In the footsteps of yndy . . .

[unixronin]

. . . I link you now to the Kung Fu Monkey, who exquisitely sums up in this article about the latest terror dog-and-pony show exactly what I've been saying since 9/11:  Our government's response to terrorism is doing terrorists' work for them and handing them every goal they ever wanted, nicely arranged on a silver platter artistically inlaid with inscriptions from the Prophet.

The great Canadian plot that had organized over the internet, was penetrated by the Mounties on day one, and we were told had a TRUCK FULL OF EXPLOSIVES ... which they had bought from the Mounties in a sting operation but hey let's skip right over that.  Or how about the "compound" of Christian cultists in Florida who were planning on blowing up the Sears Tower with ... kung fu?

And now these guys. As the initial "OH SWEET MOTHER OF GOD THEY CAN BLOW US UP WITH SNAPPLE BOTTLES!!" hysteria subsides, we discover that these guys had been under surveillance, completely penetrated, by no less than three major intelligence agencies.  That they were planning on cell phones, and some of them openly travelled to Pakistan (way to keep the cover, Reilly, Ace of Spies). Hell, Chertoff knew about this two weeks ago, and the only reason that some people can scream this headline:

"The London Bombers were within DAYS of trying a dry run!!!"

-- was because MI-5, MI-6, and Scotland Yard let them get that close, so they could suck in the largest number of contacts (again, very spiffy police work).  The fact that these wingnuts could have been rolled up, at will, at any time, seems to have competely escaped the media buzz.

This is terrorism's A-game?  Sack up, people.

OK, people, pop quiz.  What's the goal of terrorism?  That's right, to create terror.  And what is our government doing about it?  Yup, that's right.  Creating terror.

"ZOMGWTFBBQ, international terrorists ALMOST BLEW UP A DOZEN PLANES WITH GATORADE BOTTLES!!!  We could all have DIED!!!"  Well, yeah.  Almost.  For values of "almost" that turn out to be "they didn't even get to make their dry run to see if it had any chance of working, they were rolled up as soon as they got ready to try it, because their entire organization had been penetrated to the core for months and they could hardly take a dump without Scotland Yard and Interpol knowing about it before they got done flushing."  Frankly, it was a non-event.  "Amateur Terrorists Fuck Up Big Time" would have been a better headline.  But to listen to the hysteria emanating from inside the beltway, you'd think they'd come within seconds of detonating dirty fusion bombs in the centers of multiple American cities and the town of Crawford, Texas.

Do you suppose it's mere coincidence that this huge media circus arrived just in time to distract attention from Joe "Hey, the Iraq War is cool!" Lieberman's humiliating rejection by his own party in the Connecticut Democratic primary?  . . . No, I didn't think so either.

Get this straight, folks, and get it good:  Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations to their best to foment and use terror to further their political ends.

And so does the Bush administration.  It's just that the ends are different.

Back to the Kung Fu Monkey for a moment . . .

Maybe it's just, I cast my eyes back on the last century ...

FDR [in 1941]: Oh, I'm sorry, was wiping out our entire Pacific fleet supposed to intimidate us? We have nothing to fear but fear itself, and right now we're coming to kick your ass with brand new destroyers riveted by waitresses. How's that going to feel?

CHURCHILL [in 1940]: Yeah, you keep bombing us. We'll be in the pub, flipping you off. I'm slapping Rolls-Royce engines into untested flying coffins to knock you out of the skies, and then I'm sending angry Welshmen to burn your country from the Rhine to the Polish border.

US, NOW: BE AFRAID!! Oh God, the Brown Bad people could strike any moment! They could strike ... NOW!! AHHHH. Okay, how about .. NOW!! AAGAGAHAHAHHAG! Quick, do whatever we tell you, and believe whatever we tell you, or YOU WILL BE KILLED BY BROWN PEOPLE!! PUT DOWN THAT SIPPY CUP!!

Monkey's kung fu is strong.

Comments

[ithildae.livejournal.com]

That is a hard question. I think that I have hope because of my cynicism.

I don't believe in conspiracy theories. Period. There need to be too many people involved in virtually every scheme. I just can't believe that so many people can hang together against the feeling of having a secret.

Rigging the vote requires too much up front material and planning. Someone, somewhere will find the evidence, and report it. There will be trails for determined investigators to follow. It will all come out. I am not stating a timeframe, but all will be known.

The number of people involved in vote rigging would just be too great. There would need to be people from both parties. I can't see that happening. There is just too much scrutiny by too many eyes, many hostile to the republicans, in this case.

