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Sessions? The same Sessions who got an award from the NAACP for breaking up the KKK? Racist? I'm getting cognitive dissonance here.

No, I'm sensing some fantasy delusions here, Sessions never got an award from the NAACP for breaking up the KKK, which would be pretty hard, since it never had any singular organization while he was alive anyway, and the organization remains much as it has been for the past few decades, but the only claim of Sessions getting an award from the NAACP in 2009 is so recent, and is specious, with no particular association or claim to it.

Maybe Sessions didn't go down to the plaque shop himself, but there's no evidence to show who did, the NAACP isn't supporting it or him.

Isn't it suspicious that there's been no press release or media brief from when he got it?

Huh. The only question is...why?

What does Sessions have to hide, that he needed a fake award to give him credibility?

Sessions? The same Sessions who got an award from the NAACP for breaking up the KKK? Racist? I'm getting cognitive dissonance here.

No, I'm sensing some fantasy delusions here, Sessions never got an award from the NAACP for breaking up the KKK, which would be pretty hard, since it never had any singular organization while he was alive anyway, and the organization remains much as it has been for the past few decades, but the only claim of Sessions getting an award from the NAACP in 2009 is so recent, and is specious, with no particular association or claim to it.

Maybe Sessions didn't go down to the plaque shop himself, but there's no evidence to show who did, the NAACP isn't supporting it or him.

Isn't it suspicious that there's been no press release or media brief from when he got it?

Huh. The only question is...why?

What does Sessions have to hide, that he needed a fake award to give him credibility?

> how she stood up in front of large crowds and told us all about remorseless super predators,

20 years ago. And she apologized for it.

> her friendships with clansmen like Byrd that she never disavowed, how

You know why? Because she was friends with him only after he disavowed the klan in 1952.
Even the NAACP praised Byrd.

> because he knew they would prevail if it went to trial

Yeah, nobody ever settles just to make troublemakers go away because going to trial when you are innocent is totally risk free. That never happens.

She didn't lose on the facts, she lost on fables like yours.

surviving quite well

Quite well?

Notice how the "Contributing Factors" section of that NAACP "fact sheet" fails to consider the 59% "Multiple Babies’ Daddies" aspect?

Self inflicted ignorance right there.

because the cops don't give a shit. they're too busy with the war on drugs to deal with criminals who are the criminal portion of the drugs business.

Police work is filled with many important and difficult decisions. For instance, Does this guy look black enough to arrest? http://www.naacp.org/pages/criminal-justice-fact-sheet

FFS.

If you spent 5 seconds with Google you'd find dozens of examples. I don't see why I have to do it for you.

Here: It took me literally seconds to find *dozens* of examples:
http://www.naacp.org/news/entry/naacp-delegates-vote-to-repudiate-racist-elements-within-the-tea-pary/ (6 or 7 pictures at this one)
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/POLITICS/09/17/obama.witchdoctor.teaparty/art.obama.protest.sign.cnn.jpg
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/2008/10/custom_1223838327176_racistbf5.png
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/pictures/20090916TeaParty01.jpg

Man, here's an idea, just go to images.google.com and type in tea party and look through the signs. There's quite a few examples of blatant racism. Now my question to you is, where are the tea party leaders condemning this? If you can't find that, then that seems pretty much like de-facto proof that it is tolerated.

I know a little pop psych too. It's called "projection". How many of these alleged psychological problems are really with the tea party people and how many are your own flaws which you attempt to "project" onto a group you don't like?

There was nothing even vaguely resembling pop psychology what I posted.

And seriously, I realize this is an internet-argument and therefore blah blah blah, but seriously, could you get any less classy?

The NAACP never said the entire Tea Party was racist. They said that the Tea Party has never denounced the racists in their midst.

The NAACP then went on to cite several incidents that have not been corroborated, or were not reported completely. From the press release:

Civil rights icon John Lewis was spit on, while Congressman Emanuel Cleaver was called the "N" word and openly gay Congressman Barney Frank was called an ugly anti-gay slur.

The NAACP can't even get their accusations straight.

• John Lewis claimed he heard someone yelling a racial epithet. Despite a substantial financial reward being offered and someone following immediately behind him with a recording device, no one has publicly offered a recording that substantiates it.
• Emanuel Cleaver initially accused someone of spitting on him. But after apparently reviewing several videos of the incident, he admitted that he was simply "sprayed" by an over-enthusiastic protester. He subsequently retracted his accusation.
• The slur hurled at Barney Frank did happen. But left unreported by almost every media outlet was that the perpetrator was immediately admonished by the other protesters, and he quickly left.

http://action.aclu.org/site/PageServer?pagename=FJ_donationhome

https://secure.eff.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=DON_splash

https://www.naacp.org/contribute/contribute.php ...and just in case those donations aren't enough to protect your rights,

http://membership.nrahq.org/

Ummm, no. First of all, your "hits" are quoting an NAACP chapter's president, who certainly would not be able to speak for NAACP as a whole.

Secondly, those are not endorsements for Paul's presidential campaign. They are just saying some NAACP chapter president doesn't think Ron Paul is a racist. Big difference.

Thirdly, I'm not sure NAACP could even endorse a presidential candidate, as they are a non-profit. Can non-profits make political endorsements? I'm not sure that they can.

