FRANKEN BOOED ON AIR DURING DISCUSSION OF BUSBY/BILBRAY IN SAN DIEGO!

[BradBlog]

There will likely be more, even more significant breaking news concerning Busby/Bilbray race momentarily! -- Brad

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BREAKING: SAN DIEGO DEMOCRACYFEST CROWD BOOS AL FRANKEN DISCUSSION OF BUSBY/BILBRAY ELECTION!
Live Air America Broadcast from Heart of U.S. House Special Election Controversy Interrupted by Shouts, Jeers, Cheers from Audience of Activists in Attendance!

Filed by Brad Friedman in San Diego…

As I standby in a hotel room in San Diego, near the DemcoracyFest! venue, to hopefully post some big breaking news momentarily, Al Franken is broadcasting his show from the site.

In a discussion moments ago with a representative of Common Cause from New Mexico, the previously quiet crowd gathered at the live broadcast broke into boos and disapproving shouts when the interview led by Franken implied that "Busby had lost" due to a "gaffe" made prior to the election.

Audience members have erupted in applause when it was mentioned that "some believe the election was not run cleanly." Franken, and his guest regarded the election as legitimate which led to boos and protests from the crowd which became unruly during the discussion, rejecting the announced results that "Bilbray won the election."

The guest from Common Cause (whose name we didn't catch) also was booed when he implied that George W. Bush "beat" Al Gore in 2000. Event organizers had encouraged Franken to have me on during today's live broadcast, taking place smack dab in the middle of the country's largest election controversy prior to the November general election right here in San Diego. Franken, instead chose to have the Common Cause rep from New Mexico to discussion issues of Election Integrity in Mexico and elsewhere…

…DEVELOPING…

URL: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3071


---
Brad Friedman
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[Tempest]

1. It doesn't appear Franken was booed

"when the interview led by Franken"

Someone Franken was interviewing was booed from the sounds of it.

[Vincardog]

2. Right ya are. The common cause guy implied that if we let it be close enough

to steal we deserved a Republicant winner.

[shance]

25. Common Cause continues to lie to Americans and blame the victim.

Shame on them. Chellie Pingren definitely knows better than to allow these lies to continue.

Who's Common Cause's "daddy" is perhaps the question to be asking?

[proud2BlibKansan]

27. A lot of folks are saying that

Frankly I don't get it. Why does it matter how close the vote was? If they stole it, they stole it.

[xxqqqzme]

3. Leaving OC for Democract Fest

about 3:30 - sounds like the event is off 2 a good start.

[Amy6627]

4. I think his name is Matt Blix. He is a Clean Money advocate and

got clean money passed in Albuquerque, MX.

[shance]

28. Is Matt Blix the one lying about the voter fraud and blaming us for not

voting?

If so, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to spot a an operative/moll working on the inside.

If he were actually concerned about clean elections, he would know whats been happening in our elections correct? He would know that we have had at least three election cycles that stand to have had widespread election fraud. And he can't even admit to one? Why in the world would he be lying about what we all know (those of us who have become educated on the subject)to have been fraudulent elections? Why would he essentially blaming us and not the power mongers who deny the illegitimacy of our elections?

Americans need to realize with every single Progressive movement, there are the infiltrators. It's how they cripple the middle and lower classes from ever having enough influence to make significant gains. Molls have snugly infiltrated through Intelligence agencies for decades and quite a few molls/infiltrators are in some form of leadership positions. That is their goal so they can gatekeep.

Of course that's there goal so they can essentially starve the beast and render the organization ineffective and hobbled from making too much progress. Been happening for years. Its the only way the rich privileged males keep their position of wealth and dominance in our country and in the world.

[rusty charly]

5. in the comments below your link

"The crowd wasn't booing Franken, they were booing his guest. The guest was a reporter whose name I don't recall but he was the one who was booed."

[benddem]

22. Navarette n/t

[jobycom]

6. Who heard it? Part of Franken's act is to set up comments to get booed

The audience is usually in on it. Was this that fake booing, or was this a serious battle? I turned him off a little to early, it seems.

[DoBotherMe]

7. This account is wrong

He was interviewing Ruben Navarrette a reporter with the San Diego Tribune. It was Navarrette who said that Busby had lost because she had said that illegals should be able to vote. Al corrected him. It was Navarrette who was being booed during the segment, not Franken. Dana ; )

[lonestarnot]

8. People booing another cheat! Right on! I feel an awakening

on the horizon.

[Renew Deal]

9. I agree and I was there.

It wasn't Franken who was getting it.

