Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Tuesday, 12/19/06

[Melissa G]

December 22 - World Mobilization for Oaxaca



In defiance of severe repression brought by federal and state authorities, hundreds of thousands of Oaxaqueños took to the streets Dec. 10 for the international day of action for Oaxaca and the Eighth Megamarch. Demanding the freedom of 138 political prisoners, live presentation of disappeared individuals, the immediate exit of federal police forces and governor Ulises Ruiz from Oaxaca, 385,000 people filled the main avenues of Oaxaca city.


Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News Tuesday, 12/19/06


All members welcome and encouraged to participate.



Please post Election Reform, Fraud, & Related News on this thread.

If you can:
1. Post stories and announcements you find on the web.


2. Post stories using the new Spring 2006 Edition of "Election Fraud and Reform News Directory" listed here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x407240

3. Re-post stories and announcements you find on DU, providing a link to the original thread with thanks to the Original Poster, too.


4. Start a discussion thread by re-posting a story you see on this thread.




Please "Recommend" for the Greatest Page (it's the link just below).

[Melissa G]

1. This seems like a great article on the situation in Oaxaca

The "Other Campaign" and the Left: Reclaiming an Alternative*
PART III – AT THE CROSSROADS
by Gustavo Esteva
December 18, 2006


The puzzle of Oaxaca



In this context, the puzzle of what is happening now in Oaxaca has special relevance, and has generated enormous interest in Mexico and in the world, but it is not well understood. Is it a revolt? A rebellion? What kind of social movement is manifested by this popular insurrection? Is it the beginning of a social revolution, or a mere popular outburst against a tyrannical governor?



The indigenous majority and the physical configuration of Oaxaca give it unique characteristics. It has one-fifth of the municipalities in the country with little more than three percent of the population. The municipality is the basic political unit in Mexico. Created by the Spaniards to divide and control, the Mexican government has used it for this same purpose. But in Oaxaca the municipality has a different significance. Four out of five municipalities are governed by "uses and customs", which is a way of saying that the people set up their authorities without electoral processes, and in their communal assemblies they make decisions for themselves that affect their lives in common.



In 1994, the then governor, fearful that the Zapatista insurrection would spread, promoted a "New Accord" with the indigenous people in order to govern the state with them. One of the terms of this accord was a change in the Electoral Code that recognized the autonomy of the indigenous municipalities to constitute their own system of government. In 1998, this legal reform was supplemented by a new law for the indigenous people and communities of Oaxaca, which is the most advanced in the American continent, though it has been continually violated by the successive PRI governors since its proclamation, and has intrinsic problems and limitations.



Editor's favorite quote from article because it also speaks to the situation in the USA today with our lack of transparent elections where our votes are counted by mostly republican owned little black boxes...No Trust Warranted There...

...They reflect a new state of affairs, for which a new political frame of reference is urgently required, but has not been able to be created. First of all, what is needed is to recognize that political power is a relationship, not a thing. This relationship presupposes trust and credibility and concerns the whole body of government. C. P. Snow once asked Mao what conditions governing required. “A popular army, enough food, and people’s trust in the government,” Mao replied. “And if you only had one of those three things, which one would you choose?” Snow asked. “I can do without an army. People can manage hunger for a time. But without their trust there’s no government.”

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=59&ItemID=11660

[Melissa G]

3. The people of Oaxaca take the streets again

The people of Oaxaca take the streets again - International solidarity mobilizations set for Dec.22
j_law, bradley, onto 18 Dec 2006 05:00 GMT


December 22 - World Mobilization for Oaxaca



In defiance of severe repression brought by federal and state authorities, hundreds of thousands of Oaxaqueños took to the streets Dec. 10 for the international day of action for Oaxaca and the Eighth Megamarch. Demanding the freedom of 138 political prisoners, live presentation of disappeared individuals, the immediate exit of federal police forces and governor Ulises Ruiz from Oaxaca, 385,000 people filled the main avenues of Oaxaca city.



snip

Since the Nov. 25 megamarch to demand the ouster of Ruiz and subsequent violence from police and paramilitaries, the state of Oaxaca is under de facto martial law. Human rights guarantees are null. A massive round-up of activists, arbitrary arrests and 300 arrest warrants have threatened to quell the popular movement of Oaxaca, headed by the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO). Arrested people have been sent to maximum security prisons in states hundreds of miles away from their families as stories of torture and severe human rights violations flood indymedia outlets in Mexico. The last surviving voice of the Oaxacan struggle, Radio Universidad,was turned over to university officials on Nov. 30.

http://www.indymedia.org/fr/2006/12/876952.shtml

[Peace Patriot]

2. Incredible news on the brave people of Oaxaca! Viva la revolución!

Have you got a pix, or a link?

