Daily Archives: May 17, 2007

California, Jerry Brown, Orange County

Jerry Brown: Soft on Crime?

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Here’s a new angle to being “soft on crime”… Why didn’t Attorney General Jerry Brown file suit against Tan Nguyen for intimidating legal Latino voters? Claudio Gallegos lets it rip at Orange Juice:

The California Attorney General’s office announced today that Tan Nguyen will not face charges in the fraudulent letter he sent out to disenfranchise Latino voters. Former Attorney General Bill Lockyer quickly moved into action to ensure Nguyen was held accountable. Unfortunately he did not have enough time in his term left. Democrat(although I am hesitant to call him that at this point) Jerry Brown took over as Attorney General. His spokesman Gary Schons is quoted as saying

“We had to prove that they intended to intimidate lawfully registered voters. We found no evidence that they intended to intimidate lawfully registered voters. In fact, the first line of the letter said, ‘If you’re a lawfully registered voter, we encourage you to vote.’ A lot of people missed that.”

No kidding a lot of people missed it Mr. Schons, it was meant to be missed. Even Republicans were calling for his head.

So is there something that Jerry Brown missed here? Follow me after the flip for more…

Here’s the rest of what Claudio has to say at Orange Juice:

If there was no criminal intent, please explain why Tan did the following actions:

1) Use a fake letterhead of an anti-immigrant organization instead of his own campaign letterhead?

2) Why did they use a fake name at the end of the letter?

3) Why was Tan refusing to answer the simplest of questions regarding this letter?

4) Why did Tan Nguyen’s story change about 10 times?

The intent was clear, to intimidate Latino voters and stay covert. Pure and simple. In the 2006 election I voted for the Green Party candidate for Attorney General because I felt Rocky Delgadillo should have been our nominee and dinosaurs like Jerry Brown need to move aside for our generation. Thanks for confirming I made the right vote. And I will continue to vote Green whenever Jerry Brown is on the ballot.

Tan Nguyen was the most obviously guilty man since OJ Simpson, yet he will walk away unpunished. Let this be a lesson to you all, include some obscure hidden sentence in a letter, intimidate and disenfranchise voters and you will not be held responsible for your actions. Thanks alot Jerry, I see your softness on crime extends to those who seek to disenfranchise minorities’ right to vote.

Well, it hurts me to say this… But perhaps, Claudio and blogswarm are right here. Jerry Brown really failed all of us in Orange County who were hoping for some real actions against the illegal voter intimidation antics used by Tan Nguyen in his despicable “campaign” against my fabulous Congresswoman, Loretta Sanchez. Now why he couldn’t he stand up for all of us voters in Orange County? And for that matter, why can’t he stand up for all the voters in this state who should NEVER be intimidated in the way that those 14,000+ legal voters were?

Maybe Jerry Brown shouldn’t have been our choice for Attorney General if he wasn’t really interested in doing his job.

San Diego

Open Thread.

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The U-T’s intrepid road warrior is checking in from Arcosanti, AZ.  I’m not sure if it was intentional, but she manages to strike a chord that might resonate:

As with many grand experiments, however, the fact that so many people have participated in the dream may be as important as the realization of the dream itself. What people find here seems to be less about architecture and more about being part of a community that’s trying to create a better world, even if it’s clear their quest will never fully succeed, and even if Arcosanti is merely a stopping point along the way to their final destination.

How’s that reconcile with your vision of the American Dream? Ends? Means? Something -doo economics? Bueller?

And now, because nobody Open Threads anymore.  Dance Party over Cleveland. Dance Party over Arcosanti.  Dance Party over San Diego.  Dance Party over your soul.  Watch the video and pick your favorites.  They’re collectible, they’re tradable, and one of them is taking fashion advice from Brian.  I’ve identified 9 people whom I would like to treat to a drink, and if you think that my favorite move is the puppet pockets, you’re close but will receive no cigar.  Brandston – Nobody Dances Anymore.

“You’ve gotta break free. You’ve gotta break out. So everybody knows what you’re all about.”

The correct answer was, in fact, the wriggling fish on a hook.

Uncategorized

“They Should Be Inundated…”

“… their phones should be ringing off the hooks.”

