While We Are Sleeping: McCain & Diebold

If you are like me, it can be a bit hard to pay attention to non-primary news at the moment. But the following tidbit broke through my primary blinders as I was listening to Rachel Maddow this afternoon.

We have all heard the story that United Technologies has launched a hostile takeover attempt to acquire Diebold. We all know that Diebold is the Big Bad Wolf of electoral shenanigans. We all remember Diebold chief executive Walden O’Dell’s 2004 letter promising to deliver Ohio’s electoral votes to Bush.

But what some of us may have missed is that United Technologies is a client of the highly influential lobbying firm BKSH. Who works for BKSH? Charlie Black. Who is Charlie Black? An aide to John McCain.

Can you connect the dots here, folks?

•  Tips

  Can we have a clean election sometime in my lifetime?

  by Zoltan on Mon Mar 03, 2008 at 06:43:48 PM PDT

  •  Any dots

    anywhere in the universe can be connected if you stretch far enough. I don't see any smoking gun here, no. You're oging to have to flesh tihs out a lot more. By the way, the quote by Wally O'dell which is so frequently cited was nothing more than campaign chit-chat because  virtually NO TOUCHSCREENS were in use in Ohio in 2004. Four counties of 88, that was it. The election was stolen by voter suppression and most likely some hand-done  ballot moving in a handful of southwestern counties. This reading of conspiracy and hanky-panky into everything can get a little tiring. And I really need to go to bed because I'm a presiding judge at an Ohio polling place tomorrow. The Republicans could say there's a conspiracy because none of our poll workers in my precinct is a Republican -- tehnically two are listed as "independents' although one is refusing to cop to it, saying over and over "I'm a Democrat." Of course, to give you an idea of the composition of our area, we got four packs of Democratic ballots, two packs on independent issue-only ballots and one pack of Republican ballots. We were joking we might not even have to break the shrink-wrap on the latter.

    by anastasia p on Mon Mar 03, 2008 at 06:50:17 PM PDT

    •  Thanks for your work at the polls

      that is not said often enough!  You are a great American.

      by Barry Welsh on Mon Mar 03, 2008 at 06:57:52 PM PDT

    •  its not the touch screens

      the touch screens aren't the big problem. its the central tabulation machines that pose the problem.

      more so its the whole closed source voting system.

      to be reminded about diebold, watch hacking democracy the hbo special with bev harris.

      to learn more about open source voting systems http://www.openvotingconsortium.org/

      by fractal on Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 04:44:00 PM PDT

•  Thanks for pointing this out

  it dovetails nicely  with similar points I made earlier.

  Unfortunately, I think you are right about the attention of the crowd.  They are watching the sport but I fear they have taken their eyes off the ball.

  by 8ackgr0und N015e on Mon Mar 03, 2008 at 06:47:23 PM PDT

•  BTW- you are aware of the relationship between

  Black (BKSH) and Penn (Burson-Marsteller)?  They are quite open about promoting that.

  by 8ackgr0und N015e on Mon Mar 03, 2008 at 06:49:31 PM PDT

•  And John McCain was in Wedding Crashers

  with Kathryn Joosten.

  And Kathryn Joosten was in Rails & Ties with Kevin Bacon.

  QED.

  by science first on Mon Mar 03, 2008 at 07:05:24 PM PDT

•  Not wearing a tinfoil hat, but United

  Technologies makes the Blackhawk helicopter...

  by mississippi boatrat on Mon Mar 03, 2008 at 07:11:07 PM PDT

  •  Marine One (the President's chopper), too

    by davybaby on Mon Mar 03, 2008 at 07:30:26 PM PDT

•  Of course I am wearing a tinfoil hat

  To all replies suggesting that I am wearing a tinfoil hat - yes!

  After all, there is NO precedent for Republicans stealing elections.

  It didn't happen in 2000.

  It didn't happen in 2002.

  It didn't happen in 2004.

  They didn't try in 2006.

  They haven't already tried for 2008 by breaking up California's electoral votes.

  The idea that Republicans might try to steal elections is just CRAZY!!!!!

  by Zoltan on Mon Mar 03, 2008 at 07:35:52 PM PDT

  •  The idea isn't absurd, but no evidence

    I agree with other posters - there needs to be much more evidence than just the six degrees of Kevin Bacon.

    by sdgeek on Mon Mar 03, 2008 at 08:30:48 PM PDT

    •  Yeah, but did I say in my diary that

      McCain was going to steal the election?

      by Zoltan on Mon Mar 03, 2008 at 08:37:09 PM PDT

      •  I am just trying to bring the issue into

        the open.

        The GOP has a terrible history with election theft in recent cycles at least. Someone close to McCain has a client that is now trying to buy Diebold thourgh a hostile takeover.

        There is no proof of wrong-doing. But given the history, we should at least wonder, don't you think?

        Let's not just dimiss this out of hand.

        by Zoltan on Mon Mar 03, 2008 at 08:39:22 PM PDT