There is a demographic trend that is troubling. People are tending to move into areas that already vote the way they do. The red districts are getting redder, and the blue districts are getting bluer. For that reason, I don't think there will be a change of control in congress. That is not vote rigging, that is computer controlled Gerrymandering.

I also have a belief that the American voter will not tolerate fraud in counting the vote. If there is real evidence, (unlike what we had in Florida, which was simply accusation) you will see a massive backlash. You would see civic institutions, like the police and army, not following orders. The folk that enforce or serve as a result of the election, would simply refuse to go along. (That would be the safest course of action, and the wisest political choice.) We Americans can be quite idealistic (and simplistic) about things like voting. Those ideals will stop government cold. It will be messy, but it will work out.

I think that we have about a decade of more and more autocratic presidents (honestly, that is the only way the executive can function when the senate will not confirm many needed people. Not for partisan reasons alone, but because they want to close a facility in a state.) I really do see a third party forming somewhere from the middle, because the democrats and republicans are both abandoning the middle. I see that new party shredding the Gerrymandering and computer voting models. I see it catching both parties with their pants down. I can easily see it modeled on the Bull Moose party.

My advice would be to learn what is needed to run a political party locally, and then latch onto the bandwagon of a new group that actually supports most to all of what you feel. That still works in this country. That is why I still feel that this is a Great Country.

[danjite.livejournal.com]

I believe that you are considering an outmoded model for vote tampering, the retail (local) rigging method. What I am concerned about is wholesale, high-level counting adjustments.

Bear in mind, I was a paid (County) election judge and a security analyst. I feel my opinion is a more-than-edumactaed one.

Vote counting is computerized. Over 80% of the votes in the US are counted by machinery made by either ESS or Diebold, both companies which are stated to be dedicated to the Republican party. The code and algorithms used by these companies is secret and there is no oversight of these companies. In fact, oversight of these companies is specifically prohibited. Further, the US forbids international vote inspectors to make sure we have free and fair elections.

In the past, vote rigging required so very much collaboration, that even with the fraud the level of participation necessary made it a nearly valid popular system. Today, I think that any election could be manipulated in statistically conceivable ways be as few as three people- if they are the right people.

If you do your online research, you night start to see what I mean.

I am dearly hoping I am wrong. But I expect that the neos will continue control of both houses by squeeking close margins in tightly contested districts. It'll look really good. It'll look really fair.

Am I paranoid? Perhaps. But what if- what if I am right?

What would you do if you thought the system was fixed- really fixed- and the vote doesn't matter? Remember that advocating non-vote based change in itself is illegal.

[ithildae.livejournal.com]

I actually do understand the system. The problem is that votes can be (and are) audited by hand, in some cases. If there is a single case of vote counting problems discovered, it will all come out. It may work in the short term, but it will destroy future election chances.

The demographics alone are sufficient explanation for most close elections. I use Hanlon's Razor, "Never attribute to malice, that which can be explained by stupidity (or incompetence.)" Really good software up front, means that the vote doesn't really matter. There is no need to rig the vote, because the district is rigged. That is why I think a new party will form. Too many voters are not being represented in Washington.

Showing evidence of a rigged vote will really mobilize the American public. That has not been done yet. Even so, look at the reaction from the Florida fiasco, or the Ohio count.

(I have zero sympathy for the Ohio charges of fraud. We security professionals warned for years about not having an audit trail, ignoring us was a bipartisan issue. Sit down and shut up about it. Learn from that mistake.)

What you truly believe is not something that I can change, even if I wanted to. I believe that there was some very suspicious outcomes in Ohio. But there is no proof. If you want to study election fraud techniques, visit the old south, they have it perfected. Our overall democracy has not really suffered for it.

It really goes back to demographics. The American electorate is quite evenly split. There is not any party that has the default majority. (The republicans are trying to fix that.) These elections are going to be contentious. That is why I believe that a new party will form. I am ready to support it when it shows up. I am ready to help it succeed. I am just not smart enough to start it up on my own.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

The problem is that votes can be (and are) audited by hand, in some cases.

Not on Diebold touchscreen machines. There is no paper trail. Zero, zip, zilch, nada.

[ithildae.livejournal.com]

That is why I commented on the Ohio problem separately. There are a number of state and local governments that have repudiated orders for that generation of machine, because of that fact. They finally realize just how vulnerable they are.

I think that electronic voting machines are an abomination. Optical scan are usually just fine. Why change? We lose more than we gain in the transition. Digital does not alway mean better! Computerized does not automatically mean better! Somebody is hard of listening.