Kindly find me a link where the national NAACP Leadership Council endorses Ron Paul for President of the United States of America, or kindly refrain from making smart-assed comments.

Thank you.

My guess would be Burger King, judging by the colour scheme

"THE ISSUE:
Almost 4 million Americans, or 1 in 50 American adults, are not allowed to vote because they have been convicted of a felony, regardless of the nature or seriousness of the offense. Three fourths of these Americans are no longer in jail. 13% of African American males - 1.4 million - are prohibited from voting.

Furthermore, state laws vary when it comes to defining a felony and in determining if people who are no longer incarcerated can vote. Thus it is possible that in some states, a person can lose their right to vote forever if he or she writes one bad check. Furthermore, the process to regain one's right to vote in any state is often difficult and cumbersome. Most states require specific gubernatorial action, and in 16 states federal ex-felons need a presidential pardon to regain their voting rights."

Above quote was take from the following PDF the NAACP created April 13 2005.

NAACP Supports Voter Renfranchisement For Rehabilitated Felony Offenders

Madison County's elections supervisor, Linda Howell, had a peculiarly personal reason for distrusting the central voter file: She had received a letter saying that since she had committed a felony, she would not be allowed to vote.

• http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=327
• http://archive.salon.com/politics/feature/2001/08/ 04/florida/print.html
• http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20040517 &s=palast
• http://www.newtimesbpb.com/issues/2002-10-31/news/ news2.html

Lawsuit on same:

• http://www.naacp.org/news/2000/2000-11-28.html

Slashdot, a prominent news web log claiming to be News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters has claimed victory over the Gay Nigger Association of America (GNAA).

With GNAA's trolls resorting to stale material which was relevant for five minutes about three months ago and enabling anyone to cut and paste a press release using the Open Source philosophy has led to GNAA's demise. Netcraft confirms it.

GNAA's founder timecop was seen locking up the headquarters one last time. An unassuming outdoor mens room deep in the heart of Tennessee was once host to numerous sessions of blowjobs, anal and creampies attended only by homosexual African-Americans. I reckon I jest likes fuckin' girls. White girls. [note broken link] was the only statement given to the press at this time. Former lovers and Windows users Lysol and Roloffle were found standing at half-mast upon the sad but inevitable occasion.

Robert W. Malda shared his feelings regarding the event. Oog the Caveman (a pioneer of ALL CAPS == TEH FNY), The Glorious Meept, Trollaxor, The Turd Report, WIPO Troll, Recipe Troll even goatse had something to contribute to our forums. GNAA is populated solely by crybaby attention whores who wouldn't know a rpm if it bit them on their tender, velvety asshole which is barely covered by a fine mist of downy, pre-pubescent hairs. After a brief reverie Mr. Malda conceded At least GNAA uses valid xHTML instead of dicey HTML 3.2

About GNAA: GNAA (GAY NIGGER ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA) was a troll organization known for its cut and paste style of trolls which are written once every six months. It was founded in July 2001 by timecop, found its heyday with ROR JEWS DID WTC and slowly faded into the background radiation. Its namesake, a Danish humor movie, is freely available via BitTorrent.

About Slashdot:
Slashdot is the first website dedicated entirely to duplicate articles, groupthink and brilliant trolls. Under the aegis of News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters and its connections with Open Source Lobbyists has ensured its continued presence on teh intorweb.

Do you have an Email address ? Do you have a computer ? If you answered Yes to all of the above questions, then Slashdot is exactly what you've been looking for! Join Slashdot today, and enjoy all the benefits of being a full-time Slashdot member. Why not? It's quick and easy - only 3 simple steps!

• First, you have to obtain a copy of Linux and attempt to install it. You can download the operating system using BitTorrent.
• Second, you need to succeed in First Post on slashdot.org, our website.
• Third, you need to join the official S

Slashdot, a prominent news web log claiming to be "News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters" has claimed victory over the Gay Nigger Association of America (GNAA).

With GNAA's trolls resorting to stale material which was relevant for five minutes about three months ago and enabling anyone to "cut and paste" a press release using the Open Source philosophy has led to GNAA's demise. Netcraft confirms it.

GNAA's founder timecop was seen locking up the headquarters one last time. An unassuming outdoor mens room deep in the heart of Tennessee was once host to numerous sessions of blowjobs, anal and creampies attended only by homosexual African-Americans. "I reckon I jest likes fuckin' girls. White girls. [note broken link]" was the only statement given to the press at this time. Former lovers and Windows users Lysol and Roloffle were found standing at "half-mast" upon the sad but inevitable occasion.

Robert W. Malda shared his feelings regarding the event. "Oog the Caveman (a pioneer of ALL CAPS == TEH FNY), The Glorious Meept, Trollaxor, The Turd Report, WIPO Troll, Recipe Troll even goatse had something to contribute to our forums. GNAA is populated solely by crybaby attention whores who wouldn't know a rpm if it bit them on their tender, velvety asshole which is barely covered by a fine mist of downy, pre-pubescent hairs." After a brief reverie Mr. Malda conceded "At least GNAA uses valid xHTML instead of dicey HTML 3.2"

About GNAA:

GNAA (GAY NIGGER ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA) was a troll organization known for its "cut and paste" style of trolls which are written once every six months. It was founded in July 2001 by timecop, found its heyday with "ROR JEWS DID WTC" and slowly faded into the background radiation. Its namesake, a Danish humor movie, is freely available via BitTorrent.

