Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2006 07:28:12 -0800
From: Zepp zepp@finestplanet.com
Subject: Ms. Noe's own scandal: Wife of Ohio GOP fundraiser does some election reform of her own

http://tinyurl.com/8zt74


*Ms. Noe's own scandal: Wife of Ohio GOP fundraiser does some election reform of her own*

*Larisa Alexandrovna*

In yet another surreal twist in Ohio's "coin-gate" scandal, the wife of Bush's chief Ohio fundraiser, Tom Noe-who is currently embroiled in campaign finance and money laundering probes-surprised poll workers and observers alike by disrupting the ballot count during the 2004 general election, RAW STORY http://rawstory.com has discovered.

Bernadette Noe, who served dual roles as chairman for the Lucas County Republican Party and the Lucas County Board of Elections, sent twelve "partisans" into a warehouse on Election Day, according a memo authored by Ohio's Director of Campaign Finance Richard Weghorst who was present at the time.

The assertion is part of a comprehensive investigation prepared for Ohio Republican Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell regarding reports of irregularities in Lucas County. The report found gross failures on the part of Ms. Noe's board in preparation for and administration of November's election. (Read the memo in PDF
http://rawstory.com/other/pdfs/lucasinquiryrawstory.pdf

The Board was "directly responsible for the inefficient and unorganized election process" in the county, the report said. Weghorst found they had failed to lock and secure ballots and voting machines; manipulated the three percent hand recount; and failed to properly remove Ralph Nader from county ballots.

But perhaps the most striking event directly linked to Ms. Noe was what Weghorst described as "a note-worthy incident relating to security" on the evening of the election.

Weghorst, who was present at a local warehouse where ballots were being tabulated, says in his report that "two groups of partisan volunteers totaling approximately twelve people" arrived, whose "purpose for being there was not immediately known nor requested."

When the volunteers refused to leave the premises, Weghorst called the police, who then escorted the group away from the warehouse. It later emerged they had come at Ms. Noe's request.

A Diebold employee, Robert Diekmann, was also present at the warehouse that night.

*Ms. Noe and the machines*

Ms. Noe was an advocate of Diebold's optical scan software as chair of the Lucas County Board of Elections. In April 2004, she and another fellow Republican board member voted to approve a $350,000 contract with Diebold to lease machines for the election. The county was forced the lease the equipment after a deadlock and a rebuke from Blackwell.

"It's going to cost us more than we thought it would, but it's going to be a fair election," Ms. Noe said
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040622/NEWS09/406220342&SearchID=732159619585 at the time. "I am confident with the system we will have with Diebold."

"Every vote is going to get counted, and it is going to be an efficient election," she added.

The contract was no-bid. After Democrats on the board revealed a cheaper bid from another company, the Lucas County board was forced to open the contract for bidding, over Ms. Noe's objections
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040624/NEWS09/406240414&SearchID=732159571969

The contract was eventually awarded to Diebold.

Diebold has faced scrutiny in Ohio, particularly after comments
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0828-08.htm by the firm's chief executive in 2003 to Ohio Republicans in which he declared he was "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year."

One Ohio election official recently admitted
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Diebold_lobbyist_tried_to_bribe_Ohio_county_with__0716.html a Diebold lobbyist offered him $10,000 in an effort to woo the county to purchase Diebold machines, which he diverted to the local Republican Party.

*Additional allegations against Ms. Noe*

Reminiscent of an account reported on by RAW STORY
http://rawstory.com regarding ballot tampering in Clermont County
http://gnn.tv/headlines/947/_Why_were_there_stickers_on_ballots_in_Clermont_County_Ohio Ohio, Ms. Noe was involved in an incident through which Republican volunteers were brought in to "assist" processing returned voter confirmation postcards. On her authority and that of several other board members, partisan volunteers were allowed to copy the returned cards.

They were subsequently caught by a Lucas County Democratic official peeling the return stickers off the voter confirmation cards, and were told to leave. Weghorst's inquiry found no evidence they had been supervised.

The investigator's report was submitted in April 2005.

