Ten Days And Counting --- Know Hope!

Do Joe The Plumber And Real Americans Drop $75,000 On An Afternoon At Nieman Marcus? Can We Just Stop The Pretense?

"Just make sure people understand that we know what Joe the Plumber was talking about when he was confronting Barack Obama and saying, 'Wait a minute, aren't you going to take my money, take my earnings and give it to somebody else who maybe hadn't worked as hard as I have worked?' What about this reward for strong work ethic, isn't that what capitalism is all about? Isn't that what the American economy should be based upon? And so when I mention Joe the Plumber, know that that's why I do mention it. Because we understand what his concerns were as he spoke to Barack Obama there in that rope line," she added. "We will be working for Joe the Plumber and working for the small business owners and those who wish to own business, those who have that entrepreneurial spirit and want to grow business and create jobs, hire more people and take care of their families."

"We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation."

Gov. Sarah Palin in Greenesboro, NC

"Sarah Palin — she’s a lady that can get ‘er done. She’s been in Alaska. She got ‘er did! Folks, there’s a real America, and liberals hate real Americans that work, and accomplish, and achieve, and believe in God. That’s a great comparison."

Republican Congressman Robin Hayes warming up the crowd for Senator John McCain

UPDATE -- Do Real American Men Spend $8,000 A Month Having Their Makeup Done? I Don't Even Know Gay Men Or Drag Queens Who Spend That Much On Makeup.

From the Washington Post:

"Tifanie White, who reportedly has done makeup for the shows "So You Think You Can Dance" and "American Idol," was paid a total of $8,672.55 in September by the McCain-Palin campaign [to do Senator McCain's makeup], according to the campaign's latest monthly financial report filed this week with the Federal Election Commission. She was paid $5,583.43 the previous month, records show."

Who the hell are these people wearing their tinfoil hats and talking about "real Americans" and "socialism"?

So I am, as a gay man who identifies as an atheist and as a liberal or a progressive or even a revolutionary, when the Dow dips below 9,000, not part of real America. Sarah Palin apparently is a real American because she loves "real Americans that work, and accomplish, and achieve, and believe in God." But apparently Governor Palin is not above accepting a little free stuff, like a $150,000 shopping spree at Niemans and Saks and the like. Somehow, I doubt that the "real Americans" that Governor Palin purports to champion have that opportunity handed to them, much less have someone to do their makeup at $8 grand a month. And I am supposed to conclude that Senator Obama is "too different," "too exotic," "too other" --- Come'on, don't be coy, just say it out loud, John and Sarah: "too black" --- to be President. Hell, Palin's spending and McCain's makeup make them way more "other" to me than Obama's race and funny name.

Yeah, the hypocrisy smells to high heaven, but just to cut through all of that, let's just be honest, Governor Palin is not just like hard working Americans who have seen their savings looted by folks who shop at Niemans and Saks, nor is her buddy John McCain, he of the married fortune and the seven houses and the regular makeup. No matter how much they want to keep telling us they understand what is facing working people and how they understand how the poor middle class working stiffs making $250,000 a year feel when that "socialist" Obama says he is gonna take their money, John and Sarah don't have a clue.

Let's stop all the pretense and nonsense and have an election and live with the result . . . . . .

More Cool Heads on "Voter Fraud"

Earlier today, I took a trip over to the Hamilton County GOP Blog and remembered why I respected Alex Triantafilou so much when he was a judge.

Since Triantafilou left the bench to become chair of the HamCo GOP Chair, he certainly hasn't wasted any opportunities to throw "red meat" to the base of his party. I'm often irritated by what he writes (not merely because I disagree with him, but because I get tired of seeing the same old daily talking points--and I think he can do better than mindless regurgitation of the national party line).

But he takes his role as chair of the HamCo Board of Elections seriously. And while still managing to throw some "red meat" out there, in this post, his concern for the fairness--and the perceived fairness--of next month's election comes through:

I want to assure readers of this blog that the election in Hamilton County will be fair and that their vote will count. Are there problems? Yes. There are always problems in any system where humans are involved. But, will those problems lead to massive voter fraud that changes the outcome of the election? No. I have seen no evidence of this.

Yesterday at the Board meeting, I made a rather poor analogy that I will, unfortunately, repeat on this blog. I compared the perception of downtown Cincinnati to the perception of the election.

