Defeating Chickenhawk Chambliss in Georgia

This year Georgia has the opportunity not only to elect a fine Democrat, Jim Martin, to the Senate, but also to right a terrible wrong committed by Republicans 6 years ago. Jim Martin is running against Republican Saxby Chambliss who ran a sleazy, nasty smear campaign against Vietnam War hero and disabled Veteran Max Cleland. Saxby Chambliss, in comparison to Max Cleland's war record, was given five student deferments and he received a medical deferment for a bad knees due to a football injury. So Chickenhawk Chambliss smeared a genuine war hero, Max Cleland, to win a Senate seat.

Now Democrat Jim Martin, also Vietnam Veteran, is running to defeat Chickenhawk Chambliss. Here is the latest ad from Jim Martin's campaign:



Jim Martin has been endorsed by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

In his almost six years in the U.S. Senate, Saxby Chambliss has built a reputation as a loyal defender of President Bush and his policies and as a champion of corporate interests.

The people of Georgia now have to decide whether that’s the senator they want for the next six years as well...

[Jim] Martin, a University of Georgia graduate who volunteered to serve his country in Vietnam, has pitched his campaign at his opponent’s weak spot by focusing on protecting the middle class. He advocates lower taxes on the middle class, stronger consumer protection laws and an end to corporate welfare. He has also criticized Chambliss’ vote on the Wall Street rescue package, a position that frankly smacks of political opportunism.

However, Martin has a long record of public service in the state Legislature, where he earned respect from Democrats and Republicans alike for his intelligence and willingness to buck party leaders if necessary. He was appointed by Gov. Roy Barnes, a fellow Democrat, to head the Department of Human Resources, and was asked to remain in that post when Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue took office.

He is what he seems like, a smart guy who wants to help his fellow Georgians and doesn’t care who gets the credit...

Overall...the best candidate is Martin. In what look to be six difficult years ahead, he would do well for the people of Georgia.

Jim Martin has also been endorsed by the Macon Telegraph.

Jim Martin is the best choice for Georgia. But it goes beyond this. To me, defeating Saxby Chambliss is a matter of honor as well because of how he "won" the Senate seat through smearing a good man and, quite likely, through fraud. A win for Jim Martin would not only replace a Bush Republican with someone who is more loyal to the people of Georgia than to the failed Bush policies, but also would restore the honor of Georgia.

Six years ago Republican Saxby Chambliss won the Georgia Senate race through a sleazy smear campaign against Vietnam War Hero and disabled Veteran Max Cleland. Chambliss ran one of the nastiest campaigns I have ever seen and the fact that he called the loyalty of a decorated war hero into question added to my disgust. Even fellow Republicans John McCain and Chuck Hagel were disgusted by Saxby Chambiss' sleaze campaign.

But it also appears Chambliss won at least partly due to election fraud. According to Republican cybersecurity expert Stephen Spoonamore, formerly an adviser to Sen. John McCain, investigated a computer patch that was installed PERSONALLY by Diebold CEO Bob Urosevich in just two counties, DeKalb and Fulton, both Democratic strongholds. From Raw Story:

A leading cyber-security expert and former adviser to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) says he has fresh evidence regarding election fraud on Diebold electronic voting machines during the 2002 Georgia gubernatorial and senatorial elections.

Stephen Spoonamore is the founder and until recently the CEO of Cybrinth LLC, an information technology policy and security firm that serves Fortune 100 companies. At a little noticed press conference in Columbus, Ohio Thursday, he discussed his investigation of a computer patch that was applied to Diebold Election Systems voting machines in Georgia right before that state's November 2002 election.

Let me just say here that I publicized some Democrats who called attention to this same computer patch back in 2002. No one listend back then. But maybe a major Republican IT expert can finally get some attention to this issue. More from the same article:

Spoonamore is one of the most prominent cyber-security experts in the country. He has appeared on CNN's Lou Dobbs and ABC's World News Tonight, and has security clearances from his work with the intelligence community and other government agencies, as well as the Department of Defense, and is one of the world’s leading authorities on hacking and cyber-espionage...

