Tuesday, December 18, 2018

"Power grab."

TWEET METhere has been a lot of news over the past few days about the trump crime cabal and camarilla that protects him, and how their world is falling down around them.

If you are part of the 38% of the people in this country who still do not understand that Mr. trump is a liar and a thief, then I feel bad for you.

Anyway, there are other folks in the grand old party who we need t take a closer look at. One of them is the new governor of Georgia, Bran Kemp.

The following article was an eye- opener for me.

"In the days leading up to Georgia's hotly contested 2018 gubernatorial election, Brian Kemp—who, you may recall, is both the winner of that election and also the state official who was in charge of administering it—made a shocking accusation about the Democratic Party of Georgia and, by extension, his opponent, Stacey Abrams. They had, he said, attempted to hack into the state's voter-registration database, and his office planned to launch an investigation into this serious case of misconduct.

According to a bombshell investigation published last week by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, there is still absolutely no evidence that any such partisan election meddling took place. Meanwhile, there is a good deal of compelling evidence that Kemp—who at the time was slipping in the polls, putting him in real danger of suffering an embarrassing loss for the Republican Party—might have just made the whole thing up.

The problem, as the AJC explains it, is that Kemp had learned that the state's voter information systems were laughably vulnerable to hackers, which opened him up to charges of rank incompetence. Earlier this year, while checking his registration status online, a Georgia voter named Richard Wright discovered that nefarious actors could use the web site to download any file on the system, and to access any voter's personally identifiable information. Experts told the AJC that hackers could, in theory, exploit these flaws to do things like delete people from the rolls, render them ineligible to cast ballots, or even "systematically target" political and/or minority groups.
Wright reached out to an election law attorney in Washington, and on Friday, November 2, four days before election day, he also summarized his findings in an email to Rachel Small, a volunteer with the Georgia Democrats' voter protection hotline. Small forwarded that email to her supervisor, who asked their own cybersecurity experts to take a look. "That," says the AJC, "appears to have been the extent of the Democrats' involvement."

From there, Wright's emails made their way to law enforcement agencies, and then to reporters. On Sunday, when Kemp learned that a media outlet planned to publish a story on the subject, he did what all self-respecting Republicans do when confronted with evidence of their failures: panic, and blame someone else. Minutes before it posted, the secretary of state's web site posted an all-caps headline announcing a forthcoming investigation into a "FAILED HACKING ATTEMPT" by Democrats. Kemp's spokesperson began talking about Rachel Small, who is part of this narrative because she forwarded an email, as if she should be considered armed and extremely dangerous by anyone who approaches her.
“The FBI is looking for information on ‘Rachel Small,’” Broce wrote [to reporters]. “We welcome any information about this person’s identity or motives to provide to federal authorities.
“Who is Rachel Small?” Broce continued. “Is that her real name, and for whom does she work? Why was she talking about trying to hack the secretary of state’s system…?”
A few days later, Kemp won the election with 50.2 percent of the vote, narrowly avoiding the prospect of a runoff with Abrams. Strangely, since the result became official, Kemp's office seems to have forgotten all about the investigation it had vowed to conduct, back when breaking the news of said investigation was politically expedient.
More than a month later, state Democratic officials say no law enforcement agency has been in touch about the alleged crime. Lawyers and others involved in the episode say they’ve heard nothing, either. The agencies won’t comment on their investigations.
In other words, when a floundering candidate learned about a last-minute story that would reflect poorly on him, he seized on the thinnest imaginable shred of evidence to concoct an elaborate conspiracy theory that implicated his political opponents, and then used his official position to make it seem credible to the credulous. Throughout the campaign, Kemp endured persistent criticism for scoffing at the notion that supervising an election in which he was a candidate gave rise to any problematic conflicts of interest. It was a calculated bit of shamelessness all along, and apparently, it was worth it." [Source]

Throw in what happened in Wisconsin and Michigan, and it is clear that Mr. trump is rubbing off on the republican party.  

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

This was such a ridiculous episode. If Georgia Democrats had hacked the state's voter database, would they have then announced, "Hey, we hacked you!" C'mon, that's not remotely plausible.

And their announcement wasn't: "Hey, we hacked you!" It was: "Hey, your database is insecure and easily hack-able. Please fix it."

I'm skeptical that this made a difference in the election. Although all the other electoral shenanigans Kemp engaged in very well might have. It is possible, though not certain, that Kemp cheated his way to victory.

As for having an elected secretary of state supervise the elections, that does seem like a dumb idea, since this incentivizes that politician to rig things to guarantee his own re-election, even if he doesn't run for a higher-stakes job like governor. I am curious how many other states besides Georgia do things this way.

Gambler2 ASKA White Woman said...

The GOP political landscape is over run with liars, cheaters, and straight out thieves. This has been the case since the tea party took control of the Republicans Party by dominating the primary systems in red states. So nothing they do should be a surprise to voters.

SagaciousHillbilly said...

We need to take a close look at the thief DeSantis in Florida and the new senator Scott. Both stole their elections. Had it not been for voter manipulation and suppression both would have lost.
Hello, Field. I need to get back to blogger.

Anonymous said...

"HUMPTY, TRUMPTY SAT ON A WALL.
HUMPTY TRUMPTY HAD A GREAT FALL.

ALL THE KING'S HORSES AND ALL THE KING'S MEN,
COULDN'T PUT HUMPTY BACK TOGETHER AGAIN!"

Anonymous said...