Downtown Cincinnati is mostly a safe neighborhood and a great place to live, shop and visit. There is the occasional crime that sometimes mars the image of downtown and draws a fair amount of attention. These crimes and downtown's proximity to a high crime neighborhood have caused the misperception that downtown is not safe. It is safe.

In the same way, a few bad actors (or groups) have possibly engaged in improper conduct with regard to voter fraud. Voting fraud rightfully draws tremendous media and public scrutiny because it can undermine the democratic process that underpins our society. This high level of attention to potential crimes have caused a misperception that the election is not safe. A special prosecutor has been assigned by the courts to deal with this question.

At a time when it seems that every Republican--from top-ranked surrogates down to Bill Cunningham--is getting in front of microphones to declare that the sky is falling and Obama is "stealing the election," it's nice to see Triantafilou inject some sanity into our public discourse. He doesn't gain anything from that post; in fact, he's probably being deluged with emails and calls from people within his own party incensed that he's not doing more to stop "voter fraud." Instead, we see an excellent example of Triantafilou's thoughtfulness and integrity. (It's what made him a good judge.)

There is no conspiracy to steal the election--either in Ohio or nationally--by either side. Some registration efforts may have gotten carried away. ACORN's actions were likely downright negligent: paying (unemployed) people to register voters and giving them a quota is guaranteed to get the results we're seeing this year: fictitious names in an effort to turn in enough names (the people submitting the names, frankly, couldn't care less about the election's outcome--they just want their checks). Similarly, the police officers whom Griff mentions (who, if the FOP is any indication, are likely to vote GOP) aren't trying to sway the election; they've just bought into a popular misconception that it's permissible for them to register at their police district. (If they're not Cincinnati residents, though, they need to get registered in the right place, as they shouldn't be casting votes in municipal elections.) What's going on out there? Some mistakes. Some overzealousness. But no right-wing or left-wing conspiracy. And probably very, very little in the way of actual criminal misconduct.

Say it with me again: just two more weeks.....

Thanks, Blue Ash

No doubt, everyone in Cincinnati has heard of Edna Jester, the octagenarian charged with a first-degree misdemeanor (carrying a possible sentence of 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine) by Blue Ash's finest. Apparently, after a neighborhood boy's football repeatedly landed in Ms. Jester's yard, she refused to give it back. The folks in Blue Ash, of course, charged her with a crime. She's been cited into Blue Ash Mayor's Court--which means she was charged under a Blue Ash ordinance, which means this is about the same thing every other mayor's court case is about: filling the coffers of Blue Ash.

I have no idea why this case is being treated as criminal. The owner of the ball could file a civil lawsuit for conversion, but this is precisely the type of nonsense that has no business clouding our criminal dockets. The City of Blue Ash is represented in its criminal prosecutions by Dinsmore & Shohl. I'd be shocked if those fine attorneys lack the good sense to immediately dismiss the charge.

Happily, Ms. Jester's case has now made national news. I just saw it on TV in the midst of my Florida sojourn.

Way to be ambassadors for southwest Ohio, Blue Ash!!!

Is Joe Going to Charge Them?

Greg Korte reported this yesterday:

"Four people are registered to vote from 310 Ezzard Charles Drive - the Cincinnati Police Department's District 1 headquarters. All are Cincinnati police officers, according to city payroll records, and some have been voting at the West End precinct since the early 1990s.

It's not uncommon. The Enquirer found similar examples in other police districts and with sheriff's deputies in Hamilton and Butler counties. Election officials said they would look into the police officers' registrations.

'There's some sort of urban legend or myth that police officers or certain persons don't have to put their home address on their voter registration form. Everybody is supposed to be registered where they live, not where they work,' said Sally Krisel, the director of the Hamilton County Board of Elections. She's a Democrat."

So, if Greg can identify these police officers and Sheriff Department Employees that would allegedly have knowingly submitted a false voter registration, then when will Joe Deters indite them for voter registration fraud? If they have voted from their work, isn't that voter fraud?

As Donald point out below, I will agree that Deters did do the right thing when he recused himself from this investigation, but would it not have been both proper procedure (or legal requirement) as well as the ethical thing for Deters to have referred the "pretty credible" allegations of voter fraud made to the BOE, who then could have evaluated the situation and then requested that he investigate? I believe Deters had no other choice than recuse himself. He did act unethically and I believe there are grounds to investigate his actions as an abuse of power. If Deters wants to use the evidence he finds as a challenge to Ohio law, then he clear has over stepped his bounds. If he wants to change the law, he can write his state legislator. Otherwise he needs to get out of the way of BOE.