Bernadette Noe resigned from the Lucas County Republican Party and from her position as head of the Board of Elections in December, saying she wanted to spend more time with her family.

In April, the Toledo Blade reported
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050701/NEWS24/50701016 Ms. Noe acted improperly as chairman of the Lucas County Republican Party in accepting $65,000 in loans for the party from her husband. She is also involved in a scandal surrounding an aide to Ohio governor Bob Taft (R) staying for a reduced rate at her vacation home
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050731/SRRARECOINS/307310018

Bernadette Noe is married to the now-infamous
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050403/NEWS24/504030349 Tom Noe, who invested millions of dollars of state funds into rare coins and who is currently the target of a wide-ranging inquiry. Noe, a Bush Pioneer, also allegedly laundered money into President Bush's reelection campaign by paying others to donate.

Tom Noe, the owner of several shady business ventures, including Vintage Coins and Collectibles, funneled an estimated fifty million dollars into his own personal and business accounts as well as to the state's GOP candidates. Noe's rare coin venture came at the expense of The Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, for whom he acted as the sole fund manager.

The Noe coin scandal has widened to include investigations into Taft as well as other GOP candidates from across the state, including several Ohio Supreme Court justices.

Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) is expected to ask the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel today.

"The facts that have come out indicate a culture of corruption in the Ohio Republican Party," Conyers in a statement to RAW STORY
http://rawstory.com "An investigation such as this, which is rife with conflicts of interest, begs for the appointment of an independent prosecutor who would be immune from the partisan gamesmanship we have seen so far."

Conyers' letter to the Justice Department is available here
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Conyers_to_call_for_special_prosecutor_to_investigate_Noe__0801.html

For additional reading on the ongoing investigation, see the following references:

Special Counsel sought in Noe case
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050801/SRRARECOINS/308010013 Taft stays mum

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050731/SRRARECOINS/307310018 Noe Transfers $3.8 Million to his own firm
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050723/SRRARECOINS/50723003/-1/SRRARECOINS2 Rare Coin Fund spurs calls to revise Ohio law
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050406/NEWS24/504060400


Informant: Friends

This is the most important alert we will ever send.

There is a political earthquake taking place right now and the mainstream media and some in the political establishment are DESPERATELY trying to cover it up and deny it. The people of the United States are rising up in open democratic revolt to demand that their representatives actually listen to them and fight for their rights.

Thanks to the courage of John Kerry in the simple act of calling for a filibuster of the Alito nomination, there WILL be a cloture vote on Monday, and if enough of us call and fax, there is NO senator we cannot turn around. Otherwise, why should they even be allowed to remain in office?

LOCAL PHONES, LOCAL PHONES, LOCAL PHONES!

With perhaps millions of people trying to get through to their senators, we have had reports the phone messaging system in Washington is completely jammed. Does that mean we stop trying? NO!!! We crank it up to the next level by filling every local district office answering machine they have, and consuming every piece of fax paper they've got. Here are the LOCAL phone and fax numbers for your own senators for the state of the original recipient of this message.

If this message is forwarded to you and you are in another state, you can instantly look up your own senators' numbers with the one click function at

http://www.nocrony.com

Our message to our senators is simple. Your vote to support a filibuster will NOT cost you an election. Any other vote absolutely will. Respect the will of the people and you will have the most mobilized and committed activists in the country to contribute and work tirelessly for your behalf. Oppose the will of the people and we will raise challengers to you in your own primaries and contribute every dime we have to them to defeat you, and failing that we will look to find ANY other candidate in the general election to support. Listen to the people or your political career will be the REAL done deal. EMPHASIZE that you are a constituent (IF you are) and provide contact information to prove it.

If you have Republican senators, it is just as important to contact them with the additional message of how outraged you will be if they try to pull some nuclear option stunt.

You should concentrate on the local office closest to you, and if you are doing faxing, you should also definitely hit the Washington number as well, on the chance that there is a piece of fax paper left there. If you are looking to do even MORE, here is the master list of ALL phone and fax numbers for ALL senators, with annotations about which are the most critical swing votes.

http://www.nocrony.com/master_senate_phones.txt

If you are are calling senators in other states, be candid that you are not a direct constituent. But the message is the same, if you stand with the party on this one we will go out of our way to help you. Otherwise we will flood your state with money and labor to support ANY candidate who runs against you until the end of time.

