 |
Fri May 16 2008 | |||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
Departments Election Issues Why is the man who stole Ohio campaigning with a white supremacist? by Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman October 9, 2006 J. Kenneth Blackwell, the man who stole Ohio’s 2004 presidential election, was out campaigning October 4, 2006 with a man widely viewed as one of America’s leading white supremacists. Blackwell is an African-American. He is also the Republican nominee for governor of Ohio. As Secretary of State, he was the GOP point man for stealing the 2004 presidential vote that gave George W. Bush a second term. As co-chair of the state’s Bush-Cheney re-election campaign, Blackwell engineered a complex strategy of confusion, disenfranchisement and theft that mirrored what was done by Katherine Harris in Florida 2000. Harris was rewarded with a safe Congressional seat, and is now the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate. Polls show Blackwell trailing between 12-20 points in his gubernatorial race, but few Ohio insiders doubt his ability to steal the necessary votes, if he can get away with it. Currently, Blackwell operatives are stressing that he’s “only 12 points down” and that they believe the race will tighten significantly by Election Day. Blackwell toured the state with Larry Pratt, author of ARMED PEOPLE VICTORIOUS, which advocates the creation of militant right-wing militias. Pratt has spoken and shared platforms in the past with Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi Aryan Nation members. He was forced to take a leave of absence from Pat Buchanan’s 1996 presidential campaign over charges of white supremacist and anti-semitic views. Pratt’s 150,000-member Gun Owners of America is proudly to the right of the National Rifle Association. According to the Columbus Dispatch, Pratt says he couldn’t be a racist because he is campaigning with Blackwell, an African-American. Blackwell is “our kind of guy,” says Pratt, in reference to Blackwell’s support of gun owners’ rights. Blackwell campaign spokesperson attorney Eric Seabrook, conceded on Sunday, October 8 to the Khari Enaharo show listeners on 98.9FM radio that Pratt was a white supremacist but, he stressed “it was all about the gun rights issue.” But this is not the first time Blackwell has lined up with extreme right-wing backers boasting racist and anti-semitic roots. Earlier this year Blackwell posted on his website a picture of himself addressing the Council for National Policy. The CNP has deep “neo-fascist” and Ku Klux Klan ties according to Chip Berlet of the Boston-based Political Research Associates. In addition to right wing extremists such as Jerry Falwell, Phyllis Schlafly and Pat Robertson, the CNP embraces a broad spectrum of powerful, reactionary bigots. Among them are members of the Ahmanson family, major funders of extremist publications and electronic voting machines. The Ahmanson’s financial and political ties are thoroughly intertwined with both ES&S and Diebold, mainstays of the electronic hardware used to steal the Ohio vote. Among their associates are Bob and Todd Urosevich, whose executive and programming work has helped shape the two voting machine companies. Others associated with the CNP include:
Blackwell supporters continue to predict he will make a “last-minute surge” to win the governor’s race. Making no visible moves toward the mainstream, Blackwell may well be banking on two bottom lines in Bush-era electoral politics: loaded guns and rigged voting machines. -- Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman are co-authors, with Steve Rosenfeld, of WHAT HAPPENED IN OHIO?, just published by the New Press. Fitrakis is an independent candidate for governor of Ohio, endorsed by the Green Party. Email this article to a friend |
Don't forget to check out articles from 2007 and 2008
"Renowned computer security expert agrees to meet California county supervisor's '1000 to 1' challenge to 'manipulate' Sequoia voting machine!"
December 13, 2006
Brad Friedman
"100 phantom votes found in one precinct; DelCo board of elections hinders investigation"
December 12, 2006
Stephanie Frank Singer
"Think globally, protect the vote locally"
December 1, 2006
Paul Rogat Loeb
"Will they or won't they: last chance for Democrats"
November 17, 2006
David Swanson
"The vote protectors"
November 16, 2006
Robert C. Koehler
"Ohio's 2006 vote count now includes a higher percentage of uncounted ballots than in 2004, and a statistically impossible swing to the Republicans"
November 14, 2006
Bob Fitrakis, Harvey Wasserman and Ron Baiman
"The drama of empty numbers"
November 9, 2006
Robert C. Koehler
"A monumental victory for the election protection movement"
November 8, 2006
Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman
"Pick a number 2006"
November 7, 2006
Mike Ferner
"How they stole the mid-term election"
November 7, 2006
Greg Palast, The Guardian ( UK ), Comment
"STOP Blackwell, what's that sign: Everyone look what's going down"
November 7, 2006
Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman
"Parallel election midday report"
November 7, 2006
Rady Ananda
"Tuesday's outcome may depend on the power of the election protection movement"
November 5, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"The power of a social movement can beat the GOP double Chickenhawks"
November 2, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"Check out We Count for a great TownHall confrontation between Vicki Lovegren of Ohio Vigilance and Michael Vu, Supervisor of Cuyahoga County BOE"
November 1, 2006
Victoria Lovegren, Ph.D.