December 22: ON MY CALENDAR! But how to support? (It's the Winter Solstice, too! Harbinger of the Light returning!)

[Melissa G]

4. thanks Peace Patriot, check link number three...

you were just to fast for me..:hi:

[Melissa G]

5. Letter to Santa: Some innocence remains

Letter to Santa: Some innocence remains
By Maria Elena Salinas12/19/06 04:13:24


Dear Santa Claus:

I hope this letter finds you well and in the company of Mrs. Claus and the elves up there at the North Pole. Here I am writing to you again, as has been my custom since I was a little girl. Sorry I skipped last year, but I had to write to Mother Nature instead because of those dreadful storms that caused so much havoc around the world. I think she heard my pleas, because she was a bit more merciful this year.

This time, more than giving you a wish list, I want to tell you how happy I am that my 9-year-old daughter still believes in you. You cannot imagine what a relief it is. It is so difficult, in this day and age, to get people to believe in anything or anyone. Although you can't really blame them; there are so many lies, so much pretense and deception. So much fraud and corruption. People are manipulated, misinformed and brainwashed every day. You just don't know who to trust anymore.

snip

Isn't it amazing how the least-trustworthy individuals seem to be those in power? Recently Transparency International, an organization that fights corruption in the world, asked citizens of 62 countries if they had to pay bribes for basic services, and to whom. Can you believe that politicians were on top of the list of those perceived to be most corrupt? Next on the list were police officers. In our hemisphere, Mexico tied with Bolivia as the most corrupt countries.

Speaking of Mexico, did you see that spectacle during the presidential swearing-in ceremony a couple of weeks ago? That was embarrassing. Legislators throwing punches trying to prevent Felipe Calderon from taking the oath of office in Congress. You can't really justify that kind of wild behavior coming from adults — particularly elected officials — but that's what happens when there is a lack of trust in the electoral process. There are a good number of Mexicans who just don't believe that Calderon won that election. They wanted a full recount, and they got only a partial one. It's ironic because all the parties approved the new electoral rules, and then they stopped believing in them when they didn't benefit their political goals.

http://www.fresnobee.com/203/story/19609.html

[Melissa G]

6. State officials push overhaul of initiative process

State officials push overhaul of initiative process
By GWEN FLORIO
Tribune Capitol Bureau


HELENA — Some of the most bitterly fought contests in last month's election didn't even involve candidates.

A contentious ballot initiative process saw three initiatives tossed out by the state Supreme Court amid allegations of fraud in the signature-gathering process. Even though voters approved the measure last month, the court has yet to rule on a challenge to an initiative that raised the minimum wage.

"There were six different lawsuits challenging seven ballot measures. ... Frankly, that's just too many," Attorney General Mike McGrath said on Monday.

McGrath, a Democrat, is working with Republican Secretary of State Brad Johnson to back a bill designed to avoid similar problems.
Among other things, it would require that those gathering signatures be Montana residents, and it would forbid paying them per signature.
That latter practice, said McGrath, is "an open invitation to fraud."

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061219/NEWS01/612190303/1002

[Melissa G]

7. MoveOn Calls for New Election in Florida Voting Machine Meltdown

Press Release News

MoveOn Calls for New Election in Florida Voting Machine Meltdown
Posted on : Tue, 19 Dec 2006 15:52:00 GMT | Author : MoveOn.org
News Category : PressRelease



WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- MoveOn.org Political Action will run a full-page ad in the New York Times on Tuesday, calling for a re- vote in Florida's 13th Congressional District race. Electronic voting machines appear to have lost 18,000 votes -- votes almost certain to change the outcome of this close House race. The voting machines used in Florida don't keep paper records, so there's no way to recount the votes short of a new election.

MoveOn is also circulating a petition urging the House of Representatives to call for a re-vote. Nearly 200,000 people have signed the petition, which will be delivered to the new House leadership this week.


The ad's tagline reads: "Welcome to Florida: Where Only Some Votes Count."

"Paperless voting machines don't work, so people across the country are asking Congress to call for a re-vote before seating anyone from Florida's 13th District," said Noah T. Winer, Election Integrity Campaign Director, MoveOn.org Political Action. "This petition is just the first step in fixing a flawed election system."

In just three hours, MoveOn members contributed enough money to pay for a full-page ad in the New York Times.