About Slashdot:

Slashdot is the first website dedicated entirely to duplicate articles, groupthink and brilliant trolls. Under the aegis of "News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters" and its connections with Open Source Lobbyists has ensured its continued presence on "teh intorweb".

Do you have an Email address? ?

Do you have a computer ?

If you answered "Yes" to all of the above questions, then Slashdotis exactly what you've been looking for!

Join Slashdot today, and enjoy all the benefits of being a full-time Slashdot member.

Why not? It's quick and easy - only 3 simple steps!

• First, you have to obtain a copy of Linux and attempt to install it. You can download the operating system using BitTorrent.
• Second, you need to succeed in First Post on

Sorry I don't have any Fox News links, but maybe this will suffice, for starters. I wasn't aware there were still people out there who are still contesting the fact that this happened.

But, if you prefer to believe the word of Bush's own Dept. of Justice on whether or not Bush screwed the country, that's your business.

hey Aardpig, don't you get it??

No, apparently you don't. By your argument, the NAACP would be a racist organization.

ok, i'll use your own words, YOUR SIGNATURE IS A GROSS, SLANDEROUS, RACIST MISCHARACTERIZATION OF THE IN INHABITANTS OF planet earth, save for THE IDIAN SUBCONTINENT.

The first-grade errors in your post aptly characterize your inability to conduct a reasoned argument.

The fact that she was sued does not prove anything. People can get sued at any time for any reason. And the NAACP has settled their lawsuit already.

You are still ignoring the facts that don't fit into your "alternate reality":

- The law requiring the felon voter scrub list was passed before Harris (or Jeb Bush, for that matter) was even in office
- Local county election supervisors are the only ones with the authority to remove a name from voter registration (not Harris or Bush)
- The counties with the highest vote spoilage rate were all administered by Democrat election supervisors
- The USCCR report was not able to identify a single person who actually was falsly prevented from voting because of this list

• Defendants have taken an oath to support, protect and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States and of the State of Florida, and are dedicated to act in a manner consistent with the requirements of federal, state and local election law. Plaintiffs have not alleged that Defendants acted in a purposefully discriminatory manner toward any group.

A law that was passed before they were in office

A voter "felon" list that was comissioned by a Democrat and wasn't even used by the entire state

Voter registrations that were removed by Democrat county election officials in Democratic counties

Intentional Voter Disenfranchisement, even when the U.S. Civil Rights Comission concluded that:

• The report does not find that the highest officials of the state conspired to disenfranchise voters.

The same U.S.C.C.R struggled to find 5 voters who were "disenfranchised", 4 of which were allowed to vote and the 5th had been convicted of a crime.

A list of 57,000 names where it is unknown A) How many names were incorrectly included, B) How many names were actually scrubbed of the voter registration by county election officials, C) How many were in a county that actually used the list, D) How many who were incorrectly on the list didn't dispute the list as they were entitled to do up to 1 week before the election, E) Who these people would have voted for if they were allowed to vote and F) How many would have bothered to go and vote in the first place

Whatever alternate reality you are in, that must be some pretty good stuff you're smokin.

Perhaps there is something to be inferred from the situation where an attempt to enforce the Constitution is ILLEGAL (in caps).

Attempting to change the electoral process in the middle of an election recount in an attempt to change the outcome in your favor is not endorced or permitted anywhere in the constitution.

And isn't it odd that the state that just happened to have the problems with the voting process just happened to be the state whose governor was the brother of one of the candidates?

Close election != problems with the voting process

And isn't it simply horrible that someone would bring a court action to redress the blatant violations of the rights of Black Americans in Florida by the State of Florida?

And from the settlement of that court action, the NAACP conceeds that:

Plaintiffs have not alleged that Defendants acted in a purposefully discriminatory manner toward any group.

Did you read the book? Or even the first chapter?

Actually, I have read this book, and I find it comical how many ignorant facts, blatant mistruths, logical fallicies, and downright partisan rhetoric people will believe from somebody who has a vested interest in discrediting the Bush presidency.

Yeah, we see how well the 'vote with your dollars' strategy works. Think Cracker Barrel. Think Abercrombie and Fitch.

Or for that matter, think of the RIAA and the MPAA - how many of us actually don't purchase their products based on their practices? How much of a dent has it really made? Obviously not enough to make a difference in how they act - and they've probably pissed off way more people through their actions than would be pissed off at some racial/sexual/genetic slighting.

I'm all for spending money to support - or not support - companies who hold positions I agree or disagree with, but the damage that can be done through discrimination based on genetics may not be undone through just purchasing power.

Election procedures are controlled by the individual County Elections Supervisors. Out of the 25 counties with the highest ballot "spoilage" rates, 24 of the counties were supervised by a democrat, and the 25th was supervised by an independent.

The NAACP, who was called in to represent these minority voters that you claim were disenfranchised, were very clear that they don't allege that anybody "acted in a purposefully discriminatory manner toward any group."

Dr John Lott of Yale University did his own study, and he concluded that coefficient on the percent of voters who were black to the number of spoiled ballots was not statistically significant.