"Official states electronic voting system added votes never cast in 2004 Presidential election; audit log missing"
November 1, 2006
Peter Peckarsky, Ron Baiman, and Robert Fitrakis
"Repairing the U.S. system of voting: 50 concrete steps"
November 1, 2006
Harvey Wasserman, Bob Fitrakis and Steve Rosenfeld
"Will a shocking new GOP court victory and Karl Rove's attack on Ohio 2006 doom the Democrats nationwide?"
October 30, 2006
Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman
"Renoite sue Sequoia Voting Systems"
October 28, 2006
Patricia Axelrod
"Severe election problems seen in ten states"
October 27, 2006
Jason Leopold
"Direct material proof of massive election fraud in Ohio in the 2004 U.S. presidential election"
October 26, 2006
Ron Baiman
"A talk with Mark Crispin Miller about what voters can do to prevent another stolen election"
October 26, 2006
The Ostroy Report
"Will Ken Blackwell find the ways to steal Ohio 2006 as he did in 2004?"
October 25, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"Important voter activism"
October 22, 2006
Victoria Lovegren, Ph.D.
"A loaves & fishes/Holy Ghost victory for the GOP in November?"
October 17, 2006
Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman
"Why is the man who stole Ohio campaigning with a white supremacist?"
October 9, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"This cannot be"
September 28, 2006
Robert C. Koehler
"Court victory lets preserved Ohio 2004 ballots tell new tales of theft and fraud as indictments and convictions mount"
September 25, 2006
Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman
"Unfit for use in ANY democracy"
September 20, 2006
Rady Ananda
"An open letter to Gov. Robert Taft and Sec. of State J. Kenneth Blackwell"
September 8, 2006
Harvey Wasserman, et. al.
"Coshocton County complaint"
September 3, 2006
Tim Kettler
"Saving the ballot evidence from Ohio 2004"
September 2, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"San Diego suit’s second hearing: Judge to rule next Tuesday on constitutional and jurisdictional questions"
August 25, 2006
Rady Ananda
"New Zogby Poll: It’s Nearly Unanimous"
August 24, 2006
Michael Collins, “Scoop” Independent Media
"How the last presidential election awoke me from an unsound sleep"
July 22, 2006
Jeanne Norris Weinberg
"PFAW's Neas praises advance of Voting Rights Act, Calls on Bush Administration to start enforcing the law"
July 22, 2006
People For the American Way
"Why Democrats don't count: lessons from the un-Gore of Mexico"
July 16, 2006
Greg Palast
"Resolution of no confidence in current U.S. elections"
July 16, 2006
J30 Coalition
"An open letter from Ohio to the people of Mexico"
July 13, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"The stolen election of 2004"
July 11, 2006
Michael Parenti
"The Democrats must now say "We Do Not Concede" in the U.S. as it's being said in Mexico"
July 9, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"Project Vote, voting rights organizations, file to overturn restrictive voter registration rules "
July 7, 2006
Brian Mellor
"BBV: Unredacted Hursti Diebold reports, photos released"
July 4, 2006
Bev Harris
"Ignore that man behind the screen, Dorothy"
July 1, 2006
Greg Palast
"Bob Fitrakis for Governor -- he is now on the ballot"
July 1, 2006
Fitrakis campaign
"Alameda County supervisors embrace election fraud"
July 1, 2006
Allen C. Michaan
"San Diego’s run-off election aggregate results are plausible"
June 18, 2006
Ron Baiman
"A vote of no confidence: democracy left to languish in living rooms, garages"
June 15, 2006
Robert C. Koehler
"Kennedy's challenge: Salon, Mother Jones & the tortured dialogue"
June 15, 2006
Michael Collins and
"Warren County revisited"
June 12, 2006
Richard Hayes Phillips, Ph.D.