Democratic Committee Chair Howard Dean has declared support for a re-vote. Currently the two candidates in FL-13 are separated by 369 votes. The U.S. Constitution grants the House of Representatives the authority to call for a re-vote. The House intervened in a similar case as recently as 1985. The last re-vote in a congressional election was in 1975.

Contact: Trevor FitzGibbon, 202-246-5303, or Alex Howe, 202-822-5200

MoveOn.org

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,36792.shtml

[Melissa G]

8. Election dispute continues in court today

Election dispute continues in court today

By Bill Cotterell
Political Editor

TALLAHASSEE -- snip
Leon County Circuit Judge William Gary has set aside time this afternoon, and possibly on Wednesday, for the case. Jennings is seeking a court order to let her experts delve into the source codes of the Sarasota County voting systems, to find out what happened in the 13th District race on Nov. 7.


Republican Vern Buchanan was certified the winner by 369 votes over Jennings. But about 18,000 voters in Sarasota County cast ballots in other races -- governor, the U.S. Senate, local offices -- but recorded no votes in the congressional race.

After some post-election tests, Buchanan's victory has been certified by the state. However, Jennings maintains that something had to be wrong with the equipment, as the "under-vote" in Sarasota County was much higher than any recorded in surrounding counties or other races.

She does not contend that anyone stuffed the ballot box or did anything illegal. But her lawsuit says she must be allowed access to the secret inner workings of the touch-screen machines in order to find out if something did go wrong.

http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061219/CAPITOLNEWS06/61219007

[philb]

10. They need to do more than just look at the source code. The big problems happened on specific

machines that functioned different than the rest.
There was a generic problem with an apparently deliberately biased ballot design
designed in such a way as to deliberately take away voter attention to the D13 race and focus attention on the
Governors race that took up more space and had more candidates.

But the big numbers seem to be from machine misprogramming

that caused disappearing votes, hard to correct disappearing votes,
some machines switching,etc.

They need to look at specific machines to find the big problem
screen layout, ballot definition file, programming, etc.

why some machines behaved differently than the rest

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=462666&mesg_id=462666

And also: this race wasn't the only race with high undervotes and similar machine programming
New Jersey 7 was very similar to this one
and Florida attorney general race had as much disappearing votes,
and switching was documented all over the country.

www.flcv.com/eirstss6.html

Why aren't those machines being audited?

[Melissa G]

24. Why aren't the machines being audited?

Definitely the $64,000 question..Actually, the price tag is the cost of democracy.

[Melissa G]

9. Cunningham says much work needed before '08 election

Editor's note to Kane county...
Paper and pencils are CHEAP Equipment!!!





Cunningham says much work needed before '08 election

December 19, 2006
By STEVE LORD Staff Writer
GENEVA -- More equipment, better training and better back-up are on Kane County Clerk John Cunningham's wish list for the coming year.

snip
"Do we have enough for a presidential election two years from now?" Cunningham said. "I would say no. It's something we're going to have to look at."

Cunningham and Chief Deputy Clerk Jay Bennett said there are a lot of challenges to address in running elections in Kane County, some of which have to be dealt with in time for the upcoming consolidated local elections in April. But they all have to be dealt with within two years, before the next presidential election, they said.

snip
Some of the delays about a month ago were caused by lack of equipment in busy precincts. While officials tried to anticipate which precincts would need the most equipment, it is somewhat guesswork, because turnout is hard to deal with. Cunningham said in precincts where there were long lines waiting to vote, "it was due to lack of equipment."

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/177838,2_1_AU19_KANE_S1.article

[philb]

13. What he says is not accurate most places; there were malfunctioning machines and compilers all over

the country. And a huge amount of deliberate suppression of minority voters on a huge scale in many states.
There were rules and misinterpretations of rules on ID, last minute poll changes without notification in many areas,
voter purges(mostly minority voters) in many areas, misfeasance and malfeasance designed to convince voters likely to vote for the wrong candidates to vote in the "wrong precinct" and lose their vote, widespread systematic dirty tricks throughout the country- RoboCalls and other calls/flyers distributed to convince minorities to vote in wrong precinct or not vote; etc.
there were millions of various minority voters not allowed to vote, throughout the country

www.flcv.com/eirsppp6.html
www.flcv.com/eirsdt6.html

[Melissa G]

11. Comparing Testing Costs of DRE and Paper Ballot Systems

Comparing Testing Costs of DRE and Paper Ballot Systems
By John Washburn, VoteTrustUSA Voting Technology Task Force
December 18, 2006
This study was first published at Washburn Research in August, 2005. It is available in PDF format here.




