GOP big shots looking out for themselves, blocking Obama, and putting the country LAST.

For the past 8 years, the Republican Party got just about everything they ever wanted — and now are desperately trying to avoid taking the blame for it. Diplomatic, economic, and ethical disasters should fall soundly on those who caused them — yet rather than reform their party, they continue to turn to the same old "look out for Number One" agenda.

Here is the recap and related links to all things firmly rooted in the NOT HELPFUL category. Clockwise from the top left...

1. House Minority Leader John Boehner and other Republican leaders are attacking the stimulus package with while promoting their own version featuring their favorite fix all — tax-cuts. Maybe further stock market deregulation would help to!

Do these people still believe they have ANY expertise at fixing the economy? — READ AT Huffington Post.

2. Ken Blackwell, former Ohio Secretary of State (The one who helped Karl Rove steal the 2004 election results in Ohio) bluntly stated that conservatives should vote against the stimulus package, because the plans success would mean more people vote Democrat, thus making it harder for Republicans to retake the White House. — READ at Think Progress.

3. Rush Limbaugh decides to put country last and oppose the stimulus plan out of fear it's success will prevent GOP wins in future elections. — READ AT Think Progress.

4. Karl Rove, unable to admit defeat, takes his magical misery tour to a Miami university lecture hall and tells attendees that Obama won't be able to close Gitmo. But at least he did wish Obama success. — READ AT the Miami Hurricane website

5. John McCain, along with the other GOP leadership, has threatened to vote against it unless major changes are made (like adding those tax cuts the GOP loves). This is probably because the fundamentals of the economy are STILL strong. Senator I thought you were better than this... then I remember your presidential campaign. — READ AT Huffington Post.

6. Kathie Olsen,once at the forefront of Bush's systematic denial of the human causes of global warming, has "borrowed-in" to a protected job within the Obama government. And Obama may not be able to do much about it. Many such former Bushies have done so in recent weeks, but she is one of the more higher profile cases. — READ AT talkingpointsmemo.com.

The stolen 2004 election? Investigation into Karl Rove's IT hacker suspicious death continues...

Under-reported but important, investigations into the suspicious death of Mike Connell still continue. As mentioned in a previous post (LINK) Mike Connell was a top Republican party Internet strategist who was under investigation on allegations that he was involved in possible tampering with the counting of Ohio ballots in the 2004 presidential election. He died in a plane crash on Dec. 19 after multiple sources reported that his life was in danger from Karl Rove, the alleged architect of the election grab, after it was clear Connell was ready to start talking to authorities.

Cliff Arnebeck, the Ohio investigator who took Connell's original deposition and is investigating the crash spoke to news site Between The Lines:

...we believe that the criminal activity that we've identified and we have plenty of evidence to support it. You know, it starts not with the Republican Party, it starts with Karl Rove. The first target of this conspiracy is John McCain's campaign in South Carolina in the 2000 primary. So it's really a criminal enterprise, rather than a Republican enterprise.

I'd encourage any readers to get acquainted with this story, as it doesn't appear to be on the radar of corporate media services as it should be. As it involves the direct theft of votes that decided the 2004 election, it is critical we flush out this situation and either bring the guilty to justice or prove it false and trash it. Either way, it needs to be presented to the public.

Read the transcript, listen to Real Audio or MP3 of the interview.

More Links:

In-depth interview with Cliff Arneback, conducted by Scott Harris, Counterpoint, Dec. 29, 2008

Rolling Stone: Was the 2004 Election Stolen?

Video from Michael Connell Plane Crash

Velvet Underground: 1/7/09: Connell Investigation Intensifies

Karl Rove's IT Guru Killed in Plane Crash, Said Recently Threatened by Rove, Had Been Key Witness in OH '04 Election Fraud Case

I would encourage people to look into this developing story on their own, as there is a lot of conjecture. That said, I am deeply suspicious of anything involving Rove.

So far, web searches are showing this has only showed up on local news. Coverage has been totally missing from CNN, CBS, ABC (except from a brief summary of the crash lifted from the Associated Press), FOXNews, NPR, MSNBC (besides local news stating the crash occurred). The Wall Street Journal did post a press release.


Was the computer guru who helped Karl Rove allegedly steal votes that swung the 2004 election ready to talk? And if so was he killed to shut him up?

From Raw Story:

The Republican consultant accused of involvement in alleged vote-rigging in Ohio in 2004 was warned that his plane might be sabotaged before his death in a crash Friday night, according to a Cleveland CBS affiliate.

45-year-old Republican operative Michael Connell was killed when his single-passenger plane crashed Friday into a home in a suburb of Akron, Ohio. The consultant was called to testify in federal court regarding a lawsuit alleging that he took part in tampering with Ohio's voting results in the 2004 election.

Without getting into specific details, 19 Action News reporter Blake Renault reported Sunday evening that 45-year-old Republican operative and experienced pilot had been warned not to fly his plane in the days before the crash.

"Connell...was apparently told by a close friend not to fly his plane because his plane might be sabotaged," Renault said. "And twice in the last two months Connell, who is an experienced pilot, cancelled two flights because of suspicious problems with his plane."

Connell [was alleged to have been involved] in a ploy to "flip" votes from then Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry to then-President George W. Bush.

Amy Goodman of Democracy Now interviewed Mark Crispin Miller, professor and author, took the story even further into motives:

"Velvet Revolution, a non-profit investigating Connell’s activities, revealed this weekend that Connell had recently said he was afraid George Bush and Dick Cheney would “throw [him] under the bus.” Cliff Arnebeck had also previously alerted Attorney General Michael Mukasey to alleged threats from Karl Rove to Connell if he refused to “take the fall.”

AMY GOODMAN: Alright, well, we had you on right before the election, because that’s when Mike Connell was being deposed. This news that came out of his death in a plane crash on Friday night, talk about what you understand has happened.

MARK CRISPIN MILLER: ...I think we’re obliged to investigate this thing very, very thoroughly. And that means, first of all, taking a close look at some of the stories that were immediately circulated to account for what happened, that it was bad weather. That was the line they used when Wellstone’s plane went down. There had been bad weather, but it had passed two hours before. And this comes from a woman at the airport information desk in Akron. We’re told that his plane was running out of gas, which is a little bit odd for a highly experienced pilot like Connell, but apparently, when the plane went down, there was an explosion, a fireball that actually charred and pocked some of the house fronts in the neighborhood.

When asked about Connell's methods and motivations, Miller said this:

MARK CRISPIN MILLER: [Connell was believed to have said that] one of the primary reasons why he helped Bush-Cheney steal elections was to save the babies. He was an ardent anti-abortionist, it’s true, but he wasn’t quite as hardcore as the others. And in fact, you know, he was a little bit alienated from the others, and that’s one of the reasons why he was inclined to talk, and so on.

READ MORE AT:

- UPDATED 12/25: HUFFINGTON POST
- RAW STORY
- DEMOCRACY NOW
- BRAD BLOG
- VELVET REVOLUTION
- Sourcewatch
- Wikipedia

MORE ON CONNELL:
BRAD BLOG

See how Connell fits into the big picture in the 2004 Ohio Election according to "FREE FOR ALL!: The High-Tech HighJack of Ohio":