"Something smells fishy in San Diego!"
June 11, 2006
Ron Baiman
"Response to Salon Magazine"
June 6, 2006
Ron Baiman
"Analysis of Connally spreadsheet and other documents"
June 5, 2006
Ron Baiman
"RFK and Rolling Stone nail Ohio's stolen 2004 election, but much more must be done"
June 3, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"Pick a card, any card"
May 27, 2006
Richard Hayes Phillips, Ph.D.
"Will the major media finally cover the electronic election fraud issue?"
May 15, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"The money pit: Diebold vs. America "
May 15, 2006
Denis Wright
"Worst security flaw ever - 3 states invoke Diebold emergency procedures"
May 15, 2006
Black Box Voting
"Cranks and Kooks: Kerry won in '04"
May 11, 2006
Greg Palast
"Ohio 2004 election thief grabs Gov nod while (surprise! surprise!) voting machines malfunction"
May 5, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"Hand counted paper ballots in 2008"
April 14, 2006
Sheila Parks
"Busheviks connected to New Hampshire phone-jamming scheme"
April 14, 2006
The Ostroy Report
"Are mainstream churches finally standing up to the GOP’s hateful “Christian” blitzkrieg?"
April 9, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"Thousands march in New Orleans for right for Katrina survivors to vote in the city’s April 22 election"
April 7, 2006
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition
"Shocking Diebold conflict of interest revelations from Secretary of State further taint Ohio's electoral credibility"
April 6, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"Faith-based voting"
March 30, 2006
Robert C. Koehler, Tribune Media Services
"Targeting the voters in Toledo"
March 30, 2006
Richard Hayes Phillips, Ph.D.
"Targeting the voters in Cincinnati"
March 30, 2006
Richard Hayes Phillips, Ph.D.
"Through a glass Darkely"
March 30, 2006
Richard Hayes Phillips, Ph.D.
"Is the Mainstream Media finally getting half the rigged voting machine story?"
March 29, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"Please help Clint Curtis"
March 23, 2006
Robert Lockwood Mills
"Utah testing of the Diebold touch-screen reveals new problems"
March 19, 2006
Black Box Voting
"Trust us"
March 17, 2006
Robert C. Koehler, Tribune Media Services
"Harman vs. Winograd, tough choice?"
March 17, 2006
David Swanson
"Why did J. Kenneth Blackwell seek, then hide, his association with super-rich extremists and e-voting magnates?"
March 10, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"Did 308,000 cancelled Ohio voter registrations put Bush back in the White House?"
February 28, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"Statisticians recommend new measures to ensure vote count accuracy, release "Ohio’s 2004 exit poll analysis for novices”"
February 17, 2006
Kathy Dopp
"As Alito takes Supreme Court seat, Ohio GOP guts election protection "
February 1, 2006
Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
"The Harri Hursti hack and its importance to our nation"
January 29, 2006
Susan Pynchon, Florida Fair Elections Coalition
"Programmer Jeff Dean worked for chief of White House Plumbers unit"
January 26, 2006
Bev Harris, Kathleen Wynne, and John Howard
"Free Press Editor in Film at Sundance"
January 23, 2006
Free Press Staff
"PA activists sue to vote on machines"
January 20, 2006
Rady Ananda
"Important documents"
January 20, 2006
Free Press staff
"The gun is smoking - The gun is smoking - 2004 Ohio precinct-level exit poll data show virtually irrefutable evidence of vote miscount"
January 18, 2006
Kathy Dopp and Ron Baiman
"Recipe for hacking ES&S and Sequoia, Hursti-style"
January 4, 2006
Black Box Voting
"What’s all the fuss about Diebold in Florida and California?"
January 4, 2006
John Washburn, for VoteTrustUSA
"New info may take out Diebold touchscreens"
January 1, 2006
Black Box Voting
Read Articles by Year:
2007 2006 2005 2004
2003 2002 2001 2000
All content © 1970-2008
The Columbus Free Press
Disclaimer