— Bernie Ward, KGO radio host

Monday night on San Francisco’s KGO-AM810, Bernie Ward sounded off about Jerry McNerney’s vote on the McGovern bill. For those of you who may not be familiar with Bernie, he was an early supporter who hosted McNerney on his radio show, giving him an invaluable megaphone throughout the SF Bay Area.

And I think it’s safe to say that Bernie Ward is not happy with Jerry McNerney’s vote against bringing our troops home from Iraq.

Click here to hear Bernie Ward on Jerry McNerney’s vote on H.R. 2237.

And be prepared. It’s long, and it’s a harsh indictment of McNerney’s lack of courage and integrity.

To quote Bernie Ward, “He needs to hear; he needs to understand that that vote made no sense.”

The Offices of Congressman Jerry McNerney

Stockton Office
2222 Grand Canal Blvd. #7
Stockton, CA 95207
Phone:(209) 476-8552
Fax: (209) 476-8587

Pleasanton Office
5776 Stoneridge Mall Rd. #175
Pleasanton, CA 94588
Phone:(925) 737-0727
Fax: (925) 737-0734

Washington D.C. Office
312 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone:(202) 225-1947
Fax: (202) 225-4060

Cross posted on The Progressive Connection

Orange County

CA-47: Tan Nguyen Cleared By State, But Not Yet Feds

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Remember Tan Nguyen? Yes, that Tan Nguyen! Well, he’s now legally free and clear… Or at least, he is on the state end. Here’s what the AP has just learned (via OC Register):

The state Attorney General’s Office said today that it will not file criminal charges against a former congressional candidate whose campaign mailed letters warning immigrants against voting.

Tan Nguyen, a Vietnamese immigrant, was trying to unseat Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez last year when his campaign sent out 14,000 letters to Hispanic immigrants claiming they could be deported or jailed for voting. The controversy erupted just three weeks before the Nov. 2 election. […]

But they could find no criminal intent, Senior Assistant Attorney General Gary Schons told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

“We had to prove that they intended to intimidate lawfully registered voters. We found no evidence that they intended to intimidate lawfully registered voters. In fact, the first line of the letter said, ‘If you’re a lawfully registered voter, we encourage you to vote.’ A lot of people missed that,” Schons said.

So does this mean that the man behind the infamous “Immigrants Can’t Vote” intimidation letter is off scott free? Not exactly. Follow me after the flip for more…

So does this mean that Tan Nguyen is finally free of all legal troubles? Not quite. The US Justice Department is still investigating him. Here’s the latest from Total Buzz:

In the previous item here, I said that former congressional candidate Tan Nguyen has been cleared by the state attorney general. However, I just got word from Cynthia Magnuson at the U.S. Department of Justice that their voting rights section is continuing to investigate the matter.

That was good news to Los Amigos’ Amin David, among those who decried the Nguyen tactic.

“We’re hoping (the Justice Department) sees through to the intent,” David said.

“We were quite upset about that letter,” David said. “It did indeed have a streak of meanness, of intimidation. The intent was very clearly to keep people from voting.”

Well, that letter really did read like it was meant to scare voters away from their legal right to vote. And clearly, Tan Nguyen was associating himself with the types of anti-immigrant extremists who would like nothing more than to see thousands of legal Latino voters disenfranchised. There’s probably still a case against Tan Nguyen to be made.

I guess we’ll see whether or not the feds find enough evidence to make one.

California

Debra Bowen’s Top-To-Bottom Review of E-Voting Systems Underway

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(cross-posted from Courage Campaign)

On May 9, Secretary of State Debra Bowen unveiled her unprecedented plan for a top-to-bottom review of California's elections systems. This is exactly what she promised to do as Secretary of State and she is delivering in a big way. Echoing language she used on the campaign trail last year, she said in a statement:

“California voters are entitled to have their votes counted exactly as they were cast. This top-to-bottom review is designed with one goal in mind: to ensure that California’s voters cast their ballots on voting systems that are secure, accurate, reliable, and accessible.”