This is enough to make me think about a boycott, RoTK be damned

Boycott Hell! This has moved beyond an industry with a bad sales model, we're talking about federal felony charges for relatively minor economic crimes. You understand what a felony conviction can bring, don't you? Loss of voting rights is a start. Forget earning a decent living , many places won't touch you with a felony record. Want to own a firearm for any purpose? Forget it! You've got a stalker and would feel better with a gun in the house? Should've thought of that before you put that movie up to be downloaded.

As I said at the start, boycott hell, rather it's the time to spank your congress-critter on the nose and replace them if they don't respond.

Final thought: "The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well , when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws." - Ayn Rand

It was true in 1938 and it's true today

I didn't read the whole thing but here is a quote that seems to corroborate Greg Palast's allegations:
In 2000, Florida contracted with DBT Online (Choicepoint) to purge the central voter list. The Commission found that the use of a private entity without clear and effective guidance from the highest state levels, coupled with the absence of uniform and reliable verification procedures, resulted in the disenfranchisement of countless eligible voters in 2000.

Here is the executive summary of the USCCR findings. The most important point is found in the 8th paragraph:
"The report does not find that the highest officials of the state conspired to disenfranchise voters. Moreover, even if it was foreseeable that certain actions by officials led to voter disenfranchisement, this alone does not mean that intentional discrimination occurred."

Basically, the report found that even though some voters may have been disenfranchised, they do not believe it was Jeb Bush or Katherine Harris conspiring to do it, and that no intentional discrimination occured. This collaborates with this NAACP Settlement:
"Plaintiffs have not alleged that Defendants acted in a purposefully discriminatory manner toward any group."

In fact, the main findings of the report were harshly criticized in this Dissent, which says in part: "The Commission's report has little basis in fact. Its conclusions are based on a deeply flawed statistical analysis coupled with anecdotal evidence of limited value, unverified by a proper factual investigation. This shaky foundation is used to justify charges of the most serious nature--questioning the legitimacy of the American electoral process and the validity of the most recent presidential election."

Despite the claims of widespread voter and minority disenfranchisement, the comission could not find a single person who testified that they were incorrectly included on the felons' list and were not allowed to vote. They only found anecdotal evidence from a few people about irregularities (such as people getting a busy signal when they tried to call the election officials) and used this to levy a very serious charge.

Greg Palast claims to have 2 CDROMS with the complete felons' list. I suppose it would be a violation of privacy and stuff but it would be nice if they were published so we could look at them ourselves

The felons' list that was compiled by DBT/Choicepointe is largely irrelevent. DBT was hired in 1998 after the Florida Legislature passed a requiring the state to compile a list of voters who potentially should not be allow to vote. They were instructed (by the Florida Legislature, and Ethel Baxter -- the Democrat director of elections) to compile a list with as many names as possible. They knew that many invalid names would be on the list, and they required local county officials to verify every name on the list. It turns out that many counties did not do this and eventually discarded the lists entirely, and this was the reason for the NAACP suit. Florida changed this proceedure even before the NAACP settlement took place.

It is also interesting to point out that the state Democratic party officials were concerned that Janet Reno would win the 2002 Gubernatorial primary after they endorsed McBride, so they petitioned the Secretary of State to include as many names on the felon list as possible, fearing that ex-convicts would be more likely to vote for Reno because of her "light" stance on crime.

I was able to find this Salon article that says 173,000 names were removed from the voter roles, and that 8,000 of them were people who were convicted for misdemeanors, not felonies.

Salon.com was also forced to post

You'll also note that Florida 98.0975(4) does not say the county supervisor of elections must verify this list, only that they must 'attempt' to do so. A phone call unanswered, or a postcard that gets lost, and the law is satified.

How is this Jeb Bush's fault? If county election officials only "attempt" to verify the list, then why are they not ultimately responsible for invalid inclusions on the list? Jeb Bush and Catherine Harris had nothing to do with voter exclusions from the 2000 election, the local county election officials did. I guess that convienently doesn't fit your story as all the county election officials in the counties in question were all Democrats.

You also do not seem well informed on legal challenges to the purge list. The NAACP has sued a list of people over it. This includes the company that made the list, and several counties that have settled out of court.

You might want to read the actual Settlement. From page 1-2 (ephasis added):

Defendants have taken an oath to support, protect and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States and of the State of Florida, and are dedicated to act in a manner consistent with the requirements of federal, state and local election law. Plaintiffs have not alleged that Defendants acted in a purposefully discriminatory manner toward any group. It is further understood by the Parties to this Agreement that following the November 2000 general election, new laws, rules and procedures were implemented in Florida that affect the registration and voting process. Defendants contend that these changes have made necessary some of the practices called for within this Agreement.

Even the NAACP was quick to point out that there were no charges of discrimination levied against the defendants, and that most of the changes that they were suing for were implemented prior to the settlement agreement.

You've made a number of statements about this law that are just plain wrong. Even your URL takes most people to the 2003 version of the chapter.