Performing the Logic and Accuracy (L&A) testing of the software on a Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting system is between 2 and 3 times more costly than the L&A testing of a paper ballot – optically scanned (PBOS) voting system for the same election.



Description of Costs
Every voting system (Paper ballots counted by hand, PBOS, DRE, lever machines, punch cards, etc.) has costs associated with it. The hard costs can be categorized as falling into 3 areas:
snip

This paper deals only with the cost of performing the logic and accuracy testing the software of any particular software machinery used to aid in the administration of an election. This is item 13 in the lists above. Lever machines and punch card system are unlikely to be used in the United States after January 1, 2006 due to the acceptance of federal HAVA money by the several states. Paper ballots which are hand counted have no software testing costs. Because of these technological constraints, this paper focuses on comparing the costs of performing Logic and Accuracy tests between paper ballots – optically scanned (PBOS) systems and direct recording electronic (DRE) systems.

http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2132&Itemid=26

[Melissa G]

12. Is electronic voting safe and secure?

Is electronic voting safe and secure?

By: WAYNE BLIZZARD - Commentary:

Is electronic voting safe and secure? We just don't know. And judging from recent public meetings by Riverside County Board of Supervisors, we're not likely to find out anytime soon.

snip
First, is there reason for concern? Second, are the current testing methods sufficient? Third, if not, what should be done? Here are just a few reasons for concern uncovered during the November election in Riverside County:



A "manual voting override" feature came to light that allowed voters to cast votes without inserting an activator card, potentially allowing a voter to cast more than one vote.


The county's electronic voting machines are stored in an unsecured warehouse without any surveillance.


Volunteer poll watchers discovered hundreds of machines left unattended and unsecured for up to six days at voting locations.


more at...
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/12/19/opinion/commentarycal/20_26_5012_18_06.txt

[philb]

14. Surely we know voting on DREs is not safe or secure or reliable given 2006 and 2004 and 2002

documentation of widespread malfunctions, "glitches", switching, disappearing votes, high undervotes- over 25% in several precincts, etc.
www.flcv.com/eirstss6.html

And besides that DREs are much more expensive to operate than other options like opti-scan,etc.

DREs are more expensive, less reliable, less verifiable and safe than any of the other options.
So why are the being widely used. Has the public been totally boondoggled as the real reason that those
in power want to use such equipment?

[Melissa G]

15. Voting Expert- Florida Dist 13 biggest problem likely due to ES&S programming problems

Thanks to philb for the post and the DU discussion here...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x462786

Original message
Voting Expert- Florida Dist 13 biggest problem likely due to ES&S programming problems
Declaration of Charles Stewart III on Excess Undervotes Cast in Sarasota County, Florida for the 13th Congressional District Race

Charles Stewart III
Department of Political Science
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
November 20, 2006

Summary: The level of undervoting experienced using electronic voting machines in Sarasota County for the 13th congressional district greatly exceeds the undervote rates that were estimated to have occurred in other well-established cases of voter confusion.

This suggests a substantial possibility that the exaggerated undervote rates in this case were not solely due to voter confusion, but also caused by factors related to machine malfunction.
Based on the analysis in this report, I conclude that it was very likely that the excessively high undervote rates in the 13th congressional district among votes cast in Sarasota County were caused by the use of iVotronic electronic voting machines.

Possible Explanations:
In the particular case of the vote in Sarasota County, there are two major potential
explanations for why there were so many excess undervotes.

1. One possible explanation is voter confusion. In particular, it has been argued that the ballot layout in Sarasota County naturally drew the eye away from the 13th congressional district race, through the use of colors and banners that were intended to draw the eye toward the beginning of the state contests.

2. A second potential explanation is machine malfunction. Numerous voters reported difficulties casting a vote in the 13th congressional district race or with using the “review screen,” which should have allowed them to correct an undervote that happened by accident.18
These difficulties include pressing the name of one candidate and seeing the other candidate highlighted, or pressing the screen repeatedly with no effect.
(switching was occurring or impossible to vote for Jennings)


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x462786

[Melissa G]

16. Minnesota Performs First Post-Election Review

Thanks to eridani for the post and the DU discussion here...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x462736

Original message
Minnesota Performs First Post-Election Review
http://www.electionline.org/Newsletters/tabid/87/ctl/Detail/mid/643/xmid/230/xmfid/3/Default.aspx



The county has more than 150,000 registered voters and 87 precincts and it took just under five hours to complete the review of four precincts. Of the 12 races reviewed, seven had exact matches; four races saw one vote added each to a candidate and one race saw two votes added to a candidate.