The review, which began on Monday and will continue through late July, will test the Los Angeles County Ink A Vote Optical Scan system as well as systems by Diebold, ES&S and Sequoia among others, a total of 8 in all on a randomly determined schedule.

Details over the flip…

The review is being conducted in cooperation with the University of California and entails the following:

  • UC will provide specialists from its campuses, as well as experts from public and private universities and private sector companies throughout the United States to create three teams of experts to conduct the reviews.
  • Each system will undergo a thorough document and source code review, red team penetration testing, and a review to determine whether it’s accessible to all voters.
  • The review teams will provide an independent technical evaluation of the voting systems that the Secretary of State will use to carry out her statutory duty with respect to voting systems in determining whether the systems comply with current state and federal law.

In plain terms, the sitting Secretary of State of the largest state in the nation, which has to date spent $480 million on electronic voting systems, has enlisted a team of experts to hack into the voting systems  to determine whether or not they are secure. And who better to hack into these systems than those who've done it before including  Ed Felten from Princeton and Harri Hursti of 'Hursti Hack' fame.

Once the review is complete, there will be a period of public comment on the results, which, Bowen sees as falling into one of three categories:

"The first possibility is that a system will be found to be secure, accurate, reliable and accessible as it stands, so voters can have confidence when they use it on Election Day. Second, a system may be required to use additional safeguards, such as an expanded post-election audit process. The third possibility is that a voting system can’t be made secure, accurate, reliable and accessible even with additional safeguards, so that system may be decertified, which means it could not be used for any election in 2008.”

Needless to say, neither the system vendors, nor the county registrars of voters are particularly pleased with these tough measures, considering Bowen is required to announce if a system will be decertified by August 5 (6 months prior to the next election) and the review won't conclude until late July. It's easy folks, create (or purchase, as the case may be) a secure elections system in the first place and you have nothing to worry about, do you? The first sign of resistance on their part can be viewed in the public comments on Bowen's draft criteria for the top-to-bottom review, which she released in March. In a display of transparency that has marked Bowen's career, you can read all comments, by vendors, counties and public alike, HERE. Bowen is continuing to accept public comments on the top-to-bottom review even as it is underway at [email protected].

I applaud Secretary Bowen's top-to-bottom review and her unwavering commitment to transparency and free and fair elections. This is what happens when people rather than corporate interests propel a candidate to victory: she works first and foremost for us. Yes, elections do have consequences.

We'll be following the review's progress and will support her when she is attacked, which has already begun. If this issue is of particular importance to you, join us in our California Election Protection group.

To close, I think Debra herself put it best: 

“Democracy, by definition, is about free, fair and open elections,” concluded Bowen. “My goal is to have election results that are beyond question or doubt. Right now, far too many voters are wondering about the accuracy of California’s election results. We have three statewide elections next year, which makes it even more essential that our voting equipment be secure, accurate, reliable and accessible.”

Health Care

Who cares for CA’s mentally ill? Sen. Cedillo. Who doesn’t? Sens. Calderon and Correa

6 Comments

Today, the Democratic Party and its values have been sold out to the American Hospital Association. From right underneath us, Sens. Correa and Calderon have decided that it’s totally cool to dump patients on Skid Row without their permission. I previously addressed this issue, but now I see that the so-called “Mod Squad” has decided that they like AHA cash…a lot. Like more than they care about their fellow human beings.  Or maybe more than their offices?

Well, “Mod Squad”, please inform me how dumping the mentally ill is moderate. In what world is that even morally acceptable? One that anybody actually wants to live in? 

From a Senator who actually cares about people:

“What does it say about our ethics and humanity?” asked Cedillo rhetorically when discussing the difficulty of the bill’s passage. “These people are more vulnerable than when they went in to the hospital. Who thinks this is OK?” (Capitol Weekly 5/16/07) 

Apparently Sen. Lou Correa (D?-Santa Ana) and Sen Ron Calderon (D-Montebello) think it’s fine and dandy. Give Correa a call at (916) 651-4034 or Calderon at (916) 651-4030. Or call Sen. Gil Cedillo at (916) 651-4022 to tell him that he shouldn’t give up on these issues…or just to tell him that he is a great Senator and suggest that he give some pointers on humanity to those that fail us.