Ashcroft Expected To Resign (a.k.a. Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead)

Not that I wish him dead…or even physically ill. (Even though he’s been trying to kill the Constitution for a while now.)
But if he resigns, theoretically, he can’t do us any more harm.
It will be only the second Shrub official to hit the road in my “Bye-Bye” series.
This is the best news I’ve heard all week!

Ashcroft Likely to Leave Post
By Curt Anderson for The Associated Press.

Attorney General John Ashcroft is likely to leave his post before the start of President Bush’s second term, senior aides said Thursday.
Ashcroft, 62, is described as exhausted from leading the Justice Department in fighting the domestic war on terrorism since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Stress was a factor in Ashcroft’s health problems earlier this year that resulted in removal of his gall bladder.
Ashcroft is expected to resign before Bush’s Jan. 20 inauguration, said aides who spoke only on condition of anonymity. They said there is a small chance he would stay on, at least for a short time, if Bush asked him.
The attorney general has not officially informed his staff of his future plans, spokesman Mark Corallo said.
At a news conference, Bush said he hasn’t made any decisions about his Cabinet.
Ashcroft, a former two-term governor and senator from Missouri, has long been a favorite among Bush’s base of religious conservatives. He also is a lightning rod for Democrats and other critics on issues ranging from the anti-terrorism Patriot Act, which expanded rules for eavesdropping, to abortion rights and gun control.
Names that have been floated in recent weeks as a possible replacement include Ashcroft’s former deputy, Larry Thompson, who would become the first black attorney general. Others include Marc Racicot, who was Bush’s campaign manager, and White House general counsel Alberto Gonzalez, who would give Bush a notable Hispanic appointment.

New York Is Bummed Out By Shrub Victory


A Blue City (Disconsolate, Even) Bewildered by a Red America
By Joseph Berger for The New York Times.

Striking a characteristic New York pose near Lincoln Center yesterday, Beverly Camhe clutched three morning newspapers to her chest while balancing a large latte and talked about how disconsolate she was to realize that not only had her candidate, John Kerry, lost but that she and her city were so out of step with the rest of the country.
“Do you know how I described New York to my European friends?” she said. “New York is an island off the coast of Europe.”
Like Ms. Camhe, a film producer, three of every four voters in New York City gave Mr. Kerry their vote, a starkly different choice from the rest of the nation. So they awoke yesterday with something of a woozy existential hangover and had to confront once again how much of a 51st State they are, different in their sensibilities, lifestyles and polyglot texture from most of America. The election seemed to reverse the perspective of the famous Saul Steinberg cartoon, with much of the land mass of America now in the foreground and New York a tiny, distant and irrelevant dot.
Some New Yorkers, like Meredith Hackett, a 25-year-old barmaid in Brooklyn, said they didn’t even know any people who had voted for President Bush. (In both Manhattan and the Bronx, Mr. Bush received 16.7 percent of the vote.) Others spoke of a feeling of isolation from their fellow Americans, a sense that perhaps Middle America doesn’t care as much about New York and its animating concerns as it seemed to in the weeks immediately after the attack on the World Trade Center.
“Everybody seems to hate us these days,” said Zito Joseph, a 63-year-old retired psychiatrist. “None of the people who are likely to be hit by a terrorist attack voted for Bush. But the heartland people seemed to be saying, ‘We’re not affected by it if there would be another terrorist attack.’ ”

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Video Of My Voting Experience

It seems only fair to document my own voting experience, since I’ve asked you to document yours and send it to me.
Here’s video of me casting my vote for Kerry via the optical voting system used at my precinct in San Francisco, California.
These are the optical voting systems that need to replace the electronic voting machines that are currently in use throughout the country. I believe that electronic voting machines need to either a) implement voter verifiable paper trails or b) be replaced completely by the newest snazzy optical system models. Otherwise we have no control over the outcome. Period.
Also of interest is the Instant Runoff Feature for our local Representatives. I voted for Tom Ammiano, of course. That’s why it says “first choice,” “second choice,” etc.

Lisa Rein’s Voting Experience (Small – 5 MB)

Dan Gillmour: Four More Years

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Dan Gillmour has written his usual classy piece on what another four years of the Shrub will mean for this country.
Except for his agreement that Kerry should have conceded in the beginning of the piece, it’s a great one.