From a purely legal perspective, isn't it also common for Prosecutors to wait until after an Indictment before they make a public statement of the "facts" which are unproven and unsubstantiated? In today's article Deters appears to have found wrong doing has happened even before the grand jury has spoken. I guess we can skip right to sentencing and leave the judge out of it.

I think Deters was caught with his hand in the cookie jar and he had no other choice but to step back. His actions appear to me to be intended to both intimidate voters as well as creating evidence for the GOP to use if they want to challenge all of those votes in line with a broader challenge of Ohio law allowing registering and voting at the same period.

What I don't understand, is that back when Deters was Prosecutor before going to into state government, Ohio law didn't require any ID when registering or voting. How many times did he office investigate alleged voter fraud then? It was "easier" to do it then, but there didn't seem to be a big problem of it.

Cooler Heads Prevail In "Voter Fraud" Investigation

My blogging will be light this week, as I'm in Florida, enjoying my first vacation in about 30 months. I've been following the story of grand jury subpoenas about which Griff blogged below, and it's good to see a sense of order restored to the process today.

The Enquirer reports that HamCo Prosecutor Joe Deters has recused his office from the investigation. HamCo Common Pleas Judge Norbert A. Nadel, in his role as "presiding judge," has appointed Mike O'Neill, a young Cincinnati attorney, as the special prosecutor for the case. I applaud Judge Nadel (a Republican-endorsed judge running unopposed to retain his seat this year) on his choice.

I also applaud Mr. Deters for his decision to step back from the investigation. Strictly speaking, Mr. Deters would not operate under a conflict of interest in pursuing voter registration or voter fraud prosecutions. As he pointed out to the Enquirer, he has no way of knowing how any particular voter voted. (And there's no evidence that he cherry-picked voters from precincts that leaned one way or the other in past elections.) But he was correct to recognize the appearance of impropriety and let someone else handle this important issue. (Remember: appearance of impropriety is not the standard under which lawyers operate; that's reserved for judges. Lawyers only have to "conflict themselves out" if there's an actual conflict, not merely the appearance of one.) It's important for the county and the nation that the election be handled transparently and administered without partisan politics coming into play.

As for Mr. O'Neill: he was a year ahead of me at UC Law. He's an intelligent, thoughtful guy. When he was a prosecutor (under Mike Allen), he was well-respected by both those in his own office and the defense bar. Mr. O'Neill is the kind of lawyer who knows when he has a case and when he doesn't. He has an even, calm temperment that makes him well-suited to navigate this emotionally-charged issue. And I like his early comments to the Enquirer (at least as reported by that paper), that seem to signal that he's more concerned with getting the right result rather than a fast one.

So my advice: everyone should take a deep breath, sit back, and let this process work. This isn't about voter suppression--the steps former SoS Ken Blackwell took in 2004 were far more likely to keep voters away from the polls than is the investigation of a few individuals with anomalous registration records.

And keep repeating to yourself: only 2 more weeks.....

Abuse of Power By Deters

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters is using his office in an attempt to intimidate voters for Obama. Deters only took 40% of those who voted and registered early. What was that 40% based on? Did he have access to those registrations? Did he have party ID or address to select certain votes? Who is Deters serving? If he had credible and SPECIFIC allegations of fraud, he would not need to go after this volume. This is a violation of privacy that there is no evidence will produce any violation of the law.

Based on the article it appears he has acted not at the request of the BOE, who was required by the Secretary of State to report voter fraud to the Prosecutor, but instead from someone outside, with no conceivable knowledge of voter fraud from this number of instances.

Deters must step forward and reveal the source of the allegation of any fraud. Going on a fishing expedition on behalf of the Republican Party or even more egregious the McCain Campaign directly is an abuse of power and grounds for an investigation of Deters himself. The Attorney General needs to step forward and investigate Deters.


UPDATE: Here is more from 700-WLW and yes, it is just a press release with no research or detail added. The only redeeming quality about the story is the fact they put the following in quotes:

He says his office has received "numerous credible complaints" of irregularities.

Where did Deters get these complaints? Who are they from? If these reports are not from the BOE, then how are they credible? What independent evidence could there be other than the politically motivated false charges being leveled against ARCORN, which are bogus. TPM has the full background on the entire trumped up Republican political ploy.