'Ghost In The Machine' Could Upset Obama Victory

Tuesday, 4 November 2008, 3:06 pm
Column: Scoop Link

In a little-noticed comment over the weekend, MSNBC commentator Joe Scarborough said Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) had two things to fear -- complacency by supporters given his wide lead in the polls, and a "ghost in the machine."

"Polls are getting hard to read at this point," MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski remarked on Sunday's edition of Morning Joe.

"Well, they are because they're all, almost all in Barack Obama's corner at this point so if you are the Barack Obama campaign you really only have two things to worry about," Scarborough replied. "One, complacency on part of your supporters which can be very, very damaging impact on the campaign or number two, that there's a ghost in the machine. That somehow these polls are going to be incorrect like the polls that assured Barack Obama was going to lock up the Democratic nomination after New Hampshire.

"Of course we know that didn't happen," Scarborough added. "So..."

Voting rights advocates worry that electronic voting remains highly insecure. Last Friday, RAW STORY published a diagram of computer schematics used by Ohio's Republican Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, that routed county-level voting results through the Tennessee company that would later handle the infamous "GWB43.com" email accounts -- the same accounts the Bush Administration used to send political correspondence beneath the radar.

For full story see…
Scarborough warns 'ghost in the machine' could upset Obama victory

ADDITIONAL NOTE:

Dear friends, colleagues and VOTERS:

The Ghost in our Election Machine might well be a man named Michael Connell, or one of his colleagues. What this article does not mention is the fact that Connell is an advisor to the McCain Campaign and Karl Rove's top IT Guru.

Michael Connell was deposed TODAY in Columbus, Ohio by Cliff Arnebeck, lead lawyer in the civil lawsuit King-Lincoln Bronzeville Neighborhood Association v. Brunner (Blackwell). This news story was covered in national news by Amy Goodman on Democracy Now and Thom Hartmann on Air America. Transcripts and mp3s should be available at their respective websites. News from the deposition which began at noon today is expected soon.

Connell was first subpoenaed in the case in after Stephen Spoonamore, a renowned Cyber-sleuth and information security expert, came forward as an expert witness.

On Democracy Now this morning, Mark Crispin Miller, a professor of media culture and communication at New York University and author “Loser Take All: Election Fraud and The Subversion of Democracy, 2000–2008,” described Spoonamore as

“…a very unusual and particularly unimpeachable kind of whistleblower. He is a conservative Republican. He is a former McCain supporter, but above all he is renowned and highly successful expert at the detection of computer fraud. He works for big banks, he works for foreign governments, the Secret Service, his job is to figure out how computers are used to steal money or information, or votes.”

Spoonamore affidavits filed in connection with the case along with arguments made in a Cleveland courthouse Friday led the Judge in the case to reject a motion to quash a Connell subpoena. In a surprise ruling, the Judge ordered Connell to appear in the deposition, on the eve of the election.

For lead lawyer Cliff Arnebeck, the timing is auspicious given his concern about the security of the 2008 election. Speaking to earlier pleadings to the court and State of Ohio litigants, Arnebeck explained, “We submitted two affidavits and argued that the same people who stole 2000, 2004 are still in business and are engaged in a plan to steal 2008.”

That the Ohio litigants agreed to the consent order to lift a two year old stay in the case, is evidence of growing concern among the general public and elected officials that elections employing electronic voting machines and vote counting tabulators are seen as vulnerable to manipulation or theft by those who control or can gain access.

Kyle F. Hence

See also: *Mike Connell, Rove's IT fixer, ordered to testify on Monday* http://www.opednews.com/articles/Mike-Connell-Rove-s-IT-fi-by-Press-Release-081101-733.html

*Investigate Why Bush/Rove IT Expert Mike Connell Asked How to Destroy White House Emails* http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/investigate-why-bushrove-expert-mike/story.aspx?guid={5A2941D9-1DD5-4287-AD8E-E4A91D8A94DD}&dist=hppr

*Federal Judge Compels Testimony from Mike Connell* http://thejournal.epluribusmedia.net/index.php/state-news/ohio-news/205-federal-judge-compels-testimony-from-bushmccain-computer-expert-monday

*Documents reveal how Ohio routed 2004 voting data through company that hosted external Bush Administration email accounts * http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Documents_reveal_how_Ohio_routed_2004_1031.html

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