This is the law under discussion. I use the 2000 version because that was the year of the election. Florida Statute 98.0975 (Year 2000) which reads as follows:

98.0975 Central voter file; periodic list maintenance.--

(1) By August 15, 1998, the division shall provide to each county
supervisor of elections a list containing the name, address, date of
birth, race, gender, and any other available information identifying
the voter of each person included in the central voter file as a
registered voter in the supervisor's county who:

(a) Is deceased;

(b) Has been convicted of a felony and has not had his or her civil
rights restored; or

(c) Has been adjudicated mentally incompetent and whose mental
capacity with respect to voting has not been restored.

(2) The division shall annually update the information required in
subsection (1) and forward a like list to each supervisor by June 1 of
each year.

(3)(a) In order to meet its obligations under this section, the
division shall annually contract with a private entity to compare
information in the central voter file with available information in
other computer databases, including, without limitation, databases
containing reliable criminal records and records of deceased persons.

(b) The entity contracted by the division is designated as an agent
of the division for purposes of administering the contract, and must
be limited to seeking only that information which is necessary for the
division to meet its obligations under this section. Information
obtained under this section may not be used for any purpose other than
determining voter eligibility.

(4) Upon receiving the list from the division, the supervisor must
attempt to verify the information provided. If the supervisor does not
determine that the information provided by the division is incorrect,
the supervisor must remove from the registration books by the next
subsequent election the name of any person who is deceased, convicted
of a felony, or adjudicated mentally incapacitated with respect to
voting.

You'll note that your repeated claim, that the law requests a list of "probable felons" is wrong. Florida 98.0975(1)(b) specifies that the list should of people who "Has been convicted of a felony and has not had his or her civil rights restored". Not 'possibly', not 'probably' but HAS.

You'll also note that Florida 98.0975(4) does not say the county supervisor of elections must verify this list, only that they must 'attempt' to do so. A phone call unanswered, or a postcard that gets lost, and the law is satified.

You also do not seem well informed on legal challenges to the purge list. The NAACP has sued a list of people over it. This includes the company that made the list, and several counties that have settled out of court.

As the settlement includes provision that voters who were purged by error will be restored, you should take that as an indication that voters were removed in error.

Wrong. The lists were not checked. That is what the private company that was contracted to do the checking, DPT, was paid $4 million dollars for.

I'm sorry, but take the 2 seconds to read the 1998 Florida Statute that called for the creation of this list. It clearly states that the names on the list must be verified by the individual county elections supervisors before action is taken. Many of the county elections supervisors are democrats- are they a part of this big conspiracy to help Bush win?

They were *paid* not to check the rosters by telephone. There is a data trail, a letter from Jeb Bush to K. Harris, to prove this

Of course- it wasn't their job to verify the names. They were contracted to find as many *possible* matches as they could. It was up to the county supervisors to verify the names.

mistakes, when checked, added up to 95% error rate. It was voter fraud

To date, not a single innocent person has been found that was actually kept from voting because of the list. There is no fraud.

The man who gave out the contract was named Clayton Roberts and he was assistant to K. Harris. He was not a Dem. Harris was the state chair of the Bush campaign in FL.

I'm sorry, but that is just incorrect. DBT was contracted to make the list before Harris was even elected.

The contract was not put out to bid and the owners of the company in question, DBT, were all Republicans.

Thats actually a pretty dubious claim. Greg Palast claims that the company is "packed with republican stars", and he gives 2 names to "prove" this:
- Ken Langone, who worked on Giuliani's senate campaign, but Palast fails to mention that Langone also donated money to Bill Clinton's 1996 campaign as well as several democratic senators
- Rick Rozar, who has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Republican party. But Palast doesn't mention that Rozar wasn't even affiliated with DBT when they were awarded the contract. He joined DBT when his company was taken over by them a full year after the contract was awarded.

Thats not really strong evidence that the company is "all Republicans" like you claim.

The NAACP got an undisclosed settlement for voter's rights violations.

Funny you should mention that- the NAACP also stated VERY clearly in their settlement that they "have not alleged that Defendants acted in a purposefully discriminatory manner toward any group."

If they didn't find anyone it must've been for the same reason the Warren Commission didn't find anyone who heard shots coming from in front of the JFK motorcade.
Getting a commission to whitewash something is no big deal. Par for the course

Holy cow- read the report. It was (along party lines) extremely critical of the Florida elections process. They would have loved to find something like that. Just look at the dissenting statement to see how partisan the report was.

In order for this to be the big scandal that you seem to think it is, the following would have to be true:
- The legislature that passed the bi-partisan law in 1998 was a part of the conspiracy
- The Democrat that hired DBT was part of the conspiracy
- Every county elections supervisor that was a Democrat was also in on the plot to elect Bush
- There would actually have been people incorrectly prevented from voting because of the list

Since I don't see any of these as being true, I dismiss this crap as sour grapes by the losers.

After discovering widespread fraud where several convicted felons and even dead people voted in a 1997 Mayoral election, the Florida legislature (not the Governor or Secretary of State) passed a law that called for a statewide list of convicted felons to be generated

In 1998, Elections supervisor Ethel Baxter (a Democrat) contracted with Database Technologies to compile the list (Database Technologies later merged with Choicepoint). The list had about 57,000 names on it.

According to the Florida Statute, the intent of the list was to generate as many possible matches as they could. This list was then forwarded to each county where the County Election Supervisors were required to verify the names before they took any action against the voters.