Four More Years

The Republicans have an even stronger congressional majority. They have shown how gladly ruthless they can be in using their power. Bush and his allies have never believed in compromise. They have even less incentive to govern from the middle now, even though the nation remains bitterly divided.
There’s no secret about what’s coming. We don’t have that excuse this time.
Here comes more fiscal recklessness — as we widen the chasm between the ultra-wealthy and everyone else, cementing a plutocracy into our national fiber, we’ll pay our national bills on the Treasury Bill credit card for the next few years. Many economists expect a Brazil-like financial crisis to hit the U.S. before the end of the decade. If we muddle our way though the near term, we’ll still have left our kids with the bill.
Here comes an expansion of the American empire abroad, a fueling of fear and loathing elsewhere on the globe. This is also unsustainable in the end. Empire breeds disrespect.
Our civil liberties will shrink drastically. This president and his top allies in Congress fully support just one amendment in the Bill of Rights, the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms. Say goodbye to abortion rights in most states. Roe v. Wade will fall after this president pushes three or four Scalia and Thomas legal clones onto the Supreme Court. Say hello, meanwhile, to a much more intrusive blending of church and state.
The environment? We’ll be nostalgic for Ronald Reagan’s time in office.
This is not sour grapes. This is reality.
I hope, but doubt, that the Democrats re-discover enough of their collective spine to block the most extreme moves. If they do it’ll be a change for a party that stands for so little these days.
People say there are two Americas. I think there are at least three.
One is Bush’s America: an amalgam of the extreme Christian “conservatives,” corporate interests and the builders of the burgeoning national-security state.
Another is the Democratic “left”: wedded to the old, discredited politics in a time that demands creative thinking.
I suspect there’s a third America: members of an increasingly radical middle that will become more obvious in the next few years, tolerant of those who are different and aware that the big problems of our times are being ignored — or made worse — by those in power today.
That third America needs a candidate. Or, maybe, a new party.

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Video Of Provisional Ballot Discussion On CNN

This post goes with this one.
This is from the CNN election broadcast of 11/03/04 at about 12:30 am.
Wolf Blitzer actually did an OK job during the middle-of-the-night broadcast. I was surprised.
Here’s Harvard Law Professor
Laurence Tribe explaining the nuances behind last night’s Provisional Ballot situation.
CNN Legal Panel On Provisional Ballots
Quote from Laurence Tribe:

I’m told that as of now there was a Federal injunction that required that people who stood in the rain for five hours and learned that there were no machines there be allowed to vote on paper ballots and I’m told that they weren’t.

Reports Of Disenfranchisement Heard Yesterday On KPFA Radio

My pal Maura just emailed me this list she put together of voter disenfranchisement cases that were being covered yesterday on KPFA Radio, in Berkeley, CA.
After listening to them for a good part of the morning, she started writing some of them down. The reports continued into the afternoon, and so did her note taking.
When she told me about this list today, I asked her to email it over so I could tell you about it.
Maura’s List:

milwaukee-
people in minority communities recevied flyers saying
not to vote if they havent payed parking tickets or
child support cause they will be arrested.
madison, wi – flyers distributed saying if anyone in
your family has been convicted of a crime, youre not
allowed to vote. also, calls and doorhangers saying
“remember to vote nov 3rd”
ohio- people didnt receive absentee ballots. Some are
going to polls to get provisional ballot, on orders of
mr. blackwell, being denied provisional ballot saying
that they cannot use a provisional ballot.
restaining order eventually placed on polling
officials saying they cannot enforce mr. blackwell’s order.
one woman, went to 3 polling places, had been trying
to vote since 6:30am this morning, finally voted at
2pm requesting a provisional ballot, said she wasnt
leaving until she received one, however, since she
didnt vote in her correct polling place, her ballot
too might be called in to question. this is happneing
all over.
florida –
people’s names just arent on registrar’s list, being
denied right to vote.
voters being told by election officials that their
provisional ballots wont be counted, therefore, why
bother.
south dakota:
republicans working for john thume writing down native
american license plates at polling places-intimidation
effort claimed to determine if
they’re legal voters.
colorado –
one woman reported that she was called and told she
could vote early at a local baptist church. She went
there, voted, and was told today by her co-workers
that early voting ended last friday. what?
arizona-
reports of automated calls telling voters they’re
polling place had changes. they drove 20 miles across
town to find out that it wasnt true.
alameda county – electronic machines
breaking all over, error messages, one woman was
denied a paper ballot and given a provisional ballot.
this in our county, not even a swing state, think of
how many times this could have happened to those who
were ignorant.

Day-After Florida Report From Steve Shapiro And The Election Protection Team

I just talked to Steve Shapiro again in Florida. He’s understandably depressed and wasn’t really in much of a talking mood.
Questions in bold are from me. Answers are from Steve.
Were there any problems yesterday?
None that were apparent or significant. There weren’t even long lines. The pattern had always been crowded from 7-11am and 4-7pm and only half of that was true yesterday. Nobody showed up in the afternoon.
So your project was a success? They had all voted early?
Yes. When we got back tothe church that night. Everyone said it was the same pattern. I mean it was steady, but the early voting really seems to have made a big difference in reducing the number of mishaps.
Were there a lot of Provisional Ballots used that you could see?
No, actually. Not many Provisional Ballots that we could tell. But we weren’t inside the polls, but we were talking to the lawyers inside the polls and they were sort of giving us updates. It didn’t seem like there were many Provisional Ballots being used, or at least certainly not in numbers that were out of the ordinary.
There was only one “challenge,” and it was a legit one. Somebody really did try to vote twice.
How exactly was it that all the lawyers were allowed to be inside the polls?
Each candidate, party, or ballot initiative is allowed to have one there on their behalf. In many cases, there were committies of lawyers there on behalf of the various campaigns.
We talked to some of them who noted that, for the most part, there didn’t seem to be any kind of Republican strategy or anything. Conflicts between lawyers and citizens/poll workers/volunteers really seemed to depend on the personality of the lawyers.
For instance, at one of the precincts we were at, the Republican lawyer was a really nice guy, and the Democrat lawyer was really a jerk!