It is wonderful if you want to make massive numbers of phone calls yourself. But you can IMMENSELY amplify your effectiveness by FIRST forwarding this message to absolutely every other person you know so that they can be similarly mobilized. It is not just the sheer volume of messages, even more critical is the number of DIFFERENT people speaking out at once.

We have heard reports that even Ben Nelson of Nebraska, the first Democratic senator to betray the cause, is monitoring his phone messages this weekend, as are Robert Byrd (WV) and Tim Johnson (SD). All the other issues we care about, stopping the war in Iraq, stopping the widespread illegal domestic wire taps for political purposes, stopping the abuses of the Patriot Act, stopping the looting of our national budget by special interests at the expense of the people's needs, ALL these things can be achieved if we just unify behind this one issue of stopping Alito now.

Let us be able to look back and say we did everything we could have done to win this victory in spite of the corrupt media pundits who are working overtime to tell us what we cannot do. We are proving them wrong day by day.

Please take action NOW, so we can win all victories that are supposed to be ours, and forward this message to everyone else you know.

Powered by The People's Email Network Copyright 2005, Patent pending, All rights reserved

The Constitution is silent on whether a seated President and Vice President can be indicted, while in office, for crimes committed while they have held those offices. Constitutional lawyers are congenitally prone to announcing that this cannot be done because it would disrupt the ongoing business of the government. According to Ronnie Drugger it is time to do it, if necessary absent impeachment, for exactly that reason - to disrupt the continuation of THIS government.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012806Z.shtml



Impeach or Indict Bush and Cheney

The year 2006 will be historic for the nation, and probably for humanity. Texans Bush and Rove and their conspirators in the second Bush presidency have disgraced American democracy at home and in the world with debasements of our nation and our values that have now entered their climactic phase.

http://www.texasobserver.org/showArticle.asp?ArticleID=2117


From Information Clearing House



http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=impeach
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Downing+Street+Memo

24.01.2006

Auch von eigenen Parteifreunden wird George W. Bush immer mehr als Umwelt-Analphabet attackiert. Der Präsident versage in der Klimapolitik.

http://www.sonnenseite.com/index.php?pageID=6&news:oid=n4480

Was blüht Amerika, wenn es seinen Raubtierkapitalismus immer mehr von der Leine lässt? Erich Schöndorf, der Ankläger im berühmten Frankfurter Holzschutzmittel-Prozess, gibt in seinem neuen Umwelt-Thriller eine authentische und daher warnende Antwort: Die Entwicklung eskaliert und mündet in einen neuen Terrorismus.

http://www.sonnenseite.com/index.php?pageID=34&article:oid=a4448

--------

Mehr über Erich Schöndorf unter:
http://tinyurl.com/dm2j3

http://www.democrats.com/we-can-stop-alito

The last two days have been amazing.

Early Thursday afternoon, we broke the news that Senator John Kerry would lead a filibuster against Judge Sam Alito if he could get 41 Senators to sustain the filibuster. Three hours later, CNN confirmed our story.

Naturally, the White House freaked out and told Senator Bill Frist to schedule a cloture vote as quickly as possible - Monday at 4:30 p.m. - to prevent Democrats from uniting behind Kerry.

Then the White House called its media whores at the NY Times (David Kirkpatrick), AP (Jesse Holland), Pentagon Post (Charles Babington), CNN (Miles O'Brien), and MSNBC (Chris Matthews) and told them to trash John Kerry for daring to challenge the will of Emperor Bush, and to repeat over and over that Democrats did not have enough votes to stop Alito.

But even as Karl Rove was doing his dirty work, progressive activists like you were calling your Senators urging them to support John Kerry's filibuster.