Many counties decided to ignore the list completely. However, if somebody actually was incorrectly kept from voting, by law the county election supervisor (once again, not Jeb Bush or Katherine Harris) is to blame.

If the County Elections Supervisor did validate a name as being a convicted felon, the voter was given notice well in advance of the election that their name had been removed from the voter registration, and they were given a procedure to dispute the decision.

Aside from some anecdotal evidence of minorities being turned away at the polls, there are no actual documented cases of people be incorrectly kept from voting. When the Federal Election Commission held hearings about the election, NOBODY stepped forward to claim that they were denied the right to vote.

The NAACP, who was called in to Florida to represent the minority voters, states very plainly in this settlement that the "Plaintiffs have not alleged that Defendants acted in a purposefully discriminatory manner toward any group". The NAACP also concedes that most of the changes that they requested were already implemented before they filed suit.

Katherine Harris had very little to do with any of this, and Jeb Bush had absolutely nothing to do with it. The law was passed by the legislature, the firm was hired by a democrat, and the final decision on each name on the list was made by the individual counties!

So Palast's shocking story boils down to this:
-Out of the 57,000 people on the list, an unknown number of them were not felons
-Out of that unknown number of innocent people, an unknown number actually lived in counties that decided to use the list
-Out of that unknown number, an unknown number were incorrectly verified by the County Election supervisor and removed from the voter registration
-Out of that unknown number, an unknown number didn't follow the procedure to dispute their removal from the voter registration
-And out of that unknown number, probably about 50% of them would have actually voted anyway (voter turnout)

Palast wonders why nobody else is talking about this- its because this isn't a story at all!

The 1998 Florida Election audit found a large number of unregistered and invalid votes cast. State Elections supervisor Ethel Baxter (a Democrat) ordered a list compiled containing names of registered voters who should not be allowed to vote. This list included deceased people who voted in 1998 as well as convicted felons, who are not allowed to vote in Florida.

This list was distributed to local county election officials, who had the option of using the list to ban people from voting. Many counties opted not to use the list.

Local county election officials notified everybody on the list at least 30 days before the election that they would not be allowed to vote, and gave procedures to dispute their inclusion on the list.

Only 5 people officially complained that they were incorrectly included on the list. When the Federal Election Commission held hearings on the matter, NOBODY came forward to claim they were denied the right to vote.

The NAACP sued and Florida settled out of court because the proceedure changes had already been implemented.

This was such a non-story that the only "journalist" who deemed this newsworthy was British reporter Greg Palast. 5 seconds on his web site completely removes any credibility he may have had as he appears to be dedicated to discrediting the Bush presidency. This is a non-story.

That's a convenient way for Katherine Harris to evade responsibility.

Katherine Harris had nothing to do with the law. You might recall from 6th grade civics that the legislature writes the laws, not the Secretary of State. How you could interpret that as Harris trying to "evade responsibility" is beyond me.

But Palast obtained documents showing that Harris' office had written "Not neccessary" over a list of checks to be performed.

They weren't necessary for what the list was intended for. The list was intended to cast as wide of a net as possible and let the county supervisors sort it out.

This was a deliberate attempt to disenfrashise people of color.

Well, the NAACP, who was brought in to represent these minority voters, disagrees. From page 1 of the settlement, "Plaintiffs have not alleged that Defendants acted in a purposefully discriminatory manner toward any group."

The NAACP filed suit over the sloppy implementation of the list, but they conceded that Florida had fixed almost everything that they wanted before the suit was filed.

Seriously- Greg Palast is just blowing smoke to satisfy some personal vendetta against Bush. There is nothing to this story of substance.

• In 1998, after it was discovered that there was widespread fraud in the Mayoral elections in 1997 (several dead people and convicted felons ended up voting), the Florida Legislature (not Katherine Harris or Jeb Bush) passed a statute designed to prevent that from happening again (that link might not work- looks like the server is down).
• The statute called for a statewide list of potential felons to be compiled. This list was passed to the election supervisors in every county.
• The county elections supervisors were not even required to use the list at all, but if they did decide to use it, they (the county supervisors, not Catherine Harris) were required to verify the names as actual felons before they were removed from the voter registration. Therefore, if somebody was incorrectly removed from the voter registration, it was the county supervisor's fault.
• If somebody was removed from the voter registration based on the list, they were given written notice months before the election with a procedure to dispute the removal

In 1998, Florida Division of Elections Director Ethel Baxter, a democrat, hired the firm Database Technologies to compile this list. The list had around 100,000 names on it.

One of these "supposed felons" was Linda Howell, elections supervisor of Madison County, Florida. The only way to get back on the roll was to agree to fingerprinting. Ie guilty until "proven" innocent.

