Saturday, November 15, 2008

Saturday Progressive Blog Roundup - November 15, 2008

Progressive Alaska has been negligent in helping to get the word out on events today in Juneau, Fairbanks and Anchorage, as parts of the nationwide rallies in support of the LBGT community, in the wake of last week's passage of Proposition 8 in California.

There will be rallies at noon today:

Fairbanks - 800 Cushman Street

Anchorage - the Atwood Building

Juneau:

While Equal Rights supporters in Anchorage and Fairbanks hold Fight the H8 protests, Juneau NOW and their friends are holding a 'mobile protest' in solidarity:

I would like to be part of this national day of protest. So here's the plan and I hope you'll all join me. I'm going to put a sign in my car window and be a sort of mobile protester as I do my Saturday errands and schlep my kids to and from soccer games. I've attached my sign and would be honored if some of you want to use it and join me. -- E. Ross


Steve, at What Do I Know? has written a long, provocative and extremely thorough analysis of the shortcomings in pro-Proposition 8 arguments. It is certainly worth reading.

Alaska Real has been counting down the days left in the Bush Administration, by posting short essays and items on the ineptitude and crimes of President George W. Bush. riting Raven, beginning at #100, is now down to #66.

There wasn't a lot of Alaska blog coverage of the sentencing this week of former Allvest CEO and owner, Bill Weimar, for his mail fraud crimes. Progressive Alaska wrote a short reflective piece. Cliff Groh, at Alaska Political Corruption, has written a long essay on Weimar's sentencing, and his legacy. Groh was there, noting:

What was particularly surprising about the few people in the courtroom for Weimar’s sentencing, however, was that except for the defendant and his attorney it appeared that everyone there was either a federal employee or a member of the media. Even though Weimar lived in Alaska for 30 years before moving to Montana in 1999, not one friend or family member appeared to have come to support him as he faced prison. And the only letter in the file about the sentencing is from the administrator of a Montana domestic violence abuse prevention program who says that Weimar’s free work would be welcome community service.


Poignant. Groh also notes that I may have over-estimated the degree of danger Weimar might have been in, after his "cooperation" with the Feds became public last summer. As Groh states:

Munger’s suggestion that Weimar’s knowledge of dirty deeds committed by others as well as himself puts him at risk seems overblown given the prosecution’s statement at Weimar’s sentencing that he hadn’t given the feds anything that the government didn’t know already.

You don’t have to go as far as Munger, however, to know that the sentencing was a very sketchy portrait of an intriguing and troubling figure.


Groh is right, it appears in retrospect, but he doesn't challenge my assertion then that what Weimar has been (and others have been) convicted of, is only the tip of the tip of the iceberg.

Speaking of the tip of the tip of the iceberg, progressive Alaskan bloggers were all over the ongoing count of Alaskan votes, as Anchorage mayor Mark Begich passed convicted felon Senator Ted Stevens, in the race for the U.S. Senate seat occupied by Stevens since before I came to Alaska in the early 1970s. Progressive Alaska contained several articles, some by me, some by others, on various issues that could have or still might emerge during this complex, tedious process.

And, for the first time, it appears Progressive Alaska has been attacked by a fellow Alaskan progressive blogger:

No one was more frustrated by the early conspiracy-theory panic than they were...because the folks who were spreading it weren't talking to them. It also seemed like there were folks out there with a lack-of-understanding of Alaska's unique challenges, transportation and otherwise, who turned this into something it was not. At the very least, they sounded the alarm bell rather prematurely.


and:

There were some people especially worried about the Diebold machines and the GEMS tabulator...with legitimate concerns from past Alaska elections and problems in the lower-48. However, I was absolutely stunned that (to my knowledge) NONE of these people who were worried showed up at the absentee ballot counting at Division of Elections so they could actually look at the the tapes first-hand from each district count as they were coming out of the machines. The procedure was as wide-open as they could allow without danger of exposing privacy information. Media was allowed to film everything except (understandably) the individual ballots close-up. The openness of the Department of Elections was very different from two years ago under pageant queen Whitney Brewster and then Lt. Governor Loren "The Undertaker" Leman.


I'm sorry, Celtic Diva, but, as I've explained in the pages here, and on the phone with you, covering every possibility on a set of emerging issues like these, is important. Contrary to some peoples' claims, I've not stated there was or is voter election fraud in this election, only that the possibility, or - given the 2004 Knowles-Murkowski race information fiasco aftermath - probability, that it might exist. And I was working a 12-hour day on the day you reference.