And one by one, Democratic Senators began to turn around.

http://democrats.com/alito-48

At the start of the day, only Dick Durbin and Debbie Stabenow supported Kerry and Kennedy. Just before noon, Hillary Clinton's office called to say she supported us. Then Harry Reid came on board, along with Barbara Boxer, Russ Feingold, Ron Wyden, Chris Dodd, and (I think) Chuck Schumer.

Most importantly, we even picked up Dianne Feinstein, who just yesterday said she opposed a filibuster.

That's 12 votes for a filibuster - and exactly 12 more votes than we had two days ago!

I believe we really can stop Alito by Monday at 4:30 p.m. - but here's what we must do.

1. Ignore the media whores. Karl Rove is feeding them lies as he always does, and they are swallowing those lies as they always do. The only media that matters is the media we are creating right here by calling each Senator and getting a YES or NO statement from them.

2. Keep calling the Senators who are undecided or opposed to a filibuster. You can call their DC office all weekend and leave polite but firm voicemails urging the Senators to support Kerry's filibuster. When offices open on Monday 9 a.m. ET, make another round of calls. Let's shut down the Capitol switchboard on Monday!

http://democrats.com/alito-48

3. Call the DNC (202-863-8000) and the DSCC (202-224-2447) and tell them your 2006 contributions will depend on the success of the Alito filibuster. Tell them they need to get every Democratic Senator on board.

4. Wake up the sleeping bloggers. Where are the biggest blogs, including DailyKos.com, TalkingPointsMemo.com, CrooksandLiars.com, and AmericaBlog.com? (Complaining about how Democrats played last week won't cut it -we're in the Super Bowl and we can win this damn game if we get Democrats to play their best game on Monday - and hopefully the rest of this coming week.) Thanks to Agonist, BobGeiger, BradBlog, BuzzFlash, CultureKitchen, The Democratic Daily, DemocraticUnderground, Eschaton, Firedoglake, Mahablog, MakeThemAccountable, Mark Crispin Miller, NewsDissector, PoliticalWire, RudePundit, Vichy Democrats and everyone else who's plugging this.

5. Lend a hand to real-world groups like NOW, People for the American Way, Feminist Majority, Backbone Campaign, Moveon, Planned Parenthood, Progressive Democrats of America, and Working Assets Long Distance, which have worked tirelessly for two months to Stop Alito.

6. Call talk shows like Air America, C-SPAN, etc. and talk about what we're doing on this blog and how we're killing ourselves to stop Alito - and how we can win if everyone who cares about the future of our Democracy joins us.

7. Keep hope alive - because American Democracy is worth it!!!

http://democrats.com/alito-48

Bob Fertik


UPCOMING EVENTS TO END THE WAR AND HOLD WARMAKERS ACCOUNTABLE

The following events can also be found in the After Downing Street events system at http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/event

Panel Discussion of Immediate Withdrawal from Iraq Featuring: Scott Ritter, Stephen Zunes, Ann Wright, Michael Schwartz, David Swanson, Harlan Hopgood, Steve Young, and Lisa Lubow. Saturday, January 28, 7:30 p.m. Grand Ballroom - Manhattan Beach Marriott, 1400 Parkview Avenue, Manhattan Beach, Calif. Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party and US Tour of Duty http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/6939

"Out of Iraq" Forum Featuring: David Swanson, Ann Wright, Jane Bright, Sean Huze, Marcy Winograd Sunday, January 29, 2 p.m. – 5 p.m. The Paul Kopeikin Gallery, 6150 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif. Progressive Democrats of America, After Downing Street, & Clothing of the American Mind
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/6947

Bush-Cheney Impeachment Forum Featuring: Kevin Zeese, Cindy Sheehan, Ann Wright, David Swanson, Ramsey Clark, Marcus Raskin, and Ralph Nader. Monday, January 30, noon to 2 p.m. Bus Boys and Poets, 14th and V Streets, NW, Washington, DC Democracy Rising, After Downing Street/Censure Bush, Backbone Campaign, Democrats.com, ImpeachPAC, Montgomery County Progressive Alliance, and Progressive Democrats of America.
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/6900