Spoonamore received the Diebold patch from a whistleblower close to the office of Cathy Cox, Georgia’s then-Secretary of State. In discussions with RAW STORY, the whistleblower -- who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation -- said that he became suspicious of Diebold's actions in Georgia for two reasons. The first red flag went up when the computer patch was installed in person by Diebold CEO Bob Urosevich, who flew in from Texas and applied it in just two counties, DeKalb and Fulton, both Democratic strongholds. The source states that Cox was not privy to these changes until after the election and that she became particularly concerned over the patch being installed in just those two counties.

The whistleblower said another flag went up when it became apparent that the patch installed by Urosevich had failed to fix a problem with the computer clock, which employees from Diebold and the Georgia Secretary of State’s office had been told the patch was designed specifically to address.

The article goes on to discuss probable Republican fraund in Ohio in 2004.

Saxby Chambliss: a dishonorable Bush Republican who even Republicans think cheated and lied his way into office.

Jim Martin: an honorble Veteran respected by both Democrats and Republicans. You can learn more about Jim Martin at his website.

Right Wing Idiocy: Obama as Muslim...and "exterminate Jew power"

In my continuing coverage of Republican racism and anti-Semitism, one of the stupidest Republican memes was "gee, uh, duh, isn't Obama a Moooslim?"

My first reaction was "so what if he was?" Why couldn't a Muslim be an American leader? But that is beside the point. There has never, ever been the slightest evidence that Obama was Muslim.

Those who listen to this lie and believe it are, quite honestly, abyssmally stupid or amazingly gullible.

But who originated the "duh...Obama is a Moooslim" lie?

Seems an unstable anti-Semite, named Andy Martin, started it. And Fox News let this unstable anti-Semite assert lies without questioning him...yet another connection between Fox News, lies, and anti-Semitism.

Andy Martin's admission to the bar was blocked due to “moderately severe character defect manifested by well-documented ideation with a paranoid flavor and a grandiose character.” Andy Martin has run both as a Democrat and as a Republican, yet it should be noted that no Democrat quotes him or listens to his lies, while Fox News and many McCain supporters pay close attention to him, seemingly without applying even minimal logical skepticism. Jerome Corsi even starts his now discredited book about Obama with a quote from Andy Martin, and many Republicans ate it up.

According to the NY Times, when Andy Martin ran for Congress in Connecticut, he listed as one reason for his run was “to exterminate Jew power.”

In a 1983 bankruptcy case Andy Martin called the judge “a crooked, slimy Jew who has a history of lying and thieving common to members of his race.”

In 1983, Mr. Martin wrote, “I am able to understand how the Holocaust took place, and with every passing day feel less and less sorry that it did.”

THIS is who Fox News and Jerome Corsi and many Republicans are listening to. Paranoia and anti-Semitism seem perfectly accpetable to right wing Republicans these days.

So, to anyone who repeats the "duh, Obama is a Moooslim" lie to you, point out to them that this lie was started by an unstable anti-Semite who wants to "exterminate Jew power." See what they think then.

Norm Coleman: Corrupt Republican in Minnesota

The latest Republican to get caught in a scandal is Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota. He seems to be getting hit with a bunch of scandals all at once. Of course this will come as no suprise to those who know that Coleman is good buddies with Alaska's Ted Stevens, currently indicted for corruption and who I have dubbed the most corrupt politician in America. Seems some of Ted Stevens' greedy mentality has rubbed off on Norm Coleman.

Scandal number one is a violation of the Senate Ethics rules. Seems that Norm Coleman's Washington, DC home is rented to him at well below market value by fellow member of the Republican Culture of Corruption, Jeff Larson. And when I mean rented at well below market value, I mean when Coleman even bothers to pay his rent. Larson generally lets Coleman skip his rent, basically giving him free lodgings. Now this COULD be just kindness on Larson's part, except it directly violates the Senate ethics rules regarding gifts.

