Two things: 1) laws are only as good as the enforcers, and 2) every tax dollar that goes toward fraud is one less dollar for legitimate government needs. According to attorney Alan Grayson -- who represents whistleblowers in contractor fraud cases -- former Justice Department supervisor Peter Keisler repeatedly failed to take action against contractors reportedly involved in fraud. Truthout's Matt Renner reports:

"Grayson said Keisler has purposely delayed investigations into Iraq contractor fraud because of Keisler's political allegiance to the Bush administration. Keisler has refused to prosecute whistleblower lawsuits because Bush 'does not want more bad news coming out of Iraq,' Grayson said, adding 'to have an entire class of cases treated this way is truly unprecedented....'

"Keisler was appointed by President Bush...."

"John Ryan Dennison was a shining light..."

When a young man's story opens by celebrating his life in the past tense,  don't expect a happy ending.   Unfortunately, not all stories worth telling have happy endings.  That doesn't make them any less important.  

Look past Ryan's megawatt smile and you may notice a glint of metal on his chest.   It is subtle and easily missed.  It's a decoration that doesn't call attention to itself, yet speaks volumes.  

John Ryan Dennison was more than merely a graduate of West Point, as if that distinction could ever be characterized as "merely" an achievement...

Emily Perez had a passion for books.  She loved to read.  In 2001, she graduated from a public high school outside of Washington DC in an area known mostly for gangs, drugs, death and despair.  Emily was straight-A student.   She could have attended any university she chose.  She chose West Point.

Getting admitted to West Point is no easy feat. First, you need to be nominated for consideration -- usually by your senator or congressional representative. Then you are evaluated in three areas: academic performance, demonstrated leadership potential, and physical aptitude.

Emily was a leader among leaders.  She was the first black woman to serve as corps commander sergeant major at West Point.  She graduated in the top 10% of her class.  In spite of all that promise, this story does not have a happy ending.  

Most of you may not recognize this image:

Those are US National Guardsmen (in the foreground) attacking unarmed students (on the hill) at Ohio's Kent State University in May, 1970.  Seems like ancient history, doesn't it?  Times have changed, right?

From Kent State to Police State
Some will say, "We're focused on the future!  We are working to win back the congress!"  Who cares history?  Well, you should care -- if you care about what congress will be able to achieve in 2007 and beyond.   Let me show you.  Come with me to the scene of another crime against citizens of the republic that recently happened in Ohio: The theft of the 2004 election  You need to hurry up.  In 30 days the smoking gun will be history.   Unless you act now.

Right now the latest installment in an apparently never-ending series of off-budget-down-payment-without-oversight-emergency-appropriation bills is heading for the Senate floor.  The total bill is $106 Billion.  This omnibus bill is for Iraq and Katrina relief.  

In case you missed it, "emergency" was one of the adjectives.    We have been at war in Iraq for 3 years and no one has ever submitted a budget for the effort.    In fact, I don't think anyone has submitted an honest accounting for any of the money spent either.    I could understand the need for one "emergency" appropriation, but three years into a campaign that is slated to last indefinitely?   Some might consider that poor planning.    Others might consider it a great opportunity too good to pass up.    Consider this example from a recent Washington Post article:

Mississippi's two U.S.   senators included $700 million in an emergency war spending bill to relocate a Gulf Coast rail line that has already been rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina at a cost of at least $250 million.

WE NEVER FORGET WHO WE'RE WORKING FOR.

I don't know about you, but every time I hear Lockheed-Martin's slogan I can't help but wonder, "Who are they working for?"  I'm just not feeling the love.  Of course, I'm not the Pentagon and Lockheed-Martin is not my #1 supplier.  I'm not saying there is anything inherently wrong with that.  I'm just stunned we even know the Pentagon's #1 supplier.  Why?  Because it's impossible to audit the Pentagon's budget.  You probably think I'm making that up.  Did you know the Pentagon can't account for 25% of the money they spend? It's a fact.  Look it up.

Whether or not electoral fraud can be proved, the most important issue is whether the current electoral system can be trusted.