The official Humpty Trumpty song

Humpty Trumpty asked for a wall
Two thousand miles long and twenty feet tall
Told all the Mexicans they'd have to pay
And the Mexicans told him no f***in' way

Trumpty's face went from orange to red
Put a twenty percent import tax on instead
So ordinary Americans will pay the cost
Of letting Trumpty feel like the boss

Trumpty's cancelling Obamacare
With nought to replace it when it is not there
Poorly Americans wondering why
Humpty Trumpty wants them to die

Trumpty chased the Muslims away
On Holocaust Remembrance Day
No refuge from famine oppression or war
Which is what America's meant to be for

Humpty Trumpty has two more years
To cash in on the job and to laugh at your tears
Make America terrified sickly and broke
Humpty Trumpty isn't a joke

dinthebeast said...

Republican rank incompetence? Depends on how you define the job. If you define the SOS job as "oversee free and fair elections" then, yes, rank incompetence starts to describe them, but if, as they do, you define it as "make sure that Republicans obtain office" then all of the sudden they start to look competent again.
Crooked and corrupt, but quite effective at it.

And Gambler2, it's been going on way longer than that. Remember Spiro Agnew? The vice president who was taking bribes in the white house? Who got caught on tape telling Nixon about having envelopes of cash delivered to his office in exchange for handing out government contracts? And whose defense was "everybody does it"?
That was 1973.

-Doug in Oakland

dinthebeast said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjDr8lfLZZE

-Doug in Oakland

Anonymous said...

Ninjas of New York, rejoice! A federal court has ruled that the Empire State's ban on nunchucks violates the 2nd Amendment and must be struck down.

Now all New Yorkers are free to whack themselves in the face and crotch while pretending to be Bruce Lee.

The Purple Cow said...

‘’Politics is a concentrated expression of economics” - V.I. Lenin

“It’s the economy, stupid!” - Bill Clinton

Anonymous said...

These bran muffins are making me thirsty.

Anonymous said...

"A lie told often enough becomes the truth" - Lenin


"You didn't build that" - Obama

field negro said...

Anon@11:23, that was impressive.
Anon@8:52, just the thought that he might have cheated and won is scary.

mike from iowa said...

But North Carolina wingnuts want their cheating congressman seated in the US House if his cheating cannot be determined to have changed the outcome of the race.

I think wingnuts should be penalized for cheating and the Dem should be given the seat.

mike from iowa said...

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/voter-suppression-georgia-purge-shut-out_us_5c198646e4b02d2cae8e3f24

mike from iowa said...

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/homelessness-statistics-united-states-2018_us_5c1970a9e4b02d2cae8e322e

Homelessness up for the second yea in a row after 7 years of decline. Don't blame Drumpf. Everyone knows he is not in charge. Wingnuts will make sure these homeless Americans miss out on their right to vote because....meanness.

Gambler2 ASKA White Woman said...



https://www.rawstory.com/2018/12/cops-take-149000-black-dj-throw-jail-not-using-turn-signal-full-100-feet-changing-lanes/

It's just an example of what black men must endure every day in America.

anotherbozo said...

Field, do a profile on Judge Emmet Sullivan sometime. A field Negro if ever there was one, "turn that plane around" Sullivan, the one who raised the T word in the Flynn sentencing, dwarfs all the Rethuglican appointees to the Supreme Court, from Thomas to Kavanaugh. If God weren't so pissed at us, Sullivan would be on it now.

PilotX said...

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/three-kansas-lawmakers-abandon-republican-party-become-dems?cid=sm_fb_maddow&fbclid=IwAR3CJk0u3PcRwEoXFpjgmreHnKA97xume_BnBNjRhwsWWr13N4WeKB4rqUU

PilotX said...

https://www.law.com/nationallawjournal/2018/12/17/who-is-emmet-sullivan-the-judge-who-will-sentence-michael-flynn/

PilotX said...

Sometimes life just smiles.

https://www.theroot.com/white-supremacist-troll-forced-to-publicly-apologize-to-1831204622

dinthebeast said...

Anotherbozo: Right up there with Vaughn Walker and Anna Diggs Taylor in the not taking shit from corrupt Republicans department. Let's hope that he has a bit more success at it than they did.

-Doug in Oakland

mike from iowa said...

But PilotX, he was such a cute wasicu wastey. Looks like the racist next door, doesn't he?

PilotX said...

"But PilotX, he was such a cute wasicu wastey. Looks like the racist next door, doesn't he?"

You mean the theater dork who sings and dances when ge's not trying to pretend to be a tough guy?😂

mike from iowa said...

https://www.thedailybeast.com/admitted-child-sexual-abuser-walks-free-after-prosecutor-allegedly-arrives-to-court-drunk-report

This story is hidden behind a paywall. For those of you that can afford it sounds like an interesting read.

mike from iowa said...

https://www.the-immoral-minority.com/cnn-uncovers-letter-of-intent-to-build-trump-tower-moscow-signed-by-donald-trump-revealing-yet-another-lie/

No business deals with Russia, huh?

dinthebeast said...

So judge Sullivan has also struck down Fergus' attempt at limiting applications for asylum and deporting the applicants.

-Doug in Oakland

mike from iowa said...

Rep Elijah Cummings sent 51 letters to gubmint agencies warning them of investigations to come. How many rats will abandoship?

mike from iowa said...

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/12/north-carolina-republican-gerrymandering-plan-insanity.html

Wingnuts want to move gerrymandering case to federal court that has no standing because in state court (Supreme) has a 5-2 Progressive slant.

mike from iowa said...

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/12/michigan-republicans-effort-curb-democrats-power-hits-snag/

Anonymous said...

Yisheng = nigger

lilac = cunt