Last week, former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III testified to Congress about Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether President Trump tried to obstruct the inquiry. Casting Russian sabotage as a serious threat to the United States, Mueller warned that interference efforts were happening “as we sit” in the hearing rooms.Everyone knows that Trump can't countenance discussions of improving election security and counteracting Russian meddling. The benign explanation is that Trump is still suffering butthurt from his victory in 2016 and believes that any discussion of Russian meddling and interference taints his win. The less-benign explanation is that Trump is Putin's asset and his doing everything he covertly can to make life easier for his handler.[1]
Hours after Mueller’s testimony, Democrats tried to get the Senate to vote on bipartisan election security legislation. Republicans objected. The next day, Democrats tried to get a vote on a bill that would have authorized hundreds of millions of dollars to update voting equipment. McConnell objected.
Whether McConnell is so unpatriotic that he is willfully closing his eyes to Russian interference because it benefits his party or he is willfully closing his eyes to Russian interference because he is doing Trump's bidding is an open question. In either event, the result is the same.
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[1] That article is sarcastic. But sarcasm has to be rooted in the truth in order to have its sting.
Is it beyond belief that Putin set up the Epstein ring in order to gather kompromat on as many politicians and billionaires as he could? It would explain a lot of odd behavior from the last few years.
ReplyDeleteBut perhaps Putin is too moral for that.
Fergus has seen the polling and knows that he may lose the 2020 election, and is trying to recreate every little thing that got him there in 2016, which may or may not work.
ReplyDeleteHe's not about to let go of the most reliable ally he had in 2016, but hasn't really considered what it might be like in a political world without the guardrails preventing foreign intervention, particularly after the fights he has picked with China, which is run by vicious fuckers who are every bit as capable of destabilizing an election as Russia.
Mitch is simply a political operative who will do anything at all to amass power for his party, and doesn't give a rat's ass what it looks like.
Just say "Merrick Garland" under your breath and you'll know how Mitch needs to be dealt with.
I'm not generally a vindictive person, but I really want to see the look on Mitch's face when he loses the majority in the senate.
He's an evil man.
-Doug in Oakland
Moscow Mitch got the grift. It took Deripaska awhile to spread enough money around
ReplyDeletehttps://www.cnn.com/2019/04/15/business/rusal-russia-kentucky-aluminum-mill/index.html
Why should the Feds pay for election voting machines?
ReplyDeleteThat is the purview of the States.
(not saying Mitch is anything but a politician, mind you,)
Federal election, Federal cash. Kinda makes sense, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteDale
The Feds have a vested interest in local elections for Federal Office. Also, as we well know, the larger the market, the more competition in pricing, if there is no monopoly. Local governments combine into buying cooperatives to get lower prices on cars, trucks and equipment, why not leverage this via the Federal Government for elections equipment, while also mandating certain minimum security and verifiability in the equipment.
ReplyDeleteThe above two comments are specious arguments.
ReplyDeleteSeriously.
Do y'all think that, with the number of precincts in every state, that there isn't already a "large market"?
The states decide the rules for elections, not the Feds. They are State elections for Federal offices. (also, BTW, in most states the same materials and equipment is used for state and local offices, in case you hadn't noticed).
B., your argument ignored my comments on security, care to try again?
ReplyDeleteWord from the intelligence community is that asking counties to defend themselves against hostile foreign state actors is risky.
ReplyDelete-Doug in Oakland
CP:
ReplyDeleteCare to be not-so general and actually address what "security" you think needs to be mandated?
Well, let’s see:
ReplyDelete1) Physical, paper voting receipts
2) Physically secure case without inputs accessible during the election.
3) Third party validated software.
4) Infrastructure designed for the ground up to be air-gapped.
5) Secure anti-tamper systems.
6) Market-wide interface standards.
That s a decent start.
That is a good list.
ReplyDeleteHere in Indiana we have all that in our voting machines.
And, oddly, we didn't need the Feds to pay for it.
But we also have Voter ID, so you know Indiana cares about voter fraud.
Other states, not so much.
I'll agree that these measures should be implemented. But I don't think it is the Feds responsibility to fund it.
So counties should face foreign attacks from countries?
ReplyDelete-Doug in Oakland
Ah, Indiana, where the Republican Secretary of State was convicted of illegal voting offenses, so they created a Voter ID and ballot purge law that address none of what he did...
ReplyDeleteIndiana, whose voting snafus made National headlines in both 2016 and 2018...
Indiana, whose machine certain do NOT meet those requirements...
Indiana, who makes it difficult to get Voter IDs...
Pull the other one, B.
https://wgntv.com/2018/11/07/glitches-keep-northwest-indiana-county-from-counting-votes/
ReplyDeleteVALPARAISO, Ind. —The commissioners in a northwestern Indiana county plagued by a mix of Election Day problems asked the FBI on Wednesday to investigate what they called "scores of alleged violations of Indiana Election Law" reported following Tuesday's election.
Porter County has released no election results, and officials did not begin counting votes until Wednesday morning, more than 15 hours after the first polling places closed. The delay was holding up final election results in three state legislative races, those for House districts 4 and 19 and Senate District 7.
The commissioners' office said in a statement late Wednesday afternoon that the commissioners had asked the FBI to investigate the alleged election violations reported "by poll workers, voters and the public." The commissioners' statement did not specify what those alleged violations involved.
It’s like Stalin said, what matters is who counts the votes.
Republicans and vote stealing go hand in hand:
ReplyDeletehttps://madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/no-criminal-misconduct-found-in-nickolaus-investigation/article_0d156ae2-e9e7-11e0-96e5-001cc4c03286.html
Questions swirled about whether Nickolaus, who worked for Prosser when he was a Republican legislator, was trying to stack the election for her former boss.
...
She's a real beauty
https://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2011/apr/17/kathy-nickolaus/waukesha-county-clerk-kathy-nickolaus-says-errors-/
Kathy Nickolaus, Waukesha County Clerk, In Hot Water Over Nearly $1 Million Mistake
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kathy-nickolaus-waukesha-county-clerk_n_900502