Once again, nobody was required to use the list (several counties including Madison County didn't use it at all), but if they did use the list, they were required to independently verify the names before any action was taken. The fingerprinting was only required to dispute the removal if the person actually was "verified" by the county supervisor and removed from the voter registration- otherwise they probably never knew they were on the list. With all of his complaining, Mr Palast has only found about a half a dozen people that were incorrectly removed from voter registrations and forced to dispute the removal.
So it boils down to this:

• An unknown number of innocent people were put on the original list of 100,000 names
• Of that unknown number, an unknown number lived in counties that actually used the list
• Of that unknown number, an unknown number were actually removed from the voter registration lists by the county election supervisor
• Of that unknown number, an unknown number failed to dispute the removal
• and of that unknown number, less than 50% turned out to vote anyway (general voter turnout)

There is only anecdotal evidence that any legitimate voter was actually prevented from voting because of this list. Rep Corrine Brown, a democrat, claimed that she saw "2 or 3" black people get incorrectly turned away, but when the media pressed her, she was unable to give any details.
So were minority voters specifically targeted? The NAACP, who came in to represent these minorities, stated VERY plainly in this settlement that

An unknown number of innocent people were put on the original list of 100,000 names

Of that unknown number, an unknown number lived in counties that actually used the list

Of that unknown number, an unknown number were actually removed from the voter registration lists by the county election supervisor

Of that unknown number, an unknown number failed to dispute the removal

and of that unknown number, less than 50% turned out to vote anyway (general voter turnout)

Really- there is NOTHING to this story.

So were minority voters specifically targeted? The NAACP, who came in to represent these minorities, stated VERY plainly in this settlement that there is no allegation of discrimination or misconduct in regards to this voter list. They did file suit because of the sloppy implementation of the list, but they admitted that most of the changes that they were seeking were already implemented by the state of Florida by the time the suit was filed.

If innocent people were prevented from voting, that is a tragedy, but it is not the huge scandal that Mr Palast wants it to be. It also has nothing to do with the parent's claim about the US Supreme Court.

It is mutually understood by the Parties that nothing contained in this Agreement shall ... be considered an admission by Plaintiffs of an inability to prove the allegations raised in the lawsuit.

It doesn't mean that descrimination at the polls did not take place. Indeed, in testimony before Congress, one NAACP official said :

While many Americans may decry the fact that some people s rights were trampled on last November, the NAACP is especially outraged and insulted by what happened...It is no longer legal, but as we just recently saw, it still happens.

It was found in the 1998 election that a large number of convicted felons voted, which is against Florida state law.

As a result, Florida hired the services of ChoicePointe to compile a list of possible felons to prevent this in the 2000 election. The list included about 100,000 names.

Every one of those 100,000 people were notified by mail that they were included on the list and they were given a proceedure to dispute the listing (it was simply to go to you local police station with a photo-id and provide a finger print).

These names were given to local county election officials, who had the option of using the list to bar people from voting. Not every county used the list.

It is not known how many people were incorrectly banned from voting.

A total of 5 people claimed they were incorrectly not allowed to vote because they didn't follow the proceedure to remove their names. There could have been more, but only 5 people formally complained.

In an attempt to discredit the US presidency, British "investigative" reporter Greg Palast dug this up and tried to call it a scandal. Note that it only appeared in the opinion columns in the US media.

So, in an attempt to obey state law in the 2000 Florida election, an unknown number of legitimate voters were incorrectly included in the list. Of this unknown number, an unknown number lived in counties where the lists were used. Of this unknown number, an unknown number failed to respond to the notice that they would not be allowed to vote. Of this unknown number, an unknown number would have shown up to vote in the first place. Of this unknown number, an unknown number would have figured out the confusing ballot and voted for Gore in the first place (they say that 95% of ex convicts vote Democratic, which is hardly something that I would brag about).

Is this seriously the best scandal you can come up with?

It was found in the 1998 election that a large number of convicted felons voted, which is against Florida state law.

As a result, Florida hired the services of ChoicePointe to compile a list of possible felons to prevent this in the 2000 election. The list included about 100,000 names.

Every one of those 100,000 people were notified by mail that they were included on the list and they were given a proceedure to dispute the listing (it was simply to go to you local police station with a photo-id and provide a finger print).

These names were given to local county election officials, who had the option of using the list to bar people from voting. Not every county used the list.

It is not known how many people were incorrectly banned from voting.

A total of 5 people claimed they were incorrectly not allowed to vote because they didn't follow the proceedure to remove their names. There could have been more, but only 5 people formally complained.

Here is the official settlement agreement from the NAACP. Read on the bottom of page 1:
Defendants have taken an oath to support, protect and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States and of the State of Florida... Plaintiffs have not alleged that Defendants acted in a purposefully discriminatory manner toward any group

It clearly states that nobody was accusing Katherine Harris or Jeb Bush or anybody else in Florida of any wrongdoing or fraud. So, your (and this Greg Palast fool) entire claim is the following: In 2000, Florida compiled a list of 100,000 convicted felons to prevent them from breaking state law and voting. Of that list of 100,000 people, an unknown number were legitimate voters. Of that unknown number of legitimate voters, an unknown number did not follow the proceedure to dispute their name being included on the list. Of that unknown number, an unknown number lived in counties that did not use the list in the election. Of that unknown number, an unknown number would have even bothered to show up to vote (expect about 40% for voter turnout averages). And, the official legal settlement as shown on the plaintiffs web site makes no accusation of fraud or wrong doing.

Is this seriously the best election scandal you can come up with?

The 93,000 people that were not allowed to vote during the 2000 election in Florida were still on the list this time around

Incorrect- according to the NAACP settlement of this case, all of the theoretical problems with the list have been corrected (most of them were corrected before the settlement, anyway). I say "theoretical problems" because nobody (not even your British tabloid buddy Greg Palast) could show that anybody was really affected by the list.