Clearly it can not. The GAO report is unequivocal. Electronic vote tampering is not only possible, it is down right easy. It can be pulled off with relatively little effort.

Whether or not we believe that the 2004 election was stolen is not the point here. My point is that because of the way e-voting is implemented, the electoral system is ripe for unprecedented abuse and we need to do some serious hell raising. Quickly.

Ex-DeLay aide Michael Scanlon pleaded guilty today in the Indian tribes fraud case.

WaPo put the story out a few minutes ago.  Here's the link and the opening graf:

Michael Scanlon, a former partner to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to bribe public officials, a charge growing out of the government investigation of attempts to defraud Indian tribes and corrupt a member of Congress.

Scanlon, a former aide to Rep. Tom DeLay, entered the plea before U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle and agreed to pay restitution totaling more than $19 million to the tribes.

According to his attorney, Scanlon is "regretful for what happened to the tribes."

This won't help Tom in his attempt to distance himself from anything unethical, illegal, or "reprehensible."

Yet again, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has raised his sword for Big Healthcare at patients' expense.  This time, Frist aims to shield vaccine manufacturers from liability for injuries caused by bird-flu and Anthrax shots.  

Instead of sponsoring legislation in the sunshine, Frist snuck provisions into a spending bill.

Frist's deceptiveness is no surprise, starting at least as far back as med-school, when he took animals from shelter under the pretense of "adopting" them but instead used them in fatal experiments.

Like fruit from a poisoned tree, Frist's political success is inextricably tied to HCA, the family business that became the nation's largest for-profit hospital chain.  HCA stock worth at least $11 million comprised a substantial chunk of his wealth, enabling Frist to spend $1.2 million from his own pocket for his first senatorial campaign.

HCA's fruit was similarly poisoned, with profits stemming from years of crimes and civil infractions that cost the taxpayers millions.

Bradblog Rocks!!

...As Half of Ohio's Counties Fire Up Blackwell's New Diebold Electronic Diebold Voting Machines
Is this the Election that will finally break the camel's back?

With so much going on, we haven't had much time to report here on the extraordinary outcome of last Tuesday's election in Ohio where the crooked state that brung you -- by hook and by crook -- a second term for George W. Bush may have turned in results so staggeringly impossible, that perhaps even the Ohio Mainstream Corporate Media will have no choice but to look into it.

With 44 of Ohio's 88 counties for the first time using Electronic Touch-Screen Voting Machines last Tuesday -- most of them the same Diebold, Inc. machines that were decertified in California -- you must take a look at the extroarindarily inexplicable results of the 4 ballot initiatives that would have reformed voting in the Buckeye State and removed Sec. of State J. Kenneth Blackwell (a hard-right Bush partisan) from elections entirely.

Simply put, the polls published in the historically accurate Columbus Dispatch just two days before the election, matched almost identically on the one ballot initiative supported by Ohio's Governor Taft, but the 4 that called for Electoral Reform? Didn't synch up by a long shot:

ISSUE 1 ($2 Billion State Bond initiative)
PRE-POLLING: 53% Yes, 27% No, 20% Undecided
FINAL RESULT: 54% Yes, 45% No

ISSUE 2 (Allow easier absentee balloting)
PRE-POLLING: 59% Yes, 33% No, 9% Undecided
FINAL RESULT: 36% Yes, 63% No

ISSUE 3 (Revise campaign contribution limits)
PRE-POLLING: 61% Yes, 25% No, 14% Undecided
FINAL RESULT: 33% Yes, 66% No

ISSUE 4 (Ind. Comm. to draw Congressional Districts)
PRE-POLLING: 31% Yes, 45% No, 25% Undecided
FINAL RESULT: 30% Yes, 69% No

ISSUE 5 (Ind. Board instead of Sec. of State to oversee elections)
PRE-POLLING: 41% Yes, 43% No, 16% Undecided
FINAL RESULT: 29% Yes, 70% No

FULL STORY and EXTRAORDINARY DETAILS...

Iraq has proven itself a breeding ground for fraud.  It's no shocker, given our nation's history of private-contractor dealings.

Despite this, the federal government withdrew auditors that were monitoring Iraq-contracts last year.  And it just became news this month.