Political Glance
An unprecedented vote to remove three Iowa Supreme Court justices who were part of the unanimous decision that legalized same-sex marriage in the state was celebrated by conservatives as a popular rebuke of judicial overreach, even as it alarmed proponents of an independent judiciary.
The outcome of the election was heralded both as a statewide repudiation of same-sex marriage and as a national demonstration that conservatives who have long complained about “legislators in robes” are able to effectively target and remove judges who issue unpopular decisions.
Sometimes, it takes years to see the impact of a Supreme Court decision on American life, and sometimes a ruling lands with an explosion. The Roberts Court's game-changing decisions on campaign finance reform have been both.
Actually, with sophisticated programming, it would not be possible for any official to know if there were a program imbedded in a computer to slightly alter the votes--and it can be done without any detection unless a parallel paper trail is produced that is independent of any computer. Many states, including Nevada have electronic voting machines that have a paper printout that you review before you finish, but only guarantees that the computer correctly inputted what you desired. It is no guarantee that the numbers processed later on will not be altered. Officials always take the word of the company who provides the machines, that there are no backdoor scripts to change the results. Can the companies be trusted? That is doubtful given that every major voting machine company like Diebold has connections with high government officials.
The Tea Party movement is remarkable in two respects. It is one of the biggest exercises in false consciousness the world has seen – and the biggest Astroturf operation in history. These accomplishments are closely related.
And the touch-screen voting machines continue to flip votes during the early voting period. Right on schedule. Just as always. But, for the second time this week we have the unusual occurrence of votes reportedly flipping away from the GOP.
The lawmakers, lobbyists, Bush administration officials, congressional staffers and businessmen caught up in the Jack Abramoff public corruption probe: Abramoff was sentenced in September 2008 to four years in prison on charges of mail fraud, conspiracy and tax evasion. Since pleading guilty in 2006, the once-powerful lobbyist has cooperated with the federal investigation of influence-peddling in Washington.
Prudential Financial sent in a $2 million donation last year as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce kicked off a national advertising campaign to weaken the historic rewrite of the nation’s financial regulations.