Cindy Sheehan to Read from Her New Book Monday, January 30, 7 p.m. All Souls Unitarian Church, 1500 Harvard St. NW, Washington, DC
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/6904

Dick Cheney Birthday Bash Monday, January 30, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Duggan's Pub, 440 S. 11th Street, Lincoln, Neb.
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/6678

Alternative State of the Union Featuring: Members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Katrina vanden Heuvel, John Cavanagh Tuesday, January 31, 9:00 – 9:40 a.m. news conference followed by two panel discussions of 45-50 min. Democratic National Headquarters, The Wasserman Conference Room, 430 South Capitol Street, SE, Washington, DC
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/6916

Related Nation Editorial:
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060206/editors

"Out of Iraq" by Lynn Woolsey and Barbara Lee
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060206/woolsey

"A Unified Security Budget" by John Conyers
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060206/conyers

The People's State of the Union Press Event January 31, 3-5 p.m. Mott House, 122 Maryland Ave NE, Washington, DC John Conyers, Lynn Woolsey, Maxine Waters, Cindy Sheehan, Ann Wright, Malik Rahim, Ann Wright, John Cavanagh http://www.codepinkalert.org

Bring the Noise and Drown Out Bush’s Lies Tuesday, January 31, 8 p.m. In large cities and town squares across the country — we will rally one hour before Bush’s address. At 9:00 PM let the world hear us as we symbolically drown out Bush’s lies—bring your own noise—drums, pots and pans, musical instruments — your voice. Let taxi horns blare and church bells ring, as we bring our own state of the union message: BUSH STEP DOWN! In DC? Join us at the Capitol Reflecting Pool! http://www.worldcantwait.org

The People's State of the Union Instead of sitting at home alone shouting at your TV in anger and frustration, take the People's State of the Union to the public. Gather with other CODEPINK women at a friendly bar or restaurant to watch the President's speech and make a night of it. In DC? Join us at Bus Boys and Poets restaurant at V and 14th Streets, NW, for a Sorry State of the Union. Play "Liars Bingo", drink "pink elephants" Live simulcast with Verna Avery Brown, Pacifica radio DC Bureau Chief.
http://www.codepinkalert.org/article.php?list=type&type=106

Iraq's Oil and Port Workers and their Unions: Photographs by David Bacon January 31 - February 28 Opening Reception: January 31, 7:30 p.m. United Steel Workers Local 675, 1200 E. 220th St., Carson, Calif. March 1 - March 31 International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63, 350 W. 5th Street, San Pedro, Calif.
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/6948

Bush Crimes Commission to Present Findings Feb. 2, 12 Noon National Press Club, Washington, DC CONTACT: 212-941-8086 EMAIL: commission@nion.us
http://www.bushcommission.org

Take Our Demand to the White House This regime is immoral, dangerous, and criminally indictable. Bush Lied. Bush Spied. Bush Step Down. 2006. 2008. Too late. Turn your outrage into mass political action. Saturday, February 4, 11 a.m. 17th & Constitution, Washington, DC http://www.worldcantwait.org

SIGNS FOR ANY OCCASION:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/6792


FORWARD THIS INFORMATION

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0127-30.htm


Informant: John Calvert



http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=impeach
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Downing+Street+Memo

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/3985/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news

http://www.buzzflash.com/editorial/06/01/edi06002.html

"The Big Show" -- Confirming Alito Moves Us One Step Closer to Erasing the American Revolution

A BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL

A Washington Post headline on January 9th blared, "Democrats Ready to Go After Alito". But, it's probably too late, as usual. And this time, the Democrats are signing their own death warrant -- and that of Congress -- if Alito gets seated.

As usual, the hearing will all just be a farce, a sparring match like pissing into the wind. These hearings almost always are, as the Madison Capitol Times pointed out: "When the Senate Judiciary Committee begins questioning Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito this week, Americans will again be reminded of the limitations of the confirmation process for presidential picks to serve on the federal bench.

Alito will lie to the committee, intentionally and repeatedly."

While the Democratic senators once again surrender to the concept that stage-crafted hearings filled with lies and evasions by the Republican Supreme Court nominees matter, the GOP has been running ads, holding rallies, and grassroots lobbying like a well-oiled machine.