But Coleman's violations of the Senate Ethics rules goes even further. Coleman basically receives vacations to the Bahamas and Paris, suits and other goodies from Minnesota businessman Nasser Kazeminy. And just who is Norm Coleman's wonderful patron? You guessed it. He's a government contractor. Norm Coleman is receiving gifts from someone whose company gets government contracts. This kind of thing is frowned upon in any political position, but it is an outright violation of the ethics rules for Senators. Coleman, of course, is denying any wrongdoing, but let's remember that when a Democrat, Senator Bob Torricelli of New Jersey, did the exact same thing, he was reprimanded by the Senate Select Committee on Ethics and retired. Funny how the Democratic Party actually fights corruption within its ranks while Republicans circle the wagons and defend even their most corrupt members.

Norm Coleman may not be around much longer, though. Democrat Al Franken is catching up fast in the polls. And with Minnesota voters increasingly seeing Norm Coleman's behavior as "shameful," I think Franken has a good shot.

Here are a couple of powerful videos from Al Franken's website showing how people view Norm Coleman.

First, Iraq War vet Sam Scott calls Norm Coleman's attacks "the same old shameful Washington politics" and tells Minnesotans why he's proud to stand with Al Franken.



Next, after the Star Tribune and KSTP-TV blasted ads from the Coleman campaign and the National Republican Senatorial Committee as false and misleading, the Al Franken for Senate campaign today released a new television ad featuring Minnesota women expressing their disgust and outrage at the depths to which Norm Coleman has sunk.



Norm Coleman: just another shameful Bush Republican who stoops to corruption, lies and smears.

FLorida Rep. Wexler on Justice Department Corruption

Congressman Wexler has posted an update on the Republican Justice Department scandal...and some of the most damning evidence comes from the Bush Administration itself. This is a scandal that strikes at the heart of our democracy, because without an independent judiciary, democracy cannot exist. The Bush Administration's subversion of the American justice system for self-serving, partisan purposes is about as unAmerican as you can get. From Daily Kos:

Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and the Bush Justice Department fired people for blatantly partisan purposes - breaking the law and injecting politics into our justice system...

This week, Glenn Fine, the Inspector General, assigned to investigate the politicization of the Justice Department released a critically important 392 page report.

In it, he stated they found "significant evidence that political partisan considerations were an important factor in the removal of several of the U.S. attorneys." Remember, this report comes from Bush's own Justice Department investigation. Imagine the scathing report that would come from a fully nonpartisan source...

The report is so damning of Alberto Gonzales, Rove, Miers, and others that the current Attorney General, Michael Mukasey, has appointed a Special Prosecutor to investigate and, if warranted, issue criminal charges.

Whether this is the beginning of real accountability remains to be seen, but it is my mission to try to make sure Congress does not abdicate its responsibility to do its own investigations.

Later this week, Chairman Conyers and the Judiciary Committee will hold hearings on this matter, where I expect to vigorously question Inspector General Fine and other witnesses...

Given the fact that John McCain's campaign is chock full of Bush and Rove allies, there is no reason to think a McCain administration would stop the corruption and mismanagement of the justice department. Obviously, working to elect Obama gets us much closer to this goal.

While we are dealing with very serious issues in Congress this week, it is my view that the threat posed by a corrupting of the Justice department is of vital importance and must be dealt with seriously by this Congress.

Nothing less than our system of justice is at stake. We must not be distracted from that reality.

Please keep vigilant.

Sincerely,

Congressman Robert Wexler

I find it interesting that Sarah Palin is ALSO embroiled in a similar subversion of government for self-serving purposes. The Troopergate scandal is more trivial than the Justice Department scandal, but it really illustrates that the McCain/Palin ticket is just more of the same Bush corruption and abuse of power. And just like the Bush Administration, the McCain/Palin ticket does NOT represent American democracy.