Posted by Mary Mancini on October 31, 2006 under Uncategorized | 
Summary: It’s Halloween and Congressman Jim Cooper comes by to scare Mary & Freddie with spooky tales of executive overreaching and congressional underperformance. *Shudder* Then he mentions the real size of the federal deficit and just freaks everybody out!
Listen to: Interview with Jim Cooper
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Posted by Mary Mancini on under Uncategorized |
Common Cause Tennessee has been working to make the voting process open, fair, and accurate. During our recent primary election, a problem occurred in Shelby County that calls into question the accuracy of the results of the election. Computer logs show evidence of actual attempts to manipulate election results. At the very least, Shelby County’s conduct of the August primary election may have violated basic election system security procedures.
We believe similar problems can be prevented in the general election next Tuesday, but we need your immediate help.
Please send an email to Secretary of State Riley Darnell at riley.darnell@state.tn.us and ask him to ensure that the Shelby County Election Commission removes all unauthorized and/or uncertified software from voting machines, makes sure that voting machines are NOT connected to any networks, and maintains close supervision of all voting machinery before, during, and after the election.
It’s critical that you send your email immediately. There’s no time to lose. To learn more about this problem, visit http://www.votesafetn.org.
Thanks in advance for your help with this problem.
Sincerely,
Dick Williams
Common Cause Tennessee
Posted by Mary Mancini on under Uncategorized |
Very telling story on NPR this morning. The country is already experiencing reports ranging “from hackers getting into an official registration database to ballots being printed incorrectly.”
“Hackers got into the election website for DePage County, Illinois, and inserted a new voter qualification. It said they couldn’t be homosexuals. Officials quickly removed the unauthorized entry and assured voters hackers would not be able to tamper with actual election results.”
Verbal assurances won’t do. We must have Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails.
Something tells me that this election will not be over at midnight on November 8.
Posted by Mary Mancini on October 30, 2006 under Uncategorized |
Guests: Ray Barrett, Election Administrator for Davidson County (7:30 am), John Geer, Vanderbilt Political Science Professor and author of In Defense of Negativity: Attack Ads in Presidential Campaigns (8:00 am), Congressman Jim Cooper of the Fightin’ Fifth and author, “Executive Overreaching v. Congressional Underperformance” (Winner, 2006 Judge Edward R. Finch Law Day Speech Award)(8:20 am), and Elbert Ventura, Research Fellow for Media Matters for America (8:45 am).
Links: Davidson County Election Commission, Vote No on 1, Tennessee Fair Vote, Working Assets Take Action on Election Day Sign up (or Text JOIN to 30644), Music Row Democrats, “Top Government Official Says US on Verge of Economic Disaster”, By Matt Crenson (Associated Press), our mascot The Colbeagle, Election Reform Information Project, and ballot-eating electronic voting machines.
Posted by Mary Mancini on under Uncategorized |
Dude. We’re on the cover of The City Paper! Sweet!
Thanks to Amy Griffith at The City Paper for a delightful interview and to Brittney at Nashville Is Talking for her kinds words and encouragement. And thanks to all of you who have called or emailed with your kudos. It is very much appreciated!
Now go vote! And bring someone with you!
Posted by Mary Mancini on October 29, 2006 under Uncategorized |
Join Working Assets’ Immediate Response Network
Protect the Election
“We sincerely hope that the November 7th election comes off without any problems. But if it doesn’t, are you ready and willing to take action?
We may not have enough time to email you, but we can deliver a text message or place a call straight to your phone with a short and easy action that could help save the election. Signing up takes only a moment, and you’ll be a great service in helping protect the election.
We may need to urge the local election offices to keep the polls open to compensate for delayed poll openings, such as what happened in Maryland’s primary this year. We might push for more voting machines to be delivered to precincts with very long lines. We may need to show up in person and witness poll-closing procedures. We might also need to show up in person at our county election offices to protest voter fraud or voter intimidation at the polls. And we may need people to go with video cameras in hand, interview voters who’ve had problems, and then post that video to the web.
If you’re willing to spend a few minutes defending our democracy, then join our Voter Protection Immediate Response Network by filling out the information at left. We’ll text you on election day if there’s an urgent issue where your participation — such as a phone call or carefully-targeted local action — can make a big difference. Don’t worry, we won’t send you too many text messages. In fact, we hope we don’t have to send you text messages at all. But it pays to be prepared, so sign up to protect the election with our immediate response network now!