[Gabi Hayes]

12. that's the way I heard it...he was booed several times, and Franken

admonished the crowd

Navarette was fairly defensive, too, and rightfully so. he should have felt obliged to defend his idiotic Florida comments, something that included this phrase: "If Gore had been a better candidate..."

well, jackass, if it weren't for lazy, lying, incompetent dicks like YOU, maybe the people would have gotten an impression more like the one being represented of him TODAY (the truthe?) than they had foisted on them six years ago

ASShole!

[jumpoffdaplanet]

10. You should change the title. Franken wasn't booed.

[NYCGirl]

11. That's crap, Brad. Change your article. NT

[wryter2000]

14. Crap indeed

The guest was Ruben Naravatte. Sheeze.

[NYCGirl]

15. Did Bradblog even hear it? He should change his writeup. NT

[LittleClarkie]

26. It's changed on his site

Just not here.

[wryter2000]

13. Franken wasn't booed

His guest was booed. Franken was heartily cheered when he corrected his guest.

I was listening and heard it all.

On edit: The guest wasn't from Common Cause he was from the local newspaper. Franken didn't agree that the elections were valid.

[zulchzulu]

19. Exactly....

His guest was booed. Al seemed a little taken back by the exchange...but he was not booed.

[EVDebs]

16. Reuben Navarette booed re 2000 election

Navarette intimated that * was the better candidate than Gore and that Gore could have won TN; Franken smacked him down saying that * lost the national vote and the election count was/is suspect.

Navarette was disgraced, as he should have been.

[wryter2000]

17. Exactly

If you want to fault Franken for something it would have to be that he didn't call Navaratte an asshole. He did, however, correct him with humor, and the audience applauded and cheered Franken.

[dweller]

21. "*moron lost his nation"

was his response, i was listening.

of course he said *bush, and it was in response to Naverette's comment that Gore lost Tenn, and it was due to Katherine Harris ...
he (Navarette) was attempting to be funny? snarky?

frankly i thought it was a satire--and that Franken was going to reveal that at some point, but then they went to break after Al said
"*moron lost the nation" and i wasn't listening when they came back (car to house transition)


dp

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. We were there, we boed NAVARRETE NOT

Franken

The tool basically started lying with the Mexican election and it went from there. Franken should, I repeat SHOULD have called him on the lies earlier... but at least he asked for the shovel back as Navarrete continued to dig the hole, and pointed out that it does not matter where the elections are held, all that matters is counting the votes.

Oh and quetion, did you hear the "UT is only good for bird liner?" That is your free clue as to WHO was getting it.

[Rose Siding]

20. BS

You should publish the correction and request a lock on this thread.

[LSK]

23. FYI - Franken repeats after Malloys show tonite

[HawkerHurricane]

24. Megasigh.

Busby lost not because of a miss step, nor because of cheating, but because CA50 is better than 65% Republican.

The fact she almost won in spite of that was a pleasant surprise for me, and a rude shock to my Republican friends in North County San Diego.

[IndyOp]

29. Megasigh? How do you know there wasn't cheating? You don't.

You can't unless there is a 100% hand count of voter-verified paper ballots.

You are, IMHO, exhibiting lazy thinking: Because there is a reasonable explanation for why Busby lost, you conclude that there wasn't cheating.

I can't prove there *was* cheating -- it looks suspicious. Only a hand count can decide.

By the way the DNC Voting Rights Institute just released a statement that includes this:

We know for a fact that San Diego County election officials have admitted that a number of the voting machines were taken home in violation of the federal security regulations and guidelines and that a number of the machines showed evidence of tampering (broken seals, which should also have immediately disqualified those machines from use according to state laws implemented in just the last several months in response to new severe vulnerabilities discovered Diebold's optical-scan and touch-screen voting systems.)

http://www.democrats.org/a/2006/07/dnc_voting_righ.php

[HawkerHurricane]

30. OK.

Let's do the hand count. It is awful suspicious that the results in the district match what *I* predicted 3 months before the vote... that Busby would get the same percentage as she got in the first election while the Republicans would unite behind Bilbray because he had a (R) behind his name.

This is the 2nd election in recent San Diego history where this has happened... first to Frye, who got 45% while the two Republicans split the rest, and then got 45% again while the remaining Republican got 55%, now to Busby...

