misvotes based on the large number of EIRS reports in minority precincts. There were also a few cases where precincts had machines set to default for a minor party candidate, but none observed to default to Kerry. These patterns have been confirmed by analysts and computer experts in several counties of each of these states. Other similar default related patterns have also been observed in some of these areas, such as failure to register a presidential vote when a voter tried to vote straight party line. This would result in the presidential vote going to the other “unintended” party.

[Snivi Yllom]

66. he does not state it as succinct as Perlstein of the Village Voice did

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0451/perlstein.php

[thatcoloredfella]

67. Why Countdown's Olbermann Might Be Bailing On The Election Fraud Story...

- He's no longer the lone champion of this story in the media! Yes, he might be it for cable TV, but he got 6,000+ emails after his first report on Ohio, wanna guess how many he gets now?

- Admit it, you're not watching as religiously as when word first spread that Countdown ran with the story? You were too busy firing off threatening emails to the NYTimes and the Washington Post (and it worked!), and now his overnights have dropped off.

- It doesn't help when you have principals like Bev Harris and Mike Madsen, with the credibility of Ann Coulter.

- We're at the point where exit polling analysis, official election results anomalies and even sworn testimony and affidavits, have all lost their shock value. We're at the point where we need indictments and 1 U.S. Senator to oppose the final Electoral tally.

Give Keith a break and some credit for helping us get this far! Nothing significant will happen until after Jan 1, in meantime, keep gathering the evidence, educating, emailing and informing. We might not feel it, but the pressure and spotlight are on Blackwell and the Ohio Republicans - and they're feeling it!

If we can shame the media onto this story, we will make Ohio answer for its election fraud!

[crispini]

70. LOL, I'm still watching Keith as religiously as I ever was!

:loveya: :loveya: :loveya: KO.

Kidding around aside, your post is 100% correct, on all points.

[OKthatsIT]

71. HE NEEDS MORE EVIDENCE to keep the story on his show

That's just it......He cant do anything about this LULL in the movement and the Courts....neither can we, at least this week is tough.

- The voting machine tabulations were WORTHLESS!!!!!
- Proving FRAUD? Sure, we can do that.

Our problem here(DU) is, we're smarter than the average Joe. I can grasp the impact of the statistical analysis. But the naive masses do not understand this sort of 'proof' and because it's number crunching, the Rove tactical response here is easy..easy to create doubt, even when its clear as crystal.

Oberman is a 'headline news' commentator. If he really wants to effect his audience with the SENSATIONAL, then he should focus on the Civil Rights abuses AND 'privatized' voting systems which will annihilate democracy.

SENSATIONAL EVIDENCE? Keith shouldnt blame us for lack of it. HE should get his own thinking cap on and revise his own approach.

[Peace Patriot]

85. I disagree that Average Joe cannot understand stats...

Say, his credit card company is cleaning him out of 1 cent a day. He doesn't think much of it. But tell him they're doing this 50 million times a day, every day, and give him the total (whatever that is), and then he gets mad. Jerks stealing that much money.

Or better yet, baseball. Umpire calls always default to whoever is playing against his home team. Every close call goes against them. It's not 100%--umpire calls it right on some, but just on the most obvious things. So it's hard to see. You can't see it in just one game. You have to see the stats over a period of games, or a season. Average Joe will look at THAT CHART, showing the "redshift" on close calls always against his team. (What should the average number of close calls against his team be?, versus what he's looking at--virtually every close call against them.) He'll know a crime has been committed. There is no other explanation. He understands about odds--and also about basic fairness.

It might be hard to pin the crime on that umpire. But public opinion would likely take care of that. And it might be hard to get at his motive (some kind of betting scam?)--whereas, with the Bush election fraud, motive is easy.

And maybe public opinion will come into it as well--if laws and rules fail us.

We really need TIM ROBBINS for this. Remember his early public stance against the war? --and the Repug at the Baseball Hall of Fame dis-inviting him to a "Bull Durham" (movie) event? He gave a speech about it at the Nat'l Press Club, and, as I recall, many baseball writers came to his defense--because it was so UNFAIR ("land of the free, home of the brave," free speech and all).

He's really a good guy, Tim, and really into baseball. And really smart. (And so is his partner, Susan Sarandon.)

Baseball is the key. Anybody know how to get the word to them?

[pointsoflight]

72. I think his blog is completely fair and balanced.

Nowhere does he say fraud did not occur. He only says that some of cases of suspected fraud don't appear to be. But at the same time, he also makes it completely clear that election policies are such that fraud could occur.

