Ronald Reagan made "God Bless America" the mandatory sign-off for political speeches in the United States. The fundamentalists were so thrilled by this small victory that they didn't notice the worsening trade imbalance, the deficit, or the higher cost of living.

Now we have a firm accused of corrupt practice resorting to the same tactic. Clint Curtis pointed the finger at Florida's Yang Enterprises, which, he claims, tasked him to cobble together prototype vote-theft software. The company has responded with this message on its website:

Recently there have been several accusations against this corporation by Clinton Eugene Curtis. All of the allegations are 100% FALSE!! An official statement will be forthcoming. Thank you for your concern and God Bless America.

Those of you have ever had any experience with con artists will know that, when caught, snake-oil peddlers usually start blathering on about God and Jesus and whatnot. I'm not saying that Yang is a nest of consters; I'm just reminding readers of the pattern.

It gets curioser and curioser. In his affidavit, Curtis pointed another finger at a fellow named Mike Cohen, allegedly present at meetings in which the vote-stealing program was discussed. Cohen's name once "infected" documents available on the Yang website -- but that "infection" has been healed (praise Jesus) by some quick re-writing. The original, Cohen-infested version of one such document can be found here.

(By the way, much of the Curtis info is cribbed from Brad Friedman, who assures me that he doesn't mind. Even his supplemental site is sometimes hard to reach these days.)

If you are following the story, you'll recall that Bev Harris wrote a piece critical of the Curtis story, and that Friedman wrote a response answering her objections. Harris and Friedman met up on the Alex Jones radio show, and Harris did some backtracking, and she did it in a very gracious way. She has said that she would post a revised statement on her site. It hasn't shown up at this writing, but I presume that it soon will.

Laff of the day. Curtis claims that Congressman Tom Feeney, of Florida's 24th district, is the one who originally ordered up the vote-theft software, the way you or I might order up a burger at Mickey D's. You may be interested to learn that Feeney has offered a noteworthy opinion on electronic voting:

Despite the few but vocal naysayers, who for partisan reasons are doing their best to portray the Sunshine State's voting technologies in a negative light, Florida has conducted a series of successful elections. With the exception of a few human-error problems, we experienced great success during the most recent election, and in 2002, when I along with hundreds of other politicians were elected on the very voting systems we are using today, without any equipment problems. I expect similar results, as well as increased voter participation and confidence, in August and November 2004.

In recent months, several lawsuits have been filed challenging the paperless electronic voting systems used by 15 Florida counties. I am disturbed that high-profile critics have spent so little time learning the facts from Florida's elections leaders. Instead, the progress our state has made in election reform is being ignored and has resulted in a waste of our state's valuable time and resources by undermining voter confidence. I'm confident a pending federal legal challenge will ultimately be met with the same fate as a previous destructive lawsuit, which was thrown out by a Palm Beach County judge.

These legal challenges are unnecessary and divisive. Florida is a national leader in election reform. Much of the credit goes to state legislators who helped position Florida to make the necessary changes in the state's voting processes and technologies. That commitment has paid off, despite the criticisms and insults from partisan leaders who are ill-informed and have made every attempt to derail voter confidence and undermine our entire elections process.

As time goes on, I expect that Florida will continue to improve its voting systems and processes -- particularly as technology continues to evolve. But the argument that printers should be attached to touch-screen voting machines in the counties that use them is unrealistic as of today. Such companion technology does not currently exist, and in all likelihood will not exist by the November election.

Oh my lord. Now that is funny. If you know anything about Florida's recent, and not-so-recent, electoral history, you must be busting a gut right now.

Since I've always considered a good laugh to be a gift from divine Providence, all I can say in response is -- God bless you, Tom Feeney. And God Bless America!

New rally: New public demonstrations against vote fraud will occur on December 11. Here's the press release:

A RALLY TO CHALLENGE THE TALLY will be held Saturday Dec 11, at noon, at Powell and Market streets in San Francisco. "Just get over it"? -- NO, get INTO it!

Informed speakers, including S.F. Bayview Newspaper editor Willie Ratcliff and Dan Ashby of Redefeat Bush, join inspiring entertainers to energize us as we challenge the civil rights violations, biased election officials, misallocation of voting machines, and exit poll anomalies which call into question the validity of the 2004 election.

After the rally, participants will be invited to leaflet the public at nearby stores, markets and the KPFA crafts fair at 8th Street and Brannan. We'll have petitions directed to Senator Barbara Boxer, calling on her to support an immediate investigation and to challenge the Jan. 6 counting of electoral votes.

December 11 is rally day across the U.S., as folks everywhere join in solidarity with those gathering at the main Washington D.C. rally. The need for action is urgent; the electoral college meets in the states Dec. 13; electoral votes are counted January 6. We have only until Jan. 6 to make sure a fair recount is held in Ohio, and if, necessary, a re-vote ordered.