Corbid said the discrepancies were not the result of machine error but rather how the ballots had been marked. In some cases ballots either had check marks or an X marked outside the oval, or voters had circled the candidate's name, which could not be picked up by the optical-scan machine but was found during the manual count.


OK, why aren't their scanners programmed to spit those ballots out and give the voters another chance? This is the norm in WA state. With central tabulation, ballots rejected by the scanner are hand-duplicated. There is an unacceptable amount of voter disenfranchisment here IMO, and there doesn't need to be.


more here...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x462736

[Melissa G]

17. Voting rights case settled in South Dakota

Voting rights case settled in South Dakota
Posted: December 18, 2006
by: David Melmer / Indian Country Today


PIERRE, S.D. - Martin city officials have orders from the U.S. District Court to redraw city council lines that will correct voting rights violations against the American Indian voting population.

American Indians make up 45 percent of the city's population but, because of the current redistricting plan, are allegedly unable to elect candidates of their choice to city offices.

A lawsuit, Cottier v. City of Martin, was originally filed in 2002 against the town of Martin with the intent of correcting the redistricting plan adopted that year. The plan, according to the plaintiffs, diluted the American Indian voting strength.

''This ruling will enable Indian voters to enjoy the right that many other South Dakotas take for granted: the right to have a say in their local government. The decision also benefits everyone by promoting fairness and a more democratic city government,'' said Bryan Sells, staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union's Voting Rights Project.

http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096414203

[Melissa G]

18. GOP Senate Did one thing in 2006: Kill Democratic Intiatives

GOP Senate Did one thing in 2006: Kill Democratic Intiatives
by Bob Geiger

Of all the nauseating tactics used by the Republican party in the 2006, midterm election campaign, one of the more galling was their continued insistence that Democrats had "no plan" for national security. To provide cover for that bogus claim, the Senate's GOP leadership made damn sure that, on September 13, 2006, they killed 528 pages of a national-security blueprint, proposed by Democrats, called the Real Security Act of 2006 -- and then went around for the next six weeks saying the Democrats had no plan.

That legislation, dumped on an almost-straight party line vote, was one of many Democratic-sponsored measures to die in the Republican-controlled Senate in 2006 and part of a whopping three-quarters of Democratic initiatives squashed over the two years of the 109th Congress.

An analysis of all Senate roll call votes in 2006, shows that, true to the form they established the previous year, the GOP killed most legislation proposed by Senate Democrats. In all, Democrats were able to scrape together a handful of Republican votes to pass just 28 pieces of legislation in all of 2006.

There were 279 roll call votes in the second half of the 109th Congress -- January through December of this year -- and 104 votes involved measures sponsored by Democrats. Of those, 73, or 70 percent, had a negative outcome, meaning that they were rejected in an up-or-down vote or tabled/killed by the GOP majority. (And this is with a generous interpretation that gives Republicans "credit" for allowing benign, crowd-pleasers to pass, such as a Barbara Boxer amendment to punish parents who have committed incest and a measure by Barack Obama for Katrina relief, which both passed by unanimous votes. )

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_bob_geig_061219_gop_senate_did_one_t.htm

[Melissa G]

19. UCAN: Catholic priests call for calm, prayers, vigilance as political killings continue

UCAN: Catholic priests call for calm, prayers, vigilance as political killings continue
12/19/2006
UCANews (www.ucanews.com)

QUEZON CITY, Philippines (UCAN) – A priest says his northern Philippine province, whose congressman was recently assassinated near Manila, has developed a "culture of death" and faces another violent election year.


"That is what we fear, but that has always been the case in Abra," Father Nilo Peig said. The administrator of Bangued Diocese spoke with UCA News by phone Dec. 19 from his office in Bangued, Abra province, more than 325 kilometers (about 200 miles) north of Manila.

Three days earlier, Congressman Luis Bersamin Jr. was gunned down by two motorcycle-riding men outside Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Quezon City, northeast of Manila, where he had just attended his niece's wedding.