Go to Working Assets to join or text JOIN to 30644
Posted by Mary Mancini on under Uncategorized |
Congressman Jim Cooper will be on Liberadio(!) tomorrow morning along with Vanderbilt Professor John Geer, author of In Defense of Negativity: Attack Ads in Presidential Campaigns, and Ray Barrett, Elections Administrator for Davidson County.
Congressman Cooper was recently awarded the 2006 Judge Edward R. Finch Law Day Speech Award for his speech on “Executive Overreaching v. Congressional Underperformance.”
Liberadio(!) is heard every Monday morning from 7 to 9 am on WRVU-FM, 91.1.
Posted by Mary Mancini on under Uncategorized |
Summary: We interviewed Randy Tarkington, Campaign Manager for Vote No on One. This election day, Tennessee voters will be asked to consider a referendum on an amendment to the state constitution which would prohibit same-sex marriage. Randy tells us why, no matter how we feel about gay marriage, we should all vote NO on Referendum #1.
Listen to: Interview with Randy Tarkington, Vote No on One
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Posted by Mary Mancini on October 27, 2006 under Uncategorized |
30 Oct 2006
“Not Your Daddy’s Democrat”, By Jonathan Darman (Newsweek
)
“Tennessee’s Harold Ford Jr. is running from his party in one of the must-win Senate races for the Democrats. His story—and the stakes on Election Day.”
27 Oct 2006
“Damage Control”, by Jennifer Van Bergen (TomPaine.com)
Congress has struck down Supreme Court decisions that struck down previous executive decisions and actions regarding the treatment of detainess (Military Commissions Act). What next?
26 Oct 2006
Another Stolen Election Headed Our Way? A Discussion with Mark Crispin Miller About What Voters Can Do to Prevent It (OstreyReport)
This blogger asks Mark to clearly define for us what Americans can do to prevent a repeat in 2006 and 2008.
25 Oct 2006
“Statistical Issues in Elections”, Open Letter From The American Statistical Association (AmStat.org)
The statistics nerds see a problem. After we give them a wedgie, maybe we should listen to them. (Go to AmStat.org or download pdf)
“Reframing: Words to Reclaim”, by George Lakoff (Huffington Post)
Certain words and phreases have been hijacked by the GOP. Lakoff teaches us how to take back “patriotism,” “rule of law,” “national security,” “family values,” and more.
“How the Bush Family Makes a Killing from George’s Presidency”, by Heather Wokusch (CommonDreams)
Cheney isn’t the only one who has benefited from the Bush administration’s destructive policies. The Bush family has done quite nicely too.
22 Oct 2006
“Obama Is Not a Miracle Elixir”, By Frank Rich (New York Times
)
“The Democrats may well win on Election Day this year. But one of their best hopes for long-term viability in the post-Bush era is that Barack Obama steps up and changes the party before the party of terminal timidity and equivocation changes him.”
21 Oct 2006
“Remembering the Suez Saga - As History Is Repeated”, By J. Sri Raman (t r u t h o u t | Perspective)
October 2006 marks the 50th anniversary The Suez crisis. When will we ever learn from our history?
20 Oct 2006
“No, Iraq Is Not Vietnam”, By Tony Karon (Time
)
“What both Bush and Friedman fail to see is that the catastrophe created by the U.S. invasion is a product of Iraq’s own history, culture and composition, and experience of previous invasions - and of the failure of the U.S. leadership to grasp those specifics.”
19 Oct 2006
“After Pat’s Birthday”, By Kevin Tillman (Truthdig)
Pat Tilman’s birthday is November 6, the day before election day. You need a reason to vote? Kevin gives you a heartwrenching one.
Posted by Liberadio(!) on October 26, 2006 under Uncategorized |
Summary: Listen to our interview with Will Kimbrough - singer, songerwriter, producer, guitarist extraordinaire, and the proud son of yellow-dog Democrats from Mobile, Alabama. Will has played with Rodney Crowell, Todd Snider, Kim Richey, Josh Rouse & Jimmy Buffett (who recorded his “Piece of Work” on his License to Chill
CD), and produced records by Adrienne Young, Kate Campbell, and Todd Snider. His latest CD, Americanitis, prompted the Los Angeles Daily News to say, “Kimbrough has a gift for folk-pop protest.” Yes, indeedy! (35:18 16.2MB)
Listen to: Interview with Will Kimbrough
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