As we learned in Florida in 2000, in Georgia in 2002, in Ohio in 2004, and so on, the quicker people look at all the issues that might come out as votes are looked at closely, if you react late, or wait for candidates to protest, you miss the most important times and circumstances for gathering evidence, for preserving documents.

So far - we're not done looking at this election yet - I've learned a number of things. I think all Alaskans, progressive, liberal, moderate and conservative, could agree that we might consider letting people here know that their vote DOES count, even when national results indicate an early-on-voting-day victory, as in Obama's case. Or when ALL polls seem to show a candidate like Ethan Berkowitz clearly thumping Don Young. Perhaps, in 2010, the League of Women Voters or the Alaska Democratic Party could run election day and pre-election day ads, encouraging people to vote, no matter what the pollsters or their radio or TV tells them.

And we covered Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. A lot. I'll skip her for now.....

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm just going to nit pik a little phil,

you said voter fraud when I'm sure you meant vote fraud or election fraud.

Voter fraud is rare, the abuse of the term is not.

Philip Munger said...

Corrected - thank you.

Anonymous said...

Ignore CelticDiva Phil. I doubt anyone reads that blog anyway.

Anonymous said...

Celtic who? I went there and looked at here stuff. 0 comments after 0 comments after 0 comments after 0 comments. More people read her crap that you reposted then ever read her drivel on her own site.

Phil, thanks for the great blog. You are absolutely correct in saying the time to act is NOW!Diva's take about the openess at the DOE is laughable:

"The procedure was as wide-open as they could allow without danger of exposing privacy information. Media was allowed to film everything except (understandably) the individual ballots close-up."

QUESTION FOR CD: WHAT PRIVACY INFORMATION WOULD BE REVEALED FROM EXAMING THE BALLOTS DIVA???

Obviously NOTHING!

Go Phil Go!

Anonymous said...

i sense a cold war.

no word about martin eisenstadt, what's up with that ?

surely it's the funniest story to come out of this campaign, topping even old Levi and Bristol and the French Prime Minister.

CelticDiva said...

Phil:

That was never directed at you, as I explained when I called you as soon as I read this.

You have been through many elections, understand the processes and have read a lot more than most on the subject. Plus, the articles you wrote didn't have that "alarmist" ring to them...rather they presented legitimate possibilities, concerns and scenarios.

I wasn't arguing with your call for vigilance and preparation. It's a simple fact that 2004 was clearly a tainted election, if for no other reason that the electronic information was manipulated multiple times in 2006 according to the logs. I agreed with your presentation of these facts as well as your call to wait-and-see how things progressed.

My problem was with other folks yelling "the sky is falling" before all the votes were even mailed-in much less counted.

I also had a problem when, while they made a clear case for why 2004 was tainted, they then provided as "evidence" that there was a problem with the 2008 numbers by comparing them to...2004!

My problem was with folks I have always respected, like Brad Blog and Thom Hartmann, who went beyond the question of the Diebold machines and claimed that the batches of ballots coming into DoE were just "found," as if someone had been hiding them elicitly somewhere. They did this rather than find out the realities of getting ballots from the vast expanse of Alaska that has no roads and limited mail service. They did this without talking to the Begich Campaign, who have had people basically married to these ballots all over the state since election day.

And lastly, my response was motivated by this "shot-across-the-bow" by Shannyn Moore, who also posts on your blog:

"Disagreeing with facts is fair and healthy. Arguing from a place lacking intellectual curiosity is quite another as nothing is learned nor gained."

So...anyone who disagreed with the voracity and timing of her posts before the votes were even in (much less counted) or questioned the wisdom of using the 2004 vote as a comparison lacked "intellectual curiosity?"

No, Phil, I never directed my post at you...not because I view my post as an attack, it wasn't. Because your writings were a reasonable statement of facts and call to vigilance. Others, in my opinion, weren't so factual or reasonable.

PS I love it when folks really attack in these comments but only have the balls to do it anonymously! FYI, my comment numbers don't reflect my readership...I have the only Community Blog in Alaska...you have to be a member to comment or post a diary.

And yes, Progressive Alaska generally has about double the traffic of Blue Oasis. Today, however, is an exception. As of 3:45 PM, my number of unique viewers is 955.

Anonymous said...