Bersamin is the third Abra politician killed this year. Last January, Mayor Marc Ysrael Bernos of La Paz was assassinated in his hometown while it celebrated the feast of its patron, Our Lady of Peace. In November, provincial board member James Bersamin was killed while jogging in the Bangued town plaza early one morning. The two Bersamins were distant relatives.

http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=22409

[Melissa G]

20. Georgia: Secretary of State-elect Karen Handel Announces Senior Staff

Secretary of State-elect Karen Handel Announces Senior Staff

Atlanta (December 19, 2006) - Secretary of State-elect Karen Handel today announced the following senior staff appointments: Rob Simms, Deputy Secretary of State; Shawn Ellen LaGrua, Inspector General; and Vicki Gavalas, Director of Communications. Karen will be sworn in on January 8, 2007, as the first Republican Secretary of State in 130 years.

"This team brings experience, new ideas, and depth to the Secretary of State's office," Handel said. "I'm excited to work with these talented individuals as together, we serve the people of Georgia."

As Deputy Secretary of State, Rob Simms will manage the day-to-day operations of the entire agency, including the 12 departments and nearly 450 employees.

snip
The Office of Inspector General for the Secretary of State is a newly created position. As the Secretary of State's Inspector General, Shawn LaGrua will oversee and coordinate all of the investigatory functions of the Secretary of State's office, including those concerning complaints of voter and securities fraud.

http://www.theweekly.com/news/2006/December/19/Karen_Handel.html

[philb]

22. Georiga had major irregularites in 2006,2004,2002 since they installed DREs

www.flcv.com/Georgia6.html
www.flcv.com/Georgia.html

Anyone heard anything new about the Georgia suit to require paper ballots?

and what is the new SOS position on DREs?? and on the suit?

[Melissa G]

21. Update: Sen. Tim Johnson Will Probably Recover

Update: Sen. Tim Johnson Will Probably Recover

December 16, 2006 10:53 a.m. EST


Linda Young - All Headline News Staff Writer
Washington, DC (AHN) - Sen. Tim Johnson, D-South Dakota, is recovering from brain surgery and his physicians said his recovery was encouraging. He will remain hospitalized until the swelling in his brain goes down.

Johnson, 59, was born with a condition known as congenital arteriovenous malformation in his brain. He underwent surgery after suffering a brain hemorrhage on Wednesday.

His illness has caused speculation that if he was incapacitated he might be forced to resign. Because Democrats only have a one vote majority in the Senate, his resignation would likely throw the balance of power back to Republicans since a successor would be appointed by South Dakota's Republican governor.

However, political analysts say that there is no requirement for U.S. Senators to resign if they are ill. Reports on NPR mentioned several Republican and Democratic senators, including Strom Thurman, who suffered even incapacitating illnesses and did not resign.

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7005877131

[Melissa G]

23. Tom DeLay, Blogger

Tom DeLay, Blogger
The Hammer finds his métier.
By Timothy Noah
Posted Thursday, Dec. 14, 2006, at 7:13 PM ET
Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, whose various ethical missteps compelled him to resign this past June, was born to blog. He's a bully and a blowhard and he's got access to interesting political gossip. But I find TomDeLay.com, which debuted Dec. 10, disappointingly high-minded. Thus far, only one blog item has actually been written by DeLay (on MSNBC's Hardball, DeLay told Mike Barnicle, "I have the ideas and I have somebody else put the words together"), and that's an appeal to bipartisanship regarding the brain hemorrhage that struck Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D.:

snip
The absolute worst thing on DeLay's blog is an interview with right-wing blogger Danny Carlton, proprietor of JackLewis.net. The blogosphere and its impact on politics/the media/the arts/American life has been discussed to death. There is nothing left to say, particularly within the blogosphere itself. I propose that this topic be banned from all future public discourse.

My Slate colleague and fellow Washington Monthly-style neoliberal Mickey Kaus (we also attended the same high school) will likely feel queasy when he discovers that his weblog is included in TomDeLay.com's "Blog Roll" of linked sites, otherwise all hard-core right. Better shore up that left flank, Mickey!

snip
A mini-essay on the unintended consequences of population control (i.e., a shrinking West and a rapidly expanding Islamist East) has the virtue of being nominally substantive. A more honest consideration, though, would at least acknowledge that population growth tends to slow in any given geographic region as its economies expand and its governments become more democratic--two outcomes DeLay surely favors. Another mini-essay announces that global warming is "all just hot air," but if you click through to the cited article you'll discover that the source document from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change merely reduces a previous estimate on the extent to which human activity will increase global warming. The mini-essay is therefore dishonest in two ways: 1) The cited source says global warming is a real phenomenon, quite apart from whether it's affected by human activity; 2) the cited source says human activity does increase global warming, just not perhaps to the same extent as was previously assumed.

http://www.slate.com/id/2155502/