[Patsy Stone]

75. OK, here we go... My .02

1) As much as I love his blogs, he's not a lawyer.
2) The blog was very balanced -- as always :loveya:
3) Even if there is no "there" there with regards to Eaton, Arnebeck's cases list more than just her testimony.
4) Curtis may indeed be as much of a flake as Bev and Madsen. This blog (as always) is an answer to the 42 million e-mails he's received from us. Regular people don't read Bloggermann religiously (sorry, doll), they don't wonder why he hasn't blogged, and they don't have any idea who Curtis is.
5) He blasted the MSM, InSHANNITY and Coulter -- Yay! No Liberal Bias.
6) Look at the sheer amount of column inches here. If he didn't have something to say, he wouldn't have said anything. He doesn't need to blog for the hell of it -- especially on vacation.
7) Sure, maybe he's tired of this whole thing, but I have a feeling that if there was any concrete proof of anything, he'd shout it from the rooftops, MSNBC employee or not. Journalism requires sources.
8) If anything really does happen on January 6, that's news. It doesn't matter that it may not have an effect, it matters that Congress is questioning the legitimacy of Shrub -- AGAIN!
9) The gloves are off in the MSM. Since everyone came out strongly on one side or the other before the election, there's no stuffing the rabbit back in the hat. I actually believe that there are plenty of principled MSM people out there that are going to take a swipe at * every chance they get. Have you noticed how much good news has been reported since Nov. 2? Not much.

[gkhouston]

78. wow, Patsy...

Only one set of floaty hearts? You're slipping... ;-) Seriously, you made quite a few good points.

I'm hoping that a future blog entry will cover the Ohio recount in a bit more depth so that people will know that the recount has been a farce -- precincts not chosen at random, ballots not always secure, ballots sometimes appearing to be presorted, pollbooks not always available, counties refusing to do the full handcount when required by law, the optical scan machine being "adjusted" when no one was present (think that was Lucas county), counties where the recount doesn't match Blackwell's certified result... I took a stroll through the recount reports over at http://www.votecobb.org/recount/ohio_reports/index.php and it's pretty clear that the recount's credibility is tissue-paper thin although I'm betting that Blackwell will trumpet it as proof of the integrity of Ohio's electoral process.

A point that got missed with the Triad tech funsies was the patter that apparently disturbed Eaton in the first place: the talk about the cheatsheet to "make" the recount results match the tabulated results. It's what the tech said, more than what he did, that caught my attention, because it's hard to put a good face on that statement. The best you can come up with is that Triad is afraid their tabulators will malfunction, leading to expensive hand recounts and unhappy customers. Their solution to this problem? Tell the customers how to cheat! Yes! Let them know that your product and your ethics are crap!!

It turns out that a visit from Mr. Triad might not have been necessary for nefarious purposes because Triad can reprogram at least some of those tabulators via the modem. (See today's Ohio Recount Tally thread. An observer in Van Wert county was told by the BOE that Triad reprogrammed the tabulator, via modem, before the recount, and that this tidbit will appear in their report. I haven't seen the report on the Cobb website but they don't have the report up for Van Wert county yet.) So, perhaps Mr. Triad was there for totally legitimate reasons or he needed to fix the modem, too. At least I understand now why he also instructed Eaton not to turn off the machine before the recount.

I'd also like to see something about Conyer's request for the raw exit poll data... and why the networks can't cough up a copy of the raw data they have now. It's raw data... why shouldn't Conyers have it now, since they got it almost instantly back in November? Is it some potent moonshine that needs to be specially aged until, say, January 21st?

Gina

[Patsy Stone]

79. Your last paragraph

Is one of the things that's kept me up at night.

I actually e-mailed Mitofsky, before he e-mailed KO. Unbelieveably, he responded and told me that the "morons" who leaked it shouldn't have, because they didn't know what they were looking at. So, apparently, he hires morons.

KO does leave some of our questions unanswered a lot of the time, but I appreciate the efforts to de-bunk as well. It's good to know what not to waste time with.

I'm cutting back on the floaty hearts. Not because my feelings have changed, but because I'm close to using up my lifetime supply! :)

[gkhouston]

81. well if Mitofsky is the only one who understands his precious data

then I'm sure he'll have no objection to enlightening us poor peasants once the networks agree to release the raw data. After all, shouldn't we all listen to his explanations and be awed by his brilliance as we worship at the feet of the master? :eyes:

Gina

p.s. It's hard for me to believe you'll ever run out of floaty hearts. I think you're just rationing them until you get your next KO fix.

[tngledwebb]

77. No surprise.

Who didn't spot the set-up? MSM is all seeing, all powerful, all knowing.

[banjoman]

80. does this mean he's in on the conspiracy now too?

[New Earth]

82. omg

someone please drop a huge brick on my head..........put me to rest......please....

[WilliamPitt]

84. I will have something for him in an hour or two

[MissBrooks]

87. I certainly hope so...

How long did you want us to sit by the phone?

24 days until the inauguration!!

Where's Kerry?
Where's Edwards?

[Vinca]

89. I love Olbermann, but . . .

don't pin your hopes and dreams on anyone in the mainstream press. At the end of the day they've got their fat contracts to worry about and putting caviar on the table is usually more important than the votes of average citizens.

[bunny planet]

90. KO does write 'but barring developments unforseen', which kind of

leaves the door open a bit ....... for unseen developments. All in all a somewhat neutral post, which is ok for the moment. He does quote Yosemite Sam 'Them's fightin words', that's promising.

[GetTheRightVote]

92. I am hoping KO is playing the middle of the road until he gets the proof

and then he will spread the word across all forms of the media thru his show Countdown, he will have the scoop and make them all look like a bunch of fools. I hope it is soon though.

:grr: