I don't know which aspect of this makes me happier ... that the people responsible for possible vote-count manipulation and the underhanded and, in some cases, illegal tactics that were used here in 2004 to disenfranchise voters may finally be exposed or that, as Tim correctly points out, it "could make it harder for Republicans like Kenneth Blackwell to continue with the voter-suppression tactics they're already employing for 2006 and 2008."

Unless or until gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell steps aside as Ohio's chief election officer he can (and will) continue to legally formulate "emergency" regulations and rules that he says are intended to "reduce voter fraud" but are really intended to keep poor and minority voters away from the polls in November. The man's balls are so immense that even the threat of an RFK Jr. lawsuit might not deter him but hope does spring eternal in this Ohio voter's cynical ol' heart. (And if you're reading this, Mr. Kennedy, I'm sure I'm not the only American who would happily donate some cold hard cash to help pay for those lawyers you're meeting with ... you may be our last best hope for convincing this country that our electoral process is broken, completely open to fraud and corruption, and needs to be overhauled from the ground up!)

It wouldn't surprise me in the least if stalling the renewal of the expiring provisions of this landmark legislation wasn't the Repugs way of sticking a toe in the water to see if anyone's paying attention to this. I'm sure they'd love to see the ENTIRE Voting Rights Act disappear since it's clearly benfitted Democrats much more than Republicans over the last 40 years. As it is, only a few provisions are expiring and if they think no one will raise a big stink they'll either let those provisions expire or water them down so that they're essentially meaningless.

How much easier it would be for the Ken Blackwells of America to disenfranchise millions of minority (Democratic) voters if the provisions that expire in 2007 didn't keep getting in their way. And it boggles the mind to think of how many voters they could disenfranchise if the entire Voting Rights Act were to be disappear. On a brighter note, for that to happen they'd first have to come up with a way to tranport the entire ACLU off the planet.

Republicans never miss an opportunity to wrap themselves in the flag, right? Without this amendment, they must know that there'd be nothing to stop us from waiting 'til the next time they drape themselves in the stars and stripes and torching the whole damn bunch of 'em.

Some might call it flag burning but not me ... I'd call it the biggest damn wienie roast in history.

In October votersunite.org was raising the alarm about the infrared data ports (IrDA) that Diebold had started adding to their touchscreen voting machines.

This is a remote communication port through which another remote device could communicate with the touch screen and change either its data or its software or both If your county uses Diebold touch screens, let your county officials and election judges know that it is crucial to cover the IR port with opaque tape.

Back in February Brad Friedman (bradblog) was asking "Why do Diebold's Touch-Screen Voting Machines Have Built-In Wireless Infrared Data Transfer Ports?"

Why indeed?? Most talk about hacking into voting machines talks about a voting machine's memory card and how easily it could be physically removed and either tampered with or replaced with a different memory card (presumably with different vote tallies). An IrDA port on a voting machine makes the hacking SO much easier because it would allow another wireless device, like a laptop, to send data to the voting machine or extract data from it without the two devices having to be cabled together. In other words, the machine could be hacked without your having to be in the same room with it!

I've worked in IT for over 25 years and, believe me, any good programmer would have no difficulty tranmitting some "election day surprise" code to a voting machine on or even before Election Day. The code could cause the machine to miscount votes, not count votes, switch votes, you name it. The code could not only be executed exactly when you wanted it to, but you could also easily include an instruction for the code to erase itself after it had performed its last instruction!

Friedman's conclusion was that there was absolutely no reason (and no LEGITIMATE functionality) that would require adding an infrared data port to a voting machine. In all fairness, an IrDA port would make it a whole lot easier for Diebold to distribute software upgrades to voting machines but given their now-shabby reputation and given the number of GAPING security vulnerabilities that have already been exposed, those IrDA ports are kinda like parking your car in a bad neighborhood and leaving the keys in it.

That the GOP plans on selling this to voters as the things they know most Americans care the most about would almost be laughable if it weren't so pathetic. It'll be so nice to not have to worry about Federal funds being used to confiscate my AK-47 in the event of an emergency and I surely am looking forward to the day when I can finally put those 400 little plastic flags-on-a-stick that I bought at WalMart all over my front yard, but c'mon, where's that rollback of evolution that we were hoping for? And enough with FDR already ... how much longer are we going to have to wait before they finally put Baby Jesus on the dime?

I know, I know ... I shouldn't complain. At least they didn't include any liberal-left elitist trivialities like withdrawing from Iraq or health care coverage in their agenda. That would have really pissed me off.

My problem with the "war on terror" (and the resultant commander-in-chief powers that Bush has claimed) isn't just that this war will never end, but also that it can apparently be fought ANYWHERE. Clarence Thomas seems to confirm this when he says we're "not engaged in a traditional battle with a nation-state, but with a worldwide, hydra-headed enemy."

Over the last 4 years we've snatched alleged terrorists out of taxi cabs and off street corners and promptly deposited them in Guantanamo. Commander-in-Chief Bush has consistently declared that these detainees are "battlefield combatants" and everyone on the right cheers. Now everyone on the right is booing because a SCOTUS majority said yesterday that detainee treatment is subject to the Geneva Conventions. Amazingly, we NOW have to listen to the righties having a hissie-fit because making detainee treatment subject to the Geneva Conventions elevates the status of these detainees. So I guess this means they're only "battlefield combatants" when you think it gives you the right to mistreat them and keep them locked up indefinitely?

Thank you so much for the "flashback"! I've read hundreds, perhaps thousands, of books in my 58 years but none affected me as much as "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn", a book that I first read when I was about 10 years old, three years after my father left for greener pastures. Francie Nolan and her family not only struck a chord in my 10 year-old heart but it also gave me hope that life would go on despite the setbacks and heartbreaks that might come my way. Since that time I've read "Tree" at least a dozen more times and its timeless story never fails to touch me ... it's a beautiful window into 1940's Brooklyn, into family, and into the heart of every little girl who thinks that the sun rises and sets on her dad.