"I worked in Nevada and New Mexico for four months during the campaign. As I registered voters, some of whom had not voted in 20 years, I promised them that voting was worth their while. I said the amazing grassroots movement we had would ensure that their vote counted and that corruption would not rule the day," said Wellstone member and labor activist Sharon Maldonado. "It would break my heart to think that what I told them was not true, that in some way I had misled them. We must speak out now and we must insist that our elected representatives do the same. Our country's democracy is at stake."

Donald Goldmacher, chairperson of the Voting Rights Task Force of the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club stated, "After a series of public hearings in which citizens of Ohio testified under oath, it is now very clear that widespread voter intimidation, and criminal efforts to prevent African American and student voters from casting their ballots took place in that state. It is our moral duty as citizens to demand a re-vote in that state, just as the people of the Ukraine have done. To accept anything less, is to betray the very foundation of our democracy and those who gave their lives so all could vote freely in this country."

And, in another vein, the rally will include the contrary view of George Shrub, the singing CIA agent. George asserts, "It's disappointing to see the citizenry obsessing over this election we've convinced them they had. I'll be explaining this away for them, giving them my point of view on it so they won't need their own."

Sponsored by (partial list):

Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club (Voting Rights Task Force) Reclaim the Commons, Democracy Defense Committee ReDefeat Bush San Francisco Bay View Newspaper United for Peace and Justice, Bay Area Chapter

For further information:
Contact: Don Goldmacher
dongolmacher@sbcglobal.net
510-527-1761

And remember...God bless America!

Felons can't vote -- but they can count votes. Many of you have seen this fine piece posted on Buzzflash. The article outlines many of the compelling reasons to mistrust the companies charged with keeping our vote safe. Unfortunately, the author does not mention the nasty history of Sequoia, the third firm engaged in this pursuit. (We discussed Sequoia yesterday.) Neither does the author discuss the anti-democratic tendencies of the Ahmanson fmaily, which owns ESS.

However, she does drop a name that has never received due mention in this column: Jeff Dean, Diebold vice-president, convicted of planting back doors in his software.

She also makes a point that demolishes those who would dismiss this research as mere "conspiracy theory":

18. All -- not some -- but all the voting machine errors detected and reported in Florida went in favor of Bush or Republican candidates.

http://www.wired.com/news/evote/0,2645,65757,00.html
http://www.yuricareport.com/ElectionAftermat...
http://www.rise4news.net/extravotes.html
http://www.ilcaonline.org/modules.php?op=modloa...
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0411/S00227.htm

Time and again, we've done this dance: First, the defenders of the status quo will tell us that errors exist in every election. And then we respond: "Yes, but shouldn't the errors skew both ways? If the errors always favor Republicans, shouldn't we presume conspiracy?" At that point, the status quo folk suddenly go deaf.

Let us all bow our heads and ask Dr. Jesus to cure this deafness. He that hath an ear, let him hear.

Yurica. Some time ago, I linked to the Yurica Report's analysis of Votergate. She now offers an update which discusses apparently false election totals published "officially" by Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Election officials who bear false witness had best repent, lest they face hellfire.

Poll position. Did the exit polls favor Kerry? No one doubts that they did. Did the pre-election polls predict a Bush win? Some (including a notorious commentator on this very blog) would answer "yes" -- but a voice in the wilderness crieth nay. Consult this book of numbers and you will see proof that the predictive polls and the exits largely agreed. Of course, bringing up this subject forces us to confront all those bedevilling pre-election controversies -- did Gallup unfairly weight Republicans? Did the major polling organizations undervalue black turn-out?

Cliff Arnebeck, the other whistleblower, was on the Randi Rhodes program today. I did not get a chance to listen, because the devil removed Air America from the airwaves in Los Angeles. I'll point you to either an audio archive or a transcript as soon as the Lord makes such things known unto me.

Democracy Now. This aptly-named program offers a terrific round-up on the election controversy and on the House Judiciary Committee investigation. This bit is worth quoting:

...former Congressman Dan Hamburg was arrested when he attempted to deliver a letter about voting irregularities to the Ohio Secretary of State, Ken Blackwell. He and his wife were charged with trespassing after they refused to leave the private building that houses Blackwell's office, they refused to leave without asking Blackwell questions about the election. Hamburg served in Congress in the early '90s representing California.

God bless you, Amy Goodman. And God bless America.

Correction: A few days ago, I mistakenly placed East St. Louis in Missouri. It is, in fact, in Illinois. The mistake has no excuse -- I have spoken to people from that part of the country, after all. After spending an hour in prayer and meditation, I have decided to blame Satan.