If you are complaining that Florida doesnt allow convicted felons to vote, then why don't you complain about the 15 other states with similar laws also?

This is such a non-story its surprizing that you even bring it up.

It was found in the 1998 election that a large number of convicted felons voted, which is against Florida state law.

As a result, Florida hired the services of ChoicePointe to compile a list of possible felons to prevent this in the 2000 election. The list included about 100,000 names.

Every one of those 100,000 people were notified by mail that they were included on the list and they were given a proceedure to dispute the listing (it was simply to go to you local police station with a photo-id and provide a finger print).

These names were given to local county election officials, who had the option of using the list to bar people from voting. Not every county used the list.

It is not known how many people were incorrectly banned from voting.

A total of 5 people claimed they were incorrectly not allowed to vote because they didn't follow the proceedure to remove their names. There could have been more, but only 5 people formally complained.

Here is the official settlement agreement from the NAACP. Read on the bottom of page 1:

Defendants have taken an oath to support, protect and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States and of the State of Florida... Plaintiffs have not alleged that Defendants acted in a purposefully discriminatory manner toward any group

It clearly states that nobody was accusing Katherine Harris or Jeb Bush or anybody else in Florida of any wrongdoing or fraud. So, your (and this Greg Palast fool) entire claim is the following: In 2000, Florida compiled a list of 100,000 convicted felons to prevent them from breaking state law and voting. Of that list of 100,000 people, an unknown number were legitimate voters. Of that unknown number of legitimate voters, an unknown number did not follow the proceedure to dispute their name being included on the list. Of that unknown number, an unknown number lived in counties that did not use the list in the election. Of that unknown number, an unknown number would have even bothered to show up to vote (expect about 40% for voter turnout averages). And, the official legal settlement as shown on the plaintiffs web site makes no accusation of fraud or wrong doing.

Is this seriously the best election scandal you can come up with?

a state who was run by the eventual winner's brother

And the winner's brother recused himself from all of the election proceedings due to the conflict of interest.

the person in charge of certifying the election was a state campaign leader for that candidate

And every move she made followed the law exactly and withstood intense international scrutiny.

The candidate's father also was the president who was supplanted by the ticket that had the eventual winner's opponent on it.

So?

Prior to being president that father was the head of the nation's secret police.

So?

You forgot to mention that there was never an allegation of misconduct or fraud (see this settlement, for example, where the NAACP plainly states "Plaintiffs have not alleged that Defendants acted in a purposefully discriminatory
manner toward any group.") and that Bush still won the unofficial AP recounts.

Yikes!

Looks like Katherine Harris et al settled out of court rather regarding fraud allegations.. That is after a judge threw out ol Kathy's request to get the charges dismissed. Great.. so they steal office by fraud then get rid of anyone who disagrees with them.. Kinda like the FERC and Enron connection, scientific advisers... Nice banana republic, americans.

Jesus was a Negro

Praise be to the negro Jesus.

Amen, bros.

Here is a quote from an article about that:

"Abraham Foxman, ADL's national director, said the groups were both creating racist games using open source software and modifying commercially available games to make targets of particular ethnic groups."

Great, now we will have people trying to outlaw Open Source - saying it promotes hate.

Well I have 2 responses to that.

#1 Just because a tool can be used for evil doesn't make it evil. Baseball bats aren't evil, even though they can and often are used in a wrongful manner.

#2 The NAACP website is running Apache which is Open Source Software.

Praise be to the black Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Christ was not of semetic descent, but of A F R I C A N lineage.

Praise be to the black Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Christ was not of semetic descent, but of A F R I C A N lineage.

Praise be to the black Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Christ was not of semetic descent, but of A F R I C A N lineage.

Praise be to the black Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Christ was not of semetic descent, but of A F R I C A N lineage.

Praise be to the black Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Christ was not of semetic descent, but of A F R I C A N lineage.

Praise be to the black Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Christ was not of semetic descent, but of A F R I C A N lineage.

There are multiple issues I take with this law:

1. Who decides what is hate speech? An argument made by a Palestinian against Jewish occupation, etc. could be easily mis-construed as being anti-semetic. Where's the council, the ruling body? What is defined as "hate speech?" Where's the rubric?

2: Who are you to decide what I can and can't view and decide upon for myself? What if I want to be offended? What if I'm a researcher for the NAACP trying to tear down the argument made by the KKK or some other racist organisation?

3. Shouldn't I be the one to ultimately decide what is hate speech? Laws like this don't just stifle free speech, they stifle my ability to be informed and my ability to make my own decision.

4. Laws like this also stifle personal responsibility. It's like the liberal argument to gun control. If somebody shoots somebody, go after the gun manufacturer. If people cannot control their violent nature and attack/kill somebody after they read something on a website, there's a far greater problem than the proliferation of "hate speech."
5. Allowing laws like this to come into play open's Pandora's box of similar regulations. What's next? Subversive/anti-government speech will be made illegal?

Voltaire said it best: "I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

Praise be to the black Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Christ was not of semetic descent, but of A F R I C A N lineage

Praise be to the black Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Christ was not of semetic descent, but
of A F R I C A N lineage.

Praise be to the black Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Christ was not of semetic descent, but of A F R I C A N lineage.