I appreciate everyone's vigilance on this. I'll admit that I, as well as many of my Outside internet friends, had a tense couple of days while the vote totals seemed so inconsistent with the pre-election excitement, but once the early ballots and absentees started coming in, I felt a little more confident.

I really don't think we can be blamed for being skeptical, given the problems we've had in the past.

Anonymous said...

Wow I read all your blogs (Mudflats, Progressive Alaska, Girl from Homer, Celtic Diva, I eat Gravel, Immoral Minority, to name a few) and enjoy the different angles from which you each approach an issue.

Stay together Alaskan bloggers - a larger, clearer picture is provided for the rest of us when each of you maintain your own unique perspective :)

Lynn-in-Australia

CelticDiva said...

"I really don't think we can be blamed for being skeptical, given the problems we've had in the past."

I don't blame anyone for being skeptical. I have been skeptical, which is why I've been talking regularly to the folks closest to the process, the Begich Campaign.

Skeptical is different than yelling "fire" in a crowded movie theater.

Also, anonymous dude, I forgot to point out a couple of things:

"QUESTION FOR CD: WHAT PRIVACY INFORMATION WOULD BE REVEALED FROM EXAMING THE BALLOTS DIVA???"

When I talked about the ballots, I was talking about them on the desks of the people processing the questioned ballots, where they also have identifying information as well as the the voter registration lists with folks names, social security numbers, etc... In the other room, you can get as close as you want with a telephoto lense through the window where they were counting absentee.

But your comment would be typical of someone who has not seen nor understands how the system actually works.

Anonymous said...

CD, I definitely appreciated your explanation of why our counting process is taking so long, and I took the liberty of reposting your analysis on Democratic Underground, where my fellow DUers were starting to make some pretty wiseass remarks about counting on fingers and toes and whatnot, votes being brought in by dogsled, the usual funny stuff. I hope you don't mind that I "spread you around" this way to clear the record. I always post a link.

Anonymous said...

Without stirring an arguement may I use this space to ask Mr. Munger, Celtic Diva and Shannyn Moore a joint question?

I understand how the Alaskan environment would play a unique role in delaying the gathering of all the ballots at one central counting place.

What I don't quite understand is: this is is 2008 not 1908. There are telephones and internet connections. Would not individual precincts, where voters are registered and absentee ballots are mailed, have a clue as to how many they have collected *to be* counted and thereby be able to project more accurate numbers of 'ballots in waiting'?

I have to say, I had my own knee-jerk reaction when I read the absentee/late ballot number had jumped from fifty to ninety thousand in less than a couple of days.

So even though it may take a while for the physical ballots to arrive at a central point, would no one have an inkling of that number by election day?

Anonymous said...

Sorry, forgot to sign - the above post/query is from me, Lynn-in-Australia

Anonymous said...

Insurrection !

Viva la Evolucion !

Anonymous said...

CD:
"veracity"

Anonymous said...

of course calling an election "stolen" before all of the votes have been counted is one thing, but this kind of crap is what makes one look foolish.

CelticDiva said...

Anon...

Yeah, I saw that too late...can't edit a comment though :D

Thanks for the catch :)

Anonymous said...

Celtic Diva, you are the most uncurious person I have ever read(reposted on Phil's site). You are Ms. Move Along...nothing to see. Whatever the subject, there is NO CONSPIRACY! If it weren't for the lawsuit on the 2004 election resulting in proof of tampering, I am sure you would be claiming there was NOTHING TO SEE...Move Along. Whatever.

NEWSFLASH DIVA! Mark Begich's campaign is NOT the place to take your cues from. If Randy Reudrich was caught stuffing the ballot box, there would be NO COMMENT from the Begich Campaign.

Grow Up. Stop being a victim. Your Jealous attacks on Shannyn Moore say more about you than anyone else. Let it go. Be confident in your own abilities without trying to take someone else down...hint: it ain't working. I don't even think Shannyn knows you exist.

Stop it already...

CelticDiva said...

First off, it's not "uncurious," it's "incurious." Buy a dictionary.

Secondly, I'm pretty sure I know who posted this but I'm not going to respond to a pathetic coward lobbing bullshit insults on a public forum from the comfort and safety of anonymity.

If you want to have it out, post with your real name or send me an email:

celticdivaak@yahoo.com

By the way, your obvious need for anonymity says WAYYYY MORE about you than any lies you could spread around about me.

And your obvious disdain for the soon-to-be Senator and his campaign has already been noted.

Linda Kellen Biegel