By all means, check... but this is one they didn't have to steal, unlike, say, Florida in 2000 or Ohio, New Mexico and Nevada in 2004...
(been reading Greg Palast on the 2004 election... it's a eye opener)

[IndyOp]

31. I Love Palast! "Armed Madhouse" is a *must* read...

And the purpose of hand-counting Busby/Bilbray is, in part, to WARN the RNC that the DNC is going to do everything possible to ENFORCE election law. No lazy we'll just let this one pass responses.

INVESTIGATE!!

I would like the DNC to take on the moniker "Your Election Protection Advocates" -- really stand behind the claim that 'we'll make sure that every vote is counted' -- do they mean it or not?

:hi:

[HawkerHurricane]

32. That's the one.

Checked it out from the library.

I'm reading about the Native Americans in New Mexico who drove 3 hours by chartered bus to vote for president, and then left it blank if election officials are to be believed...

[Misskittycat]

33. I was there. We were booing the guest, not Franken. It certainly

wasn't staged or fake booing. A political reporter/editorial writer from the Repug San Diego Union should have expected a less than stellar reception for his bullshit from a progressive audience, including lots of San Diegans. PS It was great fun.

[nadinbrzezinski]

34. That it was

[lonestarnot]

35. I bet! Delicious!

[dweller]

36. Franken replaying now 1am

on AAR.


listen for yourself.
dp

[CatWoman]

37. were they saying "boo"

or "boo-urns"?

[BradBlog]

38. SEVERAL CORRECTIONS AND IMPORTANT CLARIFICATION ON THIS STORY!

CORRECTIONS AND IMPORTANT CLARIFICATION 7/15/06 12:50am PT:

I'm just now coming back to the hotel after having quickly posted both this and the breaking story about the DNC's Voting Rights Institute statement calling for a full manual count in the Busby/Bilbray election earlier today.

First, Franken's guest during the segment described above was apparently Ruben Navarette of the Washington Post/San Diego Tribune, as opposed to a guest from Common Cause New Mexico as we had originally reported. The guest from Common Cause was on the show after Navarette's appearance. I made the correction, noting the error, minutes after publishing on the complete BRAD BLOG version of the story, but failed to do so here in the rush of events this morning.

As well, several posters here have criticized my reporting on this story, suggesting that I had reported Franken had been booed. While the original headline of the BRAD BLOG article was "BREAKING: SAN DIEGO DEMOCRACYFEST CROWD BOOS AL FRANKEN DISCUSSION OF BUSBY/BILBRAY ELECTION!," the wording of the headline could have certainly been clearer. It was written at lightning pace while the DNC Statement (http://www.bradblog.com/?p=3069) calling for a hand count of the Busby/Bilbray race was coming in and I was simultaneously rushing to get that story out before heading over to the DemocracyFest venue where I was supposed to have been an hour earlier. I knew I wouldn't have net access to complete the story for the rest of the day/night after leaving the hotel and needed to get the information out quickly since it came in late on Friday.

While the original headline might have been clearer, it was accurate, if misleading. The crowd booed during the discussion, which is what I was trying to convey.

The bigger problem occured when I shortened the headline of the notice I posted here at DU (they only allow a certain number of characters for the subject of such posts) and my rushed re-wording was completely wrong in the bargain. That shortened subject line had read "FRANKEN BOOED ON AIR DURING DISCUSSION OF BUSBY/BILBRAY IN SAN DIEGO!" That was wrong, and I regret the sloppy error.

Unfortunately, it appears too late for me to edit the original subject line or story text here at DU as it's now locked.

Adding to the problem, apparently <a href="http://www.RawStory.com">RAW STORY's</a> shortened banner headline link to my original story at the blog may have been similarly misleading. All, no doubt, due to my original accurate, but sloppy headline. Hope that clears up the confusion.

Finally, as to who was booed and who wasn't, BRAD BLOG commenter Dan Krisher was kind enough to post an MP3 link to the audio of the exchange here:

href="http://www.punkblog.org/FrankenEdit071406h3.mp3

Though I believe there was an earlier part of the discussion, not included in Krisher's link, wherein the trouble began, you'll see that it was Union-Tribune journalist Navarette who received the boos, not Franken. Though I believe both began the discussion (particularly in the earlier segment not on the MP3 linked above) by regarding Democrat Francine Busby as having "lost" the race which is a bit of "conventional wisdom" utterly unproven at this time due to the irregularities regarding the voting machines used in the race.

Either way, such are the dangers of blogging too quickly, even as I had little other choice in this case. And as mentioned, I regret all of the errors and confusion related to my coverage of this item and hope that these comments serve to clarify those mistakes.