The Republican junta isn't waiting to make up its mind.

That's why Jerry Falwell already proclaimed joyous victory for a fundamentalist Supreme Court that would accede to the demands of the Executive Branch in all things totalitarian and religious.

On the latest in the rounds of Sunday religious/political rallies for Alito, Falwell let you know Alito was their guy in no uncertain terms. He didn't need to wait for the "performance" of the hearings:

"What we've worked on for 30 years, to mobilize people of faith and value in this country, what we've done through these years is coming to culmination right now," Falwell said at a rally on the eve of Alito's confirmation hearing.

"Now we're looking at what we really started on 30 years ago, reconstruction of a court system gone awry," Falwell said. - "Christian Conservatives Rally for Judge Alito," Reuters, January 9, 2006

Alito will facilitate the merger of church and state under the nearly full control of a Republican executive branch that will be able to use any means it wants to ensure permanent rule, including wiretapping of political opponents in the guise of national security.

You see, Alito is a key architect, as we have pointed out in two previous BuzzFlash commentaries, of the absolute authority of a Republican President. Not only is he a firm believer in near dictatorial powers and making congress irrelevant, he was a key strategist in having the Republican executive branch assume such powers incrementally so as not to be noticed -- and therefore disarm any opposition among the American people or in Congress.

In short, Alito believes in the boiling frog theory of the Republican Executive Branch takeover of the American Constitution and democracy: boil it slowly and no one will realize that our balance of powers is being killed.

Howard Dean and Ted Kennedy are among the few Democratic leaders to take notice of the threat that Alito poses to the American Constitution and to democracy.

Most of the other Democrats in the Senate express "concern" about Alito's championing of Executive Branch domination of government and exemption from following Congressional laws, but these Democratic senators -- wishy-washy and timid as usual -- say, "well let's wait and see what he has to say at the hearings."

This is the cruelest cut of all. The hearings are carefully crafted by the White House to make Alito appear as moderate and non-committal as possible in order to make the Democrats appear extreme if they filibuster Alito.

Alito is the mastermind behind presidential signing statements that allow Bush to -- in essence -- rewrite congressional law by stating his interpretation of the law.

This, in reality, eliminates the need for a Congress at all.
(Alito is also similarly a key advocate behind the strategy of dismantling Roe v. Wade in increments until people don't realize that it has been overturned through a series of "smaller" decisions. This, he believes, will bolster judicial consensus and help avoid political fallout to the Republican Party.) He is, in short, acutely conscious of the political context of how to achieve radical judicial objectives.

In not promising to filibuster Alito, the Democrats AND the Republicans in Congress are signing the death warrant of Congress as an institution.

Polls show the American public is about evenly split on Alito, or leaning slightly in favor of him. They would be adamantly opposed if the Senate Democrats had come out early and vigorously against his anti-Constitutional positions and extreme judicial viewpoints. He's not a virgin. He's a known quantity and an important architect of the imperial Republican presidency.

He will say whatever he needs to say to make a Democratic filibuster seem like extremism, when he is the extremist who threatens the very foundation of our democracy and system of checks and balances.

The Democrats in the Senate have already made an enormous tactical mistake in once again deferring their courage until "the big show" gets under way. Everyone has seen this play before, just some of the lies and evasions change. And then the Dems will cave, and promise to fight the next nominee. It's deja vu all over again.

As for Alito's skill in doing the Senate hearings rope-a-dope, "Sam was the kind of person you want when the entire world is going to be flyspecking everything you write and challenging every construct you advance," a former colleague in the Reagan/Meese Justice Department said of the man the Democrats claim they will "pin down."

And to those Republicans who have started yelling every nominee should have an up or down vote, then why did the right wing sink the Harriet Miers nomination before it even got to a hearing room?

This isn't a theatrical production.

We're about to see the balance of powers guaranteed in our Constitution dismantled.

An election was stolen in 2000 by a 5-4 vote. It's about to get a lot worse.


Informant: Friends