Story About Ohio Situation In the LA Times


Ohio Takes Election-Night Spotlight
By Henry Weinstein and Elizabeth Shogren for the Los Angeles Times.

If it is necessary to count the provisional votes and the margin narrows, that could precipitate a recount. Under Ohio law, if the candidates are separated by one-quarter of a percentage point or less, there automatically would be a recount.
In Columbus, Daryll Judge, 44, a satellite technician, and his wife Michelle got in line at New Salem Baptist Church to vote at 5:30 p.m. It was raining steadily. By 7 p.m., they finally let the people wait inside the church. It wasn’t until 9:50 p.m., more than four hours later, that he finally voted…
As the clock struck midnight in Gambier, Ohio, Lauren Gray, 18, waited in line to vote at a precinct near Kenyon College, where she is a sophomore. An electronic voting machine broke down earlier Tuesday, creating long, slow-moving lines of hopeful citizens waiting hours to cast their ballot.
“When it’s coming down to having Ohio be the deciding state, everyone at the college and in the town knows we could be the next Florida,” Gray said.
After a day of nerves wearing thin from mechanical delays, hurried legal challenges and the adrenaline fatigue that comes from dashed hopes, Ohio found itself in the unwanted spotlight. As the count of the presidential vote moved into this morning’s early hours, Ohio emerged as the key big state to decide who becomes president.
Despite several projections that President Bush had defeated John Kerry in Ohio, the challenger’s campaign insisted the count was too close to concede. In some areas, the voting was still under way.
“The vote count in Ohio has not been completed,” campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill said in a statement. “There are more than 250,000 remaining votes to be counted. We believe when they are, John Kerry will win Ohio.”
Mark Weaver, the chief Republican attorney in Ohio, said he was pleased that it appeared that Bush had prevailed in the Buckeye State. However, he quickly added that it appeared that the president’s margin of victory would be less than the number of provisional ballots that have been cast, which would mean that the result would not be finalized for at least 10 days.
Both sides agreed it would take a while for Ohio to straighten out the vote.
According to Cincinnati attorney Phyllis Bossin, the southwestern Ohio legal coordinator for Kerry, there are still thousands of votes to be counted in Cuyahoga County, the state’s largest county, where Al Gore trounced Bush in 2000. She said some polls had just closed in Columbus. Perhaps most significant, Bossin said, “The whole provisional ballot thing is a nightmare.”
Cincinnati attorney Daniel J. Hoffheimer, the chief lawyer for the Kerry campaign in Ohio, said at 1:45 a.m. Wednesday that “this is the situation we all feared” – where the margin was the less than the number of provisional ballots, creating the possibility of further litigation.
Joe Rugola, the Ohio AFL-CIO’s political chairman, said the outcome in Ohio could become clear in a couple hours or not for weeks.
“If Kerry’s margin in Cuyahoga County is in line with historic margins, we could end up with a difference (between the candidates) that could be smaller than the number or provisional ballots outstanding.”
The provisional ballots would then become a “supercharged” legal issue because there was so much legal wrangling over who could cast a provisional ballot and where they could cast it leading up to the election.
Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell said on CNN that if the margin of victory in Ohio is less than the number of provisional ballots, “everyone should take a deep breath and relax” because those provisional ballots won’t be counted for at least 10 days under Ohio law.

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Damn. Kerry Conceeds.

I can’t believe he gave up without a full investigation of yesterday’s events, but CNN is saying that Kerry called Bush and conceeded, and will be making a speech today to officially do so at 1pm eastern.
I can’t even imagine the horrible things that this President is going to do to hurt our own country and the rest of the world over these next four years.
Sure. Hilary will come save us in 2008, but what will be left of our country by then?
Well, I’m not convinced, actually. It’s hard to believe that with a 70% voter turnout, the Shrub was able to squeak ahead. I think they cheated. Between the electronic voting machines, purge lists, and the various other illegal methods consistently employed by this administration, they’ve managed to pull another fast one on us.
It’s up to all of us to continue to document whatever we can about the election — while the trail is hot.
I’m not looking forward to what will inevitably be another four years of Election 2004 horror stories…trickling out little by little, with little or nothing that can be done about them when they finally surface.
I’m a bitter loser. But I’m a bitter loser with my eyes open.
We’ll have to stick together more than ever over these next four miserable years. The Shrub will continue to attempt to drive us farther apart. We can’t let him.
Also, for those of you with children of draft age, I’d suggest moving away to another country, and fast. Seriously.

CNN’s A Flutter With Discussion Of Provisional Ballots

What perfect timing. I was putting up the last post when I realize that CNN had a little panel of legal professors talking about Provisional Ballots and their legal implications.
The tricky part, apparently, lies in the processing of those ballots, which is left to the States’ discretion in the Help America Vote Act.
All of the guests agreed that these people deserve to have their vote counted and that their votes could make a difference in the outcome. Especially in Ohio. But really in all states, and that it was fairly irresponsible for networks to claim any victories at this point.